About

I am Katie Mello.  I have been making puppets for stop-motion animation since 1997.  I have worked on a lot of amazing projects and made some really cool stuff.  Here is some of that stuff.

My main job is as Lead Charcater Fabricator.  This means that I lead the crew of fabricators, figure out how to make the puppets and usually do a great deal of the work as well. 

I start with the approved design and speak with the director and watch the animatic.  We decide what the character will need to do and how they should look doing it.  Next I will explode the puppet in my mind and think about how each part will be made and put back together.  Then the sculptor begins, I usually do not sculpt hero puppets, though I do get to do some sculpting. Next I or my team will mold the individual parts in the mold suitable for its casting material. Once the molds are done then armatures are made, this enables the puppets to stand and more and parts to lock together.  On small jobs I will make the armature.  Next is casting, silicone, foamed latex, clay, all different plastics, it just depends on what is needed.  I will do the casting and cleaning on small jobs.  Once puppet parts are cast, with their armatures inside they are finished with paint and costumes, I rarely do this part.  

We make every part of the puppet.  It is rare that eyes or costumes or armatures can be purchased and used, even when these things are available they are never the right size or color.  We generally make everything from scratch for every puppet.

Sometimes we have crews as large as 2 dozen people and sometimes it will just be my self and one or two other fabricators. 

I have worked on TV shows, like Eddie Murphy's "The Pj's".  I have worked on pre-production for the movie "Corlaine", but I prefer commercials.  They are not as glamorous, but they are a lot more fun!  Fast paced with lots of problem solving.  I am always amazed that there are still new problems to solve on every new spot.  Plus if something is not fun, it will be over in a few weeks. 

I can be contacted at zebnabe@gmail.com.