Uncle Creepy's armature allowed full manipulation of facial features.

Working with Stephen, who also sculpted the Uncle Creepy character, were John Deall who built the armature, Frank Ippolito who cast and painted the hands and head and Terry Fluker who fabricated the costume.

For a more life-like look for Uncle Creepy, they chose silicone instead over the normal foam rubber. The head armature was built with ball and socket paddles so they had full control over the facial features during animation.

For the rest of the production, Stephen’s brother Charles and Rick O’Brien built the set. Justin Kohn edited the opening shot in four days and Kent Burton (Coraline) animated the end shot in three days. Stephen did the compositing in After Effects and brother Edward did the editing and post.

So what is all this leading up to? One of the best stop motion pieces I’ve seen. It’s incredible. Go to CreepyUniverse.com to see Uncle Creepy come to life in glorious stop motion animation.

What else is in the works for Haffner and Uncle Creepy? His plan is to begin working on a series of 3:00 shorts for web and mobile featuring the Creepy family which will then lead into a Creepy television series.

Mark Simon is an award-winning animation director. He is hosting the Hit Makers Summit Sept. 19-21, a three-day event to perfect your TV pitch. Register at www.HitMakersSummit.com.