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Talking Heads Project V2

The Talking Heads were the centerpiece of our display in 2007. What are they? The Talking Heads are homemade animated figures of Dad and Brandon made out of lights laid out on plastic Coroplast© material, otherwise known as Coro. You've seen this material before, especially during election season with all the plastic signs. Due to our creative design, the Talking Heads have the ability to talk and sing to each other, as they come to life with our special Light-o-Rama controllers!

First, we chose some photos that emphasized our facial features, and then projected them on a wall and traced them on large paper. Then, special "secret" parts were added to the tracings so that each Head could be animiated. This was done by drawing two mouths and chins for each Head so that the two parts can be lit back and forth, causing the Heads to simulate the talking and singing functions. One mouth and chin is for the "mouth open" position and the other is used for the "mouth closed" position. These sections are lit by strings of lights that are controlled separately. So the figures appear to talk when the lights in these two different mouth positions are alternated between the open and closed positions.

Once the tracings were tweaked just right on paper and finalized, then they were attached to the piece of Coro plastic that would be punched for the lights. Once that was done, the next step is to mark up the Heads to reflect where each light would be located. Through experience we've learned that the figures look best when the lights are spaced about 3/4" apart. Once the hole positions were marked, then it's time to start punching the holes from the rear to the front. This makes it easier to insert the lights, although you have to work with a mirror image of the figure outline. We did this by tracing the outline with a Sharpie pen on the back of the paper. Measure twice and punch once!

The lights have to be used in strings of 35 or 50, depending on the brand and type of lights. Any leftover lights have to be covered up or taped over and then dressed up and attached to the back of the Coro plastic. Since mini-lights are wired in series, you can't just cut lights off the string if you have 10 left over.

The same thing had to be done with Brandon's head to prepare the figure for punching the holes. Note the paper taped over the mouth area. This is how we visualize what the "mouth open" and "mouth closed" components look like when laying out the figures. Once the design is finalized, then this paper is removed and the measuring, marking, and punching begins!

Here is a look at the finished product all lit up. These figures will talk, sing, and act as the Hosts for our Display. The photo at the top of this page shows what the finished products look like in their frames. The Heads are approximately 4 feet square.

For 2008, we've made some modifications to the Talking Heads as shown by the photos at the bottom of this page. We've added some outlines in alternating red / clear and green / clear lights to add some excitement when the Heads talk! We hope you come by our display this year and check out our new and improved Talking Heads! Brandon is especially excited about these, so be sure to tell him how much you enjoy them when you sign our guestbook by the mailbox. These figures took us about 3 weeks of spare time to construct and another day to add the light frames around the outside. Merry Christmas!