top of page

Thee Weyrd Sisters serpent

Music video for the band Thee Weyrd Sisters, directed by Jake CarlsonResponsible for fabricating snake/serpent puppet for this music video.

(Click to enlarge any image)

SERPENT PUPPET

For this music video, the director requested a stop motion snake puppet that needed a number of features: glowing red eyes, pointy, dragon-like scales as per the reference images given, fangs and animatable tongue plus connective cheek tissue that could all be adjusted in a way that the mouth could still close. The head also was intented to have three "feathers" referring to more classical depictions (shown in reference) of the serpent luring Adam and Eve having feathers on it's head.

To address the mouth, hard removable fangs were sculpted so they could be added or removed depending on the mouth openness. The cheek muscle was crafted using layers of tinted latex on athletic pre-wrap so that it was thin, flexible, and strong enough to stretch. The tongue is additionally removable and was made in two lengths so it could be animated coming out of a closed mouth. 

The eyes are miniature red LED lights with paper tape slivers used as the iris, which were effective at blocking the light behind it, and could be easily replenished as they are very small and easy to lose. 

Perhaps the most difficult characteristic to address was the scales. They needed to be made of something sturdy enough to handle animation, but flexible enough to be moved when the body curved, yet still hold the very specific shape. The solution was scales cut out of very thin EVA foam using a Cricut machine to ensure uniformity, then each scored down the center and glued to hold a slight bend. They were then treated with a white glue/water mixture to help fill in some of the small open cels in the foam, and coated with Plasti-Dip rubber coating before being painted over. Each was then added by hand using rubber cement so that it had flexibility to move with the body while still staying in it's relative spot. 

Reference (click to enlarge)

© 2026 Nicole Harker

bottom of page