Jersey Devil

• Background:

  The Jersey Devil is a folkloric creature said to be the 13th child of a couple in the 1730s. Its story is thought to originate in part from Benjamin Franklin. It lives in the Pine Barrens, to this day scaring visitors of the sprawling east Jersey pine forest.

  • The Jersey Devil is very nostalgic to me because my family spent a lot of summers on Long Beach Island, and the main way to get there is an hour long straight stretch directly through the Pine Barrens. This is the project I am most interested in doing for the midterm.

  

• Automaton Concept:

  • Not a linear narrative, the Jersey Devil is more about a vibe… a sense of presence, the sensation of feeling constantly watched.
  • A laser-cut scene of pine trees, designed with ample bare-trunk room.
  • The composition would be primarily 2D, but with some trees set further back to create an illusion of depth.
  • Mechanical System:
    • A cam system drives multiple followers.
    • Each follower is connected to a Jersey Devil head mounted on pivot points behind trees.
    • As the cams rotate, different Devil heads push out to peek from behind trees at various intervals.
    • The combined effect: a cartoony depiction of the Jersey Devil appearing everywhere at once, reminiscent of a Scooby-Doo chase scene where characters pop in and out of doors.

Squonk

• Background:

  The Squonk is a cryptid said to inhabit the Hemlock forests of northern Pennsylvania, first recorded around 1910.

  • Described in Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods:

    “The squonk is of a very retiring disposition, generally traveling about at twilight and dusk. Because of its misfitting skin, which is covered with warts and moles, it is always unhappy ... Hunters who are good at tracking are able to follow a squonk by its tear-stained trail, for the animal weeps constantly. When cornered and escape seems impossible, or when surprised and frightened, it may even dissolve itself in tears.”

    

• Automaton Concept:

  • A front-facing Squonk , constructed with layered laser-cut discs that form a lumpy, irregular body.
  • Each disc (or “ring”) rotates independently, creating a shifting, uneasy form.
  • At the end of the mechanical cycle, all discs drop downward at once—a visual metaphor for the Squonk dissolving into tears.
  • Mechanical System:
    • A cam system drives the independent rotation of all body rings.
    • Near the end of the cycle, the cams align to trigger the simultaneous drop of all parts, creating the “dissolving” effect

Philadelphia Experiment

• Background:

  The Philadelphia Experiment is an early alien technology and military experiment tale about a naval destroyer at the Philadelphia Navy Yard briefly turning invisible. In the story, the ship supposedly did not turn invisible but instead teleported to Norfolk, Virginia, before returning a few minutes later.

• Automaton Concept:
  • A layered 2D scene similar to the Jersey Devil concept, but shown from a profile view of the Philadelphia Navy Yard with multiple boats docked.
  • Each boat would have a gentle bobbing motion, but one boat would suddenly "disappear" and then reappear a few seconds later.
  • It would be really cool to have a whole other little Norfolk, VA scene where the boat pops up in, but I fear that is out of scope.
  • Mechanical system:
    • Driven by a cam system controlling the bobbing motion of each boat.
    • The same system would also briefly drop the teleporting boat out of view and then bring it back to complete the disappearing effect.