Maquette
Maquette is fence for 'scale model' a maquette is a small scale model that can be either a sstructor or a sculptor. A Maquette is used as a basic concept for many areas of artistic subjects. The principle is that you build a small model of what you want to achieve to understand a basic understanding of 3d form of what you want to create. It is a prototype for areas of delepment in media.

Mainly a maquette is a sculpture of someones head, this allows the artist to view a character from many different angles from the prototype and see what adjustments might need to be made later. It also acts as a way of seeing new angles and experiencing depth.

They can be a good way of a group of designers to come together to discuss aspects in a visual manor. Its also a cheap and easy way of creating a

This is a maquette from the popular animated film Atlantis: The Lost Empire. This film was created in 2001 by disney. This film was a 2D animated film, but the use of 3D maquettes was important to the design and development of the film. you can see the detail in which maquettes can have as well as the character that can be created. The 3D maquette allows for the 2d artists to see different views of a character and helps them see how they can draw different perspectives while keeping the character looking realistic and the same from the different perspectives.


Picture: Vinny Santorini Maquette, 2000, Image referenced from:
http://www.digitalmediafx.com/Maquettes/VinnyMaquette.html

Wikipedia, Information dated 2009, Maquette, available from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maquette