To: <puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org>
Date: Sat, 13 May 2006 00:54:09 -0400
Subject: [Puptcrit] Follow-up on my first conference


Hi all.
Last Monday, My puppeteer collegue and I gave a conference on the career of puppet-maker, in relation to the career of the puppeteer. 

It went really well. The crowd was pleasant and pleased.
There were lots of kids who had already started to work with puppets, thanks to motivated people in their neighborhood who had organised a puppet show.
That was a magical moment when we found out: "So, we are actually talking to Collegues!"

We gave a good conference, we received great comments, and were told (afterwards of course) that had we asked for double the price, we would still have been hired. Lesson learned. We actually had made them a special price, since it was only their second year for the festival, and were testing new grounds.
Anyways, we were still pleased with the pay. Great learning experience too.  Good future collaborations seem to be in the works. The two contact people also have a small theatre company of their own, and want to hire me for training in puppetmaking and maskmaking.
They are also trying to convince the "powers that be" to allow budget for me to give a full class on puppetmaking during the next edition of the festival.
I love working with such motivated groups.

As a special thank-you bonus, we received two pairs of tickets to the show by Soma International, called Cabaret Decadanse. I loved it! (I wrote an article which I am posting at the same time as this one).


For the conference, I needed an actual example of a marionette (with strings), so I had to make one in reccord time. Made almost entirely of scraps of fake fur. I spent  about 16 hours on it. Mostly, simple sewing.  It's not finished, needs fine-tuning, but it was presentable and the movements were smooth.  A kid can make it believable ina  few minuites with a fwe pointers, which to me is a good sign that something is right.

It's an improvement on the "walker" puppets we can often see in toy stores. Two-legged furry or feathery thing, that usually has the strings all wrong, so it's got no control and bends imposibly. I fixed that.
The puppet can be manipulated with a single hand. Well balanced, it can even wag its tail with the need for me to reach with my free hand. I believe I can bring this puppet to a level that goes beyond the toy, to perform in a show.
Not that I think a toy puppet can,t be part of a show, but you understand te technical limitations. A wobbly thing can't do precision...

 I will take pictures shortly.
Lots in the works right now, as I am juggling three contracts at a time.

One day I might take a vacation. My last one was two years ago, which was the first of my working life, and it only lasted 10 days. Actually, I was at a puppet festival, so I was actually there to see shows, learn, and make contacts. Work again. Fortunately, my work IS my life.
LoL




 

Mathieu René Créaturiste
Marionnettes, Masques, Etcetera...
Puppets, Masks, Etcetera...
www.creaturiste.com
creaturiste-AT-magma.ca
(514) 274-8027
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