From: =?Windows-1252?Q?Mathieu_Ren=E9?= <creaturiste-AT-magma.ca>
To: <puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org>
Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 19:42:42 -0400
Subject: [Puptcrit] Modifying the classics


Hi all.
Another topic that might interest some:
Modifying the classic types of puppets.

By classic types I mean the usual form of the following: hand puppet, "muppet type", sock puppet, marionette, rod puppet, ventriloquist figure, marotte, backpack giant puppet, shadow puppets.
 

Most puppets are custom jobs, of course, al porjects are different, but often we stay close to a classic type, a proven method.
This is a good thing, most of the time, to use a proven method Althouhg it can sometimes, I suspect,  become a habit that is hard to break. Sometimes the simplest solution is not necessarily a classic puppet type
.

Example of the "luck of the begginner":
Years before I even tried making a traditional vertical rod puppet, I made a modification on the type: an horizontally operated table-top rod puppet. Only one rod, stuck horizontally at the lower back of my creature . The only movement came from the very expressive legs and feet. The whole thing was built out of pool noodle(a floating semi-firm foam, easy to carve), and the legs were round noodles of the flexible grey foam (polyethylene) that is used to fill cracks in housing and to isolate the windows.
It moves great, can dance, walk, run, jump, float, look in all directions. The thin has attitude.
My next modification on it will be to change the flexible foam on the legs to some string. The current legs move very smoothly but are too easy to pull out, and they have a "memory", if they are stored in a bad position, they keep it.


What sort of modifications of the classic types have you successfully made?






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