File puptcrit/puptcrit.0701, message 253


Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2007 16:33:48 -0600
From: "Martin Holman" <jmartinholman-AT-gmail.com>
To: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Breakaway bunraku puppets?


If your puppet is to become self-aware of his own construction (as opposed
to having the puppet just come apart without a knowledge of why he is
coming/falling apart) you might consider using standard Japanese Bunraku
construction for the attachment of the limbs. That involves cords at the
upper end of arms and legs that are tied (in a simple half-bow knot) onto
cord loops that run through holes in the wooden parts of the torso. Your
puppet might become interested in the loose end of the cord (which is easy
to locate and reach on a normal Bunraku puppet) and, in pulling the loose
end, untie the attachment just as if you were pulling a bowknot on a
shoelace to untie your shoes.

The possibility of this happening inadvertently is often on my mind during a
traditional Bunraku performance with ordinary traditional puppets whose
limbs are supposed to remain intact in the pieces we are performing. I've
been luck so far, but it is bound to happen eventually that we will be
scrambling to recover a piece of Bunraku puppet anatomy when an arm or leg
comes untied and falls off on stage.

Of course, you might use standard Bunraku construction even if the puppet
isn't sure what is happening. (I guess my first paragraph includes
thematic/artistic suggestion as well as technical.)

FWIW

Marty (a fellow Hoosier, from Corydon)
__________________
Prof. J. Martin Holman
Coordinator, Japanese Studies Program
Director, Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe
443 General Classroom Building
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211

Tel. (573) 882-3368   holmanma-AT-missouri.edu
http://www.missouri.edu/~graswww/people/holman.html
Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe:  http://www.bunraku.org







On 1/25/07, Klingelhoefer, Terri S <tklingel-AT-indiana.edu> wrote:
>
> Hi folks,
>
>
>
> I am kicking around a bunraku puppet that would literally pick itself
> apart.  Anyone who has done this or seen it I could use your advise.
> Heck, even random guesses about construction would help.  We will have 2
> operators for this part and I see the puppet seated in the course of the
> action. The puppet has to walk around and interact prior to picking
> itself apart.
>
>
>
> I figure in terms of esthetic s I can get it down to one arm and a
> torso, if there is something to pull on then I can pull off the last arm
> by grabbing an edge and pulling off the last hand and arm and letting
> the torso fall.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Best wishes!
>
> Terri Klingelhoefer
>
> Primary Player
>
> Klingel-Engle Puppets
>
> 7251 West State Rd 46
>
> Ellettsville IN 47429
>
> tklingel-AT-indiana.edu
>
> 812-876-3540 land line
>
> 812-325-9326 cell
>
>
>
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