Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:48:42 -0400 From: Andrew <puppetvision-AT-gmail.com> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] The Case Against Bad Puppetry (or turnabout is fair Serves me right after posting about "40 under 40" that I get called out on my own stuff ;) What I posted was a heavily edited version of a much more nuanced post and some of my original thoughts got lost in the editing process. You make some excellent points and I totally agree with some of them. You have to realize that when I started writing PuppetVision there was almost nobody doing puppet podcasts or web series. Wil Stackman was the only other person even blogging about puppetry. In the beginning it was a chore sometimes just to find stuff to write about. It felt like a minor miracle when there were finally enough shows to do a bi-weekly "Round Up" of episodes. So my original intent was simply "hey, look! Somebody's doing this!" As I said in my post, the original goal was just to try to promote/encourage this kind of work. For a long time there wasn't enough out there to be choosey about it. I'm not sure if you read through the whole post and/or some of the older posts I linked to, but you actually make the same point I was trying to make. After five years of PuppetVision I'm kind of bored. I've seen the same stuff too many times, just like you say too much of it is more of the same. And I do champion a lot of stuff that's lacking in professional craftsmanship, but often I'm not so much championing the work as I am the potential. A lot of these puppeteers are working in their bedrooms and basements, but out of them one day is going to walk the next Henson, Baird or Obratzof. I'd bet real money on that and it will happen sooner than you think. The real question is how to be encourage/promote/improve the quality of work being done out there? I'd love to hear some ideas about that! What would you suggest? - Andrew P.S. - Oh and the reason I'd condemn Ask Blackie and not Little's Creatures is that Jonathan Little isn't asking women to send him topless pictures. On Fri, Apr 24, 2009 at 12:00 PM, <puptcrit-request-AT-puptcrit.org> wrote: > > Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:44:58 EDT > From: FLYINGHAND-AT-aol.com > Subject: [Puptcrit] Fwd: The Case Against Bad Puppetry > To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org > Message-ID: <c58.41a7fb1a.3723468a-AT-aol.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > > I think you need to take a deep breath, have a walk outside to clear your > mind, then retackle your good/bad criteria. Why condemn the drivel of ASK > BLACKIE yet champion the amateurish barking of LITTLE CREATURES? Turn down > the sound; it (mostly) all looks the same. Turn up the sound and they > (mostly)sound the same. The material may be different, but the voices are > obviously derivative nth generation Sesame Street. It appears to me that > 99% of > what you champion seems to fit into the "WHO CAN LOOK AND SOUND THE MOST > LIKE EACH OTHER" category. Voices? Amateur Night. Craftsmanship? If inbred > Muppets is the goal, Mission Accomplished. Acting and writing? Come on. If > you were to rub the sleep from your eyes, could you in the clear light of > morning compare ANY of that work to the professional level of the true > masters > like Henson/Sahlin? Or Baird? Or Obratzof? Or even latter day originals > like Mystery Science Theatre or the Shining Time Station puppets? A deeper > inquest into the genesis and expansion of puppetry is needed (Otto Kunze or > Dick Meyers anyone?) A scholar like John Bell understands this. > I think the puppet emperors aren't wearing any clothes. If the word > "great" can bandied about without a caveat for a high-school level > copy-cat > goblin sculpture, then what noun is left to describe the truly great? > I love puppets and puppetry, but, sadly, they mostly disappoint. When a > Broadway show can hold auditions for Avenue Q and state in bold black and > white that puppetry experience is NOT required, then what does that say > about > the perception of skill required for a craft to be called an art? > > > > ____________________________________ > From: puppetvision-AT-gmail.com > Reply-to: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org > To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org > Sent: 4/24/2009 3:51:52 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time > Subj: [Puptcrit] The Case Against Bad Puppetry > > > I get a lot of submissions for my PuppetVision Blog and see a lot of what > I've dubbed "YouTube puppet video cliches", shows or videos that rely on > shock value; puppets having sex, swearing and drinking/doing drugs. I'm > hardly a prude, but my frustration at seeing this has built over time and > ended up coming out in post I've dubbed "The Case Against Bad Puppetry" - > http://www.puppetvision.info/2009/04/case-against-bad-puppetry.html > > I'd be curious to hear other people's thoughts on this. > _______________________________________________ > List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org > Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit > Archives: http://www.driftline.org > > > > > > > ____________________________________ > Access 350+ FREE radio stations anytime from anywhere on the web. _Get the > Radio Toolbar_ > (http://toolbar.aol.com/aolradio/download.html?ncid=emlcntusdown00000003) > ! > **************Access 350+ FREE radio stations anytime from anywhere on the > web. Get the Radio Toolbar! > (http://toolbar.aol.com/aolradio/download.html?ncid=emlcntusdown00000003) > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org > Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit > Archives: http://www.driftline.org > > End of puptcrit Digest, Vol 54, Issue 24 > **************************************** > _______________________________________________ List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit Archives: http://www.driftline.org
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