File spoon-archives/puptcrit.archive/puptcrit_1997/97-03-11.140, message 107


From: JPCL27B-AT-prodigy.com ( DAVID L LERNER)
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 1997 14:14:46, -0500
Subject: scripts


>It seems to me that script is a talking head variety, I can't see 
how it
>is specifically designed for puppets. This is a problem that I 
wrestle
>with a lot.
>In my work I try to find the active, visual element, looking first 
to
>what the puppets can do. I have problems with puppets "telling a 
story".
>Perhaps it is because I am still stuck on a definition of puppetry 
that
>I heard years ago, "that a deaf person should be able to stand in 
the
>back of a room and understand what is going on." 
>Most scripts that I have read seem to fall down in this area. The 
most
>"puppet successful" piece that I ever did was a short 7 minute 
pantomime
>. Clear and entertaining. But it is difficult to break down stories 
into
>their visual elements especially if they are not inherent in the 
story.

I do not agree.  Pantomime IS tricky, but it is all but impossible to 
tell a complex story w/out speech.  And if you intend your puppetry 
for adults you need more complicated stories.

You need a balance between words and actions.  In Scott McCloud's 
book UNDERSTANDING COMICS he goes into length about the word/picture 
balance.  Much of that discussion is applicable to puppetry.

Dave. 


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