File spoon-archives/puptcrit.archive/puptcrit_1999/puptcrit.9901, message 61


From: "David Ness" <dness-AT-execpc.com>
Subject: PUPT: Re: puptcrit-digest V1 #529
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 07:17:27 -0600


>From: Dan Vie <foolish-AT-smartt.com>
>Subject: PUPT: Re: giant puppet methods
>
>Thomas:
>
>At 09:43 AM 1/13/99 -0500, tcrubino-AT-inna.net wrote:
>
>>>We are Alliance to Save the Mattaponi - A Virginia Environmental Group
>>trying to protect our local Mattaponi River from a giant reservoir.
>>>
>>>We need to construct a big puppet to be used in a long march /
>>demonstration. I have seen puppets of this type on video of New
>>>Orleans & Rio Festivals. They stand over 10' high & are operated by
>>walking puppeteers from long poles attached to puppets hands feet & head.
>>>
>>>I am seeking photos & dscriptions of the construction particulars.
>>>Can you help us defend this river?
>>
>>>Thomas C. Rubino
>>>HCR 2 Box 25 - D
>>>King & Queen, Va. 23085
>>> tcrubino-AT-inna.net
>
>Hi thomas:
>
>I'm a giant puppeteer in Vancouver, Canada.
>
>via the puppetry page at
>http://www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/definitions/index.html#giant,
>
>find the Puppeteer's Cooperative. Sara Peattie has put her book of Bread
>and Puppet designs on-line. As well, she has a video of how to build
>giants.
>
>Also, if you can, find a copy of "Engineers of the Imagination - the
>Welfare State Handbook"
>by Tony Coult and Baz Kershaw, Routledge PRess. It has many design plans
>for large scale construction.
>
>The design Douglas outlines below is fairly labour
>intensive.Bamboo/willow framing is THE classic method, but takes quite a
>knack to learn. The makers must be careful
>to minimize the weight of materials, especially for puppets suited for a
>long march. Even paper-mache when layered for strength gets HEAVY very
>quickly. Balance is crucial, as well as a strong pack frame with a very
>well padded hip belt. The hip belt takes a large part of the weight.
>Puppet height somewhat depends on the height of the carrier.
>
>If you do go for paper-mache, one of our favorite tricks is bakery flour
>sacks. This very thick paper is torn into scraps and soaked for a couple
>days in water. This heavy paper, applied using pre-mix wallpaper paste,
>sets up quick and hard and nice textured, and avoids labour on multiple
>layering.
>
>Although I prefer full-body puppets,for beginner puppetmakers a very
>decent alternative is to concentrate on a simple, expressive
>(well-painted) head.  This is then mounted on a long pole with a T-cross
>at the top for the shoulders. The puppet costume is simply a strong
>color/pattern cloth that hangs from these shoulders. Synthetic fabrics
>more waterproof. The arms are on ropes with 2-d hands cut from foam-core
>etc, and operated on bamboo sticks. This 'pole puppet' can easily be
>carried by one operator slung in a hip can - a juice can slung by a band
>of strong cloth around the back of one's neck. The head can even be two
>dimensional caricature, tho this makes the figure very frontal. The
>principle is, especially within the constraints of political work: quick
>and dirty ROUGH style can be just as expressive. If the puppeteer gives
>it good movement, the results will be magic.
>
>One anecdote: I was skeptical when a friend created a flock of great blue
>herons using scrap lumber, bedsheets, and crude cardboard heads... but
>when these birds were flying in a flock in the wind, the ensemble looked
>absolutely incredible!  Rough works too.
>
>best,
>
>dan vie
>vancouver
>foolish-AT-smartt.com
>
>cc: puptcrit, artery
>
>>ate: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 21:42:28 -0000
>>From: "Douglas O'Connell" <douglas.oconnell-AT-mail.ndirect.co.uk>
>>Subject: Re: PUPT: Re: Giant Puppets
>>
>>Steve,
>>Do you have an E-mail adress for Thomas? Being in London e-mail would be
>>easier.
>>Anyway big puppets are my life !!!! So I can e-mail plans directly. Other
>>wise for everyone else here's a semi abridged version...
>>Basically the puppet body is built off an aluminum back pack frame by
using
>>tall Bamboo poles for main frame support then using willow cane or split
>>bambo to sculpt form. Willow and cane can be obtain from a garden supply
>>company but have them refer you to a main supplier if possible because you
>>can use quite a bit. Wholesale is much cheaper. For a large puppet you can
>>use at least half a bushel of willow.  Soak the willow in water so they
bend
>>easily. If you use split bamboo split the cane using a utility blade for
the
>>first split then split the whole cane down by wrenching a chisel into the
>>crack as you run down the split turning the chisel at the bottom of the
>>crack allowing the bamboo to split naturally. The bamboo and willow can be
>>attached to each other using masking tape or white gaffa tape for a
sturdier
>>conection, especially when building the basic initial frame.
>>Next,  then the whole structure is covered with good quality tissue paper
>> the type used for packaging) Buy it by the ream. The paper is torn like
>>paper mache but in larger pieces and then is brushed with latex glue
 found
>>at carpet supply stores) this is  layered over the bamboo/ willow cane
>>structure.  The paper will get nice and tight when it dries. The puppet
can
>>be painted with acrylics for daytime parade or FEV ( French enamel
varnish:
>>which can be purchesed at Theatrical supply companies) if you want to make
>>it a lantern puppet which can fitted with lights for night use.
>>This types is very simple to build and very light weight,. Limbs can be
>>attached to the main body with wire then a long pole can be attached to
the
>>puppets wrist or behind the  knees for manipulation.
>>As I said this is the basic instruction so please free to e-mail me with
any
>>further questions.
>>
>>Douglas
>>
>>  --- Personal replies to: "Douglas O'Connell"
>><douglas.oconnell-AT-mail.ndirect.co.uk>
>>  -
>
>
>
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>
>------------------------------
>
>Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 13:11:47 PST
>From: "Murvin Foster" <redrooster33-AT-hotmail.com>
>Subject: PUPT: Fettig puppets
>
>I recently purchased a copy of Fettig's most recent book. I am
>interested to know about constructing a walking puppet like the ones
>described in his book. Has anyone attempted to build one of his puppets
>using materials from American suppliers?  If you don't mind sharing, I
>would love to hear about it.
>
>Are any of Fettig's shows available on video tape anywhere?
>
>- - Jon
>
>______________________________________________________
>Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>
>
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>------------------------------
>
>Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 22:02:30 -0500
>From: Joe Dunfee <joe-AT-dunfee.com>
>Subject: Re: PUPT: Re: giant puppet methods
>
>>>>We need to construct a big puppet to be used in a long march /
>>>demonstration. I have seen puppets of this type on video of New
>>>>Orleans & Rio Festivals. They stand over 10' high & are operated by
>>>walking puppeteers from long poles attached to puppets hands feet & head.
>
>>>>Thomas C. Rubino
>
>  I reciently was involved in making just these kinds of puppets for a
first
>night celebration here in Miami. While I have seen a video on doing this
>with paper mache, I very quickly decided that I didn't want to spend the
>time paper mache requires.
>  I decided to use sheet foam rubber as the construction material, which
>would be supported with inside pipes. I used carpet padding foam, and I had
>found some yellow colored stuff, which could be re-colored with spray paint
>fairly easily. It is glued with contact cement and is farily quick to
>assemble. If you haven't worked with this material, another local puppeteer
>should be able to show you.
>  The inside structure for two of the heads consisted of a single loop of
>black plastic pipe. This was 3/4" diameter flexable pipe used for
sprinklers
>here in south florida. It is sold in large spools and naturally forms a
>curve. I just taped a loop of it together with duct tape. Then I got some
1"
>PVC pipe and dremeled out a groove in it to accept the black pipe so that
>the PVC pipe formed the diameter of the black pipe, and was used to mount
>the main support stick. I also added two half-circles of the black pipe
>which helped for ... this is getting too hard do do in text form, I will
try
>some ASCII art... (you must view it in a mono-space font like courier)
>
>      ____
>    .'    '.
>   /        \  This is the top view of the
>  |==========| black pipe loop, with the
>   \        /  PVC pipe across the diameter
>    '.____.'
>
>      ____
>    .' || '.
>   /   ||   \  This is the top view of the
>  |====||====| the above, but with the two
>   \   ||   /  half-circles added. See the
>    '._||_.'Side view below for how they fit
>
>      ____
>    .' || '.
>   /   ||   \ This is the side view of the
>  |==========| the above, but with the two
>
>
>  With this construction method, I made 4' high heads, that were about 3'
>wide. The real beneifit of this construction was that the majority of the
>head could be squashed down to fit in a car. On one head, because it was so
>wide it needed another loop of the black plastic further down, it couldn't
>be squashed down nearly as much. So, the minmal internal rigid stucture the
>better.
>  In our version, we decided not to try to do the legs, and the arms were
>simply cloth. The hands were carried by two other people, and were
>deliberately large to help the puppets have a bigger presence.
>  I should also mention another giant puppet made by another person had a
>body, with legs, made out of pool noodles. The pool noodles had a hole down
>the center, where a cord was run. The results were a very light weight
>structure - even if it was thin and spindly for its height.
>  Next year they want us to lead community groups to make these giant
>puppets.  However, I now realize that this method won't work for that. It
>took too much expertiese for me to develop the patterns for the foam, and
>the glueing of the foam took some experience to do well. But with the free
>labor, the time involved with the paper mache is a non-issue.
>  So, next year paper mache is going to be the medium. But based on the
>difficulty transporting and storing these heads, FLAT is going to be an
>important design decision.
>
>  Oh yeah, let me recommend that you purchase 1-1/4" diameter SCH 20 PVC
>pipe for the main support. Another puppeteer purcased 1" diameter, thicker
>walled SCH 40 pipe, but it was heavier and not as strong as the 1-1/4"
>diameter pipe.
>  For a long march, WEIGHT IS IMPORTANT! You will want to construct
>flag-carrier belts. I was scared of using a back-pack because I was
>concerned that a strong gust of wind would knock the person down or perhaps
>injure their back. If you are using your hands to carry it, you can just
let
>go. Also, plan on replacement carriers along the parade route - with a few
>stand-in's in mind. Even if one person can carry it that distance, don't
>rely on it unless you have done this before.
>
>Joe Dunfee,  joe-AT-dunfee.com
>Miami, Florida USA
>
>
>
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>------------------------------
>
>Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1999 06:44:41 EST
>
>In a message dated 1/23/99 4:18:47 PM Eastern Standard Time,
>redrooster33-AT-hotmail.com writes:
>
><< I recently purchased a copy of Fettig's most recent book. I am
> interested to know about constructing a walking puppet like the ones
> described in his book. Has anyone attempted to build one of his puppets
> using materials from American suppliers?  If you don't mind sharing, I
> would love to hear about it.
>
> Are any of Fettig's shows available on video tape anywhere?
>
> - Jon >>
>
>
>  --- Personal replies to: Rickpuppet-AT-aol.com
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>
>------------------------------
>--------
>
>Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1999 20:13:39 -0600
>From: "Marcia" <megnik-AT-icenter.net>
>Subject: Re: PUPT: PVC pipe as main support for parade puppets
>
>regarding the main support for large puppets..... when I made a couple for
>a First Night parade several years ago..... we used an aluminum pole if I
>remember right !
>
>Regarding the body for the big puppets.... we used bamboo for a shape and
>cloth over top !   I remember clearly the night I made the arms AND the
>legs for them...(two puppets).... I took elastic and stretched it (along
>the whole length) and sewed two lengths and then sewed a length in with the
>seam.... it gathered the material wonderfully and the movement of the cloth
>was incredible !!!   I was soooo excited when I finished the first one... I
>called my friend up.... and walked over (through the neighborhood) with
>this bright orange piece of gathered tube !!!  I had a great time !!!  (the
>puppets were ten feet.... so the arms were loooooonnnggg )  If anyone
>decides to try something like this.... have someone else do the other limbs
>so that you get to enjoy the first limb and they get to hate sewing with
>the elastic !   :-)
>
>I think I am getting the itch to create some giant puppets again.....
>anyone have any money to hire???   :-)
>
>Marcia
>Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
>
>
>
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>




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