From: "Hunter, Kurt" <KHunter-AT-siemens-psc.com> Subject: RE: PUPT: A broader query on plastic wood Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 15:25:11 -0600 Since no one's mentioned it yet, roofing paper (Red Rosin brand) is another popular item to use for paper mache. It's a bit heavier than brown paper bag and seems to be a great deal stronger. I've used it for a few projects with watered down wood glue and after three layers, it's like a rock. For $7 or $8 you can get a roll of the paper (3 feet by 125 feet or something like that) where ever you buy your roofing supplies, I suppose. Home Depot carries it here. Kurt Hunter Minneapolis, MN -----Original Message----- From: Amanda C Langlinais [mailto:a.langlinais-AT-juno.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 1999 12:50 PM To: puptcrit-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu Subject: Re: PUPT: A broader query on plastic wood Sorry its taken me so long to write back, crazy birthday weekend. Also, a lot of the answers to these questions depend on this Friday, when my partner and I make our final pitch to the owner. He's kind of unpredictable, so we may have to change everythig -- again. On Sat, 13 Mar 1999 08:58:27 EST Puppetz-AT-aol.com writes: >Amanda, >Maybe this info was in your original post, but what kind of puppets >are you >planning on building? Originally, the stage was your classic closed procenieum arch and the majority of the puppets were marionettes. Now we are looking at a _very_ open central stage area surrounded on three sides by a two-level, Greek-style faccade. Anyway, to make a long story short, the owner wants the look of the Lion King in a thirty minute show with about 1% of the Broadway budget and half the time to make it. (i.e. lots of rod and modified bunraku-style puppets with the puppeteers in full view of the audience. And also important, what size? Larger puppets >obviously require lighter-weight building material. The majority of the puppets will be traditional european or bunraku-style hieght, about 3/4 human size. Some are smaller, like these little furry villagers who are about 30 inches tall; however, many of them are oversized: Merfolk who's tails make them about 8-10 feet long, a wizard body puppet who is about 10-12 feet tall (although it is supposed look like that is only from the waist up.), a two headed dog that is controled as a body puppet in front and a marrionette in back, a pegasus that will probably fly accross the stage, and an enormous dragon that rises up from below the stage about 6 feet (up to its chest) with wings that stretch the width of the stage. (its a big project:) ) Also, how much >level of >detail are you looking for in your sculpture? That was one of the main reasons for my original inqiry, the puppets are large and will need to be visible to hundreds of people in every performance. Some of the puppets that I have seen and that have been used at this show have either looked great and fallen apart in a year, or lasted forever, but not exactly looked like the most breathtaking artwork I've ever seen. I'm trying to find a happy medium as cheaply and quickly as possible. How many puppets are >you >making? Are you making multiples of single characters? At last count, the number of puppets have reached about 30, not counting fun little details like birds and fish. The only one that may be duplicated for the show is a little girl on the back of the pegasus, but she won't have to do more than just sit there and be taken off so the pgasus can come out during the grand finale. If the show were not so large, I would have greatly preferred to go with carving all the pieces from wood -- especially since the entire show takes place in a specific time period and it is always a challenge to hide anachronisms like latex and foam rubber. Our original curiosty about plastic wood resulted from the idea of getting results simmilar to wood using the space, eqipment and skills we already have access to, as well as possibly haveing a material that large pieces could be made from without the risk and expense of hollowing out a large piece of wood. We are still planning on experimenting and conducting all sorts of stress tests on the various building materials we research (thanks again everybody for helping add to our list) and I will tell the results of what we find out. >Which books are you using for reference? As some previous posts >mentioned, >some of the information in older puppet books is out-dated, especially >regarding available building materials. The list of reference books is varied and growing. The one I originally found with a plastic wood reference is actually fairly recent, but sort of vague, and I was haveing a hard time finding concrete evidence of what it was and where to get it. Now I know:) >It sounds to me like your stage will be relatively protected from the >elements >by the awning, and with a run of 60-70 performances, I'm not sure >weather >factors should play a big part in your consideration of which >materials to use >to build your puppets. (You may want to think about rain/sun when >costuming, >though.) > >As for storage, the puppets should probably each have some sort of >protective >bag or covering before they are put away. I've worked this show for several years now, and it has pretty much become second nature to prepare for the worst when it comes to the rigours and dangers of performance in a season. The other puppets that have been out there have been used mostly on the street, and so they have been more succeptable to weathering, but they are no where near as complex or delicate as some of the ones for this show, so its hard not to be paranoid. I liked the protective bag idea, though, thanks. >I'm looking forward to hearing more about your project. >Best regards, >Anne I am certain you will all hear all about the details of this show as it evolves over the next year and a half. You have already become enormously useful in your experience and advise so far. Thanks again. yours, Amanda > --- Personal replies to: Puppetz-AT-aol.com > --- List replies to: puptcrit-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu > --- Admin commands to: majordomo-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu > ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] --- Personal replies to: Amanda C Langlinais <a.langlinais-AT-juno.com> --- List replies to: puptcrit-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu --- Admin commands to: majordomo-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu --- Personal replies to: "Hunter, Kurt" <KHunter-AT-siemens-psc.com> --- List replies to: puptcrit-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu --- Admin commands to: majordomo-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
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