Date: Sun, 14 Apr 2002 16:19:33 -0500
Subject: Re: PUPT: Farscape


Who stole my apostrophes? Someone's put little strings on them and has them
dancing about in some other e-mail...

Regards,
Diane

Freshwater Pearls Puppetry
http://www.freshwaterpearlspuppetry.com/

> From: Freshwater Pearls Puppetry <freshwaterpearls-AT-attbi.com>
> Reply-To: puptcrit-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
> Date: Sun, 14 Apr 2002 16:13:27 -0500
> To: puptcrit-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
> Subject: Re: PUPT: Farscape
> 
> Farscape, popcorn and chocolate ice cream. Could Friday night get any
> better?!
> 
> I edit the newsletter for Twin Cities Puppeteers, Minnesota's puppetry
> guild, and each month I write a little column called "Yada Yada Yada." Last
> year one of those columns featured Farscape:
> 
> ******
> 
> These days TV is swarming with puppets. They mostly inhabit childrens
> programming. But one genre of adult TV  science fiction  often relies
> heavily on puppetry to make its fabulous worlds believable. For my money, a
> SciFi Channel show called Farscape offers some of the best science fiction
> puppetry ever exhibited. Two of the shows main characters, Rygel and Pilot,
> are animatronic puppets. They appear in every episode and are marvelously
> believable. This is not surprising, given that Farscape is a production of
> The Jim Henson Company.
> 
> Rygel is my favorite. He is more properly referred to as Dominar Rygel the
> XVI, Ruler of the Hynerian Realms, Beloved by 600 Billion Subjects
> (according to him). Hes a smallish, froggish, selfish little
> helium-expelling bag of egomania, but hes endearing.
> 
> A few weeks ago, Farscape began its third season with a behind-the- scenes
> summary of the series to date -- a Farscape primer. It was hosted by the
> shows lead actors, Ben Browder and Claudia Black. As they described Rygel
> and his role on the show, the Toady Dominar himself floated in on his
> ThroneSled and pointed out that the show was really all about him. Claudia
> flashed a sardonic smile, leaned over to Rygel and said Rygel, theres a
> call for you Spielberg on Line 1. Oh, um, excuse me, Rygel graciously
> apologized to the audience. I must go. And off he sped. Ben snickered to
> Claudia, Puppets are so gullible.
> 
> Whoa! I thought. Hes gullible? Who is it whos spending his career talking
> to a two-foot mass of latex, fabric and servos as if it were a living,
> breathing alien? But its okay to be gullible. In fact, for actors who
> interact with puppets, and even more so for puppeteers, gullibility is
> essential. Its in the job description.
> 
> How can an individuals gullibility potential be assessed? I know a dandy
> test. I have memories of my father to thank for it. He plied this amusing
> little exercise on his willing children more than once:
> 
> Tester to Subject: Id like you to meet a friend of mine. His name is Tiny.
> (Tester holds his or her hand out flat.) Here he is, standing on my palm.
> Tiny is quite small, and also invisible.
> Tester to hand: Whats that, Tiny? Youre warm? Yes, it is warm in here. Why
> dont you take off your coat? Oh, alright, Ill ask.
> Tester to Subject: Tiny wants to know, would you mind holding his coat for
> him?
> Subject: (rolling eyes, but playing along) Uh, sure. (Tester mimes placing
> invisible coat on Subjects palm.)
> Tester to hand: Whats that, Tiny? You think we might as well be casual? I
> agree.
> Tester to Subject: Would you hold Tinys hat for him?
> Subject: Okay. (Tester mimes placing small, invisible hat on Subjects
> palm.)
> Tester to hand: Whats that, Tiny? Yes, youre right, it really doesnt look
> much like rain. Ill ask.
> Tester to Subject: Tiny would like you to hold his umbrella. Is that okay?
> Subject: Sure. (Tester mimes placing small, invisible umbrella on Subjects
> palm.)
> Tester to Subject: Tell me something truthfully. Do you believe that Tiny is
> real?
> Subject: Of course not!
> Tester to Subject: Then why are you holding his coat, hat and umbrella?
> 
> Gullible is as gullible does.
> 
> *********
> Regards,
> Diane
> 
> Freshwater Pearls Puppetry
> http://www.freshwaterpearlspuppetry.com/



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