4 February 2013

Puppet research

"Animating the Inanimate..." Basil Twist

These are some more interesting examples of puppetry which I discovered whilst researching this topic:

Weetabix Advert:
I have come across so many examples of different shows/commercials etc that are created through the use of puppetry, including this fantastic Weetabix advert where the bears are brought to life as both full size costumes worn by dancers as well as rod puppets.  
(Rod puppets used where the bears are dancing across the girls shoulders & doing flips from the bed to the floor)


TV advert creating using an animatronic suit


The Lion King -  Theatre Production 
Puppetry is used in this theatre production in a variety of scenes to make the story come alive.




Large Scale Puppets:

Lady Godiva:
A huge 20ft puppet was created for the 2012 olympics to tell the legedary tale of Lady Godiva who famously rode naked on horseback through Coventry in protest against high taxes.  The puppet is activated by four performers with Lady Godiva's head and eye movements being radio controlled, and transported by a purpose built 50 seater bicycle.




Highly Strung:
The performance of Highly Strung featuring the giant 14 meter puppet took place on the night of October 28th 2011 during the Nati Frinj festival. The puppet took ten people to operate and had animation (largely created by the children at the local primary school) projected onto it from projectors mounted both on the ground and in the head of the puppet itself.



Stop Motion Puppets:
Famous films such as Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run, Coraline, & Fantastic Mr Fox are all created using puppets and stop-frame animation.




The Fuccons:
A series of Japanese comedy sketches featuring a family of Americans living in metropolitan Japan. All of the characters are played by mannequins with perpetually frozen facial expressions.




Joe Wright
I actually read about Joe Wright in the March issue of Vogue.  He grew up in the 'Little Angel' puppet theatre - his father made the puppets & his mother made the sets & costumes - he would pore over his parent's sketches & make his own puppets.  I found this interesting interview on BBC about his puppet production -The Man with Enormous Wings.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15815712



A Different line of thought!
The 3rd album by Metallica -   Master of Puppets


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