Understanding the unique considerations for puppetry in film and television, including camera angles and puppet design.
Types of Puppets: Different types of puppets used in film and television, including hand puppets, rod puppets, string puppets, and animatronics.
Puppet Manipulation Techniques: The art and techniques of puppet manipulation and how to bring life into a puppet character.
Puppet Building: The process of designing and building puppets, including sculpting, casting, armature building, and skinning.
Puppet Costuming and Props: Creating costumes and props for puppets that are suitable for film and television production.
Puppet Maintenance: Maintenance and care of puppet characters, including storage, cleaning, and repair of the puppet structure.
Script Analysis: Understanding how puppets are used to bring scripts to life and convey story elements.
Character Development: Understanding how to create puppet characters that will engage an audience and resonate with them.
Staging for Puppetry: How to design sets, lighting, and camera angles to provide the best staging for puppetry performance.
Sound Design: Creating sound effects and music to accompany the puppet performance, and how to use sound to enhance the emotions and expressiveness of a puppet.
Collaboration: Understanding how to work effectively with other members of the crew, such as the director, cinematographer, and sound designer, to create a cohesive puppetry performance.
History of Puppetry: Understanding the history and evolution of puppetry throughout the world, and the cultural impact and relevance of puppetry in today’s society.
Industry Practices: Knowledge of the practices, standards, and guidelines used in the film and television puppetry industry, including budgeting, scheduling, and contracts.
Experimental Techniques: Learning how to explore and experiment with different puppetry techniques and styles, including puppetry for live performance, film, and television.
Business and Marketing: Understanding how to market and promote your puppetry skills and knowledge to potential clients, including developing your portfolio, distributing your work, and networking with industry professionals.
Special Effects: Understanding how to use special effects in puppetry, including green screens, CGI, and motion capture.
Muppet or Hand Puppetry: This puppetry involves the use of puppets operated by a puppeteer's hand inside the puppet's body to control its movements and expressions.
Marionettes: Marionettes are controlled through strings or wires attached to their body parts. The puppeteer manipulates the strings from above the puppets' head to move their arms, legs, and head.
Rod Puppetry: Rod puppets are constructed with rods attached to their body parts, which allow the puppeteer to control their movements by moving the rods.
Shadow Puppetry: Shadow puppetry involves the use of puppets made of translucent materials, such as paper or thin fabric, to project shadow images on a screen. The puppets are moved around with sticks or strings behind the screen.
Animatronics: Animatronics uses robotic technology to create puppets that can move and speak like real creatures or characters. In this type of puppetry, the puppet is operated with a remote control or computer programming.
Stop-motion Puppetry: Stop-motion puppetry involves using a puppet that is painstakingly repositioned frame by frame to create movement. Each frame is shot separately, then the images are edited together to make the movement seem fluid.
Foam Puppetry: Foam puppetry is a more recent innovation that uses foam material to create more life-like movements and facial expressions in puppets.
Bunraku Puppetry: Originating in Japan, Bunraku puppetry involves the use of life-sized puppets operated by multiple puppeteers who work together to create the movements and expressions of the character.
Blacklight Puppetry: Blacklight puppetry is similar to shadow puppetry, but it involves using puppets made of fluorescent materials that glow under blacklight. The puppets' movements are controlled with rods or strings from behind the screen.
Hand and Glove Puppetry: Hand and glove puppetry uses puppets that cover the entire hand or just the fingers, with the puppeteer's hand acting as the puppet's body. The glove puppetry technique is also used in comedy performances.