Puppetry - Blog Posts
LOOK AT HIM HES SO CUTE AAAAAAAAAAA I LOVE NIRON SO MUCH
IM GONNA EXPLODE
This is mehh boy... as for his name.....Niron!!!!! I call him Neon as a nickname sometimes! :3 I can thank @lunatheartist22446 for Nirons name!! Thank u, fren >U<
KEKDJDISISJSJSKK, first thing in the morning, I plan on going to the store and buying him a shirt! <3 he needs one! The poor boy feels indecent! And I really wana tag @caes-funnyarc because I really just Wana show my beloved mutual dear Niron! And @c00kietin cuz they like puppets! :D
made a little puppet guy, he's currently judging me for being a homo
my puppet process pics!!
• also i might have accidently used 2 inch foam instead of 1/2 foam and now the skull is crushing my fingers when i try to puppeteer it any tips to fix that or should i just start over?
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Okay, okay. If anyone is looking for an idea for a Sam and Max animatic, I got just the thing for ya!
Sam and Max animatics using the audio of the Wilkins Coffee commercials! Sam as Wontkins, Max as Wilkins! (Max definitely fits the part considering how well he’s known for being cartoonishly violent and he definitely has a caffeine addiction!)
Also, a few of the commercials have moments where the puppets crossdress, one even being Wilkins as Wontkins’s “wife” no less!
This too good of an idea NOT to use! Please, take it! I’m not confident enough to be a youtuber!
The puppet master
A short horror story I wrote.
Word count: 777 (Lucky number:) )
TW: Body horror, psychological horror & gore
The room is dark.
Is it even really a room?
I don't know.
But there are stage lights, so it's probably a room.
The stage lights are for my puppet show.
I control all here.
I am the puppet master here.
An invisible jester.
A magician without a wand.
And a wordless storyteller.
It's a magical show and I am the one in control of the puppets.
It is a show about life and a show about death.
A show of the fortunate.
A show of the unfortunate.
An everyday story.
An awesome adventure.
Out of all the puppets, there is one in peculiar, that I have the most control over. It is also the one that takes the most out of me.
There is a crimson thread coming out of each of my fingers, like that of the veins in a body.
Maybe they are my veins.
I don't know, it's not important.
Four parts of the legs, two of the arms, one for the body, one for the neck, one for the head and one for the facial emotions.
I, of course am also able to control the others to a certain extent, their crimson threads are bound to my own arms, legs and neck.
Maybe we are alike.
It might look a little silly, but even so my control over them is almost flawless.
This is going to be another great show.
This is going to be another great day.
Another hope for applause.
Another hope for approval.
In this room, where the audience goes unseen and the light only shines on my puppet show.
Honestly I'm not sure if there even really is an audience, but it doesn't matter.
No time.
The show starts.
And the curtains rise.
The protagonist wakes up and gets ready for its work.
As the public watches the puppet moving as if it was alive, I can hear some gasps.
Did I really?
Perfect, it is all going smoothly.
After a long day being overworked it returns home for a late dinner.
It decides to watch tv.
The crowd seems to have gotten bored. Maybe I should let something weird happen the next day.
At night the protagonist stares up at the ceiling, wishfully hoping for change in its repetitive and stressful life.
I can show this without sound, without words. Just the movements, lights and the face.
Some audience members seem to relate.
Isn't this all just in my head?
The next morning, the same routine starts.
It is stressing me out, I can hear their dissatisfaction.
Continuing, something happens at work.
Something bad.
The protagonist is treated worse than before.
The audience seems to be more interested in the plot now.
This problem seems to be getting worse and worse by day and yet the protagonist bottles it all up.
I let it seem like it has been bottling things up, it is a puppet after all. It doesn't have feelings.
Now I'm planning for the protagonist to make a heroic comeback, because that's what my audience loves after all.
A new day and more anticipation than before, because this might be the day and if not, it will most definitely be the day after.
The protagonist meets the bully.
Not yet, please not yet. Later is better, later is good...
Then suddenly a thread snaps.
It is the one controlling the emotions.
Voiceless I scream.
It hurts.
It hurts.
It hurts really bad.
Blood is pouring out of the thread, turning it gray.
So it was a vein?
The empty darkness is shocked.
This is not heroic at all!
As I try to grasp for control, I lose it all.
One by one they snap, leaving me in anguish.
So much pain.
All threads turn grey.
Yet I can't scream or cry.
The public starts booing.
They are already bored, they wanted a hero.
They wanted an interesting story.
A totally unique story.
A story they could relate to, but also making them feel better.
A story so strange, but also so normal.
Real and fake.
I need to change something.
I need to do something!
But then after my puppet has started yelling and hitting the others, the other threads snap.
The threads of the others.
Blood is everywhere and I have gotten numb from the pain.
The audience is disgusted by the sight of the bloody battlefield, that is the small stage.
My puppet show is ruined.
After all the other puppets have been ripped apart, 'my' puppet turns around to face me.
It's face filled with broken emotions.
It is broken.
They are broken.
Slowly the protagonist walks my way.
Were they always this tall?
Was the size just an illusion?
Maybe it is magic...
Step by step they get closer.
Each step sounding more human than the last.
The protagonist is approaching and I have nothing to defend myself with.
No weapons.
Not even words.
I only have the broken threads, the threads that were supposed to control everything.
I look to my sides for help.
Only the ignoring darkness stares at me.
Watching, blind eyed.
I wasn't good enough.
I'm not real.
It seems I was the puppet all along.
The only 'it' in this play was me.
mannnn look at my lawyer…… im goin to jail :(
the hair was a painful thing to create so you will enjoy it.
this one turned out much better
boredom can lead to strange places.
Callie & Izzy Season 2 is coming soon, and here’s the trailer!
I performed voiceovers and served as an audio engineer on this show. It’s really nuts and wonderful, and I’m ridiculously proud to be part of it.
If you haven’t seen Season 1 yet, binge on it here!
Callie and Izzy is an upcoming webseries it’s been my pleasure to be part of. The show is by Nicola Rose, with whom I’ve previously worked on The Media Show and the musical Aisle Six.
More info coming soon, keep an eye on it!
We at The Media Show got wind of some dodgy claims by McCormick Spices extolling the supposed health benefits of that pinch of dried plant matter with which you might flavor your food. Weena fights hyperbole with Youtube Poop.
My homemade Tom Servo hanging out at the movies in 2004. This display seemed to catch his interest for some reason.
He's a totally functional puppet, built out of most of the same parts as the MST3K crew used (or, where unavailable, fan-made replicas of same.) I'll put up some clearer pics of him soonish.
Left: Jayson Musson as “Jay” with “Ollie.” Jayson Musson, in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, His History of Art, 2022. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño. Right: Joseph Beuys during his performance of How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare, Schelma Gallery, Dusseldorf, 26 November 1965. Photo credit: Walter Vogel.
I went to Philly to see His History of Art by Jayson Musson at the Fabric Workshop and Museum and wrote about its pedagogical use of satire to challenge art educational conventions on my blog Artfully Learning. Read about it in the post "Whose History of Art?"
Set and props from Jayson Musson: His History of Art at the Fabric Museum and Workshop, Philadelphia, PA. Photograph by Esther Welsh
I went to Philly to see "His History of Art" by Jayson Musson at the Fabric Workshop and Museum and wrote about its pedagogical use of satire to challenge art educational conventions on my blog Artfully Learning. Read about it in the post "Whose History of Art?"
This is Todd.
Todd is the latest addition to my puppet family. He’s grumpy, so he’s not going to say anything, but I feel he looks a bit plain. Anyone know anything simple I can add? Hair? Let me know!
I finally was able to watch “Jim Henson Idea Man”
I adored it omg. I’m such a huge fan of the muppets and the other creations of Jim Henson and look up to him so much as a creator. It’s amazing to know that there were/are other people out there who feel like their time is going by just too quickly to be able to create everything they want to. No matter how much time I get, the things I create with that time, no matter if they change the world or not, are worth it.
That said, here’s the sketchbook page I filled while watching the documentary!
I wrote down some of my favorite quotes, but I know my handwriting isn’t always legible.
“The fact that he did Sesame Street instead of a series of nightclubs”
“Gretl is back from the moon!”
“Train of thought editing.”
“I’ve learned to walk around in my own head. That may sound silly to you but it’s been very, very helpful to me.”
“He wasn’t scared of dying… he believed there was something else there.”
“He wasn’t a musician but he thought like one.”
All that aside, thoughts on the funky puppet guy who takes up the bottom half of the page? Hair or no hair?
can we as a society make puppetry cool again. like lets make it trendy. Mainstream. more people should get into doing it and more people should appreciate it. puppetry requires craftsmanship and charisma and physical acting and vocal performance!! you can’t get that from ai. it has a charm to it that neither 2D nor cg animation has. Have you ever watched a puppetry performance and realized you were genuinely convinced that the puppet was getting into bed or eating something or giving a hug that you wholly forgot there was some guy’s arm in there.
isn’t it lovely. to make a funny little guy to tell stories with. is that not so human of us. it’s such a lovely art form. I love you puppets I love you muppets I love you marionettes I love you handmade sock puppets I love you paper bags with googley eyes I love you armatures I love you I love you I love you!!!!!
can we as a society make puppetry cool again. like lets make it trendy. Mainstream. more people should get into doing it and more people should appreciate it. puppetry requires craftsmanship and charisma and physical acting and vocal performance!! you can’t get that from ai. it has a charm to it that neither 2D nor cg animation has. Have you ever watched a puppetry performance and realized you were genuinely convinced that the puppet was getting into bed or eating something or giving a hug that you wholly forgot there was some guy’s arm in there.
isn’t it lovely. to make a funny little guy to tell stories with. is that not so human of us. it’s such a lovely art form. I love you puppets I love you muppets I love you marionettes I love you handmade sock puppets I love you paper bags with googley eyes I love you armatures I love you I love you I love you!!!!!
another WIP of my Interface-B puppet!
WIP puppet for the upcoming multi-media video game project, Interface-B!
Behold my newest puppet
His name is Don Weasel, and he's supposed to be in his winter coat (because I still have a massive amount of fake white fur that I don't even remember obtaining)
In my head he's retired and lives in Florida (pronounces it "Flah-rida" and has a wife named Barbara (pronounced Bah-brah)
Busting it down to Pöpcørn with Dookie Fraggle
Got a little silly and made some Fraggles.
I named the pink one Dookie Fraggle. Dunno about the white one yet
This is sick as hell! I can only imagine how much coordination and practice it would have taken to get this shot. :0
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Craft update #1: the cardboard dragon
started: Aug 2023 status: abandoned
last year I had this wonderful idea to make a big articulated dragon thing (a childhood dream come true) ideally it would be made out of thin wood sheets (balsa wood?) and have bolts for joints - I guess the plan was to make a cardboard and toothpicks sketch and then a pattern to have it all laser cut (if you can even order smth like that), but I stopped at the (unfinished) sketch
it took days to cut out the segments (with the hind legs being remade entirely at some point) and I wasn't satisfied how the limbs connect to the torso (because I didn't plan it) - it would probably have to be remade/fixed a lot more, but I simply got (very) tired of it
now, the wings were supposed to be the really cool part, with hinges to allow them to move up and down, inner bones made of wire and some fabric for the membrane.. this never went anywhere and stayed as an idea in my head (one shitty cardboard wing sketch was made)
as of now, the dragon has been taped together to prevent everything falling apart, and is hanging from the ceiling to watch over when I sleep (first pic)
A marionette of the Moon which I've recently finished. I made her with salt dough and sewed her dress. I have never made a puppet before, so this project was very interesting and enjoyable :)
I started off with planning her out. She is inspired by The Spanish play ‘Bodas de Sangre’ by Federico Garcia Lorca’. In this play, the moon is a character inspired by Spanish magical realism and represents wisdom and fate.
I made the body out of wire and salt dough To link all of the separate joints together I put wire hooks into the pieces, hooked them all together and then out them in the oven to cook. The dough cooked for a few hours. However, some parts were still uncooked when I took it out of the oven so some hooks slipped out. I put these back in with a glue gun and left the whole body on a radiator for about a week to allow everything to dry through. After it was all dry, I painted the face and hands and created the dress which I painted with water colours. The colour surprisingly came out quite well on the fabric. Some came off onto my hands when handling the puppet but apart from that, the paint overall stayed on well. I also embroidered stars onto the dress with white thread and added dots of silver paint, to represent the night sky.
To attach the strings to my marionette puppet I glued hooks onto her hands and head and attached the strings onto two sticks. This worked fine and you can move her head up and down and her arms and hands. I planned to put strings onto her feet too however it was difficult to string the marionette up under her dress and it was also unnecessary as the feet aren’t really visible.
I loved this project a lot, I’m happy with the final outcome. :)