This week’s episode of The Media Show with Erna and Meena looks at fearmongering in online safety ads (via @zephoria). The show is made by After Ed who ‘create videos about the evolving education sector’. They have given more information on the statistics they worked from.
puppets
Making of Allen’s giant doll puppet
Remember Allen’s giant doll marionette that was walking the streets of Brisbane a few months ago? The Oscar-winning visual effects director John Cox, whose Creature Workshop created the puppet, has given a cool behind the scenes look at how it was made. Also, there are a few videos of her on YouTube now, including the Allen’s advertisement.
Campaign Brief has a little more background, and I was not surprised to see direct reference to Royal de Luxe‘s giantess:
‘Lam and Ross took Inspiration from a Mexican Festival puppet and a 7m French puppet. The French puppet is believed to have cost $2M to build, yet this project didn’t have that kind of budget. The Cox created walking doll is generations ahead of the overseas inspiration in terms of her very advanced mechanics and instant physical appeal.
The Mexican puppet must be Luca. (I have some more information on Luca, but for another post). I think the ‘generations ahead’ aspect in the case of Royal de Luxe is rather meaningless, and a bit of chest puffing. The fibreglass/plastic look versus the wood/steampunk look is an aesthetic choice, appropriate in each case; and the movement of RdL’s giantess does not appear mechanically inferior, especially when you see the Allen’s doll’s feet kind of clap on the ground at each step in one of the videos, and she seems to tilt backwards too much at times.
Teeny tiny puppets
There’s something very meta about dmmalva’s tiny puppet studio and the vogue for Blythe dolls to accesorise with teeny tiny puppets. I like this one.
Update: I found this needle felted finger puppet monster with puppet today :)
Previously: Matchstick puppets!
New puppet: Rita the goat
This is Rita, a goat puppet I made recently for Merici College’s 50th Jubilee drama production, Dinkum Assorted by Linda Aronson, which will play at Belconnen Theatre on the 27th, 28th, 29th August. I became quite fond of her.
There’s a photoset of the making process in my portfolio at Flickr. Rita is made from plywood and polystyrene, and covered with fur fabric and panne velvet. Her mechs are simple, since it will be beginner puppeteers operating her: paired leg movement, and a neck which allows movement up and down as well as turning to either side. For the eyes I decided to use faceted glass beads because I remembered Neville Tranter saying he used them in all his puppets to bring the eyes to life.
Travel well, Rita!
Fantastic Mr. Fox movie: first pictures of puppets
Roald Dahl’s great story Fantastic Mr. Fox is being adapted for the big screen using stop-motion animation. Some early glimpses of the puppets have been released, and the trailer will be out at the end of the month. (Update: here it is). More details about the production at USA Today. As usual I am anxious about how it will be interpreted!
First glimpse of animation adaptation of Shaun Tan’s The Lost Thing
InFrame.tv has produced a great 5 minute documentary with Shaun Tan which offers an introductory glimpse at the work-in-progress on his short animated adaptation of The Lost Thing. It includes little (unfinished) animation clips, and aspects of designing and directing the work. On his website Shaun also writes about his involvement and includes some interesting new sketches and models. I noted the film in 2005, so it is exciting that it is expected to be finished this August!
The film, by Passion Pictures, will be 15 minutes long, and uses CGI with 2D handpainted elements. I’m interested in the comments about achieving rich textures, as they are so much part of the illustrations, and CGI is often so disappointingly smooth and shiny.
I’m happy to see a new book, too: Tales from Outer Suburbia.
I worked on the puppets for Jigsaw Theatre Company’s production of The Lost Thing a few years ago, so you will find numerous related previous posts here:
Also: The Lost Thing website
Giant Pinóquio puppet by Trigo Limpo ACERT
(photo credits and thanks: zetavares)
This fabulous giant Pinóquio puppet premiered last weekend at the Imaginarious Festival in Santa Maria da Feira in a street theatre production called The fantastic history of a child called Pinóquio by the theatre company Trigo Limpo ACERT. They come from Tondela, a small town in the centre of Portugal.
The choice of Pinocchio, the classic tale of a wooden boy who wants to become human, is particularly pleasing, because it reflects the puppeteers’ conceit of being able to bring inanimate things to life. And he looks beautifully articulated – I really like the way his leg and foot can turn and rest in his signature stance.
Zetavares has a great Flicker photoset of the 7 metre marionette, and has kindly let me post some of his photos here. He also has interesting sets of the making of the puppet, and the rehearsing the manipulation.
The character was sculpted by Carles of Madrid and Nico Nubiola of Taller de escultura De la Madrid & Nubiola, both of whom were involved with the production of the opening ceremony for the Barcelona Olympics. They have a cool video of how they made Pinóquio:
Teatro e Marionetas de Mandrágora were involved with the manipulation of the puppet. I first saw pictures of Pinoquio on their blog Espaço das Marionet@s, which I have been following for a while now.
Trigo Limpo ACERT have previously made some other great street theatre pieces, two of them large versions of traditional wooden push-along children’s toys. Memoriar na rotunda had a man pedalling a bicycle, (making photos here) and Golpe d’Asa, a bird whose wings flap as its wheel base rotates.
The Nano Song: puppets explain nanotechnology!
This cute Sesame Street style video won both the Critics’ Choice and People’s Choice awards in the ACS Nanotation NanoTube ‘What is Nano?’ competition for a video tutorial about nanotechnology. It was a ‘collaborative effort by a group of researchers from University of California, Berkeley including Patrick Bennett, David Carlton, Molly Felz, Nola Klemfuss, Glory Liu (singer), Ryan Miyakawa, Stacey Wallace, and Angelica Zen’.
Lull
Andrew Bird – Lull (daytrotter version): cool music, interesting shadow puppetry and animation.
(via Loobylu Tumbles)
