Since going to La Machine in Nantes in 2008 I like to see what new sea creatures are being made in the workshop there. This TV news video shows the sea monster, a shell, a nautilus, a school of flying fish, another fish ship and a new kind of fish in action. I’m not sure where this amazing fish and turtle fit in , but they are cool!
Previously: Riding the giant elephant
The show I would be most curious to see at the Tarrengower Puppetfest in March (sadly I’m not going) is Hutch by Rachael Wenona Guy, which will take place in a disused gold mining tunnel known as Carman’s Tunnel. In a recent post, Rachael describes it as ‘a passion play involving a Mother, a giant rabbit and the rituals of nurturing an infant’ with an insatiable appetite. It looks creepy, and I’m sure that side of it will be enhanced by being seen in a claustrophobic shadowy ‘warren’.
This is an origami shell sculpture I made a while ago for a special present. It’s folded from a large brown manila envelope, and measures 20cm both lengthwise and across the widest end. The ends are held in place with wires threaded with tiny beads.
This is a sample of DudaPaiva Company’s production Screaming Object, ‘an absolutely unusual work of abstract dance and puppetry’ by Maurício Oliveira and Duda Paiva. I find it mesmerising, disturbing, and rather wonderful.
I love this interactive animation of Van Gogh’s Starry Night! Made by Petros Vrellis with openFrameworks it imagines the energy flows in the painting and offers the ability to change them with touch-sensitive gestures. These also change the ambient background music.
(via Colossal)
A few months ago I posted about the giant aerial puppet, Phoebe Sparkles, made by David Jones and friends for the show Highly Strung, which was performed from silos at the Nati Frinj (Natimuk Fringe Festival). Dave has followed up with this great video of sequences edited together from rehearsals and the performance. The animations really add another dimension, and as he comments, it’s amazing to see the puppeteers in action.
I’m intrigued by this footage of the dragon Toothless taking flight for the first time at Melbourne’s Creature Technology Company! Toothless stars in DreamWorks and Global Creatures’ new arena spectacular How to Train Your Dragon Live which premieres in Melbourne on 2 March, then tours Sydney, Brisbane, and Aukland. Check out their new TV commercial, various other videos and their FaceBook page .
Previously: How to Train Your Dragon Live
I was amazed when I first learnt about Lotte Reiniger a few years ago and saw this video of how she made her stop motion shadow puppetry films. The intricacy and deftness with which she plans, cuts and arranges the silhouettes, and the matter-of-factness in how she describes the process is quite breathtaking.
The Icelandic band Amiina play beautiful new musical soundscapes for three of Reiniger’s animated fairly tales in their live show Animagica, which has been touring Australia recently. Their instruments include violin, glassophone, musical saw and water-filled glasses. Below is a sampler of the performance, but you can also see more-or-less complete filmed performances of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty at YouTube.
The UK contemporary puppetry company Folded Feather recently built two large spectacular puppets out of car parts for Hyundai’s New Thinkers Index, a campaign ‘about new thinking and new possibilities’.
Previously: Folded Feather’s chickens
