Tips for TV Show Puppeteers: How to Master the Art of Puppet Theater

Video Transcript

Hello! This is Paul Louis from Puppets n’ Stuff puppets. You can find us on the worldwide web at www.puppetsnstuff.com. We are back and continuing on with our puppet manipulation techniques, and we are going to talk a little bit about puppet manipulation for theater or live events versus puppet manipulation for television and film. For theater and live events, especially if you have a big audience and you have a small stage, it might be a good idea to over exaggerate some of your puppet moves. So when he speaks, he can be really, really, really big, yes he can, okay, hello! Yes, that way everybody in the audience will get to see what he is doing. Now for TV and film, you have to understand that sometimes the character is in a very tight close-up, or maybe a mid shot, kind of like what we are doing right now, and his actions do not have to be so big; they could be more natural. Hello! Very good to see you. How are you? It’s nice to be here. Yes it is. Okay, so again there is a difference between live theater or live events and operating a puppet for television or film. Also, another thing is, sometimes you will be working with monitors—I am going to speak more in detail about that in the next segment—but when you are working with monitors for television or film, you are most likely going to have the puppet above your head; and the proper way to hold the puppet would be kind of like this. So the elbow is almost straight, your elbow is almost straight, you bend it ever so slightly, and your head is tucked down just a little bit; that way you can look at the monitor to keep an eye on your puppet. Now the puppet is probably out of frame right now, but you get the idea. Also, there are some theatrical productions where the puppet is actually on stage with the puppeteers to their side, like that; and sometimes puppeteers actually do the same expressions and body language as the puppet on their arm. Okay? We will be right back, and we will talk about working with monitors for television or film.

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