Looking for some good links on building puppets

[Iokitek]

Hi I'm new here,

I just started studying the concept of puppetry because I'm planning on making amateur movies with a friend. I noticed puppetry comes in very handy in the field of special FX. Yoda comes to mind for instance.

What I'm looking for are informative links, books, articles and whatever you can think of concerning puppetry. I will simply start by disembowling teddybears etc. myself wich I find at fleamarkets and then try to reasemble them into a simple handpuppet. Later on I plan on trying stick puppets etc.

But eventually I would like to move on to using foam latex or whatever stuff the big guys use. I would very much like some information on this and I was hoping some of you could provide me with it. I hate wasting time though so I'll probably want to start doing this very soon since I do not actually want my puppets to look like puppets.

I know I'm probably not the first newbie to ask for all of this. So maybe you could also direct me to some old posts concerning these issues.

Thanks in advance for all the replies and I'll try to keep you all posted of my activities. I need to make a blog first though.

-Io-

Oh and anything on set and prop building would be great too

 

[atacprez]

There are a number of Puppetry websites that can help:
www.puppetsandstuff.com has a lot of info on puppets, scripts, building etc. They are very helful to newbies
The Puppetry Homepage- www.puppetry.info is a more advanced site. Not kept too up to date but they have a great archive that you can access.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Hi Iokitek,

Welcome to MC! I've written a guide to puppet building resources you'll probably find helpful. The URL is http://www.bear-town.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=11&Itemid=36

I hope that helps!

 

[Iokitek]

Thanks a bunch!

Those links really helped. I bought some clay, plaster and latex and I fashioned a simple head out of the piece of clay. I'm going to make a plaster mold of it, fill it with latex and then poar the excess amount of latex back into the bottle. The result should be a thin layer of latex on the inside wich can be used as the head for a puppet.

I don't know if it'll all go wel though. I've never even worked with clay before. I've done some drawing and painting in my days. And even a little woodworking. But somehow I stayed away from clay. Apparently I shouldn't have because it's the best material I've ever worked with. But I still need to practice. I did this head all by hand but I need some tools. Small pieces of clay that stick out tend to break of easily if you apply too much pressure on them.

The other problem is that my clay won't dry. It's been standing around for about half a day now and it still feels cold and moist. While it should already be dry without help of an oven. I tried still putting it in the oven but even though it got incredibly hot it still wouldn't dry the clay. What's up with that? Does anyone know? Should I just wait another 12 hours or something?

-Io-

 

[Yahnke]

did you hollow out the clay head? that is a alot of clay to cook at once. It works better if its hollowed out.

 

[Iokitek]

I knew it!

I just made the thing out of solid clay. Should've known better ofcourse but I guess I was just impatient. The 'lump' is almost dry now though

Next time I think I'll use those styrofoam balls to fashion the head around. And use the same self-drying clay to see if I get beter results. I also need to check if it's oil based or not.

Thanks again for the links. They really are very helpfull in figuring out how to start at all of this. I also found this link wich has alot about latex and stuff:

http://www.monstermakers.com/

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I tried emailing you privately Iokitek and through your blog (suggestion: add an email link or form to your blog so people can get in touch with you!). Wanted to add your blog to my "Puppet People" blog roll and wondered if you would do a link exchange. If you're interested email me privately.

 

[Iokitek]

Oops!

I must've disabled my email or something. I'll get right on it. There is an email link on the bottom of my blog sidebar though. I guess you must've looked over it.

Anyway I'll shoot you an email. Already added a link to your blog.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

This was just posted by another member of MC:

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=14876

 

[Iokitek]

thanks!

I noticed that post before. But I don't really want to work with patterns. It comes in handy to study them though.