Self Doubt and the Begining Puppeteer/Puppet Builder

Dagger Claws

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Hello everyone,

I've been mulling over a fear of mine for a while, and I wanted to share it with the everyone in the community. I'll soon be a junior in college and I've decided to go for a BA in Fine Art and to take acting and theatre classes as well, so I can take what I learn from my art classes towards puppet building and become a better actor and performer by taking acting classes and using what I learn to shape my performance. I was even able to intern this past summer with a company in Chicago to gain more experience with puppetry and what it would be like to make puppets for theatre. I did a bit of everything from working with foam, building sets, helping with making and painting puppets, and I was even asked to work the lighting board for the entire run of the show.

What troubles me at times is self doubt and fear that I won't be as good as I want to be. This past Halloween I was asked to make and perform a short 20 minute puppet skit for some friends for their Halloween art show. I agreed to 3 shows and thought I could handle things, but I was filled with such self doubt and fear that what I would be performing wouldn't look good at all, and that things would go bad. I made an entire cast of puppets myself and this was my first show since I performed once when I was still in grade school for a local library. Maybe it was just because this was my first time performing, but, I was just so afraid of making mistakes and that things wouldn't go right at all. The show went over alright, but my other performances were canceld when the art show went belly up, so I was unable to perform for an audience. I was however able to perform the show for some puppetry friends, and they thought it was good show for my first time.

For a class of mine at school, I have to give a 10 minute presentation presented in anyway you'd like and I decided to use puppets. It's crunch time now (the presentation is Wednesday), and I went over the script yesterday and did a rough run through, and practiced today and did at least 4-5 run throughs. What I have right now is alright, but, I just don't like what I'm doing and wonder if I ever will get any better. And, along those lines, another fear creeps in and wonders "Is this such a smart idea to get into puppetry as a occupation?" I guess I'm afraid of failing and ruining a show and failing in front of an audience. Can anyone help me out? Am I the only one who has these fears for just starting out as wanting to pursue puppetry and or puppet making? And, how can you study your own work with a critcal eye and how do you evolve an eye for improving your own work with out tearing yourself apart?

Thank you all for your time,
Marc.
 

Yahnke

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Dagger,

I feel your pain man! I do a lot of public speaking. Imagine preaching a 20 minute sermon, but 5 mins into it you forget what comes next....it's hard to recover from. You worked so hard on it. you wrote it, you memorized it, you practiced it and had all kinds of powerful motions and gestures, but after that first miscue you are lucky to finish it...forget about being powerful and dramatic.

I think the only way, besides practice, to become comfortable in front of poeple..is to do it for the love of what you are doing. Forget about fame, fortune, and a round of standing applause. Love what you do and be confident that those poeple who are there to see you love what you do too. Most audiences give their presenter the benefit of the doubt...use it. Practice hard, relax, and have fun. that's my advice.
 

Erine81981

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Ya'll both have gave me an idea. I think I should be able to make a puppet show of some sort and put it on at a school or something. I'm thinking of doing some sort of thing like that. Since I know someone whos a teacher I might have her do some research for me at the school. Thanks for giving me an idea for some puppet shows I could put one on. Thanks again. :smile:

PS: U just need to relax. If something goes wrong just keep going don't call it a mess up call it part of the play. Hope it goes well.
 

Buck-Beaver

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I hate to spoil the surprise, but you're human. You'll make mistakes. A lot. You'll learn. You'll grow. You'll get over them. You'll get better and better. :smile:

I remember an article I read about Maryl Streep recently - she was being asked if on the set of HBO's "Angels in America" the younger actors were intimidated by her and Al Pacino. She explained that most young actors she works with are....right up until the first time she forgets her lines, at which point they realize she's just like them and they learn to relax. So I guess the lesson there is that no matter how good at something you are you'll always make a mistake, flub a line, forget a cue, etc.

I think you only get good at something by doing it again and again and making lots of mistakes. Don't be afraid of them! It's all part of the learning process...
 

jediX

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Practice practice practice. I'm not exactly the most experienced performer there is, but I've found out a few things that keep puppeting fun at the hobby/perform for personal video projects level:

You have to learn about your characters. You could have the most elaborate puppet ever and if you never gave it a personality and LEARNED that personality, it wouldn't be worthwhile for others. Learn to act through them and know every personality flaw/twist they have. I enjoy improvising between my own characters and even other people. If you can get down a personality at that level, improvising for ten minutes to a small (class-sized) audience will be a snap, assuming you know the material you're covering. Let the puppet's personality lead the show.

I don't know what to say about the whole career path thing, but here's how I look at my own situation. My dream job would be to perform Sam Eagle & Animal w/ the Muppets (I do dead-on accurate voices of them and have studied how they speak/inflections), but the odds of this are slim-to-nil. I've never had professional experience, I've never had any training, but I continue to do puppetry (I've been doing it in some way or form for about 8 years at a hobby level). You're in a different position than I am -- you have the credits taken care of whereas I've followed my own path (digital media). All I could say, I guess, is to minor in something else you could see yourself doing, you know, just in case puppetry falls through. Besides, couldn't you also do stage acting w/ a BA fine arts?

If you love it, do it, but you must have confidence in yourself. I'm in no way a motivational speaker, although I take on the role of it sometimes, but that's all I can really say. My degree will be useful to me and it is something I love, but I'm minoring in something else I could do just in case DMS falls through on me.

I'll summarize one of my greatest philosophical influences: If you never believe in yourself, you will fail. If you cannot see yourself succeeding, you will fail. Try not. DO, or do not; there is no try.
-Yoda :wink:

And of course, I could obviously quote the chorus of 'Rainbow Connection' here, but I'd sure hope you know how it goes :smile:
 

buckshot

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when i first started with puppetry about 10 years ago at my church, i was obsessed with being the most flawless performer that i could be. i was in front of a hundred kids and adults one sunday morning doing puppets, and the stage collapsed with me behind it. everyone laughed, but because it was funny...not because i screwed up.

that was when i realized that puppetry is a fun thing, and not a stressful thing. i always find it odd to see people beating themselves up for messing up occasionally. buck's right about us just being human...we're going to mess up. it's our nature. if this is something you love to do, then i say keep at it.
 

Phantom

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If that anxious feeling ever goes away, you have a problem.

When I perform or speak in public, I just try to make sure I have practiced and that I focus on the point I want to make. If you know where you are starting and you know where you are ending, the rest just flows. I have yet to perform where I got the "scripted" words exactly right (never been in a play where it was critical), but somehow that makes the part natural. I remember one scene from a production last year, in four performances, the scene/words never came out exactly the same, but I am friends with all the others on stage, so each time seemed natural. We started and ended where we were supposed to, but the innards....well, they moved the story along.

Good Luck.
 

Fozzie Bear

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I agree with everyone else. You're messed up if you don't mess up! Just keep going, work at it, and do it every opportunity you can. I have LOW LOW LOW self-esteem, but you can't tell it because I don't relay that message to people. I think I'm a horrible harmonica player, but I play it when we do Blues Brothers shows (NOT Jake and Elwood); I think I'm a terrible artist, but people enjoy my comic strips; I am a terrible performer, whether speaking, acting, singing, puppetry, puppet building--but I do it because there are people who are interested, entertained, and inspired by the little things that I do. And you don't get to do those things by letting your fears or self-doubt take over! Just DO what you want to do, don't be as hard on yourself as I am on myself, and you'll get good things done and people will like it!

I'll tell you what we did once: A puppet show was seeming pretty bad, so we made it purposefully worse and kept making mention how bad it was at different intervals through the show, and had some of the characters over-act their scenes, and it was funn-ee! Like it had been directed by Miss Piggy!! HA.

You're good, just let it show.
 

Super Scooter

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Fozzie Bear said:
I agree with everyone else. You're messed up if you don't mess up! Just keep going, work at it, and do it every opportunity you can. I have LOW LOW LOW self-esteem, but you can't tell it because I don't relay that message to people. I think I'm a horrible harmonica player, but I play it when we do Blues Brothers shows (NOT Jake and Elwood); I think I'm a terrible artist, but people enjoy my comic strips; I am a terrible performer, whether speaking, acting, singing, puppetry, puppet building--but I do it because there are people who are interested, entertained, and inspired by the little things that I do. And you don't get to do those things by letting your fears or self-doubt take over! Just DO what you want to do, don't be as hard on yourself as I am on myself, and you'll get good things done and people will like it!

I'll tell you what we did once: A puppet show was seeming pretty bad, so we made it purposefully worse and kept making mention how bad it was at different intervals through the show, and had some of the characters over-act their scenes, and it was funn-ee! Like it had been directed by Miss Piggy!! HA.

You're good, just let it show.
AMEN!

I haven't done a single performance that was flawless, or even remotely good. hehe! But most people seem to like it, and eventually, we'll get it right.
 

ScrapsFlippy

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Daggerclaws, dude, you've already accomplished more than many people can claim. Keep at it.

Puppetry is a lot like acting in that it is such an imperfect art. You can always stand to make improvements. Not to get too mystical, but there's this concept that you really have to do the best you can in order to pass beyond that "best" and get any better. And, you do it on a gradient. It's easy to look at someone like Jim Henson and say "Geez - there's no way I could play at that level." The challenge is to set your goals high and work towards them.

Ignore your losses (but learn from them), and make firm your wins! From what you wrote, you have oodles of wins!

- The Dahli Scraps Flama

(P.S. JediX - your name and icon remind me of something I thought about. You remember in Return of the Jedi, how Darth Vader takes Lukes Lightsaber and says "I see your training is complete?" Well not to get too "Puppet Nerdy" but I think building a puppet is kind of the puppeteer's way of passing from "Padawan" puppeteer to "Jedi" puppeteer. Wouldn't you agree?)
 
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