Sunday 18 November 2018

Story-Makers: The Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat- Week Three: 'Puppets.'



This morning's Story-Makers session was all about puppets. So far we have looked at storyboards for mapping out a story and building set/props to help tell the story. With puppetry we were looking at a different means of telling the story: one that does not involve actors. There were two types of puppets that we were looking at today. Those were static puppets and animated puppets. 


We sat down and read the story once more, to refresh our memories and remember what characters appear in it. Then we looked at some examples of both types of puppet. Static puppets are puppets which, in this case, did not move. They can be maneuvered around but feature no parts that lift or rotate. For an example of this we looked at some people-shaped cardboard figures which were decorated to resemble the owl and the pussycat from the story. 


We also looked at an example of an animated puppet. The puppets we were to create in the session were from cardboard and split-pins. Our examples were a puffin with wings that moved and a shark that had the pussycat on its fin: the latter of which being the part that moved. These were better for making creatures, or for making objects or people which needed to move or make different poses. 


There were mixed opinions about the puppets. Some story makers took immediately to the idea of making animated puppets, while others went for the static puppets. By the end of the session most have attempted to try and make both. Some lovely creations were made; both representing characters and people inside and outside of the book. 


Making puppets using cardboard as we did is a simplistic way of doing so; but within theater it is sometimes better to start with something simplistic. Often this will transform into something brilliant. In terms of creating a version of our story with puppets; making them simplistic is best, as we would certainly require a lot of them. The story makers did a fantastic job this morning. Next week we will embark on another adventure- either with masks or creating an undersea cave (exact adventure tbc). 

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