Joey and Eric gave no appearance of life as they laid in that box. Their flimsy puppet bodies and their button eyes were still and they had no personality. But all I needed to do was slip my hands inside there bodies, lift them out of the box, and suddenly they came to life. All puppets, including Joey and Eric, just need some help from a puppeteer to have the appearance of life.
The most common type of puppets are moving-mouth puppets. With these puppets all you have to do is move the puppets mouth in sync with the spoken words. The technique here is to move the puppet's mouth for each syllable that is spoken.
Here is an example. For the puppet to say "Hi," its mouth should be open once and closed. To say "today," the mouth should be opened twice, once for each syllable. Experiment by using the puppet to say "Hi, how are you today?" For this sentence the mouth should be opened a total of six times. Make sure to close the mouth completely when the phrase ends.
If you want to practice, pick a song that you know well, preferably one that is not too fast. Use your hands to make the puppet "sing" by opening and closing the mouth in sync with the words. If you can do this you are well on your way to being ready for a puppet performance.
Another type of puppets is glove puppets. Glove puppets use your index finger for the head of the puppet and your thumb and middle finger for the movement of the arms. With glove puppets there is no mouth movement, which means that gestures and body movement will be more important for realism and liveliness.
To simulate life you should cause the puppets hands to move during talking, and also use some light head nodding. Don't move the puppets head sharply as it can be too intense and distracting for watchers.
With stick puppets and finger puppets all you need to do as the puppeteer is make simple back and forth movements, or even swaying side to side. Simple and small wrist movements will help to give these puppets life. As with any type of puppet, movement is essential to give the puppet life.
Several principles are essential for effective use of any puppet.
(1) Even when a puppet is not speaking, make sure that it has life any time it is on stage. Don't simply let non-talking puppets stand still with no movement. Just nodding the head or moving the hands will make the puppets look more convincing.
(2) Make sure the audience can clearly see each figure. Have the puppets face the audience when speaking to them, but make the puppets look at each other when dialogging.
(3) Keep the above the stage. Throughout the show your arms may get tired, so pay attention to their height to make sure they do not slip too far down.
(4) Having the puppets walk on and off the stage is important for realism. Use a gentle bouncing motion as the enter and exit rather than quickly moving them in and out rigidly.
Returning Eric and Joey to their box reminded me of a verse. Jesus said "Without me you can do nothing." Just as the puppeteer is the source of life and strength to the puppet, so is He the source for us.
Father, thank you for being me source of strength in my daily life. - 30224
The most common type of puppets are moving-mouth puppets. With these puppets all you have to do is move the puppets mouth in sync with the spoken words. The technique here is to move the puppet's mouth for each syllable that is spoken.
Here is an example. For the puppet to say "Hi," its mouth should be open once and closed. To say "today," the mouth should be opened twice, once for each syllable. Experiment by using the puppet to say "Hi, how are you today?" For this sentence the mouth should be opened a total of six times. Make sure to close the mouth completely when the phrase ends.
If you want to practice, pick a song that you know well, preferably one that is not too fast. Use your hands to make the puppet "sing" by opening and closing the mouth in sync with the words. If you can do this you are well on your way to being ready for a puppet performance.
Another type of puppets is glove puppets. Glove puppets use your index finger for the head of the puppet and your thumb and middle finger for the movement of the arms. With glove puppets there is no mouth movement, which means that gestures and body movement will be more important for realism and liveliness.
To simulate life you should cause the puppets hands to move during talking, and also use some light head nodding. Don't move the puppets head sharply as it can be too intense and distracting for watchers.
With stick puppets and finger puppets all you need to do as the puppeteer is make simple back and forth movements, or even swaying side to side. Simple and small wrist movements will help to give these puppets life. As with any type of puppet, movement is essential to give the puppet life.
Several principles are essential for effective use of any puppet.
(1) Even when a puppet is not speaking, make sure that it has life any time it is on stage. Don't simply let non-talking puppets stand still with no movement. Just nodding the head or moving the hands will make the puppets look more convincing.
(2) Make sure the audience can clearly see each figure. Have the puppets face the audience when speaking to them, but make the puppets look at each other when dialogging.
(3) Keep the above the stage. Throughout the show your arms may get tired, so pay attention to their height to make sure they do not slip too far down.
(4) Having the puppets walk on and off the stage is important for realism. Use a gentle bouncing motion as the enter and exit rather than quickly moving them in and out rigidly.
Returning Eric and Joey to their box reminded me of a verse. Jesus said "Without me you can do nothing." Just as the puppeteer is the source of life and strength to the puppet, so is He the source for us.
Father, thank you for being me source of strength in my daily life. - 30224
About the Author:
Dr. Ann Shorb is a counselor, speaker and writer. If you are working with puppets in your own ministry, check her website for free puppet skits.
