Really cool! Really, who's to say that a marionette has to have legs? Come to think of it, has anyone put a marionette in a wheelchair?

Come to think of it, has anyone put a marionette in a wheelchair?

Hallo Drunk Puppet show, as a matter of fact, we did: in our play 'Kleine Sofie' there is one puppet in a wheelchair... see picture 

Great work there, looks fantastic!

Speaking of odd puppet types that don't have their whole bodies this is one of my favourites. Its from Ronnie Burketts 'Provenance'. It has a head which is attached to Ronnie's head and his hands are her hands. It means that you can look at the puppet and directly at where the voice is coming from all at the same time.

Here's the full article if you're interested.

http://www.torontolife.com/features/guys-n-dolls/?pageno=2

There is another puppet in the same show that is just a head that Ronnie wears on his forehead in the same way of Pity, the female lead of the show. Its good to have that variety in a show I think!

When I was talking to Presto puppets they used to do a show where they had small stringed marionettes taht would appear high up in the theatre at the back and then they would have the same characters as Banraku puppets in a larger form that would come in at the front. Very clever!

Wy

I love this one: my friends and I saw him do this show, and made some similar puppets. We did papier mache heads, mounted the back onto a strong rod, then mounted the rod to a headband. We added a cloth body, but didn't add any elastic attachments to operate the cloth with - we used just our fingers instead.

He's so brillant - he performed last year in Sydney and gave a radio talk afterwards. I also had the luck to introduce myself in Melbourne at one stage! He's very enthusiastic, and supportive, even if he doesn't have a lot of time to chat.

Hello fellow puppeteers,

I haven't been working on my head and shoulderpuppet for some weeks because I have started building two new marionettes. Yesterday, out of the blue came the solution to my problem... it is a matter of connecting the strings, as Shawn did write. I let the strings, that are attached to the back, run over the stick where the back of the head is attached to. Now, when I'm pulling the control...yes... the back is comming up.
Now I will make the clothes and finish the other two marionettes. Maybe they will be manipulated in Bruges.  Johian

Dont forget to add some pics on the building procress. I'd like to learn how to build a marionette and pictures are my best tutor.

Thanks

Hello Sonny and puppeteers all over the world,

here are some pictures of the two marionettes I'm working on. Like the head and shoulderpuppet I made the head first in clay. Then I made a mold so I could make the head in apoxie. Then I did some painting with acrylic paint. I also made the torso, legs and feet of one of the puppets. To Marty I want to say that the control I use is the czech control. I make some changes to the control so  I can move the hands in a different way. Pictures of the control will follow.

  Johian

Some more pictures.

  Johian

Nice work!

Marty

Oooh I love it! I'm going to be making a marionette soon, so I'm getting all sorts of ideas from your pics!

Is the body flat, or will you add material around the wood?

Looks like you are getting on with a great start.  Thanks for sharing and keep teasing us with your pictures.....we all love them.

Daryl H

Oooh I love it! I'm going to be making a marionette soon, so I'm getting all sorts of ideas from your pics!

Is the body flat, or will you add material around the wood?

Hello Na,
when we will make the clothes, I will add some filling ... I know, during the middle ages there wasn't much food, but Bruges was a very prosperous city, and being a knight, he may look well fed   

Cool - that's what I thought. I haven't made any wooden marionettes, so looking at your pictures I'm getting a good idea of how to do one.

Hey Johian:

The YouTube video you link to in another post is the Emily Decola video I mentioned in my P.M. the other day asking about your control.  And, thanks for posting the pictures of the control and the stringing.  It is very similar to the German control style I asked about.

Excellent work!

Marty

Hi puppeteers,

I'm still working on the marionettes looking fore pictures of clothing of the middle adges. Now I received the message that  I have to make more marionettes for an other play but I have not much time left to make them. So I thought to duplicate some parts by molding them. Is there anyone who has some experience with this?
Surfing on the net I found some info: making the mold can be done with silicone rubber - the original part can be taken out very easy out of the mold and to make the duplicate I must use polyurethane. Is this correct?

Johian