This time it's an oyster:

https://www.puppetsinmelbourne.com.au/cube/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=16

By the way, some good news: I've received a small grant from UNIMA Australia to come to the puppetry festival in Atlanta!! It's small, but it does pay for the registration, with enough money left over to pay for a night or two of accommodation.   

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https://youtu.be/K82W1GXbsQk

Congrats on the grant! Every bit helps, doesn't it?

I liked the transformation of the "seed" into the pearl. That was cool.

Thank you - and yes, every bit definitely helps! I'm really happy about it, it's eased my worries so much.

Glad you like the seed into the pearl trick, especially as I had a lot of trouble doing it. I intended on using two different objects for the seed/pearl, but ended up using one. Honestly, I either need to grow a new pair of hands, or stop doing complicated things

Honestly, I either need to grow a new pair of hands, or stop doing complicated things

I completely understand that! My Buratino show got rather complicated, much to the dismay of the folks who helped perform it. But it was so much fun to plan and carry out! I want my puppets to be something more than a few talking heads. But action can be hard. Then, too, I don't have lots of folks around me who want to be a part of my little puppet world, and as you point out, having just two hands really limits the possibilities.

Very cool.  I like the transformation as well.  The music is so appropriate, the colours in the clam are lovely.  It would be nice if a diver came and collected the pearl.  Pearls don't just "jump out".  They are buried in the muscle tissue of the clam and have to be cut out.  Sea World has a Japanese pearl diving show that could give you ideas on how to make a traditional Japenese pearl diver shadow puppet.  Japanese pearl divers are generally women (our extra body fat makes for better insulation in cold water) and the costume is a tight fitting white cotton blouse and white wrap skirt I believe.  They dive without scuba equipment, just a wooden barrel and a rope which they toe walk to pull the barrel closer when they surface.  Here's a you-tube video:

Na,

Congrats...good to  note that UNIMA has given some
small grant. Sure, every bit matters.

Thanks for sharing the video clipping. Very good music. I like the colour!!
The transformation is interesting to watch.

 
Bhanu

Congrats on the grant!

The shadow puppet is simple in appearance but very effective.....I also like the music for this video.....very suitable.

Daryl H

@Chris, I totally agree. Puppetry is so much more interesting if you go the extra mile and add features that people don't expect. Of course, the trick is counterbalancing that with practicality. I guess that's why I like puppets so much, it brings out the problem solver in me.

@Puppetlady I do know that pearls are not something that just 'fall out'. However, as a two-handed person who struggled just doing what was shown in the video, I don't know I could do something completely realistic. If I had a puppetry assistant (oh, how I wish) I definitely would have made a pearl diver to go along with it.

@Bhanu, Daryl  Thank you so much, both for the grant and the compliments on the puppets (so exciting, just two months and I'll be in the US!)

I wish I was closer to Atlanta because I could put you up at my house!  Have fun at the festival and tell us all about it!

Thanks for the offer. Actually, accommodation is sorted, thanks to cheap hotel deals through the festival.

I will definitely keep everyone updated: I'll be taking my laptop and 'liveblogging' everything, photos and all. Plus, as part of my grant from UNIMA Australia, I have to write an article for them for the Aus. magazine, so I'll be writing it up anyway 

Scary, only two months away now!