This is a second test of a prototype I've been working on. Next year I hope to sell these, and have been playing around with different materials, joints, and rod attachments. (I hope to have a video online tomorrow, but it's 2am here...) The materials: cut-up document folders. The joints: silver-painted brads. The rod attachments: a slit in the plastic, with an elastic threaded through and sewn together to create a loop.

I have a few questions for puppeteers. I made this as large as I could, which is 60cm (two ruler lengths). I'm wondering if it's too small. The reason it's this big is because document folders only come in A4 size, and that's as large as I could make the pieces.

The second is: the rod attachment allows for the puppet to be reversed without removing the rods. However, I'm not 100% on the elastic/slit in the plastic, because I'm worried it's not durable enough. I've used this method before, but after a whole year of thinking/testing, I can't come up with a better method of doing it. Any suggestions? (You can see a close-up of the attachment method in the link below)

Third: I'm wondering about the number of parts. You can't get a lot of movement out of the puppet, and I'm wondering whether I should give the puppet two-jointed legs and arms. Currently, due to the hole in the head (sounds weird, but the head is top-heavy and sags in the middle) I can't remove the rod, which means I have had to make the arms joined together - this will make more sense once I upload the video.

More pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66356835@N00/sets/72157627978872839/

Na,

Very clean and professional looking! Keep up the good work.

She is so pretty. I am totally amazed how minimalistic and focused you can work. I get so much into details- I think I get lost there...

I do like the design and simplicity...to answer some of ur questions It is hard to say with adding more joints...I believe that depending on how the puppet is being used if they need lots of joints then add them if they want it simple then keep it as it is...I think it is really a hard questions to answer until u know what the puppets role is and how to approach it from there...I wonder if you add more layers to the head would keep it from getting wobbly...not sure but an idea or add another rod to the body to make that hold up the main puppet and the head rod will help move the head.

Daryl H

My video software is playing up, so I can't yet publish it to the web. I'll try and get it done in the next few days, depending on how fast I can get support from the developers.

Na,

Very clean and professional looking! Keep up the good work.

Thank you! Professional was what I was going for

She is so pretty. I am totally amazed how minimalistic and focused you can work. I get so much into details- I think I get lost there...

Thanks Rikka. The idea for my next batch of puppets is to keep it simple. But I too get lost in the details. It's taken me a whole year to work up a decent prototype, and I've got a few more puppet designs to work on still. I'm probably as 'lost in details' as usual.

I do like the design and simplicity...to answer some of ur questions It is hard to say with adding more joints...I believe that depending on how the puppet is being used if they need lots of joints then add them if they want it simple then keep it as it is...I think it is really a hard questions to answer until u know what the puppets role is and how to approach it from there...I wonder if you add more layers to the head would keep it from getting wobbly...not sure but an idea or add another rod to the body to make that hold up the main puppet and the head rod will help move the head.

Daryl H

Well, the idea is that I'll have a small series of human puppets on sale, so a specific need is not something I'm aiming for. They're to be 'all purpose' puppets, aimed at professionals, but likely bought by hobbyists. It's more about showcasing what I can make and hopefully using that small set as a way to obtain commissions.  I think perhaps I might try another version of the puppet and increase the number of parts, and then compare the two.

As for the head/rods: I want to keep the number of rods to two. I know more can aid the amount of movement, but considering most of my sales will/do go to non-puppeteers, it's probably better to stick with 'less is more'. I've also been viewing a lot of Chinese shadow puppet videos, and it's interesting to see that the legs are double-jointed but not on rods; so fluid movement is possible without necessarily adding more rods to the whole puppet.

The head is my own fault, as I tried the design out on an A5 sized pattern first, and had no problems weight-wise. Once I scaled up I discovered the problem. I actually don't mind the head on a rod, because it adds movement. Before the arms were on rods each. Adding layers certainly won't help, because it's about weight, rather than the hollowness. Anyway, I'm happy with the movement, and once I add the video you'll see what it's like. (Well, kind of. I had a temporary screen set up and it wasn't the best method. Funny how tautness of the screen is more important than how well you build the puppet in terms of performance)

I probably won't have these for sale til early next year, but I am liking the new direction. These are far easier to make than the previous ones. The design in the dress: I picked up a document folder with a swirled pattern already etched in. All I had to do was to cut out the piece from the folder.   I'm really looking forward to making these properly.

I'm afraid I can't contribute constructively in anyway Na except to say I think she's cute as and I'm looking forward to seeing the video.

I'm afraid I can't contribute constructively in anyway Na except to say I think she's cute as and I'm looking forward to seeing the video.

Thanks! And since you ask, see the below post.

The video is finally done. Most of it is boring, mainly due to the fact that my screen was not taut enough to do anything properly. Chalk that up to a 'learn from experience' issue. Mostly, the end of the video is what I like: the puppet has a fluid walk that I only discovered after I played back the footage.

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https://youtu.be/UwVFViM-ol4

She's awesome Na. I particularly like how she moves when you spin her. Knowing nothing about shadow puppets I'm not sure if that's unique to her or not but it was cool. Congrats!

She's awesome Na. I particularly like how she moves when you spin her. Knowing nothing about shadow puppets I'm not sure if that's unique to her or not but it was cool. Congrats!

Thanks, glad you like it!

Depending on what you mean by 'spin' it is the effect of one of two things (or combined).
One: the method of attaching the rods I have used is like a hinge, which allows me to 'reverse' the puppet without removing the rods. Some Asian shadow puppets allow for reversal, however I've not seen any that use a hinge, but rather a hole in the puppet through which the wire/thread of the rod is attached. Actually, I've been trying to track down methods of how puppeteers usually attach rods for reversal, but have not been successful so far. So the idea isn't necessarily unique, my method of it probably is.

The second thing is the type of materials. Document folders seem to be sturdy, yet flexible, and this makes them have the added bonus of bending and curling depending on the manipulation. It's one of the reasons I'm sticking with this kind of plastic, as it gives movement that is otherwise lost by minimising the number of parts. I checked a book, "Shadow Puppets & Shadow Play" by David Currell, for suggestions of materials, and that's one of the ideas listed. Again, not unique, but certainly not commonly used amongst most puppeteers I've seen. I'd guess that 90% of shadow puppetry is your average black cardboard silhouettes; with the addition of animal hide for Asian shadow puppets. (I'd add that most common is also the method to attach the rod vertically to the puppet, meaning it is worked from below; a small majority seem to use the horizontal method, with the rod hinged to the back. Although the former allows reversal and the latter doesn't, I find it to be an ugly way of manipulating the puppet as it doesn't hide the rods/your arms very well)

Personally, I'm loving the way the plastic flexes, it's quite fun to see what I can make it do. And surprisingly, I haven't broken anything yet even though I'm doing lots of flipping and twisting.

I'm really looking forward to making these with different characters.