Hmmm... I have a question for you guys...

I have to give credit for the music and for one other thing that I'm using, and I also want to have a credit for who is doing the performance (you know usual stuff) but I don't know whether to have them before the song or at the end. I know giving the credit for the 'other thing' will partly give away some of the effect before the song even begins (although there will be scenery in view which will also give it away: the nature of doing things miniaturised sadly), but having it at the end also seems silly given the way the visuals end (spinning galaxies, fade to black).

Which way is better?

I really wish I could help Na but that has gone totally over my head!  For what it's worth, in my mind credits should always roll at the end. To do it first would deter from the performance/concept/your work, but again, I can't actually visualise in any real terms what you're doing and therefore don't know whether my views are of an value at all. I'd be interested to hear what you decide though and why.

Haha, yeah it's kind of hard giving advice on something that is a secret

Maybe this will clarify:

In order to introduce the piece, I must invite the audience to do something. This is a necessary credit, so it just made sense to me to have
"Show title, performed by..." at the beginning too. It works to introduce the piece, leaving the song itself to run and the final event is that spinning galaxy/black out.

However, as I want to minimalise the amount of the effect that will be seen during credits it may make more sense to have the song credit and 'other' credit at the end (and therefore take the others with them). And remember the audience *will* see some of the effect/landscape because of that must-have credit at the start, and that the 'other' credit will clue people in on the effect anyway (although only a small amount if they're paying attention).

Now the thing that I'll ask the audience to do will *totally* clue them in, which is why I kind of want to keep the credits minimal...

But I really like finishing the song as BO (theatre-speak for black out) rather than rolling credits.

Does that make more sense?

PS. Long time no hear! Hope all is well for you

Does that make more sense?

Um, no?!! I'm trying to see what you're seeing in your head as you formulate the explanation and yet... no joy! I'm having one of those Homer moments where every time I try to visualise it, the circus music starts and my brain monkeys start absent mindedly preening fleas from one another.

I will re-read this with tomorrow's fresh eyed and well groomed brain monkeys in the hope to better understand it. Sorry dude!

Oh, and things have been hectic in my world but pretty good. I'll PM you for a decent catch up soon. 

Haha, I thought as much. Trust me, knowing what the effect is makes all the difference

Good to hear you've been busy! Look forward to getting the PM

Well traditionally in theater credits are given in the program. That being said I think you could still have your credits at the end of the show. Think about some of the movies you have seen where they still fade to black at the end but then the credits start to roll after a short time once the affect of the black out has served it's purpose. I assume you are talking about a textual credit but don't forget you could do a vocal credit also at the beginning if  you wanted to not unlike the announcement you hear before a theater show where they announce that there is no taking of pictures etc.

Given that there's a small budget and this is only for a 'works in progress' showcase, I'm not going to have a program. It's also not worth it given that I'll be spending a lot of time setting up and I have no idea yet how the event is actually going to be run.

I hadn't thought of a vocal credit though... but again, once I speak the 'other' credit, people will clue in. Probably more so if it's said rather than read, as in text the credit is a bunch of acronyms mostly, and one said out loud is more of a clue than when it's seen as text.

... On thinking about it, I guess I'm the only one who can figure this out. I'll post more tomorrow...

An update on my designs, with a few pics and a more detailed explanation:
http://www.puppetsinmelbourne.com.au/blog.php/2012/05/29/what-s-that-behind-the-hill

Okay, I admit I haven't read every post on this thread and I don't really have any advice BUT I just wanted to say if this is a miniaturized project I can't WAIT to see it!  I love your mini stuff Na! One of the first projects that my son made was one of your little box puppets.  Do you know the one I mean?

Thanks Angel. It's not exactly miniature, it's just small compared to what I was originally planning. Imagine an A3 piece of paper, and you've got roughly the size of the screen. So puppets will fit into that, with the human being about 2/3 of the screen size. The whole frame that holds up the screen is considerably larger. Imagine a yard wide and about half that tall.

... Of course, I'm still designing the damn things and it's a little under a month left to have everything ready, so who knows what'll happen between now and then.

Thank you for the kind words! The box puppet... it could be one of two:

http://www.puppetsinmelbourne.com.au/faq.php/2009/03/18/how-to-make-a-table-top-puppet

http://www.puppetsinmelbourne.com.au/faq.php/2009/03/17/how-to-make-a-table-top-puppet-part-two