I'm building a tentacled monster puppet (or maybe just testing for one) and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience or tips on doing tentacles. I watched the Furry Puppet eight legged doctor on their site and they do simply wonderful work.
http://www.furrypuppet.com/blog/?p=156
 But I'm wondering if there might be some way of adding a little more action to the tentacles simply.
I did a few tests and started with straight tentacles with slots cut out for better movement. These work OK with a tiny weight on the end. Then I tried a few more that were cut with a curl in them and these work pretty well. Here's a photo of what I'm talking about;


I'm thinking of using t-shirt material to cover them for more of a skin look. I'm hoping it will still allow good movement and also allow me to do a more detailed paint job on them.
Does anyone have any other ideas or suggestions?
Chris

http://www.indymogul.com/post/7166/wesleys-weekly-how-to-prehensile-tentacle

I swear I have a link bookmarked for almost anything

http://www.indymogul.com/post/7166/wesleys-weekly-how-to-prehensile-tentacle

I swear I have a link bookmarked for almost anything

Do you have a article on how to organize bookmarks? I can never remember where I put stuff LOL

Thanks, Na. I've done a lot of tentacles in my time, but almost all have been heavily mechanized. The Indy Mogul technique is an old one and a good one. But the tentacles I'm doing will need to be smaller, in the foot long range. They will be actuated by the operator wiggling his or her fingers, so it's really more a matter of making them bounce around as much as possible. I want to keep it as simple as possible!
Chris

Do you have a article on how to organize bookmarks? I can never remember where I put stuff LOL

Unfortunately no And mine are in an absolute mess. I'm slowly sorting them, but it takes time. I recently only went through my old theatre bookmarks from the past 10 years and deleted ones I no longer care about (or don't work, which was a lot). I haven't gone through the 3000+ puppetry ones though.

Sadly I was trying to find one for Lizzie, re: her large puppet... but couldn't find it.

Thanks, Na. I've done a lot of tentacles in my time, but almost all have been heavily mechanized. The Indy Mogul technique is an old one and a good one. But the tentacles I'm doing will need to be smaller, in the foot long range. They will be actuated by the operator wiggling his or her fingers, so it's really more a matter of making them bounce around as much as possible. I want to keep it as simple as possible!
Chris

Sorry to say I don't have any other ideas. I've never made anything like it.

Do you know those wooden snakes you can shake in a hand to make them wiggle? Fettig mentioned them in his book. If maybe you'd exchange the connecting thread with a thin pull string (is that right? As opposite to springs that are pushed?) you'd get a pretty good amount of bouncyness, I would think.
http://www.restpostenserver.de/fotos/12625762428805.jpg

I think you have the best design really already for what you are wanting.  The only thing I could think of was perhaps using piano or spring wire inside them.  I am not really sure though that this would add any more movement. It would just give some support in case the foam starts to break down or loose it's "bounce".  Also you spring wire is really hard to bend so it would be a head ache getting the curve in it for the curved pieces which visually I really like.

I just had another idea. Never done it but looking at the link of the snake Rikka posted made me wonder if you could take your foam tentacle and cut it into small sections and then place a small round bead in between each section. You string the whole thing together with a cord down the center that runs through the foam and each bead. Would be kind of the same thing as the snake design.

Thanks guys. I've built a number of tentacles and snakes over the years, but I really want to avoid anything that's going to require an additional operator. If and when I get this show off the ground, it'll still be with a minimum number of people involved. So it's down to simple stuff. I like your idea of the round beads, Shawn. It's akin to one of the standard mechanisms for tentacles. This monster will have at least eight or ten tentacles and I'm concerned they might get heavy with the beads? I'll try one to test it out and see how heavy it is. I think I'll go ahead and try to make the foam versions I have work and use them as a basis for improvement... hopefully.
My main concern is covering them. I still think I'm going to try T-shirt material, but if anyone has any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Your ideas are really helping me think about what I'm trying to achieve. Thanks!

I love brainstorming! Sorry I don't actually have any suggestions to add right now I just love watching the process even when I don't have anything to offer.