They definitely wont last forever but I used the thinnest needle I had and threaded and knotted both ends for each joint. I like it because it is subtle but if I drop a limb with magnets the weight of it pulls on the joints a bit so I will have to be careful. A couple within the arm are already stretched a bit from me accidentally dropping the arm. luckily this doesn't interfere with the operation of it but long term will need repaired. Luckily as long as the original joint hole is unaffected it is an easy fix.

Looking good! I know you where a bit disappointing that the magnets made him stand out from the picture but I like that effect. Reminds me of a shadow box my mom used to have of a Dickens street scene where the elements where layered to create a 3d effect.  With this one I could see how you could actually make the current stand out like he is so it looks like it is in the foreground.  Hey he could even maybe even stand up and walk behind the curtain.   Probably more then you want for this project buy my mind started going off in all directions with it.

Look forward to seeing your video. 

Wish we could attract the attention of the producers of HCSC with what you are doing. Would be kind of a cool thing to see fan inspired versions like yours of the projects on the show. Even if it was a short clip at the end of the show that then had more info on their website.

They definitely wont last forever but I used the thinnest needle I had and threaded and knotted both ends for each joint. I like it because it is subtle but if I drop a limb with magnets the weight of it pulls on the joints a bit so I will have to be careful. A couple within the arm are already stretched a bit from me accidentally dropping the arm. luckily this doesn't interfere with the operation of it but long term will need repaired. Luckily as long as the original joint hole is unaffected it is an easy fix.

That's what I thought you might have done. I have done this method before and you're right it's very fiddly. I was going to say "You'll want to replace them after some use as the thread will start to lose its tension." but I see you already know that
Did you think of using paper fasteners? They may not be the look you want, but they are infinitely stronger and easier to use.

I agree with Shawn, the effect of a shadow box (examples here: http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=shadow%20box) is a good one.

Perhaps you could tweet the show creators? I have seen that they have a Twitter account. No doubt there's also a Facebook account and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a forum on Syfy's website somewhere. Your work does deserve some attention - in fact, I'm wishing that I'd seen this before so I could have tried it for myself.

Not going to lie I almost gave up on the video. The paint I used for the black brick lines in the background was a spur of the moment squeeze bottle paint that was almost my downfall. It remains tacky even dry so if a magnet sat on any of the black for even a few seconds it was unlikely to move. So a lot of strain on the joints from dislodging magnets...

But knowing this I was able to not only do my video but managed to do the skit I had in mind to boot! I hesitated for a good while in uploading the video...curse my (lack of better word) shyness. All well. I want to do videos down the road so better get over it now.

Overall thank you Shawn and Na! Without both of your feedback and encouragement I wouldn't have gotten this project anywhere near where it ended up. Your comments mean a lot to me and I appreciate them all!




And now with this done... I can get to work on my next puppets! I've fallen behind and have a good amount of the challenges unmet!

The painting looks great. The puppet is a little jerky, but with some refinement/practice I can't see that affecting it too much.

My only other thought is that if you ever do it again... to think about the movements you want to achieve rather than the look you want to achieve. I found the movements to be jarring, although there were some lifelike moments. There just wasn't enough character showing through. I do like how the puppet ended up on the floor though - not something I thought you were able to do. It's possible I need to pay more attention though

As a test - pretty darn cool!

Yeah I agree. The jerkiness was a result of the paint/magnets sitting too long. If I move the pieces around pre-move in order to break it from it's stiff resting place it gets a smoother movement. The problem was trying to do it all myself haha. I could loosen them up only to let them rest while I fidgeted with the camera. I was going to have my wife help me, and I should have haha, so that I could have more parts moving at once to keep things smooth and look more natural vs the transition from one movement to the next. But I like surprising her with my projects so tackled it solo.

This project originally was just a show piece to have a painting that could make simple movements and it turned into this. It did tackle a lot of movement that in hindsight wasn't really necessary. I believe it was one of the judges in the junkyard episode of the Creature challenge commented about building a creature to serve a purpose and nothing more. I danced with this one too much and kept changing it's purpose so by the end it could do more than it needed to.

All that said by the end of the day I'm happy with it. I never built anything like that and never done any sort of video and I survived both so that's a gold star in my book. As happy as I am I think he will be the last of this style for sure haha but it did give me some ideas for the future.

I think it is great! I really like the story/poem you used. I think you should re-visit this style again down the line and do another one. I think it lends itself to video and reminds me a lot of how live kid shows often have animation bits within them only the look is much richer.

It will be different than this but I have an idea for a video series using the shadowbox type set up you talked about to bring a 3D quality to it. The characters will be much simpler but overall I think it will turn out well. I think I'm going to work on it a little here and there as I work on my remaining Challenge inspired pieces.

Yeah I agree. The jerkiness was a result of the paint/magnets sitting too long. If I move the pieces around pre-move in order to break it from it's stiff resting place it gets a smoother movement. The problem was trying to do it all myself haha. I could loosen them up only to let them rest while I fidgeted with the camera. I was going to have my wife help me, and I should have haha, so that I could have more parts moving at once to keep things smooth and look more natural vs the transition from one movement to the next. But I like surprising her with my projects so tackled it solo.

I think the jerkiness will disappear the more you use it; not just practice but with the materials relaxing a bit. In terms of the camera: what I do when doing shadow puppet videos is to set up my camera, press record, then do as many takes as I can until the battery dies or the card is full or I'm satisfied with my takes. (Or, if the camera falls over for some reason) That way I can get into my groove and consider the first couple of takes as rehearsal, but I don't have to go reset my camera every time. It does mean editing the video, but then it's far easier to edit later than to have to stop-start performances.
 
I wonder if you would benefit from taking a look at Hobey Ford or Richard Bradshaw's work with shadow puppets. I know they both work solo and I've seen the latter's puppets where he does have many rods and things going at once. The trick is to create not just rod control but also pull triggers for the more delicate things like eye blinking or mouth movement.

This project originally was just a show piece to have a painting that could make simple movements and it turned into this. It did tackle a lot of movement that in hindsight wasn't really necessary. I believe it was one of the judges in the junkyard episode of the Creature challenge commented about building a creature to serve a purpose and nothing more. I danced with this one too much and kept changing it's purpose so by the end it could do more than it needed to.

Personally I always think the main rule for a puppet is: can it do what it needs to do? Everything after that is just layers for effect. With my shadow puppets I first ask what does the puppet need to do, and then think 'where do I need to put the joints to achieve that movement?' If you're using a human or animal character, joint placement is usually obvious and the movement you get from it is really quite fluid. You don't have to do much to create fluid movement, and you can get a LOT of movement you don't expect or plan for. (Like this: . I basically made up where the joints were going to go on intuition and it turned out great)

The other thing that may help you is placement of .... yourself. I find that I can get a wider range of movement if I'm positioned at the right height behind my puppet/screen, at the right distance from the screen/light, with my elbows away from my body (aids in having wider reach with less strain on your arms). It can make a HUGE difference.

All that said by the end of the day I'm happy with it. I never built anything like that and never done any sort of video and I survived both so that's a gold star in my book. As happy as I am I think he will be the last of this style for sure haha but it did give me some ideas for the future.

I really really really like it. This is so totally in my area of interest and I like seeing someone else tackle it, especially as I've not seen the show nor anything like this puppet before. Actually, I had planned on doing wall displays/art as a new product, and this gave me an idea of how to incorporate some interactivity to it. I probably won't do it as it's somewhat easier/cheaper to do plain non-moveable stuff, but it's certainly something I will keep in mind if I can.

Seriously, Shawn's right: do another one. The first came out wonderful, the second would be a-wait-for-it-mazing!

Very nice video~! As always your a library of useful knowledge! You need to open a puppetry school or something as you always seem to know just what to say/reference. People could really benefit from you. I'll take all your tips to heart for sure. Any quality in my work just hides the fact that I for the most part don't know what I'm doing haha so this is all very useful.

I suppose since you all have been so helpful throughout this I can make another one. Hmm...I might just know what to make...but you'll have to wait and see haha~!