Greetings fellow puppeteers!

This may be a little off topic but here goes: A friend of mine is a professor in an acting school and his students will be staging Pinocchio at the end of the semester. So he asked me to come to his class and give a small talk on marionettes. He wants me to give tips on how to act and move like a marionette to his students. I will also have a projector at my disposal so as to show videos, pictures, etc.

The first thing that puzzled me was that pinocchio may be a marionette but has no strings, so maybe he shouldn't move exactly like a marionette does, but I suppose this part can be overlooked, I'll have to discuss it with my friend (who will be directing). I am also mentioning that marionettes are "choreographed" by gravity, so they should make no sudden moves or stops but be more fluid and have their motion slowly deccelerate before stopping etc. I will be including videos by shields and yarnell and also two videos of John Krasinski at the Conan O Brien show where he acts like a marionette (hilarious by the way, look it up). I will also show diagrams of where the strings are attached in the body. But I'm afraid it's not much yet, and I'll probably have to fill half an hour or something.

So, any other suggestions? Can you think of anything else worth mentioning or any videos or pictures that would help?

Thanks in advance!
Yannis

It sounds to me like you really have it covered. I think you more to contribute then you give yourself credit for. I bet what you have well fill 30 mins or more. Don't forget to have a Q and A section.