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human marionette photos from paradise show april

topic posted Wed, May 4, 2005 - 7:53 PM by  Kait 		Share/Save/Bookmark
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there should be 4 photos of the death of rasputin in this photoset. i didnt take any of them, since i wasnt there, but that set is basically all performing stuff (myself, my friends, my love, the dolls, etc)

sadly the show was 18+
crushed was i
but the leggy girl in the fishnet stockings is my amazing friend devon and the evil/adorable looking young man in the tie with the squirt gun and woffleball bat taped in his jacket is ben, who is the best person ever invented.

haha i'm done. i can't help gushing.

love turns you into a nerd. beware!

i also started a flickr pool which includes brigade stuff and select favorite photos, usually linked to the official website/crediting the author.
flickr.com/groups/dresdendolls/pool/
if youve got flickr please add to it! :)
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Kait
offline Kait
Boston
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  • Lautari
    Lautari
    offline 187

    Re: human marionette photos from paradise show april

    Thu, May 5, 2005 - 8:39 AM
    I am confused. Who all is doing this living marionette performance work? And here I thought I was being so creative.

    ... ah well... at least we use stilters as our puppetteers. My next trick is a pas de deux I am choreographing. The stilters are 10 feet tall.
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    • Ian
      Ian
      online 63

      Re: human marionette photos from paradise show april

      Fri, May 6, 2005 - 4:31 AM
      > I am confused. Who all is doing
      > this living marionette performance
      > work? And here I thought I was
      > being so creative.

      Being a "human marionette" (or indeed other puppets or automata) is a standard part of mime training and repetoire. It was certainly part of my training.

      For that matter, Buster Keaton does a great comic bit in the film "Free & Easy" (1929) in which he performs as a clown marionette.

      > at least we use stilters as our
      > puppetteers.

      Ha! Met a fellow a couple of years ago who described an act he had done just like that with his girlfriend.

      Relax and don't worry about originality. Just put on the best possible show. That's what's important.
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    • Sredni
      Sredni
      offline 1

      Re: human marionette photos from paradise show april

      Sun, May 8, 2005 - 5:41 PM
      We're calling ourselves The Grindhouse Marionettes.

      How are the stilters working out? Do you run into balance issues? Since we hope to work up to stilts this year. Great minds think alike, and all that. ;)
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      • Lautari
        Lautari
        offline 187

        Re: human marionette photos from paradise show april

        Tue, May 10, 2005 - 6:17 AM
        Ah... thanks for your support! Just trying to find a niche in this crazy creative world.

        Our stilters are doing a wonderful job with balance. Strings are really the only issue. We have done some knee to elbow strings which worked well enough but we have ixnayed those when working with more than one puppet group. The pas de deux is a bit crazy because we are working with three strings per airplane control. And one control per hand. So that is two stilters, two puppets, and 12 strings. A bit of a pain in the ass but totally doable. It just takes a lot of practice and choreography.

        How are you guys cueing? Does the puppet move and the puppeteer follow or vice versa?
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        • Sredni
          Sredni
          offline 1

          Re: human marionette photos from paradise show april

          Sun, May 15, 2005 - 4:50 PM
          We do a bit of both - generally the puppeteer cues the movement, but then follows the puppet. That seems to give us the best illusion of puppeting, while still allowing complex motion.

          Strings are tough. We've been using one airplane control with strings to wrist and knee, but we've started experimenting with some other rigs the past two weeks. Strings to wrist and butt seem to be working out - we can get some nice puppet like effects.

          We've also been experimenting with using sticks, a la Far Eastern puppets, for working smaller spaces. We just started with that, so nothing notable to report, though people seem to respond favourably.

          Do think you might post video of the pas de deux somewhere? I'd love to see it.
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          • Lautari
            Lautari
            offline 187

            Re: human marionette photos from paradise show april

            Sun, May 15, 2005 - 8:37 PM
            Sadly, I don't know if I can get my hands on a vid. But maybe there are pics somewhere... Unfortunately, we had three different acts and equal amount of quick changes. Thus, pragmatic memory thingstuffs such as backstage pictures didn't happen. Serves me right.

            Keep me updated on controls. What type of costuming were you guys using? I found that my skirts really hindered the leg strings... But shoulder, wrist, and elbow worked well.

            I actually just took an entire college course on puppetry! It was amazing and so informative! I think my next endevor will be some kind of human shadow puppet. But have them in all black in front of a curtain instead of behind a screen. Maybe buraku puppets... Such possibilities!
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            • Ian
              Ian
              online 63

              Re: human marionette photos from paradise show april

              Tue, May 17, 2005 - 3:52 PM
              > I found that my skirts really
              > hindered the leg strings

              I don't know how much puppetry you've actually seen or studied, but often with marionettes and always with bunraku, the female puppets don't actually have legs; just a long skirt. If you have a hoop that keeps the skirt well away from the knees, a hem line that is only inches above the ground and practice gliding like a ballet dancer (minimizing any up and down bouncing,) you can get the same effect.
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              • Lautari
                Lautari
                offline 187

                Re: human marionette photos from paradise show april

                Sat, May 21, 2005 - 8:05 PM
                That's a great idea! Super cool! One of our puppets was a female ballerina so we needed her legs... but for a more authentic look, the hoop skirt would be awesome. Thanks!
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                • Ian
                  Ian
                  online 63

                  Re: human marionette photos from paradise show april

                  Sat, May 21, 2005 - 8:31 PM
                  > One of our puppets was a
                  > female ballerina so we
                  > needed her legs.

                  Right. You want to be able to do an arabesque. I take it that your "puppet" has some ballet training?

                  Two things to remember from the real world of marionettes:

                  1.) Marionettes are often specialized to perform one or two special tasks very well, but no marionette can be built to do everything.

                  2.) There are lots of designs for controls and they are designed to what the marionette needs to do.
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                    Lautari
                    Lautari
                    offline 187

                    Re: human marionette photos from paradise show april

                    Mon, May 23, 2005 - 5:23 PM
                    Good pointers. Yes, the female ballerina is a real ballerina. So arabesques without pulling down the stilter was a major concern. Additionally, the tutu would get in the way when we tried knee strings. So I finally ixnayed anything attached anything to the legs... it was for a college circus so I pacified myself with the notion that practically no one would appreciate the difference anyway. But someday, I would like more accuracy.

                    I really enjoy the philosophical connotations of people on strings controlled by other people so I plan to continue the exploration...
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                    • Ian
                      Ian
                      online 63

                      Re: human marionette photos from paradise show april

                      Mon, May 23, 2005 - 7:47 PM
                      > I pacified myself with the notion
                      > that practically no one would
                      > appreciate the difference anyway.

                      I was no longer able to hold that attitude once I realized that there was always the possibility of somebody just as (if not more so) analytical as I was sitting in the audience.

                      > arabesques without pulling down
                      > the stilter was a major concern.
                      > [...] the tutu would get in the way
                      > when we tried knee strings.

                      Remember that humaniform marionettes average between a foot and a foot and a half in height so that a single puppeteer can control them. Have you considered one puppeteer handling your ballerina's legs and another her upper torso?

                      I learned a lot from my time with Bread & Puppet, manipulating large scale puppets that required eight to eleven puppeteers working as a team.
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                      • Lautari
                        Lautari
                        offline 187

                        Re: human marionette photos from paradise show april

                        Fri, May 27, 2005 - 7:39 AM
                        You worked with Bread & Puppet? That must have been so much fun!

                        I have only done two performances with the living marionette concept, so it is still very much in conceptual form. But I plan to continue this process... Two stilters that close could cause a disaster, but with the proper amount of rehearsal, they may be able to control the legs and torso seperately.

                        "I was no longer able to hold that attitude once I realized that there was always the possibility of somebody just as (if not more so) analytical as I was sitting in the audience. "
                        ^ah yes, but when battling finals and the end of the year hooplah, I decided to lower my standards for a college production...

                        Thanks again for all of your advice!
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                        • Ian
                          Ian
                          online 63

                          Re: human marionette photos from paradise show april

                          Fri, May 27, 2005 - 8:31 AM
                          > You worked with Bread & Puppet?
                          > That must have been so much fun!

                          Peter Schumann is a genius, and while my priority is to work on my own art, I try to spend a couple of weeks a year working in one show of his or another. I learn a great deal each time. I've kept a journal of the experiences-- some of which I have blogged over here:

                          www.authorsden.com/visit/viewblog.asp

                          > Thanks again for all of your advice!

                          You're welcome.
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