Friday, April 01, 2011
Lifelike horse-puppet -- really, really lifelike
Boing Boing: "This TEDTalk from the puppet troupe Handspring Puppet Company features a jaw-dropping horse puppet (around 9:16) that is so expertly made and controlled you have to keep reminding yourself that this isn't an animal
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6 comments:
I watched the video in its entirety and was duly impressed. As I watched I noticed that the puppeteers' expressions that matched the puppets' really sold the performances. Structurally, it's interesting to hear that these puppets 'artsy' appearance was actually an example of form following function. I also liked that they are using bicycle parts among other things in their designs; there are a lot of things in their process and products that are analogous to other elements of theatre.
I thought it was rather facinating how they approach breath and the struggle to create life onstage for a puppet. It made perfect sense when the speakers put it in context saying that an actor has to strive to die onstage where a puppet has to work to live.
The other thing i took away from the video was their use of cane for framing. Cane isn't a material I would think to use to create a light weight structure like this. I would immediately go to fiberglass or other synthetic materials to create and define the shape. I know people use organic materials for framing all the time (standard lumber, bamboo scaffolding, etc...) but this is a new one for me.
"We used up to the minute 17th century technology"
While that isn't entirely true (you can see some welds in the aluminum) it was so impressive to see how simple the materials and fabrication were. Though I'm sure it took weeks to build one and I'd imagine every horse is different. The bicycle brakes were really cool too. This was a good reminder that the illusion is the complicated part, and even then it is suggestively simple. The technology doesn't always have to try to be the next big thing when there's things that do it better.
Having seen this puppetry live in performance, I can attest to the realism of the puppets. That spectacle for me was the best part of the show. I spent two hours watching the show, and never questioned that there was a breathing horse in front of me. The key here, I thought, was attention to detail. The anatomy of the horse was recreated. These weren't stylized gestures, or cartooned impressions of animals. These were the actual movements, and emotions, of animals. Only translated into puppet format. Super cool.
While the engineering of this puppet is dully impressive I also am greatly impressed by the operates. While it is easy to overlook them they are actually the ones that give puppet life. A puppeteer really has to understand the animal and how they react. Partially they have to know how they move. This is why the attention breathing is important. In one section they talk about how the most important part of this puppet was its ears since this is how a horse gathers information about the outside world. Truly impressive.
These puppets were amazing! I agree with Charles the attention to natural movement was awesome. The ears are really great. Having had horses, I really appreciated their attention to detail. The puppeteers movement really was spot on, and you really find yourself watching the horse despite the fact you can see the actors. In some ways that made it even better because their presence made it more real than an effect. Things like these puppets are amazing works of art and just prove that things like this can be used for effects instead of CG or projection, and people can still appreciate them. Not everything has to be technology based to be new and entertaining.
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