From “Fraggle Rock” to “The Iliad”, puppetry has been a popular form of art and expression for longer than 5,000 years. Puppetry has been a part of cultures around the world for centuries, and still has a large presence in the world today. Beginning with wood and clay figures with wire strings, the modern puppet has evolved over time to become more complex, more entertaining, and in some cases even more frightening. In this essay, I will go into the history, significance, and work going into puppetry, hopefully tying up any loose strings or answering any question you may have had on the topic.
The “first puppets” physically found were excavated from a tomb in ancient Egypt, thought to have been used from 3000-2000 B.C.E. for kneading bread.
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When most people think of puppets, this is often what they think of. Things like Pinocchio, modern marionettes, socks puppets, hand puppets, full-body suit puppets (used with characters like big bird), and muppets, and more are all from the contemporary puppetry era. Starting around 1810 with Heinrich Von Kliest’s paper “On the marionette theatre” and later developing rapidly in the 20th century, what helped this period of advanced puppetry flourish was the use of media such as film. Puppets were used in movies such as “The Sound of Music” (In the “Lonely Goatherd” number,1965) and as an effect, started to gain in popularity. The first big-budget live-action puppet film was “Thunderbirds are GO” in 1966. Many puppet-centric films of the 20th century were not remembered very well or have faded into obscurity due to their poor mechanics or uninteresting plot, However one puppeteer whose name hasn’t been lost in the flood of media was none other than Jim Henson. Making series such as The muppet show, Sam and Friends, Sesame Street, and later transitioning to the silver screen to aid in production of movies such as Labyrinth, Star Wars, The Dark Crystal, and of course all of the Muppet Movies (The muppet movie, Muppets take Manhattan, The Great Muppet Caper, etc.) His work has influenced countless directors, producers and puppeteers worldwide, and is the inspiration for works such as “Meet the …show more content…
Films such as Strings (2004), 5P1N0K10 (2016), and Marquis (1989). Often times, this can be attributed to the darker themes used in them, which stray from the “Kid-friendly” element that is generally associated with puppets and dolls in modern
What boy hasn't wanted to chase their younger siblings around their house with pegs on all ten of their fingers pretending to be a monster/ we the movie, Edward Scissorhands (1990), scouts this captivating idea and basically turns it into a movie. The film was directed by Tim Burton, who also directed the movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Corpse Bride(2005), and Batman 1989. The film does a great job on highlighting the main message of the movie which is Difference. It is a classic movie when it comes to the utilisation of, visual language, film codes and narrative techniques.
Some of these animations add visuals when a complex idea is being described, such as the idea of the ‘lemon dance” or the ‘rubber room’ in New York. Guggenheim also takes the idea of tenure and uses these techniques to twist tenure into somethi...
...d traditions, but also blending two distant genres together. The blending of genres gives us ideas about common conventions in films that we do not usually pay attention to, and how they can be manipulated to change the way we think about individuals and groups. Edward Scissorhands dives deeper than just a “Beauty and the Beast” narrative, and influences audiences to explore topics of how the gentlest of souls can be misjudged by their appearance, a seemingly normal community can be the “bad guy” if it only has its personal intentions in mind and no one else’s, and that true love is not about what is on the outside, but rather, what is on the inside. Edward Scissorhands can be considered as one of the most appealing films of the 20th century as it keeps audiences guessing, surprises them at the most unexpected times and breaks conventional film boundaries.
New and exciting technologies have always played a huge role in the culture of American people. When the motion picture came out it was no surprise that both consumers and producers were more than happy to get in on the action. Back in the 1920’s film was still pretty new and was only in black and white with no sound, but the films were always accompanied by orchestral pieces to help set the mood. The art of movie-making has come a long way since then with the addition of not only color and audio, but new techniques and new ideas. Both The Kid and Iron Jawed Angels are very popular films about the early 1900’s. Although they share some common thoughts, but because they were made in two completely different time periods their focuses are far off from one another and their ideas contrast for the most part.
Some would say watching horror movies and being scared out of your wits is a fun way to spend their hard earned money. They go see these movies on average once a week, each time choosing a newer version of a trilogy like “Chucky” or “The evil Dead”. Film making has come a long way over the last few decades, the graphic...
Indisputably, Tim Burton has one of the world’s most distinct styles when regarding film directing. His tone, mood, diction, imagery, organization, syntax, and point of view within his films sets him apart from other renowned directors. Burton’s style can be easily depicted in two of his most highly esteemed and critically acclaimed films, Edward Scissorhands and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Burton ingeniously incorporates effective cinematic techniques to convey a poignant underlying message to the audience. Such cinematic techniques are in the lighting and editing technique categories. High key and low key relationships plus editing variations evinces the director’s elaborate style. He utilizes these cinematic techniques to establish tone mood, and imagery in the films.
Tim Burton's style compared to others is quite unique. His many films do not give off the same mood and feeling that audiences are used to with child films. With some of his role models being Edgar Allen Poe and Ronald Dahl, it's no surprise that his films mix children ideas with a sense of darkness, and even at times creepiness. Tim Burton combines these feelings of child movies and darkness through the way he uses lighting, shots and framing, and to spread his message.
Film scholar and gender theorist Linda Williams begins her article “Film Bodies: Genre, Gender and Excess,” with an anecdote about a dispute between herself and her son, regarding what is considered “gross,” (727) in films. It is this anecdote that invites her readers to understand the motivations and implications of films that fall under the category of “body” genre, namely, horror films, melodramas, (henceforth referred to as “weepies”) and pornography. Williams explains that, in regards to excess, the constant attempts at “determining where to draw the line,” (727) has inspired her and other theorists alike to question the inspirations, motivations, and implications of these “body genre” films. After her own research and consideration, Williams explains that she believes there is “value in thinking about the form, function, and system of seemingly gratuitous excesses in these three genres,” (728) and she will attempt to prove that these films are excessive on purpose, in order to inspire a collective physical effect on the audience that cannot be experienced when watching other genres.
I chose to analyze Despicable Me, an animated film geared towards a younger audience, because I was interested in examining underlying theories and messages that this film would be relaying to its viewers. Often times, when watching animated films, children are not aware of these messages, as they are absorbed by the characters, special effects, and humor. But as we have learned throughout this semester, our brains are subconsciously primed by the various surroundings we are exposed to. Since we also studied the impacts of entertainment, such as television and video games, on children, I wanted to see how a popular children’s film might also affect them.
For some extra credit, I watched The Genius Puppetry Behind War Horse, and I actually found it very interesting. The way they make all of those things and how they make it look so realistic, it fascinates me. When I have watched plays before, I guess it has never occurred to me what everyone has to go through to get all of the props and animals lined up. After watching this video, I know it takes a lot of work, skill, and talent to put together these nice props to make the show a lot more interesting and real.
In this article I chose and read about, two men who were puppeteers (Alfonso Lázaro de la Fuente and Raúl García Pérez) were accused of mentioning terrorism in their street puppet show at a recent carnival celebration. The terrorist group is called ETA and the puppeteers mentioned support to them during their performance with the use of a banner. In addition to the mention of terrorism, the show was quite vulgar depicting scenes of hanging, stabbing, and beating of people. These actions performed raised awareness from spectating parents and led them to call local police and have them arrested. In Spain, if guilty of any form of terrorism you could face four years in prison. Following the imprisonment of the puppeteers, controversy was raised
In Cat in the Hat, the character of the fish is portrayed through the use of a puppet, however the puppeteer is visible throughout the entire play, yet this does not break the immersion of the viewers. This is due to their understanding of object permanence. According to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, a child gains the ability to understand fully where an object is found or where it is hidden at the approximate age of eighteen months (Jean Piaget’s Object Permanence, accessed 28th October 2015). With the knowledge of what the puppet is, they are able to differentiate the puppet with the puppeteer. They can comprehend that the puppeteer is an essential part of the production, and that although he is clearly visible, the focus is on the fish’s actions, with the puppeteer not a participant in the actual story of the performance. The use of music in Cat in the Hat is another key technique, as it stimulates the sense of hearing and helps the children correspond certain volumes and tones to different moods in the performance. As the music is played in a happy style, the children can learn that whatever may be happening in the performance is a good thing and feel more comfortable in their understanding of the character’s actions. This links back to the original quote
The puppet had to attach to the puppeteer in some way, the solution was a harness that transferred a majority of the weight to the hips. What they avoided as much as possible was making the Skeksis look like puppets, they needed to look consistent. Just like actors have variations in features and quirks, the Skeksis puppets needed to be unique in their own way. SkekSil the Chamberlain was the most complicated, it was made up of twenty-one cable controls and required four people to maneuver. The Skeksis faces were practically as expressive as a human face in the
(8) Walton, Kendall. Mimesis as Make-Believe: On the Foundations of the Representational Arts. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990. pp. 196, 250.
...nces and create a great performance on film. The toys in Toy Story seem more real than the humans because of the use of sound creates unique characters. The sound effects and voice actors create a stylistic difference between how toys and humans are in animation. Also, this animation shifts from the traditional musical animation where everyone breaks out into a song. Toy Story takes on a buddy-film approach where there is a more bouncy vocal track. It is more like a live action movie’s soundtrack, with the sound adding to the dramatic effect of the dialogue.