Give Puppets Another Hand

Unlike other performing arts, puppetry is perhaps the only art form in which directing, acting, writing, designing, sculpture, and choreography are combined. In effect, the performer is creating an artistic entertainment that will appeal to audiences of all ages — in homes, in theaters, and in classrooms. This lucid, easy-to-follow book was specifically conceived to teach beginners how to bring a hand puppet to life and how, with practice, to develop the skills needed to mount an amateur puppet show — complete with staging, costumes, and special effects. Award-winning puppeteers Larry Engler and Carol Fijan provide ingenious finger, wrist, and arm exercises that are crucial for creating a full working range of puppet motions and emotions. They also cover the elements of good puppet theatrical technique: speech, voice use, and synchronization; stage deportment and interactions; improvisation, dramatic conflict, role characterization, and more. Every detail is clearly explained and beautifully illustrated with photographs, specific chapters being devoted to the use of props, puppet voices and movements, the construction of simple stages and lighting effects, and much more. A splendid addition to the literature on this subject, Making Puppets Come Alive is "the best book on hand puppetry we've seen." — The Whole Kids Catalog.

Playwriting for Puppet Theatre provides a foundation for those puppeteers, teachers and librarians who want to develop suitable scripts for puppet theatre. Mattson explores the difference between traditional theatre and puppet theatre and notes the special characteristics of the various puppets. The important aspects of script writing are then addressed. She considers the many general questions which must be answered by the playwright: the type of puppet to be used, the audience, and availability of resources and facilities. Suggestions are then given for dramatizing original ideas and for adapting well-known stories. The chapter on plot development emphasizes the importance of perspective, transitional material and the need for action. One chapter proposes various ways to develop a character through dialogue, names, and behavior. Another chapter demonstrates how the use of rhyme can add interest and humor to a puppet play. Teachers will find suggestions on how to develop a play on a specific theme or about a specific character. Some attention is also given to the mechanics of writing a play. Includes a group of puppet plays which have been successfully performed by Seattle Puppetory Theatre. Among them are Rumplestiltskin, The Princess and the Pea, The Bad-Tempered Wife, The Golden Axe, The Swineherd, and The Fisherman and His Wife. Production notes follow each script. Several samples of manipulation charts are included which may be used as an aid in blocking the puppets and the puppeteers for the various hand puppet productions.

This book is a comprehensive history of the most successful straight-to-video horror franchise of all time: Puppet Master. It provides an in-depth exploration of all 14 films to date--including a made-for-TV crossover and a theatrical reboot--and the action figures, comics, and other merchandise that have helped to keep the brand alive for the past 30 years. Puppet Master was the first film for independent producer extraordinaire Charles Band's Full Moon Entertainment, launching a franchise and a micro-budget studio that have both continued to this day. What led to the film's success? How did a little movie about killer puppets, designed to cater to the then-booming video market, wind up surviving video stores themselves? How did a series that had never even had a theatrical entry wind up with an unusually successful toy series? All of these questions are answered within these pages. Featuring new interviews with some of the biggest creative minds behind the franchise, as well as dozens of behind-the-scenes photos, this book is the ultimate guide to horror's most murderous marionettes.

As the world becomes increasingly more interconnected and globalized, increasingly more families are seeking early (0-6 years) foreign and second language education, prompting educators and teachers to seek out age-appropriate tools which offer an innovative approach to early language learning (ELL). The Multilingual and Intercultural Puppet tries to answer two questions: How can we introduce children to foreign languages at an early age in a natural and also naturally playful way? And with which approach? This book presents a documented reflection that is rooted in concrete experiences which the authors have accumulated over the past twenty years of field-work, providing readers with many innovative yet practical and operational examples of how puppets have been used to facilitate ELL. Puppets, easily integrated into chilren’s natural play environment, represent a pedagogical tool par excellence for the teaching-learning of foreign languages. Using puppets, educators can create stimulating and enriching learning contexts, engaging children and moving them towards educational learning objectives, very naturally and through active and interactive play. Moreover, puppets, being puppets, can speak various languages, experience various life-events, and share these with young learners, be they homogeneous, heterogeneous, international, transcultural and/or intercultural groups. Indeed, “the language of puppets” is naturally multilingual and intercultural.

The Puppet Explained is a light-hearted novel about story elements written in the objective point of view and told entirely by puppets, for an audience of teachers and other adults who spend time with children, and elementary school-aged youngsters who are somewhat precocious.

Henryk Jurkowski's seminal 1988 text, Aspects of Puppet Theatre, was groundbreaking in its analysis of puppetry as a performing art. This new edition of a classic brings the original text back to life, including four additional essays and a new introduction, edited and translated by leading puppetry scholar Penny Francis. Henryk Jurkowski's seminal 1988 text, Aspects of Puppet Theatre, was groundbreaking in its analysis of puppetry as a performing art. This new edition of a classic brings the original text back to life, including four additional essays and a new introduction, edited and translated by leading puppetry scholar Penny Francis.

Puppetry Originated In India And Travelled Across The Seven Seas To The Eastern And Western World As Vouched By Many Scholars. Puppets Dated Back To A Period Well Before Bharata S Natya Shastra And Have Continued Unabated Throughout The Centuries In Almost All Indian States. Puppetry Is One Enduring Form, Which Has Entertained Masses And Educated People. The Famous Puppeteers Of Rajasthan Are Really Acrobats, Who Only Put On Puppet Shows When They Move Out Of Villages. These And A Thousand Other Scintillating Facts Come Out Of This Exciting Book For The Reader S Entertainment And Elucidation. Puppets Are By No Means For Only Children, -- As The Puppeteers Of Orissa Sing And Dance About The Romantic Love Of Radha And Krishna, And Keralan Puppets Narrate Kathakali Stories In The Same Make-Up And Costumes.The Book Aims At Giving A Connected Account Of The Indian Puppets: Their Variety, Their Multiple Functions, Their Craft, Their Animation And Their Connections With Other Related Arts In Five Separate Parts. The Book Also Contains For The First Time In Any Book On Puppetry -- Four Important Appendices: Museums In India Containing Puppets, Directory Of Indian Puppeteers, Global Bibliography On Puppets And A Relevant Glossary. The World Of Indian Puppets Is Seen In Vivid Colours With Scores Of Coloured Photographs And Many Line-Drawings And Half-Tone Pictures --- In Their Many-Sided Splendour: Variety Of The Glove, Rod, String, Shadow, And Human Puppets And A Myriad Background Stories Of The Puppet-Masters And Their Imaginative Landscape Of Free Creativity.