Puppets And Puppet Making

For what must be one of the most creative and satisfying of crafts, Puppets and Puppet-Making provides the perfect introduction to the art as well as the means for mastering the more complicated skills and subtle effects.

Puppets & Puppet Theatre is essential reading for everyone interested in making and performing with puppets. It concentrates on designing, making and performing with the main types of puppet, and is extensively illustrated in full colour throughout.Topics covered include: nature and heritage of puppet theatre; the anatomy of a puppet, its design and structure; materials and methods for sculpting, modelling and casting; step-by-step instructions for making glove, hand, rod and shadow puppets & marionettes; puppet control and manipulation; staging principles, stage and scenery design; principles of sound & lighting and finally, organisation of a show.

Provides instructions for making a variety of puppets, including where to find materials and how to get started.

Offers tips, tricks, and techniques for making animal sock puppets, from an elephant and a monkey to a bat and a lion.

"Step-by-step instructions for making everything from simple finger puppets to marionettes, including staging your own puppet show"--Cover

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.

Children's theater, shadow puppets, rod puppets, special effects, hand puppets, marionettes, animal string puppets, trick marionettes, costume, puppet theaters, production, suppliers of materials.

Directions and diagrams for making various types of puppets, dressing and handling them, setting up a stage, and writing and producing one's own show. Includes three puppet plays.