Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:15:58 -0500
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Our Short Film Puppet


Hello all,

   On the prompting of an old and established member of puppitcrit
(ahemthanksmathieuahem)
I'm posting this little video that was done of a silly street show of mine:
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_27118.aspx
  Funnily enough the reward for my fame was a check-up by city officials to
make sure I had my license in order! They were quite pleasant however, and
as all was as it should be, I was left relativley unmolested.

enjoy,

Alexander


On 12/14/08, Mathieu René <creaturiste-AT-primus.ca> wrote:
>
> I added another new pic to my portfolio this morning. I was waiting for
> proper authorisation, which I got.
>
> It's a pic of the puppet my friend Daniel Auclair and I co created for the
> short film, which is due later in 2009.  The short film (La Cité entre les
> murs, (working title)) is written and directed by Alain Fournier, of Dock
> Films.
>
> The pic appears within the first 15 images.
> Look for a small character with mechanical wings and aviator hat, in front
> of a green screen.
>
>
>
> Behind the scenes:
> (sorry, no pics for this yet, will let you know)
> Daniel asked for it and became Artistic Director for this project,  so he
> had final say on every visual aspect of the puppet and the sets. We worked
> together on the design of the puppet. We both worked on the two plastalina
> models of the head. I molded and built them both into paper mache, and added
> left-to right eye mechs. He sculpted the body in wood. We both
> worked the articulations. We came up with the ball, socket and elastic
> joint for the neck, making the head easily removable. I added the removable
> rods.
>
> This puppet brought us pride and joy. It moved very well. It could be
> manipulated from all angles, and in one scene, our puppeteers turned it into
> a temporary marionette. They had the brilliant idea of sewing some head
> strings to the hat, which held firmly thanks to the loops of masking tape I
> had put beneath.
> www.creaturiste.blogspot.com
>
> Our puppeteers were both builders as well, so they were very efficient at
> coming up with simple solutions to add temporary control rods and string for
> difficult to shoot scenes. This was necessary, and difficult to plan in
> advance, for we worked with a director who is not very familiar with puppet
> work, so we had to adapt to him, before every shot. It went smoothly, thanks
> to our combined expertise.  Our two puppeteers were Jean Cummings and Ash
> Glamour.
> I want to mention that in this case, "Jean" is masculine (in French, the
> direct equivalent of John).
> The same puppeters worked with us on the similar adventure we built in
> 2006.
>
> You'll see the wings we built for him as well. I created and built the
> armature out of bamboo skewers and glued string. I covered them in brown
> paper towels, for better texture, and added more string, for the handmade
> look.  I decided to use leather as a hinge for the wings, so I made a rough
> test. Daniel made the final leather hinges and back piece, and the front
> straps and belt. They are very neat, and fully functional. Our costume
> designer Odile came to sew the many canvas panels inside the armature (one
> full day). This enabled me to work on something else. You can't see the back
> of it, but I covered it all with over 600 individual feathers (each sorted
> and/or recut smaller, each dyed twice, each glued individually). I thought
> I'd go mad, but it went smoothly, except for a very runny nose (sorting
> feathers from a pillow).  The wings had tie wraps installed on the armature
> when needed, so we could tape them (with green tape) to the rods, which were
> painted in green (flight scenes shot on green screen).  Those tie wraps
> provide good simple joints, easy to replace. We installed them for front and
> back manipulations. A long rod was connected to the chest when we were
> filming the flying puppet from the back. Two puppeteers were required. It
> flew very well.
>
> The costumes were brilliantly designed and made by Odile Gauvin, our long
> time collaborator, who is also a puppetmaker, so she understands the
> specific needs of puppets. Every piece of costume is removable. That leather
> aviator hat just blew everybody's mind!
>
> Daniel designed and built the set. The walls, ceiling and floor are all
> removable. The whole box measures 36 x 36 inches, and has two extra front
> panels for the outside shots. Almost everything in and on it are recycled
> materials and objects, which we collected ourselves throughout the project,
> on our bicycles and by foot.  He respected and chose naturally aged elements
> (wood, metal, paper) and we barely added a patina on them, for uniformity.
> I was his assistant throughout. I built a few props (hammock, three-step
> stairs, electrical box with switches) but I was also responsible for the
> patina (antiquing).
>
> For one scene, I built a giant tree out of wire, aluminum foil and paper
> mache strips. Daniel came up with the idea of using a large cardboard tube,
> cut in sections and re-glued at various angles, to form the trunk. This
> saved a lot of wire.
> I kept the tree, it's now in my studio. I'll eventually rework it with
> strong, structural paper mache for durability. The movie did not require
> real strenght or detail (filmed from very far), so I had just made a texture
> layer and a quick paint wash.
>
> It was an intense work experience. I already miss the large studio space,
> and the joy of having some specific project to do almost every day for three
> months. Total immersion! No distractions!
>
> Did you know luck was contagious?
> This project was made possible by an uncanny amount of luck. From the very
> unlikely studio rental in the building Daniel wanted, to the marvelous
> treasures we found up to the very last minute, it sound impossible, even to
> us, who lived it. The luck was like this for a similar project we had in
> 2006 (short film from same writer/director coming out in festivals soon).
>
>
>
>
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