To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 22:07:09 -0500
Subject: [Puptcrit] TIP: Slidy Puppet Hats: masking tape


Hi all.

I think the following will be quite an old trick to some, but since I don't 
rmeember reading it anywhere, here it is. Obvious as it may be, it is very 
useful!

When you have a hard-smooth puppet head that needs to wear a flexible hat, 
there is a problem with proper wearability. Real live heads have squishiness 
provided by muscles and fat, allowing for a tight hat fit.
In the past, I've used, successfully, magnets, pins, velcro, wooden pegs, 
and hooks.
When the hat needs to be removable and no hole should be seen, then not many 
options remain.

Today, for the short film shoot, I had to come up with a quick solution for 
my very smooth paper mache puppet head. It looks and feels like smooth 
porcelain. So of course, a realistic fabric hat tends to slide in all 
directions. That duplicate head needs to remain very neat all around, so I 
couldn't use hot glue at all.

A loop of regular masking tape above each ear, and one aove the forehead, 
did the trick perfectly.
The hat stayed in place for the entire shoot.  So it would work well for a 
show as well.
The trick is to make sure to remove all the tape when you are done. Masking 
tape (and most tapes) will age quickly, and turn gummy and messy.

Some masking tapes are stickier (danger of pulling paint off at removal), 
while others are less so (only risk is of not working very well).
 

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