Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2008 09:18:29 -0800
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] animation programs


Hi Mark,

you asked:

> I was wondering if you
> know of a good but cheap & easy beginners animation program?


The good & easy program is Flash. It retails for $699, which is not  
cheap. However, there are many ways to get it cheaply:

1) Free 30-day trial period - visit adobe.com

2) Get the student version for approx. $250. (save $450)

3) Get an earlier version of the software, which many people still  
use. Earlier versions that would be suitable are -- Flash 4, Flash  
5,Flash 6, Flash 7 (also called Flash MX), Flash 8 (also called Flash  
MX 2004 or Flash CS1-3.

I searched ebay using the terms "Macromedia Flash" and found a copy  
of Flash 4 that is currently at $30 after 9 bids. This would be a  
good deal & if you don't "win" this time, you are likely to find lots  
of similar items using the search terms.

Here is the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Macromedia-DREAMWEAVER-FIREWORKS-FLASH-for- 
Windows_W0QQitemZ180310550538QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Software? 
hash=item180310550538&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234%7C66% 
3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

Best of luck with your animation!

Michael

On Dec 5, 2008, at 7:25 AM, Puppet People wrote:

> Hey Michael & other critters;
>     Great story about how you started, it's amazing how things work  
> out. I
> do have a question about your animation background. I was wondering  
> if you
> know of a good but cheap & easy beginners animation program?
>     I started making little movies about our shows about 2 years  
> ago and
> have become very curious about doing computer animation. I think a  
> lot of
> our scripts would make good shows so please let me know if  you  
> think of
> anything.
>     As for my beginnings in puppetry I didn't really get into it  
> until after
> college. I went to the university of Massachusetts to get a degree in
> sculpture. After that my plans were to go to California to get into  
> monster
> & creatur design at some special effects company, but that didn't  
> work out.
> After being turned down I started thinking about going the Jim  
> Henson way to
> the movies and luckly I got hired as a company artist with a local  
> puppet
> company. The pay wasn't much but I learned alot and even got to  
> perform at
> Lincon Center in NYC.
>     Through that experience I learned you can make a living doing  
> this and
> that there was still a great need for puppet shows even in the age  
> of TV &
> Computers. It has been 17 years now and I still love it, i have  
> frustrating
> days of coarse but that come with every you do.
>     I do have to say that even as a kid I was interested in puppets  
> but was
> never brave enough to perform. I was very, very, shy so the idea of  
> standing
> in front of a crowd was a nightmare to me. I did love watching the  
> Muppets,
> Seaseme Street, The dark Crystal (which I think is much better that  
> Labryth,
> but lets not argue) but I think I was always interested in how they  
> were
> made than how they were performed. It wasn't until later that the
> performance aspect became important to me.
>     Well I have gone on long enough, I have truely enjoyed  
> everyonenes story
> and hope to hear more.
>
> Mark
> The Puppet People----- Original Message -----
> From: "Michael Dowell" <moodooguru-AT-gmail.com>
> To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
> Sent: Friday, December 05, 2008 8:20 AM
> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] A destiny that shapes our ends
>
>
> This is a great post, Mathieu & Rolande. It's wonderful to hear about
> people's different paths to puppetry. I'm interested to read other
> people's stories as well. Let's all keep sharing!
>
> Here is my two bits:
>
> Growing up, I loved watching "The Muppet Show". It was always
> exciting, unpredictable and fun. I didn't care for the musical
> numbers at the time, but especially loved "Pigs in Space". At the
> time, it never occurred to me that I would be interested in creating
> puppet shows.
>
> Fortunately, I got a chance to attend a high school for the
> performing arts where I majored in Theatre performance for 4 years.
> This invaluable experience had a huge impact on my life and future
> happiness. Typically students stayed after school until late at night
> rehearsing shows. Our instructors expected us to demonstrate a high
> degree of professionalism. Audience expectations were high since the
> school had a strong reputation and people paid to see the shows. The
> school also had a New Plays festival where I got to write, direct and
> perform my own plays. Looking back, I would say that this was an
> ideal introduction to performing theatre.
>
> After high school, I attended CalArts as a character animation major.
> One afternoon, Frank Oz came to provide a performance for our
> department in an intimate 99-seat theatre. He brought Grover, Piggy,
> Cookie, etc. I have never seen an audience tear over with joy like
> that. It was incredibly moving. He reached out into a deep, childhood
> place inside of everyone and there was not a dry eye in the house. I
> remember having the thought: "This is very important. I need to
> remember this experience." I still didn't imagine myself doing puppet
> shows, I was just about to graduate and become an animator for prime
> time television.
>
> For years I did hand-drawn animation on shows like Futurama, Dilbert,
> and for Chiodo Brothers on a show for Disney TV. Never felt
> completely satisfied - the audience connection was missing. I wanted
> to do live performances with lots of wild, imaginative characters.
> But the path was not obvious at the time. It took about two years and
> lots of questioning to discover that I needed to do puppetry.
>
> Meanwhile, a roommate had made some hand and rod puppets for a show
> he had sort of 'thrown together" at CalArts. I liked his character
> designs and wanted to create personalities for the characters and
> make up a fun show. Somehow we talked ourselves into doing a
> performance at the Los Angeles Children's Museum. In our youthful
> folly, we told the museum director we had this great show, which we
> had to scramble to create. I was very happy with the work we did. But
> the partnership did not last, so I decided I would have to create my
> own puppets.
>
> The big shift happened after Sept. 11. There was so much fear in the
> air. I took a walk outside and streets were deserted - people were
> locked away in their homes. Like many, I felt a huge feeling of
> hopelessness and grief. And I wondered what could one person do to
> help overcome this fear? I had been searching for something to give,
> and had been unable to know how to proceed in realizing my dream. In
> some way, the fear galvanized an understanding in me that I could use
> this opportunity to do something helpful for my society and the
> world. All at once, I realized that the antidote for fear is joy and
> laughter, and children would be the best people to work with to
> create healing. Once I understood this, I was able to move forward
> and create Moodoo Puppets.
>
> Spent six months building puppets - I'm thankful to the Chiodo
> Brothers for showing me how to go about the process. From a
> Craigslist ad, I was joined by an Emmy award-winning puppeteer who
> had worked as Mr. Moose on the new Captain Kangaroo. He trained our
> group in puppetry, but more importantly, he showed me how to train
> others. When we did our first performance, the response was this huge
> wall of laughter. A very solid thing. There were about 200 kids
> packed into a little room at KidSpace Children's Museum and it was
> exactly what I wanted. Very satisfying. I am fortunate because I
> don't take the work for granted - I realize that I'm very lucky to
> have found joy in doing puppet shows.
>
> So, that's my story.
>
> Who else wants to share?
>
>
>
> On Dec 4, 2008, at 8:43 PM, Mathieu René wrote:
>
>> Rolande asked:
>>>> Are there born puppeteers, I wonder?
>>
>>
>> I think there are.
>> I'm not yet considering myself a fully grown puppeteer, but at
>> least for the
>> part of "puppetry person", I'm certain I was destined to be one.
>>
>> Everything artistic and technical I've ever learned before even
>> thinking
>> that Puppetry was an actual career, pointed me to be a puppet artist.
>>
>> -I was named after a Gerry Anderson puppet character (that spy
>> puppet named
>> Matthew that lived in a suitcase). My parents watched that show.
>> And since
>> Matthew is a biblical name, it also made my grandmother happy.
>>
>> -I grew up on TV puppetry, both local shows (many) and some from
>> the USA. I
>> watched Sesame Street even though I didn't understand the language.
>> I was
>> hooked on Labyrinth the first time I saw it, although I don't think I
>> understood the story fully. The movie was translated, but not the
>> songs. I
>> must have watched it many hundred times! I converted the kids in my
>> neighborhood to it too, organising playings of the soundtrack
>> (dubbed from
>> the movie, which is much better than the official reccorded
>> soundtrack) in
>> my garage, so we could dance to it. Not one of us understood
>> english, but we
>> knew the words, howver distorted we made them.  I only saw The Dark
>> Crystal
>> when I was a teenager, it wasn't that popular a movie in my TV
>> area. I loved
>> it too. The Storyteller was a favorite of mine, but I rarely got to
>> see it,
>> and only the same episode over and over again, it was one of those
>> shows
>> that never gets scheduled fully, kind of used to fill in some
>> blanks.  I
>> loved Blizzard Island (by Terry Angus), a miniseries with "muppet
>> types".
>> Despite all these influences, I never considered that Puppetree
>> could be an
>> actual career.
>> I kept being distracted by the details, never fully seing the  
>> picture!
>>
>> -I never finished a 3D art project when I was a kid or teenager. I
>> had no
>> proper training available in any basics (not even mixing plaster or
>> proper
>> hammering of nails), so I failed miserably, yet I kept at it, by some
>> mysterious need. I learned a lot about what not to do, that way. I
>> learned a
>> lot of basics about a lot of techniques. I couln't concentrate on
>> any single
>> one of them, I needed them all, so I was frustrated at not being
>> able to
>> justify being so spread out. Eventually, I had one success, then
>> another.
>> The first fully finished 3D art piece was a marionnette, which
>> actually
>> became fully complete when I realised he was actually perfect as a
>> tabletop.
>>
>> -I started showing a consistent interest in puppets about the time
>> internet
>> became available in my area for home use. That was the revelation.
>> So much
>> info was available, so many colleagues!
>> There was Puptcrit! At the same "era", I went to a used bookstore,
>> where the
>> only book that caught my attention was a catalogue from a puppet
>> exhibition
>> at the Civilisation Museum, which spanned the local History of
>> Puppetry in
>> Quebec. It was quite a revelation that we indeed had had and still  
>> had
>> Puppetry here!
>>
>> -All those various techniques that I just had to learn and use,
>> became my
>> toolbox to build puppets, once I finally finished one and realized
>> THAT was
>> my bliss. For once, I could finally bring most techniques together
>> to make a
>> single piece! And I never felt anything so wonderful from something
>> I had
>> created.
>> Not a painting, not a drawing, even ever came close.
>>
>> -Puppetry improves my life in all ways. I'm more outgoing, daring,
>> creative,
>> and even became a good cook, by some weird transference of
>> abilities from
>> the studio.
>>
>> I'll stop now, because I'm too curious to see what others know
>> about being
>> destined to be a Puppet person...
>>
>>
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