MAKING PUPPET HEADS

The wooden puppet bodies are looking great - but, being wood, they are a little heavy. The puppets will be manipulated by a one-handed control system, which means that weight is going to be very important to pay attention to. Also, since the heads of our puppets are going to be the most visible part of the puppet body, we want to find a material that will give us the nicest sculpture as well. Function balanced with Aesthetics! That's puppetry. 

We made each character head out of a different trial material to help us decide which we like best: 

                   *Cece's trial head is CARVED WOOD, 

                   *Rose's was designed by Sarah in a computer program 
                             called Maya and is 3D PRINTED, 

                    *Lars' head was sculpted by Nicky in clay and 
                               cast in NEOPRENE in a plaster mold.

This is how Rose's head looks like printed in 3D! The Puppet Lab has a fancy 3D printer that takes an image digitally sculpted in an editing program like Maya or Sculptris, and prints it out in little ribbons of plastic. This is a great option for Rose's head, as he is the heaviest puppet of them all.

 

 

Here is the process of making Lars' Neoprene head:

                                           Lars front and side profile drawings, and finished sculpture.

1. Head rests in a clay ring and a base is built up around it. 

2. Clay is built up around head, then is carefully cleaned of all debris. 

3. Sturdy walls are constructed.

4. The first layer of plaster mixture is poured carefully to minimize bubbles on the surface of the sculpture.

5. Once the plaster hardens, the process is repeated on the other side. (Don't forget to use a releasing agent!) Then, the mold is pried open! 

6. The sculpture is removed, the mold is securely shut, and neoprene is poured. 

7. A finished neoprene pull! Lots of flashing on this one. (Flashing is the ridge of excess neoprene surrounding the shape of the head.)

A perfect fit. Lars has a nice neoprene head! For now... 

WORKSHOP 2: TOY THEATER + HISTORY

In our second workshop with our 2nd graders at Clark Elementary, we made toy theaters and told the true story of Mauer's Bologna factory that used to exist in Hartford. 

This is the newspaper article that inspired the project.

We thought this story was a perfect choice, because it offered us a fantastic chance to talk about how stories can change over time as they pass from person to person, and can even become local mythology. In her version adapted for storytelling, Sarah reworked the Baloney Factory story into a poem and exaggerated all the facts a little. For example, every now and then when the bologna smell collected and became too heavy in the clouds, it would rain bologna on the city of Hartford.

The students worked in four teams of four or five to create backdrops and character puppets for the story.

                                                                  ORANGE TEAM!

Ms. Bus Driver, Mr. Townsperson, Mr. Judge, Ms. Perfume, Mr. Baloney

Scene 1: Hartford

Scene 2: Baloney Factory

Scene 3: The Court

Scene 4: The Improved Baloney Factory 

Scene 5: The Sky (filled with bologna rain)

                                                                   YELLOW TEAM!

Ms. Judge, Mr. Baloney, Mr. Townsperson, Mr. Perfume

Scene 1: Hartford

Scene 2: The Baloney Factory

Scene 3: The Court

Scene 4: The Improved Baloney Factory

                                                                    PURPLE TEAM!

Ms. Perfume, Ms. Baloney, Mr. Townsperson, Mr. Judge

Scene 1: Hartford

Scene 2: The Baloney Factory

Scene 3: The Court

Scene 4: The Improved Baloney Factory

RED TEAM!

Ms. Townsperson, Mr. Baloney, Mr. Perfume, Mr. Bus Driver, Mr. Judge

Scene 1: Hartford

Scene 2: The Baloney Factory

Scene 3: The Court

Scene 4: The Improved Baloney Factory

Scene 5: The Sky (with baloney rain)

Sarah and Nicole built four toy theaters for the kids to perform with, like this:

Then, with the help of other Puppet Arts students, the teams rehearsed the stories, came up with some good half-improvised dialogues for the scenes, and presented their work to the rest of the 2nd grade class. The kids were brilliant and came up with some great one-liners. We were very proud of all the hard work they put into their projects!!