We thought we wouldn't be able to finish the puppet in time because we only had two hours and I think the way we were working was a bit slow but we managed, we didn't want to let our guests down. I never thought that we could be so creative but we were and we managed to create a puppet that we could actually use too (walk, move, bend) but all stay together.
Friday-
We began our workshop by doing "the name game". We went round the circle and said our names to the clapping beat. We then said it in a different voice and then added an action. In the end we had to remember all the names and actions. This was a good ice breaker and it also helped us to know the girls names too. Ice breakers are important when doing workshops with new people because it makes everyone more comfortable with eachother, more trust is built in the class and it can physically create more energy which is needed for a theatre workshop.
We then watched a Ted Talk video on Handspring Puppetry.
It was an amazing video and it showed us the horses from warhorse. What I learnt from the video was that every aspect of the puppet is important. You have to understand the body perfectly in order to copy it correctly and understand every inch of the actions. For example the horses ears in warhorse, the ear is something you wouldn't think off that much to show an emotion but for a horse it is and the ears move in many different ways that show emotion in Warhorse and it is essential!
We tried out some eyeline activities to begin with, this would help us to know how to control an object and be able to have eyeline between the puppet and something else. Eyeline is key to make that character interaction and create emotional pauses in a puppetry piece.
We each had a teddy and walked around the room getting eyecontact. We had to understand that our movements for the puppets had to be simple instead of hugely expressive otherwise it isn't as realistic. They said that less is more for puppetry which is true because they have to be like humans and we cannot be too expressive otherwise it is unrealistic. This links into other work we have done like the mask work for Commedia, we could not be too expressive because we had to make the maks come alive.
We went into pairs and they guided us for where our puppet should be looking. I struggled to move m puppet but I was okay at the eyeline. I realise how important eyeline is because it creates the human in the puppet. I really struggled to do this with my teddy because it was really stiff, I couldn't move it to get the correct eyeline and it was also very small. I was told to switch and I was much better afterwards.
We tried out walking the puppet first. I was the foot puppeteer, It took me a really long time to find the most comfortable but moveable position I could get myself in. I realise that if I am doing the feet, I will never be truly comfortable. But as the three puppeteers said before " you have to die in order for the puppet to live". I feel like it is important to be comfortable because it can be difficult to concentrate when you are in pain and this could distract you from the actual puppet. I am a beginner at puppetry, so I found it difficult to do because you are put into many different positions and can struggle to get out of them in time and keep up with everyone else.
We spent a long time walking round with the puppet, making it sit down, lie down and do normal human things. We learnt obviously how to do that but we learnt that it is important to always be thinking about our own actions when moving the puppet to know the true actions of a human.
Axel, Bekki and I created a short performance for the yr 4 and yr 2 class. It was our puppet Monty having his own cooking show. We wanted audience interaction so the children would feel that the puppet was real and we wanted some comedy for the children. We got lots of reactions and even though it was only a short performance, we felt that we succeeded in our main goals (just for us) which was being successful in manipulating the puppet. With just two hours practise of learning how to move our puppet, I felt we did an amazing job. I found it went well when we involved the audience, when we flipped the pancake and it went wrong because it added to the human which was one of our main goals. The way we moved monty was not perfect though because sometimes the legs weren't in time with the head. I think we need to get used to understanding not to go too fast because it is hard to keep up with for the feet. But with only two hours practice, I think that it went pretty good!
We then did two workshops with the children where we helped them to create their own puppet. I realise that the puppeteers only was telling them how to make it but I decided to help the kids know how to move the puppets by feet and head. They followed my fingers to get eyeline and this helped me talk about my own knowledge so that someone else could understand it even if they were only young.
I learnt so much about how to manipulate the puppet and having the three puppeteers themselves be there to correct us and praise us when we were practising helped a lot because they gave some amazing advice like:
- eyeline is important in character interaction and audience interaction
- less is more - don't exaggerate too much in the movement
- don't walk too fast because other parts of the body cannot keep up
- always keep the puppet alive with breathing and tiny movements!
- when I am the foot puppeteer, I struggle to keep up with the other puppeteers
- trying not to exaggerate too much
- don't use that many movements in one go.
- using my own emotions and transferring them into the puppet
- understanding key things a puppet needs to have throughout the performance
- staying on the floor being very uncomfortable
No comments:
Post a Comment