DOCTOR WHO with Puppets

[robinthecrow]

Yes, you read that right, I, David Nagel of DAM Productions is going to ATTEMPT to make a film based on the BBC Sci-fi Show DOCTOR WHO but... with puppets.

Well... almost. The film will be part of my ongoing series of audio plays and videos of DOCTOR WHO starring myself as the Doctor. We have a few audio productions online at www.damproductions.org and we have a forthcoming fan film entitled 'Chimera' which was originally released way back in 2004 but is due to see the light of day again as a DVD release.

ANYWAY!

A short film is on the cards, written by myself and a friend, entitled 'Crescendo' where the Doctor goes to the planet Crescendo after loosing one of his long term companions, so he delves himself in music and dance but is soon found to be guilty of performing without a licence and so the local authorities sentence him into the form of a puppet!

And that's the premise!

BUT before we get started with completing the script, storyboarding, making more puppets, sets, costumes, cameras etc. we will be producing a demo film to see how the puppets work on screen and release it as a little puppet WHO teaser! Which is currently entitled 'Muppet Cutaway' and features my puppet Doctor against sequences from the Muppet Movies.

'Muppet Cutaway' sees the Doctor and his companion Sammy attempting to infiltrate the Muppet Theatre, the Muppets have a diabolical scheme that will soon see planet Earth burnt to a cinder and the Doctor has to stop it!

Finding getting in a problem, the Doctor uses the Chameleon Arch (as seen in BBC's Doctor Who Series Three story 'Human Nature') to turn himself into a puppet! Success! The Doctor gets in and attempts to tell the human audience that they have to leave now before its too late, but it already is too late and they think the Doctor is part of the act!

While the Muppets attempt to remove the Doctor (cue clips of Harry and his explosions, stage hands with a hook and a flying Miss Piggy or Gonzo!) meanwhile in the TARDIS, a familar but puppet form startles Sammy, it is the 2nd Doctor (Patrick Troughton) in puppet form and he must get the current Doctor back into human form before the puppet influence spreads throughout his incarnations! ('Two Doctors' refernece here)

Will the 2nd Doctor and Sammy get the Doctor back before its too late? Will
the Doctor stop the Muppets and their apparant evil scheme? And will the Doctor be stuck as a puppet forever?

Find out in DOCTOR WHO: MUPPET CUTAWAY

A script is to follow. I will upload the first draft here so everyone is welcome to make comments, correct me on Muppet lines I am using and maybe even suggest a few! The final film will be available from my website and youtube channel but will not be linked here since it will contain copyright material, which I know some forums have had a bashing about sometimes!

BUT you might wondering why the LONG LONG post and WHY am I telling you lot? WELL... While I can make a fairish good looking puppet, head patterns and shapes are a HUGE problem to me. And I could do with some help in making the head patterns. So if anyone has the expertise or some tips and hints on making these sort of things please do not hesitate to contact me via david(at)damproductions.org or leave a message here!

And before you ask, what shape, here is some concept artwork for the Doctor Puppet. Apologies to Phil Fletcher (of Gluvets fame) for ruining his wonderful ebay puppet with my facial features and costume!

www.damproductions.org/images/artwork/art_doctorpuppet.jpg

I really want to make this a community film and would love it if everyone can contribute in any way. By all means, I can do the film alone, but I want to give something back into the community I have learnt so much from by giving you all a film I hope you will enjoy and especially since it will feature the one reason we're here - Jim Henson's Muppets!

so, tell me what you think, what should I change? Should I change anything? Am I going crazy? Am I being too ambitious? Am I wasting your time? Please be kind!

I look forward to hearing from you all soon!

~ David Nagel
www.damproductions.org

 

[muppetperson]

I think I would change the script.Maybe be more faithfull to the Dr Who series, but in puppet form, therefore, not feature the muppets, but have puppet Daleks and aliens instead.Perhaps you could start off as the doctor and then get killed, and regenerate in puppet form.But I am only offering ideas and if you feel strongly about having the muppets in it as well, then go for it.

 

[Puppetainer]

Not to rain on your parade, but I rather agree with muppetperson. Though the Muppets add an element of whimsy I think the fact that the good doctor has become a puppet adds plenty of whimsy by itself. I think something similar was done to great effect on Angel when he was transformed into a puppet. Loved the puppet doctor! Whatever you decide to do I look forward to enjoying your efforts.

 

[robinthecrow]

I had redrafted my original post a few million times and still had trouble explaining how much, or how little the Muppet clips feature. They will be featured surpisingly little and the short teaser will concentrate more on the puppet Doctor(s) and his companion.

It's only 5 pages at the moment but here is the draft of the script:

www.doctorwho.damproductions.org/misc/muppetcutawaydraft1.pdf

Tell me what you think of my progress so far.

My only other trouble with this is selection of clips from the Muppet Show or Muppet movies, so if anyone can help me out with selection of this sparingly used clips.

I felt regenerating the Doctor into a puppet form of his previous self was alittle odd and the chameleon arch, recently introduced in series three, was just ticket for this short film. As for the bigger production 'Crescendo' the Doctor is placed in a machine that transforms him into a puppet. 'Muppet Cutaway' is more of funny short film that might be an easter egg on a DVD - one of those non-canonical film thingies.

Angel's 'Smile Time' was the main influence for this project and while in a way 'Muppet Cutaway' holds some similarities to 'Smile Time' I felt for speed of production the use of Muppet clips would be best justified since it would certainly save me from making more puppets (on top of the Doctor puppets) that would require more puppeteers and more voice overs (the only voice over in the film will be the Puppet Troughton voice).

 

[Toasty]

My only other trouble with this is selection of clips from the Muppet Show or Muppet movies, so if anyone can help me out with selection of this sparingly used clips.

I felt regenerating the Doctor into a puppet form of his previous self was alittle odd and the chameleon arch, recently introduced in series three, was just ticket for this short film. As for the bigger production 'Crescendo' the Doctor is placed in a machine that transforms him into a puppet. 'Muppet Cutaway' is more of funny short film that might be an easter egg on a DVD - one of those non-canonical film thingies.

Hello.
You seem to have put quite a bit of thought into many aspects of your production, script and other ideas.

Have you considered the problems you may encounter by using any Muppet characters (property owned by Disney) and/or clips from Muppet movies and shows (property owned by Disney), or any other copyrighted properties as part of your concept?

Read a bit about intellectual property laws in the UK. They are probably similar to those written in the US.

An appearance by Muppet characters in your film idea does not qualify as parody or any type of fair use. And you could quickly slide from "Muppet fan making a little movie so we'll leave him alone" into major legal troubles by distributing any work featuring copyrighted elements on DVD, online, or other organised ways. That is generally the kinds of things Disney (and other copyright holders) pays attention to.

Just something to think about as you continue to work through your script ideas, etc.

best of luck


ps: I'm not sure that using the Dr Who character (beyond normal "fan activity") is without issues either... again, check IP law in the UK to find out.

 

[robinthecrow]

Toasty, thanks for your message.

I completely understand where you are coming from and this sort of discussion gets talked about endless times especially about 'Doctor Who' and how far us fans can take it. Luckily there have been very few instances with the BBC on how us fans treat their property, namely as long as we don't gain any profit from it - that is their ultimate concern.

And I will be taking the same attitude towards Disney and how they treat the Muppets. I believe that they will not act against me or my film UNLESS I make profit from it, which I have no intention to do. I support both the BBC and Disney by purchasing the publications, be it, books, annuals, DVDs, CDs etc. and believe they will not penalise me if I make this film.

IF I do produce a DVD of 'Crescendo', 'Muppet Cutaway' will feature as a special feature or, as before, an easter egg. This DVD will be available for FREE to friends and family and to those who contributed to the productions. I do not want to gain profit. I am making a film dedicated to my two favourite films/programmes, the Muppets and 'Doctor Who'.

I understand there is a huge risk me taking this little demo on and if that scares people away from helping me then I will scratch 'Muppet Cutaway' and continue production on 'Crescendo' (the Muppet-less film)

'Muppet Cutaway' is a mere demo of what 'Crescendo' could be. I want to start small (MC) and eventually produce a brilliant production (C) everyone can enjoy.

 

[muppetperson]

Oh, I see now.Cresendo and Muppet Cutaway are not related.Two different scriptings, which could be a continuity issue the way there are two different ways the Doctor turns into a puppet.

 

[robinthecrow]

Yes! That's it muppetperson!

Sorry I never made myself clear in the first post. Yes.

'Crescendo' and 'Muppet Cutaway' are two seperate entities. 'Crescendo' is our big big production. And 'Muppet Cutaway' is a seperate demo film of what we could possibly achieve (or not achieve) in 'Crescendo'.

Shortly, I will be uploading some drawings of how the Doctor puppet head will be achieved. I have no idea about patterns except flat ones and those haven't always been successful. So if anyone that does know how best to get the head shape I am after - I would love to hear from you!

The ultimate production of 'Crescendo' will feature lots of other puppets and sequences where you guys at Muppet Central can contribute either via voice over or if you are feeling ambitious send me a video of your puppet in action so I can slot him/her into a sequence that might need it.

 

[Luke]

Interesting David, i would imagine that a viral video of the current doctor who would go down a storm on Youtube. Maybe have a puppet "Master" or puppet Martha as well. Especially as your puppet seems to resemble David Tennant quite a bit actually. You might try doing that as well ... although i see what you are currently doing is based on your audio series so good luck with that too.

 

[robinthecrow]

Luke, thanks for the kind wishes!

Funnily enough something along those lines you mention was intended at some point. But felt my efforts are better spent on something alittle bit more original than replicating Tennant or Freema (can't say I'd want to puppetise Simm, maybe Jacobi though). Storyboards and a partial script also exist of this idea.