I'd love to hear some behind-the-scenes stuff about the making of this. Did you shoot it as a single camera or multi-camera set up? Did you rebuild any of the core characters for the filming or were you able to reuse some of them from the regular TVTV episodes? How long was the shoot and how much of it was scripted/improvised.
Again, good job!
Steve
Thanks Steve. And thanks for the kind words from the rest of you folks too!
I have to note here that there wasn't a single person involved with this that got paid a dime for doing anything they did. Every single hour of time and every single iota of effort was completely volunteered. That's how its been from day one on TVTV. And I count myself among the luckiest guys in the world to have been able to gather this many talented and energetic folks to help create this thing. And keep it going.
As far as puppetry goes, "head flap" is a symptom of having puppeteers who are not professional puppeteers, but folks with the gumption to give it their all. Some of these folks never puppeteered before in their lives. NONE of them save Charles and myself had ever worked with a monitor and camera before we shot our pilot way back in 2007. I'm a crappy teacher... mia culpa on that one.
We shot single camera. All digital. Any more than that you'll have to ask the guys behind the lens. I'm the guy who handled stuff in front of the lens. Puppets, sets, props, etc. Michael and Troy are the guys who shot the action and directed.
I did some face-lifts on certain characters. Dwayne got a pretty serious facelift. As did Von Bucket (though he's not been seen previously since we suspended Web Season 3 to do this). I gave LeShoc a new set of hands that didn't look so much like stubby chubby baby hands. Kim is brand new as well as Cryptomicus (the keeper). Kim's body was built by Andy Hayward. I added the detailing. My wife designed the costume. I had built Godzilla and Monster Zero for a sketch long ago but never used them. Miss Mansfield got a new pair of cats-eye glasses. But Furry, Archie, Boris and Batfink are exactly the same puppets we've been using for three years. If we get beyond Web Season 3, I intend to rebuild almost the entire cast. Furry is a right mess inside, but since I'm the puppeteer, I can deal with it. Our extra dude puppet that we call "Mad Man Mennows" ( the Titanic porter and Denver Airport Baggage Handler) was built by Liz Hara. The Shatner was designed and sculpted and cast by Hollywood make up guy Crist Ballas. I also have to mention Michael Huyck and Jason Thomas... guys who really helped an amazing amount. Michael Huyck is our incredible "right handy man"... he builds sets, sculpts, puppeteers, works on-set, etc. etc. And Jason turned out to be an amazing prop builder (he designed the sarcophagus for Kim Ho Tep). Beautiful work.
Because of the all-volunteer nature of the endeavor, we had to shoot only weekends. By the end, we managed to squeek in a few weeknights for greenscreen and pick-up shots. But on the whole, it was weekends because everybody has day jobs. We started shooting back in June and continued all the way up through Jim Henson's birthday. Luckily, since we were working digital, Michael could edit individual scenes in between the shoots and work on the effects-heavy shots in spare time (of which there wasn't much since he was also directing).
The overwhelming majority of the material was scripted. We usually rehearse just before shooting and then go to it under camera so there's always plenty of goof-ups for the blooper reel later. We try to keep ad-libs to a minimum because they make editing dialogue a bear. But sometimes there are good lines that just have to get used. Batfink's "That's just a gypsy riff to get you to buy a salve or ointment or...blah blah blah" was a controlled ad lib. We came up with that during rehearsal and it was funny enough to use when we shot. So it came back again when we shot the very end with Cryptomicus and Esmerelda. When Batfink says, "Its always paper..." that was an ad lib under camera that turned out really well. And when Furry says, "Dwayne? Dwayne! Omighod... I hope its not shark week." That was an ad lib too.
I have to disappoint on the tabloid dirt front... we all got along amazingly well. No major blow ups or personality conflicts. There were tense moments and misunderstandings on occasion, but as a group, we're pretty cohesive. After a while, like a family, you have things that bug you about other folks... but we're all adults and can deal with that. Its normal life.
-G
Welcome to the Muppet Central Forum!
Jim Henson Idea Man
Back to the Rock Season 2
Bear arrives on Disney+
Sam and Friends Book
