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Search results

  1. Buck-Beaver

    Any active workshops in the UK?

    I'm not sure what kind of training you're looking for or where in the UK you're located, but here are a couple of places in and around London that offer puppetry workshops: London School of Puppetry - Highly recommended, run by Ronnie LeDrew, who is an acclaimed puppeteer in the UK who has...
  2. Buck-Beaver

    Puppet Sets

    Ideally you would build to puppet scale, unless there are humans in your project, in which case you need to find a balance, which can be tricky (pro-tip: if you're working with human actors, use bigger puppets..it makes things easier!). Either way, unless you're building everything from scratch...
  3. Buck-Beaver

    Bear Comedian Eyes $12 a pair + Shipping

    This reminds me of the guy who used to advertise his "Deluxe Counting Vampire Puppet" on Ebay. :shifty:
  4. Buck-Beaver

    Overweight puppets

    Wow, I completely forgot that I wrote that for Naomi.
  5. Buck-Beaver

    Overweight puppets

    Mjolnit is right; strength is largely irrelevant when performing puppets live. What you need is muscle endurance, which is completely different. I started my career working for a company where I alternated with a guy who was seriously in to lifting weights. He had 2-3x my strength, but his arms...
  6. Buck-Beaver

    Puppeteer Saleries

    Very few puppeteers are salaried. Most are freelancers and pay varies quite a bit depending on where you work. Some puppeteers might make $100-250 per live show, while unionized puppeteers working on camera can make $250-1000+ per day depending on what they are doing. What type of work are you...
  7. Buck-Beaver

    Starting a puppet workshop

    One or more of the Project Puppet patterns is probably a great place to start. I think using them and following the instructions/tutorials might help you a lot.
  8. Buck-Beaver

    Starting a puppet workshop

    I'm sorry but I don't really know what your skills/level of experience is, but in general you have to build a lot of puppets to develop those skills. Realistically, it usually takes a few years. A lot of people learn by using the Project Puppet patterns. Another good resource to learn from is...
  9. Buck-Beaver

    Starting a puppet workshop

    It really depends on your budget and what you want to do. The term "professional hand and rod puppet" is a misnomer, it doesn't really mean anything (I wrote a short rant about that several years ago). Prices for custom puppets usually start at $500 and go up as high as $5k-$10k. Generally...
  10. Buck-Beaver

    My $2.00 puppet

    Very cute, especially for a first attempt!
  11. Buck-Beaver

    Stage Performance Focus Puppet or Puppeteer?

    That was likely because of rights issues. I believe that Rick Lyon (who created the original designs) owns the rights to them. He builds puppets for all or most of the major productions. Lower budget productions will sometimes get a local builder to make puppets for their show, but they cannot...
  12. Buck-Beaver

    Bunsen Honeydew mouth

    If that's the case, what a brilliant idea!
  13. Buck-Beaver

    Stage Performance Focus Puppet or Puppeteer?

    Slackbot is right, it's not a question one favouring one or the other, the two have to work together. Avenue Q is kind of unique in that the puppeteer and the puppet are balanced and usually blend in to a seamless performance (at least when the show is staged correctly!). It requires a hybrid...
  14. Buck-Beaver

    How To Make a Python Puppet

    Nice work Jared!
  15. Buck-Beaver

    A Robot, A Sandwich, and a Pig walk into a bar...

    These are very nice Stacey!
  16. Buck-Beaver

    Help Building an Innova Puppet

    Try watching these tutorials, it's a different design but the basic concept is similar:
  17. Buck-Beaver

    New to puppet making, here are a few puppets I have made

    These look good, especially for first attempts, but have you tried making something that isn't Fraggle-like?
  18. Buck-Beaver

    Start your own career

    Somewhat, but personally I think that the most important thing is to be a really good puppeteer first and foremost. Perform as much as you can, whenever you can for a few years. Both Kevin and Jim perfected their skills for years before becoming famous or well-known. Talent walks and talks, if...
  19. Buck-Beaver

    Dying Fleece Issues!

    Glad to hear it worked! If you have trouble again (or any one else does) something to keep in mind is that although you can use regular fabrics dyes like RIT and Tintex with Antron Fleece, Acetate-Nylon dye from Aljo generally works better and gives more vibrant colour. I still work with the old...
  20. Buck-Beaver

    Muppet/puppet sizes

    The best approach - in my opinion anyway - is to make the puppet's mouth plate first so that it fits your hand (or the hand of the puppeteer you're building for) really well. Then design and build around that. Don't get me wrong, scale is often an important consideration when building puppets...
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