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Hey guys, I don't know if anyone has heard of a band called The Myriad, but they just released a video called "A Clean Shot" that was partially inspired by The Dark Crystal. The video features a couple of neat looking puppets & I have pics as well as links to the video and behind the scenes...

Very nice, any chance we can see a video?

Those have been around the web for a long time, but I had totally forgotten about them. I loved those McDonald's commercials as a kid...didn't Bonnie Erickson originally design these?

The equipment they used on the Muppet Show and the old Muppet projects is probably not what you would want to use today because technology has changed so much. Lav mics in particular have gotten much, much better. I used to always use old Commodore 64/Amiga monitors for puppetry because they...

Certain kinds of while plastic beads can also work well (sorry I don't have any photos handy as an example). Some people also cut strips of fun foam. Some craft stores sell Foamie "marshmallows" that could be used to make teeth.

This is really well done. I can see how puppet ministry done like this would be very effective.

Which witch?

"Prehistoric puppets" are a line of realistic dinosaur puppets created by a Hollywood FX artist that look very cool. They are not shipping to stores until June, but were recently unveiled at Toy Fair in New York and I've collected a bunch of links and pics with more info at...

Interesting to see photos of the puppets from the 1st community theatre production linked to. Have those been posted on here before?

For small projects I would be surprised if you could carve foam more accurately with a hot wire than a blade, but then I haven't done much carving. The hot wires are very good (and fast) for doing rough cuts on large blocks. Once foam gets thicker than 1" I have always found it difficult to cut...

I hate to be the nag here, but I have to emphasize DO NOT cut foam with a hot wire indoors or without a respirator. Even if you can "stand it" the fumes are toxic and potentially cancer-causing. I know puppet builders and other artists who didn't take safety precautions when they were younger...

I am not an authority on hand sewing, but I would second staceyrebecca's suggestion of going slowly and making small stitches. In my experience, the more time you take the better the finish product will look.

I wrote about this on my blog yesterday (the post is here) and I saw that it got noticed on Puppet Buzz too. I really like this; I think that it has a very cinematic feel to it and the puppetry is well done. Putting up a sample scene works better than trying to do a Hollywood-style trailer I...

If you are just building your first puppet it's often a good idea to start with cheaper materials like polyfoam and polar fleece, but it's really up to you. The reticulated foam really is much better to work with, but it's also more expensive and harder to find. I would suggest checking out...

You know what, I am so sorry...I didn't read the title of this thread properly when I responded last night. Fabricland sells polyfoam, not reticulated foam as does Samuel Harris. For reticulated foam you're going to have to buy it wholesale (there is a supplier north of Toronto, but they have a...

This is very true. I am by no means the world's greatest on camera puppeteer, but occasionally I teach just the very basics and one of the practice exercises I do - which I learned from a more experienced puppeteer - is to make 'targets' on the screen with a dry-erase marker to practice eye...

All of the "flipped" LCDs on cameras I have seen give you a mirror image rather than a reversed one. That often creates weird problems with focus and staging because you are not seeing what the audience is (many webcams do the same thing). Worked reversed is called "straight scan" (mirror image...

The thing about eye focus is that it's very difficult to maintain on a single point in a long sustained take and that also tends to get boring. Even if you watch some of the best Muppet videos you'll notice they don't do it very often. Everybody has different ways of working, but what I have...

This is really cute! My only suggestion would be to drop the hand...that's a common thing in puppetry; the hands get held too high.

Most Fabricland outlets will sell 1/2 inch polyfoam, but it is expensive. If you're willing to drive to Mississauga Samuel Harris at 7131 Edwards Boulevard is a good, affordable source. They carry a lot of cool stuff.