Making A "Slit" Mouth

[Convincing John]

Hello, everyone. I'm working on a puppet that will have a mouth that will be just a slit in the foam, like how 's is.

Is there anyone out there that has made this kind of mouth...and if so, are there any tips or techniques I should follow? I've never built this kind of mouth before.

Convincing John

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Just as a general rule you should make the puppet so that the mouth is naturally open, not closed. In my experience mouths work a lot better that way, especially narrower ones.

 

[ravagefrackle]

Hello, everyone. I'm working on a puppet that will have a mouth that will be just a slit in the foam, like how 's is.

Is there anyone out there that has made this kind of mouth...and if so, are there any tips or techniques I should follow? I've never built this kind of mouth before.

Convincing John

im guessing you are carving out of foam, if so, then you will need to re-inforce the insidde of the foam mouth area, use some ace bandage or soemthing and glue it in there, then u need to form your mouth plates to fit the area you are using.

good luck,

mouths like this are not as durable as normal ones so be prepared for repairing it after hard use.

bunsen is always checked after performances.

 

[Convincing John]

Hey, thanks, guys!

An open mouth...makes sense. It'd probably be more flexible too.

Reinforcing the interior of the head...yeah I'll look into that. Even though this puppet wont get a lot of hard use, I'll take your advice on using a bandage on the inside of the mouth.

And oh yeah, you're right, it's being made from foam.

Convincing John

 

[D'Snowth]

It is more flexible that way, and is easier to do, but believe me, when your puppet as to has his or her mouth closed for periods of time, after a while, the top mouth plate begins to wear down and become flimsy...that was my mistake making a puppet mout out of cardboard.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I usually reinforce the mouth plate by gluing thin, flexible strips of fabric over the mouthplate and the surrounding foam if I think the puppet will get a lot of wear and tear. I've never really had a problem with the mouthplate ripping or wearing down, but you do need to use strong or rigid materials.