Overweight puppets

[Mjolnir]

I'm about 98% finished with my latest puppet and love how he looks but he seems heavy. I'm pretty fit but after a few minutes, I can feel fatigue creeping up, particularly in my shoulder. I might just need more time and practice to work up tolerance but wonder if I went with materials that are too heavy.

He is built on upholstery foam (1.5" thick) with a fleece cover. His body is similar to one of the puppet project alt patterns (6 segments) and is the heaviest part of the build.

Anyone else face this with a puppet?

 

[crazy chris]

Just a quick question... is this your first time using a puppet? or is this particular puppet just noticeably heavy compared to your other experiences?

If its your first time then you should know that puppetry is a heck of alot more strenuous than it seems... i owned a puppet theater for a couple years and the first few months felt like i needed an ice pack at the end of a show...lol... but over time you will build the normally un used muscles needed for the artform.... honestly... even holding a peice of paper over your head for any period of time can be strenuous at first...

good luck and keep at it!

cc

 

[Mjolnir]

Thanks for the reply. Pretty new to this. Started building/performing in December and this marks my 4th puppet. My first 3 were Monsters built off modified glorified sock puppet patterns and seemed much lighter than my latest, "human" puppet. He can't weigh more than 2 pounds so I think I just need to build up my shoulders. I'l keep practicing and put some Military Presses in my work out regimen!

The puppet in question is in my avatar photo. Is there a good target weight for puppets in this style?

 

[crazy chris]

Yeah i think 2 lbs is probably on the high end... ive been told that the puppets we used were way heavier than they should/could have been... and they were upwards of 3 i think... We also did a weird style of puppetry where we puppeted standing with our hands outstretched forward with a curtain between us and the puppets... it was so awkward and took alot of getting used to...

cc

 

[crazy chris]

Looking at your puppet...maybe the clothing is weighing it down as well?

cc

 

[D'Snowth]

Remember, when it comes to puppet building, less is more.

And like Chris previously said, you'd be surprised how much extra weight certain additives like clothing can add.

 

[Mjolnir]

Thanks CC and D'Snowth. I think the addition of the hoodie is when I noticed a difference. I'll get around to weighing him eventually but I'm going to guess 1.5 pounds. CC, 3+ pounds must have been murder but gives me a good idea of the physical strength and perseverance that it takes to master this craft.

 

[Muppetlab]

Im new to this aswell.. But 1.5" thick foam is pretty thick. Maybe try half inch.

 

[Mjolnir]

My head/neck sock is detachable so I might create a lighter body when I get some thinner foam. The arms could be removed and reattached pretty easy too. None of my local fabric stores seem to carry the thinner foam - but the hunt is on...

 

[D'Snowth]

I over looked some of the details, but yes, 1.5'' thick foam is pretty much unheard of, definitely a no-no... an inch is about the maximum thickness you would ever want to go for all overall construction, but like Muppetlab says, half inch would work well too. From experience, I've traditionally used inch-thick foam strictly for skulls and jaws, but I've learned that that usually only works well with puppets that have stiff mouths, if you want a more flexible mouth, then half inch foam is the way to go.

Another tidbit too, the fabric you're using could also play a factor as well: the higher quality the fabric, the thicker and heavier it's going to be, I've learned that the hard way. If you look at my work, the two forefront characters of my universe are monsters. Steve D'Monster is pretty much covered in shaggy fur from head to toe, but the fabric is low quality that came from a throw pillow, and as a puppet, he's mostly very lightweight and easy to manipulate; Bethany Crystal has what I call a "poodle cut" to her fur design, but her fur fabric came directly from an online source, it's much higher quality, and as a result, as a puppet, she's rather heavy and somewhat cumbersome, making her more difficult to manipulate.

I know most puppet builders always insist on getting the best, top-notch fabric for everything, ranging from fleeces to furs, but sometimes, the better the quality of the fabric doesn't ensure a more free and flexible puppet. I know everybody insists on going through measures to obtain antron fleece, I'm perfectly happy with polar, blizzard, and even polyester fleeces - they all have worked very well with me, and I honestly don't care about seams showing, and I don't believe people watching care either, sometimes they seem to actually look for things like seams, rods, strings, etc.