What gives you motivation/inspiration?

[CoOKiE]

I'm not making money off of the crafts that i do. So, money really doesn't push me to build puppets. So, for me, "wow i have this bill to pay... i have to start building again" or "i need to get a gig going this week so i can have some extra cash for the cruise i'm going on at the end of the month."

For me, i build because an idea comes to me. But sometimes that one idea isn't enough to keep me motivated to finishing the project at hand. So, when i say, "i gotta get this little guy done" i pop in a DVD as i'm finishing up my characters.

What Dvds do i turn to? Typically Follow that Bird works for me. The Sesame crew is a crazy group, and to me, more enjoyable. It keeps the kid in me alive. The characters i tend to create attract the child in people, but i gear them towards Teen age humor. So, I like the bright colored characters and happy moods... although i do have one REALLY angry character... not to be confused with a Grouch, but my lil guy flips out and just becomes so aggravated with all the crazy characters that live around him. Hes the "i just want to be left alone and relax, but if i turn my back for a sec, they'll blow up the world" and they probably could.

The Muppet movie is a 2nd. This would have to be my 2nd fav puppet movie, again, its the characters. Where as i've always felt the Muppets are more so grown up... Which shouldn't be a shock since that was the goal audience Jim was reaching out to. More grown up, but they're crazy. And i love origin films. No, this may not be the Official story, but its neat how they come together in this film.

The least watch dvds would depend on the time of year. Winter, i may pop in Christmas Carol. Summer, i may pop in Treasure Island or Big Bird in China is another. Not saying i go with the weather.

 

[Puppetainer]

I almost always have something playing in the background while I'm working. Sometimes I'll go with a directly inspirational piece (like Muppets From Space for zaniness) but usually it's just something to create some background noise. I will usually pick something that I really enjoy, is at least mostly upbeat in mood, and that I know almost completely by heart. That last point is particularly important because I want my focus to be 99.9% on what I'm doing and if it's some movie or TV series I love but haven't seen in a really long time I'm likely to become distracted. So lately I've used the direct streaming ability of Netflix to watch things like The Office, Better Off Ted, 30 Rock, News Radio, and stuff like that. I'll often pop in various animated films like Over the Hedge, or Meet the Robinsons.

This is something I'm used to doing from owning a video store for 13 years. I was always popping in movies (G or PG ratings only) to play in the background at the store and after a while you kind of end up playing the same 20 or 30 movies over and over again. So I've seen Ferris Beuller's Day Off like 100 times or so.

I too will change things up with the seasons. Have to watch the Quiet Man every March, and I usually go for the Burbs, and It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown every October, and there's a whole slew of Christmas movies I work through.

 

[crazy chris]

great thread cookie!

for me its the actual muppet shows...always something different...always something inspiring... always trying to figure out this and that and how it was done so high in the air...lol

ever since i was a kid i just couldnt enjoy stuff for the simple story...i had to always try and figure stuff out...

cc

 

[CoOKiE]

yea i think the whole desire to figure things out, is kind of essential. I've always felt that good puppetry is magic. Bringing to life something thats not, and creating illusions by any means to make the audience second guess if the puppet is alive or not.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I try to avoid anything puppet-related for inspiration (that's not a hard and fast rule though) and try to read a lot of non-fiction on everything from history to animation to rap music. I find that when you look outside puppetry for inspiration, you end up discovering new things about puppetry.

I usually end up blogging a lot of the inspiring things that I come across...there's an archive of them here.

 

[Melonpool]

I try to only watch movies that have the words "Star" or "Trek" in the title.

 

[CoOKiE]

I will usually pick something that I really enjoy, is at least mostly upbeat in mood, and that I know almost completely by heart. That last point is particularly important because I want my focus to be 99.9% on what I'm doing

I have to agree with this part here. I too do the same. When i play video games, or writing a story... and in this case, building puppets. I want my full attention on the project at hand.

 

[Sidebottom]

I try to avoid anything puppet-related for inspiration (that's not a hard and fast rule though) and try to read a lot of non-fiction on everything from history to animation to rap music. I find that when you look outside puppetry for inspiration, you end up discovering new things about puppetry.

I agree with Andrew -- I think if puppeteers only look to other puppeteers for inspiration, there's a danger of just repeating, rather than creating something new. I get inspiration from aboriginal art, the Firesign Theatre, webcomics, Aardman Animations, Douglas Adams, books about museums, behind-the-scenes features on just about any movie you can think of, and John Mayer covers of Radiohead songs.

It's like Terry Pratchett once said -- your brain is like a cup, and if you pour enough stuff into it, stuff will eventually start overflowing out of it.

That said, I have gotten some good ideas from other puppeteers, not in the sense of "I can do what he did" but rather "I can take the solution that he applied to his problem and apply it to my completely different problem". I like to expose myself to puppetry from as wide a diversity of styles and techniques as I can; although I work within the Muppet style, I get a lot of inspiration from seeing puppeteers who don't.

 

[Gelfling Girl]

Well, I pretty much use puppetry as a hobby more than a potential future career, but I find that some of the same things for freewriting work for me with puppetry. (For example, one idea from a "writing guide for kids/teens"-type book was to get a notebook and start writing a "journal" through the perspective of a character.) Also, reading books of odd and unusual fun facts and urban legends can help with thinking up ideas for character quirks and traits.

 

[spcglider]

In general I have an unnatural drive to build things. Its almost like a drug. And its not even that I want what it is that I'm building when its done. I just want to make.

Inspiration for TVTV comes from the desperate desire to outlast my mortal coil... yes, it really is like a mid-life crisis! But its also fueled by discovery. Every time we do something NEW it totally energizes me to keep going. Every time we release a new web episode, I get totally jazzed to make more.

I also find inspiration in all of the other puppet web shows. not so much on the creative end, as I try to avoid being like anybody else's work, but in the fact that there are so many other people who think that NOW is a good time to explore puppet entertainment on the web. That meme lets me know that I'm in a good groove. Reminds me that what I'm doing struck someone else as a good idea too. i am highly encouraged by all the puppet stuff I see on the web.

-G