I love Project Puppet’s contests.  I have been a judge and a participant in these contests and they are a ton of fun.  Well this years contest revolves around the theme of Hero and villains!  Very cool.  I wish I had the time to enter.  I have a great character, but I have very little time to build for myself anymore.  But that doesn’t mean you can’t!

Entries are due September 17th, 2010.  Check out the Puppet Contest website and see all of the rules here.

Enjoy!

Well this looks great. Forget the fact that you can win $10,000, I am interested in the puppet videos. I was very entertained. The writing is funny and visually it is very well produced. The puppets have a simple but nice look and the puppeteering is not that bad. I do however have a very strong critcisim of one of the puppets/puppeteers. The blond “dopey” character known as Mulligan is very distracting. I apologize if I offend anyone by this, but the puppeteering is significantly poor, in my opinion. The puppeteer constantly over works the puppet and gives a shakey, unbelievability to the puppet. Note to producers, hire puppeteers carefully. I am impressed with the subtle puppeteering if the ninja however. The Captain’s voice is great as well.

Here is the first of the series of videos. I don’t know who is behind this viral video series, but I am sure all will be revealed soon enough.

Thanks to Shawn at Puppets and Stuff for the heads up.

I think pretty darn awesome.  This is an Austrian, theatre company that uses live actors, and blacklight puppetry to create an amazing visual feast.  Much like the famous ping pong puppet video, GLOW uses forced perspective to create a stage show that appears to be presented like a movie, with amazing “framing and shots”.  It looks fantastic. 
Check out the website and the video.  Enjoy.

This video is by Cedwan Hooks.  He was a part of a company started with a friend that I did a write up about called Pogo Puppet Productions.  Although their old YouTube channel is gone, he has his own channel and is still working on his puppet video skills.  Check it out.

Date: Monday, May 3, 2010
Location: TBD

Swazzle is seeking a puppeteer to perform the live puppet show Water Color at libraries in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 45-minute show will be presented during June and July as entertainment for the libraries’ summer reading programs.

Water Color is a large-scale puppet show featuring a cast of light-up hand puppets and shadow puppets. Applicants must display good manipulation and be able to perform a wide range of character voices.

The puppeteer will be required to transport the show to the venue; interact with the client and the public in a professional manner; and set up, perform and break down the show. There may be multiple performances per day.

The puppeteer will be paid a flat fee per show.

To schedule an audition please send an e-mail to puppetshows@swazzle.com and put “audition” in the subject line.

I just posted a video that Widget Inc. had created, and the more I looked into it, the bigger of a fan I became. I am really into the production quality of puppetry productions, even simple ones. Well check out a couple more videos created by Randell McNair. I really like this first video and the use of green screen, puppets and CGI. Very well done. You can see some behind the scenes pictures here.

And here is some fun improv with a great puppet character. Be sure to check out some more amazing videos on their YouTube page. Enjoy.

Okay. So why did I post this? I enjoyed it. Well, I agree that it is not the best built puppets, but I think they have a very appealing quality to them. And the puppeteering is not so great, I was a bit distracted by the puppeteers head and a good amount of arm in the shot. However, I like it because it is simple and well lit, as well as well shot (I think I used enough “wells” there). The story was a bit confusing and could have been worked more, but like I said, I enjoyed it. Perhaps someone out there might as well.

I am a huge LOST fan and obviously I love puppets.  Well “lookie” what  I’ve found.  A bunch of LOST The Series Season 6 recaps using toys, cut outs and puppets!  It is called Lost Untangled.  I am not sure who put these out (I assume it is from the people behind LOST.  But it looks like they are being taken off Youtube.  Here are a bunch of videos with Spanish subtitles?  Check them out before they’re gone.  Here is one in the browser for you to see now.

If anyone has more information about who built the puppet and who puppteered, I’d love to know.

It has been a while. I will try to help get caught up with older news items. Check out this awesome video sent in by Patrick Murray. I am very impressed. It goes to show you how entertaining a well made video can be even with simple puppets. What good are beautiful puppets if they are not shown well. Great job Patrick! Oh, and you can see some great outtakes here.