While I had hoped to continue filling in the holes of the ‘learn more about shadow puppetry‘ section on the Puppets in Melbourne blog, holiday season has meant a bit of a delay. I’m happy to say that my workspace is almost completely free of ‘junk’ (aka stuff I don’t use or want to get rid of), minus two boxes that are sitting on the floor. They don’t get in my way, but unfortunately my next project is time consuming: remaking my shadow puppet screen tutorial. I decided instead of creating a new version based on a better table-top screen, I’d go straight for the big real thing and post a how-to based on my 3 metre long screen. I hadn’t gotten around to hemming it, and that’s what I’m in the middle of now. Who knew 3 metres would be such a pain to hem?

In the meantime I’ve moved on to other areas of the updated site design so that I can have it finished sooner rather than later. I’ve moved all the ‘old’ puppet designs to the gallery page, where I’m still uploading images (some have to be redone), but at least all the descriptions are there. As you can see, the design’s not much different than before other than some minor colour scheme changes and the location of the navigational menu. My favourite bit is the re-use of the swirly black arcs from the background as arrows for the slideshow. That and the new oval-shaped images of the puppets gives the pictures a ‘portrait hanging on the wall’ feeling.

And what this post is all about: I’ve fixed the about page. That, and the various subheadings (see the menu option on that page) are more up-to-date, with the exception of the separate-but-similarly-subheaded policies page. Again, changes are minor: colours and images are updated, I’ve now added in a small section on my bio for listing my educational background; and added in more recent changes for previous jobs, etc.

I still haven’t gotten around to the blog page, so fixing up the commenting form will have to wait. Apologies til then.

I probably won’t be updating the rest of the design for another few days, as I’d like to put in some time on some shadow puppets I’m designing. Over the past week, I’ve had an ingenious idea that I’d hoped to make but wasn’t sure of how to do it. It turns out that the people who sent me my new puppet materials - which I’ll post more about in the future - also provide a service that might actually suit my ideas. The question of course, is how much it will cost, and so I must sit down and work out how many puppets I can get from my materials, how much the minimum order is, etc. If it works out, I’ll be making them the first priority for selling in the new year.

I may also have some more news in January: I’ve applied to present two events at the upcoming Melbourne-based National Puppetry & Animatronics Summit, as mentioned over at School of Puppetry. One event would be a discussion/intro to puppetry on the net, as it’s my eternal struggle to get more Aussie puppeteers online and using it regularly. Part of the submission was to include a live chat/workshop on the net, so it’s not just about preaching to the uninterested/choir, but actually providing something exciting and motivational. The second event is based on the Summit’s offering to showcase experimental performances (works in progress, etc). If my idea above pans out, this would be a perfect opportunity to develop or promote it. Normally I steer - widely - clear from performing, but that’s just how good this idea is and I’d be willing to humiliate myself () just to get it on stage somehow. I’d love to say more about what it is, but the idea is one best viewed/experienced, rather than explained. … If it’s possible that is.

… of the old web design.

Kind of. It’s really just a tweaked version of the current design, with the addition of some prettier colours, top navigation, the new logo, and some moved posts to ensure better discovery of the old vs next year’s new stuff. I’ve also added a search box/explanation about Puppets in Melbourne stuff going to School of Puppetry.

It occured to me a few moments ago that maybe I should stop adding these explanations all over the site. People come here looking for the old stuff, see the site’s changed, bounce to another page, still can’t see it, and then leave. I very rarely see anyone following the explanations/links to SOP, whereas I often seen SOP visitors head here to find old content - and then, the link goes directly to the old FAQ page anyway, so they don’t see the rest of the PIM site. For the moment I’m leaving the explanations in, but I think I’ll taper off those over time. The thing is that if people don’t see the old tutorials here, they’ll simply leave anyway; and if they search for whatever they’re looking for, they’ll always just come across SOP anyway since that content is exactly what they’re looking for and just as easily found.

The good news is that fixing up the design also means I can go back and fill a few holes that I’d been intending to get around to but never did. For instance, I wanted to add a little ‘learn more about shadow puppetry‘ section to the site, so that potential/customers can see just how simple shadow puppets can be to use. I’ve fixed up a thing or two, including spending 4 days uploading a 30min shadow puppet tutorial. From here, I’ll be adding an updated version of my shadow puppet screen tutorial, using something I invented for my trip to the US in 2009. I’ll also be adding posts about puppets I used to sell but never got around to showcase on the site.

And lastly, I’ll be making improvements to the blog page itself, as there are a number of things on the current design that have been bugging me. Speaking of bugs… I upgraded the blog software at the start of the week, and unfortunately the old template on the new version means the blog commenting currently doesn’t work. I’ll be fixing that too. And I’ll be giving some style to individual categories - such as the festival diaries, etc - to help make them stand out.

Just in case you think it’s all admin: Monday marked the day I received a huge package full of plastic sheets to test out for shadow puppets. I cut off a small piece and have been playing with it, and I’m happy to say I have a supplier that’s not only cheap, but providing the perfect material. And in the same city as me! I’ll post more on that in the future, once I’ve actually sat down and made something with it.

In the meantime, you’ll see the new design being added to the site bit-by-bit. I could have done it all at once, but as I was moving a few things around I thought it was just easier to press the publish button as soon as I finished a page/template. You can currently only see it on the home page. And yes, I do hope this is the last time I change the design. I think I’ve done it all of 4 or 5 times over the past 5 or so years.

I’m not sure whether people think shadow puppets are too difficult, or it’s that muppet-type puppets are more pervasive (ie. popular), but here’s some quick links to info about shadow puppets. They’ll not only help you use my puppets/patterns, but there’s plenty here to use as a basis to create your own show or work with students and children.

Please note: I’m currently reworking a lot of my content with improved instructions and images. As such, many of the items below are not linked whilst I update them.

1. Learn what shadow puppets are.
2. Get a shadow puppet - either make your own (FREE pattern/video #1, FREE pattern/video #2, video on making joints), or buy one. Make sure you have rods!
3. Make a shadow puppet screen. You can watch me set up mine (it’s unfinished, but you’ll get some ideas) in this time-lapse video.
4. Get a light for your screen.
5. Practice with your puppet/s.
6. Store your puppet/s.
7. Clean or repair your puppet/s.

Cross-posted on School of Puppetry.

Shadow puppets are usually flat silhouettes, made out of a strong animal hide (traditionally speaking), cardboard or plastic (modern versions). These silhouettes can include animal, human and creaturistic figures. The figures have rods attached to the parts that need to be moved, and joints made out of string or wire.

Some figures have rotating or removeable rods, in order to facilitate better manipulation, and to allow the silhouette to face different directions. Figures can also be highly simple, with little to no moving parts; or they can include moveable limbs, heads, and bodies.

Examples of karagozis, on display at the UNIMA 2008 festival in Perth, Australia.

While shadow puppetry seems to be an Eastern thing, it has a long tradition in European countries as well, especially in France and Greece. Each country has its own style of shadow puppets, with France using more humanlike figures to represent battles and historical tales. Greece includes more farcical characters, which is reminiscent of commedia del’arte, and the most famous of characters is Karagozis, a sort of Everyman for shadow puppets. He’s a farcical character, of low status, that manages to outwit those around him.

In the Eastern countries, there are other traditions: Javanese puppets (wayang kulit) are highly stylised, with the recognisable broad square shoulders and long, slender limbs; China has realistic figures, with intricate and delicate patterns and lots of moving parts. In all styles and countries, puppets can also include set pieces, and range in shapes and sizes.

Staging is relatively simple: a large white sheet or screen is held up - either using poles, or a frame - slightly tilted downwards. The tilt assists in keeping the figures flat against the screen, as well as ensuring the best position possible for the audience to view the performance. The puppeteer works from behind the screen, taking care not to be a shadow themselves: which is why the white screen is usually above the puppeteer’s head. Lighting is done from above, behind the screen. Some Eastern performances use bamboo, which is cut in half and filled with sand; laid out directly behind the screen, this allows a resting place for the shadow puppets, as well as a shelf for other stage properties.

Examples of Thai shadow puppetry, on display at the UNIMA 2008 festival in Perth, Australia.

The puppets are painted in a variety of colours, in a manner in which the colour is translucent; therefore allowing the light to pass through the material of the puppet and can be visible through the screen. Alternatively, the figures are black, allowing only the silhouette of the shape to be seen.

If you’d like to see excellent examples of shadow puppetry, you can do no better than finding videos of Australian puppeteer Richard Bradshaw (he’s been featured on The Muppet Show and Australia’s Play School).

Though it might seem like a type of performance best suited to the indoors, shadow puppetry can be produced very well outdoors too: obviously the best time is at night. Shadow puppets can also be very large, or very small, making it ideal for any venue size. Modern performances use modern techniques - data projectors are used as a light source, with sheets of acetate passed over it at different times. It can create a range of fantastic moving scenes, landscapes, and atmospheric features.

Another benefit of shadow puppetry is it is relatively cheap to do, puppets can be made with little to no training or experience, and performances can be done by people with a range of performance experience and ages. However, because of the nature of the staging, for inexperienced performers, it is often wise to have an outside eye, or director, when creating a shadow puppet performance.

Read this post on how to make shadow puppet joints; make one of these puppets here AND here You can read more on wayang kulit, the Indonesian shadow puppetry; or karagozis, the Greek shadow puppetry, at School of Puppetry.