How to commission a puppet maker: Part Two
Read part one here.
So this weekend I did a rush commission, for a fish mouth puppet. A rush commission usually means a last-minute order/deadline on the point of view of the customer, and therefore you have to make it and send it in really quick. Because of that experience, I’m updating this ‘how to commission a puppet maker’ with some more info.
Prices…. again
First, and this can not be stressed enough (because you’ll think I’m being repetitive), but puppets AREN’T CHEAP! This is explained in more detail here, but basically, you’re not paying for the materials but the labour. Seriously, the only way you’re going to get Henson-workshop, TV-quality puppets is by spending the time to get all of the details right. Puppet makers, even (especially?) experienced ones, have accidents and mistakes. Often what works well on paper doesn’t translate easily to three dimensional and functional form; and the only way you work that out is when the puppet is actually made. Since time and labour is intensive, the puppet maker must be paid for that time. Do you really think it’s like an admin job, where you can answer emails whilst typing up a budget report? No - the puppet maker is multi-tasking by making some eyes whilst letting the foam body dry: but they are working on one puppet at a time. This means they are so focused on your commission that they have little time for other money-making projects. In other words, if you’re not paying the puppet maker enough, then they’re not going to have enough time (it’s ALL about time) to make the puppet to a professional quality.
Timelines
Continuing with this: understandably, there are times when you just need a puppet and need it now (although I really can’t think of any emergency that requires a puppet being made) and puppet makers do try to accommodate rush orders. However, having discussed my recent rush commission with other puppet makers, one thing is clear: the closer the deadline, the lower the quality. This is true of anything really, but when it come to puppets, it’s even more noticeable. Puppets can’t be whipped up on machines (ever try putting a foam head-shape into a sewing machine?) and most everything has to be done by hand. This means handsewing all of the details onto the puppet, and that takes time. And this isn’t just your average sewing job either: you have to go around corners, inside heads, under mouths and chins, in hard to reach places and around all sorts of other already-attached parts of the puppet. And it has to be functional. So the sewing, for example, doesn’t just have to hold everything in place: it has to hold everything in place, whilst the puppet materials are being contorted every which way during performance… and hold everything together for more than one performance/rehearsal/whatever. This means teeny tiny strong stitches, doubling back, testing the fabric… Can you imagine doing this in a matter of minutes? If you can’t, then you get some idea of what it means to make a puppet. With that in mind, can you now understand that the closer the deadline, the lower the quality: in this case, the closer the deadline, the less time to properly stitch everything together, the more likely your puppet will fall apart when used. The most important part of the puppet IS NOT the look/style/character, but the FUNCTIONALITY.
This phrase (thanks James for this) is often used by freelancers: when you make an order, you can pick two options out of the following three:
- High quality
- Low budget
- Quick turnaround
If you have to pick two of these options, most people will pick low budget first. But see, low budget does not equate with high quality, and high quality does not equate with quick turnaround. In order to get a mix of all three, you’re probably going to have to: rethink your timeline (ie. give yourself much more time to have the puppet made), learn why puppets are so expensive (hey, go spend a day with a builder and see what they do), or lower your expectations about quality.
It’s also a really bad idea to change the deadline from a week to a few days.
Quality checks
Puppet makers will have a good sense of when things are going wrong when building and will have a mental quality control check. This means you should allow more time in case the puppet maker refuses to hand over an inferior product (think of it like chefs: if the food gets to the pass and the head chef thinks the quality is low, the food is tossed and the meal has to be remade) and has to start again or modify certain areas. You may have standards, but so too does the puppet maker. If they’re not happy, then you’re probably not going to be happy either.
High expectations
Going back to what I was saying before, it’s really important to know about how puppets get to be so good looking. A Henson Workshop puppet costs thousands to make, not because of the materials or tools, not because of the reputation of the company, not because of the demand/supply of them: but because of time. If every puppet maker labours to make sure every stitch is invisible, every pupil fixed exactly right (hey, even a millimetre of difference changes the puppet’s eyeline), every hem exactly straight… well, that’s a lot of small, detailed work. It’s fine to have high expectations of quality: it’s not fine to have high expectations that that quality can be achieved in a day, or a week, or a fortnight. You need a puppet? Plan ahead, and have two months to do it in. You really can’t get TV-quality in a week.
Policies
Try reading them. Puppet makers have all sorts of useful info written in their policies (not just the boring stuff about shipping times, etc), like how long it takes them to make a puppet, what kinds of things they do and don’t do, etc. Seriously, I know people just like to skip the long text, but if you just spend five minutes reading puppet makers’ policies, you’d save us all a lot of time (and money).
Style contd.
Not only should you figure out whether the person you’re contacting is the right one (see part one about sculpting vs puppet making), but you should definitely check out the style and types of puppets made by the person you are contacting. Puppet makers are like specialist doctors. Just because doctors know where all the organs are located doesn’t mean all of them can perform an appendectomy. Puppet makers often have one or two puppet types that they are comfortable (or good at) building, and shouldn’t be expected to go too far outside their comfort zone. So if the person makes marionettes, but you don’t see any work by them that are glove puppets, then you’re probably better off finding someone else who does glove puppets. But likewise, some people have a unique style (ie. Puppet Pie’s studded tampon finger puppet - yep, you read that right), and if you particularly like the style, then perhaps the puppet maker can accommodate you (to a point most likely).
.. On a personal note, from the puppet maker’s point of view, I think all of us are too eager for money and work, and that that can cause a lowering of quality by association. If we all took a little more time thinking and planning things through (it’s all about time), then things are less likely to go wrong. My best puppets - even those made out of hot glue and tape - come out looking and working great, simply because I’ve had the time to think through the problems before building, and the time to build them properly.
Want more? Help build a puppet!