Tag Archives: shadow puppet screen

Hero faces take shape

Posted on by Collette Knowles
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Hi everyone, apologies for the long break in between posts. We have been busy working on our re-usable “hero face” puppets. The “face-on” puppets will be able to lip-synch and create a number of different facial expressions using the same puppet (rather than having to create a different puppet for each separate emotion).

This is the first one that I have created (not counting the prototype one) and I experimented with laminating it to see if it will work on the OHP flat bed or not. As I suspected, from previous experience, there was an obvious line around the outside edge of the puppet (it is a lot more obvious when you use laminated puppets on the OHP flatbed than if you put them directly against the shadow screen because the OHP flatbed magnifies the puppets considerably). However, I decided not to give up on the laminating idea as the puppet looks fine if the plastic is trimmed close to the edge of the puppet instead of leaving a margin.

I have also created one complete profile head and shoulders puppet and a nearly complete profile “hero face” puppet with nodding head and moving mouth for the Prime Minister.

We have also finished storyboarding the whole of the first episode. I have a list of hero face puppets for various characters that I need to work through and after that I’ll have to examine the story-board in detail to work out all the extra puppets and scenery etc. that will be needed and work my way through all of that.

We’ll also need to work on how best to make the controls and manipulation of the hero faces work in order to minimise rod/control shadows.

Look forward to sharing more with you soon!

Writing “The Secret Keeper”: Part 2

Posted on by Collette Knowles
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Here’s a bit more on the writing process from Rough Magic Theatre’s Tim Austin:

The trouble with starting again is that you get very attached to scenes and dialogue that you’ve already put together. Something said by your main character gets a giggle or sounds profound,… is there a way to keep it?

Simply put: No. You can’t be precious or sentimental when writing fiction. You’ve got to be brutal and ruthless or you’ll end up going in circles.

I wrote three chapters of a disaster story many years ago and I could not, for the life of me, figure out why chapter four wasn’t working and why I couldn’t get beyond it. Eventually I realised that I’d made some psychological errors back in Chapter 2 that meant the main character’s headspace was wrong by the time it came to concluding that act. Two chapters had to go. And they did.

Because the beauty of starting again is that sometimes the new stuff that you write is better than you wrote before. You’re working with new ideas and new challenges and that takes you in different and interesting directions.

Sometimes you can recycle a line or two, sometimes not. The trick is to not get attached.

I’ve now worked out a new plot to run through the series. It’s more intimate, more detailed and more interesting than the original. Starting from scratch allowed me to look at the format again and concentrate more on individual motivations. Maybe it’ll make the crafting and shooting process a bit more complex but it’ll also make the finished series better.

And that’s the aim.

The Secret Keeper will be as rich and fully-formed as any HBO or BBC drama. It’s a full-fat sci-fi thriller,….. just animated with shadows. A Film Noir mystery in light and dark.

The pilot version of episode One is in Pre-production, with puppets now being drawn and cut. Audio for this rough-cut (to be used to gather funding for the series) will be recorded in the next two weeks. Filming is likely to start in November.

You can see the original post on Tim’s blog by clicking HERE

If you missed “Writing the Secret Keeper – Part 1” CLICK HERE

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