Toy Theater

I have been busy with things. Here is one of them - a Toy Theater made from office supply materials.

I have a few more photos that you can see in this album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dgoboff/ToyTheater#slideshow/5441162558240457698

dg

Scuba Marionette - Part 2

Today I went back to help finish the scuba marionette. Since last

time the diver got a coat of

glossy black paint for his wet suit. Our job today was to finish

up the paint,

make the

diver's face, attach the scuba tank and face mask (with air hose) and to complete the controller and then string the marionette. We worked from 4pm to 9pm and it all got done! I think that Daniel is pretty happy with the way his project turned out.

Scuba Marionette - Part 1

My nephew, Daniel, has a puppet assignment from school. He wanted to make a full sized scuba diver puppet! I thought maybe a marionette would be easier both to make and to manipulate (not to mention transporting it to school).

I explained that fewer moving parts = faster to build and easier to manipulate. Daniel identified the most important movements, which were the kicking legs and forward arms. We started with

newspaper for the basic shapes. Then we

started covering them with paper machie. The scuba air tank is a water bottle and the face mask is the bottom of a plastic salad dressing bottle

and

the top of the water bottle. The joints are floral wire inserted under the paper machie.

Daniel did a great job (and Mom and brother Andrew too)

and we got as far as covering the marionette with a coat of primer. Next we'll figure out the stringing and add the paint

(mostly black wet suit) and add the final touches like painting

on his face, attaching the swim mask and making the air hoses.

We had a great afternoon working together! We don't know what his teacher will think, but as far as we are concerned this is A+ work.

To be continued...

Halloween

I was asked to do a Halloween show for the Weston Library this year. With the help of staff and volunteers we put together a Reader's Halloween with stories, jokes and a costume contest.

With a donation of cardboard boxes from Home Depot I created a cardboard set.

After the show I put the set up in my driveway for Halloween.

The set had a built in Shadow Screen.

Shot in my driveway under a flash to show the details. On the right side of the set, the door opens and has two panels that also open. Next to that is a shadow screen. Then a hand puppet stage has a slight thrust and a playboard. The skull under the playboard opens too. The last panel on the left has 2 openings, the top and the rat panel.

The other side of the driveway had the usual group of inflatable and electric monsters.

Additional Kazoo Enhancement

I continued fooling around with the kazoo enhancement. I'd like to offer it as a workshop for kids, but the sharp things gave me pause. Even the hot glue has its dangers. So with a minimum of adult cutting and hot gluing I created this modification.

1. The thin half liter bottle is cut with scissors. I cut off the bottom and cut a V in the side.
2. I taped the V together with clear tape so the sound amplifier bottle points more foward.
3. The Adult cuts a hole into the bottle's CAP. (this did require a box cutter, but for mass production perhaps something could be rigged up on a drill press)
4. Hot glue is applied to the kazoo's resonator cap.
5. The Kid sticks the bottle cap (and attached bottle) to the cooling hot glue. (check that the bottle opening is pointing in the direction you want it to face.

Enhanced Kazoo Instruments

A puppeteer's best friend can be the kazoo. Oh yes, there are a multitude of electronic sounds but the day will come when the plug is pulled or the battery dies or the media is left home. When that happens, a puppeteer needs a kazoo.

I decided to enhance some of my kazoos by adding some recycled plastic product containers. Here are some of my efforts.

You will need the following stuff.

A Kazoo (I get mine at Kazoobie)

Some plastic stuff (I used a gallon and a liter (water bottles) and a liquid detergent cap)

A sharp knife (Xacto or Box Cutter) - Be Careful!

Hot Glue

Silver Spray Paint

Just adding something to the open end, doesn't really change the sound but it does look cool. Remember that air has to blow through the kazoo, so make sure you open it up.

Adding something above the resonator does make the kazoo louder. I think different materials will have different results.

Oh - one last note (no pun). I used masking tape around the mouthpiece before spray painting the new kazoo. I didn't want paint (toxic or otherwise) flaking off into my digestive system.

The Pumpkin Girl - In Progress

It's been such a long time since I've posted anything to this Blog. I'm working on a new shadow show. It's based on a story about a girl who is turned into a pumpkin. Here are a few of the shadow puppets...none are finished but I had them in the camera and it was a good time for me to upload and post them.
dg

The puppets are made of posterboard, the colors are tissue paper. There is still a way to go on these but ya got ta start somewhere!