This is the design process for my puppet. I knew I wanted my target audience to be children, so my starting point for my puppet was the story of the Three Little Pigs. I am going to be designing and creating the wolf from this story.
My research shows me that they're are two versions of the story. One where the wolf is considered the bad guy, and in the other, he is portrayed as being misunderstood. I have decided to design a puppet for the original story.
Here is a photo of my first initial design.
I have designed it as a glove puppet, however I think this is the easiest type of puppet to create, and I am open to ideas on how I can improve it, and perhapes create a different type of puppet. The annotations show that I would create it using fake furr. This would give the effect of the furr on the wolf's body.
On the 10th of April, we created our designed puppets using newspaper. I made a maquette version of my wolf. I decided not to create a glove puppet, as I wanted to be able to move the limbs. I was able to create a moving joint, by scrunching a page of newspaper into a ball, squashing it down, and sticking it to a strip of sellotape. I did this to another piece of newspaper, and stuck it to the same strip of sellotape, but leaving a gap between the two pieces of rolled up paper. By placing another line of sellotape over the two scrunched up balls of papper, it is secure and is able to bend. I repeated this excercise four times, resulting in four moveable leg joints. I tried to add a bone structure to the middle, however, this only resulted in ripping a hole in the centre of my puppet. The head of my wolf didn't come out as planned either. To improve this puppet I would need redo the body, as there is a hole, I would change the head, becuase it's not really in proportion to the rest of its body. However, for my first go at creating a puppet, I believe I've done rather well.
Here is an improved design for my puppet. Its mainly been designed with plywood, with various leg joints so that the legs and feet are able to move freely. Below shows a selection of photos showing my design drawings. The first one shows my design from the front. The others show a close up of the annotations. To enlarge the images, click on them.
This next set of photos show the view from the back of the puppet. The back shows how the puppeteer will be controlling the puppet. Again, the other two photos show a close up of the annotations.
The image below, show a detailed design breakdown of how the different components fix together, and how they work.
The whole structure will be made out of plywood. The head will be made out of latex, as this will give the distinct features of the wolfs face. The whiskers will be thin peaces of horse hair. The ears will be on small hinges so when the wolfs head looks up, the ears will fall backwards, and when it looks down, they will fall forwards. On the back, they will also have fur glued onto them to that they look more like a wolfs ears.
The tail will be made with cut stipes of fabric so when the puppet is moving, the tail is able to swish about. The legs (shown right) have to joint in them. One by the knee, and one in the foot. This makes it easier for the character of the wolf to 'knock' on the door of the three little pigs, and it means it's able to stand on its back legs, so its taller than the other puppets.
I chose ply wood because it's light and strong, which are two very important factors to consider, when choosing what materials to use for making a puppet. The lightness of the material means that it's easier to controll, which is helpful for the puppeteers. Also, plywood is strong, which means that my puppet is less likely to break. It gives my puppet a sturdy frame, which enables me to add more material over the top of it, if I want to. I decided to have the tail hanging down, so that as the puppet is being moved around the stage, the tail is free to hang and swish around. I wanted my puppet to be able to stand on its back legs so that for the section of the story where the wolf has to knock on the three pigs' houses, he is able to stand up. This is why I chose to make the legs have two joints in it; one in the knee, and one in the foot. This will make it easier for my wolf puppet to stand and to knock on the doors, as the paws are able to move without having to move the whole leg.
This is a photo of the puppet I am working with for the Ashcroft Hamelin Community Project. This is how I imagined my puppet would look a bit like.
(http://hamelin-community-project-by-rebecca.blogspot.co.uk/)
This next set of photos show the view from the back of the puppet. The back shows how the puppeteer will be controlling the puppet. Again, the other two photos show a close up of the annotations.
The image below, show a detailed design breakdown of how the different components fix together, and how they work.
The whole structure will be made out of plywood. The head will be made out of latex, as this will give the distinct features of the wolfs face. The whiskers will be thin peaces of horse hair. The ears will be on small hinges so when the wolfs head looks up, the ears will fall backwards, and when it looks down, they will fall forwards. On the back, they will also have fur glued onto them to that they look more like a wolfs ears.
The tail will be made with cut stipes of fabric so when the puppet is moving, the tail is able to swish about. The legs (shown right) have to joint in them. One by the knee, and one in the foot. This makes it easier for the character of the wolf to 'knock' on the door of the three little pigs, and it means it's able to stand on its back legs, so its taller than the other puppets.
I chose ply wood because it's light and strong, which are two very important factors to consider, when choosing what materials to use for making a puppet. The lightness of the material means that it's easier to controll, which is helpful for the puppeteers. Also, plywood is strong, which means that my puppet is less likely to break. It gives my puppet a sturdy frame, which enables me to add more material over the top of it, if I want to. I decided to have the tail hanging down, so that as the puppet is being moved around the stage, the tail is free to hang and swish around. I wanted my puppet to be able to stand on its back legs so that for the section of the story where the wolf has to knock on the three pigs' houses, he is able to stand up. This is why I chose to make the legs have two joints in it; one in the knee, and one in the foot. This will make it easier for my wolf puppet to stand and to knock on the doors, as the paws are able to move without having to move the whole leg.
This is a photo of the puppet I am working with for the Ashcroft Hamelin Community Project. This is how I imagined my puppet would look a bit like.
(http://hamelin-community-project-by-rebecca.blogspot.co.uk/)
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