Here is lesson number five from our good friend and regular contributor ventriloquist/puppeteer, Bob Abdou aka Mr. Puppet with his video he calls “Tidbit in a Minute.”
Today’s video is “Soft Puppet Mouth Manipulation.”
If you’ve missed Bob’s other tidbits, here they are:
Dan
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Ventriloquist Central is the brainchild of Dan Willinger and Steve Hurst. Dan is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Steve is a ventriloquist as well as builder of ventriloquist figures. He also has a background in sales, marketing, building websites and computers. Because they both love the art of ventriloquism, the website Ventriloquist Central was born. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com
Copyright 2013 by Dan Willinger and Steve Hurst
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As usual, a very important fact regarding mouth movement for soft puppets, by Mr. Puppet. This tidbit today was exactly correct, as so many folks with soft puppets don’t realize they’re moving the mouth incorrectly. I myself use mostly “hard figures”, but realized some time ago that when I used a soft puppet, I indeed did not move the mouth of the puppet correctly. Many thanks to Bob Abdou, always good advice .
Excellent. I don’t use soft puppets much any more, but years ago (1966), while doing a commercial film with puppets, it was something the director had to keep reminding me of. It’s tougher manipulation (and, in that case, especially tough, as I was under the puppet, Muppet style and could only watch on a monitor next to the camera), but it’s better, professional, and necessary manipulation. Thanks to Bob for this…thanks to Dan and Steve for bringing these “minutes” to us.
Excellent advice as usual from Bob. This is one of the most common mistakes made by beginning puppeteers or vents using soft figures. My addition would be concentrate of the puppets eyes , where he is looking, to make him look alive he must see. Watch the Muppets, notice how they always appear to be looking at something.
Great tips Bob, as are all your other tips, “tidbits”, & advice you’ve shared over the years. :)