The four basic techniques for good puppetry - The XYZ Show
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The four basic techniques for good puppetry

The four basic techniques for good puppetry

Puppetry is a skill and an art that allows one two live two lives. One life is mechanical and the other one is natural. The XYZ Show has some of the best puppeteers in Kenya who express their satirical stories in many ways with the help props and an artistic film production set. They have utilized the below listed techniques used in puppetry until the art has become their second nature and they can do the actions with or without a puppet. They are able to confine themselves in a scripted trait. The puppet actions on set include inserting the hand through the body of a puppet and into the mouth. Their fingers normally extend into the upper part of the mouth with their thumb in the lower jaw. When they are shooting, the art department always provide enough space for them to be comfortable and for easy movement from one place to another within the set.

Below is a rundown of the 4 techniques

Lip synchronization

Lip synchronization is very important in puppetry. It can be defined as the opening and closing of the puppets mouth with the spoken word. The puppeteers follow the syllables in a word, if a word has two syllables they open the mouth twice and they normally avoid opening the mouth all the time. The wide mouth opening is usually used for exaggerated or loud expressions.

Puppeteer controlling a puppet at a puppet workshop held at GoDown Art centre

Body Posture 

The mission in puppetry is to make puppet look like it has life in it. The audience should think that it has legs and more importantly feelings…LOL. The puppeteers always create an illusion that the puppets have legs and they can move on their own when they are communicating. To achieve this some puppeteers hold their hands  at a right angle to the floor and the hand kept level – or rather projects hands up. And it’s important to make sure that the puppet does not lean side to side.

The XYZ Show set with some of the show’s characters with puppeteers

Entrances and exits  

The puppeteers on The XYZ Show follow the directions given by the directors. They give clear blocking which are followed to avoid weird movements where the puppet blocks another character from being captured by the camera or going through the wall instead of the door. On the set, a single puppet is controlled by two puppeteers, and to achieve a fluid motion the puppeteers move forward as they bounce the puppet onto the set. Movement on can be very tricky because the puppeteers must work together for the puppet to move swiftly to avoid incidents on set.

The XYZ Show set. Puppeteer preparing for the shoot

Mouth motion 

This one requires practice since one must know how to open the puppet’s mouth by moving the thumb downward without moving the fingers up.

At a puppeteers training workshop

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