We have all made a rod puppet in this
class—our muppets—which I believe for many were our favorite projects in this
class thus far. Perhaps this is because we grew up with rod puppets,
specifically hand-rod puppets, a style of puppetry famously developed by Jim Henson.
Muppets of this style can be found in Seasame
Street, Fraggle Rock, Avenue Q, commercials, and more.
Interestingly, I learned that the
muppets in film today have the rods digitally removed in post production. Personally,
I feel this both enhances and detracts from the magic of rod puppetry.
Below
you can find some photos that illustrate various ways of controlling a hand-rod
puppet. These photos also illustrate the large range of scale that can be
successfully accomplished with this style of puppetry. Typically, the dominant
hand of the puppeteer is inserted inside the puppet, and the less dominant hand
controls the rod.
I LOVE the connection that you made with our enjoyment of creating rod puppets in class and us growing up with them. It shows how easily influenced we were growing up and how puppets are such an interesting tool for learning and entertainment. Great illustrations!
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ReplyDeleteThe varying degrees of simplicity and complexity on rod puppets is very interesting. The versatility of the rod puppet is impressive as well. I think the editing out of rods in film is fascinating and controversial.
ReplyDeleteI think the editing out of the rods, takes away from the art form of puppetry. To me part of the magic of puppetry is finding out how everything works, and observing the intricacies needed to maneuver them. Taking away the rods makes the puppets less real.
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ReplyDeleteYour illustrations do a great job at helping us understand how simple hand and rod puppetry really is. By attaching rods to various limbs, the puppet is given a whole new set of capabilities than they would have without the rods.
ReplyDeleteHand and rod puppets are so cool; the Muppets really are the icon for that sort of style. For the 77th birthday celebration of Muppet mastermind Jim Henson, the Smithsonian created an exhibit of this most famous Muppets.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.buzzfeed.com/nowthisnews/the-most-sensational-inspirational-celebrational-749g