puppet

The Burglar was voted the most popular film at the Animator’s Association (ANIMA) Festival held in September. Film maker Tina Fletcher tells how she progressed from puppet shows to puppet films and the production of The Burglar. ‘The Burglar” was shot in our kitchen. Nothing very extraordinary about that, for in the amateur film making … Read more

My son and I were the chief film enthusiasts. We filmed for the new play in the kitchen but since it was during the holidays and we needed space and solitude, we worked mostly by night, going to bed only when the others were getting up. Animating puppets and cut-outs, we had no knowledge of … Read more

16mm and Henry King I was over the moon. I bought an elderly second-hand Bolex; redheads replaced the old theatre lights; I found an out of work engineer camera lighting man who lived near and was willing to come in, fix the lights and camera and then leave me to animate. Working with my first … Read more

JOHN HAMBLEY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF COSGROVE HALL PRODUCTIONS, TELLS HOW THEY APPROACHED THE ADAPTATION OF A CLASSIC BOOK INTO AN ANIMATED FILM.

The classics of English children’s literature are a privileged inheritance, treasures to be freely shared and lovingly passed on in the hope of fresh responses from new generations. Except for THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS. That, it seems, is a work which is taken immediately into the private and exclusive ownership of each one of its readers. How else to explain the reactions my colleagues and I have had to the news that we are turning Kenneth Grahame’s beautiful story into an animated film?

Yet from the beginning, producer-director Mark Hall and his team have aspired to something beyond historical precision: that is to be faithful not simply to the book, but to the book’s enchantment.. That ambition has taken everyone into uncharted areas of their craft. Designers and model engineers have been challenged to produce characters who’s physical … Read more

A number of puppet animators have written to Animator’s Newsletter about the difficulty they had in keeping figures stood up or moving them about without falling over. What the puppet department at Cosgrove Hall use is a sheet of metal, which can be obtained from any local sheet metal firm, 20 or 22 gauge. On this the sets are built and the puppets have a small metal plate on their feet. Then a magnet is placed under the table to hold them in position.

In the case of this particular puppet it had a final coat of a special opalescent acrylic paint called moonstone, sold by Military Modeling suppliers. Available from them also is the invaluable epoxy putty, which becomes rock hard when dry. Use this to hold heavish bits of metal on the feet to weight them slightly. Spare nuts and bolts can be used. Put them in front of their plywood sandwich. Add a layer of papier mache around the sides of the feet, through which pins may be stuck, holding the puppet to the stage. The floor of this can be fiber board or some other such material. The outer cover of the feet will be leather or fabric.

Setting the Scene

DAVID JEFFFRSON DESCRIBES THE METHODS HE USED TO MAKE SCENERY FOR HIS PUPPET FILM ‘MIND THAT BEND’.

My most ambitious puppet animation film to date is one featuring a group of animals known as the Hammersmith Hamsters. My father-in-law is a road safety officer in the London Borough of Hammersmith and this was planned as Hammersmith’s answer to Tufty, the squirrel character used to teach young children road safety.

They gave the go ahead and I decided it was worth starting afresh on the scenery. I made three models for the street. The main one was a flat view of the houses over the road, then two models with forced perspective showing views to the left and right.