Something New
Something that comes to our attention from time to time is the way that a puppets hands are used. Just like your hands, your puppets hands can be used to help express a point in conversation.
Too often we see puppets who are allowed to just let their hands just dangle at their sides giving them the look of being either dead or disabled.
Start with your puppets hands themselves. Are they positionable? If so, take the time to bend them into a variety of positions that allow there look to be helpful to what the puppet is saying or doing.
If you don’t know if your puppets hands are positionable, here is how to find out. Gently take the fingers of the puppets hands in your hand and slowly try to bend them. If they move easily, change their position carefully.
When you stop moving them, they should stay in the last position that you left them in. If they do, they are positionable.
Take some time and work with the hands to make them assume several different positions. Then grasp the puppets arm by the elbow and move the arm/hand in a variety of ways to be useful in making the point of what the puppet is trying to say.
You can use the puppets arm to scratch their head or rub their forehead or a wide variety of other movements that give a new form of life to the puppets movements.
As always, take these tips and practice, practice, practice.
We will talk again next week.
Steve and JET
Great point. I use her hands to brush her hair out of her eyes etc. And try to think of more ways to use them.
Dan Horn is a master at using the puppet’s hands!