I know that we have gone over this topic before, but I think it would be good to review it again as a refresher course. Also, we have a couple hundred new readers that need to hear this material for the first time.
Recently again we were watching some videos of Vents at work. Some of them were pretty good at the craft, and others were not so much. We noticed that one of the major weaknesses in the performances were the way that the Vents allowed their puppets faces to wander all over the place. It was very bad. Puppets need to appear to be focused with their eyes as they are talking.
If the puppet is looking out in the audience, then as they talk, they should be looking at someone in the audience. They should call out a person in the audience. For instance, the big bald heading fat man in the red shirt.
Now when you do this, the puppet should be looking right at the person that they are referring to Here is the trick. From your perspective, you can’t see where the puppet is looking, but if you look from the side, point the puppets nose straight at the person that you are talking to or about.
If the nose is pointed straight at the person, it is automatic. The eyes will also be looking straight at the person.
Practice this a little bit. You will find that it is very easy and will add a lot of impact in your performance.
Check out a New puppet Available Now for this week: Dr. Dumafitchey
We will talk again next week.
Steve and JET