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    Marionettes: How to Make and Work Them
    Marionettes: How to Make and Work Them
    Marionettes: How to Make and Work Them
    Ebook221 pages1 hour

    Marionettes: How to Make and Work Them

    By Helen Fling

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    About this ebook

    This is the complete book of marionette craft — from making heads and constructing bodies to stringing the marionettes on one- and two-hand controls, operating the marionettes, and putting on your own shows. Four books by Helen Fling have been brought together to make this volume. Their wealth of illustrations, tricks, helpful hints and solid, easy-to-follow advice will go far toward making your performances successful, enjoyable, and creative.
    In the first section, full details are given on making puppet and marionette heads — creating them, molding them, casting them, making them out of plastic wood and pâpier-maché, painting them, and adding character details such as noses and wigs. The second section tells, in equal detail, how to make hands, feet, legs, arms, and bodies with a variety of methods for joining the parts together, taping, painting, finishing, and placing screw-eyes for mechanical perfection. The third section shows how to construct marionette controls, how to string your marionettes, and how to manipulate your controls for the movements, postures, gestures, and tricks. Costume and character details are also covered. By the end of this section both you and your characters should be ready to perform. The final section covers the details of marionette show production — building a stage, lighting, scenery, sound effects, curtain-drops, and presentation. One complete play, with full details on stage props, marionettes, and background, is included. More than 400 helpful illustrations show every step of marionette craft from conception and construction to performance.
    Beginners will find this book to contain everything they need to know to construct marionettes and present their own shows. Puppeteers will find the chapter on head-making equally suited to their craft. Those who have some experience with marionettes will find the sections on tricks, alternate procedures, and professional methods to greatly increase their abilities to build marionettes and create a variety of new effects and successful marionette performances.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDover Publications
    Release dateDec 6, 2012
    ISBN9780486168999
    Marionettes: How to Make and Work Them

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    • 5/5
      This book covers absolutely everything! It was a lot of fun to think about the modifications I would make to make it feel less like copying someone else’s ideas. It was a good place to start and there were so many things I had not thought of!

    Book preview

    Marionettes - Helen Fling

    Stagecraft

    Making Marionette and Puppet Heads

    MODELLING

    Note. First make an armature.

    1½ inch dowel sticks for upright of armature. Bore 1½ inch hole in center of block of wood 6 inches square.

    Armature completed, ready for modeling.

    Procure a pound block of plasteline which is most practical for all purposes of modeling.

    Whittle a couple of sticks shaped like above for modeling tools.

    Mount on and around dowel stick the plasteline in general shape of an egg and about the size of a 3½ inch head minus the neck.

    Begin by using thumbs, pressing in to make eye sockets.

    Add portions as required for nose, chin, neck, brows, etc.

    Refine lips, eyes and general shape of head, remembering bone structure underneath.

    Note. Ears are not necessary if hair or hat will cover, unless needed for characterization.

    Note proportions of normal head.

    Note exaggerations of features with same relative proportions.

    Convex profile denotes action.

    Concave profile denotes patience.

    Large top head denotes mental type.

    Large lower head denotes physical type.

    Long narrow head, easy going.

    Wide head, combatative.

    Combination profile, plodding.

    Note dimensions—nose 1/3 of head.

    Note ear and nose position—ear center of head balance.

    Perspective of 1 and 2.

    Note. Most beginners fail to have forehead and back head development to models. The proportions of the normal head should be followed closely as a basis to work from in character exaggerations.

    Eyes generally larger than normal except when necessary for squints and frowns, according to character wanted.

    Get much character in nose.

    Important feature to work out.

    Make ears large.

    Give feeling of bone structure of head.

    Note. All features generally exaggerated as in cartoons, avoiding undercuts.

    CASTING

    Coat entire head with thin layer of vaseline.

    Have ready 1 pint of plaster of paris.

    Bowl or pan 1 qt. size 2/3 filled with cold water.

    A cardboard box 4 inches wide, 6 inches long and 4 inches high.

    Draw line all around head with stick to divide front half from back, and place gently inside so as not to disturb or mar the shape.

    Fill pan 2/3 full of water and sift 3 cups of plaster of paris slowly into the pan of water, and when it stops bubbling, stir until it is of the consistency of very thick cream.

    Fill box half full of the mixture.

    Deposit head in mixture, face up, until submerged to guide line around head. Leave undisturbed until mixture hardens.

    Put vaseline coated marbles half submerged in each corner to become register locks.

    Shows method of placing head sidewise to avoid undercuts in case of long nose, pointed chin, etc.

    In this case draw lines around head from forehead down nose to chin and back of head.

    After coating surface of hardened plaster with vaseline, fill up rest of box with more plaster of paris mixture. If nose should protrude, pile extra mixture to cover completely with about ½ inch to spare.

    When all is set and hard, tear off outside of box.

    Note. Cast will get warm in the process. When cool, it is set.

    Gently tap and pry open with chisel or kitchen knife, placing small damp piece of cardboard used as wedge.

    Pull parts apart and take plasteline head out. (Save plasteline to make other heads later.)

    Shellac inside of cast to preserve.

    When dry, coat with thin layer of vaseline.

    Have ready your modeled head in plasteline.

    Place heavy thread all around your model, dividing the head in half, being careful that the thread is pressed into the model, leaving the two ends of the thread exposed and free.

    Mix plaster of paris mixture to the consistency of cream.

    Dip the model carefully into the mixture so that all parts of the model are covered without disturbing the thread.

    Blow on the head to distribute the mixture into all crevices. This is to prevent bubbles and air holes from forming. Repeat this process.

    As soon as the mixture is a little thicker, begin to pile it over the model until the covering is two or three inches over all.

    When the cast has become firm, but before completely hardening, grasp both ends of the thread and pull upwards carefully.

    This will cut the cast and divide it into two halves, when it is ready for the paper-mache or the plastic wood process.

    MOULDING–PLASTIC WOOD

    Have ready plastic wood, water and your thumbs.

    Press plastic wood firmly into cast so as to fill every crevice and wrinkle,

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