July 1, 2008
Puppetry on Parade!
This is not for everybody (she says, blustering just a bit, working a little too hard at crafting an image of One Who Is ‘In the Know’, the priestess of high hip mysteries).
It was the first installment of Tracy Hinshaw’s Sister Smackdown series that got me started on my latest puppetry jag, and then Daryl Scroggins had to go and propose sock puppet re-enactments of bits from favorite movies.
I have no idea how this comes off to people who’ve not seen any of the Gerry Anderson ‘Supermarionation’ programs. But it’s a wonderful reminder of what fine physical (as well as verbal) comics were Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.
It’s — eh — it’s, um, a parody of a Thunderbirds (Supermarionation) episode in which Cook and Moore impersonate the marionettes, and, um, it’s about a mid-1960s version of a Gunpowder Plot against the British hospitality and tourism industry.
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15 Responses to “Puppetry on Parade!”
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De-activate Central Mist-ifier!
Sheila–the sock puppet re-enactments of bits was Cindy’s idea; I’m not sure if I was supposed to say anything about it until we had something–but this will just get us working faster. And of course what one selects is a big part of the whole thing. We are gathering props at the moment.
Actually, the sock puppet project I’m most excited about is sock puppet presentations of diseases. I think that idea has some legs. My people are getting with Daryl’s people; we’ll see if we can get this baby off the ground.
But I see no harm in telling you one of the scenes we plan to re-enact: Anton Chigurh in his stolen patrol car, pulling over another driver and saying, “Step out of the car, please.” That’s going to be good in sock puppet.
good in sock puppet.
yes.
also, maybe you guys should invest in a flip?
also, Sheila, I’m interested in what a post that appeals to everyone might look like. perhaps we should have a ‘post that appeals to everyone’ contest.
For Everybody. That’s a puzzler. HCE.
Deron–abou the Flip: I have a small Canon camera (Powershot SD 550) that takes good clips in 640-480 at 30 frames per second–and will keep going until the card is full. Will that work as well as a Flip for UTube uploads? I have never sent anything to UTube, so I’ll have to figure it all out. The only problem I see is that the file size is huge for clips coming out of the camera: about 100 megs per minute. Do I need to convert it in some way? As you can see, I have a lot to learn. But I’m also up for buying a video camera if that would make it all work better.
good questions. I haven’t yet worked with a flip so I’m not sure what file sizes to expect. Andrew may have worked with this type of video and youtube more than I have so maybe he can jump in here. I’m also thinking some flockers or readers have a flip so maybe someone can give us some feedback. everything I’ve read has been very positive in terms of ease of use.
First off, I would suggest for generally higher quality (e.g., they support HD) Vimeo for uploading longish video. They have a similar uploading limits, the help is here and the questions about format and compressions are here.
The flip is great and essentially designed for short videos on youtube. I have toyed with it a little (an old roommate of mine had one). I use an Olympus Stylus for youtube videos which is really just made for photographs but it can handle itself well if you keep it stable and are smartish about lighting.
Some helpful information about formatting for youtube is here. The long and the short of it: use MPEG4 (Divx, Xvid) with MP3 audio at 320 x 240. This, generally, compresses the files size enough for most video.
Thanks Andrew! This will get me going just fine.
oh Sheila, I can only assume that “everybody” jab is at me. I was just being honest about my music, do you think Jandek appeals to everybody? Have you heard Six and Six?
Though Jandek is often on my mind, in fact Jandek had slipped my mind when I posted this. I was mostly thinking abut myself and a few of my favorite things. Peter Cook. Marionettes. Marionette impersonators. The Gunpowder Plot. The British hospitality and tourism industry.
Maybe we could submit a question to ‘flockers. You could pick one of your albums, and we could ask: “Which do you find more appealing: Jandek’s _____ or [here I would insert one of my favorite things -- marionette impersonators, for instance, or perhaps the Gunpowder Plot]?”
Oh Sheila, that sounds wonderful. Have you read these little history comics? They are hilarious.
http://www.katebeaton.com/Site/History_Project.html
“Nikola Tesla Mad For Science and The Ladies Mad For Nikola Tesla.”
Those are great.
Jandek has pointed us to something that appeals to everyone.
The look on the woman’s face in the last frame of that one gets me every time.