Sceptical Granny

Finished Puppet

Being the person with the least spectacular puppet-making ability, I can assure you that the art of doing things as you go along will never cease to amaze you. I felt the puppet was not what I had expected; instead, I channelled its energy and aura into a character from the heart.

As a citizen of great culture, I have always watched my grandma act and behave in a specific way, emphasising the body. Their motion is generally restricted to their limbs rather than their torsos. This was an intriguing insight while wrapping my puppet’s bottom section.

I chose loose clothing for the puppet to highlight the body structure just enough to make manipulating each body movement easier, allowing me to get away with the actual twists and turns of the spine (which would have been impossible, considering a single block of balsa is the complete body).

The entire process of creating Granny was enjoyable; I can’t say it turned out exactly how I envisioned it because I didn’t start with a definite plan; it was more of a conceptual idea of structure, but the character sort of crept in as I went along. That is why it is referred to as a process.

I created a short video clip of Mrs.granny being herself. I don’t believe I did her justice; her movements were quite restricted dude to my faulty skills in making puppets; Other than that, she was lovely to work with.

What can I say? She is camera conscious.

Even though this was a pleasant surprise of a character puppet, I would like to put more consideration into developing and executing a puppet, if not entirely then very closely resembling the initials. I might also figure out how to perform body movements with specific characteristics so that animation is faithful to the personality.

I’m not sure whether I’ll use her again, but I hope she gets to share screen space in any of my work in any manner, like a sassy granny and a thief; their encounters, in my opinion, are pretty humorous. Mixed media is always an option.

Puppet Making Workshop

The Progress…

I was ready to work on modeling my puppet; the wiring work, making joints, and adding volume to them were all on the agenda for the day. However, halfway into the day, my patience took a back seat, and my anxiety crept in lousy.

A new day brings new thoughts and manipulates the ideals of where you want your journey to take you. I was so preoccupied with making this puppet that I wasn’t following my initial thoughts; I made it up as I went along. I started by twisting wires for the hands and legs. I chose proportionate limbs for the puppet because I wanted more realistic yet unconventional hand and leg motions regarding posture and gestures. My most problematic issue in making puppets was twisting the wires for the wrists and fingers.

Well, it came with many unwanted back aches and neck crunches…

I was unsure if I could construct a functional palm without destroying it. This was still better than the previous one, but it’s all part of the learning process.

To separate the forearm, the biceps, the thighs, and the calves, I used striped rectangles of soft foam to warm around the essential areas of the hands and legs. The foot was slightly larger and gave the feel of shoes, which was to balance the head and feet with almost the same size.