How to Make Eye Contact for Puppeteers

Proper eye contact is a very important aspect of operating a puppet. Without proper eye contact, your puppet may look as if he is not engaged in the scene and cause confusion in your intended audience. Whether you choose to have eye contact with the camera, another puppet or a live audience, follow these steps to help your puppet make eye contact.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Choose a focal point for your puppet. The focal point can be the camera, the audience or even another puppet. The focal point is the point of eye contact for your puppet.

2. Position your fingers correctly inside the puppet to give your puppet eye contact with the chosen focal point. If you point your fingers in your puppet's upper jaw straight out towards the audience, camera or another puppet, it will appear as if your puppet is making good eye contact. If you point your fingers upward in the upper jaw, the puppet will look as if it is staring at the ceiling or sky. If you point your fingers downward in the upper jaw, the puppet will look downward. Use a puppet looking downward when your puppet is located above the intended focal point.

3. Look away briefly from the focal point while your puppet is speaking. This will give your puppet the appearance of realistic eye contact. Make sure to always come right back to the focal point you chose in Step 1, after you have had your puppet look away for a bit. The act of looking away and then coming back to the focal point during speaking makes your puppet appear more realistic.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are performing with your puppet in front of a live audience, you may choose to have your puppet look from audience member to audience member. This will make your puppet interact with the audience.
• Make sure that your puppet's eyes don't wander about over the stage. This will give your puppet an unrealistic appearance.