
Tips for constructing puppets. Learn how to prepare a drill to make a Bunraku puppet arm control in this free puppetry lesson from an expert puppeteer.
All Videos In The Series, "How to Make Bunraku Puppet Controller"
"So in this clip we're going to keep working on building our bunraku hand wrist control. The first thing that you need to do when you're putting this thing together is figure out where your elbow is. In the bunraku style control the rod, the control rod, is in the same line as part of the same unit as the bone, the forearm bone of the arm. So your elbow joint is going to be located not exactly halfway, but somewhere along that length. In this case, I've set my elbow about seven and a half inches from the end of the arm. And that's this distance right here is representing this distance on the puppet from the elbow to the wrist. Then you're going to drill that hole with a one-eighth inch drill bit. I have a little desk vice here that I really like because it lets me hold whatever piece I'm working with quite precisely in place. If you're new to this work it's often good to pilot hole. There we go. It's your elbow hole."
Expert Village: Emily DeCola
Video Series: Arts & Entertainment
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