How to Move Marionettes

Video Transcript

"On behalf of Expert Village. I am Emily DeCola. I am here at the Puppet Kitchen in New York City and we re going to talk about marionettes. I tend to think that the most important thing to keep in mind when you designing a marionette or any other kind of puppet is its movement. You re creating a sculpture but it s a kinetic sculpture and the essential qualities of that sculpture are not to be found just in looking at the object as it stands motionless in space. Art, visual arts are fascinating but what we re doing with puppetry is making a sculpture that s animated and that moves. So when you re thinking about a puppet before it comes into existence and you re planning how you re going to create your marionette. Don t just think about what it looks like but think about how it moves and how its movement. Just as the design of its face or the articulation of its elbows tells you a story about whom it is. Its movement is going to tell you 10 times that story. A good marionette, I believe and so does my teacher is built to want to move the way that you want it to move."