Breathing Life into Your Puppet

Friday afternoon, a fun panel in A707 (M) consisting of professionals Joshua Holden and Brodrick Jones showed tips on how to manipulate and develop your puppet’s character. Participants were highly encouraged to bring in a puppet, but it was not required.

One of the more enjoyable exercises was making the puppet “breathe.” This reporter brought her partner, “Fergus.” A new addition to the house, Fergus is going to be “teaching” in a high school classroom. This reporter, although a newbie to puppetry, felt welcomed to the group.

Puppeteers want their characters to move naturally. If the character is jerky, not resting properly, or out of sync with the owner, the sense of realism rapidly deteriorates. Having the puppet looking around the room, watching people, reacting to situations, and resting neutrally are all part of the process of making the puppet come to life.

Everyone left the session with a few practice techniques to use at home. If you missed the workshop, you can usually find a helpful staff member or guest hanging around in the Puppetry area behind the Blood Drive in the Marriot.

Author of the article

Award-winning author Amanda Faith may have been raised in Dayton, but her heart and home is in the South. With a lifelong love of teaching and writing, she had plenty of encouragement from teachers and friends along the way. Loving a good puzzle has always been a fascination, and writing gives her the outlet to put all the pieces together. Being adventurous and loving to try new things, it wasn’t long before her characters found themselves in unusual situations. She loves to put people from two different worlds into new situations and to see how they interact, taking them on journeys they would never have normally experienced. Her current adventure working as a high school English professor turned Media Specialist, writing, and doing paranormal investigations doesn’t slow her down from having a great time with a plethora of hobbies. Her published credits include several short stories, poetry, several journal articles, her doctoral dissertation, and her award-winning book Strength of Spirit. With multiple degrees, she has a passion for learning and exploring new venues. She is a staff writer for The Daily Dragon at Dragon Con. Check out her new website (www.amandafaith.net) or on Instagram (@dramandafaith)