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Puppets as Storytellers (THTR20042)
Undergraduate level 2Points: 12.5On Campus (Southbank)
Overview
Availability | Summer Term |
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Fees | Look up fees |
A puppet allows alternative modes of authorship not easily achieved with live actors. This subject will initially examine the history of puppetry as a story telling language including the methods of construction and operation of various styles of puppet. The outcome of allocated research topics will inform the design and construction of a specific puppet character. Students should then apply this research to the design/making process required to make a puppet. The emphasis will be on the animation of the inanimate through the discovery of a “soul”. The puppet must have a purpose for being “alive” a reason to exist, a world to occupy, and a history of experiences to define the character that emerges
Some materials will be provided as part of a materials levy ($50.00 per student) however students will also need to supply specific materials for the realisation of their individual designed puppet in addition to this fee. Costs will vary depending on materials selected.
Intended learning outcomes
On completing this subject students should be able to:
- research and critically analyse a defined puppetry genre or artist and discuss how puppetry is used as a storytelling within this context;
- apply research into puppetry styles and performative theories to the design and realisation of an individual puppet based on the concept of imbuing an inanimate object with life;
- articulate the process of developing and problem solving the design and realisation of a puppet, from concept to completion, around the fundamental premise of "character";
- translate the designed character into a completed functioning puppet capable of conveying the desired story.
Generic skills
- Research and critically analyse the social & cultural uses of puppets,
- communicate a story through the design and operation of a puppet,
- prepare and communicate visual ideas.
Last updated: 9 February 2025