Proto-Hypertext Memory Expander
Gus the hacker puppeteer (previously) writes, “Since The Media Show began, people have been asking us, ‘What do hacking, digital literacy, and media literacy have to do with each other? I don’t see the connection.'”
Continue reading “Hacker puppets explain how camera angles shape our perception”
Gus writes, “Remember carbon paper? You’re probably of a certain age if you can recall typing on a sandwich of two sheets of paper with a thin, grimy, black sheet between them to make copies.”
Continue reading “Hacker puppets explore the relationship between carbon paper and copyright”
Gus writes, “When we created The Media Show (previously) decided the best way to teach about digital and media literacy was to answer the questions people were already asking Google, we didn’t anticipate how bizarre some of the questions would be.”
Continue reading “Media literacy show answers hard questions with Adbusters-inspired puppets”
It’s an amazing piece of video editing/lip-syncing, right up there with Sesame Street Sure Shot.
Gus writes, “Two of us who help produce the Hackers On Planet Earth conference and the Off The Hook radio show are starting a new season of The Media Show, our media/digital literacy show; we’d love to invite Boing Boing readers to participate in the crowdfunding and questions for our next season.”
Continue reading “Hacker puppets answer your questions about the net”
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lewojeda/rescuing-the-lost-marionettes-of-ralph-kipniss
Jason sez, “Ralph Kipniss is a master puppeteer who has fallen on hard times. In 2005, he lost both his life partner (after a grave illness) and his puppet theater (in an accidental fire). In the years since, Kipniss has had to move out of Chicago, but hundreds of his specially-created marionettes are still in storage in his old apartment building. Local filmmakers Joseph R. Lewis and Lew Ojeda are running a Kickstarter campaign to help reunite Kipniss with his puppets and hopefully help him get back into performing regularly.”
Continue reading “Kickstarted rescue for the marionettes of Ralph Kipniss”
I’ve written before about Adafruit’s “Circuit Playground,” a kids’ puppet show about electronics (with accompanying coloring book and plushies!). The first episode, “A is for Ampere,” just went live and it’s a smashing history and explanation of the ampere and the electron.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/935772123/the-mill-at-calders-end-a-ghost-story-puppet-film
Special effects artist Kevin McTurk has a fully subscribed kickstarter for The Mill at Calder’s End, a Victorian ghost movie starring 30″ puppets guided by pairs or trios of puppeteers all in black. The effects will be done in-camera,
The Mill at Calder’s End is a gothic ghost story in the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft that will be told with 30 inch tall bunraku puppets and old fashioned in-camera special effects. Featuring the voices of Jason Flemyng (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, X-Men: First Class) and horror legend Barbara Steele (Black Sunday, The Pit and the Pendulum) , this film celebrates two of my great loves: the art of puppetry and gothic horror.
From my experience working as a special effects artist in Hollywood for over twenty years and now collaborating with some of the most talented creature effects artists, concept artists, and puppeteers in the industry, The Mill at Calder’s End will be unlike any puppet film you have ever seen before.
The Mill at Calder’s End is a passion project that is heavily influenced by the classic Hammer horror films of the 1960s and the films of Mario Bava (most notably, his gothic masterpiece Black Sunday). I have also always had a great love of puppetry and traditional in-camera special effects. The work of Jim Henson (The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and his Storyteller television series) is a great inspiration to me and I am hoping to bring his sense of wonderment and artistry to The Mill at Calder’s End.
The Mill at Calder’s End – A Ghost Story Puppet Film by Kevin McTurk — Kickstarter
(Thanks, Kevin!)
Johannes sez,
Unbelievable, but Kiki and Bubu are back!
When we created the first couple of episodes for Boing Boing TV in 2008, who would have thought that the two wooly Neo-Marxist fellows would still be around in 2012?
Well, they are! Here is their newest and most epic (50 minutes!) puppet extravaganza!Story?
Our favorite sock puppets Kiki and Bubu have some feelings, so they sign up for an online dating site. When the People of China want to become their friend, they are excited. However, sending the People of China a video of themselves proves to be difficult: Their content gets flagged as inappropriate and taken down from YouTube. On the long quest for knowledge which follows, Kiki and Bubu learn all about Internet censorship. And love.
monochrom: Kiki and Bubu’s “RATED R US”
(Thanks, Johannes!)
If you think Einstein-with-his-tongue-out is the last word in whimsical physicist photography, have a look at this 1931 shot of the Mighty Hip Einie with an Einstein marionette.
Here’s the runner up: Einstein in fuzzy slippers.
Update:
Dan Bessie writes, “As it happens, I own the original negative (and photo) of Einstein with the marionette, created by my uncle Harry Burnett. And contrary to comments you’ve received, the puppet is neither Mark Twain, nor was it Photoshopped.”
Attributed to Harry Burnett while Yale Puppeteers were working in their theater, Teatro Torito, on Olvera Street in Los Angeles, California, circa 1931. The photo was taken by Harry Burnett at Cal Tech in Pasadena where Albert Einstein was teaching. Einstein saw the puppet perform at the Teato Torito and was quite amused. He reached into his jacket’s breast pocket, pulled out a letter and crumpled it up. Speaking in German, he said, “The puppet wasn’t fat enough!” He laughed and stuffed the crumpled letter up under the smock to give the puppet a fatter belly. This is a wonderful photograph that Harry treasured. Harry Burnett also kept the letter in a frame and loved to retell the story and at the end give his pixish laugh.
