Puppet head design research

 

Pictures from Bread and puppet theatre Performing Faust 3

https://breadandpuppet.org/tour-schedule/bread-puppet-performs-faust-3

These faces are similar to my designs in that it is a mask that covers a large portion of the body, however I want to move away from the grotesque or scary.

picture from Bread & Puppet museum in Glover VT

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/bread-and-puppet-group.html

I love this design, the many faces within the bigger face lend its self well to my surrealist concept.

photo from Bread & Puppet museum in Glover VT

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/bread-and-puppet-group.html

I love these puppets simple designs, I have found my designs with the over sized mouth to be too scary looking. the puppet with the moving mouth in this photo has a normal proportion mouth to face and has helped me visualise how a smaller mouth may be appropriate.

Photos from Bread & Puppet performance at Theater for the New City

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/bread-and-puppet-group.html

I like these tall designs I imagine they have good movement and can be very comical something im aiming to capture. But are they still masks?

All of these puppets so far as I can tell are made from paper mache, which would potentially be unsuitable for an outdoor event on the grand scale I intend. Foam sheets instead? plastazote?

Surreal face paintings by Eustaquio Carrasco

https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Surreal-Face-N-10/58713/4619979/view

The_Astronomer_s_Dream_1898_aka_The_Moon_at_One_Meter_GEORGE_MELIES_La_lune_a_un_metre.webm ‎

Clip from The Astronomer’s Dream (French: Le Reve D’un Astronome, original title: La lune à un mètre a.k.a. The Moon at One Meter) (Star Film Catalogue no. 160-162) is an 1898 French short black-and-white silent film, directed by Georges Méliès.

I really love this silent film. The face of the moon is menacing but comical, not scary which is a perfect balance. I also am drawn to this because it is silent, my dissertation research led me to Edward Gordon Craig who believed masks and body movements could replace speech to help communicate with the audience. The masked performer in my performance would remain silent as well.