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the physical limitations of a puppet, but here we are, apparently crossing these particular
limitations. That's when magic, illusions, animation, trickery, etc., work best; when you show
how the trick is done by showing the apparent limits, or at least fool the audience into thinking
they know how it is done, and then outwitting them.
The removal of Shakespeare's head might have worked if I had shown it to be a trick performed
by the puppet. One of the greatest and most ef ective 'beheadings' I have seen was in the Royal
Exchange's Cymbeline , where the actor was lying on a pale-coloured bed, and as the sword
was lowered, a black cloth was placed quite deliberately across his head, covering it all. The
ef ect was hardly realistic, but it took my breath away. Once again this glorious use of black to
suggest something is not there. I could have used a similar idea in Next , and I'm sure it was a
convention used in Elizabethan theatre. Another production of Titus Andronicus saw Lavinia
wearing black gloves to suggest her amputation, and as she opened her mouth, a l ood of
bright red ribbons cascaded out, and hung there for the rest of the scenes. In a way, this was far
more shocking than any splatter movie, because the imagination is involved. Knowing it is fake
makes the illusion all the more breathtaking. We like to be fooled.
But I could not bring myself to pull of Shakespeare's head. This was not only an artistic thing
concerning the style of the i lm; it was a personal thing, as it would have felt like mutilating
something that was very much alive. It pleased me to see the animators in The Nightmare
Before Christmas boldly remove Jack Skellington's head with a l ourish, but he is a skeleton and
he can survive in the same way that Sally can sew limbs back on when they have been tugged
of . If Jack and Sally had expressed pain, or had started to bleed, that would have been a totally
dif erent matter. But I do think it vitally important to set up the physical rules straight away in
a i lm, about what the role of the puppet is and how it i ts into its world, and just how far it can
push the laws of physics and nature.
What are you thinking when you hold a puppet? Do you feel what it feels
or experience some of the situation? Is it a sensual experience?
JD - When it's a puppet designed by someone else, I'm less empathetic than if it's a puppet I designed.
Usually, for a 'creature' fi lm, my primary interest is in the story, editing and staging of the scenes. For a
puppet scene or sequence, my interest tends to be in the characterisation and stylisation. I often feel the
mood of the characters. Sometimes, for a creature fi lm, I'm able to get into the character, but not as often
as for a puppet fi lm.
TB - I fi rst think about who the character is. A monster? Well, what kind of monster? Iago was a monster,
but he was also human. So he was a different kind of monster. Was King Kong a monster, or a tragic
fi gure? What if the character you're animating is a ballerina who has just learned that her father has
died, just as she is about to perform the death scene from Swan Lake ? How much will she feel the death of
the character when she gets to that point? Probably quite a bit. We all bring many, many experiences to
the table as performers, and animators are no different. Being moved when I saw the scene of the baboon
from Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger . He sees his refl ection and realises that he is no longer a prince, but
a baboon, and begins to weep. Once the actor has latched onto the mind of the character and becomes
the character, the audience will almost believe it. It's all about illusion, about being someone else for a
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