my first puppet design

[muppetfan89]

I've drawn a rough sketch of my first puppet design. You'll probably notice that my inspiration for this character was Big Bird. I call my character Giant Giraffe. Please keep in mind that I'm not a great artist, so please bare with me and tell me what you think. Thanks in advance!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a241/chrisesper1989/Picture002.jpg

[staceyrebecca]

Wow, that's going to be quite the undertaking.

Where do you plan on the puppeteer's head sitting?

[muppetfan89]

Wow, that's going to be quite the undertaking.

Where do you plan on the puppeteer's head sitting?

just like the big bird puppet, right in the middle section where the puppeter has a video screen to see where they're going.

[staceyrebecca]

So in the main body of the giraffe, or halfway up the neck?

[muppetfan89]

half way up the neck.

[Onath]

Be sure to give the puppeteer some room to breath if they are going to be in a small space. It is awful when your'e own breath just blows right back in your face. It will also cause you to overheat faster. Before I started doing hand and rod puppets, I was a large costume puppeteer and builder. So, feel free to ask question? The costumes were made of foam and covered in latex and silkcreening ink. All the foam was attached with contact cement.

Here are some pictures of me in Large costumes

http://www.kaiju.com/bios/nap_03.htm

http://www.kaiju.com/bios/slo_03.htm

http://www.kaiju.com/bios/rob_03.htm

http://www.kaiju.com/bios/mot_03.htm

http://www.kaiju.com/bios/dus_03.htm

I hope that helps you let me know if you need help or have questions.

[staceyrebecca]

From working in the character department at Disney, I'm going to second Onath's request for lots of space for the puppeteer. Lightweight is also key.

One thing you might want to do is draw it one more time with a human figure inside. Maybe some graph paper so you can easily translate how big the actual puppeteer is going to be in comparison to how thick the neck needs to be.