The Foam Book

[fishbone]

anyone that has the foam book,can you tell me if they deal w/ blinking eyes& or eyebrowws/,if not where can i find that?

[BorkBork]

someone, i think it was Terry Angus, posted a drawing, which explained how animals eyes works. I had that pic, but unfortunately i lost it in a hard disc crash (may my disk rest in pieces...)

I don't know if the old board still works, maybe you could do a search there.

/Anders

[Princeton]

I have The Foam Book, but I don't believe it deals with moving lids or brows. I was actually very disapointed in The Foam Book; I thought it was gonna have instructions like Puppet Mania did. :( :mad: :smirk:

[Buck-Beaver]

anyone that has the foam book,can you tell me if they deal w/ blinking eyes& or eyebrowws/,if not where can i find that?The Foam Book doesn't get in to things like mechs. The threads you want to read for more info are:

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=14085

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=15393

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=1911

I hope that helps. As always if anyone is looking for information, use the "Search This Forum" feature and type in whatever you need to know about (that's how I found these threads).

[Ryan]

Speaking of which, any info on that prize pack? :concern:

[Yahnke]

puppet planet has a few excellent pages on her web site for blinking eye mechs...check it out. It's under the "build your own" section of her web site. Puppet planet to the rescue once again!!!!

[Muppetsdownunder]

Sorry to be nosy but I couldnt help it! What prize pack is that exactly?

[Ryan]

It's something between me and Andrew...

[erniebert1234ss]

I'd LOVE to get the Foam Book, but is it still in print? Also, on the subject of books, is there a book coming out or out already that deals with ALL of the Henson puppetry secrets? I'd also LOVE a Muppet pattern book with all the old Muppets like Wilkins and Wontkins, plus the "old" Gonzo and the "old" Kermit. Any suggestions?

[Dagger Claws]

Yes, the foam book is still in print. Not only does Grey Seal have the Foam Book, but they also have two videos to using foam PLUS a new Foam Kit. Here's a link to their site, which will have all the information:

http://www.greysealpuppets.com/products.html

[Buck-Beaver]

Sorry to be nosy but I couldnt help it! What prize pack is that exactly?
I ran a puppet building contest on my site last year; Ryan won and got sent some stuff but some of it was returned to me and the rest, well, I imagine some U.S. Postal employee is having fun building puppets right now.

I thought it would be fun to do the contest again this year, but I wanted to get all the stuff straightened out from last year first.

Sorry for not responding to your message here sooner Ryan; I didn't see it until just now. I sent you an email privately.

[Buck-Beaver]

Yes, the foam book is still in print. Not only does Grey Seal have the Foam Book, but they also have two videos to using foam PLUS a new Foam Kit. Here's a link to their site, which will have all the information:

http://www.greysealpuppets.com/products.html
Thanks for posting this! I didn't know that they had that available already. I'm going to check it out.

[Iggy35]

Are the foam book video's available in PAL yet?
I wrote to grey seal asking that question when the videos first came out, and got a reply saying they'd be willing to convert them for me, but it would have costed WAY too much.
If not, I hope they do soon. :(

IGGY35

[Buck-Beaver]

Just a thought - why not order the NTSC videos and get someone in the UK to convert them for you? Here in Canada there are places that do NTSC/PAL/SECAM conversions all over and many of them are very reasonable. There has to be an affordable way for you to get them converted locally.

[Muppetsdownunder]

I know here in Australia at least NTSC DVDs/videos work just fine on Australian PAL TVs, even our old TV works ok with it and most DVD and video players here at least play both PAL and NTSC as some Austrlaian DVDs are released in the NTSC system.

[HeartlessGiant]

Hey, everyone. I'm new here to the forum (in fact, this is my first post), although i've been lurking for a while. I'm a drama major (acting, writing, directing, anything!) but i've always had an interest in puppeteering. Needless to say, i've pretty much grown up with the muppets (like most of you, i'm sure).

Anyway, that's all beside the point. I bought The Foam Book about a week ago. Good book, it has some good tips, but my copy is missing page 63. In its place is an upside down page 30.

This may sound lazy, :p but i'd really rather not go through the trouble of returning it (not to mention that the upside down page adds character!). I was just wondering if anyone out there could scan their page 63 and help me out? If not, no biggie. Just thought i'd give it a shot. Thanks for the help!

[GreySealPuppets]

Please do contact us and we'll be happy to send you a new book. We have had some trouble with our most recent printing of the book, so it helps us to know exactly how many copies had errors.

You can contact us at info@greysealpuppets.com.

Thanks!
Vania Reckard
Grey Seal Puppets

[DOGTOW]

Hi
it would be cool if we could get these on pal as there must be uk fans who would like to own these videos. also that comp sounds cool where can i see pics of the puppets.
Thanks :)

[GreySealPuppets]

Thanks for your interest in the Foam Book Videos!

We have looked into the possibility of having the videos converted to PAL, but in order to make it cost efficient to the buyers, we would need to get a large quantity of them made. Since we have only had a few people request the PAL versions, we are not sure if the demand exists enough for us to have them done. We can get one copy converted at a time, but it costs around $10 per copy.

If more people express an interest in the PAL videos, then it will be more likely that we will have them made.

If you would like to see photos of some of the characters we have designed, please visit our website at www.greysealpuppets.com. There are photos from our touring productions, as well as galleries of characters we have custom created for clients.

I appreciate all the feedback that we get. It helps us to serve our customers better.

Thank you,
Vania Reckard
Grey Seal Puppets

[biblebetty]

you can get the foam book on amazon.com just put in the name "the foam book and if you click on the picture of the book it will show you some of the pages inside like the introduction, etc.

BibleBetty

[biblebetty]

[I]Anyway, that's all beside the point. I bought The Foam Book about a week ago. Good book, it has some good tips, but my copy is missing page 63. In its place is an upside down page 30.

I had the same problem If you get page 30 sent me an e-mail please. It's killing me wondering what is on this page.

BibleBetty

[Snark Blarmsten]

page 63 talks about the end of the tail, wings and wing movement :) You aren't really missing much.

[KNOCK A LOT]

could someone tell me the author of the foam book it sound good and I would like to track it down in tasmania

[Buck-Beaver]

It's by Drew Alliston and Donald Devet of Grey Seal Puppets. Their web site is www.greysealpuppets.com (http://www.greysealpuppets.com). You can probably buy a copy directly from them.

[Zoot The Saxman]

Thats.......Donald Devet and Drew ALLISON

[SurfPark]

I was checking out the Foam Book website, and noticed a DVD edition of the book was scheduled to be released. I signed up to be on the mailing list, but was wondering if there was an estimated date for the arrival of this new edition? Is it more than a year?

[puppetmancan]

I have the foam book, it was ok, but way better info just surfing, amd its semi free.

[SurfPark]

Just got the email:
We finally have a release date for The Foam Book DVD! The official date is June 1st, 2006. We are taking preorders on our website; you may place your order now and we will ship them as soon as they are available.

To place an order, visit our website at www.greysealpuppets.com/foambookdvd.html (http://www.greysealpuppets.com/foambookdvd.html).

Thank you all for your patience!

Grey Seal Puppets

www.greysealpuppets.com (http://www.greysealpuppets.com/)
231 Foster Ave.
Charlotte, NC 28203

[puppetise]

i have it and its great but the internet is kool

[Arislan]

i have it and its great but the internet is kool

You have the DVD? Or the foam book?

I ordered the foam book today after reading this thread. I hope it's worth it.

Someone should make a "How to make Muppet Replicas" book.

[gfarkwort]

.......no

[RottenPuppets]

i've got the older version of the book and I love it. great information to get some basic understanding.. but i don't remember blinking eyes. shouldn't be too hard to rig up if you're just looking to do it manually.

[dkmontgomery]

I got the VHS version several years ago. It is a good video to get you started and give you some ideas. Especially if you have never made a puppet.:rolleyes:

[RevTieDye]

It's something between me and Andrew...

Oh great, another inside joke!

[JJandJanice]

I'm getting a copy of the book in the mail and I'm really looking forward to it.

[Puppettown]

Where can I find this book?

[Buck-Beaver]

You have to order it online. I believe that the Puppeteers of America online store, Amazon.com and Grey Seal Puppets all sell it.

[thedoogles]

Have to say, I purchased the Foam Book some time back hoping it would give me some tips on refining some of the building processes with foam.. However, it provided very little help. It's now shelved on the bookshelf and I've had to learn through trial and error... while it's an expensive process, it's one of the best ways to learn.

Cheers
Michael
http://www.thedoogles.com

[JJandJanice]

Well I own the book, but haven't got around to reading it just yet. I'm looking forward to though, I must say.

I'm reading a lot of other puppetry books as well.

[Kar Ma]

The Foam Book is a great way to get started with puppets. It's helped me. I ordered it for a fair price on line at www.abebooks.com (http://www.abebooks.com). You can often get better deals with Abebooks than with Amazon. At least, that's what's been my experience. Once you learn even a few of The Foam Book techniques you will discover personal innovative ways to build puppets.

[scottabrown2001]

in regards to buying a tape in pal or ntsc, i moved to the uk from th usa, and i have found that a most of my vhs tapes and a lot of my dvd's will play on my dvd players, now i am not sure if it is my telly that allows them to be played or my players that automatically converts it. but this is not an uncommon occurence as my sister has two vcrs and two dvd players that play the ntsc and pal. and they were cheap players. if your wanna get an ntsc tape just buy it. you more then likely be able to pick up a player on the cheap that will play the tapes.
i hope this is of some use. ciao scotty.

[TommyTheMad]

I got my copy of the book today from Amazon. Not a bad book for $20.00 with shipping. I'm looking forward to reading through it.

[TommyTheMad]

I read the whole thing, and found that there was very little in it I didn't already know. A bit of a disappointment, but the things I didn't know made me think that it was a worthwhile investment.

[staceyrebecca]

Everyone should buy it from the Puppeteers of America shop...

Just a little plug, there.

When Drew actually did the demo for us, it was a lot more helpful. I'd say my 2nd or 3rd generation of making puppets (am I on generation 15 now?) was using the foam book method...i think it was a good starting point & really helpful then, but I know a lot more now & burn my fingers a lot less than I did when I was doing nip-tuck.

[na3]

Hi guys,

I've done blinking eyes for a muppet-type (I used The Foam Book to learn how to make the muppet, but did the eyes on my own). I don't have a step-by-step tutorial at the moment, but you can see the process here:

http://thepromptcopy.com/pip/index.php?title=blinking_eyes

If anyone wants help working out how to do it, I'll be happy to answer questions or provide more info on how I did it. Additionally, you should check out Puppet Building.com, which has some great instructions on a range of blinking eye mechanisms.

Cheers,

Na3

[Patience]

I thought about buying The Foam Book, but would like opinions first, which would be more useful: The Foam Book or a Pattern from Project Puppet?

Thanks in advance,
Patience

[SesameKermie]

Patience, they both have their uses. I've bought both. The Foam Book approaches puppet design from a more 'artistic'/improvisational standpoint, IMHO. They start with a basic puppet mouthplate, and then design the head shape around that, experimenting with placement and widths of darts to create different shapes.

The Project Puppet pattern has already worked out the darting necessary to create certain head shapes, and gives you a pattern to use as a jumping off point--to which you can then add features to create a character.

Hope this helps clarify things.

[na3]

It depends on how you work best. I haven't bought any patterns from Puppet Project, but they are probably better than The Foam Book for first timers. With instructions and patterns, it's hard to go wrong, plus there's also a lot of creativity which allows you to make something unique. On the other hand, I never made muppet puppets before, and used The Foam Book, and found it incredibly valuable. It's much less straight-forward if you've never made a puppet before, since the book doesn't provide patterns, just basic building techniques and guidelines. If you prefer working without a pattern and want more experimentation, you might want the book.

If you want to see how my first muppets came out, check out the video linked here in my blog:

http://puppetsinmelbourne.com.au/index.php/2007/09/03/what_have_i_been_up_to_part_two

If your budget is up to it, why not do both? I go back to my book time and again, at $US20-30 it's not a bad purchase. I think if I'd have also invested in a pattern from Project Puppet, I think I would have been just as happy.

[Teenager's]

I personally thing Project Puppet is more useful. The foam book is nice to look at.....but I've never used the techniques it shows because it's not what I'm going for. It's a nice idea book though.

but project puppet is much more worthwhile. & you could probably find the foam book at a library.

[Nojoy]

I use both, and while the Foam Book is great reference material, it really is more of a fly by the seat of your pants approach. If you've never built a puppet (muppet-style) then Project Puppet is where I would recommend starting. Working with those patterns can go a long way towards teaching you basic techniques that you can apply to building your own designs later on.

[Conor IX]

Patience, I have both the foam book and a bunch of patterns from project puppet. I would definitely recommend project puppet for a first time, mainly because the results are very professional from the get go, and it's a great confidence booster to know that you can craft something to a high standard. The foam book is ok, but to be honest, i don't like the aesthetics of the puppets, the diagrams are really just rough drawings. It's very loose ended, and that can be a double edged sword, on one hand it's not spoonfeeding you ideas, which is nurturing for the imagination, but it might leave you with too much of a blank canvas. The project puppet patterns are a good spring board and starting point, and the patterns are great.

The foam book authors should get a designer in to revamp the look and feel of the book. The paper and everything isn't up to standard with other books out at the moment.

[Patience]

ConorIX

Thanks for the reply! Do you have other suggestions for books and/or patterns?

I have a PP Pattern. I wasn't as excited or impressed as many others here have been. The directions are lacking! I had to have the pattern and the directions in front of me (which takes up a lot of work space). in order to put the thing together. The hole is way too small! I could go on, but that wouldn't be nice.

I took 2 years of Fashion Design (you may think one has nothing to do with the other, but the details are much the same), so I know plenty about Pattern Drafting and Construction, (just not to do with puppets). But my skills as a Dress Designer/Maker are very transferable. If I had the time, I could do my own pattern drafting (now that I know they all start off like a glorified ball).

Patience

[bezalel]

For the benefit of others who may come across this thread, I feel obligated to address the hole that is "way too small". I'm assuming it is the neck hole (the hole in the puppet's head that the puppeteer puts his hand through to reach and operate the mouth) that is being referred to. The neck hole is 3 inches in diameter in the Forma Series Patterns. Generally, a hole of this size is enough for an adult size human hand to fit through. It is meant to be a snug fit. Remember, the more closely a puppet hugs the puppeteer's hand and arm, the easier it is for movement to be transferred. This makes for less difficult puppeteering and a better performance.

Of course, there are exceptions. Some puppeteers have larger hands and the Project Puppet patterns are designed to be easily altered. The Forma head patterns do not incorporate the neck hole. The hole is cut after the head is assembled. We designed the patterns this way to allow for flexibility. The hole can be cut larger. The hole can be moved forward or backward, affecting the "posture" of the puppet. It's entirely up to the builder and the demands of the character.

Hope that clarifies things for future readers of this thread.

[na3]

If anyone's interested, I have a pattern for sale at my website that is an ideal complement to The Foam Book - it's for people who wish the book came with patterns and need a little more paint-by-numbers assistance.

Comes with patterns for the mouth, head (three piece method), neck, body and arms. You learn everything from building with foam, covering the foam, decorating the head with features, making detachable rods (the way Henson did it!) and there's heaps of photos to help you along the way.

The pattern can be found here (https://www.puppetsinmelbourne.com.au/cube/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=26).

[AEaston]

I feel like I need to stand up for the Foam Book. I have never used a puppet project (even though they look great!) and started building with the foam book as my only resource. I certainly made mistakes in the beginning, but I learned so much from them very quickly. I also have never had to think in terms of the patterns I have. When someone asks me to build something I have never built before, it's really easy because, as the book tells you, you just think about the basic shapes and go from there! I agree with those who have pointed out that the style of their puppets is....different, but mine have a cleaner more "muppety" look to them-with my own style of course. And I feel like the book was vague enough to let me develop that.

In short, the foam book allows you to bring your artistry to the craft from day one. If you are comfortable with learning by experimentation then the book is great! If having a pattern will motivate you to get started..then that works too. The important part to realize is that you just have to start doing it, have fun with the first one and know that it probably won't be the most beautiful puppet you build, but will be the most fun or at least memorable one you build :)

[ATRIDA]

Hi everybody, I´m new around here. I´m a beginner pupetter trying to make my own muppet-like puppets for the first time. The most difficult problem I have is to built the mouth mechanism. Could you help me? Thanks

[Bumblebeez]

I am thinking about buying either The Foam Book or Puppet Mania and I was wondering which one I should buy first to get an insight into how to make puppet patterns. I have already designed some puppets on paper but I don't know how I should go about forming it in the third dimension.

P.S. Is the book Puppet Planet worth looking into?

[staceyrebecca]

Honestly I don't know how much either one will help you as far as developing patterns.

Puppet Planet is more different projects & styles of puppets you can make. Anywhere from sock puppets to a carved foam head.
From what I gathered, The Foam Book teaches more of an improvised way of making puppets. Or, rather that's how it left me making puppets. I stopped using the nip-tuck method after probably 2 shows-worth of puppets about 5/6 years ago.

I think both books are worth owning.

Try checking them out from a local library, too.

[Bumblebeez]

Thanks for the insight I'll check into it

[MuppetLabsBoy]

I am thinking about buying either The Foam Book or Puppet Mania and I was wondering which one I should buy first to get an insight into how to make puppet patterns. I have already designed some puppets on paper but I don't know how I should go about forming it in the third dimension.

P.S. Is the book Puppet Planet worth looking into?

The Foam Book will teach you a lot of good techniques and expose you to new materials. Puppet Planet has more direct projects, but they are easy to modify and can be turned into so many different characters.;)