From my last post I thought that researching other bird puppets would support my idea and get me thinking and making sure i have a wide range of examples that are well connected.
This image from Flickr was the main peice that caught my eye - Even though i want to practise taxidermy this is an alternative method for a puppet project based on city birds.
I like the way that you can tell its a pigeon - which might sound daft but the head and the wings have a severve likeness - if i were doing a manmade puppet opposed to a natural puppet (taxidermy) this is something that i would bare in mind.
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SHADOW PUPPETS
The images below show bird shadow puppets and the way they are animated. I like the mysterious aspect of making shadows. What would be really nice is to capture the mannerisms of the pigeons and other wildlife that lives in the city. Pigeons have that charector to them that argubly no other wild bird possesses. Their constant moving head movements and their stances.
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MECHANICAL PIGEON
The YouTube video provides an imput on how the mannerisms of a pigeon work- eyes that open and close, head bows - all at a pull of a cord - it is a really inspirational piece of nechanics. If this taxidermy doesnt work i would really like to consider this aspect of puppetry.
It connects with the first image on this post - the engineering and mechanics of these pigeons are very simular and use the same principles. However the first one focus' on the wings span and the flight aspect and then this video focus' on the facial mannerisms and body movements.
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HUMAN PUPPET
Even though this video does not provide us with an insight to a bird puppet like the ones above it displays a very funny aspect on humans. - Nina Conti (the ventriloquist) is using a the man as a puppet and contolling the mask he is wearing. She is providing the voice and actions and influencing what the guest does - in this example he wont dance, but maybe her humerious story line changes his mind??