It seems to me that theater more than other art form forces the artist confront their relationship with the audience… The relationship isn’t mediated by an art object, or an abstract language (such as dance) — the only barrier is generally “the fourth wall.”

So, while I started exploring theater for insight into how to deliver good puppet performances, now I find myself looking to theater for insights into why I make art at all… What’s meaningful and important to put on the screen?

A long way of saying… Thanks!

Justin, it’s great that you do the acting beforehand, and get a second viewpoint as well. This extra effort to play out your performances beforehand is apparent even in the tests that you’ve shown. The audience viewpoint is important because how can you watch your body positions and also feel at one with the character at the same time? A video camera would work too…

RE: to Ted -

Ted, thanks for your comment. It’s great to have so many people adding to the discussion. I wish these thoughts could be transferred to a discussion board, so that they won’t be trapped behind my blog entry.

To find the original quote: Go to the top newsletter, August 2007 and scroll down towards the bottom. It is under section 3) “Eating Fruit in the Shower”, starting at the middle paragraph. Or just click the following link:
http://www.urbanresearchtheater.com/site/2007/08-07.htm

btw, I couldn’t find the original text of what you quoted. I looked through the newsletters, but didn’t see it. Do you have a specific URL?

Thanks.

;ted

I will always act out my scenes before I animate them….in front of a mirror too.

its helps soo much to see the poseing as well as feel it in my body.

Ill also get shel to watch me acting through the preformance…She will give me direct stageing and poseing critiq from an audiance member perspective.

These workshopes can do nothing but help!

great move in checking it out.

jriggity

About the Aardman animators - Acting out the scene is probably very helpful. I’ve only mimed little gestures and vague movements in a weak kind of way, feeling somewhat self-conscious if being watched, but this is something that should be practiced more often and now I’m even imagining what discoveries it could bring about when multiple people act out group scenes together, even if only one animator will be ultimately animating the characters. It would be fun to have a workshop like this, just to push the limits of merging live performance and stop-motion.

Thanks for the tip about the book too! I’ll keep an eye out for it on used sites. How fitting!

While doing a bit of searching about the Poland-based performance group that Ben Spatz (our workshop leader) was a part of and that was his inspiration for our group’s outdoor expeditions, I found a book about that group - they are called Gardzienice and the book is “Hidden Territories: The Theatre of Gardzienice”
It comes with a cd-rom of performances with video and audio, and after just skimming through a few of the sample pages, I know it will be an exciting read. This is also a pricey book, but I managed to find a used paperback for $39.