I love the Muppets. Everyone does, right? (If you don't that probably means you have no heart...I'm only half kidding). So, when I stumbled upon this video, I was very excited. I'm a big fan of Jim Henson and I was eager to hear his puppet-making tips:
What really struck me was how inventive Henson was. If you've watched any of his work this is surely no revelation. But watching him turn an ordinary wooden spoon into an impressive puppet was really exciting to me...
As artists we so often complain that if only we had the right resources we could make things work. And, sure, having the deep pockets of a studio would certainly help get our artistic endeavors off the ground. But much of the time, financial limitations force us to think outside the box. Greater creativity often results from these limitations.
I remember when Frida came out, Julie Taymor was interviewed in Moving Pictures Magazine. (sorry, I couldn't find the link to the article...go figure, it must have been in 2002!). One of the standout elements of the film are the visuals and in this article Taymor discussid the montage/scrapbooking transitions she utilized in the film (particularly when Diego & Frida move to NY). This sequence was not part of her original concept, but when she found the budget limiting her this is what she came up with. She later agreed that the financial constraints really pushed her to discover new ways to tell her story, and ultimately these ways worked even better than what she had originally planned.
So, the moral of the story is to embrace all the limitations that are thrown at us. And, hey, when all else fails, you can still make a puppet out of a spoon.
As artists we so often complain that if only we had the right resources we could make things work. And, sure, having the deep pockets of a studio would certainly help get our artistic endeavors off the ground. But much of the time, financial limitations force us to think outside the box. Greater creativity often results from these limitations.
I remember when Frida came out, Julie Taymor was interviewed in Moving Pictures Magazine. (sorry, I couldn't find the link to the article...go figure, it must have been in 2002!). One of the standout elements of the film are the visuals and in this article Taymor discussid the montage/scrapbooking transitions she utilized in the film (particularly when Diego & Frida move to NY). This sequence was not part of her original concept, but when she found the budget limiting her this is what she came up with. She later agreed that the financial constraints really pushed her to discover new ways to tell her story, and ultimately these ways worked even better than what she had originally planned.
So, the moral of the story is to embrace all the limitations that are thrown at us. And, hey, when all else fails, you can still make a puppet out of a spoon.
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