Proposal Feedback

        After submitting my proposal, I did have some concerns. For one thing, I felt that perhaps I had tried to cover too many topics in one projects, and that by covering puppetry in theatre, animation, film and digital effects, I would be unable to go into the required depth and detail within the 9,000 word limit. I was also worried about my proposed creative outcome, as I feel that creating a practical outcome alongside my written work has been a weakness in the past. 

        Fortunately, the feedback I received from my tutor was encouraging, and I was given a number of new avenues to explore:

• Researching the history of puppet theatre and the range of traditional techniques used to produce movement would form a good opening chapter, before moving onto contemporary adaptations.
• Puppetry and the Uncanny (Freud) go hand in hand, so his may be an interesting subject to read about.
• Phil Tippet is an interesting practitioner to research, as his Go-Motion technique, used in many of ILM's films (e.g. Star Wars) shows an overlap between stop motion and animatronics.
• Jim Henson's Creature Shop would be an important studio to research (particularly films like The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth), as they were pioneers in animatronics, but also began to explore digital puppets in the early 90s (WALDO system).
• It may be useful to improve my software skills, and perhaps learn to use Autodesk Mudbox (which works like digital clay), which could be a good tool to conceptualise a 3D character.
• Watch From Puppets to Pixels: Digital Characters in Episode II. A documentary from the Star Wars DVDs.

        This is just some of the feedback. I now feel more confident in my idea, yet am still worried about the sheer amount of research that needs to be done. As I am passionate about this project, it will be easy to become sidetracked whilst exploring one avenue of investigation and become swamped with reading. It is crucial to try and identify which are the key texts and practitioners I need to investigate and read into, and focus on these first.