Puppets as Storytellers

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2015:

4 Hours x 10 days Lecture/Workshop
Subject will be delivered as a Summer Term Intensive over 2 weeks

Total time commitment of 120 hours.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this course are articulated in the Course Overview, Objectives and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this course are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and the Disability Liaison Unit: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

A puppet allows alternative modes of authorship not easily achieved with live actors. This subject will initially examine the history of puppetry as a story telling language including the methods of construction and operation of various styles of puppet. The outcome of allocated research topics will be used to formulate ideas for a specific puppet character. Students should then apply this research to the design/making process required to make a puppet. The emphasis will be on the animation of the inanimate through the discovery of a “soul”. The puppet must have a purpose for being “alive” a reason to exist, a world to occupy, and a history of experiences to define the character that emerges

Some materials will be provided as part of a materials levy ($50.00 per student) however students will also need to supply specific materials for the realisation of their individual designed puppet in addition to this fee. Costs will vary depending on materials selected.

This subject has a February enrolment quota of 20.

Selection is based on the order in which students enrol in the subject.

This subject will expose participants to the history of puppets as a storytelling vehicle and explore the nature of transforming the inanimate to the “living” character through the design and making of an operable puppet character.

Research component: A research paper exploring a style of puppetry and its cultural context (1,000 words or equivalent) (worth 20%)
Due end of week 1 (day 4) of classes, subject will be delivered as a Summer break Intensive over 2 weeks

Design Portfolio: A folio of research images, concept drawings, working drawings and related materials. (1,000 words or equivalent)
Due beginning of week 2 (day 6) of classes (worth 30%)

Completed Puppet (1,000 words or equivalent)
Due end of week 2 (day 10) of classes (worth 30%)

Guided Self Reflection (1,000 words or equivalent)
Due 1 week after final class (worth 20%)

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Environments
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Students should come away from this study with an understanding of;

• The historical context of puppetry as a storytelling vehicle
• The concept of imbuing an inanimate object with life.
• The performative theory’s surrounding puppetry and their influence on the design and realisation of a puppet.
• The process of developing and problem solving a design from concept to completion around the fundamental premise of “character”.