Theo Watson and Emily Gobeille have taken their Kinect Shadow Puppet concept to the next level. Puppet Parade is an interactive Kinect installation that uses two Kinects to track the arm movements of children, enabling them to not only control on screen digital puppets, but also step in to a virtual environment and interact with them directly.
Have a look at a non-edited version of the video above so that you can hear the live sound and see how the hand movements are tracked and translated in to creature movements:
If you live near New York City (or if you can get there next week) you’re in luck because Lejo is coming! Probably best known for his insanely popular “Lejo DJ” video (which was originally a segment on Sesamstraat, the Dutch version of Sesame Street), Lejo is an incredibly creative and talented puppeteer who creates his characters and shows using his bare hand and a pair of eyeballs.
Lejo performs Hands Up! at the New 42nd Street Studios in Manhattan January 18-22nd. Tickets are available online at www.newvictory.org. This is Lejo’s first ever appearance in North America so don’t miss it!
Frank is the star of an interactive ad campaign that was created for Wal-Mart by unit9. It was an attempt to create a holiday Internet meme (think JibJab/OfficeMax’s famous Elf Your Self viral campaign) featuring a talking holiday fruitcake that you can put on your Facebook wall or send to your friends. Once installed, Frank becomes “annoying charming”; he won’t stop talking and tries to convince you not to send him away. I think it’s a really clever idea for a Christmas campaign, even if the connection between talking fruitcake and Wal-Mart isn’t exactly obvious.
Thank you so much to everyone who has been supporting PuppetVision: The Movie. Between IndieGoGo and a few private contributions over $2,000 was raised during the fundraising campaign. Although that is well short of the campaign’s goal of $12,500, it is still a very generous amount and will help get the film off to a great start.
Here are the names of the film’s great supporters:
Alapan Arnab
Kim Cao-Van
Marney Dainty
Jamie Donmoyer
Ron Ducet
Robert Friedman
Ben Jones
Kelvin Kao
Kelly Kirkham
Fredrich Kirschner
Andreas Krebs
Annett Mateo
Andrew Moore
Mathieu Rene
Steven Ritz-Barr
Mark Segal
Tony Sinnett
Shawn Sorrell
Hilary Talbot
…and all of the contributors who asked to remain anonymous.
Thanks also go out to everyone who helped to promote the campaign by “liking” and sharing it on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and everywhere else. I still have a lot of personal “thank yous” to write, but if you’re a contributor you will be hearing from me very soon.
In the meantime, now that the holidays and the fundraising campaign is over I’ll be back to regular blogging tomorrow.
Well, we’re down to the wire. Tonight is your last chance to contribute to the fundraising campaign for PuppetVision: The Movie.
There has been a huge surge in support – both moral and financial – over the past couple of days and close to $2,000 has been raised when private contributions (not made directly through IndieGoGo for various reasons) are taken in to account. Although that is still well short of the campaign’s goal of $12,500, it’s incredibly generous and once again I have to give huge thanks to the friends, readers and total strangers who have contributed to the campaign.
The fundraising campaign for PuppetVision: The Movie is coming to a close and as of right now, unfortunately, the campaign is falling short of its goal. If you would like to contribute, now is the time…there’s just a couple of days left. Every contribution – no matter how large or small – is a huge help and will be used to help pay for the film’s post-production and licensing expenses.
Not only that, but contributing to the campaign will get you some nice perks, including:
$10+ A Big Thank You!
Everyone who contributes $10 or more will get a thank you shout out on Twitter as well the PuppetVision Blog and Facebook Page with an optional link to their web site. You’ll also have your name listed in the credits of the final film.
$25 Digital Download & Party
Contributions of $25 or more mean that you get to see the film before anyone else! You’re entitled to a digital download of the film once it’s complete, plus if you’re in (or can get to) Toronto, New York, or Los Angeles you’re invited to attend a special screening party where you can meet and mingle with some of the puppeteers who appear in the film!
$50+ Signed Poster & DVD
Contributions of $50 or more get you get all of the perks listed above, as well as a DVD of the finished film and a copy of the film’s poster signed by several of the puppeteers who appear in the film.
Everyone who contributes $100 or more gets not only the perks listed above, but will also receive an exclusive bonus DVD featuring hours of original interviews, outtakes and puppetry performance footage that does not appear in the finished film (this DVD will be exclusive to supporters on IndieGoGo and will not be made available publicly).
If everyone who reads PuppetVision today contributed just $5 or $10 the film it would be fully funded in just 24 hours! Help maske a great film about puppetry possible and contribute right now at IndieGoGo.com/puppetvision
Yoke created this very cool interactive display as a publicity stunt to help promote performances of Avenue Q at the Fredericia Theater in Denmark. Passersby on the street are able to directly control a digital version of Trekkie Monster (one of the puppet characters who star in Avenue Q) via an X-Box Kinect. A great example of how to use interactive technologies to market a product and, if you ask me, an all-around brilliant idea!
The year is drawing to a close and that means it’s time for JibJab’s annual year-end salute to the year that just was. I’ve been chronicling these videos here for several years and it has been interesting to see how they’ve evolved. JibJab began making these back in 2005 with Flash animation, but after using puppetry for a several shots in Never Had A Year Like `09, they fully embraced it for last year’s So Long To `Ya 2010 and the tradition continues this year.
Although I know that a few JibJab fans have griped about their decision to move away from Flash animation, I think it’s really cool to see how they have experimented with combining different techniques and I like the low-fi aesthetic they’ve embraced. I think we’ll see even more mash-ups of puppetry and animation like this in the year ahead.
