From Sesame Street to the Big Blue House to Avenue Q: Carving Out A Home in Puppet Design
Summary:
Learn how puppets are designed and made with Puppet Designer Michael Schupbach. See the world of characters through his work on Sesame Street, Bear in the Big Blue House, & Johnny & the Sprites!
Description:
Puppet Designer Michael Schupbach takes you backstage and on set to learn how puppets are designed and made. From New Yorks Muppet Workshop to the soundstages of Disney Channel and beyond, Michael Schupbach has spent over two decades bringing creatures to life with stitches, foam, and just the right dose of mischief.
In this personal and career-spanning talk, Michael invites audiences behind the curtain to explore the messy, hilarious, and heartfelt world of character creation through the lens of his work on iconic properties like Sesame Street, Bear in the Big Blue House, and Johnny and the Sprites.
You'll see behind-the-scenes clips, concept sketches, and learn some new design techniques. Plus, you will learn his three essential tips to get your designs noticed, approved, and into the show!
If you're hoping to bring puppetry into your videos, career, gaming, or your classroom, this seminar is for you! Get inspired by our panelists & learn how to incorporate puppetry into your world!
Description:
How do you start in puppetry? How do you get your first show? Do you have to do puppet shows to be a puppeteer? How can you convince people that puppets aren't just for kids? What kinds of puppets are acceptable to use? What age group is too old for puppets? You've got so many questions, and we've got the answers!
How to Make a Robotic Dinosaur (& Other Assorted Beasts): Confessions of a Dinosaur Doula
Summary:
A career in puppetry, animatronics, & immersive theme park experiences has given Michael Schupbach the answers to all sorts of questions about his creatures that blink, roar, & bound across arenas!
Description:
How do you teach someone to drive a full-scale T-rex? How much free will should we give the robotic Banshee from Avatar? These are the questions Michael Schupbach loves to answer. With a career spanning puppetry, animatronics, & immersive theme park experiences, his creatures have roared, blinked, & bounded across arenas & sound stages around the world. From baby dinos in Jurassic World Live, to the Banshee in Avatar the Experience, to Baby Banshees at D23, Schupbach's creations mix engineering & storytelling. In this fast-paced & funny talk, learn how scrappy experimentation fuels high-tech innovation, & how old-school puppet skills still shape cutting-edge creature design. Whether you're a builder, performer, fan, or just want to know what its like to make a Dilophosaurus spit, this session will leave you with a deeper appreciation for the art& chaosof bringing beasts to life.
Puppet building pros with seriously great credits will talk about various puppet building techniques, such as the wedge method, flat patterning, sculpting, and more!
All puppeteers of color and allies are welcome to this seminar as we discuss the highs and lows of what it means to be a puppeteer from a different culture.
Description:
While puppetry is a beautiful and inclusive artistry, in recent years, the push for visible racial diversity is at an all time high. This panel is a safe space to discuss what progress the puppetry community has made in making POCs (Puppeteers of Color) feel comfortable in creative spaces, as well as what the community needs to work on to make it that much more inviting to those who feel outnumbered in the room where it happens.