Puppet film
In Europe, Great Britain creates the earliest series of puppet films in 1900s.
[1] After 1920s, many great puppet films appears among different European countries, such as Germany's "Eva and Grasshopper"(1928), Poland's "For Pete's Sake"(1966) and France's "Frags Who Wanted a King"(1923).
Similar to Europe, puppets in the films are controlled by strings which are usually hidden under the ground.
In the middle of 20th centuries, some Asian countries starts putting puppets into their animation films.
Similar to Puppetry, all kinds of the puppets in the early 20th centuries are controlled by hands working.
[1] To turn a puppet into a live character in the film, facial expression is crucial.
[1] To make such a scene, many small items are used in the beginning of puppet film, such as stones, sticks and boxes.
[1] A close-up shot is always used to make audiences focus more on characters' movements instead of the rough background.
But considering the reflection of light on the object will cause unnecessary shine, the studios usually use flat enamel and lacquer.
[1] As the scene of puppet film is smaller than the real world, errors are easily expanded.
[1] Compare to cartoon or animation, it is much more difficult to add dialogues into puppet films.
In this film, a ventriloquist who calls himself the Great Gabbo begins to lose his sense of identity when his only means of expression is through his wooden dummy.
Jirí Trnkais an animation director and he used to build an early puppet theatre.
In The Czech Year, It has six stories: "Shrovetide", "Spring", "Legend About St. Prokop", "The Fair", "The Feast" and "Bethlehem".
Though the puppet design is simply due to the technology, the story is interesting and is full of life.
In 1949, Czech director Milos Makovec and Jirí Trnka directed The Emperor's Nightingale.
He prefers the tinkling of a bejewelled mechanical bird to the song of a real nightingale.
The play shows traditional Chinese lion dance, puppetry, and a pair of tigers and pandas.
[citation needed] Tiny Hero(1953) is the first Chinese colour puppet film.
It tells the story that brave children fight against a bad wolf and save other animals in the forest.
In the same year, US director Charles Walters made his first puppet film Lili.
A series of mysterious murders begins.The director Lindsay Shonteff is known as making crime thriller films.
In The Ruka, a huge hand approaches a small happy potter and wants him to sculpt its statue.
It is the final work of Jirí Trnka and it wins the highest animation award in his country.
The story starts from Frog Kermit who is approached by a Hollywood agent to audition for the chance of a lifetime.
Puppet film focuses on the storytelling as the core idea and enriches the character figure.
Puppet film creates more fantastic stories and brings people deeper thoughts.
Puppet film inherits the culture of puppetry and makes it more suitable for the modern trend.
[6] Different from the normal animation, puppet film create a conversation between human and non-human.
