As a way to get some practice in, I’m recording answers to questions about writing and I’m using a puppet to do it. Here’s the answer to question #1.
I am trying to find someplace in my apartment that gets the camera, which is on my computer, high enough to practice but that isn’t backlit. I am having a surprisingly hard time.
More fun even than Writing Excuses, although perhaps less educational since the audience spends time going “oh, cute!” instead of paying attention to the advice.
I liked the puppet’s body language when talking about uncomfortable things, very much like humans do.
Nice!
I especially like the lampshade-hanging with the head, explaining it away as a dog. I’m assuming that’s an actual technique you’ve used when doing puppet shows for younger audiences? Or does that distract them and make them want to see the dog?
The “doggy” joke is a pretty standard one, but it’s a video thing. I don’t make this mistake on stage because it’s easy to tell when my head is about to appear since you can actually see the edge of the stage.
In video, the proscenium is made up by the viewing area of the camera, which is invisible in real space. So sometimes you misjudge and pop in. Normally, you stop and restart or cut around the appearance of the head.
I would have done that here, but I’d been fighting lag or sound issues all day, and I thought this was funny enough to merit leaving the mistake in.
I actually didn’t notice you, so I wondered what Snotti was talking about. I thought maybe some of your arm had popped into frame.