Puppet Kaos - where Kelvin Kao plays with puppets and tell random stories

Two weekends ago, I was on a sound stage at USC helping out with a student film as a puppeteer. This past Saturday, I was once again helping out. Last time, we filmed the close-ups of the puppets so it was mostly me doing the puppeteering. This time, we filmed the wider shots, so it was mostly the actors Matt and Jen doing the puppeteering while I gave suggestions and assisted if I could do so while remaining invisible. I thought they did great on their own and my inputs were not all that necessary for today.

In addition to the producer Dave, director Michael, and Director of Photography Nicole, this time we also had Leonard helping out with the lighting. When it came to lunch time, Dave, who was running the sound, went to take care of lunch. So Leonard took over the boom. Since Leonard was also in charge of the slate earlier, I just stepped in and assumed that duty. I figured I might as well take over since I was only giving suggestions instead of actually puppeteering at this point. Putting the slate into the shot and saying “scene 2A, take 1″ was actually pretty fun for me.

I was also doing some puppet wrangling. In one of the shot, a part of the puppet was supposed to be pulled off. So this involved me sewing it on loosely (without knotting) and pulling it off during a slow-mo close-up. We did a few takes so I ended up performing it, sat down to sew, and then repeated that a few times.

The best part of the day? Of course, it was when Michael accidentally knocked over his bottle and got water all over Nicole’s face during lunch in front of all the performers. You might be thinking, how awful of me to say that. Of course, it was only a funny moment because Nicole was a really good sport. The teasing ensued and we all had a good laugh. (This would’ve been all very different if she were a diva.) And she proceeded to call it the best memory of the shoot so far on Facebook.

So that was it for me. The rest of them got one more day to shoot on location, and there would be lots of ADR to do for them, but my work here was done. I am just going to wait till they finish the film. It should be fun to watch.

(Photo courtesy of David Lee)

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Over the weekend, I was at USC helping out with a film school project. We spent Saturday discussing the project and getting the puppets ready, and then we spent Sunday shooting on a sound stage on the USC campus. We are not done yet. There will be more scenes to shoot next weekend.

I was first contacted by my friend Dave, who was attending film school at USC and was the producer of the film. I then met the writer/director Michael and went over some ideas. It was about a man grabbing stuffed animals to put on a little puppet show to rehearse for his new role as a new dad, so we used stuffed animals as puppets. The director brought the cast (a bunch of stuffed animals) and for the main character, he even brought three identical ones. We ended up keeping one unmodified, cutting one open (which didn’t make me cringe as much as I thought I would) to make into a puppet, and modified the ear of one of them based on the storyline. Also, the main character was an elephant, so we also put a piece of a wire hanger into its trunk. That way, we could control the angle and the shape of the trunk.

Then there came the shoot date. I arrived at the studio while Dave, Michael, and the DP Nicole were adjusting the lights. It was an interesting experience for me to watch them work, because I got to see how the lighting changed the shot while they made the adjustments such as moving the lights around, changing the levels, using the barn doors and clipping gel to the lights. When it comes to video productions, I’ve never been good at the lighting aspect, so it was a good opportunity to watch them and pick up a thing or two.

Then we filmed. It was a fun shoot, as all shoots involving puppets should be. I realized there were good things and bad things about the habits that I’ve developed. After taking classes for TV puppetry, this left-is-right and right-is-left thing has already become second nature to me. I have no trouble at all moving and tilting the puppet to whichever spot I want in the shot. The downside with the training, however, is that I’ve gotten into the habit of breaking the fourth wall (talking to, looking into the camera directly) while I am not supposed to. On Sesame Street or similar puppet shows, characters often directly interact with the camera as a way of including the kids watching, or use the technique to emphasize things. While it was a good thing to do in many cases, it can also make them very narcissistic puppets! The director pointed out the eye line problem a few times and I had to more consciously watch out for this problem, since looking at the camera is not always appropriate for every situation. So that was another thing that I would watch out for in the future (that includes our next shoot on Saturday).

Just to make the day more interesting, there was an earthquake during the shoot. The epicenter was in Baja California, Mexico, we could feel it in Mexico too. When it first happened, the other people were setting up a shot and I was making modifications to a puppet. At first we weren’t even sure if we were just dizzy or it was an earthquake. Michael and Nicole had never even experienced an earthquake before so this shall go down as an unforgetable day for them. As for me, somehow I’ve always lived in places that has earthquakes (Taiwan and California) so it isn’t entirely new to me.

It was a fun shoot and I look forward to the next one. And here’s a picture of me on set. (Courtesy of Dave Lee)

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So I just did the voiceover gig. It was fun for me. In fact, recording has always been fun for me. I remember recording myself (and the others) using audio tapes when I was little. That was fun. Recording in my voiceover classes and recording myself on my own computer is fun too. (Listening to myself isn’t as fun but the recording part is fun at least, hehe.)

When I arrived at the studio (early), the voice talent recording before me was just wrapping up. He was recording the same safety instructions, except in Japanese. After that, I went into the recording booth and the recording engineer Nick started setting up for me. We also talked briefly with the client on a conference call, since she wasn’t physically there. And then we started recording by reading each line several times (about five times, I think). After I did all the lines, I got out of the booth and started helping Nick pick out which takes to keep.

Since he didn’t speak Chinese, I gave more opinions on which takes to keep than I normally would. Sometimes we just picked one, and sometimes we couldn’t decide so we picked two and had the client choose it over the phone. While listening to one of the takes, I said to Nick, “Um, not that one, it was a little rushed.” And right after I said that, I heard on the recording myself saying “that wasn’t a good one, it was a little rushed.” I was amused by that. Apparently I agreed with myself from about 20 minutes ago.

I am not sure what it is, but every audio/recording engineer I’ve met, whether during auditions, classes, or this time, is quite laid-back. I don’t know why they all have this very relaxed attitude, but at the same time they are very on top of their tasks as well. When I told him it was a pleasure working with him at the end of the night, I really meant it.

So that concluded my first (and hopefully not last) paid voiceover gig. Yay!

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As some of you might have aleady known, I’ve been involved in a short film by writer/director Allyson Schwarz called Seamus and Magellan. We filmed in February and the film is now in editing. Here’s several frame grabs. Look for me.

So… did you find me? No? Good. That means I did a good job hiding behind/below the bed.

I was the one puppeteering the koala bear, although you’d have to take my words for it, since you couldn’t see me. When you are a puppeteer, you become the expert of hiding below or behind something. In fact, I’m so good at this skill that I’m going to start coaching people. So let’s say if you are a man planning to have a fling with a woman at her place and she has a real jealous boyfriend or husband that just might just come home unexpectedly through the front door that’s 15 seconds away from the bedroom and there is only one door so you can’t get out of the room and there’s no closet for you to hide in so you can’t use what you learned from R. Kelly and it’s on the 8th floor so you can’t just leave through the window and the only thing you can do is hide below or behind the bed, then my expertise in hiding can help you. Before you go and do anything stupid, let me coach you first.

Of course I’m joking, but you are welcome to pay for the non-existing service anyway. Here you go.

Related Posts:
Seamus and Magellan: Day 1
Seamus and Magellan: Day 2

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Sunday was my second day of filming Seamus and Magellan. It’s Day 3 for the project over all. We were only filming one scene, but it was one of the longest scenes in the script. I was only in the first half of the scene. Dylan was the only one that’s working throughout the whole scene. Callard and I were both only in the first half, and Cornelia was only in the second half. I actually only had two lines in this scene. I like the fact that I didn’t have too many lines. I think this puppet is more expressive when he’s focused on an action that’s not talking.

I actually had a lot of downtime today. We filmed a wide shot with all three characters, and then I waited some time while they did close-ups on Callard and Dylan. The close-up shots on the puppet was filmed after their shots were done, so I had plenty of time to talk to people that I didn’t really get to talk to the day before. I had a little chat with the production designer Leslie, the make-up artist Melody, and script supervisor Rebecca. They do more waiting-around than the lighting and camera people. It was nice to get to talk to them a little bit.

The most fun and most time-consuming scene today was probably the one that called for smoke. A fog machine was used and it sure fogs up and stinks up the room. And every time it was used, we had to wait for the smoke to clear out before we do another take. It didn’t smell good but it was a fun one to film.

Dylan’s mom and sister Ellery came to visit today. Ellery is such a cutie! And the whole family is so nice and friendly. I really like them. Actually everybody involved in this project was pretty nice. It was a good working atmosphere.

So I filmed the close-ups: my two lines and a bunch of reactions to scenarios. And that was it for me. They had a few more days to go, but I was only needed for those two days. It was a fun experience and I certainly wouldn’t mind doing something like this again!

I’ll probably share more details in the future. And I’ll mention it when the film is coming to a theater near you. (Of course, at first that would mean you live near UCLA for that theater to be near you.)

Related Post:
Seamus and Magellan – Day 1

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This past weekend I’ve been puppeteering in Pasadena in Seamus and Magellan, a film by Allyson Schwarz. The main character is a 10-year-old boy named Sam (played by Dylan Sprayberry). The story is about when Sam’s older brother, Jonas (Callard Harris), leaves home, he is forced, in no small part by his mother, Anna (Cornelia Guest), to start growing up. When his Goth sister, Anna (Michelle Page), tells Sam about the ‘forgotten brother’ locked away in the closet, Sam’s imagination goes into overdrive and out come the seemingly harmless imaginary friends Seamus (Callard Harris) and Magellan (moi) who are all about fun and games, though not all of the games are harmless….

My job is to puppeteer Magellan, who is an adorable, talking koala bear who is comedic relief and sweetness to juxtapose the darker Seamus. He is always trying to get in on the action and be everyone’s friend. I think the writer/director is definitely giving herself a challenge by including a kid AND a puppet in a film, but hey, that’s also what makes it more fun.

So Saturday was Day 1 for me (For the project overall it was Day 2). I drove to the house that we are filming in. It was a house on some hill, and I wasn’t sure if I was at the right house until I looked up and saw some people rigging some lights outside the house. I was then greeted by the A.D. Maggie and taken into the house to meet the rest of the cast that’s filming that day. I already met Callard during rehearsal, pretty cool and energetic guy. And then I met Dylan and his dad. Dylan is such an adorable kid! We did some run-throughs with the director Allyson and then started filming.

This was definitely the most professional production I’ve been to. I’ve done a few videos in college with friends but nothing to this scale. They have a professional film camera instead of the cheap mini-DV stuff we college students (well, I was one) have gotten used to. They have a team of camera people where they are constantly checking to see which lense to use, measuring what to set the focus to with measuring tape, and using a slate and stopwatches to keep things organized. There’s a whole lighting team that’s always adjusting the lights in conjunction with using natural sunlight. And they keep measuring the lighting conditions they are getting at each part of the shot. And then there’s a sound mixer and a boom guy on headsets working together trying to get the best sound. There’s a make-up artist and production designer too. This is definitely different from the student group productions where we just ask whoever that’s not in the scene to hold the camera, ask someone to turn on a few lamps for good enough lighting, and cranking up the sound in editing because we didn’t record them well. I must say, the degree of professionalism and the attention to details is very inspiring. It definitely made me think about production values a lot more. (Of course, this kind of filming would take a lot longer compared to the home-movie style stuff.)

During the down time, I’m usually hanging with Dylan and Callard since we are on the same schedule. The sound, camera and lighting people just seem to be so busy all the time. When we are not filming, they’d still be running around grabbing things and setting up for the next shot. They are just so busy all the time, so I can’t really hang out with them. It’s funny that when Dylan and Callard interact, they are like real brothers. And I think it’s good that we three are hanging together in between shots, since that’s what our characters do in the story. It’s also more convenient for us to go over lines. And we’ve been talking about super powers. That’s always a fun topic. It was also interesting to watch Dylan and his dad interact. It was very sweet, and you can tell that they really care for each other.

It was nice to be given my own monitor to look at while I puppeteer. It definitely helped, since I was usually hiding behind or below something and couldn’t see what the puppet was doing without the monitor. Puppeteers actually tend to have more of a say in terms of what a shot would look like than regular actors, because actors just perform while the puppeteers are usually performing and watching their performance at the same time. To a degree, they help design the shots too.

Oh, and the lunch was way better than I thought. It’s good to keep the cast and crew happy, hehe. Will write about Day 2 soon.

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