While puppet animation is honestly not an area I wish to pursue in the future, it was definitely a wonderful opportunity getting to attend this talk, aside from gaining a little insight into how puppet animation works, useful tips on how to effectively write for children shows was also shared by one of the show's writers.
"Strange Hill High" is a children's animated series for CBBC that first premiered on the 8th May 2013, animation techniques include puppets, Japanese vinyl toys and digital effects (Notably for the characters' mouths and eyes). The show follows students Mitchell Tanner, Becky Butters and Templeton as they explore their extraordinary school, uncovering absurd and outrageous occurrences as they go. It is written by Josh Weinstein, who is best known for his work on "The Simpsons" (During the golden age) and "Futurama".
Mark Oswin is a TV comedy writer who has written for numerous animations and live action comedy shows over the years. In 2011, he joined the show's writing team, writing six episodes over two seasons. He later went on to work on the development of monster/horror animation "Scream Street", and is currently writing for the new series of "Danger Mouse".
I believe there was one thing that really stood out to me when Mark shared with us on how episodes were written, and that was simply the fact that all you truly need to do is write what makes YOU laugh, don't try to water it down and patronise children, because honestly, they are smarter than most people realise. A lot of cultural references are made, mainly for the enjoyment of the older audience and the writers themselves, but in a way, if it makes the kids laugh and draw their attention, they will later on go on their own to find out the meaning behind those jokes. So write what you think is funny... of course, just don't include any sex or violence into it (Still, I suppose that can't stop you from including sexual innuendos like the old cartoons did).
Tim Jones is a professional puppeteer, puppet maker and character designer and is currently the Lead Puppeteer for the show. Before that, Jones has done a number of one-man theatre shows. A qualified sculptor, Tim has recently discovered the combined joys of chain-saw carving (Whoa) and Radio 4 Extra.
So it was not surprising to hear that the puppets were made by Mackinnon and Saunders, these puppets cost so much that, despite how often they were used, were handled with the utmost care by its puppeteers. These puppets were made out of wood with many precise hinges that only the animators were familiar with (It probably took them a tiny bit of practice too to familiarise themselves with them), while the costumes were machine sewn.
I can't imagine how tiring it must be (And how much arm muscles they gained) animating these puppets, though of course things most probably have to be done much faster than stop-motion as it isn't shot frame by frame and are instead done in several takes, seeing that they are puppeteering below the stage, they can only refer to the TV screens by their sides for reference, and obviously the direction they wish to move their puppets tends to work in reverse, much like how a mac mouse would.
It was only recently that I had finally gotten the chance to check out the first episode in the series, and well I will admit, that it is pretty funny, I was able to get a lot of the vague references and slightly grown up jokes they made... no wonder my lecturers enjoyed this show so much. Well, I will try to catch up on the rest of the series when I can.
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