The Eurofurence Forum
Eurofurence Information => Feedback => Topic started by: Keidran on 01.09.2012, 23:06:19
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Warning this may contain spoilers!
Okay everyone you know the drill.
This is my opinion and what I've felt after the PawPetShow at EF18.
It's just a few minutes after the show so I have most of the stuff still in my head.
Please feel free to discuss the matters, but please don't troll, insult or hate on other people's opinion.
I will do so too ofcourse =)
So here I start.
Let's begin with the stuff I liked about this years show.
First of all the puppets were fabulous. Especially those two arctic foxes. So kewt. I really love the design of them and how they came to life.
That brings me to my second point. The puppeteers were great this year. They brought the puppets really to life, the text was flawlessly and the "head problem" was reduced to a minimum (although i somtimes saw fairlight *giggles*) So a great Kudos to them. Another thing that was very nice this year was the deep red lightning. though I - as many others maybe too - could've killed the person who had the idea with the flash light when defibrilating (is that a word??) Marcus. Grrr
The transition between sets were fantastic. They were informative, funny and exactly the length to be not too long or too short.
those Prefilmed scenes (the together scene and the one day after scene) were fantastic and really well made. I loved those. And the Ending this year was great. It gave a good conclusion to Marcus' Story
Which brings me to my final point: The music. The music during transitions was really nice and it kept the mood high.
Okay well after all the good now come my "not so good" points.
The story. The Idea of the story was very interesting - getting a girlfriend out of the dreams - but the plot itself was pretty unspectacular and boring.
it lacked from all a bit. It lacked a deep deep emotional moment, it lacked a great comedic scene and it lacked a good action scene. This is my 4th EF and I have to say that this years PawPetShow was the lowest of those 4 years.
It could be connected to the fact, that I didn't feel that much connected to the main characters anymore, since it's only for one show and after that not anymore. I don't know how you'll handle it in the future, but it would be great to have a main cast again like Mika and the Gang. It doesn't have
to be them ofcourse, but it would be awesome if they would connect through more than one Shows so people could build a relationship with the main cast again.
Well I think that was all I've got to say for this year's PPS
If i remember some things I'll make sure to add them.
Overall: Kudos to Cheetah for another great year of EF and his great effords, hair and sweat (oh and ofcourse the blood of his slaves)
Thanks for a great time at EF18
sincerly Keidran
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While not as cathartic, realistic or emotionally touching as previous shows (Unlucky 14, Dreamcatchers, and that really awesome one with the Fennec insurgents), this one was still very good. I loved its dramaturgy (although I somehow expected more volcanic mayhem) and the characters.
The plot was pure fantasy, and I loved how the vixens got to the future thanks to Fortuna.
Shay again filled the intermissions with very excellent voice clips.
The backdrop art was stunning.
The puppeteering was great.
The lighting + smoke were spectacular.
The soundtrack was spectacular.
It can't and shouldn't be measured against the other ones. It wouldn't do POMPEII justice.
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Sadly, I must agree with Keidran. The show was OK... but there was something missing... but I can't put my paw right on it... something was truly missing... Don't get me wrong, the music was fabulous, also those interesting tidbits about Pompeii were fun!
If I would rate it, it would be a 8. (BTW: those breaks between were awfully short... only 9 minutes... you really had to ruuuuuuuush to get something to drink/eat)
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Well I for one was immensely surprised to learn that this year's show was an ISOT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_in_the_Sea_of_Time)story. ;D On the one hand, that's one of my favorite genres, and if/when you release this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagging) on DVD (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped), or uploaded to youtube, I'll be pointing it out on the relavent forums. On the other hand, being a fan of a genre which is basically endless variations on a single one-trick-pony makes me a little jaded. On the prehensile tail, I've also had the chance to gain some actual theatre experience in the past year, which has given me much more appreciation for some of what Cheetah's crew goes through. Thank you once again to him and them for giving us the show in the first place.
#p
There were many things I enjoyed about this show. I liked the dark tone, and how you didn't shy away from the nastiness of the Roman Empire. And the return of even one supersized puppet was very welcome. There was a good contrast betwen the dry, clinical, and (dare I say?) souless delivery that's typical of many older real world historical documentaries, and the reality on the ground. I found myself wondering if you actually wrote it, or simply recorded some actual 60s TV shows; it was very authentic. There was not as much humour as in past years (expected given the plot) but what was left was pitch perfect. I *loved* the rival fans! And I assume everyone loved the Achievements! scene. :D
On the other hand... Dark is not always the same as entertaining. This show reminded me of several major hollywood movies, that won awards and made a lot of money, which as a matter of personal taste I chose not to see. I think the villian could have benifitted from a little bit of moral complexity. I believe this is the first time you've actually shown major villany on stage (Lord Terrion was close, but his villany was implied, and abstract) and I was surprised by who killed him; because usually that role is given to another member of the cast. I was even more surprised that I didn't hear a single mention of pyroclastic flows, which made it hard for me to believe the two leads were experts on Pompeii. ::)
I have mixed feelings about the puppets. Much as I like to gush about the over sized tigers, I'm fond of the folkmanis puppets, and the unique style they've lent DOPE & LSD over the years. Overall I think it was a Brave (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1217209/) attempt to take the show in new directions.
One final question though: Was one of the puppeters *really* wearing leaves on their head during the tree scene? ;)
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It was my first EF and so the first time I saw the PPS
And for me it was so awesome! ^_^
Even if I didn't understand everything the speaker said in his little explanations about pompeii
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One final question though: Was one of the puppeters *really* wearing leaves on their head during the tree scene? ;)
Yep! ^.^
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I've been on the EF Pawpetshow since EF 12. And I would say that the show got better and better, reached it's peak on EF 14 (truly magnificent) and got a bit worse from that point every year.
I would like to give a feedback on that show because I think I noticed one or two things.
The technical aspects get better. The backgrounds and the stage probs where made with a lot love for the details.
The puppets are truly the work of a professional. The puppetry and the voices are doubleplusgood too ;)
But what I heard a lot was critic on the story itself.
A lot other guests asked about the ending or said that they didn't understood the whole plot at all. The story was a bit twisted and rushed. First the Fox is rational, calm and boring. The rat is careless and easy going. Just two or three scenes later they completely change their personality with the rat beeing all the responsible and reasonable person and the fox beeing risky and careless. It happened a bit fast and couldn't really convince.
Also to the end it got a bit indecisive: Rescue her! Leaver her alone! Hero dies! erm .... Hero decides for not dieing! Everyone else dies! Everyone else is saved! Loose girlfriend in big romantic scene but be reunited in the end! >.> It felt like: we got ending one and ending two ... let's take both!
Also the scenes itself where a bit off. But that's something where I can't clearly point my finger to it. I would say the scenes usually end in a big blast, a good joke or something. But this year a lot just faded out and left the feeling that there is still something to come. I'm sure others felt the same way because this time there was only a restrained applause after each of the scenes which started usually when the curtain was almost closed.
I also missed the creative part between the scenes. Usually there where animations and videos or fading photos or something ... this year, except for the extremely cool intro, there was only a picture of the coin and a guy reading a wikipedia article.
For the dialoges I would ask for ... less screaming please^^" I got the feeling that there is more of it than needed^^"
Also please reduce the amount of Shitbitchfuckingasscuntslutdick. I have absolutely no problem with this kind of stuff but the growing use of such "strong language" hurts the atmosphere a lot, the characters appear shallow-brained and it's more difficult to empathize with them.
And, as much as I hate it to point at someone directly, I had only one person who I almost never understood. I can't say if it's just Pinky's voice, the accent or the low variation in her accentuation but I's very hard to understand what she is saying.
... And there was no singing. I always liked the songs :P
Overall I had the feeling that the whole plot was ment to be more serious. But that led to the point that the few jokes which where made, like the Freeze Frame scene appeared a bit abadoned and couldn't really take effect.
If I would have to give an advice on that, it would be: try to keep it more funny and entertaining. Serious topics can be shown in a funny way; like the war of the two kitchen tables for oil from EF 12 (if I'm not mistaken) ;)
I hope I could express my thoughts on that topic in a non-assulting way^^"
Despite all of these points I will attend the next show, if possible. Because I've seen in the past to what great shows the PPS-team is capable of :)
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Great story, great play, very professional show.
Some czechnological trouble. It may have been better to close the curtain and start over with the scene that started with a soundless dialog.
...happens. Unavoidable.
The cameras feeding the projectors where placed very high, so often the full head of a puppeteer was right in view when they where invisible at slightly-above-head-level. I guess they have to be at that level to work when everyone is giving standing ovations at the end.
In one scene a pupeteer had a GoPro on his head that really stuck out in it's shiny, reflective plastic. (No idea if it recorded anything usefull as they are terrible without lots of light.) Maybe that could be concealed in black or placed elsewhere.
One of the supporting roles stuck out a bit with his voice acting. Sounded like reading from a sheet with a bit of trouble speaking english. I think it was in the bathroom.
I think you found a good mix of serious and easy to follow story and humor.
Not as much a grand drama with impressive closing song as the Deamcatchers.
I miss the original cast but really like the new, larger puppets.
They are so much easier to see and have so many more ways to express themself.
Things have grown so much since singing "sweet like chocolate" behind the overturned table and shooting back when being bombarded with chocolate from the audience. Back in the days...
The arena- and inn-backdrop serving as 2 locations worked well too.
Certainly cut down on intermissions.
So: Great show! You're still outdoing yourself. I expected a lot more things to go wrong then the few bits that where noticable from the audience.
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I am far from being an expert. The only thing I know anything about in this context, due to choir experience, is standing on a stage and trying to remember your lines under pressure. And there were only a few, hardly noticable, tiny hiccups on that part so you totally have my respect there.
Toying around with the puppet (Marcus, right?) in front of the bar a bit last night also showed me first-hand how hard it is to properly control one of those puppets, and that was while sitting down on a chair while looking straight at it. I can't imagine what it's like doing it for long periods of time, with the puppet stuck above your head, while crouching down, under the hot spotlights. More respect.
I loved learning more about old Roman times, and Shay's voice is lovely to listen to. I do agree that just the same picture of a coin over and over again gets kinda old, though - I understand it might be hard to get a full animation for each intermission, but showing some pictures to support the story being told might help hold the audience's attention longer. ... what was that thing about phalluses all over Pompeii again? >=3
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First I can only agree that it was an awesome story and a great play, specially when you think it was done for one performance only and done in such a way it could almost be played at west end or broadway, or at least off broadway. But it still has both pros and cons.
Pros: Great characters and puppets, great acting and both entertaining and educational story. Amazing scenerys and detailed settings. Without hearing any of theyre singing skills I am preatty sure that the cast could put off Avenue Q if they want to, or Lion King.
Cons: The choosen setting made for unnessery long waiting time between scene changes and thus it made the story longer than neccesery, or with fewer scenes than possible. For such a epic story I would have choosed a fixed scene where a few props moving around would have been the indivdual sets for the different scenes, basicly the starting scene of pompeii but with added things to illustrate different settings and time, thus you wouldnt have needed to change the whole sets and could have spent more time on characterisation and action and less on set changing. Take a look of how its done on major multiscene shows like Wicked, or even one stage shows like Cats.
I also agree that you could have gived the villain more character depth, and maybe made a few more changes in who had the overtake for the scene, now it was fairly "simple" and predicteble, if you got what I mean, but no less great anyway. I also got loss off that the gladiator games was staged like modern wrestling games with good and evil guys, so I missed why the tiger suddenly got so angry. You also had a bad mic on one of the bar scene that made the story hard to follow at that point, but its minor details.
Overall a great show and if you need help with writing and or other creative work for next year I would be glad to help!
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it was....okay
not the best show I´ve seen, but at least better than the shows of the last 3 years
pros:
the backdrops looked great and the voice-acting was better than in most daily soaps (:P)
The background sounds produced a great atmosphere
cons: (please don´t kill me, but in my(!) opinion there are more significant contras than pros)
the voice-sound:
during the normal talking sequences, the sound-volume was (barely) acceptable
but everytime one of the characters screamed, it was physically hurting me
the story:
I´m not a fan of lovestories
that´s why I liked this PPS more than the last few, cause it wasn´t THAT focused on "true love"
but compared to EF11 or EF12, there was close to no comedy
The clips during the 2 pauses got more laughs than the actuall PPS
backdrop-changes:
the idea of explaining some details about the roman ages was a creativ way to bridge the time between two scenes
and like it was said before: Shay got a realy lovely voice
But after the explanations endet, it still took up to 5 minutes of silence and darkness till the curtains opened again
and not just once or twice
it happend after every single scene
you put a lot of time and effort into the PPS
and you deserve our respect
But I´m sure you don´t want to hear only choruses of praise
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I won't say anything about the story, because the sound unfortunately has become very uncomfortable to me around right before the first break. It's been like this every year, just this year I wasn't really inclined to endure the screaming. I tend to like the whole PPS and it's usually rewarding (the ending and the immediate closing ceremony are a great climax of the con, IMHO), but this time I just had to walk out from it :(
There are a few things that add up here and I might have worded this last year and before, too:
- Let's get the smallest problem out of the way: Sound quality — I know it's hard and I know things can and do break, but it sometimes feels there's too much noise and too little clarity, which might be because
- everything is just WAY TOO LOUD — I should have brought earplugs. Characters speaking normally: loud. Background music: loud. Characters screaming (which happens a lot): unbearably loud. The reason might be one of the Deafening Parties™ the day before, I don't know.
- Characters screaming and shouting. A lot. And often.
- Apropos of background music, the sound tracks' relative volume is off as well (one would think you'd get it right by the third year at the same place) — as the narration is overwhelmed by the background music and it's incredibly hard to understand the speech.
- A few actors unfortunately still have a very thick German accent that really throws me off, in the sense that I just can't understand most of what they're saying. For example the character in the arena who asked the protagonists about their scripts, I figured out what was being said from the context a sentence later. Even though I have an otherwise decent command of the language...
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I liked this years pawpet show. The story was quite interesting, surprisingly dark and violent with just the right amount of humor thrown in.
That achievement stuff offered the right amount of comical relive to it. Oh an the tiger kitty was just too cute .. getting it on the nose again and again. ^^''
Okay, given .. I liked last years setting and storyline a bit more, but that's personal taste as I am a huuuuuge fan of cyberpunk stuff.
I have agree on the critic about the sound tho. Especially the explanations during scene changes were pretty much overwhelmed by the background music.
Still I enjoyed the show and felt greatly entertained during the whole length of the show.
Kudos to the whole team for that!
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I really loved the two arctic foxes, so cute.
But the best part for me was the bath scene with the diversionary maneuver about the pool full of inflatable animals. The ones who were at the hotel pool the night before sure did understand it. ;D ;D
Thank you very much for that spontaneous last minute joke.
As it was said above, it might have been better to close the curtain and start the scene all over when there was that microphone issue. It also seemed like there was a problem with feedbacks.
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I still remember my first EF (17) and saw for the first time of my life a pawpet show. I was completely taken! and at first didn't understand when someone said "I liked the old characters more". I then tracked them down on youtube as far as possible, and understood.
With the size of the audience the puppets HAD to grow. If the EF keeps growing there may come the day when suiters have to play on the stage :-) but you may want to consider to create a core of characters to have in each PPS (did I recognize the goat from CFz correctly?), like Lionel, Mika, Lori and Poke. People love to recognize the characters, even if they can predict their action from their knowledge, and it may save you from building new puppets every year (though that may be the fun, too :-))
I've been to pawpeteering panels, so I have an hint of an idea what work is involved, and I love it.
Ragear
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To have a set off core characters with given names and personality could be a way to ease on the burden off building new ones, but it would also decrease the number off options aviable each year, and it might be somewhat confusing to see say Marcus as a archelogist this year and maybe a construction worker next.
Another way could be to threat the puppets like actors. Aka the "actors" have set names, voices and personality and theyre playing diferent characters with different personality each year. Thus all you need to do is to restyle them for each show, and you can even have theyre actors personality show at the curtain call. Thus it would be perfectly accepteble to see "Marcus" as a archelogist this year and a construction worker (or whatever) next year.
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(did I recognize the goat from CFz correctly?)
Yes you did. as you can see on the Pompeii flyer; Sir William Bellicose was the British guest actor featured in this years play.
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- A few actors unfortunately still have a very thick German accent that really throws me off, in the sense that I just can't understand most of what they're saying. For example the character in the arena who asked the protagonists about their scripts, I figured out what was being said from the context a sentence later. Even though I have an otherwise decent command of the language...
Ok, i'm very sorry but you go a little too far.
You come to a german convention where we, as hosts do our best to push it to international standards by speaking english. But still you are a guest in a german speaking country and it would be nice to show a little respect, you comment was very rude and inappropriate.
When i go to confuzzled i have a hard time understanding the pawpetshow because of the heavy british accent but i would never complain about that.
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When i go to confuzzled i have a hard time understanding the pawpetshow because of the heavy british accent but i would never complain about that.
I have to say I agree with this: I personally had more trouble understanding native English speakers than Germans most of the time - the Germans usually at least try to take the time to pronounce the English words correctly, while the native English speakers more often rush through it because they're so used to English. Of course this isn't always the case, and as Nightfox said I wouldn't normally complain about this at an international convention. But now that it's been pointed out anyway, I thought I'd mention it. Training your pronunciation as a performer is never a bad thing, no matter where you're from. =)
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Overall I was more than satisfied with the voice acting skill off the cast. Apart from the technical issues with a bad mic there was only a few parts that I failed to understand, but it could have been caused by the fact that english isnt my mother laungage.
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I have to say I agree with this: I personally had more trouble understanding native English speakers than Germans most of the time
Mea culpa! I spoke rather fast at times.. but I guess that's what 6 years of exile in the UK do to your english, hehe. I just speak at what is meanwhile a normal pace for me. ^.^
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I have to say I agree with this: I personally had more trouble understanding native English speakers than Germans most of the time
Mea culpa! I spoke rather fast at times.. but I guess that's what 6 years of exile in the UK do to your english, hehe. I just speak at what is meanwhile a normal pace for me. ^.^
No no no, don't get me wrong: it was still great, and I never had any problem following the story! I'm not complaining at all. I'm only saying that, considering not everyone (including the audience!) is experienced with English at an international convention such as this, a bit more focus on pronunciation won't hurt. You know, just as a little note to keep in the back of your head while performing. But I'm sure you already knew that. =)
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would it be possible to get the list of the music which were used during the show ?
some of them where really really awesome and I would be very interested to hear them again
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A great deal of music within the show was taken from a catalog of production music called "Director's Cuts". You can pre-listen and buy individual tracks here:
https://www.extrememusic.com/
Then, the title music and many of the intermission pieces were taken from the Album "Illusions" by Thomas Bergersen, one of the composers behind the well known "Two Steps From Hell" Label:
http://www.amazon.de/Illusions/dp/B0059C0HPM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1347123883&sr=8-3
Then some "authentic" (as far as it's possible to guess lacking actual musicial records) roman music was taken from "Somnia Imperii" by David Marshall, who used reconstructed musicial instruments to recreate the sound of the roman empire:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Somnia-ImperII-David-Marshall/dp/B000222YGE
Then finally, the song played during the video intermission in which the godess grants the wish, and then during the end titles, is called "Immortality" written by none other than Fox Amoore:
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/8111955/
A few pieces were taken from film soundtracks, but I'd have to look them up, so if you're looking for a specific piece, that you can't find on the above releases, please let me know.
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thank you :)
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*hugs* thanks you alot cheetah and congrats for the wonderful show :D
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If we're linking stuff anyway:
I'd still like to know what the pixelartsy animation was that played during the second (?) intermission, I only saw flashes of it while selling otter noses but it looked really cool! Does anyone have a link for me? =)
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I'd still like to know what the pixelartsy animation was that played during the second (?) intermission,
@ Cheetah : I dont know how you handle the various animation used during intermission, concerning copyrights and so, but here is one very very nice animation with Im sure people would absolutely love seeing as intermission http://vimeo.com/44088118 , maybe for next year :)
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A few pieces were taken from film soundtracks, but I'd have to look them up, so if you're looking for a specific piece, that you can't find on the above releases, please let me know.
At least one piece (i think during the scene on the tree) was taken from the Transformers Soundtrack - Sam at the Lake
// Lyn
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This was my first time attending EF so it's hard for me to compare the Pawpet show to anything, but here's my opinion shortly:
I think the Pawpet show was very well thought out. The execution of the show was nearly perfect, apart from a few slight delays and a few moments when we could see the puppeteers' heads, but all of this was easily negligible. Even professional theatres who do this for living have such things happen to them.
I also see some people were complaining about the light effect during defibrillation and as much as it was a surprise, I found it to be a very nice touch to making the show feel more real.
For me there was really only one downside and that was the fact that the story was a bit predictable. Maybe this is because I watch too much TV, but after the first 15 minutes of the show, I could pretty much predict the whole story till the end.
I'd also like to comment on this:
- A few actors unfortunately still have a very thick German accent that really throws me off, in the sense that I just can't understand most of what they're saying. For example the character in the arena who asked the protagonists about their scripts, I figured out what was being said from the context a sentence later. Even though I have an otherwise decent command of the language...
I come from a non-english and non-german speaking country and was able to understand every word said by the actors without a problem, even though my hearing is not the best, so I can hardly say this was a problem.
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And, as much as I hate it to point at someone directly, I had only one person who I almost never understood. I can't say if it's just Pinky's voice, the accent or the low variation in her accentuation but I's very hard to understand what she is saying.
Which of the characters I played was it? When I played Aurelia, I put on a thick accent (for example rolling the "r"s) because she was like a Gypsy from a far away and exotic place. Also, my voice was pretty worn out by the time we performed it, so that probably didn't help either. Mostly though, this below:
I have to say I agree with this: I personally had more trouble understanding native English speakers than Germans most of the time - the Germans usually at least try to take the time to pronounce the English words correctly, while the native English speakers more often rush through it because they're so used to English.
I think that is very true. I probably have to think more about speaking (what is for me unnaturally) slowly and clearly when speaking English. Although, funnily enough, quite a lot of people actually told me the opposite of LeTigre, that I was the one who was easiest to understand. Which again just brings me back to the same point: I suspect there is a linguistical factor at play here. We all have natural languages, that's just how things are at an international convention. Not that we cannot improve, I'll work on speaking more standard English and less British, but we also have to accept the basic foundations for performance.
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The pawpetshow was amazing. #p I can only thank all.
The pawpetshow is in my eyes the highlight of the EF. I am sure it is really harder to make a pawpetshow than an theater performance.
THANKS A LOT.
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This is just a short comment to say that I LOVED the Pawpetshow performance of POMPEII. I've seen enough DOPE performances to say that this was at least as good a production as previous shows, I had NO problems whatsoever understanding the lines as spoken, and if an audience can't get around the fact that occasionally a dulled black figure will be visible around the puppets now and then, well...perhaps puppet shows are not really your cup of tea. One of the world's best puppet troups is the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre in Los Angeles, CA, USA - and there, the puppeteers are not hidden by any scenery, indeed the audience sits around the periphery of the theater, and the marionettes (with their "Handlers") walk out to the edge of the audience. No one, from the age of 4 to the age of 80, pays any attention to the puppeteers, and after the first few minutes into a show, they are for all intents and purposes invisible.
I have other general comments to make about both the convention and the pawpet show, but I shall make them in a general post later this weekend. For now - good show, to all the pawpet crew!
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Sounds like something like they do in the musical version of Lion King, but there them actors has this wonderfull costumes and make ups thats almost worth looking at in theyre own rights.
I didnt bothered with an od head showing thou. I was more concerend with that the video cameras was so high up so the fotage showed the actors heads almost all the time. Still not a biggie but it might help having them cameras a bit lower down next year.
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Since this comes up regularly, though only from very few people, and we as the ones never seeing it from the audience side obviously have a different point of view, quite literally, honest question:
How much does seing the stuff holding everything together ("the machinerie") distracts you from the story or even spoils the experience for you?
We have lots of things which are required to make everything work, and we try to put everything in black - both, because black can be mentally ignored more easily, doesn't shine and distract by itself, and also as a clear cue to the audience what is intended to be part of the play and what is "the stuff behind the curtain". Those things include the metal hooks for the backdrop paintings, gloves and balaclavas for our puppetteers, lighting fixtures, rods on puppets and props (=all the non-puppet, non-decoration items we handle).
We are also aware of the perspective issue, which became even more important since we don't play anymore directly at the playrail only, but also behind each other - people in the front row have a steeper viewing angle than those in the last rows, whereas the cameras are both further away and placed higher, necessarily to not be obstructed by the audience. Our effective maximum puppet height is literally "one arms length" - thus we can choose between showing as much puppet as possible and a few heads, or no heads but also less of the puppet, too. We did actually discuss this and decided that it's worth asking our audience to ignore the heads as they are ignoring all the other black things already, than to display talking puppet heads only, w/o the body interaction and arm movements. After all, it IS a live puppet play and not an animatronic TV production.
Thus, I'd be interesting to hear whether those heads really bothered you that much, and whether you can explain why it makes such a difference to you?
*purrrrr*
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I can ignore seeing half a head poking out somewhere but seeing a full face in a black suit breaks the magic.
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This:
- everything is just WAY TOO LOUD — I should have brought earplugs. Characters speaking normally: loud. Background music: loud. Characters screaming (which happens a lot): unbearably loud.
Which is really pity thinking how much time and effort making these shows surely takes, and then thing like this ruins the experience :(
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This:
- everything is just WAY TOO LOUD — I should have brought earplugs. Characters speaking normally: loud. Background music: loud. Characters screaming (which happens a lot): unbearably loud.
Which is really pity thinking how much time and effort making these shows surely takes, and then thing like this ruins the experience :(
I'm sorry but none told me during the performance.
Unfortunately we don't have a musical theater that has an optimal acoustic design and lot's of small speakers installed to ensure an even level of volume throughout the whole venue. We only have one big stereo speaker system for the whole room. So depending where you sit, it can be more or less loud. In fact we added a new "Nearfield" system this year to the already existing surround and monitor systems as well as doing changes to the adjustments of the main speakers to get a better control over this. But all these changes give us a totally new set of parameters that we still have to learn to ace when doing live audio. None of the tech crew is a pro with that size of a venue and this kinds of events so it may not be THX-HD-DD-12.2-3D-IMAX-48FPS-Quality all the time. We try to, but believe us, even with 14h dress / tech rehearsal it's hard to hit it right on the first shot, that is the show presentation you all see. Bare with us, we're not doing this on purpose. Producing the show takes far too much time to ruin it by ignorance during the premier.
But there is also no invisible barrier between you and us - using a break to come to the tech booth in the back and tell us "it's pretty loud at the front" helps us and we can do something about it.
(And before someone asks, yes, I use an SPL-Meter and yes, at the mix position the audio was at a "cinematic" level - means at a level I'd expect when I go to the cinema or into a musical production)
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Aurelia just had the kind of voice where i just wanted to run up and hug her, her character just made me melt from cuteness, overall it was a dam awesome show, always wanted to see a pawpet show ever since i first wanted to attend EF, i can now see why others say its like the "highlight of the furry calander" so to speak
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Aurelia just had the kind of voice where i just wanted to run up and hug her, her character just made me melt from cuteness, overall it was a dam awesome show, always wanted to see a pawpet show ever since i first wanted to attend EF, i can now see why others say its like the "highlight of the furry calander" so to speak
*blush* :-[
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the voice was just perfect, could hear every word clearly which to me is key when on a microphone whether its for performance or otherwise, wish my microphone skills was as good as yours was and mine should be good considering i do announcing for me local hockey teams