Independent Project: Building a Bunraku Puppet

So I did some research on my independent project (I feel so left out since I'm the only one doing Option B but whatever). This is everything I've come up with so far to help me.


BUNRAKU PUPPETS:
• 2.5 to 4 feet tall
• Less complex heads have eyes that move from side to side, up and down, or close; noses, mouths, and eyebrows can also move
• Head moves by string/rod mechanisms
• Head has a wooden neckpiece (dogushi) that is placed through a hole in the shoulder board; this is the stick the main puppeteer uses to control the head
• Heads are carved of wood and hollow
• Controls for the movement in the head is in a handle that goes from the neck to the puppet’s chest; hole in the back of the torso for the main puppeteer to put left hand into
• Main puppeteer uses right hand to control right arm of puppet
• Left puppeteer uses right hand to control puppet’s left arm with a control rod starting from the puppet’s elbow, sometimes with string mechanism as well
• Third puppeteer operates feet and legs
• Some puppets (female) don’t have legs/feet so the third puppeteer bunches up the lower half of the costume to create the illusion that there are feet and legs
• Body is costumed in traditional Japanese dress depending on character and status of the puppet
• Body can be created using a “shoulder board” with cloth draped in front and in the back and attached to bamboo hoops; loofahs attached to create shoulders
• Arms and legs attached separately to the shoulder board using strings
• The term bunraku can only be used after permission is received, otherwise it’s called a ningyo joruri
• http://www.gasha.biz/ (this is in Japanese)
• http://www.bunraku.org/ (mostly videos of performances to study movement)
• http://www.puppetsinmelbourne.com.au/blog.php/2008/07/06/my-bunraku-puppet-finished (someone’s blog of the puppet they made even though they said it sucks)

MAKING THE HEAD:
• Choose a wood (Styrofoam/papier mache?) and make a rough sketch.
• The center line must be drawn accurately and then the nose and eyes sketched in.
• Eyes and nose are used as a guide while carving.
• The back must be hollowed out after carving to add the mechanisms.
• The dogushi stick needs to go through the neck stick so that it will connect to the head unseen.
• Paint to fit character after.
• 7 different female heads (http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/bunraku/en/contents/dolls/female/index.html)

COSTUMES:
• Usually consist of: under robe (juban), inner kimono (kitsuke), outer jacket (haori) or outer robe (uchikake), collar (eri), and the belt/sash (obi)
• Robes are sometimes stuffed with cotton to make the body seem more soft
• There must be a hole in the back of the robes where the hole in the body is