Expressive puppets

[Marion]

In the Supermarionation- General Puppet pictures thread, I wrote

21st Century Boy, you say the Doctor Fawn smiler is a restored original.
I don't recall seeing Fawn smile in the TV show - and it's a cute smile - was it ever used in an episode? It'd be a shame if it wasn't - and I'll go and have a look if I've missed it...
The models really are superb, btw.

and the reply was:

Sharp eyes Marion! No, Fawn was never used on screen. When I picked him up at the `Philips` auction in 1995 he wasn`t even wigged!
since then I`ve seen matching versions of Lt Green, Grey, and Blue. There must have been a set. I`ve also seen a photo of Len Davis with a `grinning` Joe 90. None of them have ever been fimed. Maybe they just didn`t like them....

which got me thinking about just how many expressions and moods the producers of the show seemed to be able to convey with the puppet heads they did use. I still think it's a shame they did not use the 'grinning' faces though!
I suppose it was a combination of clever lighting and editing, and I'm sure the voices and music had a great part to play in creating a mood. It is remarkable when you consider they only had expressionless puppets to work with.
They certainly got a great deal more sophisticated as the programmes progressed; I seem to remember Dr. Venus in Fireball, smiling radiently through all sorts of dangers, and the only way they could ever show any emotion was to roll their eyes from side to side! Does anyone know if they used seperate heads at that stage, I wonder? I'm pretty sure Stingray and Thunderbirds used frowning heads... although I'm prepared to be corrected.
I wonder if the puppets just seem more expressive because the heads are in proportion?
Anyway - for me- Captain Scarlet remains the best Anderson TV show and I only wish they had made more of it in the 60s... I'm afraid I never took to Joe 90 at all. Perhaps it was because by then, I was too old to care much for the adventures of a 9 year old boy - as opposed to a clutch of good-looking 30-something men, I mean

[shaqui]

Stingray was definitely the first Anderson series to have different heads for different expressions - though the eagle-eyed among you may have noticed the clever use of some 'frown lines' on Mr Bumbledrop in the first episode of 'Torchy the Battery Boy' to alter his mood!

I think for each character there was a standard of four heads - normal, smiler and frowner and 'blinker' (which was a 'normal' expression usually, with an altered eye mechanism). There would probably be two 'normals' for use on the separate film stages that were the norm from 'Thunderbirds' onwards I believe. And Scarlet had a special 'grimace' that made a few appearances.

I'm presuming these heads were made as standard, though obviously before filming it would not be known which characters would have the most use, so maybe the 'Fawn smiler' was anticipated, then never used when Charles Tingwell, who did the voice, moved on - and the character lapsed into non-verbal cameos.

Having said that, I don't recall the Angels having much in the way of changed expressions - did anyone notice a 'smiler' or 'frowner' for them? I'm of the opinion Symphony's frown in 'White As Snow' (as she sits in the cockpit at the beginning) was another 'Bumbledrop', and drawn on...

[Marion]

Now that you mention it the Angels don't have much in the way of changing expressions... Mind you, Symphony must have had a head where her eyes can close - used in Manhunt and Attack on Cloudbase, at least.

[hazel]

I remember being absolutely convinced that Scarlet changed his expression several times, other than the famous grimace in the first episode: in Special Assignment, where he's just been wiped out in the casino; in Special Assignment again, depressed and boozing at the bar; and in Attack on Cloudbase, when he hears that Rhapsody has been killed. There were possibly a few others that I can't call to mind right now.
But when I came to watch them again (not until 1986 or 7, I think, on Night Network) I realised that it had all been done with body language. Gerry certainly had a fabulous team of operators!

[shaqui]

Mind you, Symphony must have had a head where her eyes can close - used in Manhunt and Attack on Cloudbase, at least.

Yes, that would be the aforementioned blinker version.

I have to confess though, not being sure if an entirely different head was required, or if it simply a change in the eye mechanism from one which meant they could look from side to side, to one where the eyes closed.

There was, of course, a different and quick way of having closed eyes. If a blinker was not available, then plastercine (or similar) would be used to cover the sockets, and made to look like an eyelid. You would not see the transition, but simply cut to the figure being asleep or unconscious.

[Marion]

Yes, I agree, Hazel, the body language (as you call it) is amazing and it really does look like he's been hit by a veritable tidal wave of gloom in Special Assignment.
I always think the scene in Attack on Cloudbase where Symphony watches Destiny's plane flying away, leaving her stranded in the desert, is another example of how they managed to make the puppets 'act'. She really does look absolutely dejected as her head droops and her shoulders, (apparantly) sag as well...
Amazing stuff...

[Winged Assassin]

While the characters did have different heads, for smiling etc, I think some of the differences in Scarlets expressions are partly due to the duplicate hero heads having different finishs and also with repairs Scarlet could often change his look from episode to episode. To my knowledge the blinker was an entirely different head , they couldn't switch the mechanism - and no I can't remember the Angels changing their expression either? odd

[Kinggodzillak]

Captain Black had a smiley head, didn't he? Seem to remember him grinning like a loon during his trip to the Second National Bank...

[shaqui]

Captain Black had a smiley head, didn't he? Seem to remember him grinning like a loon during his trip to the Second National Bank...

Not sure about that but I think the human Captain Black in the Zero X in 'The Mysterons' was a smiler - certainly more so than the grim pale version we saw a few moments later...

[Winged Assassin]

Never really understood that bit in the first episode. Col White only said that Captain Black disappeared after returning to Earth and didn't say that anything had happened to the rest of the crew. Considering how much Black changed, from smilly human to deathly pale faced mean looking killer, its hard to imagine the other crew members not actually noticing on the long trip back!!

[shaqui]

I think for each character there was a standard of four heads - normal, smiler and frowner and 'blinker'...

Actually, by coincidence I'm typing up a feature for GACCH where the trade press visit the studios in 1966, and it refers to what I call 'frowners'. as 'scowlers'...

Well, there you go.

[21st Century Boy]

Good to see the interest the old Doc has created. He`s a bit of an old thesp these days and will be very pleased....
The blinkers are different heads to the normal, the eye mechs were not interchangeable. In addition, the heads had to be strung differently. They don`t seem to age as well as a normal head, the eyelids on the blinkers being made of leather and tending to dry out, so they have a habit of looking dog rough when they turn up now....
The pre-mysteronised Black was a normal head, after he was taken over the frowner was used. The normal head appears to have also been given the `living dead` treatment and turns up a few times, possibly in `Heart of New York`?
Of the `grinners`, only the Blue and Green were finished. The Blue can be seen in Simon Archer`s `FAB Facts`, the Green went through the Philips Auction in `94. Hope whoever paid a grand for it back then realised it wasn`t screen used....
Sometimes the expressions on the heads are so subtle that its hard to tell them apart on screen. Scarlet has a `frowner`, but the only difference is straighter eyebrows and slightly deeper furrows above the nose. They used it a lot however, so its fairly easy to spot.
Joe 90`s frowner tended to be used when he was wearing his glasses on a mission. Since the main difference is around the eyebrows that makes it difficult to see onscreen, however here`s a closeup,
http://www.imagehostworld.com/ims/pic.p ... 7fN&i=3435
Here is a closeup of smiling Mac, difficult to spot on screen but usually found trying to cop off with Angela Davis....
http://www.imagehostworld.com/ims/pic.p ... 7fN&i=3393
And finally here`s a few more pics of the Dr Fawn `grinner`, say cheese....
http://www.imagehostworld.com/ims/pic.p ... 7fN&i=3433
http://www.imagehostworld.com/ims/pic.p ... 7fN&i=3434

[Marion]

21st Century Boy says:

Of the `grinners`, only the Blue and Green were finished. The Blue can be seen in Simon Archer`s `FAB Facts`,

Yes, I spotted that picture on page 92 of the book. I wondered about it at the time as I didn't recall ever seeing Blue smile like that on screen - and I watch him very closely .
This is where you now tell me the head was used and I've missed it... LOL....

It isn't a very big - or clear - picture; I wish there was a better one...

[21st Century Boy]

No need to worry, it was never used. I saw the head `for real` a while back though, and it had a working eye mechanism and remanents of wires, so they obviously came close...
I made a replica Blue a while back, here`s a few pics,
http://www.imagehostworld.com/ims/pic.p ... 7fN&i=3467
http://www.imagehostworld.com/ims/pic.p ... 7fN&i=3468
http://www.imagehostworld.com/ims/pic.p ... 7fN&i=3469

[Marion]

Wonderful pictures! Thanks very much for those