The title sequence from Peter Weir's
The Year of Living Dangerously features the puppetry of
Wayang Kulit. The sequence was recommended to me to by Mar Elepano who lived in Jakarta for five years and who is a great resource for my research into the puppet theater of Indonesia. He explained to me that
Wayang Kulit was banned by the Islamic fundamentalists in the government because it had supposed connotations of idolatry and polytheism. This tradition also has a place in Hindu culture, where they perform selections from the Ramayana. Seeing Mr. Weir's film helped me to understand how these puppets move. There is some very interesting motion blur in between each pose of the puppets. Also, the puppeteers don't always keep the puppets flush against the fabric, so the projections can become distorted. The puppets don't hide the fact that they're not three-dimensional, even though they're in a three-dimensional space. Sometimes a puppet will slightly rotate and you'll see its thin profile. The other aspect of Mr. Weir's title sequence that struck me was the music. It was full of tension and it used the instruments that accompany the
Wayang Kulit.
The title sequence from Peter Weir's The Year of Living Dangerously features the puppetry of Wayang Kulit. The sequence was recommended to me to by Mar Elepano who lived in Jakarta for five years and who is a great resource for my research into the puppet theater of Indonesia. He explained to me that Wayang Kulit was banned by the Islamic fundamentalists in the government because it had supposed connotations of idolatry and polytheism. This tradition also has a place in Hindu culture, where they perform selections from the Ramayana. Seeing Mr. Weir's film helped me to understand how these puppets move. There is some very interesting motion blur in between each pose of the puppets. Also, the puppeteers don't always keep the puppets flush against the fabric, so the projections can become distorted. The puppets don't hide the fact that they're not three-dimensional, even though they're in a three-dimensional space. Sometimes a puppet will slightly rotate and you'll see its thin profile. The other aspect of Mr. Weir's title sequence that struck me was the music. It was full of tension and it used the instruments that accompany the Wayang Kulit.
1 comment:
Hi,
I think, blurry shadow has positive aspect, meaning it could add effect of movements. The source of light, in the past was not a kind of lamp which is fix but it moves by the wind (in java we call it blencong). This gives effect dynamic as oppose to shadow static, which is good. Also by moving puppets closer to the source of light it gives effect bigger shadow. This is useful for the puppeter if he wants to have effect drammatic such super puppet fighting with small puppet.
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