Hello, this is Haruka Baba.
I work as a coder at Monosus. In my previous article, " Puppet Shows and Me ," I talked about my encounter with marionettes.
It's been about three months since I purchased the Orangeparfait marionette at Puppet House in Iidabashi.
This time, I would like to introduce you to the kind of life I lead with my marionette.
Life with marionettes
When the marionette came into our home, the first thing I did was think of a name.
I looked at the faces for a while, but couldn't find anything that suited me, so I consulted with people around me and finally decided.
It was named "Porun".
However, it's a little difficult to call him by that name, so we end up calling him Porta or Pol-chan.
We'll call it Porta here.
Porta is an iron-core marionette, meaning her body is supported by an iron core extending from the top of her head.
When you want to change the direction of the iron-core marionette's face, you can turn it sideways just by twisting the handle like a faucet, and it is quite stable so is relatively easy to move.
However, you need to be careful when storing it.
If you place the handle on the floor, it will be pulled by the iron core and hurt your neck, so you need to hang the handle somewhere when you are not moving it.
At first, I wasn't sure where to hang it, so I hung it in various places, such as the corners of a desk or on the protruding parts of a shelf.
One time, I was in a panic and quickly hung it on the curtain rail. However, using a curtain rail makes you feel the presence outside the window and startle you, so that's not good.
In the end I settled on the bookshelf.
After Porta came, I practiced walking and dancing for a while, but I didn't know what else to do and was at a loss, when I received some mandarin oranges from my grandparents' house.
I was so happy to see that it was a mandarin orange, I took a picture of Porta looking happy with the mandarin orange box, and it turned out to be kind of cute...
Heck, even just doing everyday things is cute.
With that in mind, I decided to collect videos and photos that had a home video feel.
To further motivate myself, I decided to post updates about Porta on Instagram, with the goal of updating it daily.
Instagram: @portadayo
The joys and difficulties of coexisting
Every day I try to use Porta to look for the little things in life.
Whenever I have free time, I think about what I'll do today and what I'll do tomorrow.
However, even after deciding to do it, things don't always go as planned when it comes to actually filming.
For example, when I filmed someone brushing their teeth.
I hold a toothbrush in my hand and try shaking it around. It seems to work without any problems.
However, when they took a photo, they found Porta standing there, looking straight ahead, and brushing his teeth listlessly.
Oh, it wasn't supposed to be like this.
Thinking that, I checked the video again and noticed something strange about the fact that no one was moving except for the hands brushing the teeth.
So this time, I held a cup in my free hand and tried moving my head so that I could brush my back teeth properly.
Although he was poor at brushing his teeth, it seemed like he was brushing his teeth with determination.
Click here for the actual video
As you can see, it's not an easy process and I make mistakes every day, but I feel happy when I finally take photos or videos that I'm satisfied with.
Also, when I look at the photos I took, I sometimes see unintentional movements that are very lively, which makes me realize that Porta was making these expressions without me noticing, and that he was moving as Porta.
It's so much fun to be able to share these experiences with others through photos and videos.
The person I admire
There is a puppeteer that I admire.
This person is in charge of roles such as the frog AD who gives out cue cards on the NHK program "Nehorin Pahorin," and the other day a certain video of him came up on Twitter.
Source: NHK Nehorinpahorin @nhk_nehorin
(The pig is singing!)
I had always wanted to try to get Porta to sing, so I practiced with him while watching music programs, and I was amazed at how well the pig could reproduce the sounds.
We compared it with the original video to see why it's so similar.
Source: DISH// (Kitamura Takumi) - Cat / THE FIRST TAKE
When I did that, I realized that it not only moved its nose to match the song, but also faithfully reproduced the subtle neck movements that Takumi Kitamura makes while singing. When I try to make Porta sing, no matter how much I open and close my mouth to match the song, it doesn't look like he's singing.
I realized that these subtle movements that occur when people sing with emotion were exactly what I wanted to imitate.
Singing as well as Pig-san probably requires a lot of practice and study. But when I think of it being done by someone I admire, I feel like I can work hard to get a little closer to her.
What Porta taught me
Since Porta came, people around me have started to get involved in various ways, such as helping with photo shoots or making clothes.
The response to the photos and videos has been great, and I'm sure if it had been a stuffed animal it wouldn't have turned out like this.
Because marionettes are dolls that people don't usually get to touch, I would like to continue to create opportunities for people to touch them and learn about their appeal.
Finally, I have made a short video of Porta, so please take a look if you are interested.
BABA Haruka