Look, I’m not particularly proud of it, but yes, I did see War Horse. For the record, it was not the most accurate in terms of horsemanship, but it was good as a film. I didn’t think it was movie of the year, but I don’t need those two hours of my life back either.
What is really interesting about films that have animals doing somewhat amazing things, is the production that goes into creating that effect. Sometimes it is animal training, and sometimes its a little bit of movie magic. This case calls for movie magic, in the form of Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones of of the Handspring Puppet Company.
This video comes to you from TED, which is “a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts.” If you’re not familiar with TED…..get familiar because it’s the smartest and most interesting way to waste your time on the internet by far.
“Puppets always have to try to be alive,” says Adrian Kohler of the Handspring Puppet Company, a gloriously ambitious troupe of human and wooden actors. Beginning with the tale of a hyena’s subtle paw, puppeteers Kohler and Basil Jones build to the story of their latest astonishment: the wonderfully life-like Joey, the War Horse, who trots (and gallops) convincingly onto the TED stage.
