Skills Masterclass: Puppetry for Film

Puppetry is one of the oldest forms of storytelling, but on film it becomes something stranger, funnier, and often more moving than you expect. This Skills Masterclass is a full-day practical workshop led by Liverpool filmmaker and artist Tom Shennan, designed to take you inside that process. Over the course of the day you’ll go from experimenting with how ordinary objects can suggest character and story, through to building full performances with purpose-built puppets, and finally filming short scenes using professional puppetry rigs. Along the way you’ll learn how puppeteers use principles like breath, focus, and weight to create the illusion of thought and emotion, and how those techniques change once a camera is involved.

The workshop balances playful exercises with structured training: you’ll spend time improvising, working one-to-one with your puppet, rehearsing in groups, and then stepping onto a film set to see how lighting, framing, and rigging bring…