WATCH LIGHT STORY

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Mask Making

1-2 hour workshop exploring the joy of creating shadow masks. Masks allow a performer to become anything in the light. Participants will create their own mask of a character or abstract concept. Masks may include moving parts, colors and textures. We will also discover how to perform as the masked being, utilizing voices, movement and scale shifts.

Shadow Filmmaking

2-4 hour workshop where we’ll create the beginning of your shadow film. I’ll offer examples for setup, light sources, colors, numerous effects and filters for making exceptional videos. We'll look at modern and historical examples.

note: I’ve taught this class at Pixar and DreamWorks!

Exploring the Shadow

2-hour class or series.

Explore visual poetry and how to elicit feelings and emotion with shape, scale, color, texture and light.

I’ll share poetry and quotes by philosophers and authors on the Shadow, its power as a metaphor, and as a ubiquitous yet mysterious form for conveying meaning.

Teaching with Shadow Theater

1-4 hour workshop or series. Educator professional development course.

Utilize the many aspects of shadows, light and puppetry to teach science, reading, writing, history, social justice- while meeting numerous state Common Core and national standards. I have taught just about everything with shadows! This workshop may be general or specific to your group’s needs. I’ll demonstrate the methodology and examples I use to teach students of every age how to create a story in shadows using storyboards, scene and character breakdowns, transitions, special effects etc. for performance or video. We may also explore creating non-narrative shadow installations with shape and dimensions in light. The workshop can culminate with an outline for a six to twelve-week curriculum.

Cinematic Shadow Theater Master Course

4+ hour workshop or series. Participants will develop the skills to produce their own cinematic shadow theater performance. I'll provide multiple light sources and methods for cross-dissolving between scenes and hand-made cinematic effects like close-ups, long shots, pans and framing devices. We'll discuss and construct shadow puppets, 2 sided masks, costumes, stationary and moving scenery. We'll examine existing stories and scripts while determining how to stage dialogue, narration with b-roll, traveling scenes, montage, etc.

Customized Workshop

Let's make sure you get what you need. Work to create a team-building workshop. Take your film, comic book, theme, concept or video game and see it come to life in shadows. Give us your company's origin story and we'll work with you to explore, inhabit, and capture it in shadow before building digital assets. Perhaps you simply need a dreamy day of abstract poetry and liminal imagery to stimulate creativity and new ideas. Focus upon one archetype and all of its dimensions. This can be a great opportunity for dance and theater companies that want to add a new design element.

Antiquated A.R./ Making Immersive Light

This is a rare opportunity to see and create immediate 3D visuals using lights to cast shadows in an immersive environment. This workshop and installation are perfect for AR/ VR/ 3D media makers. You are invited to mock up scenes from your digital story with paper and wire, or enjoy a day of free play. Have a new experience along the Z axis—in real time.

See Antiquated A.R.

WORKSHOPS for Youth and Children

Making shadow puppets and masks!

Creating, the Lorax, as a shadowplay!

The Flying Pig Fish, puppet making, and interactive story!

What’s your issue? Using shadows to make an amazing public service announcement teaching others about what’s most important to you!

Full quote: "Our students were enthralled by the various types of shadow puppets and their diverse origins. They were exposed to traditional puppets from Indonesia, China, and Greece, as well as contemporary forms. Throughout the assembly, Christine embedded many opportunities for students' direct interaction and performance with her puppet collection.

I was so impressed by her ability to gently and effectively guide students through the art of shadow puppetry and storytelling while demonstrating the enormous potential of this art form to tell powerful stories in a compelling way. I hope to have an opportunity to invite Christine back to our school."

"She has been a true inspiration to our students and teachers!”

Evelyn Serrano

Arts Integration Director

Visual Arts Specialist

Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts

Theater Professor California Institute for the Arts

About Christine Marie : Puppeteer and Educator

Christine Marie is a former fifteen-year member of ShadowLight theater, the company has twice won the UNIMA Citation for Excellence award, international puppetry's highest honor. At ShadowLight, Marie worked as a puppeteer and masked character on productions including; 7 Visions of Encarnacion, Coyote’s Journey and as assistant director for The Tempest and Prince Karna’s Dream at Zellerbach Hall. She also served as an assistant director, video editor, teaching artist and as the education coordinator at the company. She studied Wayang Kulit traditional puppetry in Bali with Pak Nartha, and assisted dalang Larry Reed in Wayang performances for many years.

Christine Marie co-founded The Big Ta Doo Puppet Crew in the San Francisco Bay Area at the legendary art center, CellSpace. The company utilized multiple styles of puppetry including humanettes and hand puppets to create shows about environmental and social justice issues. Marie co-created The Council of Species, featuring giant endangered animal puppets and flying peace doves for Jane Goodall's Roots and Shoots program. The pageant premiered at SF's World Environment Day at city hall and the original curriculum was taught at numerous Bay Area schools. Christine Marie began hosting public Puppet SLAMs and Pop Music Puppet SLAMSs in 2000 and most likely hosted the first one ever! She has performed her original story about diversity, The Flying Pig Fish for assemblies and her original story Frog In the Corner about the California Prison Industrial Complex for Education Not Incarceration social justice tours to inner city schools.

Marie has taught professional development workshops on Puppetry in the Classroom and public puppetry workshops at Columbia Teacher College, Crystal Bridges, The Los Angeles Puppetry Guild, the California Institute for the Arts and led hundreds of classes and assemblies at both public/ independent schools, correctional facilities, museums, galleries and animation studios- Pixar and DreamWorks.

Marie is twice certified in Aesthetic Education by Lincoln Center. She is a TED Fellow and has an MFA in Puppetry/ Theater and Integrated Media from the California Institute of the Arts.