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St. Thomas, the Apostle is affectionately known as the patron saint of Kerala. The feast of St.Thomas is celebrated every year on July 3 and is typically one of the highlighted annual events for Syro-Malabar churches across the world.
During this time when most churches are keeping feast day celebrations at a minimum, SMCB had a week-long celebration from June 26th to July 3rd. St. Thomas Feast, 2020 was celebrated in virtual splendor with the SMCB community coming together with video compilations by prayer units, youth wing(DYA) and daily broadcasting of the skit miniseries - “Unusual Suspects”.
Perhaps the most unique and memorable event was the delivery of “The Life of St. Thomas” via the medium of puppetry. The puppet show was lauded as a huge success drawing praise from all sections of the community.
Making of the St. Thomas Puppet Show ~ Paul Joseph
Making of the St. Thomas Puppet Show ~ Paul Joseph
Puppet Construction
Puppet Construction
Over the past few years, I have been wanting to do a presentation around the life of St.Thomas. This year, the social distancing measures imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak, presented a unique challenge. How do we come together to present the story of St. Thomas? This led me to consider putting together a puppet show. This medium would allow us to involve others in the community, without having to congregate in one place. The artwork, voice recordings and filming could be executed in the safety of our own individual homes. The whole process took around 6 weeks. We started with a script and the main visuals. We had decided early on to keep the puppet design simple, because Biya & I would be doing the puppetry and video recording.
With Achan providing his stamp of approval, the decision was made. The recorded puppet show could then be broadcast during the Perunnal after the mass. This was perceived as a great idea since it would garner interest from the younger parishioners as well as instill knowledge about the Saint.
Diane, with a background in visual arts, was eager to be part of this unique project. As lead artist, she took on the task of art design, and decided to use Bristol board and markers.She took 3 weeks to ideate, create and deliver the final artwork. This was the first time Diane had collaborated for a puppet show, so it was a very special experience for her personally. She was assisted by the craft team which made some of the props and background.
The craft team - Vinitha, Tresa, Villbeena & Anu families
Art Assistants
Art Assistants
Once Tony Achan approved the script, we sent the script out to Vinaya, Roger, Abraham and Achan to record the narration and dialogues. Along the way, I did a lot of test shots as a proof of concept. This also helped me fix issues with the filming.
Camera and background setup
Camera and background setup
The setup was simple. I built a rig in my basement to hold the background. The puppets were mounted on thin wooden sticks which I had purchased from a local craft store. I used my DSLR camera to record the scenes. This is what one of the scenes looked like
Filming the Boat Scene - Christa & Biya
The actual shooting was done in 3 days. After all the individual scenes were filmed, I collated and edited the scenes using Filmora, a video editing software. The final video was well received by the SMCB community - young and old alike! I hope everyone enjoyed it. Personally, I learnt a lot about St. Thomas through this process. I also want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who was part of this effort.
Life of St. Thomas
Life of St. Thomas
Entertainment Program - DYA (Youth Wing)
Entertainment Program - DYA (Youth Wing)
The Usual Suspects - Mini series
The Usual Suspects - Mini series
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Entertainment Programs - Prayer Units
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