Hand Shadows [antikvár]

Introduction Throwing Some Light on Shadows This book is an introduction to shadowgraphy and will help you to become an "ombromaneur" (a person who projects shadows onto plain surfaces) if that's what you want to be. But of course perhaps you just want to do hand shadows and if so, this is the book for you. Shadows can be very simple. One hand can throw the shadow of a sleeping rabbit onto a plain white wall, But when you change the position of your fingers the rabbit will open his eye. He knows you are going to use your other hand to throw another shadow near him — and that this one will be a fox. The fox may chase the rabbit away. But perhaps, instead, the rabbit will start growing bigger and bigger and become very big indeed. This happens when you move your rabbit hand backwards, away from your fox hand and closer to the light. The frightened fox may slink quietly away and end the story. But you decide — it's your shadow show. You can tell the story with just your hands, a plain wall in front of you and sunlight or electric light behind you, to throw the shadows onto the wall. Or you can be much more ambitious. Your shadows can be as complicated as you wish, with a ^ screen, lighting, props and music. This is getting close to the shows of the shadowgraphers and the ombromaneurs, who travelled the world with live hand shadow shows in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. You may have realised that our hand shadows are close to the shadow puppets of China, Greece and Hirkey, and the Javanese Wayang theatres. They use the same idea — the shadow thrown onto a screen— but hand shadows keep the hand as the centre of the show and the action, rather than cut-outs or puppets. The quicker and more supple your hand, the more action you can create. The more you practise, the more skilful you will become. And the more you experiment, the more fun you will have. Always use plenty of movement and keep your story simple and easy to follow. Then, like so many people from the time of the cavemen on, you too will be part of the world of hand shadows.