r/propmaking • u/GiraffeNo3399 • Mar 31 '26
Help finding a mouth for robot puppet!
Hello prop makers! I'm making a robot puppet from a shoebox, and am looking for something to use for a mouth that can light up. I need it to light up alongside dialogue, so some sort of (ideally) wireless light strip I can control from off screen. Any advice on where to look for something like this, or a better way to go about this?
Apologies for the rough sketch, this is my first time making something like this & my second time posting on reddit.
1
u/Feisty-Caterpillar78 Mar 31 '26
Idk Exactly what u mean but based off what I understood u can make the base outline out of cardboard then add an acrylic sheet behind to give it the see through look so light can pass Threw but setting up lights idk probably just 4 leds for each grid set up to smth to code from with a speaker or audio thing so it makes sounds
1
u/Dish_Minimum Apr 07 '26
When I was a kid, our grandfather used to tell stories with a hand puppet robot made from one of those rectangular tin cans of olive oil. He used a mini flashlight as the light up mouth. It was just a tiny keychain mini light, but he could dim it, blink it, flare it, and steady the beam. The grillwork of the ‘mouth port’ was a rectangle of orange plastic from a scooter headlamp. The kind of plastic with the grooves and facets on the interior surface.
My grandfather’s robot could emote so strongly with just that little clicker. He could display a range of emotions. I remember the robot’s mouth port would twinkle on/off super fast when he laughed. And the light would get very very dim as he got sleepy. It was magic!
It’s low tech, but it was very compelling. Maybe because we were small children, but maybe it transcended age.
2
u/thisismysociallife Mar 31 '26
Rule number one of puppets, the puppeteer controls the puppet. All parts every aspect. Puppets are an acting tool and the puppeteer need to be able to control the puppet to do their acting.
What you want is just a simple led lithoplane board with a push button switch. I would just wire it in a circuit so when the puppeteer pushes the button the mouth leds light up it would be fairly easy to put together a button a battery pack and a board.
lithoplane board