Messy (Smelly) Work

Puppeteering on Team Smithereen, the new stunt puppet show from Dan Clark/W!ldbrain/Jetix Europe can be messy and smelly work. In this puppet captain/puppeteer Patrick Johnson performs Thrill Kat as he is hit in the head with a can of soup. Because the show is shot green screen prop masters and production designers, Brandon Minton and Lisa Coto chose to use nacho cheese soup for it's color. The soup also had a very strong odor, and very quickly the small production stage filled with the smell of nacho cheese.

Liquid Nitrogen

Back stage at Team Smithereen, the new stunt puppet show from Dan Clark/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe prop master/production designer Lisa Coto experiments with liquid nitrogen. Please remember the Team Smithereen crew are trained professionals - do not try this at home.

Prop Fab

All of the props for Team Smithereen, the new stunt puppet show from Dan Clark/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe were made at the Team Smithereen production house in the Hollywood Hills. In this photo prop master/production designer Lisa Coto (or Brandon Minton?!) sculpts a stunt vehicle from a block of Styrofoam.

Milk

Team Smithereen, the new stunt puppet show from Dan Clark/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe isn't confined to the green screen stage. Many of the puppet's death defying stunts are performed on location. In this shot, prop master/production designer Lisa Coto drives a remote control stunt vehicle on location at a Southern California dairy farm.



On location at the dairy farm, puppet captain/director/puppeteer Sean Johnson, puppeteer Russ Walko, and Brave Little Francis escape the heat of the day by resting in the shade of hay bales.



Moooo moooooo momo mooom moooo. Team Smithereen mooo moo cow mooomoooo, moo mo moo mooo. mooom oo Dan Clark Company/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe moo mooooo mom mooooo.



The Team Smithereen crew prepares to shoot a puppet stunt on location at a Southern California dairy farm.



Puppet captain/puppeteer/director Sean Johnson and show creator/director Dan Clark after a successful Team Smithereen location shoot.

Puppet Puke

Making a puppet vomit on the set of Team Smithereen, the new stunt puppet show from Dan Clark/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe is serous buisness. These photos show the steps required to get some good puppet puke.

Team Smithereen Anatomy of a Puppet Stunt

The stunts of Team Smitereen, the new stunt puppet show from The Dan Clark Company/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe require lots of creative thinking, pre-planning, careful rigging, nerves of steel, and a little luck. Because so much is unknown before the stunt is attempted, the final result is never certain. This post outlines the steps it takes to pull off a spectacular Team Smithereen puppet stunt.



First the stunt is dreamed up, and pitched. Many of the Team Smithereen puppet stunts came directly from the Smithereen production team. Once an idea is chosen, episode storyboards are created. This Team Smithereen storyboard was illustrated by Smithereen puppet captain/puppeteer/director Patrick Johnson.

The finished storyboards are sent to the Team Smithereen producing partners Wildbrain in San Francisco, and Jetix Europe in England. After they've made their notes, the boards are tweaked and finalized.



Most of the puppet stunts developed for Team Smithereen require the production of special props. These custom painted paintballs and official Team Smithereen paintball cannon were created by Smithereen prop masters/production designers Lisa Coto and Brandon Minton.



Stunt day at the Team Smithereen house is full of excitement and some nervous anticipation. Because of the unpredictability of doing live stunts with puppets, the crew must be ready for anything.

In the top photo, prop master/production designer Lisa Coto, director/show creator Dan Clark, and director of photography Ivan Corona make final preparations. The green screen stage has been covered from top to bottom with plastic to protect the lights, and crew from stray paintballs and over spray.

In the middle photo, Team Smithereen puppeteer Russ Walko helps puppet captain/puppeteer/director Sean Johnson suit up in plastic and a protective paintball mask.

In the bottom photo, Team Smmithereen prop master/production designer Brandon Minton prepares to blast stunt puppet Thrill Kat with paintballs.



Action! After lots of hard work and preparation it's time to shoot the puppet stunt. The stunt is shot with two hi-deff cameras so nothing is missed. Some stunts are shoot in slow motion to capture everything in full detail.

Paintball episode director Patrick Johnson observers the action on a flat panel monitor.



Another sucesfull stunt created by the Team Smithereen crew. In the top photo puppet captain/puppeteer Sean Johnson and puppeteer Russ Walko pose with a paint splattered Thrill Kat. The bottom photo shows some of the damage, wear and tear that the Team Smithereen stunt puppets endure on a daily basis.

Team Smithereen: Buckets O' Goo

In Team Smithereen, the new stunt puppet show from Dan Clark/Wildbrain/Jetix Eruope, every stunt attempted by the puppets goes terribly wrong. Because of the viceral nature of the puppet kills, prop masters/production designers Bandon Minton and Lisa Coto had to make buckets of icky, sticky, ewey, slimy, goo.

Smithereen Takes to the Streets

The new stunt puppet show from the Dan Clark Company/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe, Team Smithereen, stars a team of stunt puppets that attempt to execute outrageous and extreme stunts. Despite the shows comic premise and cartoon style, show creator Dan Clark wanted to give Team Smithereen a very visceral real world feel. To accomplish this, the Team Smithereen crew shot many of the puppet stunts on location.



In this location photo, taken in the streets of Los Angeles, Team Smithereen director of photography Ivan Corona sets up a dolly shot.



In this shot, Team Smithereen show creator and director Dan Clark discusses the stunt puppet's action with prop master/production designer Lisa Coto. Sitting in a remote control watermelon capable of traveling at freeway speeds, stunt puppet Whoop is ready for action.



Team Smithereen stunts always take a turn for the worst. In this shot Lisa Coto throws stunt puppet Whoop and his watermelon car from a two story building onto the streets of Los Anglels.

Stunt Puppet Preparation

Prepping for a puppet stunt on the new Dan Clark Company/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe stunt puppet show, Team Smithereen can be a big job. In this photo Team Smithereen prop master and production designer Lisa Coto covers the digital green screen stage in plastic, prepping for a particularly messy puppet stunt.

Team Smithereen Milk Blast

Team Smithereen, the new stunt puppet show from The Dan Clark Company/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe involves many unusual stunts. In this behind the scenes photo Team Smithereen, prop masters/production designers Lisa Coto and Brandon Minton aim a high powered air cannon filled with a milky viscus cellulose fluid at the team's umbrellas.

Smithereen Stunt Vehicle

This off road remote control car chaise capable of traveling 70 miles per hour was used to create a variety of Team Smithereen stunt vehicles, thanks to Brandon Minton and Lisa Coto in the innovative props department.