That's a Wrap

After months of tireless work and long hours, principal photograpy of Team Smithereen, the new stunt puppet show from Dan Clark/W!ldbrain/Jetix Europe has wrapped. These photos are from the last day of shooting.

New Dan Clark Company Logo

Dan Clark and the Team Smithereen crew just shot a new logo for the Dan Clark Company, producer of the new stunt puppet show Team Smithereen. The little puppets were made by puppeteer Russ Walko and performed by Russ Walko, Patrick Johnson, Sean Johnson, and Brandon Minton.

Team Smithereen Model

Most of live action background plates for Team Smithereen, the new stunt puppet show from Dan Clark/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe, were shot on location. The game show episode called for a more fanciful environment, so the prop department designed and built a model set. Director of photography, Ivan Corona shot the model from all angles, so the CG team could place the puppets seamlessly into the new environment.

Puppets on Television

Puppeteers use monitors on puppet video shoots, so that they can watch their performance. In this photo from the set of Team Smithereen, the new stunt puppet show from Dan Clark/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe, director of photography, Ivan Corona checks a shot of Stunt Pig in the monitor.

Lighting Team Smithereen

Many of the shots in Team Smithereen, the new stunt puppet show from Dan Clark/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe, are shot against a green screen so director of photography Ivan Corona must light each set-up to match a live action background plate or a specific background image. In this photo from the set, Team Smithereen puppeteers Brian Clark and Russ Walko perform stunt pig in his special lighting.

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.

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.

Team Smithereen Water Puppets

Although the new Dan Clark Company/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe stunt puppet show Team Smithereen employs digital green screen compositing, and sophisticated computer animation, the creative team behind Team Smithereen is dedicated to doing the puppet stunts practically.



For a swimming sequence, the crew submerged a large green screen in the pool at the Team Smithereen production house in the Hollywood hills. In this photo, director of photography, Ivan Corona shoots the puppet swimming with the Hi-Deff camera safely enclosed in an underwater camera bag. Team Smithereen puppet captian and puppeteer, Sean Johnson wears a green screen suite, and performs stunt puppet Thrill Kat diving into the pool.



In this shot, Team Smithereen director of photography Ivan Corona reviews the last take, and puppet captain and puppeteer, Sean Johnson poses with Team Smithereen stunt puppet, Thrill Kat.



Television puppetry requires the use of a monitor, so that the puppeteers can see what they are doing. The Team Smithereen underwater stunt sequence made the use of a monitor impossible so every shot needed to be checked immediately to make sure the performances were spot on. In this shot, Team Smithereen director of photography Ivan Corona, puppeteers and puppet captains, Sean and Patrick Johnson, camera assist Marleen Schlawin, and Team Smithereen show creator and director, Dan Clark review the last underwater take.