Behind the scenes magic as Jacob Graham works with Tom. Photo courtesy of Jacob Graham
The Creatures of Yes touch water for the first time. You won’t believe what happens next. Video courtesy of Jacob GrahamBy the time the 20-second opening theme to any Creatures of Yes video winds down, viewers are transported to a time long gone. With inspiration from 1970s children’s programming and public access, Creatures combines vintage equipment (no faux-filters here) with handmade puppetry to create a funny, quiet, lived-in world. The videos are the brainchild of Jacob Graham (co-founder of the band The Drums), who called in while on the road touring with Sound of Ceres (he’s their visuals guy, and helped out on the album). “I have a long history with puppetry,” Graham explains. “Straight out of high school I started working at Walt Disney World as a puppeteer. Around 2005 I was invited to go to Sesame Street to do a puppeteer training workshop for a while. And while I was there they taught me the classic Sesame Street style of monitor puppetry for television.”Say hello to Tom, a nervous little fellow. Video courtesy of Jacob GrahamSo, why give his puppet show such a vintage feel? Graham says, “I wanted it to be this time travel experiment. So I started buying old cameras from the ‘70s, old cathode ray tube cameras to give it that look. I started buying these old broadcast 2D processors to get it as authentic as possible.” In the end, Graham hopes to merge modern sensibilities with a classic feel. “The idea behind the whole thing is to create a show that has that old, familiar feel to it, but to have the humor be more modern, and more snappy. And also not immediate, to not have jokey jokes, but to have the humor be more subdued and a little more left of field.” Check out more of The Creatures of Yes below:Come On! Say yes to the Creatures of Yes. Video courtesy Jacob GrahamCatch up on the videos at the Creatures of Yes YouTube channel.Related:We Spoke To The Puppet Master Behind The Dark Crystal And LabyrinthMissy Elliot and Pharrell's "WTF" Puppeteers Talk Pulling the StringsCheck Out Wael Shawky's Ancient Puppets at MoMA PS1 This
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