What is the shadow in shadow play made of?

Shadow play is a traditional performing art form in China. It uses the change of light and shadow to express different story lines by placing hand-made shadow people on the back screen. So, how are these filmmakers tempered? Let's take a closer look.

Select materials

Filmmakers who make shadow play need to choose suitable materials first. Generally speaking, the commonly used materials are animal leather such as cowhide, sheepskin and deerskin. These leathers have the characteristics of softness, durability and good light transmittance, and are very suitable for making shadow people.

Make a shadow model

After choosing the leather, we will make a model of shadow people. This process needs experienced shadow play performers to complete. They will adopt different modeling methods according to different characters. Generally speaking, the shadow play model will be made of wood through cutting, cutting, filing and polishing.

Draw a shadow model with pigments.

After the shadow model is completed, it needs to be colored. Before painting, you need to draw the features of eyes, mouth and nose on the model for subsequent performances. The process of coloring also needs experienced craftsmen to complete. They will choose different colors and painting methods according to the different characteristics of different roles.

Cut the shadow model into a movie.

After the model is painted, it needs to be cut into a movie. This process needs to be very careful, because the size, shape and thickness of the film need to be strictly controlled to ensure the quality of the performance. Sharp knives, scissors and other tools are needed to cut the film, which is a great test for the craftsman's skills.

Complete shadow people.

Finally, stick the cut films together and you can finish filming. Filmmakers need to pay great attention to details in their production, because every detail will affect the performance. At the same time, we need to pay attention to the transparency of the film to ensure that the light can pass through the shadow people and produce a clear image effect.

In a word, making shadow play is a very complicated process, which requires craftsmen to have rich experience and skills. They need to choose suitable materials, make shadow models, paint them with colors, cut them into films, and finally complete the shadow people. Through this process, we can produce excellent shadow puppeteers and let the audience experience more vivid artistic effects when watching the performance.