From June 10 to 21, 2024, Gabriel·le Tran [student member, UQAM] participated in a residency at Hexagram-UQAM’s Experimental Studio to develop Masculin·e, an electronic puppet theater piece. Accompanied by performers Stéphanie Arav, Luca Max, Mikaël Morin, and Noël Vézina, Gabriel·le unveiled their electronic puppet system, which has been in development for three years, during a demonstration-conference. This DEMO recounts the events of the residency and the journey leading up to the demonstration.
Masculin·e: A Play on Gender Identity
Masculin·e is a theatrical creation that lies at the intersection of puppet theater, animation, and digital creation. It tells the story of Mathieu, a young adult in the midst of an identity crisis, exploring his relationship with hegemonic masculinity and the key moments in his life that shaped his identity. The play also follows Roxanne, a manifestation of one of Mathieu’s identity facets, freed from her physical form. Through puppet manipulation and video projection, their parallel stories unfold until they eventually converge.
The themes of identity, transformation, and duality are central to Masculin·e, encouraging the audience to reflect on their own perceptions of masculinity. At the heart of the project is an electronic puppet system capable of capturing the puppeteers’ performances in real-time. This technology, specifically developed to tell this story, allows the puppet’s movements to be mirrored through video projection. By blending traditional puppetry techniques with new technologies, Masculin·e brings its world to life and delves deeply into the psyches of its characters.
Electronic Puppetry as a Theatrical Forma
Before starting my master’s, I had spent several years exploring digital puppetry by using virtual reality technologies to animate digital avatars. Over six years, I developed various techniques for manipulating digital puppets and tools to bring them to life on stage.
However, I struggled to find a mode of representation that preserved what I love about live arts: its ephemerality, the collective experience, and the tangible space. The puppetry performance was only accessible through a screen—whether by video projection, a tablet, smartphone, or virtual reality glasses. Because of this, I never fully integrated the tools I had developed into a theatrical form.
When I began my master’s, I wanted to create a show primarily intended for the stage, and then integrate the expertise I had gained from my research on virtual puppetry. That’s when the idea of creating an electronic puppet came to me—a tangible (non-virtual) puppet capable of transmitting its movements to control a virtual avatar. I began experimenting with a 3D printer and electronic components to bring this idea to life.
Mechanical Considerations
The main challenge was creating a joint that moves freely enough not to hinder manipulation while maintaining a high degree of precision in sensor readings.
My first prototype used a potentiometer, which was inadequate because the resistance was too strong, making manipulation difficult. I then discovered magnetic encoders, which can read rotational movement without contact, thus avoiding additional friction. These encoders detect the rotation of a diametrically magnetized magnet. All I needed to do was attach a magnet to one part of the joint and the sensor to the other part.
This was the first of many technical challenges that had to be overcome in creating an electronic puppet. Despite my experience with virtual puppetry, I had no background in puppet fabrication, mechanical design, electronics, or embedded programming.
The circuitry of my first prototype was entirely exposed. Not only was the puppet difficult to manipulate, but it was also extremely fragile and hard to repair. If I wanted to place it in the hands of puppeteer-performers, I needed to redesign it to be simpler to handle, less fragile, and easily repairable in case of damage, ensuring smooth rehearsals.
I also decided to conceal the electronics entirely within the puppet. This not only protected the wires and components but also avoided an automatic association with a technological device. By doing so, the puppet could perform its role without revealing its electronic nature. I wanted Masculin·e to be primarily a theatrical puppet creation, where the technological aspect served as a narrative tool rather than being the centerpiece of the performance.
Final Prototype
After three more prototypes, I arrived at the version that would be used during the conference demonstration at Hexagram-UQAM’s Experimental Studio. It features 27 degrees of movement, custom sensors, a rechargeable battery, and a Wi-Fi-compatible microcontroller. Each of its movements is transmitted with a high degree of precision, completely wirelessly, and with a relatively low latency level.
Creating the puppet was just one aspect of the project. I also needed to consider the firmware, data processing, video creation, scriptwriting, and directing. At the beginning of the residency, on June 10, 2024, I had only completed the fabrication. The firmware had several bugs, which delayed the scriptwriting and video creation. The presentation was scheduled for June 17, 2024. Time was tight.
Video creation was another important dimension of my project. The first few days of the residency were primarily devoted to processing performance capture data. My goal was not to achieve a perfect result but to ensure that the animation of the avatar was convincing enough for the audience to connect emotionally with the character.
If the movements of the body and face are not sufficiently human-like, it risks creating an uncanny effect that detracts from the story rather than supporting it. Special care was put into animating the face to capture the subtleties of the performer’s (Stéphanie Arav) performance.
In addition to processing the data, we began rehearsals with the puppet from day one. The first two days were focused on exploring a range of possible movements for the puppet and developing the character’s personality through them. On the third day, we staged the three short segments to be integrated into the conference demonstration.
Gender Performance
The character of Mathieu presents himself to the audience as a guy, “obviously” (in his words). He reveals to the public how each of his gestures is rehearsed, emphasizing that his gender performance is both conscious and constant. He feels distinct from other boys in this sense, as they do not seem concerned with the challenge of blending in and behaving like everybody else.
It is then that the character of Roxanne appears on screen. She addresses the audience directly, expressing her wish to be invisible and for her words to matter to no one but herself. Yet, standing on stage before an audience, she knows this is impossible.
In both performance and academic contexts, merely expressing oneself is not enough to meet others’ expectations. Nonetheless, the desire remains. Nonetheless, the desire remains. The desire to speak freely without the pressure of being listened to or the fear of being judged.
To be.
Simply to be.
Mathieu’s body comes to life, and so does Roxanne’s. They move in perfect synchronicity. They begin to float. The weight of their bodies no longer matters. For a moment, they are exactly who they want to be.
Gabriel·le Tran is an interdisciplinary artist working in the field of performing and digital arts. Their practice focuses on developing new narrative strategies using digital arts in theatrical creation. They specialize in creating custom tools in response to narrative needs. Their interests and skills are diverse, and they are always eager to learn new creative techniques.
Their creative arsenal includes immersive technologies, 3D printing, puppetry, motion capture, video design, sound design, artificial intelligence, and programming. In 2021, they began a Masters in Research-Creation at UQAM’s École des médias under the supervision of Sofian Audry and Dinaïg Stall. Their research centred on exploring the narrative possibilities arising from the synchronous movement between a puppet and a digital avatar.
