Puppeteer gives a glimpse of movie magic

Morgan Hay, crewmember of the new film "ParaNorman," visited Sisters Movie House last Saturday to present several puppets from the film, as well as answer questions from moviegoers.

The stop-motion picture uses a particular style of animation, adjusting a puppet's stance to create the illusion of movement.

"Over 300 people were involved with making this movie over the course of two years," said Hay, who is the son of Sisters' former economic development manager Mac Hay. "All of it is physically done. People just make it happen."

Hay worked as the rapid- prototyping lead, where he was in charge of making faces for puppets and more, such as adjusting movement between frames.

The audience at the movie theater was excited to get a glimpse of movie magic.

While children posed the five puppets - including the titular character Norman and some zombiefied ghouls - in all sorts of ways, parents asked Hay questions concerning everything from lighting techniques to the number of frames in a scene.

Lori Schallich, mother of two kids attending the Q&A, said, "We were fortunate to know he was coming here. Seeing how you make this movie really opened my son's eyes to the patience it takes."

Hay was equally thrilled to be in Sisters.

"It's great to see the movie with a live audience and hear their genuine reactions. I just find it incredible! I like helping people learn about how the movie works," he said.

Sisters is one of only seven venues to have the handmade cast as guests. "[The production company] Laika is very particular with where these puppets go," said Hay. With cities such as Paris, Berlin and New York City on the travel list for the puppets, Sisters is the only small town visited by the ParaNorman creators.

"Laika is small-town important, and coming out to Sisters got us very excited. It means a lot," said Hay. "We want to share our Oregon pride, since if we made this movie anywhere else it would have been a completely different film."

Lisa Clausen, theater owner, expressed her happiness to have such esteemed visitors at the theater. "It's just the most fun I've ever had. It's such an honor to have Morgan here with the puppets and I hope Sisters realizes that."

Hay will be back to work on a new film in just three-and-a-half weeks.

"I can't wait to come back to Sisters with whatever new puppets we have," he said, "There's no doubt about it."