puppeteered
Worked the strings
Puppeteered is the past tense of puppeteer used as a verb, meaning to control or manipulate like a puppet.
The literal sense involves operating a puppet in performance: She puppeteered the marionette through the entire show.
More often figurative, suggesting someone is being controlled by hidden forces: The CEO was puppeteered by the board, a regime puppeteered from abroad.
Kept within limits
- manipulatedControlled through cunning
- orchestratedDeliberately arranged complex elements
- maneuveredMoved with calculated skill
- directedGave guidance or orders
guided · handled · operated · masterminded · influenced · steered · stage-managed · coordinated
String-controlled theatrical figure
- stringsThin flexible lines
- BunrakuJapanese puppet theater tradition
- shadow playBacklit silhouette storytelling
- performanceCarrying out a task
staged · Pinocchio · Jim Henson · articulated · wooden · animated · costumed · theatrical
Authorized substitute
- figureheadNominal leader, no authority
- stoogeEasily manipulated pawn
- pawnUnwitting tool of another
- front manPublic representative of group
mouthpiece · tool · instrument · agent · operative · regime · installed · backed
Recording movement for animation
- CGIDigital movie imagery
- animatedFull of life, or drawn moving
- avatarDigital user representation
- riggedFraudulently arranged beforehand
skeletal · keyframed · rendered · virtual · Gollum · animatronic · Andy Serkis · controller
controlled
Kept within limits
- manipulatedControlled through cunning
- orchestratedDeliberately arranged complex elements
- maneuveredMoved with calculated skill
directed · guided · handled · operated · masterminded · influenced · steered · stage-managed · coordinated · engineered
marionette
String-controlled theatrical figure
- stringsThin flexible lines
- BunrakuJapanese puppet theater tradition
- shadow playBacklit silhouette storytelling
performance · staged · Pinocchio · Jim Henson · articulated · wooden · animated · costumed · theatrical · backstage
proxy
Authorized substitute
- figureheadNominal leader, no authority
- stoogeEasily manipulated pawn
- pawnUnwitting tool of another
front man · mouthpiece · tool · instrument · agent · operative · regime · installed · backed · sponsored
motion capture
Recording movement for animation
rigged · skeletal · keyframed · rendered · virtual · Gollum · animatronic · Andy Serkis · controller · joystick
puppeteeredautonomous
Self-directed and free
self-directed · independent · self-determined · self-controlled · emancipated
puppeteeredspontaneous
Arising without external cause
genuine · authentic · voluntary · unprompted · natural