In July 2017, I participated in the Detroit 48 Hour Film Project; making a short film in a very short time. Teams aren't able to do much work in advance, however, I was allowed to build generic puppets, which I would be able to customize quickly once the script was locked. Puppets are unusual actors. If you're syncing to a prerecorded voice track, you never have to worry about forgotten lines, which was a real advantage on a tight deadline. And they won't do anything on their own, besides succumbing to gravity. (Although their lack of self-movement is sometimes also a drawback.)