amylewis

[amylewis]

*Day 11- TUESDAY 10/5/2022*

CALKING THE BRICK SEAMS AND HOLES

Me and Irene (a scenic)  took on the job of calking the walls holes and seams. Previously I have no experience in using a calking gun or grab adhesive. Irene showed me how to load and take care of the equipment as well as how the process works which was super helpful.

Overall I found the experience relaxing despite some holed which were hard to fill since the brick work was not secured enough and was pealing away, but to over come this problem I would just use a staple gun to just quickly secure it back. One of the main tricks from this process I learnt was to keep a bucket of water to wet my finger to clear of excess which helped give a smooth clean finish.

Honestly it took me a while to get used to using the gun and the pressure needed on the trigger, therefore I was slightly slower than Irene. But at the end of it she did applaud me for how Id improved on time wise and how clean/ tidy of a job I had done which was great feedback to hear.

I really enjoy the variety of practical skills I am learning here at work shop and I love how its making me my skills more well rounded, and overall contributing towards making me the professional I want to become by the time I graduate.

BEFORE 

AFTER 

[amylewis]

28/5/2021- Dying samples for the boiler suits. Here are some pictures of some samples (I noted down the combination and quantities of dyes in a note book). I primarily used were buttercup yellow, lemon yellow, mid brown and terracotta. We were trying to achieve the light beige in the picture shown above of the artists work. In the end the perfect combination for the dye in a large mix is 1 tea spoon of mid brown and 1/2 tea spoon of buttercup yellow. Which is shown in the picture below the first was dipped for 3 seconds and the bottom one was dipped for 7 seconds.

[amylewis]

31/5/2021- Here are some other sketches and notes I forgot to include previously on potential designs for puppeteering a large puppet.

[amylewis]

27/5/2021- Here’s a quick mock up sketch of the arms and legs. Despite liking the proportions I would like to go back and redraw the legs and arms as they are currently too realistic and I would like them more stylised. Here’s a couple of inspiration pictures I will look at while redrawing these...

What I like about these is the long slender arms and legs with few details. Move however would not be made from wood as it would be too heavy.

[amylewis]

27/5/2021- Here’s the fully assembled body of the canary head man, I am very happy with how it has come out. However I do want to go in with a heat gun and shape the waist slightly in one place. Overall I am very happy with its durability and how lightweight it is.

My next steps is to explore what arms and legs the puppet is having before adding a frame work inside this body.

[amylewis]

27/5/2021- Beginning on the body. Since we all agreed in our design sign off that the shape and simplicity of the canary head maquette was lovely as it was I’ve gone ahead and I’ve taken a pattern. Using tissue paper and packing tape I have achieved the pattern up above, despite not having pictures I also with Jess flattened the pieces mostly using curved darts which where very effective.

My next steps now is to cut out the pieces in plaster-zone and evo-stick them together.

[amylewis]

26/5/2021- Here’s a video displaying further development of the canary mechanism. Since my last update I have added a handle, springs on the sides and eyelets to redirect the threads.

•The handle. The handle was added to get a better sense of how the direction the threads would run to a trigger if the canary was attached to a rod or inside the respirator. The handle would also be easy to conceal within the canary’s tail feathers.

•The springs. I attached the springs to the centre of the frame on the side and the centre of the pivoting block. Despite the springs doing their job and preventing the block from over rotating they are pretty stiff which makes the mechanism pretty clunky. I would like to look at mounting the blocks on springs on their own without the nails and see whether I can achieve a simplified flapping movement. If I add springs as well I need to add a washer to stop the springs coming lose.

•The threads. I have directed the threads using eyelets that take the pressure off the thread when pulled. The black thread controls the flapping and the white controls the open and close. The main issue is the threads do not work at the same time since when one is pulled it jams the other. This needs to be relooked at the most with the mechanism. I tied washers to the ends of the threads as I’m looking at a potential detachable mechanism where the canary can detach from the rod and be put int the head. Where I could use these washers to hook onto the different triggers.

Overall despite being happy with the mechanism I need to revisit the whole design and look at simplifying it down since it does not really need such a complicated mechanism. It’s also relatively clunky therefore simplifying it down might give it a more floaty soft feel. I also need to go back to my group and Lucy and have a discussion on how this mechanism would work within the performance.

[amylewis]

26/5/2021- Here’s the structure I have created to achieve an up and down flapping movement . Both blocks of wood with the wing mechanisms are nailed on either side and holes have been drilled in the side of the case for the nails to rest in. For now the nails keep falling out however I will add supper glue once I have stopped making adjustments for a more permanent fix.

The main issue at this moment is the wings over rotating with no way for it to return to resting as there’s nothing stoping it. (As shown in the end of the clip) The way the threads run down in line with the centre there is not much friction in this movement. (as this is the direction of the pull) However this might change as I redirect the thread to suit the puppet or from other factors that may occur while developing the puppet. This may make the thread resting against wood becoming an issue.

My next steps tomorrow is to either look at adding a stop or a spring to fix the problem of it over rotating.

[amylewis]

25/5/2021- Here’s my second attempt of a opening wing mechanism using screws, bolts, wood, polypropylene, spring and upholstery thread.

In the first 2 pictures I kept adjusting where the thread rested and was tied to. One problem was the thread attached to the wing was too close to the pivot point therefore was hard to pull so I moved it further out which worked a lot better. Next the thread running through the wood had too much friction making it too hard to pull. One solution could have been to add a small pipe or straw in the hole to reduce friction. However I decided the thread should travel up and through an eyelet and wrapped the thread to a bolt as shown in the video for even more leverage.

Adding the spring and the stop worked perfectly to stop the wing locking and having the wing return back to its normal positing. I could potentially play with having a more slack spring so that the wing doesn’t shoot back to its normal position but more gradual.

My next step it to develop a frame for the wings to sit in and pivot.

[amylewis]

25/5/2021- Here’s a quick card maquette of a wing mechanisms for opening and closing. As shown in the video the wings open once the string is pulled through the middle . Since I had a small bit of kapa as the base I was able to play around with the placement of the pins until they opened to where I wanted. I am very happy with the proportions of the wings however the nearest bit of card attached by the red pins should be slightly longer and pined further up.

One issue is the wings lock once opened fully therefore I need to add a stopper to avoid this happening. Another issue is they do not close therefore I need to add a spring to pull the wings back together. Since these only open and close I would like to experiment as doing the wings on a pivot to make them flap. Next I am planing on developing this out of plastic and wood.

[amylewis]

24/5/2021- Here’s some flying mechanisms I have looked at made by Marc and Jess. The fist one being Jesses where she created a wooden plate as a base and attached aluminium plates she’d shaped as a base for the wings to be built on. She uses a spring to pull the wings back together after the trigger is pulled. This simple mechanism accounts for the wings flapping as the space of the wings curved around the body therefore eliminated the need for the separate movement of them opening.

The last one is Marcs which uses a spring and gear mechanism. I love the floaty movement the gears create as the wings fall back down. These wings are controlled by a trigger attached to a rod. This allows the wings to be operated from a distance. The gears could be brought off Amazon or 3D printed. The middle bit of wire isn’t attached to the frame of the wings but is sewn into the fabric. This allows for even more of a floaty movement as the wire follows the movement of the flap and is not solid.

[amylewis]

24/5/2021- Here’s some notes and pictures I have looked at as inspiration for possible canary designs and mechanisms.

[amylewis]

24/5/2021- small experiment with different possible ways to cover plaster zone to achieve a finish.

First picture left to right...

1) Plaster-zone covered in gum-strip. This has achieved a solid finish since the moistened adhesive creates a complete bond. The gym strip can also withstand varying temperatures as it it is incredibly durable and therefore can withstand the cold and heat. Gum-strip is also eco friendly which is a bonus to consider. What interests me most about the gum-strip finish is the potential to draw on the surface of the limbs in charcoal and achieve the natural aesthetic of the artist.

2) Blue kapa covered in gum-strip. Here I covered this scrap kapa in gum strip as well to see how the gum strip would behave with different surfaces. This gave a same exterior finish however is even more solid than the plasters zone. This may be a disadvantage since there would be no flexibility in the limb and would make it more brittle and would snap if a high force is applied.

3) Plaster-zone covered in Calico strips. I wanted to quickly test the effectiveness and look of using fabric to create a textured surface. I also frayed the edges of the fabric to create further textures. I used a glue gun quickly to get a feel of the look of fabric, however I would use evo-stick in the real one in order to have a stronger finish. The fabric allows flexibility and softness in the plaster zone still which is and advantage and more durable. I do enjoy the texture however it does give a ‘mummy’ look to the puppet which is not representative of the artist or what we are looking to achieve as a group. Therefore I would not like to use this in my final work.

4) Plaster-zone covered in strips of leather. I love the finish this has given and the durability. This would also allow the puppet to survive in hot or cold weather and even if it got slightly wet. In order to cover limbs equivalent of the size of a 5 foot person this would require a lot of scrap leather. I also used the back of the leather to give a more rustic look rather than the smooth side. The colour of this leather in particularly gives a sense of grey coloured skin that has been toughened and darkened through years of working in the mines.

5) Plaster-zone covered in papier-mâché tissue paper. I really enjoy the papery thin look to this sample and how the plaster zone still shows in parts. The papier-mâché also represents the artists work as it gives that natural look and we’d be able to draw on top of the papier-mâché if we wanted. It is relatively strong, however I would be concerned if it rained during the performance.

[amylewis]

24/5/2021- Here are my notes from Marcs materials talk which I forgot to upload. They are very useful to refer to throughout the making process. 

[amylewis]

21/5/2021- Here’s a scale drawing of the canary Respirator puppet. The drawing is over 5 foot. I would like to keep these proportions. However we prefer the maquette long slim arms and shape of the body. So I would like to go back an revisit the design. Here I have drawn clothes on the puppet however I would like to look at leaving the puppet unclothed.

After viewing the artist work and we realised it was more colourful than we initially thought therefore I quickly added a wash of blue as the metal and we have decided that we like this touch of colour, which could be interesting to explore for the final design and incorporating into other puppets.

[amylewis]

21/5/2021- Here’s a potential moment drawing I sketched of the Canary respirator puppet holding a passed out canary in his hand and looking at it. This scene would provide the opportunity to get the canary in the respirator as the puppet could put it in himself. For this I would need to look at a way the respirator could open and close to allow this.

Going forward we need to have further discussions about how we are going to approach this scene. And how to blend this in with the flying canary.

[amylewis]

21/5/2021- For costume we have decided on these white boiler suits since boiler suits were originally made for wearing for work and still are. We are also looking into the idea of dressing the other 2 groups in white boiler suits as a part of our performance as well.

We prefer the boiler suits as in idea for a performance more than the shirts and trousers the artist clothes his characters in. We’re also planning on wearing these boiler suits throughout our making proses as a show of our labour to achieve the performance.

However we do plan on dyeing these boiler suits as the white is too harsh in contrast to the artists work. We would like to aim for some kind of beige or light brown just to take off the edge and not distract from the performance. (We need to speak to Karen about this)