This past four weeks has seen a turning point. Midway through the month, we were able to head back to the studio to work! As you can imagine, there are lots of restrictions and limitations as to what this looks like exactly, but it has been such a positive change for me!
The first two weeks, honestly (predictable I know) were a bit of a blur. I was really struggling to stay motivated and productive amidst the continuing lockdown. I have spoken to a few people on the crew, both during that time and since, and it was really unifying to know I was not alone in that struggle. I did accomplish bits and pieces of work in this first two weeks, more moulds, more dressing dummies etc. I do enjoy the process of making dressing dummies as it requires skills from both the armature and casting areas, both of which I need to practice. In the first week I even managed to make a new and improved armature for my self portrait stop-motion puppet, and cast her a second time. She is working better, but I am still not 100% satisfied. And since that first week, once again she has sat untouched. I will finish her one day!
Also in this time, I began metal smithing classes with my friend and colleague Winona Hwang. Winona is a PA on Pinocchio and an incredibly talented artist, mainly specialising in metal smithing (you can see her work on her instagram @wnhsr). Every Saturday for the past three weeks, I have spent the morning with Winona in her metal smithing studio at Ninety Twenty, a shared artist space in NE Portland. It has been so fantastic to form this routine for a number of reasons. One: it is lovely to be in a different location, and ninety twenty is a beautiful space with a great atmosphere. Two: as I have been struggling with motivation, especially for self-driven projects, it has been wonderful to have someone to help guide me in learning new techniques. Three: learning new techniques! I love to learn, and metal smithing is something that will not only compliment my time with the armature department, but will be a great skill to have in general!
Our first session mainly comprised of Winona introducing me to all of the tools and their various functions. I would love to say I have retained all of it, but there will be time to revisit. I also had a go at hammering some copper on an anvil… the first time I have ever used an anvil for anything besides squashing Wylie Coyote (may have made that joke multiple times that day haha, such a Dad). Our second session was actually a little less focussed on metal smithing, and more on an interest Winona and I both wanted to explore, which is creating automata, little moving mechanical devices, the manual versions usually operated with a crank or something similar. Based on designs by Wolf Cat Workshop (@wolfcatworkshop on instagram) we had a great time creating these funny running automata! Our third session was focussed on soldering. I mentioned in a previous post that I had a little one on one session with our head of puppetry George Hayns (a few weeks ago now) where she showed me the basics of soldering, something I will need to know for my time with the armature department. Eager to gain more confidence in the process, I asked Winona to help, and yesterday she taught me how to do a butt joint, a T joint and a few others which I have forgotten the names of!
In week three of this month, we headed back in to the studio, with a heavily reduced capacity and lot’s of new safety policies and procedures. The week prior, the entire crew got tested for C19, quite an undertaking as you can imagine. In the clear, Zilla and I planned our re-entry. For anyone just tuning in, Mattzilla Duron is my wonderful friend, colleague and housemate. Zilla has been working in stop motion for over a decade, so as you can imagine has been an invaluable part of my experience here… he has been my main mentor for the duration of lockdown. There is a maximum capacity for how many of us can be in the space on any given day, so Zilla and I may be asked to work from home again if more people decide they want to come in (as we do have the means to). Masks or face shields are mandatory at all times, we maintain 6ft distance, except with co-habitants (like Zilla and myself) and they have put up new Plexiglass dividers between our desks etc. We also have an onsite nurse who checks us every morning before we enter the space. With all of these new safety measures (and a few more) I feel very confident being back at work.
For my emotional health… IT. HAS. BEEN. HUGE! During lock down, I was definitely aware of how my mental health was effected, and as it went on, I had to fight harder to keep myself on task. Being back in the studio and around more people, has been so wonderful. The change in location, the shake up in routine, the social aspect of it, not to mention the facilities! It has been great. I think everyone who has been coming in regularly has felt similarly and so the positive energy is very present. Zilla and I have been riding our bikes in every day, across the beautiful broadway bridge, and after seeing Skyler (the onsite nurse) we enter the building to hear sounds of chatter, and laughter and life! At lunch time, we all head out to a food truck area that has sprung up recently, and we sit in the sun and have our lunch together (maintaining social distance ofcourse). It has been such a positive change. Feels almost like normal… but not quite! We are all being very careful… lots of hand washing, sanitising… we also have to clean and sanitise all work stations after use… tools, light switches etc. Just to put people’s minds at ease (looking at you Mum).
But what have I been working on in the last two weeks amidst all of this joyfulness? Well. For the first couple of days, I will admit, I did have an underlying base level of anxiety about being back. Not only because of the virus, but also because, I had become so comfortable and familiar with the work space, tools etc in Zilla’s basement over the last three months, that being back in the studio was kind of jarring. Where are all the things? Also given that a lot of people have taken things home during lock down (and many are still working from home), there has been a certain amount of detective work required. My first day back, a little flustered with my anxiety, I noticed Winona was re folding all of the fabrics from the costume department, putting them in new vacuum sealed tubs and labelling them. The fabrics were already in tubs, but as the tubs will be sanitised at the end of each day, the costume team were concerned the chemicals would begin to effect the fabrics, so these new tubs were brought in to combat that. I needed a repetitive easy task to help take my mind off things and asked Winona if I could help. She happily obliged and it did calm me down.
On the second day back… I stayed home (there may have been a side-adventure with a neighbourhood cat here), and it gave me time to reflect. Fight or flight was starting to set in and there was part of me that wanted to just say that I would continue to work from home, and I knew everyone would respect that. But I knew that going back to the studio was the right move for me, emotionally, professionally… I have so much more access to different artists, tools, materials etc in the studio… I had to combat my anxiety. I made a commitment to myself that I would re-aquaint myself with the space, find my groove, and ask lots of questions. Now, I am happy to say, I feel very confident in the space and feel like I have a much stronger understanding of a lot of processes than I did pre-lockdown. It still blows my mind that I have spent longer working in Zilla’s basement than I have in the studio… Hopefully I will be able to tip the scale before I head home to Aus.
It is an interesting transition, because I have essentially been Zilla’s assistant for a few months, so still feel I naturally gravitate towards him for what I should be doing. I have been continuing with projects I was already underway with, more dressing dummies, casting background puppets in foam, cleaning out moulds etc. This has taken up the bulk of this past week and a half. It has also been very validating that a few different people on the crew have been asking me to do tasks for them. Now, it could be because I am the intern, and they know they can pass me things, but I choose to believe it is also that they have confidence in me, and trust that I will get the job done, and done well… or at the very least give it my PB!
Our Puppetry Production Manager Jennifer Hammontree has also given me a few new (and challenging) tasks to undertake which is exciting. Looking forward I will be making a new lighting stand in for one of the lead characters. A basic puppet that can stand in for lighting tests in place of the real puppet. This essentially means I need to build the puppet, in it’s entirety, undertaking every aspect of the process (minus sculpt and mould making). I will need to build a basic wire armature for it (including tie downs), cast it, paint it and costume it. It is a little daunting to be honest! But I am eager for the challenge and have the most amazing artists at my disposal to ask for guidance. I think paint is the area that worries me the most, as I have never been an amazing painter, and have never painted on silicone. But I know there are recipes for the colours, and I can ask for help from the paint team as I need it.
I am also building an armature for a minor character in the film, a task that George actually set me a few weeks ago, but until now we didn’t have the mould for this character, so I was not able to move forward with it. This armature will be a hybrid of sorts, a mix between a simple wire armature (which I have become fairly confident with) and a ball and socket armature. This armature will require some soldering, which is why I asked Winona to help me gain more confidence (as much as I know people in the studio will happily help me as well). One real challenge for the former, is the detective work (as mentioned earlier), tracking down all the bits and pieces I need to make it happen… which is proving quite challenging!
On the home front, I have been having weekly meetings with both Trash Puppets and The Puppetsmithery teams. The latter, developing a new show, version 2.0 of last years successful Puppet Jam! Look out for us in the Melbourne Festival of Puppetry and this years Melbourne Fringe (the latter of which I should be performing in, fingers crossed).
Oh and this coming week… drum roll please… is Trash Puppets 5th birthday! I can’t quite believe it to be honest! Very proud of how far we have come in those five years. Perhaps next weeks post will include some more gushing on that subject! Lots of heart emojis and recycling emojis!
And that my friends… will do for now. I will attempt to get back in to my habit of doing a weekly post, but no promises (talking to me here more than anything haha).
I hope you enjoy my ramblings and gain something from them. If you have any feedback or advice, or requests for things you want to hear more about, do let me know.
Till next time!