puppets

Riding the giant elephant

Elephant

I’ve been fascinated by the huge puppets instigated by Royal de Luxe for several years now, so while we were in France we went to Nantes to ride their huge sister elephant at Les Machines de I’ile, and to see all the other wonderful semi-fantasy creatures in their emerging menagerie. It was wonderful – if you get a chance, go!

Revitalizing the old shipyards on I’ile de Nantes, Les Machines de I’ile really is a glorious and grand folly in the best sense of the word, flights of fancy made real. We rounded the corner of the building and there was the elephant, absolutely enormous – it’s 12 metres high! – gently swinging its trunk and wafting its ears, and blinking, as it waited to take it’s next walk around the docklands.  From upstairs above the workshops, at the same level as the elephant’s head, we could see the construction and carving close up, and get some idea of the massive mechanics that make it able to move.

Head detail

Our ride boarded via airplane steps further along the route, and we climbed up to the balcony built into the elephants’ side. The doors into its tummy are decorated with curly turrets and carved animal heads. Inside there is a spiral staircase up to the platform on top, where passengers can look out in all directions, try to work out the mechs in the neck and ears, adopt Titanic-like poses at the front, and waggle the elephant’s tail at the back via a lever that pulls a cable connecting all the segments of the tail! Every now and then the elephant trumpets, and if you are lucky you can operate that from inside it’s belly. I rather suspect they like to keep how it is done a secret, but it’s hands-on and not hi-tech! More often the trunk whooshes steam and water.

The promenade is satisfyingly long – 45 minutes, and it didn’t matter at all to me that perambulating along at 1/4 km per hour you don’t actually cover much distance.

After our ride, we walked out along the steel pole and wood paneling branches that are a prototype for the enormous heron tree that is planned. Hanging along each branch are boxes of plants, the idea being that in time they will provide the greenery of the tree. Extensive research has gone into finding the right kinds of plants, since they have to survive on little water, and in quite an exposed position.

Prototype branch, Tree of Herons

The various models of the whole tree are amazing masses of wire and wood!

Tree of herons model

I’ve previously posted about the various ride-on creatures that are being built for the emerging Marine Worlds Gallery, and there are lots of photos of them now at Flickr. Since then the Giant Crab, the Bus of the Abyss, and the Storm Boat have been added, and there are some photos of those in my Flickr set.

The Giant Crab

Outside the workshops is a small carousel roundabout, also with wonderfully unusual creatures to ride – my favourite was a rearing stag beetle. I have lots of photos of these, too, but I think they can wait till another day.

Matchstick puppets!

matchpuppets1

Lea Redmond’s Leafcutter Designs conceptual art projects, which tend to the miniature and whimsical, include matchbox theatre kits with teeny tiny matchstick puppets!


Kenny Koala

Kenny Koala

Kenny Koala

Constable Kenny Koala has been working out over summer and is looking like a new koala! Do you like his spiffy new jacket and cap? Kenny is a much loved community liason officer with the Australian Federal Police, and has been educating children in Canberra on a range of crime prevention and child safety messages for the last 25 years or more.

3D Illustration

rednose

Chris Sickels at Red Nose Studio makes real figures and scenarios that are then photographed to produce cool 3D illustrations for papers, magazines and books.  The 3D illustration above is his cover for Cory Doctorow’s  story The Things That Make Me Weak and Strange Get Engineered Away. Before seeing this I had thought of 3D illustration as more a virtual rendering process.  In this real form it is closely, and interestingly, allied to my work making puppets and props. I recently had a picture of my 3D fail whale published as an illustration in the Japanese computer magazine WEB+DB PRESS. I suppose that is fairly close – the only difference is in your intention when you start making an object?

(via @LolaLulu)

Where the Wild Things Are!

Here are some first glimpses of the Wild Things from Spike Jonze’s film adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are. They feature on a limited series of skateboards made by the company that Jonze co-founded, Girl Skateboards Company.  In a previous post there is a link to an article about the making of the creatures, and their filming on the Mornington Peninsular in Victoria.

(via Puppets in Melbourne, PuppetVision and /film)

New Monster Workshop arrivals

Remember the Monster Workshop puppets made by Paul Vincett, a 3D illustrator and puppet maker? Check out the cool new arrivals in the Monster Workshop adoption Store, and Paul’s new blog. Or maybe you will join the monster rug trend? ;)

Another advance in lifelike CGI

This woman is a computer generated animation by Image Metrics. Pretty amazing. Though I do wonder if being able to reproduce a real person like this is a good use of time and resources? The Times Online has more details. The makers say 90% of the work is in convincing people that the eyes are real, lending even more weight to what puppet makers and lovers know about the eyes being the window to the soul.

Previously: Uncanny Valley

Pacific School Games bunyip mascot

Pacific School Games bunyip mascot

The Pacific School Games will be held in Canberra this year, from 30 Nov to 6 Dec. About 5000 primary and secondary school students from Australia and Pacific countries will be competing. I made their mascot, a bunyip, which was launched a few weeks ago. Here is a photoset of the making process. I like the way its tail waggles the best: