The Saga of Log: A tale told through weird prop-building

    Every so often I get a call or e-mail from my friend Steve Monosson. Steve among his many qualifications is an independent filmmaker with a wonderfully skewed view of the world. Whenever he contacts me out of the blue I just know he's going to ask me to make something strange and fun. Past projects include a four foot tall totem pole featuring a poodle and pistachios  and a lot of bark-themed accessories. I could explain it all, but It wouldn't make any more sense and would probably detract from the wonderful absurdity of it all. Instead, witness the epic tale of the galaxy's near brush with and improbable rescue from Almost Certain Intrusion!
Ladies and Gentlemen, I Give You Log vs The Space Intruders!

I made the puppet version of Log, the space station,(this was accomplished by hot gluing a lot of random stuff together and spray painting it silver) Outer Space, (in all it's tinfoil glory), and the flying saucer (which is, as you rightly guessed, a colander and pie pan glued together). I am absurdly proud of this film credit. It may be one of the favorite things I've ever done!

Log has appeared in several different incarnations over the years. Steve himself offers some insight into his chosen muse and creative process:

 "Someone asked me at a screening why I used a log and I replied that he "took directions easily", And you can quote me on that for all your props- there's no back talk, they're there when you need them, and no complaints about working overtime."

Log's Journey now continues. I hope I don't inadvertently write any spoilers. Sorry in advance, Steve!
Log, after his intergalactic triumph returns home to visit his estranged father in the "Old Oaks Home" (No, I did not write that one, though I very well might have!). I was asked to costume the two principle actors. I first went over to take their measurements. Steve snapped this shot of me doing so. Note the  fact that the actor has been pixelated to avoid revealing who plays one of the key roles. I won't spoil the surprise, but would just like to say that he was gracious and a total pro to work with.

 Log was to be attired in a military-style flight jacket. I made this out of an old pair of olive green slacks.

All these costumes were 100% Hand-sewn for the aesthetic reason that I don't own a sewing machine.

Note that the "Air Force" insignia is actually an acorn and two maple wings. I love throwing this sort of detail into my work. It's part of why I'm good at what I do, and why I'm particularly worrying to be around for nay length of time

Log's Regimental emblem would obviously be an Ivory-billed woodpecker

Log's Father (my suggestion that he be addressed as the Logfather was vetoed for some reason...) would be dressed in a tattered institutional bathrobe. I tried to convert an infant onesie for this purpose, but I couldn't conceal the adorable duckies and teddy bears well enough. I used a beach towel instead.

The reunion is apparently a very touching and emotional one. Log's father is brought to tears. I was asked to make a miniature syrup bucket and tap for that scene. The bucket is about 2 1/2 inches tall. It took me four or five attempts to get it right. I used aluminum flashing, galvanized wire and a small piece of dowel. The aged patina was done by several layers of paint and sandpaper.

The tap itself is mounted on an eye-hook so that it can be attached for the scene (Log's father is a method actor).

Steve sent me this image to let me know my work had arrived safe and sound

...And this one to let me know I had some more work to do!

Thinking Small

      On the backpacker circuit, puppeteers have a problem that no other performer seems to encounter, to whit: no obvious means of showing  off.
      In any random group of international travelers, there tends to be a large number of creative open minded people, exactly the sort of people who it is fun to compare notes and possibly collaborate with. The kind of people most likely to be favorably impressed by my odd career choice. The fact that many of them are attractive young women is entirely coincidental. The trouble starts when it comes time to actually show what you can do. The chances of anyone having a good usable puppet with them are extraordinarily slim. Musicians never have this problem. Someone always has a guitar. Jugglers usually come fully equipped. Actors, dancers and vocalists never even have to think about it.
      The practical result is that either you have to explain as best you can and  leave everything up to the imagination, or spend a great deal of your time abroad frantically sourcing materials and hurriedly attempting to build a shadow show. Time, I hasten to point out that could better and more constructively used for drinking rum in a hammock.

    The problem is further compounded by the fact that my natural tendency as a puppeteer is towards grandiose theatrical  ideas best executed on a full sized stage. I want to build the next "Lion King" or "War Horse". This is terribly difficult to do without financial backing. Instances of Broadway producers stepping forward to offer me large production budgets have been rare. Casual observers have commented on how frequently this doesn't happen to me. My natural inclination for working large also has the unintended side effect of needing to find storage in my apartment for stuff like this:

Minotaur 1999-2000. Mixed media.

As an intellectual exercise, I've decided to change gears and deliberately design and build a series of smaller puppets that could neatly fit into any given carry on bag. For my first piece I thought I would build a rod puppet that could be manipulated by one hand with finger rings. Here is the system I originally designed. It worked, but I found for practical purposes, it limited the range of motion the puppet was capable of. I changed to simple rods in the final version.

The puppet was carved out of maple. Maple while beautifully grained is ordinarily a wood that I'd consider too heavy and dense for puppet building. One of the advantages to my size limitations is that weight became much less of an issue. I was therefore able to use an attractive piece of maple that I had on hand. Here are the blocks that I used.

....And here is the finished product! He is finished with coffee(one of my favorite wood finishes! more on that later) and jointed with leather. His ears, paws,eyelids and tail are also leather. the eyes are polymer clay with a high gloss finish.

       
 As a special added bonus, here is a minute of test footage that is now up on Youtube! :

This was a fun exercise. I like how it turned out. I may have to do more small scale work.