No problem at all, 

How did you first get into theatre work?

I just kind of fell into it, or rather had a series of falls into it! 

I'd always enjoyed theatre, my mum used to take me to see a lot of musicals as a child (I think I saw blood brothers about 18 times in 3 years!) and as I grew that interest moved a lot more towards theatre. That led to me studying it at school and then at A Level, where I had this teacher who would always tell me that if I wanted to work in theatre then "the best you could do would be a drama teacher!", so I went off to do a BA in Drama Studies and ended up training to become a teacher! so I taught for a couple of years when my grandma got ill and I decided to stop teaching and care for her, that wasnt a fulltime job though so took those teaching skills and ended up volunteering at Theatre Royal Winchester, where I started working as a director (mainly in youth theatre at that stage). 

I was earning no money but took myself very seriously, and then one day a friend called me up and said he was doing music for a show and that their designer had dropped out on them, hed told them that I was an incredible designer and that if I came in I could get £100 for two days work (which was a HUGE amount of money for me at the time!) but on the condition that I pretend to be an experienced designer. So thats what I did! and on the first day it was like something clicked, it suddenly made sense that all the crafts and art and skills and interests I had fit perfectly for this job. After that I went off and trained to become a designer at Bristol Old Vic and then my career started! 

sorry that was a bit of a long answer, but yeah, it was never really the plan, I just kind of fell into it!

What lead you to pursue a career in puppetry and props?

So again, it was kind of a cumulation of things, as a child I spent a lot of time at my Dads office, he was a childs therapist and a lot of his work was arts therapy, there were huge vats of paper mache around and I was a bit of a sci fi nerd, so I just spent years making klingon masks and fairies and all sorts. My entire childhood was just pva glue and paper! it was all I did and all I wanted to do!

When I was at university I was really lucky to have this incredible theatre company in the year above me, The River People, who made these incredible, folky, dark, musical, puppet filled shows, I instantly fell in love with everything they did. I never really thought about puppetry before then, but it became so central to everything I did after that for years, just trying to copy a little of what they did!

When I finally went to do my formal training, I think a large part of it was me trying to move away from puppetry a little bit, but in the first term there I really struggled, I just couldn't communicate my ideas effectively, when a visiting lecturer, the amazing Michael Vale, suggested that rather than trying to sketch or write my designs, I sculpt and make puppets from them, now its so central to my work again, even if I'm doing a show without puppets, I'll have made about 6 just for me to get my head around a character or a script.

 I'm a designer-maker, I like to make and I like to play, so I need my toys!

Why did you chose to specialise in cardboard?

I'd love to say that it was because of its climate credentials or that its such an everyman material that I'm trying to show that anyone can do it, but the reality is that I started with it because I was poor and I couldn't afford anything better! The reason I've stuck with it does of course fo a lot further than that, but it really began because I had my kids and I wanted for them to have all the things I couldnt afford to give them, we had just moved into a tiny two bed flat and we had all these moving boxes, so I made them a boat, and then a car and a castle and so it went. 

It was years later that I started using it for work and found it served a lot of the ways I wanted to work, it allows you to take risks, its free and readily available, if you make a bad puppet with it you just chuck it in the recycling and move on. Its climate friendly, which is very important to me, thats the way the industry is going and its how we should all be working. Its quick and easy to use, I used to love doing improvisations when I was a drama student, you dont really get to do that as a designer or maker, cardboard gets you pretty quick though, the way I like to work is to sit in the corner of the rehearsal room and make along with the action, with cardboard you dont need long drying paints or glue, just cut out a shape, throw on a bit of tape and you can start trying an idea out then and there. It also really is an everyman material! you make something amazing with a cardboard box and someone else feels like they can do it to, I dunno, I find that very empowering, showing people the wonders you can make or do with a bit of care and a bit of trash!

I dunno, for me cardboard is about two things, its about play, its about those mazes and planes and cars we all made when we were kids, that old maxim that the kids prefer to play with the box than the toy, and its about questions, its about protest and placards and holding up a sign that holds people to account. I like to think that those are the two things I'm about to, play and questions!

Hope that helps Kier, feel free to pop any other questions over if its of any help!

Thanks

Sam 

I began looking into the individual chapters but I kept hitting a dead end due to the limited amount of info in them and I found it harder still to try to extend the chapters so I would have more to work with, but unfortunately doing so did not help me create a well-structured idea. Instead, I decided to use the book as a reference to someone else’s idea of time, pushing me to think of my own theories that will later prompt my own ideas of time.

 

I chose to focus on the Past, Present & Future aspects of time, Following my lack of sufficient research on specific gods of time.

 

I intend to create my own Past, Present & Future gods, inspired by my Chinese heritage. I will produce three concept drawings, one for each god as well as, a full-sized costume to fit me, inspired by all three of them.

I’ll be using a multitude of different materials: silicone, plaster, latex & resin.

All things I was shown how to use during my work placement, all techniques are important to know when in the industry of prop making.

Being proficient in these techniques will make me more employable and will show how skilled and capable I am.

Week 5:

- Complete the drawings I have started for my previous idea, that the three gods all look completely different.

- Begin working on my sketches for my newly developed idea that the god all wear the same armour but each has subtle differences and details referring to the type of time they command.

- Start testing the silicone and getting to a point where I can start mass-producing the scales for my costume.

Easter Holiday Week 1:

- Continue to work on my final concept drawings for my gods, doing my best to improve my drawing skills in the process.

- Begin sculpting the armour piece using my finished drawings as my reference images.

Easter Holiday Week 2:

- Continue to sculpt from my drawings.

- Start to make moulds of my sculptures to begin casting in them for my final pieces.

- Buy or make under clothing dependent on time constraints.

Week 6:

- Have finished sculpting.

- Focusing fully on creating moulds of all my pieces.

Week 7:

- Have all my armour pieces cast and ready to be fitted.

- Saw together the scale plates.

- Cut and back everything with leather.

Week 8:

- Make sure all the pieces fit as they should.

- Make inner alterations if necessary.

Week 9:

-Take final photos of my finished piece.

Making sure it's ready to be presented. 

Bat (蝙蝠 - biānfú) - longevity, happiness, good luck (the Chinese word for bat, "蝠" (fú) is homophonous with the word for good fortune, "福" (fú)

Bear (熊 - xióng), panda (熊猫 - xióngmāo) - man 

Bee (蜜蜂 - mì fēng) - industry, industrious

Birds (t:鳥; s:鸟 - niǎo) - associated with the sun (t: 金烏; s: 金乌; pinyin: jīn wū); served as family emblem in ancient China, associated with allegorical folk tales

Bixie (避邪 - bìxié) - mythological winged lion with two horns, that keeps evil at bay (see also Tianlu).

Butterfly (蝴蝶 - húdié) - long life, beauty and elegance

Cat (t:貓; s:猫 - māo) - disperses evil spirits (due to eye sight, also at night)

Crab (螃蟹 - pángxiè) - advantage/ benefit in business, prosperity, social status

Cicada (t: 蟬; s: 蝉 - chán) - eternal youth and happiness, immortality, life after death 

Cock (t: 公雞; s: 公鸡 - jī) - reliability, epitome of fidelity and punctuality, the rooster is also a symbol of advancement, the Chinese name for its crest is the same than that for official (guān)

Crane (t: 鶴: s: 鹤 - hè) - longevity (four colours: black, blue, white, yellow), next to the phoenix the second most important winged animal (note: spirits can ride on a crane)

Cricket (蟋蟀 - xīshuài) - fighting spirit

Crow, three leged (t: 金烏; s: 金乌; pinyin: jīn wū) - it is often thought to inhabit and represent the sun, the sun is sometimes depicted by the three legged bird (crow) on a red disc. (see also: Twelve Symbols of Sovereignty)

Deer (鹿 - lù) - wealth, long life (as the animal has, if not hunted down)

Dog (狗 - gǒu) - auspicious animal, upcomming fortune, understanding human spirit, obeying the superior

poodle (especially black)- more fortune

Dog is one of the animals of the Chinese Zodiac.

Dove (t: 鴿; s: 鸽 - gē) - fidelity, fecundity

Dragon (t: 龍; s: 龙 - lóng) - male vigour, fertility, ultimate abundance, prosperity, good fortune, also the symbol for the Emperor, divine mystical creature, symbol of the natural world, adaptability and transformation.

Pair of dragons - eternity, yin - yang

Dragon and phoenix - husband and wife, also symbol for Emperor and Empress, animal and bird kingdoms = entire natural world, Taoism.

Duck (t: 鴨: s: 鸭; pinyin: yā) - married bliss 

duck in reed - wishing for positive examination results

Eagle (t: 鷹: s: 鹰; pinyin: yīng) - strength 

eagle, on a rock in the sea - hero

Elephant (大象 - dàxiàng) - strength, astuteness 

elephant, being ridden - happiness 

Fenghuang (t: 鳳凰; s: 凤凰 - Fèng Huáng) - mythological Chinese birds, oftern translated as ‘Chinese phoenix’, also called the "August Rooster", the Rooster in the Chinese Zodiac, see phoenix and rooster 

Fish (t: 魚; s: 鱼 - yú) - surplus (余, yú), abundance, wealth (the fish is one of the "Eight Buddhist symbols of good fortune") 

Goose (t: 鵝; s:鹅; pinyin; é) - delivery of matrimonial messenges, married bliss, resourcefulness

Grasshopper (蚱蜢 - zhàměng) - nobility, wisdom 

Heron (苍鹭 - cānglù) with lotus flowers - wishing for positive future, success in ones doing 

Horse (t: 馬; s: 马; Pinyin: mǎ) - speed and perseverance

Kingfisher (翡 - fěi) - peace, prosperity 

Leopard (豹 - bào) - bravery, martial ferocity 

Lion (t: 獅子; s: 狮子 - shīzi]) - holy being: strength, protection, valour, energy

see also: Imperial Guardian Lion, Liondance

Lobster (t: 龍蝦; s: 龙虾 - lóng xiā) - regeneration, resoluteness (similar to crab) 

Magpie/ bird (鵲, (鹊) - què) - attract joy connected with unity of people, stability, celebrations, happy occasions, great happiness

Mantis (螳螂 - tángláng) - mystery

Money Frog (蟾蜍 - chánchú)- the mythical money frog is one of the Chinese holy creatures that protects against misfortune and brings to household bigger enrichment in wealth.

Monkey (猴 - hóu) - driving away evil spirit.

Owl (猫头鹰 - māotóuyīng) - harbinger of death

Ox (牛 - niú) - springtime is near

Panda (熊猫 - xióngmāo) - symbol of Man

Parrot (鹦鹉 - yīngwǔ) - warning to stay faithful in relationship

Peacock (孔雀 - kǒng què) - dignity, beauty, activate luck, fame, ‘the heavenly phoenix on earth’

Pheasant - the pheasant (雉 - zhì) is a common emblem for beauty and good fortune, the pheasant (華蟲 - huáchóng)

Phoenix (t: 鳳凰, s: 凤凰; fènghuánɡ) - virtue, duty, correct behaviour, humanity, reliability (the Five Human Qualities), strength, resilience, good fortune, opportunity, luck, considered to be the most important of the winged animals, yin energy of yin - yang 

Phoenix and Dragon - wife and husband, signifies wedded bliss, also symbol for Empress and Emperor, bird and animal kingdoms = entire natural world, Taoism 

phoenix, pair of, placed together and facing each other - eternity, yin - yang

Qilin (麒麟 - qílín), mystical hooved Chinese chimerical creature, with a physical apperance of various animals like deer, horse, ox, dragon - guardian of home, protection, wisdom, good will (the qilin guards the gates of heaven) 

At times Li Tie Guai of the Eight Immortals is riding the Qilin.

Quail (鶉, 鹑 - chún) - courage

Pig (t: 豬; s: 猪 - zhū) - tolerance, optimism

Rabbit (兔 - tù) - representing hope

rabbit, jade/ moon - living on the moon, making the elixir of live and herbal medicine and accompanying the lunar deity Chang-Ngo (Chinese: 嫦娥; pinyin: Cháng'é), also known as Heng-E or Heng-O (姮娥; Héng'é), the goddess of the moon, who as well lives on the moon. 

Rat (鼠 - shǔ) - the rat is one of the animals of the Chinese Zodiac.

Sheep (羊 - yáng) - the male principle, Yang of yin - yang (one of the animals of the Chinese Zodiac)

Shrimp (t: 蝦; s: 虾 - xiā) - long life 

Snake (蛇 - shé) - woman, supernatural power, cunning; thesnake is one of the animals of the Chinese Zodiac

Tianlu (天禄 tiānlù) - mythological winged lion with one horn, they were deployed in pairs to guard a tomb, Tian Lu means "heavenly blessing".

Tiger (虎 - hǔ) - courage, bravery, and strength;

the (white) tiger is one of the four spiritual creatures and it is guarding the West.

Tortoise (Turtle; 乌龟 - wūguī) - longevity, immortality, 

the Black Tortoise (玄武 - xuán wǔ) is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese star constellations and one of the four heavenly creatures, it is guarding the North and represents the winter season. 

Water buffalo (水牛 - shuǐniú) - springtime is near