Turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese...

I sat on the floor of my room doing something I used to do as a kid: sit really close to the heating vent. Granted, when I was a kid I would drape a blanket over it as well but it was warm enough without one. I don't know how the situation could have gotten better, 30 Rock, polka dot pajamas, and the heating vent.



I felt like I needed that at the end of today, we got a lot done in the shop. However, before I got to the shop I snapped the following colorful pictures:

I think this was some kid's homework from the elementary school. I loved the pattern the bleeding colors created!

Apparently the walls in the theatre department were this color once upon a time:

Sheesh! I'm actually glad for the boring white walls!

Our last show of the semester is quickly approaching, we go into dress rehearsal on MONDAY before breaking for Thanksgiving and then picking up with more dress rehearsals. It was my pleasure to work with one version of the main character, Issun.
Your eyes do not decieve you, this is a PUPPET! Little Issun is wearing a preliminary costume called a mock-up, it helps us to see if the costume is going to work based on the pattern. We use cheap fabric such as muslin rather than using the "real" or fashion fabric. It was a good thing that I made a mock-up because the sleeves were too short and the pants were waaaay too long. I also needed to know where the mechanical elements were going to be attached.

This is a view of the puppet and the pattern pieces. After I took this picture I made marks on the mock-up and then took the mock-up apart so the altered pieces could become the pattern pieces for the final version.

We use "high-tech" materials in the costume shop such as scotch tape. It is VERY technical.And the finished product! The fabric is actually a scaled down version of the pattern used on the actor's costume. A photo of the pattern was scanned into PhotoShop, scaled down, printed on heat transfer paper and ironed on to muslin. It's really cool!

In addition to working on the costumes I've also been helping with the wigs for the show. I'm not sure how authentic they are but I'm pleased with the results!

Come see Issun Boshi, December 1st-5th at Utah State University!