#rwcmd

[eleanorrogerspuppetry]

28/03 - First Puppetry Leader Meeting

Today we had our first Puppetry team leader meeting! I'm so excited to be apart of this project again but I am a bit nervous about taking on a leadership/management role. This meeting with Lucy was really useful and reassuring as to what our responsibilities would be as a team leader.

Here are some things I have taken from that meeting and and previous experiences that I hope to remember to do when the project commences next term:

Lead by example: I'd really like to set a positive example for my team by demonstrating that enjoying a project is still achievable with a strong work ethic. I hope to be approachable, supportive, and I will be their to listen to their ideas and concerns about the project.

Communicate effectively: Good communication is crucial for a successful team. I'll need to clearly communicate the project expectations, roles and responsibilities, and deadlines. I really hope to encourage open and transparent communication among team members to help collaboration and address any issues promptly.

Monitor progress: Keep a close eye on my teams progress and ensure that tasks are being completed as to schedule as they can be and that my team aren't struggling with of the new techniques they're learning. I will regularly check in with my team members to provide feedback and support... but I hope this won't be annoying lol.

As well as all these things to do with leadership, I personally would like to improve on my skills as a maker. I'm not the most naturally gifted maker but I really think this project will be what I need to improve my skills.

I love puppetry. To be able to design, make and then perform with something is like the ideal life dream for me and I really hope it to be something I can pursue after RWCMD. I love creating characters and watching them develop, and I think puppet designing and making captures this perfectly.

I am really looking forward to this summer term doing puppetry again.

[asat3683]

👀 Michael Sheen will be performing in Cardiff on February 27th, 2022.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jacqueline Houston (@tiger_orgasm)

More info here:

[mariellamagicadesigns]

Grimm Tales Production Week 5 - Thousandfurs Coat Make

Royal Welsh College Music & Drama MA Design for Performance

Finishing the coat in the last few days of production was definitely a group effort - Katie worked on the hood over the weekend, while Arianna continued gluing and tacking down the pieces of fur to the body pattern pieces. On Monday we had a fitting arranged with Izzy at 1:30, so Katie spent the morning sewing the pattern pieces together in preparation. The bottom hem and sleeve hems were left raw, and we pinned the sleeves to the correct length in the fitting. We also only tacked the hood on for the fitting; overall however, the coat fit very well and although heavy, left Izzy with enough flexibility to move and run around in. I also sewed in the coat hook and eye at the neck this afternoon - which I later learnt from Hazel I’d sewn in backwards, while taught me the correct way to insert a hook and eye!

The next day, the first day of tech, Jac the director asked for the coat to be backstage by 2pm, so we had Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning to machine the sleeve hems in, machine the outer hood onto the shoulders and then slip stitch the hood lining in. Katie did this first task on Monday afternoon while Ari and I went into town to get more tights for the female characters; then I dealt with the hood on Tuesday morning. When the coat was onstage on Tuesday, it was immediately obvious Izzy was struggling with the length when they had to run upstairs, so we agreed with Lucy and Jac to shorten it to ankle length. Arianna and I shortened this on Wednesday evening; and I spent most of Wednesday filling in the gaps of fur around the shoulders and seams, and tacking down any previously glued bits that had started to coming away during tech.

It was a long and arduous task to complete, but once we saw the coat on Izzy onstage we were so happy and satisfied with the end result!

[alexmilledge]

Puppetry In A Suitcase

This Autumn term of my MA in Performance Design I have been given the task of designing and performing a ‘Show in a Suitcase’. 

The show needs to include original puppetry elements that are all contained in a suitcase with the idea that it can be packed away and travel easily. 

It will be aimed at children between age 5-7, use no technical lighting and hopefully have some level of musical accompaniment or collaboration. 

In its final form it will be documented in film and developed along side the performances of the other Puppetry MA’s. 

I will be documenting the process on here with images, ideas and drawings! 

[royalwelshdiversitysoc]

Welcome to Our Blog!

Hello and welcome to the Diversity Society blog. With everything that has happened global recently, we - in conjunction with College - would like to keep our college community up to date on the events in the world...

That being said, if you come across anything you would like to share with the community, please email our team at: diversity.society@outlook.com 

We are hoping to have 1-2 recommendations a week for you all... lets educate ourselves together!

[write-hand-designs]

My moodboard which I started today - so I'll continue to collate more images and start creating more tangible things - ready for Monday’s meeting with Bridget.

[saxlockian]

Been missing big band work lately but I’m excited for some online projects 
coming up! 🎷🎺🎸🎹🥁🎤

[simongoughphoto]

Always good to see something you shoot as the printed final product. Good luck to the Tartuffe team this week @rwcmd #theatre #dramaschool #dramatraining #actorslife #rwcmd #cardiff #cardiffphotographer #rwcmddesign #southwalesphotographer (at Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8Hg5Wlg2Id/?igshid=1p5msx8jh4fvp

[cse2k]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kenny_clari (@kenny_lim90)

After three days of trying to record that "perfect" take for my very first entry to an international competition, I guess I need some sleep. #poulenc #clarinet #sonata #romance #clarinettist #clarinetist #yamahaseartist #yamaha #yamahaclarinet #yamahaeurope #malaysian #malaysia #student #conservatoire #cardiffuniversity #rwcmd #cardiff #uk #bosendorfer #zoomh1 #sonya6000 #sony #daddario #daddariowoodwinds #licostini https://www.instagram.com/p/BnubLg5HVEA/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=kfosh6bhbl0v

[lssphotography]

Bute Park, Cardiff, 2018

[ddpodcastnet]

Episode 17 - "Man to Man"

It's probably time we all sat down and had a frank and honest discussion, man to man.  No?  How about watching a show called Man to Man?  Yes?  Good.

[derrijosephlewis]

Spinning Jenny Premiere @RWCMD

This week I had the amazing pleasure to work with vocal and instrumental students from the RWCMD on a new opera with text by MA director Emily Bishai and with music co-written with Tayla-Leigh Payne. The opera is a short chamber piece written with the RWCMD foyer in mind - the text explores the effects of a specific form of amnesia that triggers sudden memory loss during episodes. We had a week to workshop, learn, block and stage the piece, working with singers Jack and Arina, instrumentalists Imogen and Esther, RWCMD staff member Conal and conductor Jasper. 

The premiere of the piece took place over the annual Atmospheres new music festival weekend which saw an amazing mix of new music across many genres, and performances from visiting guests Joe Shrimpling, Robert Plane and Rakhi Singh. 

I’m so grateful to the dedicated and hardworking cast and players of Spinning Jenny, and I can’t wait to develop the piece further. 

[mariellamagicadesigns]

Skills Classes Week 2 - Men’s Pattern Cutting

Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama MA Design for Performance

For Week 2 of Skills Classes we were taught by the wonderful Karen Thomas, who helped edit Elizabeth Friendship’s books on Pattern Cutting for Historical Costume and so had professional insight into the reference book we used for this week, Pattern Cutting for Men’s Costume. Karen guided us for the first two days in creating a series of blocks for men’s tops, bottoms and sleeves that we could use in our future industry work, which were incredibly useful and I have added to my portfolio.

For the second half of the week we each chose a different historical pattern from the book, and made up both a pattern and a toile for them. I was late in choosing my top assignment and so was left with a Working Man’s 18th-century Coat - a very simple pattern (pictured above left) that included shifting the side seam to the back of the coat, adding a standing collar and inserting a two-piece period sleeve by gathering and pinning on a mannequin. I had a lot of fun with this toile, and the hardest part was definitely the sleeve - since the seams sit on the front and back rather than the inside arm, positioning it just right on the stand was a long  and precise process. I ended up having to rip out my first attempt and re-do it, as the armscye had several noticeable tucks in the stitching that affected the quality of the toile.

Since I was given quite a simple coat pattern, I then chose to take on the most difficult of the trouser patterns and went for a pair of 17th-century trunkhose with panes (pictured above right). It took me nearly an entire day to draw up this pattern, as it requires three seperate layers - a lining, a middle layer, and the outer panes. I then only had a few hours on the last day to make up the toile, which as you can see above was not entirely finished and had the seams pressed the wrong way out - but I was still very proud of the final product! Getting to experiment with the very distinctive historical shape of the trunkhose was really fun and interesting, and also helped me understand more clearly the amounts and different types of fabrics that would be required for these projects.

Overall, I feel like I gained a better understanding of men’s pattern shapes from this class, having never created costume for men before, and I also gained more confidence in using a mannequin to present and fit my work during the sewing process, not just at the end.

[alexmilledge]

Squirrel in Action - Final Puppet

After the R&D, and having actually puppeteered the puppets, there were lots of tweaks and final additions to be made. 

For squirrel, I added padding to the outside of its legs to give it a rounder shape and then covered with the same style collaged fabric as the body. The squirrel puppet made very loud noises when its legs hit the floor so i also added padding to the base of the puppets feet. After a bit more playing around and rehearsal I realised that the noise was not coming from the puppets feet but from the base of the legs hitting the wood and so I added extra padding there too and that made significant difference to the noise. 

I padded the arms with some wadding and covered them with the same fabric ‘skin’ and created a warbler tube for the back of the arms to sit in which meant they were able to move up and down freely still. 

I added more fabric to the tail so that it was bushier and some whiskers using the broom bristles from the earlier spine experiment. 

Below is the final puppet in action having just noticed the nut in the bird feeder! 🌰

[royalwelshdiversitysoc]

Podcasts to keep an eye on...

New National Theatre Podcast

About Race with Reni Eddo-Lodge

Making Theatre Podcast with lighting designer Prema Mehta

3ShotsOfTequila

Have You Heard George’s Podcast

Unravel Podcast

[write-hand-designs]

Steel Frame idea developed 

Thinking more about this idea I was thinking maybe the steel frame could have glass init so the audience are physically separated from this house and it’s toxicity. Furthermore by having glass in the frames this means it opens up the possibility of having projection/video mapping on the glass. -So maybe at key points things could be projected onto the house and at the end when Seth starts to pack up maybe the last thing the audience is a video of the glass starting to crack.