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The First XXXmas
Creating a King Kong puppet and working as art department assistant for The First XXXMAS: A Very Naughty Nativity
Maker
A Wales Millennium Centre and Duncan Hallis Production
Directed by Duncan Hallis
Set and Costume Design for Brad Caleb Lee
Lighting Design by Sherry Coenen
General art department contributions and King Kong puppet by Molly Morgan
A christmas cabaret performed at the Wales Millennium Centre featuring a variety of acts, including singing, aerial work and puppetry. Working on this production gave me valuable insight into the many roles of a production designer, as I was able to assist with finishing off the elements needed to complete their vision. This includes painting, rinestoning and light arrangement.
The Making Process
For this production, I was given the privilege of designing and constructing a "King Kong" puppet for the Three Kings act, performed by Jenna Dyckhoff. The puppet itself was initially concepted from paper and tape, then more complicated shapes were sculpted out of water based clay. This sculpture was then used to produce a pattern, allowing me to convert the form into a final EVA structure. Finer details were further defined using carved upholstry foam.
The rest of the puppet was assembled using contact adhesive and joined with leather, the covered in various scrap leathers and mink fabrics.