Frankenstein Build: Week One

So far, my predictions about 2008 have been right on the money: the Rogues have never been busier, and it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon. Every time we finish a project, something new comes along and we're right back in the workshop, building more puppets and masks and generally making a mess. I'm tired, but it's pretty satisfying to be able to tick off a half-dozen projects already, less than two months into the year.

Last weekend, we started really working on Frankenstein!!. Pat and Joyce have been working hard on this project for weeks, but we're just now starting to work together as a group and crank out the bulk of the stuff we need. Friday, we filmed this insane video about Batman, Robin, and Superman...I can't even describe it; it has to be seen to be believed. Joyce made this incredible two-room set and had all these tiny props, and Pat, Byron, and I puppeteered the action figures while Joyce's friend Mike filmed the whole thing. I wish I had taken pictures, but the video (once we edit it and get it uploaded) will have to be enough. It's hilarious.

Saturday, Pat, John, and I met up with Byron and Elizabeth (two of our students from the UCI workshop) to start building the puppets and masks. I started sculpting a full-face werewolf mask (I called dibs on that project, inspired by my recently renewed obsession with Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Pat worked on a three-foot rod puppet, and everyone else...well, why don't I show you.

Here's Byron (possibly the nicest young man I've ever met, for the record) adding layers of Sculpt or Coat and tarlatine to a puppet head. I've been assured it's going to be a girl, but right now it just sort of looks like something from Pan's Labyrinth. Or a wet football.

Here's Elizabeth, doing the same to a mask. We have big foam eyeballs to stick in those eye sockets, but not until the Sculpt or Coat dries. I think it's going to look pretty cool.

And Pat, getting ready to cut PVC pipe for his rod puppet.

That's all for now, but we've got a full week's worth of building ahead, so expect more updates in the days to come.