Puppetry Portraits

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In my life, I have managed to surround myself with a group of exceptionally great-looking people. How they all ended up so impressively disfigured when I attempted to recreate them as puppets is beyond me and honestly an art in itself.

The intriguing part is that Katie, my pal with whom I crafted these magnificently ugly creations, is a skilled beautician and makeup artist and does in fact professionally make people look better than they usually would. Turns out felting and feather-work is a whole other can of worms.

Yep. We made finger puppets for our pals this Chrissy and good heavens they were a hit. Complete with a little bell on each one to keep things sounding festive when they were inevitably jiggled about.

(It should be noted that I had written several ‘finger’ gags in this post that I have tastefully edited out for the benefit of my family. I am partially saddened by this but proud to be displaying such self-restraint.)

La Collection...

The craftin’ table
The colleagues
The Oakland pals
Klaus and his pops
Klaus’ fam (the ladies)
My housemates
Knash’s neph’s
Katie, Bethanie and Kramer
Nailed it.

From the Vault: Pissy Chrissy

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I have recently discovered that the good people of the United States do a wonderful thing at this time of year. They have radio stations exclusively dedicated to playing Christmas songs. All day. Er day.

As a huge frother for celebrations, I naturally added the station to my car radio presets at the first opportunity.

Here’s a little Christmas cheer (and jeer) I whipped up with my mate Anna while I was in London in 2010.

Having difficulty focusing on the words because you’re so distracted by the epic melody and masterful visuals? Here are the lyrics.

Ding dong merrily on high, pals!

Get Your Order in Before Thanksgiving

Over the last 2 years of living in the United States, I have been surprised by how often I am asked: “Do Australians celebrate Thanksgiving?”.

The enquirer usually figures it out immediately after the question leaves their lips, swiftly taking into consideration the origins of the holiday. This will generally be followed by a sheepish explanation of their mistake and a quick departure.

That’s right, the answer is no.

But if we did….

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Poster Rollercoaster

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My favourite part about wrapping production on a film is blabbing about it to EVERYONE (as long as post is going smoothly). And what better way to blow my own trumpet than to make a killer poster, and slap it on every last inch of the internet?

In the week between wrapping Winning Formula in Los Angeles and me moving to San Francisco, I bought a shockingly cheap photo studio setup – 3 softboxes and a backdrop rig – and got the entire cast to come in and have their character photos taken for promotional purposes.

During this session, Prudence and I shot the poster as per my concept sketch.

concept sketch
photoshopping
… kinda shite

… Or at least what I thought the poster would be. I saved all of this work at very low resolution to my google drive, then promptly had my laptop and camera (with backup images on the SD card) stolen, as you well know, faithful follower of my blog, Klaus.

So there I was with a film poster that was unprintable. Bloody useless for all the good people at Sundance and Canne who will be champing at the bit to get their clammy hands on a full size 27″x40″ 300dpi poster for my micro-budget slapstick comedy. Because if there’s one thing I know, it’s that those good people love micro-budget slapstick comedy.

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Prudence Vindin and Claudia Pickering with George Clooney leaving Canne in a limo in the future. He has really enjoyed Winning Formula. They are indulging in Moët mimosas.

A new poster was needed. Lucky for me, Pru was back in the United states a few months later, and we still had access to our costume headdresses (which were later stolen, so this really was our last shot at it).

our studio
our studio

We strung up some white fabric in Cassie’s (the costume designer) house, and with the help of Klaus, we reshot a poster far superior to the original. YEW!

Winning Formula Film Poster

Vanity Fox…oween

fox makeup by katie nash

While joining in my quest to complete the Foxen mural, the effervescent, deeply creatively inclined puppet enthusiast, makeup artist and hair stylist Katie Nash (some might assume she is the grandchild of Madonna, Leonardo Da Vinci, Jim Henson and Elizabeth Arden) took pity upon me; I am, after all, missing out on Halloween in San Francisco which, I gather, is an absolute hoot.

Not one to let timing get in the way, Katie decided to celebrate with me in advance over chicken tacos, some killer makeup and on-point Vogue circa 1985 (a great year) styling:

Please be sympathetic to my post-day-in-the-office, pre-looking-like-an-actual-fox dreariness. The dramatic nature of this transformation has raised concerns that Katie may actually be practicing some kind of voodoo or witchcraft. Highly appropriate for the season.

Theories are surfacing that badgers too, are using similar techniques to glam up after a long day in the woods.

And this is the last fox post. Scout’s honour.

What Does the Fox Say?

 

claudia pickering foxen mural

In the interest of staying relevant and on the pulse of popular culture. Wait. Let me start again. In a convenient coincidence, I have just finished a mural of foxes in the same week as the release of that catchy new hit single  “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” (dingadingdingding ding) touted as this year’s Gangnam Style – so you know it’s a ripper.

Finally someone (three former members of the Harvard Fox Club) let me paint a massive double-height wall in their residential home with the help of many pals, two big-ass ladders, a ton of nachos and the occasional beer. After drawing a shockingly vague sketch on an old cardboard box of how I wanted the geometries done, it took about a month (a few nights every week and a party) and here’s the progress:

Pascale taping
Klaus checking out his tape work
Painting party
Kramer and Katie helped us one night… But this is a picture of Kramer and Klaus
Big-ass ladders
After the tape came off… Crisp geometries
Krink pen for the foxes

Yep, little guy on the right is totally dreaming up those shapes.

An overwhelming number of people who came to see the mural commented how strikingly ‘3D’ it appeared in person. About 4 people. Such feedback pleased me as it is, after all, 2 dimensional pretending to be 3 dimensional. Which is not that many dimensions compared to how many we might actually be existing amongst according to string theory. Anyone who has ever wondered about space and time should watch the series The Fabric of the Cosmos: It’s fascinating.

Special thanks to all who helped: Klaus, Paul, Pascale, the 2 Canadian Alex’s, Katie, Kramer and all you cats at the post-masking tape party. And the landlord – for not spewing about it.

If you think this is the last fox post, buddy – you are wrong. All good things come in threes.

From the vault: Going for Gold

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With all of this hoo haa surrounding the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia and the recent announcement that Tokyo will be the host of the 2020 Olympic Games for the second time; I thought I’d post something relevant. And frankly, I froth for the Olympics and our little Aussie rippers going for gold.

Here is a short film Anna and I shot last year shortly before the 2012 London Olympic Games as a part of the Banjacks and Pervis series.

By coincidence it had a few similarities of the 2012 Absolutely Fabulous episodes aired shortly after we shot it. We were jazzed as the eternally hysterical Jennifer Saunders is our creative role model and this basically proves that our minds are one.

What Happened to the Baked Bloody Dinners?

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This being the final instalment of Keith and Kev’s musings at the bowlo, I’ve provided below a brief and alphabetised list of basic Keith and Kev vocabulary for your perusal.

Australian Fast Bowler, Australia’s Pass-Time, Asshole (pull his finger out of his)

Bloody, Bowlo, Bugger, Bandicoot (looks like the asshole of a), Bourke Street Bakery, Backside (working my – – off), Barbie, Baked Dinner, Balls from their Boot Laces (wouldn’t know their)

Cricket Pitch, Clacker, Cut your Grass, Commodore, Competitive Bowls

Deal or No Deal, Dropped Pie (looks like a), Darl

Ehhyhh

Flamin Struth, Faffing Around

Galah, G’day

Head like a Half-Sucked Mango, Hooroo, Hyundai Sonata

Inbloodycredible

John Burgess

King Dingaling

Lawn Bowls, Loo

Meat Pie, Meat and Three Veg, Michael Clark, Mate, Mumbo Jumbo

Netball, No Worries

Outrage (bloody)

Porkchop (carry on like a), Paperbag (couldn’t find a tennis ball in a, farts around like a mosquito in a)

Queen’s English

Reckon, Ripper

Struth, Sport, Sheilas, Spunk, Shane Warne, Sausage Roll, Snags

True blue, Telly, Thorough-bloody-bred, Top notch, Trot, Twit

Unbloodybelievable

VB

Woman’s Blouse, Wallaby in a Wombat’s Hole, Wit’s End (I’m at my), World Class Lawn Bowls Team

XXXX

You Bloody Beauty, You Little Ripper

Zookeeper Stuck in a PortaLoo (useless as a)

That being said, enjoy:

An Interview With Blogger Claudia Pickering

Something that was not mentioned in this interview was the Harry Potter reference that is this blog’s name (only recognisable when spoken in an Australian accent). How elitist.

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Claudia Pickering runs the blog thedarclaud which is about her creative endeavors. She is the producer and star of the video The Sebring which stars Danny Trejo. Here is a link to her blog:

 

http://www.thedarclaud.com/

 

Q:  What inspired you to start your blog?

A: As a foreigner (I’m Australian), I was looking for a way to display my work so that I had a record for myself and my friends here and overseas. I felt like a blog was a good way to have my work available without shoving it down my friends’ throats and also a great way to quickly direct new acquaintances to my stuff. And San Francisco being such a tech city, it only felt appropriate. And I wanted business cards. With spot gloss.

Q:  What is your strangest LA story?

A: Although running naked (except for Reeboks) across the desert with my…

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Authentic Australiana

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Righto, here’s the second instalment of Keith and Kev. Still babealiciously dripping with authentic Australiana.

Get at them.