Georgina’s big USA Adventure- Day 11 & 12

Day 11 October 3, 2023

Today Katherine and I went to visit her friend Jason at his home. Katherine helped repair a couple of Jason’s puppets. We enjoyed a lovely home cooked Pot Roast, and Katherine tried her first piece of pumpkin pie!

Day 12 October 4, 2023

Today is travel day where we are travelling from Seattle, Washington to Denver, Colorado. I spent the morning relaxing, while Katherine helped update this blog with our adventures!

Our flight was in the early evening- just as the sun was setting behind the Olympic Mountains.

Taking off from Seattle with the sun setting behind the Olympic Mountains

When we arrived in Denver Colorado, there was a statue to astronaut Jack Swigert, who was one of the three astronauts on Apollo 13 whose experience is documented in the movie Apollo 13. Swigert was going to be a US Senator, but he died before he could take office.

Dedication statue to Astronaut Jack Swigert at Denver Airport

It was midnight by the time we got to the hotel, so Katherine and I went to bed straight away.

Georgina Monster.

Georgina’s big USA Adventure- Day 9 & 10

Day 9 October 1, 2023

Today is our first full day in Seattle. We flew from Los Angeles to Seattle yesterday morning, and spent the afternoon evening visiting the base of the Space Needle and having dinner at the Armory building next door. This morning We met up with Katherine’s friend Jason, and he took us on an adventure around Pier 57 which is called Miner’s Landing at the foreshore of downtown Seattle. All the piers are finger wharves similar to the ones we have in Australia.

The first adventure we went on was Salish Sea Tour- a 1 hour cruise around Elliot Bay in Puget Sound. We saw a Sea Lion swimming in the bay, and great views of the city skyline and the Olympic Mountains on the far side of the sound. The boat is decorated with carvings and paintings of the First Nations of the Salish Sea area as Seattle is located in the Pacific Northwest of America.

After the Sea tour, we went on the Great Wheel which is a large ferris wheel at the end of the Miner’s Landing Pier.

Our next stop was the the actual Space Needle including going up the elevator to the top of the Space Needle.

Day 10, October 2, 2023

Today Katherine and I went to visit Jason at the Woodland Park Zoo. He is a volunteer zoo docent who uses his animal puppets to interact with the visitors. Even though it was raining, we got to see Zebras, Penguins, Brown Bears, Tigers, Peacocks, Grey Wolves, Weaver Birds, Sea Eagles, Komodo Dragons, Warthogs, Giraffes, and Hippos.

The zoo has wonderful large sculptures of animals and plants that are also lighting fixtures.

  • Zebras

It was a wonderful day at the Zoo. Katherine really enjoyed seeing the two puppets she had built for Jason- Dennis the Weaver Bird, and Ray the Tiger work with the visitors to improve their visit to the zoo.

Georgina Monster

Georgina’s big USA Adventure- Day 6 & 7

Day 6 September 28, 2023

Today is our last day in Disneyland! We started our day with a walk through Downtown Disney where we needed to pick up a gift for a friend of Katherine’s at the Star Wars Trading Post! While we were there, we saw Chopper the Astromech Droid in his ghost costume for Halloween.

We then travelled by Monorail to the Tomorrowland stop and walked from Tomorrowland to Critter Country so we could meet Winnie the Pooh. He gave us a really big hug, but he thought Katherine’s Haunted Mansion ears were very scary. After meeting Winnie the Pooh, we had lunch nearby at the Hungry Bear Restaurant.

Our next stop was to head back to Town Square near the entrance of the park as Katherine had booked us on a Happiest Haunts walking tour at 1:30pm. While we were waiting in Town Square, we got to meet Carabelle Cow and Mickey Mouse in their Halloween Costumes.

  • Getting a hug from Winnie the Pooh

The Happiest Haunts walking tour was amazing! Our first stop was actually backstage behind the tour garden to see the real Professor Phineas Plump with his sales case, and Gus with his long beard. These are two of the three Hitchhiking Ghosts from the Haunted Mansion, but they are having a holiday while Jack Skellington has the mansion decorated for the Nightmare before Christmas overlay. Katherine was very happy to see the Hitchhiking Ghosts as she loves the Haunted Mansion, and she was able to get closer than you normally do to the ghosts! The walking tour then went up along main street, through the back of Frontierland, through New Orleans Square up to Pirates of the Caribbean where we got to skip the line and go on the ride!

The last stop of the day was to have a picture taken in front of the giant pumpkin that looks like Mickey Mouse. It has been an interesting week in the Californian Disney Parks. In a couple of weeks, we will be in Walt Disney World, Florida!

Day 7 September 29, 2023

Today, we didn’t go to the Disney Parks because Katherine needed to get ready for our next leg of our adventure to Seattle. We had breakfast at IHOP which stands for International House of Pancakes. While I relaxed in our room, Katherine got all our washing done, as well as packing our bags since we have an early flight tomorrow. We then spent the remainder of the day watching Disney movies and relaxing. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day!

Georgina Monster

Georgina’s big USA Adventure- Day 5

Day 5 September 27, 2023

Today we went back to Disneyland. We started the day with breakfast at the Jolly Holliday Bakery. Katherine commented that the only thing that was missing were the penguins to serve our cups of tea just like in Mary Poppins. After breakfast, we went into Tomorrowland to go for a ride on the Monorail around Disneyland. It took us past Autopia, Spacemountain, through California Adventure, and past the entrance plaza. The Disneyland monorail was the first monorail in the Western hemisphere when it was built in the mid 1960’s.

After the trip on Monorail Blue, we walked back over to the Haunted Mansion to go for another ride on it in the daytime. Katherine prefers the Haunted Mansion when it hasn’t been decorated for Halloween by Jack Skellington. It was then morning tea time, so Katherine wanted to try a very famous Disney treat- Dole whip! Dole whip is pineapple flavoured soft serve ice cream. The soft serve is thicker in texture than soft serve ice cream you get at other ice cream places, but it was a very strong pineapple flavour.

Since we were nearby, and we couldn’t see the animals in the nighttime, Katherine decided to go on the Jungle Cruise again.

We then walked over to Minnie’s House in Toon Town to meet Minnie Mouse, and once we walked through Minnie’s house, we went into Mickey’s house next door and got to meet Mickey Mouse! On our way to have lunch in Tomorrowland, we encountered Geppetto! He is a puppet maker like Katherine because he built Pinocchio!

We had lunch at Pizza Planet in Tomorrowland, and after lunch we went on a trip around Disneyland on the real steam trains. While we were on the train we saw the Grand Canyon and the age of the Dinosaurs!

After our grand circle trip around the Magic Kingdom, Katherine and I popped over to California Adventure where we got to see Spiderman swing across the top of Avenger’s Campus!

Katherine was feeling pretty tired after our day exploring Disneyland, so we went back to the hotel to rest as we have our last day in Disneyland tomorrow!

Georgina Monster

Georgina’s big USA Adventure- Day 4

Day 4 September 26, 2023

Today we went back to Disney’s California Adventure. We did not get to see the whole park the other day, so we started by walking down to the lagoon to see the second half of the park. At the lagoon, we could see the big ferris wheel called Pixar Pal Around

Our first ride of the day was The Little Mermaid- Ariel’s Undersea Adventure

Our next ride was on the Pixar Pal Around Ferris wheel. You can choose whether you go in the swinging side or non swinging side. We went on the non- swinging side- but this video shows the fun of the swinging side!

After the ferris wheel, we met Joy from Inside Out, and Woody! Woody gave us a really big hug! We then walked around to the brand new San Fransokyo where we met Baymax! We were able to give him a big hug, and he is very soft and squishy.

Next to San Fransokoyo is Cars Land! We went through the arch and saw the town of Radiator Springs just like it is in the movie! We had lunch at Flo’s V8 cafe. We got to meet Lightning McQueen, Red in his Haul-o-ween costume as well as Mater!

Tomorrow, we are heading back to Disneyland!

Georgina Monster

Georgina’s big USA Adventure- Day 3

Day 3 September 25, 2023

Today we went to Disneyland! First thing we did was have our picture taken in front of the entrance flower garden which has a big picture of Mickey Mouse.

Once we went through the tunnel, we came out into Town Square. Katherine and I were booked to go on a tour to celebrate 100 years of the Walt Disney Company at 9:30am, so we decided to stay in Town Square and go and visit the Opera House where Great Moments with Mr Lincoln has been playing since 1965.

We then went over to the tours kiosk where we joined our walking tour. While the tour met in Disneyland, our first stop was actually over in Disney’s California Adventure as it has been built to reflect Hollywood of the early 1920’s when Walt Disney first arrived to set up his animation studio- Disney Brothers Cartoons. We got to go in a secret door in the Animation Building and go straight into a drawing class where we drew Ursula from the Little Mermaid!

We then walked back into Disneyland park and went back into the Opera House where we were earlier to look at the multiplane camera that Disney used to innovate depth of field in animated features.

  • The Mickey mouse face made of flowers at the entrance to Disneyland

The Disney 100 tour finished up near Sleeping Beauty’s Castle where a photographer was waiting to take our photos. Once the tour finished, Katherine and I walked into Fantasyland and up to the It’s a Small World ride.

After It’s a Small World, we walked across to the new Star Wars land called Galaxy’s Edge or using the Star Wars name- Black Spire Outpost. The really cool thing about Galaxy’s Edge is that there is a real Millennium Falcon, a real X-Wing, and Storm Troopers patrolling the outpost. We then went off-world back to Earth and walked to the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride.

After the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, it was time for the afternoon parade called Magic Happens! As a special addition to our morning tour, the tour guides had a reserved space for tour guests to watch the parade and eat our Disney100 giant cookie!

We then watched the Disney Marching Band perform near the Town Square flag pole as they had the flag retrieval ceremony. The first song they played was We don’t talk about Bruno from Encanto.

After the sun had gone down, we went back to New Orleans Square to go on the Jungle Cruise at night. It’s hard to see all the animals in the dark, so we are going to have to come back during the day time later in the week to see everything.

Just around the corner from the Jungle Cruise is Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. It was only a short wait, so we stopped by to see the show!

Our last attraction of the evening was the Haunted Mansion. Katherine really loves the original Haunted Mansion ride, but she has never seen this version of the Haunted Mansion where Jack Skellington has decorated the whole mansion inside and out for Christmas!

It’s been a really long day, so Katherine and I are looking forward to some sleep.

Tomorrow, we are going back to Disney’s California Adventure!

Georgina Monster

Georgina’s big USA Adventure- Day 1 and 2

Hi! I am Georgina Monster. My cousin George, works at Monsters Incorporated. Over the next 2 months, I am going to be travelling with my human friend Katherine to 10 different states in the United States of America, visiting Disneyland, Seattle, Denver, Bozeman, Grand Rapids, Huntsville, Baltimore, New York City, Orlando, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. I have borrowed Katherine’s blog to document our adventure together.

Day 1 September 23, 2023

Today my human Katherine and I flew from Sydney Australia, to Los Angeles California, USA. The flight took 14 hours. I slept the whole way, but Katherine was not able to sleep at all so she watched Moana, Cars, and listened to her favourite podcast Attraction Checklist so that she can plan what attractions we were going to visit in Disneyland.

We arrived at 6 oclock in the morning on the same day we left because we flew over the international date line. Once we got to the hotel, which is opposite Disneyland park, Katherine went to visit Downtown Disney district, while I looked after the bags at the hotel. From our hotel room, we can see Space Mountain in Disneyland.

View from our hotel room of Space Mountain with the sun setting behind it.

Here is a video of what the Space Mountain attraction is like on the inside. It is a rollercoaster where all you can see are stars. Warning: this ride video has lots of flashing lights.

Day 2 September 24, 2023

Today, we went to Disney’s California Adventure (DCA) which is the Disney theme park opposite to the original Disneyland. Both parks are decorated to celebrate Halloween, and DCA’s entrance has a figure of Oogie Boogie from the movie Nightmare before Christmas.

 

First thing we did was go on a trip on the Red Car Trolley from the entrance to the park to the end of Hollywood Land. After the trip on the trolley car, we went to the Animation Hall and took a drawing class on how to draw Pluto.

After the class, Katherine and I went on the Monsters Inc ride. I got recognised by the CDA for the sock on my back!

We then went back to the Animation Hall and took another drawing class on how to draw Scar from the Lion King since the park is celebrating all the villains during Halloweentime. In the Animation Hall building is another room called the Sorcerer’s Workshop where you can learn more about how animations are lots of drawings moving very quickly in front of your eyes. They had spinning pictures showing Mickey Mouse, and if you spun it really fast, Mickey would start moving!

Walking out of Hollywood Land, Katherine and I encountered the Headless Horseman statue and when Katherine waved her Magicband near the statue, it started making noise!

Near the Headless Horseman, was the Mickey and Walt statue, so we had to have our picture taken there together.

We kept walking down the main path, and found a fun picture spot at the entrance of Cars Land that had a funny pun on Happy Haul-o-ween. It was late in the afternoon, so it was time to go back to the hotel, but on the way back, we encountered Goofy and had our picture taken with him!

Tomorrow, we are off to Disneyland!

Georgina Monster

Exploring Polygons and art making with 3D printing

In learning about how Blender works where the user manipulates individual polygons, I have been looking for examples of artists who work with organic 3D modelling and 3D printing to create works of art.

The first reference I came across since learning about Blender was the Big Blue Bear in Denver Colorado USA. The formal name of the artwork is I see what you mean (2005) by Lawrence Argent. The statue is over 12 metres tall (40 feet). It’s surface is covered in triangular polygons and it is blue because the scuptures maquette was 3D printed in blue plastic instead of the original earth tones to represent Colorado.

Big Blue Bear statue from denver colorado
Big Blue Bear Statue

I have also been watching how Herschel Shapiro creates wall sculptures using 3D printed parts

Sources

Denver’s Big Blue Bear Statue

Going beyond parametric 3D modelling

I have been 3D modelling and 3D printing for many years, but the main program I use, Autodesk Inventor cannot model organic shapes. Inventor is a parametric modelling software so every shape is very precise which makes it fantastic for mechanical puppet parts. However, for the past three years I have wanted to learn how to digitally sculpt more organic, natural shapes such as horns, eyes, noses that are not perfectly symmetrical.

Part of my research has led me to 3D scanning and photogrammetry. Initally, back in 2015 I got to try a handheld 3D scanner that was connected to my laptop by cords called Skanect. The challenge was that there was limited software to edit the scan, and the software that came with the scanner was very difficult to manage.

First attempt at 3D scanning of one of my puppets using a handheld 3D scanner.

In early 2023, I was again exploring new tools for photogrammetry which is a form of 3D scanning using lots of individual photos, and a prop making channel I follow, gave a demonstration of a mobile app they used to make a space helmet. The demonstration they gave led me to trying the Polycam app for iPhone.

I tried the app and the paid version worked great for a small puppet part that I needed. The trick with this app is that you need to walk around the object, so it is important to place the item being scanned on a stool or stand that you can walk around.

My next step was to find a software package that I could edit the scan in. In 2021, I tried Z Brush, but I found that software package was very expensive and difficult to navigate as a first time user. It is also a software package that was not available at school- so if I learned the software, I could not share it with students. Since I have access to the Autodesk suite of products, fast forward to 2022, I started to explore Autodesk 3DS Max. Working through the training from Linkedin Learning, my experience was this software was more focused on building environments rather than characters.

Now in 2023, I have just attended a workshop called Digtal Tools for Analogue Makers taught by Philip Millar (@puppetryschool) at the Melbourne Festival of Puppetry on July 1, 2023. In the pre-workshop reading, Philip not only recommended Polycam as one of many 3D scanning tools, but also Blender as the modeling software. Blender is a free, open source program that is very similar to ZBrush in it’s capabilities, and it is available for the computers at school! I found an incredible YouTube video on how to use Blender with a drawing tablet to help me learn the program very quickly.

  • Early stage sculpting of a UV sphere in Blender

One of the most challenging steps was removing the background surface from the scan result without damaging the scanned part I required. Each polygon had to be individually deleted.

The resulting mesh was only the surface of the puppet nose- there was no thickness that would support a 3D print. I had to learn how to add the back by closing the mesh, then began a process of refining the mesh and smoothing the polygons. I completed the process by adding a rectangular prism to the mesh and aligning it to flatten the back. It meant I had to install an add on called Booltools.

I have curated a playlist of YouTube videos  and websites I found helpful in the past week as I have been trying ideas to achieve my goals.

I really struggled with orienting the mesh so that I could use the grab and smooth tools symmetrically. It is something I still have to learn more about.  In all, I am really excited by what I can now do with Blender.

Making the Alien Puppet- Time to start construction

Making the Alien Puppet- Time to start construction

Now that the fleece is all marked out, it’s time to start construction of the foam understructure of the puppet. I tried to follow the recommended foam layout, but I discovered that the recommended layout omitted 2 of the 4 foam hands, and if I used the recommended layout, all the foam pieces wouldn’t fit. I changed the layout and managed to fit all the pattern pieces on the foam provided.

top view of a sheet of foam with pattern pieces traced on it.
Working out the pattern rearrangement to fit all the pattern pieces.

My next process was to make the rigid mouth plate that goes into the puppet. For some unknown reason, my bandsaw is not working, so instead of using the provided plywood, I decided to switch to Sintra plastic sheets which is what I normally use for puppet mouth plates as Sintra can be cut with a blade.

It was when I started reading the instruction booklet for making the mouth plate for this kit, that I came to the conclusion that this kit is not for first time puppet makers. The instructions were vague on the relationship between the size and shape of the velour pattern, and the gap between the mouth plate pieces. The size of the velour pattern must be the same as the length of the mouth plate, but these are not covered in detail in the instructions.

The process I followed was-

  1. Lay the plates on top of the velour pattern piece to find where the gap is.
  2. Lay a piece of gaffer tape on top of the velour pattern piece sticky side up where that gap will be
  3. Lay each piece of the plate on top aligning the edges with the pattern piece and pressing it down onto the gaffer tape.
  4. Flip the assembly over and attach the second piece of gaffer tape ensuring that the tape wraps around the edges of the mouthplate gap.

Using this method allowed me to get the gap proportions right for this pattern since the dimensions are not outlined in the instructions.

Once the plate was assembled, I used my cordless Dremel to round off the top edges of the finger grips. I then sanded the mouth plates where the grips would be located and used contact cement to glue the grips down.

  • Plastic mouth plate pieces with gaffer tape around the pencil
    Materials for making the mouth plate. Lining pattern, plastic mouth plate shapes and gaffer tape.

Katherine

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