Back Pack Development

The pack pack has developed massively over the project. this has meant a lot of practical research and trial and error. a lot of investigation has took place on looking into other carnival back packs as well as being influenced by hiking rucksacks as well as back support braces. By looking at a range of pieces and constant discussions with tutors and peers i have been able to tailor this backpack to give the correct support and safety in the structure and to the performer.


First stage - This is the first stage of the back pack. This back pack was based on the back packs created for the moving tides carnival, using very similar construction techniques and following the same lay out. I chose to add an additional strap as this puppet was much bigger and this would help spread the weight evenly . The straps however were to close together and needed separating to spread the weight more. This back pack also needed the poles to come closer together making it more narrow and the plastazote at the sides of the wood needed cut down so straps sat closer to the body.

                   

This shows the new plan of the wood board for the new back pack - this was the closest i could get the poles to sit together allowing enough room to bolt and unbolt the supports when flat packing the costume. 

This plan also shows the bottom strap lowered using the same bolt as the bottom pole covers to hold it in place. I also chose to do the same with the top strap taking it the bolts at the right and left top pole covers. 

 The next alteration the back pack seen was in the shoulder strap system used. The shoulder straps of the back pack were originally going to run across the front of the actor attaching to the two other straps. However by pulling them behind the actors back like a ruck sack style strap this allowed a closer fit to the body at the shoulder points where a lot of weight sits, it also meant the straps could be connected under the back pack tray lifting the pack higher on the actors back and keeping it in the correct place.

After this stage the back pack seen some major rework after the weight of the puppet increased, although things were altered the fundamental techniques of the back pack were kept (the strap system and the narrow line and angles of the poles)

The wood board of the back pack was made longer to help counter balance the top heaviness of the puppet, this meant not all the weight was on the weakest part of the actors back but spread across all of his back. It was also decided more plastazote should be added so the actor has a plastazote piece hugging his hips creating a small back brace at the bottom of the back pack allowing the weight to be spread across his hips as well as his shoulders and then running down his back.

I really do think that by practical research of trial and error and constant discusses with peers and tutors i have succesfully created a back pack that gives the correct support to the actor as well as the puppet. This back pack is definitely tailored to this specific piece of structural costume.  

  

Ikenga Head Piece Construction

 The basic structure of the head piece is built straight onto the shoulder piece and T Joint. The basic material used to create the structure is bamboo uprights and center cane rounds, center cane worked better than willow as the cane is cut to a uniform thickness rather than narrowing towards the end as willow does. The cane and bamboo are also very light weight as well as being a strong  sculpting material. The cane does need to soak for 20mins in water before being fully flexible however when strapped in place and dried the shape is maintained.

The facial features again were made from cane and bamboo, using bamboo for the stronger supports and the cane to create curved shapes with in the face. The horns of the puppet will be attached to the top T bar, the base of the horn being blue foam allowing the horn to be be slotted onto the bar and then fastened with cable ties. Blue foam is a very useful material for solid block sculpting and carving into. making it a very strong base to any structural piece. 

When covering the face i was very conscious in how to include both past and present materials as this was a main design feature of the ikenga puppet. I feel this is achieved in the use of modern carnival materials such as plastazote and using natural yarns to lash them to the willow creating a very traditional look. Using this technique to attach the decoration to the frame work also allows a lot of air to pass through the head piece as there is big gaps between the pieces of plastazote. I also felt it was very important to make the head piece look playful and fun, the scale of the puppet could be rather intimidating to the children and with the horns i feel the Ikenga could be mistaken for some form of devil or demand which would be very disheartening. By using Very bright blocks of colour and shape  i think the head piece works well for a childrens carnival.

fifth fitting - Added supports and new back back.

The new back pack works well, the addition of the second layer of plastazote hugging the hips helps the actor wearing the back pack balance the weight. for this fitting only one addition performer supported the weight with both support poles, this worked however it will work better with two performers, taking a pole each either side of the puppet spreading the weight outwards rather than taking it backwards. 

Actor is confident in the new support poles. Actor tends to sway and dip puppet as part of the performance this may look sudden however it does not mean he isn't in control of the weight and operation of the puppet.

practice will be needed with the other performers to get the feel for supporting the puppet - very clear communication needed between all performers operating the puppet on turning the puppet and who should be taking weight and when

1. Change tray
2. ADD strap on hips 
3. Second Layer of plastazote works well
4. lower poles work well
5. add padding to small of the back to fill new gap and give support. (foam from spider)
6. Take some of the fibre glass out of the bottom two rings of the body making it longer like the top ring.
7. Try Moving the body piece closer to the shoulders
8. Legs need rings, the knee joints work well. very animated when the performer walks.

Great impact from far away. Really shows the scale of the puppet.

Finalised Structure Ikenga

This is a line drawing of the finalised puppet skeleton, chances may still be to the strap placement on back pack. The head T bar is not being supported fully by a triangle support at the base minimizing  rocking and the risk of snapping. The leg joints are the same as the arm joints as we know this is safe and gives a very animated movement. And mainly two support poles have been added to the shoulders of the puppet allowing two more people to take the weight at either side of the puppet and support the main performer keeping control of this large scale puppet.

Fourth Fitting Ikenga

This Fitting showed a lot of health and safety issues that need to be looked at before going further with any of the fabrication of the project.

Myself, my supervisor and Sam Edwards,  feel it would be best if instead of all the weight sitting on the small of the actors back the back pack comes lower and the curve of the back is supported with foam and padding. this lowering of the backpack and poles with help counter balance the weight at the top of the puppet.

With most of the weight sitting at the top of the puppet more support is needed at the shoulder joints, It is because of this i have decided to turn this puppet from a one person costume to a three person costume adding an additional support pole at each shoulder that will each be held by a performer. this will mean if the actor wearing the back pack wants to sway the puppet he has the added support of the other performers taking some of the weight keeping the structure safe and secure.

Back Pack Research

 Important information about rucksacks that will translate well in creating a carnival back pack. like a rucksack the carnival pack has to be worn for a long period of time,supporting a lot of weight and be safe for the performer to wear. I think by looking at how a rucksack is constructed and how it should be worn it and then applying this information to the carnival packs they will become a lot more supported and comfortable for the performer

Third Fitting Ikenga - Addition of the head

Fitting Notes -

1.  adding the head piece makes the puppet more top heavy, it is very clear that any fabrication to the willow frame will have to be very light and allow the wind the pass though. 
2. The head piece also spins at the moment which should not be happening as this disturbs the balance of the whole piece.
3. Wooden upright in the head piece needs added support as this is a weak point of the head piece the T joint at the top of the head could also use extra support as this holds most of the weight. 

• Actor is still confident he will be able to perform in the costume with out weight being much of an issue.

Fabric Shopping Ikenga

When designing the Ikenga Puppet I had found the fabric I wanted to use for it before even starting the construction period. I envisioned the blue and white dimond pattern to be the main body of the puppet, it would then be accented with tones of tan and sand rings around the body. I picked this fabric as it was a genuine duotone wax print fabric from Ghana, 100% cotton, it was also from a fair trade supplier which was another selling point especially in the carnival feel of community coming together and this carnival especially showing the importance of African industry and invention and its importance to England.  

However when starting the construction period I came to a tough ethical choice as a designer, the budget would not stretch enough to fit the amount of fabric that was needed approx 10 - 15 meters of fabric was needed to create the tubes of the arms and legs and the unique shape of the body. With the fabric costing £14 per meter it would use at least £140 of £200 budget leaving only £60 for all the structural work.  With this I knew I was not able to use the fair trade wax print fabric i had hoped to use, and as i had already semi feel in love with this fabric i knew it was going to be difficult to find an African print fabric that i liked as much for the puppet.

As a professional I had to stick to a budget no matter how hard i wanted to support this fair trade company, at the end of the day i could not risk not completing the under structure of the piece to a high standard as this has to be very secure and safe. This however didn't stop me personally buying some fabric samples and beads from my personal account that i might try include in the base costumes as a reminder of the fairtrade community. 

Finding the new fabric for the piece was difficult after finding my ideal fabric, i found it easier to search for fabrics by looking for very specific things; geometric prints, wax prints, blues, yellows, natural tones, natural fabric.

To Pale For Carnival

Pattern To Close Together

To Much Red

Pattern Not Geometric Enough

To feminine for male god figure 

Print to small

This was the next fabric found that i felt would work for the puppet. It had the traditional African feel, it was the right colours, the patterns in the fabric reminded me of elements of the other costumes helping them all tie together as a collective. It was pretty perfect - So of course there was only one 6yard bundle left and no more coming in for a while. Of course it was to good to be true so the hunt continued. 

Until i stumbled across this fabric online.

Julius Holland is a well known fabric company with in the African community. And although it wasn't as bright as the other fabrics it did echo that natural theme that i wanted to show with in the Ikenga , Past materials mixing with the modern. The patterns with in the fabric matched the shapes in the design and the echo of teal in the pattern reminded me of one image of the Ikenga that i just couldn't get out of my head. I knew this was the fabric I wanted and luckily it was with in budget and in stock. Although a bit calmer than most carnival fabrics i felt paired with an accent of yellow the print would stand out as a traditional African piece.

Second Fitting Ikenga

Actor feels comfortable in the back pack - higher straps help give support with to the back pack by spreading the weight across the actors entire upper body rather than just his waste. Taking the shoulder straps behind the actor and under the tray helps keep the back pack lifted and fixed in the correct place.

The structural work feels evenly balanced and easy to hold. the arms of the puppet work well and are very animated in their movement.

Nothing needs changing in this stage of construction although problems may occur when adding the head piece as the puppet will become more top heavy.

First Fitting Ikenga

The first fitting for the Ikenga Puppet feature the trousers for the base costume and the first stage of the backpack. This fitting showed some important issues with the back pack that would need to be looked at before adding any structure to it.

Fitting Notes: 

Trousers

1.  more fabric added around the bottom
2. elastic cuffs at bottom. 

Back Pack

1. Plastazote needs to be molded to the actors shape by heating the plastazote and shaping it to fit the curves of the actors back.
2. Try taking the wood up to the small of the back to give better support
3. Back Pack sits to low on actor, needs a way of staying lifted
4. Top strap needs to be moved higher 
5. Poles to come closer together, narrowing the wood where possible.

Yemaya Fitting - New Actress

Janet, the original actress has unfortunately pulled out of the carnival due to injuring her knee, so we have a new actress coming in to be fitted. This doesn't worry me to much as back packs are usually very adjustable and fit a range of shapes. I also think Kat and Lucy are both very strong makers and will not have a problem with making fast alterations in order to not fall behind. This was the first fitting i seen the full costume together, body suit, sails and skirts. The new performer felt comfortable in the costume although some adjustments  were made to the strap system and i think the new strap system could be applied to other back packs - especially my own for the puppet.

New Straps system, crossing at the front and bolted to the back tray.

Yemaya First Fitting

 Seeing the first fitting for Yemaya I was extremely happy with the 3 skirts, the size and movement of the skirts are very fitting in carnival and I think this costume shows the single rod skirt can be pushed further just by  adding multiple skirts. I was worried about this costume looking rather dull with only batik however seeing the skirts i feel that keeping the pattern on them simple and bold will be enough with out looking to busy

Structural Fitting Asase Yaa

There was elements of the structural fitting for asase yaa that i was very impressed with. The giant peanut shape skirt being one of them, i feel the size of the shape and where it sits on the body is in proportion to our very petite performer, it also has a lot of bounce which i wanted in this skirt. The structural shape of the base skirt hem needs to be reworked as it does not sit wide enough to look like full roots, an unstructured or  unique petticoat  may be needed and this could also be dyed and manipulated to look like more roots if seen.

The Backpack for this costume does need a little bit of work to reinforce the wing pieces. the back pack does fit the shape of the performer well and the use of a small wadding cushion in the small of the back helped to fill extra space in between the back pack and performer. The head piece for this costume needs to bee remade, a lot smaller by at least half, it also needs to be more of a peanut shape using the shape of the performers head as the bottom half of the peanut shape.