The Maker’s Lab 2023-2025 Phase #2 – Shawne Kho Yzelman
by fingerplayers
This journal is an entry in The Maker’s Lab series. Click here to read the previous entries.
What have you achieved in Phrase 2 of The Makers Lab?
2D Puppets
Of course, I’m proud of how the 2D Puppets turned out on stage by the show’s opening. They’re not perfect, and have much to improve on (i.e. reinforcing the thin plywood layers of the puppets to prevent them from snapping, adding another stopper on each end of the horizontal bars to prevent the puppets’ elbows from over-extending, etc.) but I’m proud of what we managed to achieve with these puppets.
Daniel’s design for their mechanism brought a fresh perspective to not only the mechanism of traditional 2D puppets (Chinese Shadow Puppets, Wayang Kulit, etc.), but also the scale, form (from shadow puppets used on a screen to puppets that emit coloured shadows simply from being lit up on stage), and way of manipulation (the use of in-built horizontal bars that support the positions of the arms and puppet stands to manipulate both arms of the puppet with one hand, as opposed to manipulating one arm at a time). The 2D Puppets turned out as unique and visually beautiful puppets that personal gratification aside, I’m sure the audience appreciated as well.
I had the chance to use Adobe Fresco while working on the 2D Puppet designs. We didn’t get the opportunity to fully utilise all the benefits of the programme, but I’m glad I got the opportunity to play around with the software and familiarise myself with making digital art. I’m proud of and happy with the cosmetic designs I was able to come up with while using the software, as I don’t have any formal design/art/drawing training.
I’m proud of the hard work that I’ve done for the show and as part of TML. It was a tough time for everyone but we all worked to the bone and took pride in our work. I’m proud that I can say without any hesitation that I worked on this project diligently and conscientiously. I was as careful as I could be each step of the process and I did my best to put out the best work I could. Nothing was done half-heartedly.
What are 5 most important lessons you took away from Phase 2 of The Makers Lab?
I need to find ways to not get overwhelmed so easily under pressure (i.e. of delivering all of the puppets and props in time, etc.).
Despite consciously reminding myself not to dwell on the overall workload and to focus on tackling each task step by step, I still found myself becoming frustrated and stressed when I started running into issues which slowed down the process. This ultimately led to a bad panic attack, which took quite a toll on me.
If something doesn’t feel right or if I’m still making mistakes at a task I’ve done before, I need to ask for help.
Sometimes it’s not just ‘practice makes perfect’, sometimes it’s a matter of not fully understanding how to do the task in the first place and repeatedly getting it wrong. This happened when I didn’t realise I was using the bench drill wrongly until I’d already drilled over 100 holes that were not accurate. Instead of holding the material loosely for the drill bit to align itself perfectly with the poked marking, I was holding it down tightly which ended up being counteractive in getting the alignment of the drill bit to the marking square.
There’s always something I can do to optimise my workflow.
This build had a lot of tasks that involved repeating steps (2D Puppets – each puppet had the same steps for assembly, Tree Branch Leaves – painted more than 200 leaves, Field of Flowers – folded more than 100 organza flowers) so I had plenty of opportunities to observe and scrutinize the steps I was taking and think of ways to quicken or make the process more effective. Each time I finished one step or one piece of the item I was making, I’d experiment and see how I could make the item better or faster. For example, while spray painting the leaves black on one side, I would get some of the black on the green side of the leaf by accident. Instead of accepting the fate of wasting precious time by touching-up the green side, I tried several methods of spraying the leaf so that I would get none of the black on the green side. Flushing the leaf completely on cardboard before spraying, holding it in the air, positioning the leaf in different angles. This is just one example of a step, but for each prop/puppet, I did my best to review and optimise several steps within the time that I was working on them.
I can improve on my verbal communication skills.
Maybe because I haven’t had to work creatively within a team for awhile, and especially where we’re doing a lot of reflecting, but I never realised how bad I was at expressing myself and my thoughts. Sometimes, it’s a case of my thoughts going by too quickly for me to get them out of my mouth before I forget what the point I was making was, but I also do realise that I go blank a lot of the time when I have to think of an answer on the spot. It would definitely help if I prepared more (as much as I can) before our TML meetings and discussions, and I should always plan for it in the future.
I really found that re-setting my space once in awhile almost gives me an energy boost of some kind.
Keeping the space clean and clear of clutter makes a huge difference. On a day where I’m feeling off, a cluttered table can make me anxious or stressed out, so clearing the mess once in awhile is so important. Coming back to a neat space is also motivating, especially if I’d organised the table so that the tools that I need for my next task are laid out nicely. Keeping post-it notes to remind me of my tasks and updating them was also very useful in keeping me organised on days where my mind was all over the place and not as focused.