If you ever needed to know the difference between a white wine and a red wine glass, I’ve put together a handy reference chart for all sorts of bar glassware.
For more information on their uses and sizes, you can visit the Wikibooks article on Bartending/Drinkware/Glassware.
War Horse is currently playing in London’s West End, and is tentatively scheduled to open in New York in 2011. In “Making Horses Gallop and Audiences Cry“, Patrick Healy gives more in-depth information about the show and the amazing puppets, designed by Adrian Kohler:
The basic construction material for the horses is cane, which Mr. Kohler soaked to make it more moldable. “It is light, flexible, and the figure increases in strength as more and more struts are bound together,†he said. The struts create the look of joints in the horses’ legs and necks.
Silk patches were then applied to gauze to suggest the animals’ skin patterns and also partly to conceal the two puppeteers inside each adult horse.
The article also has a great number of photographs showing the puppets.
The puppets were constructed by the Handspring Puppet Company, a South African puppet group. It was founded in 1981 by Basil Jones and Mr. Kohler. On the website, they give a little more information about the horse puppets:
Some of the horses are fully articulated with two interior and one exterior manipulator and because they have aluminium spinal structures, they can carry human riders. Other horses are more abstract with no legs and only one manipulator.
The horses are based on the designs first used in Handspring’s production of Tall Horse, about a giraffe. Elsewhere on their website, they describe this puppet:
The puppet was constructed from a frame of carbon fibre rods and takes two puppeteers, on stilts, to operate it. The puppet is fully mechanical – its head, ears and tail can be manipulated by the puppeteers, through a complex system that allows the puppeteers, inside the body frame of the giraffe, to manipulate the appendages through bicycle brake cables.
The giraffe can turn its head, flap its ears and tail and walk with the swaying, graceful gait that anyone who has enjoyed the sight of the magnificent creature in the wild will recognise. Manned by two puppeteers on stilts, the giraffe is the central character of Tall Horse, which is a magical tale of the discovery of Europe by Africans.
If you are interested in learning more, Handspring has a few books out. Journey of the Tall Horse: A Story of African Theatre
I like things that move on their own. An automaton is a self-operating machine, usually through mechanical means. Animatronics is a more specialized type of automaton; it is a form of mechanized puppet. Neither of these should be confused with a robot, which is an object which can sense and/or react to its environment. Here are some starter links if you are interested in making or learning more about animatronics and automaton.
“How Animatronics Works“, by Jeff Tyson. A look at how Stan Winston Studios creates a full-scale animatronic Spinosaurus. In addition to describing the animatronic parts, it’s an interesting look at how to sculpt, cast, and fabricate a full-size dinosaur.
Instructables has a number of guides on creating animatronics of varying complexity:
In a posting called, “Robots, Artificial Intelligence, Steam Power, and Sound Effects“, Michael Addicott describes a number of marvelous contraptions and mechanical devices in use since the Ancient Greeks. He includes such inventors as Hero (one of Bland Wade‘s favorites), and devices like the mechanical singing birds of Theophilus.
For Automaton, the Automata/Automaton Blog is the greatest place to start. Not only does it continually update with photographs and information about both antique and contemporary automaton, but it’s the perfect starting place for further exploration of information.
I’m on my honeymoon, so I thought I’d save time with another quick list of links.
Let’s face it. Swords are cool. Luckily for props people, swords pop up all the time on prop lists.
I learned some basic swordmaking techniques from Tom Fiocchi while at Ohio University. Usually, when I’m asked to make a sword, it’s a decorative or trick sword with a very show-specific look. If it’s for stage combat, the swords are often rented or pulled from stock. For Twelfth Night at Shakespeare in the Park, we rented many of the swords from Weapon Specialists here in New York City (hopefully I’ll be doing a tour of them in the upcoming weeks).
Old Swords has a wealth of information on historic swords. There is a gallery of swords categorized by nationality and time period, as well as a comprehensive search function of their database. The site also includes a cornucopia of resources, articles, and links about antique swords, sword makers, and anything else you may need for research and reference. You need to sign up to access the information, but it’s free, quick and well worth it.
The Wikipedia article on Historical European martial arts is a great jumping-off point for information on historical sword-fighting techniques. The Mid-Atlantic Society for Historic Swordsmanship also has a great list of links for all things related to historic swordsmanship, as does William Wilson’s list of links on historical fencing.
The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts also has an introduction to Historical European Martial Arts at their site. They also have a large reading and research list, including online historical fencing manuals. If you scroll to the bottom, you will find two manuals by Alfred Hutton, who helped begin the revival of historical swordsmanship over 120 years ago. Old Swordplay (5.54mb PDF) and Cold Steel (11.1mb PDF) are both available for free on their site.
If there are any other sites or resources you use for swords or similar weapons, let me know in the comments!