AMANDA DYAR: Mike, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. First off, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started in building larger than life works of art?
MIKE CRAUGHWELL: Being born in the 80's there were a lot of fantasy films and cartoons floating around during my formative years. This meant that when I started making swords in art college my aesthetic allegiance was with being weird or unusual rather than any sort of historical accuracy. The only country where PlayStation 1 ownership per capita was higher than Ireland was Japan, most people my age in Ireland had played/loved/become obsessed with Final Fantasy 7, so when I got commissioned to make the Buster Sword in 2007 I leaped at the chance. A buddy of mine uploaded the video to Youtube, and the rest is history.
AMANDA DYAR: As a cosplayer and gamer, I love bringing characters to life with custom-made costumes and props. You have created several life-size replicas from video games that includes a realistic sword from Final Fantasy 7. Do you get a lot of requests from cosplayers?
MIKE CRAUGHWELL: I do get a lot of requests from cosplayers, they usually already have very nice outfits, but feel their cardboard sword is letting the whole thing down. I often have to explain that although I'm happy to build anything I can't guarantee you'll be allowed into a convention hall with a giant steel sword (even if my weapons are not traditionally dangerous, they can still pose the real risk of falling over and crushing someone).
AMANDA DYAR: Tell us a little bit about some of the challenges you faced with building your very first Buster Sword?
MIKE CRAUGHWELL: I'll be honest, I did not really know what I was doing. I theoretically knew that the blade and handle should hold together, but I'd never made an implement so top heavy before. No one had. In that very first video, when you see me running and screaming with the sword, I didn't know what was going to happen. The handle could have snapped off as I held it overhead, bring the blade down on top of me guillotine style, if I didn't die at the very least it would have sent me back to the drawing board. Luckily though I empirically proved the weld was strong enough to hold.
AMANDA DYAR: You will be attempting to bring some amazing creations to life on Big Giant Swords premiering on the Discovery Channel on January 13th. What can you tell us about this and how you got involved with the show?
MIKE CRAUGHWELL: The average budget for my youtube video's rarely exceeds $10, the show will be like my youtube channel if I had the budget for a crew of people following me around.
In regards to working with Discovery:
I got a mail through Facebook. Being a proud citizen of the internet I ignored it for a couple of days as the obvious scam it was, but the guys LinkedIn profile checked out and googling "offer of reality TV show scam" yielded no salient results, so I responded. It's been a busy year since.
AMANDA DYAR: How many replicas have you made to date and what would you say was your favorite project so far?
MIKE CRAUGHWELL: When I was younger and starting off I kept count of how many swords I'd made, but that was a long time ago, I've lost count. In a way the pictures I have on Facebook and my youtube videos are like an externalized memory, so I guess someone else could work it out if they felt like it. My personal favorite has been Alastor from DMC (Devil May Cry). All the dragon looking parts were both technically difficult and very close to a work of art when finished.
AMANDA DYAR: Are you playing any current games and if so what? Also, have any of them inspired future projects?
MIKE CRAUGHWELL: In my old age I find the big AAA titles boring. The games that interest me these days are either story driven horror games or very short arcade style games. "The last door", "Limbo", "home", "Hotline Miami" were all good. I quite liked "Dread Halls" for the Oculus Rift. I give my brain a rest by playing something like "Volgarr the Viking" or "Broforce". Some day I'd like to make Pyramid Head's "Great Knife" from Silent Hill 2, maybe his helmet too.
AMANDA DYAR: Where can fans go to check out your work and why should gamers tune in on January 13th for the premiere of Big Giant Swords on the Discovery Channel?
MIKE CRAUGHWELL: Googling "michaelcthulhu" will find me in various places. I'm fairly active on the oul'bookface. You don't have to watch Big Giant Swords on Discovery, but like, did you read the title? It's not a metaphor or a euphemism, it's a painfully blunt description of the content, how could you not want to tune in?
To learn more, visit the official Big Giant Swords website on Discovery.