Road; Construction Day 2

26th February 2012

Here are a lot of pictures regarding the scenic painting - as previously mentioned I lost all of my pictures from the build. The build of the middle segment went well and according to plan - it was only the last piece that had to be reduced because we overestimated our materials and how much we'd use on the other pieces. Richard and I made the piece separate horizontally instead of vertically like the plan  and had to reduce it by 200mm so it would all fit. In the end though it looked fine - I don't even think the designer noticed it wasn't the right size. 

I enjoyed making these pieces; I got very comfortable with the jigsaw cutter! Richard and I finished ahead of the painters so I ended up priming things. James had to leave before the painting was complete but he left us with his knowledge so we were able to finish the bits. 

My only annoyance was John constantly picking holes in my technical drawings that he didn't even need to look at - they were for Richard and I to build from. Not a ground plan. He seems to enjoy picking my work apart. 

We had some students from other departments come in to help us - and by help us I mean they sat outside. Nearly all day. 

The front segment in pieces. 

I have to say by the end it looked really good! I am proud of all of us. The next challenge is the get in!

Road; Construction Day 1

25th February 2012

I had detailed building images but due to technology failings I have lost them all. A lot of the detail of the build will be lost. 

We jumped straight in with the making of the road segments after sorting out the materials and creating a decent working environment. James the scenic painter was here at the same time as Richard so we set to work building something so that the art department could work on it. 

Richard and I started with the curved segment at the back which was made up of CNC-cut formers that I drew up previously. They had notches cut in them for the 3x1 struts. Once Richard and I had made up the flat frame (with the help of Fitchy - because it was on a curve it kept moving) we then clad it in Class 1 4mm ply 10 x 5. Richard and I then had to work out how to cut the angle on a curve... we just made it up as we went along. 

Working away

Trimming the ply down

Needs a trim

Marking on the Formers

Once we had made the sections of the segment we were able to pass them on to James, Laura and Emily who were the "art dept". I didn't really get involved with the painting but I kept an eye on what was going on. 

Using blue foam triangles to give it the shape - stuck on with mucky glue.

formers underneath

Primer

James using an angle grinder to create cracks

Angle grinding cracks in the ply - you can also see where they've cut into the foam. 

Looks good!

Not sure what was going on here? Possibly Jake being charming.

Again, with this photo you can see how the curved formers work with 3x1 either side, then clad with 4mm.

During Day one, Richard, Fitch and I managed to build more pieces. I don't have pictures of them but they were vaguely easy going up until the last segment, which was situated downstage. As usual I loved working under the guidance of Richard; it was a shame Ginge couldn't make it but having James about was really nice - he was great fun. A successful first day but Richard and I have a lot to do tomorrow.  

Build Starts tomorrow...

24th February 2012

So Richard arrives tomorrow morning for the build, and I think I'm prepared. Laura and Emily have decided to join us for the build after all. 

Charlotte Fitch is also going to be on the build team with Richard and I, I needed to know I had someone reliable to help me out! Richard is going to be arriving at about 8.30, and James the painter will be arriving midday. The idea is that as soon as Richard and I build something, it can get painted. 

I have taken out some petty cash to pay for refreshments for the build and also James and Richard's lunches. It's a shame we wont be having "Uncle" Ginge with us but he's got a bit of an emergency. I'm looking forward to the build; I've printed off several sets of drawings for Richard to build from that he's approved. 

Let's hope it goes to plan! 

Meeting with Pete and John

23rd February 2012

It's not long now till we start building - and there are still several things we need to clear up. 

At the moment it looks like we are using the tower we have downstairs and just adding pieces from A1 - however this is likely to change as it always does! I've asked John to ring A1 Scaffolding and get another quote. - Platform at 2m and handrail at 3m. 

We also need to put some hooks on the scaff tower for the fish shop sign. 

Pete's main concerns were regarding the pinspot lights that shine through the road pieces and how we are going to hold them there. We settled on a "goal post" for the lights to hang from at 300mm behind the road face. For this we'll use angled Dexion and 3x1 either side of the aperture. 

The realisation that the set wont fit.

22nd February 2012

Due to the fact that Gareth wants a crossover behind the last piece of scenery  all the pieces are going to have to move forward! The downstage road segement however has been set a metre back from the front of the stage to make room for lighting so it looks like I am going to have to amend the technical drawings. To keep the feeling of perspective I think I will shorten the middle segment by 500mm and the downstage segment by 1000mm just so there is enough room!

It's frustrating that I cannot do my job effectively because the lack of communication between people is dire.

Minor Panic...

no foam to clad - too expensive

Budget worries - can't afford foam or painters.

Still haven't heard from the scenic painter.

Not quite a "Manic Monday"...

20th February 2012

10.30am

I came in nice and early today to build the scaff tower and have a meeting with Gareth only to find that the tower wont be with us till the afternoon and neither will Gareth. There should be enough acting students so I don't have to worry about building the tower. Unfortunately the tower comes in 2m sections, so need to check with Gareth if he wants 2m or 4m - all depending on the clearance under the pieces.

Things to discuss with Gareth:

- Visible fly grid - is this ok?

- Upstage crossover

- Fly pieces

- Clearance height for scaff tower. (Take scale ruler)

1.00pm

Had a discussion with John about ordering polyblock foam to clad the road segements in and the 50 square metres I had estinmated would come in at over £500. John and I had to make the executive decision to not clad the pieces but to use something like idendum. Still haven't heard from the set painter about what materials we need but Laura said she will ring him this afternoon. Don't think I will be having a meeting with Gareth.


I've got a feeling that I may need to reduce the sizes of the road segments each by 500mm to make sure they fit in the space. 

Meeting with John Camble

 17th February 2012

John Camble and I had an end of week catch up just to run over issues and to make things were going smoothly. I would love to say things are going smoothly but they're a little bumpy at the moment.  I think one of the main problems I'm experiencing at the moment is that when people ask Laura (the designer) a question (that is usually a design decision) I find that she is sending people to me to seek these answers.

Also a lot of requests from Gareth (the director) are bypassing myself and John, even though it is imperitive that we are aware! Today's suprise was regarding the alleyway that apparently exists upstage allowing the actors to crossover without using the proper crossover. According to the model box I have been given to work from the back piece is actually resting against the back wall, thus no space for a crossover. John and I still havent been made aware where fly pieces need to come in, because there is not a lot of space to fly anything safely between the Road segments. The communication difficulties usually lie between the two departments, but they seem to be existing between the designer and myself (which is unusual!).

John and I have decided the position for the fly grid, 5.5m off the stage level. This means it will be visible to the audience but due to the stripped back feel of the design I don't think this will be a problem.

I have actioned the ordering of the timber for delivery Friday 24th. Order as follows;

7 sheets of 4mm 10 x 5 (class 1)
3 sheets of 12mm ply 10 x 4
3 sheets of 18mm 8 x 4
100m 3x1 PSE
100m 2x1 PSE

I have emailed Nigel at Creffields and I am awaiting a reply. The budget has been set up under Acc Number 400229.

Need to action a meeting with Gareth for Monday to discuss this "crossover" that is supposed to be upstage but is clearly not shown on the model box.

Mother Courage Production Photos

Script Read Through with Director

13th February 2012

I attended the full cast and crew meeting today so I could familiarise myself with all departments. I think this was important so the Director knows who I am and what I am doing, as well as all other departments.

It was important for me to hear the context of the play; Road is a play originally set in Thatcher's Britain in the North of the country. We have re-contextualised this to be set in present day Boscombe, a setting that is synonymous to the original context. There is a direct correlation with the Government, the Recession and the characters living on the poverty line as Boscombe is one of the poorest areas of the country, despite being situated in generally affluent Dorset.

As I am building the set I need to know that these character's are living in council housing; run down and delapidated. This feeling needs to come across in the set.

I saw all the furniture that the Set Designer sourced which was great, to see the scenery and props that will go into the set. These items however, do not come under the umbrella of my role. 

Meeting with Richard McCabe

13th February 2012

The Model Box of the Set

Rebecca organised a meeting between myself, Richard, Laura and John to make sure everything was going in the right direction, and he could cast his professional opinion over everything. 

Richard and I met independently first, and we started by looking at the model box and compiling a list of stupid questions. Things like, 

- What are the scaff legs made of?

- How are they being fixed to the floor?

And from here we could start to build up a hardware list and everything else. 

Scaff legs were to be made of 48.8 ali scaff tube which is cheap and easy to get hold of - ask for the oldest, mankiest stuff to match the set design. To be attached to the floor using angled kee klamps. 

Hardware List

- 8 angled kee klamps

- 40 scaff clips (swivel) - to stop bars moving

- hex sets/nuts/washers / m10 x 50mm

- hex sets/nuts/washers / m8 x 60mm

- countersunk medium screw with nuts and washers

Timber

(use creffields)

7 sheets  10 x 5 4mm ply Class 1    (£25ps)

3 sheets  10 x 4 12mm ply               (£38.06ps)

3 sheets  10 x 4  18mm MDF           (£38.00ps)

100m 3 x 1                                      (£0.75pm)

100m 2 x 1                                      (£0.39pm)

Total; £520 + VAT inc. delivery

Richard and I then went through how we were going to build it, which I transferred into my technical drawings (the final ones you can see in my submission folder). 

I'm looking forward to this build and feeling much better now that I have been through it with Richard. 

Drawing the Road

Because of the way I'd originally drawn the road segments, there were several problems with them.

I'd put in too many 18mm formers and they would have been way too heavy. So I have to re-draw the segments with less formers. This is good because it also means I can put in all the afterthoughts I had thought of after submitting my drawings to Richard.

I also need to put in the apertures for the pin-point lights to be able to light through and I need to create a more concise drawing to be able to drop into the ground plan. The scaffoling holes need to be drawn on too.

Another thing I didn't consider was transportation, so I am re-drawing the segments so they separate and can be re-stitched together down the centre so they will fit in the truck.

RE DRAW AFTER MEETING WITH RICHARD

Road: Scaffolding Tower

The original design had two scaffolding towers; one at 4m x 2m x 1m, and the other at 3m x 3m x 1m. After the site visit Gareth decided to scrap the shorter of the two towers, but upon later reflection and discussion with Laura they came to the conclusion to have the shorter one and scrap the taller one.

They were designed to be static, but Gareth has also decided to make them kinetic. I asked John his opinion and he said;

'I suggest we hire a scaff tower with integral platform door and wheels.

Our normal supplier is A1 Hire in Poole.
Laura said she was going to investigate what is available on market. Try her.
3m x 3m is not a standard shape though.'

The website for the towers from A1 Hire is;

http://www.a1hire.co.uk/catalogue/6/Mobile-Access-Towers/


And rental seems to be roughly £50 a week, so for the rehearsal period would be roughly £200. I need to investigate these further and see what the best size and shape would be, and whether the casters are braked.

Road: Lighthouse Theatre Visit

As Gareth had not seen the space that the play will be set in and we needed to clear up some things with their Technical Manager, we took a visit to the Lighthouse in Poole. John took myself along with the Designer - Laura, her assistant - Emily, the costume designer - Kate and of course the Director - Gareth.

We had a meeting with Jake, their Technical Manager to talk through various aspects of the Set and compromises with the space.

The design for the floor is yet to be confirmed, but we have ascertained that it will be painted directly onto the floor they have there, which at the moment in just black MDF until the wings, where it is a light grey with tape marks. (Upon inspection Gareth quite likes this as it adds to the stripped back feeling of the production). We would have to re-black the floor on the Saturday after the get-out, but a team of people with rollers should get the job done in no time.


It is part of the design to have no borders, tabs or blacks in this show - so all the gubbins in the wings is visible.


I need to amend my technical drawings of the road pieces because at the moment they wont fit though the truck doors, so having them halved would be ideal. Also, I need to talk to Richard about constrution because at the moment they are very heavy. So they need to be rigid yet lightweight as they aren't load bearing. I need to place the apertures in the drawing too, as because the pieces need to be cut on a CNC machine it would be easier to do that rather than routing them by hand. The road segments will be suspended by fly wires (supplied by the Lighthouse) but supported by the 6m scaff bars which will in turn be braced to a fly bar.


We have scrapped one of the scaff towers (the 3m x 3m) so that has reduced the amount of steel by half!

I need to create the ground plan with a front and side elevation. Laura has already done the basic ground plan, I just need to make it more detailed and accurate.


At this moment in time it would be easier to be able to get in touch with Richard so I can talk to him about all this!

This is John's confirmation email from the day's events;

Discussed at Lighthouse today with their Technical manager Jake Sutton

Road will be flown in sections– using venue flying wires and hardware.

2. We supply standard hanging points and hardware on our scenery..

3. Venue will supply pin spots for shining through the light points in the road. (Have 12)

4. Legs will be 6 metre scaff poles that we will supply and clamp to their fly- bars.

5. We can secure to their floor. And brace fly bars to fly-floor so they don’t move about.

6. We will paint the venue floor and lower part of back wall on Sunday 4 March from 2pm – 6pm – Please use water based paint.

7. We will return to previous condition (black emulsion) during the get-out on Saturday 10 March – 11pm-11.59pm.

8. We will use the space behind the wall bars on auditorium right as an acting area – and cut the second scaff tower.

9. Foyer is ok to perform in and venue will supply a working hand-held mic.

10. Production week is Mon 5 March – Sat 10 March.