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(page from coursework that got discoloured)

This vedeo, even though it is dark, shows me taking cues from a dsm and changing the lighting

Setting the DMX address on a Martin Mac500

Evaluation I found over this term that I have got better at some skills then I had previously. For example cutting. When I first did construction I found that I was too nervous at using the power tools so my cutting wasn't straight and sometimes uneven. However this time I was more familiar with that I was using and that showed in my confidence of my use in power tools. I first noticed this in using the jigsaw to cut off the bottom of the heptagon box that was being turned into the the bubble carriage. In this I had to cut in straight lines on each face of the box, not only that but I had to measure these lines accurately, the cut had to be the same level around the base so the bottom panel could fit on perfectly. Somehow I managed to do it correctly after sorting some errors in the line drawing, I triple checked every horizontal I drew to make sure it was perfect and found that some were wrong, so I rectified them and they were fine. My newly found cutting skills were also used in making the head cabinet base. I missed the first few days of construction so missed out on some of the teaching in how to saw some things, luckily I remembered from my previous time on construction so I moved round the difficult 90 degree angles correctly. One of the main issues that the whole team were guilty of was accurate measurements, somehow we managed to either make them too big or too small, it was on the odd occasion that we managed to get the correct cut. Im not sure what went wrong because on my measuring I would always check and double check but once it was cut it would be wrong. Although I did hear at one point someone said that they just rounded the measurements, which to anyone means, its wrong. This was probably the cause of the base panel of the head cabinet being wrong. The bubble carriage was not without its challenges, firstly it was what would this thing even look like. I only had sketches to go by which meant that the difficulties in getting it to stay up right were still needing to be overcome. This is why even though this was supposed to be an independent project I needed help, because it was being designed as we went along. There were also a few parts that would have taken forever and would have been difficult without the help of others. For example cutting out the balls would have taken far to long to complete by myself, luckily there were spare people in the workshop at times to help with that. And because this prop is taller than I am it would have been hard to keep getting up and down, which is why help was needed. Another factor in me needing help was that there were some parts that I have never seen how to do before, so I needed to be shown because just explaining something to me verbally without me seeing what I'm supposed to do doesn't always work, especially with using tools accurately. When the bubble was first painted and 'completed' I thought it was possibly the best thing that I have made at college. However the bubble drooped and the ball's paint came off of some of them. This meant that there were ever more challenges that needed to be overcome throughout it's build. Reflecting over the construction term I have discovered that I am still painfully slow at completing some tasks yet this is because I am trying to do the job accurately. I also genuinely did get mad at messing up a few different measurements and cuts, although sometimes I did get some things right. And having the job of pulling the curtains on the show means that I cant mess up those tasks.

#unit 2

Bubble carriage research

So to come up with a colour scheme and design for the bubble carriage I looked on google for what other people have come up with for this concept. I found only toys for an actual carriage, the closest one to the design that was being thought of was a frozen merchandise toy. It showed a tall and thin bubble with wheels on the bottom. This highlighted the sort of shape that was being looked for. It differed from my bubble’s design as it was a solid structure instead of a frame like shape. It also had large wheels which was not the intended look for the prop so that aspect got left out. The bubble carriage was not featured in the movie ‘return t oz’ on which the film is based, yet there was a bubble journey in 'oz the great and powerful’ one of the many prequels to the oz series. This bubble from the film gave us an understanding of what we were tying to create. Its colour scheme has been reflected in the prop. As is with most bubbles they look see through however are made up of a silvery pink and blue, which were the colours for the prop.

#unit 89

Set model

To build the set and make it fit into the auditorium we had to build it to the scale model’s size. When working from scales you would usually use a scale drawing to run by however we only had a scale model to go by. To make sure the set is built correctly it has to be built for a particular scale. in this instance it was 1:25 scale. This means that the real set is 25 times bigger than the model.

#unit 72

Finishing the Bubble

After finishing the main construction of the bubble it needed painting so I based the bottom box in white and sprayed the balls with silver. Alan showed me then how to give it a bubble look, by spraying blue from one side and pink from the other. This gave it a shiny effect. I then sprayed the balls on the base with blue and pink to keep it looking similar to the rest of the bubble.

The main issue facing the bubble carriage after it had been (so I thought) completed was the fact that the bubble section kept bending out of shape. So a pole was screwed in to hold the bubble straight.

During the run of the show the issue that it faced was that the bottom few balls lost their paint and the original plastic colour became obvious.

#unit 89

Tools and materials

Metal chop saw: used to cut into metal, when using it you must wear goggles because of sparks fly off, you should also wear ear defenders because of the loud noise the saw creates when cutting the metal. To use it you have to pull it’s trigger and push down once the metal is marked out and placed in position. Chord less drill/ screwdriver: This is made up of a few different sections, the main driving section which has a handle, trigger, lights and the area to put the drills bit into. In addition to its main section the drill has many different drill bits, either different sized cross or flat head screw drivers, or a variety of different drill bits used for all sorts of different tasks. Some are small and easy to snap while others have capabilities to drill large holes, sometimes big enough to put poles into should that be required. Jigsaw: this is a handheld saw which can cut round different shapes and angles as well as straight lines. When using it you must wear goggles to protect your eyes from the sawdust. The blade is interchangeable and can be swapped for a thinner bade for sharper bends or thicker for straighter cuts. We used both the chord less jigsaw and one with a chord. The battery powered one is useful because it it can go any angle without getting caught up on a cable, yet the battery has to be swapped frequently because it runs out. Whereas the mains powered jigsaw has more power and that doesn’t run out, yet its cable does limit you sometimes on the corners and manoeuvring. Circular saw: Powered similarly to the jigsaw, the circular saw can only cut straight lines. It can also cut at angles. You must wear goggles while using this because the sawdust flies everywhere. When using both hand saws you must keep your hands away from the blade and know that they will not be anywhere near it in the blades travel. Bed saw: Used to cut large amounts of wood in straight lines, may need to have multiple operators depending on the size of the wood being cut. The bed saw has a guide which can be re positioned to keep a straight line in whatever your cutting. All of the tools powered by the mains have large red buttons incase there is an accident/ emergency which requires the machine to be stopped immediately. Not only that but located around the room are some red buttons which also should be pressed in a machine needs to stop, they cancel the electricity to the tools so they wont work any more.

The set is made up of multiple different materials; the main proscenium arch is made of wood, as well as parts of the back structure. There is also a lot of different vacuum plastic shapes which are around the set. The main wood that we used was ply wood. This is made up of a few different sheets stuck together. As with all of the wood that we used in the show it is fire retardant which means that the wood wouldn't combust so easily. We also used MDF (medium density fibre board) which is a type of wood which has it all compacted. This has been used in various parts of the set. The vacuum plastic is a specially moulded plastic that can be turned into any shape as long as there is a mould for it. We used it to decorate the set with columns and greek style stone pictures. They made the set look more grand and gave it some depth.

The bubble cart

To start off with I got some designs off of Alex which were concepts from the directors, working from that I designed different ideas as to what to make the base out of, such as light deck, or a box. Then the idea came up to use the heptagon box. So I used the jigsaw to cut away the base to make it smaller then screwed on caster wheels. This made it not such an oversized base. The wheels not only helped it roll but added the extra height to the now shortened wheels. I marked the box by measuring the length needed then connected the lines round the sides, it was difficult because there were 7 sided that had to be exact. Then, to re-attach the base of the box I put resin around the edge, the shape meant that I could only fit it on one specific way so it had to be rotated a few times. Once on, it was brad nailed to hold in place. To create the bubble shape there were short discussions which concluded in using plastic plumbing pipe. The next issue was how to attach it. The first idea was to screw the pipes around the outside and bring them up to a centre point made of a wooden disk with holes drilled in at specific even points. Unfortunately this didn’t work too well because the bubble shape kept leaning over or bending downwards. This meant a different method of attaching them. I drilled holes in the top edges of the box at a light outwards angle to give the bubble a rounded shape. I measured the tubes and cut them to an equal length, then attached them into the box and top disk. To hold them in that position I but some brad nails through the top, however the nails originally missed a couple of the pipes which meant they flicked out, until I re- nailed them and they stayed. To give this bubble a more bubblier look I put on some plastic balls at random points along each of the 5 pipes to make it look like bubbles randomly floating up. However when Alan (the set designer) came in and saw this he said he would like it completely covered to make it look better. So I carried on with cutting out the balls until I had enough to cover the pipes with. Once the main structure was up it was a matter of decorating it. The top of the bubble looked a bit flat and wooden, I noticed in the corner of the workshop was a largish polystyrene ball that would fit perfectly, so I used it. The base of the carriage looked a bit bland and boxy, it needed something to give it a bubble effect. So we took a trip to the range after deciding to get polystyrene balls. Once back I cut the balls in half using a burger flipper saw. Then stuck them on in a particular pattern with a specific glue. I made the pattern by working out how many half circles I had of each size then putting them into an even pattern.

Review: The Cherry Orchard; Rose Bruford My first opinion when walking into the theatre was that I was confused by the set. I didn't really understand what it was meant to be, there were some hanging objects that looked old and tatty, yet looked a bit random. I would assume that they were there to represent what used to be in the house but I only worked that out a long while into the show. The only obvious bit of set was the seat in the middle of the stage because it set the scene inside a house. Although I only knew that there was a house because I randomly watched a video on the national theatre's cherry orchard set. I began to get confused as to where the play was set because some of the characters were speaking in very English accents where as others spoke in Scottish. It only became clear approximately half way through when they mentioned Moscow and Russia. The time that it was set, I still don't know because their costumes were set in the 1800s, they mentioned the 70s which I'm assuming means 1870, yet they had a second world war British rifle that one character kept cleaning. The acting was very good and I think a cast made of a certain amount of people instead of a randomly large crowd works better. Considering the theatre was in the round, the actors didn't block any of the audience out. However because of the worlds most dodgy seating I couldn't see some actors at some points because they were blocked by the safety bars or the rows in front. To carry on of how disappointing the sound was awful, the sounds and music didn't seem to fade in very well and they were occasionally out of place. I did however like the lighting especially when it changed to a night time scene because it set the scene very nicely. My favourite part of the show was very near the end just as all but one of the cast left the house. The old man was left to walk tiresomely slowly across the stage, and when he eventually reached the door he said in a strangely amusing voice "its locked." Somehow I just found this hilarious. And the scene as that man died was almost sad because it was what the whole play was leading up to, yet a relief because it meant that the show was finally over. I may have enjoyed the show more if there was an interval because the story itself wasn't interesting enough, there were no build up or climax, just the slow drawn out demise of the house. It seemed that there was feeble attempt at trying to draw the audience back in a few times, once was slightly rhythmic as the household servants were cleaning different items. The other was when the lady of the house was crying and the cast all came in singing. Another point was when a few cast members chased each other around the auditorium for a while. Which went on a bit too long. I was looking forward to seeing this show however when leaving I'm not sure that I had the same view, it had potential just didn't quite manage it.

lectriflex, the brand of this multicore cable.

Generic lights

Par can: Basic stage light 100 KW Round pin, 15 amp. Safety bond, is there to catch the light if it falls off of the bar. SWL- safe working load. Par cans for making a shaft of light with no adjustment apart from pan and tilt. Gel frame, holds the colour gel Colour gel, changes colour of light. Par safe can spin the light and is located at the back of a par can. Par can bulbs: Fresnel, beam is wide, the beam hits the lens and reflects to mirror to beam a wide beam. CP62 Clear lens, CP60, shines the regular beam. Pebble/prism convert lens, CP61, reflects a little bit. Yoke, arch on top that moves allowing the tilt on the casing. G clamp, the part that holds the light to the lighting bar, has a bolt to fix in place. Locking knob, tightens to hold light in tilted position, loosened to allow the tilt. Barn doors, they can change the shape of the beam by being folded inwards. Flood light Floods area with light, Can pan and tilt Can have a colour gel 500 watt 15 amp Fresnel light Has barn doors Has a circular fresnel shape Reflector lamp 500 watt Knob, to move light closer and further from lens to focus it. Can have a gel for colour changing. 1 k watt fresnel A lot like regular fresnel, Focus knob is on the back. Its barn doors can be moved to create obscure shapes. Profile light. Only profile lights have shutters. Different lights can move to make different beam sizes. Shutters can shape a beam but work as opposite side to operated. Gobo can produce any shape made from a light. Gobo holder, holds the gobo and slots into the light. DHA make the gobos.

Lighting

H/C

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