#u76c1

[curtis-stewart-nkc-blog]

Sketches and Drawings

When we first started designing our sections, we started out with sketches on paper. We created three designs to show the directors. After we showed these to the directors, we started sketching out the plan of the auditorium on the table, drawing things to scale. This helped us to work out how much of the floor space we are taking up and how we can arrange things better. We also used this method to help us work out the number of seats we can fit in each section and to make sure the emergency exits had the required room.

After making these plans, we started learning how to do 3D drawings. We were given a previous model box to practice our 3D skills. We first started by drawing a massive cube and then splitting it up into 1m by 1m squares. This require a lot of thinking as the closer a square is, the bigger it is. We solved this by making the back wall as perfect squares, then using diagonal lines on the floor to create squares that will scale at the correct rate. We then used the back wall, and the ground to work out the walls. After this, we used the scale on the back wall and the vanishing point to scale everything up when it is brought forward.

After creating the model, the final drawing I had to do was a 2D drawing, also called a technical drawing. This drawing consists of drawing the model from 3 specific different angles: one from above, one from the front and one from the side. The drawing is made to scale and has to include all measurements on it. There are also specific notations used in the drawing. For instance, any staging has a cross on it to symbolise that it is staging. Another notation needed for technical drawings is the height of any set off the floor. There is also a box with information in it that we had to put on it. The box had to have the play’s name, the theatres name, the Director’s names, the thing being drawn, who designed and drew it, the date and the scale.

[curtis-stewart-nkc-blog]

Research

For this project, I was assigned the forest section. This seemed like an easy section to start with, but I still did research on forests and witching circles.

The first research was the forests. From these pictures I could see that most forests have very straight up trunks, which can be various widths. They also don’t have as many branches on the lower regions of the trunks. I used these ideas, along with the concept of stylised and symbolic meanings to create my own designs. I decided to use vertical uniformed tubes as the trunk to exaggerate the upright trunks in the real world. I also put the stylised trunks much higher up in the designs and also made them much more stylised to make them look more like beams in a building at the same time. I also noticed the grey and brown colours from the trunks and used that when colouring the trunks in my design, but making it a lot more stylised instead of naturalistic, but clearly showing the lines of the trunks by using the different colours. 

The second research I did was for the witching circles. During my research I came across these two main photos. They both show the witching circles in two totally different ways. The greener photo has a much more subtle witching circle that has been made into the grass using light. Whereas, the other picture is a clearly seen circle using twigs and branches to make the circle. Even though they are both radically different, they both have the culminating idea of a circle that is seen in the ground and is somehow shown, whether it is subtle or not. I took this idea and decided to have my own way of showing the circle. My idea was the have the circle raised above the ground and surrounded by trees.  This helped to create the circle whilst sticking with the ideas I got from the research.

[jakeayrisblog]

Set design day 15

Today we recapped the design process and theatre layouts so that Jess could catch up, then we split into two groups my group had to go through each scene in the first act and plan how the set would look/be laid out. The other group did the second act, tomorrow we will swap and each do a plan for the other act.

The main ideas of the day were to cut out two large windows in the infinity curve walls and cover them with scrim, scrim is a fabric which is opaque when lit from the front and transparent when lit from behind.

we are also going to have two (possibly three) trucks, with flats attached to them, these can be wheeled around and positioned to make different settings.

[jakeayrisblog]

Set design day 12

So overall I think we have made good progress today, me and Ben spent the morning sorting out what size the pier and pavilion are going to be, we looked at the sight-lines of the audience in different rows of the seating bank and how this affected the height of the pier.

Using the scale model box we made this:

Don't worry, I annotated it:

We then planned what the structure should look like, and I made these sketches:

The Pavilion -

and a plan to show where the legs will be placed.

After working all this out, I made a model of the pier and Ben made a model of the pavilion platform, we used foam-board for the deck/gantry and balsa wood to make the legs. We then both decided to add in extra legs and supporting beams to make them look more realistic and like the research.

We made the models so that the Pier is able to be moved underneath the platform as it is not wanted during all parts of the show and so moving it in will allow it to be hidden a lot easier. This will mean adding wheels to the bottom of the pier.

[bensblogbook]

3/02/2014

Today we carried on working on perspective drawing. On Friday I finished drawing the West Side Story set so I was now ready to move on to sketching free hand (without grid lines) the Ubu set. I started drawing it out but felt it was wrong because to me it did not appear to be going to perspective. Alan told me that parts of it were going to perspective where as other parts were not, he said this was because I tried to draw out to much at once, and I needed to just concentrate on one aspect of the set at a time. He showed me how he would draw it taking each aspect at a time and drawing it out and then once he had showed me he rubbed out what he had done and made me draw out the set. After Alan had showed me this technique I found it a lot easier to draw out the set. To begin with I drew out the deck that was against the wall on one side. To do this I started in the deck that was up against the back wall. I started by drawing a straight line against the back of the wall and I used this as my working line. Once I had my working line I then extended both ends of the line to the perspective point. This gave me the deck that went across the back wall. I then looked back at the model and saw that there 3 separate pieces of deck against the wall two of them were rectangular and the last was at a triangular angle. To draw these I carried on the line drawn to the perspective point, which went from the line for the deck at the back wall. Once I had extended this out I then split it three times to create the back piece of deck and the piece of deck in the middle. Once I had split it I then drew another line that came from the perspective point to form the part of deck that sits against the wall. I extended this line past the end of the second rectangular deck, I did this because I could then draw a diagonal line to connect the line to the rectangular deck in order to form the triangular deck. With the outline of the deck drawn I then started drawing the legs for the deck, some of which stopped when they reached the deck and others that extended above the deck. These legs were easy to draw, because they were face on and anything that is face on is drawn with horizontal and vertical lines. However once I had drawn them I then had to make them 3D this is done by extending small lines from the corners of the legs to the perspective point. This was slightly harder because you had to work out, from eye how much of the side of the legs you saw before drawing it on the paper. However once I had the hang of it, it became easier. Once I had drawn on the legs and the various supports I started adding depth to the deck. To do this you extend a vertical line down on both sided of the object and connect them with a horizontal line. However if the object you are adding depth to is at an angle you extend a vertical line down and then draw a line in the angle the object is drawn at, this will give the object depth. After giving the deck depth I then moved onto adding another two layers to the deck against the back wall. To do this I used the model and worked out that the level on top of the deck was between the two standing legs, so to draw this I drew a line up from the line of the original deck and I then extended the ends of this line to the perspective point before blocking it of to make a cuboid. The next level was directly in the middle of what I had just drawn. Again I drew a line and then extended the ends to the perspective point. I then gave it depth. After I had finished adding in the different levels on the deck I moved on to add bits of detail in, like the crates at the front and the door underneath the triangular piece of deck. To draw the crates at the front of the set I had to use two point perspective. To do this I had to work out by eye where the perspective points were in order to make it look like it did on the model. After finding the perspective point I then drew a vertical line where I thought the boxes should be placed on the drawing. I the extended a line from the top of the line and the bottom of the line adhering to the perspective on the stage right, and a line from the top of the line and the bottom of the line adhering to the perspective point on stage left. I then blocked out between the two lines on both sides to form the start of a cube. I then extended a line from both of the vertical line to there opposite perspective points to form the cubes. I followed this process for all small boxes. When I drew out the box in the middle of the set I drew a rectangle and extended two lines, which adhered to the perspective point. I then blocked this off to form a cube. I then added detail to the cube to make it look more like a crate. After drawing out the boxes at the front I then drew the door under the triangular deck. To do this I drew two vertical line up from the floor. I then connected with two horizontal lines that followed the same angle as the deck. after drawing the door I then added detail to make it look like a barn door. With the door drawn I then moved onto what would be the final piece of the picture that I would draw which was the pole standing near the front of the model box. Again because it was facing me I drew with vertical and horizontal lines. I then made it look 3D by drawing small lines from the corners of the pole that adhered to the perspective point. With the pole drawn I then drew the net which comes down from the top of the pole and reaches the floor. I also drew in the tyre hanging from ceiling and rope which was also hanging from the ceiling. 

Here is my drawing of The Ubu 

After lunch we spent the afternoon reading through the script for the Beano. We did this because it would again give us a chance to recap what we already knew as well as give us locations, which we could use to produce a script breakdown. This script breakdown would help us when we were coming up with set ideas as we could each take a different scene and come up with ideas about it. 

Strengths 

Today I feel my main strength has been my improvement in my sketching skill. I feel this because I was able to draw out most of the Ubu set independently, with a little bit of help. Another strength I feel is that i now understand the Beano script more than I did when I first read it.

Weaknesses 

The main weakness I feel I have picked up on today is the fact that I still go to Alan for assistance when the thing I am trying to do is easy and I have in fact done it before. 

Plan of Action 

This week I plan to complete every task set by Alan independently and with a great degree of accuracy. I will also improve my weakness by recapping what I have done over the past week so that when we come to sketching again I can do it with out having to ask Alan for help. 

[bensblogbook]

Anne Bronte Research

Anne Bronte was born on the 17th of January 1820 and is the youngest of three Bronte sisters (Emily and Charlotte being the older), who's literature has become famous throughout British history. 

Anne together with her sister Emily wrote poetry and stories for their imaginary world Gondal. They worked together on these well in to the 1840's and few survive. 

Between 1840 and 1845 she worked for the Robinson family at Thorp Green York and it was with this family that she took her first visit to Scarborough. In May 1846 under the Pseudonym of Currer Ellis and Acton Bell she published 21 one poems in a book of Poems published in that year. In 1848 Anne published her novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall which is a novel, framed as a letter from Gilbert Markham to his friend and brother-in-law about the events leading to his meeting his wife. It is the most known of her two novels the other being Agnes Grey. 

In January 1849 Anne was diagnosed with Tuberculosis and on the 24th of May 1849 her sister Charlotte and Ellen Nussey take her to Scarborough in the hope that the sea air will help alleviate her symptoms. However on the 28th May 1849 at the age of 28 she died. She was laid to rest at the St Mary's Churchyard in Scarborough on Castle Hill, which overlooks the bay. 

Scarborough beach South Bay was a well known place to Bronte's, particularly who walked on the beach two days before her death so it is fitting that she is buried in Scarborough 

I think Robbie chose to include Anne Bronte's grave in the play because it allows the characters who visit the grave to see that life can be short, by looking at the age she was when she dies. This perhaps links to the blood shed suffered in the First World War which occurred not long after the Brewery Beano. Similarly he could of chosen to include it as it is perhaps a place of interest in Scarborough for tourists. 

Picture of the grave

[bensblogbook]

31/01/2014

Today we continued looking at perspective drawing. I started the day by continuing to draw out the set for West Side Story to perspective. Yesterday I had completed the area were the deck stands, and I had also added the gantry which goes across both ends of the deck. I now moved on to draw the uprights which make up most of the set. To do this I created a box above my deck that went towards the perspective point, because it made it easier to sketch out the uprights. To draw this I needed to find out the height of the highest upright, which was 5 meters. Once I had found this out I then went up 5 meters on the picture, using the square as a guide because they each equal a metre. Once I had worked out where 5 metres was I then extended a horizontal line upwards to the 5 metre mark. I did the same at the other end of the deck so that I had two horizontal lines extending up from the top of the deck. With these lines drawn I then connected them by drawing a line which was in line with the perspective point. Once I had drawn the box I then sectioned it of by 1m 20 to incorporate all of the uprights. I then repeated this on the other side of the the drawing. After sectioning each of the uprights of I then drew a rough outline, by eye, of each of them. I had to work out just using my eye the height and direction of each upright on the drawing, in order to improve my sketching skills. Once I had completed the rough outlines of the uprights I then moved onto give them depth so that they looked like they did on the model. Whilst I was drawing the uprights I had to ensure that I drew them in the correct place as the uprights that came off of the wall diagonally came from a certain upright. Once I had added depth to the uprights they were completed.

Here is a picture showing all the uprights drawn on both sides;

After drawing the uprights I then moved onto draw the uprights that came away from the deck at an angle. To do this I followed a similar principle that I had followed when doing the standing uprights. Alan showed me how to do the first one and I them had to use what he had shown me to draw the other side. To draw the angled uprights I had to find out how far up stage they came and how far on stage from each side they came. Once I had worked this out I then drew a box by drawing two horizontal lines and then connecting them by drawing a vertical line. The main difference when drawing this was the fact that because they were both at an angle they both matched to a different perspective point. Instead of working out where this was I guessed by eye to perspective point both sided corresponded with. With the boxes drawn I then did a rough out line for each of the uprights I then went on to add depth to make them look like they appeared on the model. 

Here is the drawing with the angled uprights on it; 

Once I had completed the angled uprights I then moved on to complete the drawing by adding in the fences. Again Alan showed me how to do one of the back fences and one of the front fences I then had to use what he had taught me to draw the other back fence and the other front fence. Again I had to use my eye and sketch to where I thought the perspective points for the fences were as they each corresponded to a different perspective point. Once I had mastered where the perspective points would be I again did  a rough outline, ensuring that the lines were in line with the perspective point so that they would be in perspective. After doing the rough outline I again added depth to the fences and drew on the netting to make them look more like the model. After drawing the fences I had completed the drawing of the West Side Story set and I now had to pick what set I would draw next. I chose The Ubu set and my task was to sketch the set, to perspective and without griding up the page. This task was set in order to help us put to test everything we had learnt about perspective and also help us improve are sketching skills. 

Here is the completed drawing of the West Side Story set to perspective;

Here is The Ubu model that I had to sketch;

Before I got a chance to start sketching The Ubu set we had a meeting with Robbie (the Artistic Director) to discuss the ideas that we had come up with. Robbie liked the ideas we had come up with and we appeared to be going in the correct direction. He requested that the bath houses, that were going to be used like trucks needed to flat pack or have some way of being disassembled so that they could be taken off of stage. He wanted this because he didn't want their to be anything to do with a beach in the early parts of the show. He also asked us to design a pit which would be used to contain sand. At first we were a bit a dubious about having sand in the auditorium, because of the mess that it would cause. However Robbie told us that it was needed because one of the characters (Monkey) is buried in sand during the performance. Overall he like the direction in which we were heading and he like all of the ideas that we had come up with.

Strengths  

I feel today my strengths have been; I have been able to successfully been able to complete the drawing of the West Side Story set to a high standard, I now have a much clearer understanding of perspective and it uses in drawing, this had become apparent by the fact that I was able to complete a drawing of the West Side Story set accurately and I also feel that my sketching skills have improved massively since we started drawing. 

Weaknesses 

I feel that the only weakness I can pick up on from today is that during the meeting with Robbie I don't think I spoke about the ideas a much as I could of and I feel like I took a bit of a back seat. 

Plan Of Action 

Next week I hope to continue to improve my drawing skills by successfully drawing The Ubu set free hand and with limited help from Alan. In future meetings I will also get more involved more in the discussions with Robbie and the Directing team. 

[bensblogbook]

30/01/2014

Today we continued to look at perspective drawing. We started the day by explaining to Jake what we did yesterday, as he was not in. This included going over the rules of the design room, what a designer does and the design process. Once we had explained that to Jake Alan went on to explain perspective and get him to do the drawings we had done yesterday. Whilst this was going on I continued to work on putting cubes and holes onto the wall of the auditorium, which I had started yesterday. When drawing the cube onto the wall you first draw a square somewhere on a wall ceiling or floor, this is done because it gives you the basis that will help you to draw the cube. Once you have the square drawn you the draw a line from each of the corners in line with perspective, you do this so it is correctly in perspective either the rest of the drawing. Once you have the lines drawn from each corner of the square to the perspective point you the make it into a cube by drawing two horizontal lines between the two line drawn from the perspective point. This will give you your cube which is in perspective to the rest of the drawing. When you are drawing holes into the floor, wall or ceiling you extrude two lines from the perspective point to the part of the picture you want the he to appear on. Once you have extruded the lines from the perspective point you then make the lines form a square by drawing two vertical lines between the line just drawn from the perspective point. Once this is drawn you then draw a horizontal line from the corner closet to you, in order to give you an edge of the hole. After drawing this line you the draw a line which starts at the end of the horizontal line to the edge of the square, in line with the perspective point. This line will give you another side of the hole. Once this line is drawn you then draw a vertical line from the top of the square to the point at which the horizontal line and he perspective line meet.

Here is the completed picture with holes and cubes drawn in the walls, ceiling and floor;

After I had completed the drawing of the cubes and the holes in the wall I moved on to start work on drawing the West Side Story set in perspective. To begin with I had to draw the auditorium with the perspective point near the top of the square which would be the back wall. The only difference with this box is I had to draw it to the scale it is in the theatre. The measurements I used to get it to scale were 24 centimetres wide and 12 centimetres high. Once I had drawn the square I put the perspective point towards the top of the square and then using the perspective point I drew lines from each of the corners in line with the perspective point to produce the walls of the theatre. Once I had drawn out the outline of the theatre I then had to grid it up. To do this I sectioned of the square in 2cm gaps along the width line and the height line. Once I had split the square with marks every 2cm I then drew lines from in line thing perspective point across the page. Once the lines were drawn I then had to draw horizontal lines across the page by eye in order to make the squares. I had to do this by eye which to begin with was hard because I wasn’t sure if the squares I was drawing were the correct size. However once I had drawn them Alan checked and they were correct.

Here is the drawing of the theatre gridded up ;

With the page gridded up I moved on to drawing a skeleton for the standing deck. To draw this I used the squares as a guide, because each square equalled a metre. Once I had drawn the skeleton for the standing deck I the extended the corner lines upwards. Once I had done this I concerted all of the lines together, ensuring that the lines were going towards the perspective point. With the uprights drawn I then went on to draw the bridge. I started drawing it but got stuck so Alan showed me how to draw it.

Here is a picture of the deck extended of the ground;

Here is the drawing with the gantry drawn on;

Strengths 

Today I feel that my strengths have been my improvement in the perspective drawing as I am now able to draw more accurately. Another strength I feel I have gained today is my ability to sketch more accurately.

Weaknesses

A weakness I feel I have seen today is the fact that I am still drawing my lines are still to hard. Another weakness I feel is that fact that I go straight to Alan when I am struggling to draw things.

Plan of Action

Tomorrow I will continue to work on improving my weaknesses and I also hope to progress further in drawing the West Side Story set or even finishing it.