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If you would like to continue following what I am up to academically, then have a gander at my new blog following my progress in my current uni project.:
http://eleanorbullemp.blogspot.co.uk/
s'gunna be greeeat.
Visual Stimulus
Thursday 7 February 2013
Monday 1 October 2012
Day 11: First Day of Rehearsals- 'Read Through'
Today has been the most ludicrously busy day- what a joke that my 'first day back at uni' is actually tomorrow when I've been back for almost 2 weeks already!
I had to cram cram cram a lot in today as different departments needed me for different things.
I arranged the rough structure of the day as follows:
MONDAY
am- sit-in rehearsals- first read-through make design notes.
Lunch- meet up with Costume Supervisor and Costume Buyer- brief them on fabric choice for Leonato.
After lunch: Do Costume and set presentation for actors.
pm: Measuring actors
pm: Sit in on rest of acting session
pm: Talk to Kirsty re. groundplan.
Eve: Look at Scenic Artist's painting samples
Night: Compile full props list for DSM and ASM with pictures.
First Rehearsal: Notes
-Various acting notes to be discussed with Director. (please no Indian accents).
-Act 1 Scene 2: Music?!
-Talk to 'Hero', see if she has her nose pierced and whether she'd mind dying her hair dark.
-"Stool and Cushion for the Sexton" Act 4, Scene 2 (prop requirements)
-"Doublet and hose" Act 5, Scene 1
-"Put on other weeds" Act 5 Scene 4
After the rehearsal there were a few script points to bring-up, interestingly they had a different version of the script to me and there were a few typos in theirs. A few of the things we decided to change for renewed contextual reasons:
- Any reference to 'Italy' we change to 'The Empire' e.g. 'Finest man in the Empire'.
- Hero and Margaret's exchange about the details of the dress are to be cut for costume purposes.
-"Doublet and hose" to be cut.
I was actually really surprised by the director's attitude to Shakespeare. I thought that typically the way that director's approached Shakespeare was with a vague attitude of 'Don't mess with Shakespeare', which will often end-up in entire scenes being cut rather than lines individually being changed and cut in large volume. However, Doug's approach has been quite different. I thought there might be some issue in cutting the lines that conflicted with costume, however, a lot of them were in sections to be cut anyway, so it wasn't a problem. I like it how my director is trying to make it accessible to a wider and more modern audience, but on a personal level, I am sad to see some of the archaic metaphors go.... but it has to be said that not everyone has had the luxury to have studied the play and that a lot of the lines that Doug has cut, could have been baffling and ambiguous to a modern audience who don't know the play.
Fabric Briefing
During my lunch hour Sarah and Emilie agreed to meet with me so that I could go through my fabric sample book with them to brief them about the sort of fabric they were looking for. My idea was for them to stick around directly after lunch to help me get the rest of the actors measured and then for them to jet off to local fabric places and see what they could find in terms of appropriate fabric for Leonato's tunic. So I made sure I gave them as clear instructions as possible, showing them my 'ideal' fabric sample (priced way out of reach at £69 p/m) and then also showing them the currently most viable option from Goldhawk road. I was very clear about the colour more than anything, and my main rules being that the fabric is not 'modern-looking' and specifically "free from any garish and modern shine". I gave the little sample book to them to have as reference on their trip and then rushed off to have some lunch.
Costume and Set Presentation
Having been so so busy with all the other preparations, getting the 'costume and set presentation' as seamless and professional as possible was not at the forefront of my mind, let alone at the top of my priorities list. This is mainly because I have been in contact with most of the actors through-out the design process, posting pictures of the set and costumes as and when they were complete. So there really were very few of them that weren't aware of the concept.
First I did a little speech about the set and the design concept, followed by a run-through of the costumes.
A problem being that the CAD pad has only just been accessible as from today, so I have been previously unable to print out my designs in a good size (the library printers destroyed my colour-scheme), so I just asked for those who hadn't seen the designs, to gather round my laptop as I talked through them. Not ideal, but it still worked.
It was lovely to see how excited the actors were and how complimentary they were of the designs. It's a good group and I got very positive vibes from them. After fielding a few questions like "Is it a real tree?" etc, my costume team were able to whiz through the rest of the measuring schedule whilst I went round and talked-through the designs to the actors individually.
Measuring Session
For optimum speedy measuring, I had asked the whole costume team to join me. It was very kind of Emilie, Lucy, and Anna to come and help, as it really isn't their responsibility to do it, but many hands make light work, and we had the entire cast done within 30mins.
We also used this time to try-on the white jacket we got for Conrade/Borachio. Interestingly, I got an email last night informing me that Doug had decided to swap the cast around and now Borachio, Friar Francis and Antonio had all swapped round. I knew everything happens for a reason- the new Borachio is a COMPLETELY different shape to the previous actor, and if that bad day earlier in the week HADN'T happened, and we HAD managed to order the 'patrol jackets' from Denny's then we would have got one completely the wrong size. So it was a good thing in the end that we had an unsuccessful sourcing mission for those jackets or else there would have been trouble.
Unfortunately, there still is potentially a bit of trouble....
The actor playing Conrade is incredibly built and muscly, which can be an incredibly difficult frame to dress in uniform if it's not being made specially, as the ratio between broadness of chest/shoulders and the narrowness of the waist makes it difficult for ready made items to fall properly. We tried the jacket on him, and although he said he felt comfortable (how lovely to have a co-operative actor!) the sleeves were very much on the short side (which could easily be remedied) BUT the whole shirt was way too tight across the shoulders and the upper arms. Lucy thinks that if worse came to worse she could put in a panel near the armhole, but I guess we'll have to see what happens about sourcing the other one.
We also tried it on 'new' Borachio and I was much more pleased with how it fit. No matter who ends up wearing it, it certainly needs to be taken-up, preferably tapering to a point at the CF, falling above the hips. And the buttons will need ageing or replacing and the collar stiffening.
Lucy then helped me measure for the balcony laser-cut facade- this was something I had o do in real life, rather than on sketch-up or the model box, firstly for accuracy, but also because the screen doesn't cover the whole lighting-deck edge, just between the two ends of scaffold on each side, so it had to be measured specially. But I now know that the laser-cut board should be 560cm wide and 130cm tall.
The Rest of the Afternoon
For the rest of the afternoon Doug asked me to stay and witness the actors' character developments, but I tried to get some work done at the same time. I'm not sure how useful it was for me to be in this part of the session, as I kept on having to leave to answer my phone to the Costume Team (on sourcing issues), Kirsty (on groundplan issues) and my housemate Jess, who had kindly offered to look through the Textiles catalogues to find me the fabric that I want for the washing. I hated feeling like I was being rude or disruptive, but I felt at this point I really needed to prioritise my team over the actors, as it was mainly them just walking around in the space in character.
Emilie and Sarah phoned me to let me know that they were stuck in traffic and therefore only made it to Fabric Land before closing time- which was somewhat predicatably, unfruitful.
The Production manager had been keenly on at me today to get the groundplans to him by the end of the day, which meant in turn chasing-up Kirsty who had said she was coming over to meet with me yesterday but never turned up. In the end I found Kirsty and she got the groundplans to John in time, so it was all fine in the end.
The Woes of Paint Selection
After ensuring that the groundplan was successfully delivered to the Production Manager, I then cycled to the Scenic Artist's house to have a look at some paint samples she had done for me.
Having been so confident in our colour choice in the shop, when I saw the painted-up samples, my heart sank as none of them were 'perfect'. Emily had done a brilliant job. She did one set of samples that showed the difference between using a white base and using a black base, and from this is was very apparent as to which worked better (White for sure, 100%). Then there were some colour sample pieces that she'd painted up so I could select the right blue. Then there was a third set of samples where she'd taken the colour she thought I was most likely to pick (the Windsor blue from Crown/Brewers) and used it to show me some experimental painting techniques for the 'stone' of the seating rostra. Emily has been amazing.
Unfortunately, none of the colours were quite right. The one I thought was closest at first was actually the one 'colour-matched' by Dulux, but as soon as I got out my paint sample form my model I realised that the Dulux colour was way too purple. The one with the closest tone/hue was definitely Windsor Blue, but I had realy issues with the saturation. It was hard to tell for sure (as it was a very dull day and we were in a poorly lit room), but Windsor Blue completely lacked the luminosity and the saturation of the Ultrmarine from the model. Obviously by this point I have moved away from teh actual colour of Jodhpur and the image that was my inspiration originally, but now I feel it's so important to try and match the colour that I've been using, as that's what we're matching the costumes to too. For me it was a tough decision between Crown's City Blue and Blue Windsor. Blue Windsor was the right sort of blue, but was too pale, and I was worried that the lighting would wash it out EVEN more. The City Blue had a lovely glow to it, and was a much deeper colour but it wasn't the right hue- too greeny, too harsh.
I didn't really want to choose any of them, because none of them were right. But having looked at the prices for Rosco Supersaturated Ultramarine paint (£127 for 5litres) I knew that there was no alternative at all.
So after A LOT of deliberating and holding samples under different lights, I uneasily decided to go for the Windsor Blue, as it was cheap, but also because I think that in terms of the costumes working with the set, the HUE of the colour is more important than the depth... if it's the wrong shade of blue then the costumes could so easily look wrong.
I left with a decision made, but not remotely confident that I'd made the right choice. Emily gave me the paints to take with me so that I could do some samples for my own use.
Props List
When I finally got home after this incerdibly long day, I took some time to have a break and eat some food. After a short while I made an Illustrated Props list for the ASMs and DSMs and sent it to Dominique (the Stage Manager), John (the Production Manager), Doug (the Director), and Zoe (my Set Assistant) with the following message:
Hello Everyone!
John, the document attached features the visual references for the 4 swords that we will need, which I think you said you'd be ok to source for us?? Let me know if any problems.
Here is a prop sourcing sheet, with Visual References.
(I tried to attach it to the email but the file is too big, so it is a dropbox link, hope it works)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uqau2ovhet0gkf0/Props.pdf
Verity or Dominique- please could you distribute among relevant DSMs etc. cos I don't have everyone's email.
Hope it's clear, any questions feel free to find me/call me/email me. Prop-sourcing team, please can you make sure that I see a photo of everything you have found before any purchases are made- that would be ace, and liaise with Zoe Rolph re the budget for props. I'm really grateful to have you all on board- sorry the props are so specialist.....
Thank you so much in advance- you've all been so great already!
See you soon,
All the best,
-Eleanor (Designer)
I had to cram cram cram a lot in today as different departments needed me for different things.
I arranged the rough structure of the day as follows:
MONDAY
am- sit-in rehearsals- first read-through make design notes.
Lunch- meet up with Costume Supervisor and Costume Buyer- brief them on fabric choice for Leonato.
After lunch: Do Costume and set presentation for actors.
pm: Measuring actors
pm: Sit in on rest of acting session
pm: Talk to Kirsty re. groundplan.
Eve: Look at Scenic Artist's painting samples
Night: Compile full props list for DSM and ASM with pictures.
First Rehearsal: Notes
-Various acting notes to be discussed with Director. (please no Indian accents).
-Act 1 Scene 2: Music?!
-Talk to 'Hero', see if she has her nose pierced and whether she'd mind dying her hair dark.
-"Stool and Cushion for the Sexton" Act 4, Scene 2 (prop requirements)
-"Doublet and hose" Act 5, Scene 1
-"Put on other weeds" Act 5 Scene 4
After the rehearsal there were a few script points to bring-up, interestingly they had a different version of the script to me and there were a few typos in theirs. A few of the things we decided to change for renewed contextual reasons:
- Any reference to 'Italy' we change to 'The Empire' e.g. 'Finest man in the Empire'.
- Hero and Margaret's exchange about the details of the dress are to be cut for costume purposes.
-"Doublet and hose" to be cut.
I was actually really surprised by the director's attitude to Shakespeare. I thought that typically the way that director's approached Shakespeare was with a vague attitude of 'Don't mess with Shakespeare', which will often end-up in entire scenes being cut rather than lines individually being changed and cut in large volume. However, Doug's approach has been quite different. I thought there might be some issue in cutting the lines that conflicted with costume, however, a lot of them were in sections to be cut anyway, so it wasn't a problem. I like it how my director is trying to make it accessible to a wider and more modern audience, but on a personal level, I am sad to see some of the archaic metaphors go.... but it has to be said that not everyone has had the luxury to have studied the play and that a lot of the lines that Doug has cut, could have been baffling and ambiguous to a modern audience who don't know the play.
Fabric Briefing
During my lunch hour Sarah and Emilie agreed to meet with me so that I could go through my fabric sample book with them to brief them about the sort of fabric they were looking for. My idea was for them to stick around directly after lunch to help me get the rest of the actors measured and then for them to jet off to local fabric places and see what they could find in terms of appropriate fabric for Leonato's tunic. So I made sure I gave them as clear instructions as possible, showing them my 'ideal' fabric sample (priced way out of reach at £69 p/m) and then also showing them the currently most viable option from Goldhawk road. I was very clear about the colour more than anything, and my main rules being that the fabric is not 'modern-looking' and specifically "free from any garish and modern shine". I gave the little sample book to them to have as reference on their trip and then rushed off to have some lunch.
Costume and Set Presentation
Having been so so busy with all the other preparations, getting the 'costume and set presentation' as seamless and professional as possible was not at the forefront of my mind, let alone at the top of my priorities list. This is mainly because I have been in contact with most of the actors through-out the design process, posting pictures of the set and costumes as and when they were complete. So there really were very few of them that weren't aware of the concept.
First I did a little speech about the set and the design concept, followed by a run-through of the costumes.
A problem being that the CAD pad has only just been accessible as from today, so I have been previously unable to print out my designs in a good size (the library printers destroyed my colour-scheme), so I just asked for those who hadn't seen the designs, to gather round my laptop as I talked through them. Not ideal, but it still worked.
It was lovely to see how excited the actors were and how complimentary they were of the designs. It's a good group and I got very positive vibes from them. After fielding a few questions like "Is it a real tree?" etc, my costume team were able to whiz through the rest of the measuring schedule whilst I went round and talked-through the designs to the actors individually.
Measuring Session
For optimum speedy measuring, I had asked the whole costume team to join me. It was very kind of Emilie, Lucy, and Anna to come and help, as it really isn't their responsibility to do it, but many hands make light work, and we had the entire cast done within 30mins.
We also used this time to try-on the white jacket we got for Conrade/Borachio. Interestingly, I got an email last night informing me that Doug had decided to swap the cast around and now Borachio, Friar Francis and Antonio had all swapped round. I knew everything happens for a reason- the new Borachio is a COMPLETELY different shape to the previous actor, and if that bad day earlier in the week HADN'T happened, and we HAD managed to order the 'patrol jackets' from Denny's then we would have got one completely the wrong size. So it was a good thing in the end that we had an unsuccessful sourcing mission for those jackets or else there would have been trouble.
Unfortunately, there still is potentially a bit of trouble....
The actor playing Conrade is incredibly built and muscly, which can be an incredibly difficult frame to dress in uniform if it's not being made specially, as the ratio between broadness of chest/shoulders and the narrowness of the waist makes it difficult for ready made items to fall properly. We tried the jacket on him, and although he said he felt comfortable (how lovely to have a co-operative actor!) the sleeves were very much on the short side (which could easily be remedied) BUT the whole shirt was way too tight across the shoulders and the upper arms. Lucy thinks that if worse came to worse she could put in a panel near the armhole, but I guess we'll have to see what happens about sourcing the other one.
We also tried it on 'new' Borachio and I was much more pleased with how it fit. No matter who ends up wearing it, it certainly needs to be taken-up, preferably tapering to a point at the CF, falling above the hips. And the buttons will need ageing or replacing and the collar stiffening.
 |
| Conrade in the Jacket. |
 |
| Conrade's fitting showing where jacket should end. |
 |
| Way too Short on Conrade's wrist. |
 |
| Better on Borachio- hangs much nicer, like the design. |
Lucy then helped me measure for the balcony laser-cut facade- this was something I had o do in real life, rather than on sketch-up or the model box, firstly for accuracy, but also because the screen doesn't cover the whole lighting-deck edge, just between the two ends of scaffold on each side, so it had to be measured specially. But I now know that the laser-cut board should be 560cm wide and 130cm tall.
The Rest of the Afternoon
For the rest of the afternoon Doug asked me to stay and witness the actors' character developments, but I tried to get some work done at the same time. I'm not sure how useful it was for me to be in this part of the session, as I kept on having to leave to answer my phone to the Costume Team (on sourcing issues), Kirsty (on groundplan issues) and my housemate Jess, who had kindly offered to look through the Textiles catalogues to find me the fabric that I want for the washing. I hated feeling like I was being rude or disruptive, but I felt at this point I really needed to prioritise my team over the actors, as it was mainly them just walking around in the space in character.
Emilie and Sarah phoned me to let me know that they were stuck in traffic and therefore only made it to Fabric Land before closing time- which was somewhat predicatably, unfruitful.
The Production manager had been keenly on at me today to get the groundplans to him by the end of the day, which meant in turn chasing-up Kirsty who had said she was coming over to meet with me yesterday but never turned up. In the end I found Kirsty and she got the groundplans to John in time, so it was all fine in the end.
The Woes of Paint Selection
After ensuring that the groundplan was successfully delivered to the Production Manager, I then cycled to the Scenic Artist's house to have a look at some paint samples she had done for me.
Having been so confident in our colour choice in the shop, when I saw the painted-up samples, my heart sank as none of them were 'perfect'. Emily had done a brilliant job. She did one set of samples that showed the difference between using a white base and using a black base, and from this is was very apparent as to which worked better (White for sure, 100%). Then there were some colour sample pieces that she'd painted up so I could select the right blue. Then there was a third set of samples where she'd taken the colour she thought I was most likely to pick (the Windsor blue from Crown/Brewers) and used it to show me some experimental painting techniques for the 'stone' of the seating rostra. Emily has been amazing.
Unfortunately, none of the colours were quite right. The one I thought was closest at first was actually the one 'colour-matched' by Dulux, but as soon as I got out my paint sample form my model I realised that the Dulux colour was way too purple. The one with the closest tone/hue was definitely Windsor Blue, but I had realy issues with the saturation. It was hard to tell for sure (as it was a very dull day and we were in a poorly lit room), but Windsor Blue completely lacked the luminosity and the saturation of the Ultrmarine from the model. Obviously by this point I have moved away from teh actual colour of Jodhpur and the image that was my inspiration originally, but now I feel it's so important to try and match the colour that I've been using, as that's what we're matching the costumes to too. For me it was a tough decision between Crown's City Blue and Blue Windsor. Blue Windsor was the right sort of blue, but was too pale, and I was worried that the lighting would wash it out EVEN more. The City Blue had a lovely glow to it, and was a much deeper colour but it wasn't the right hue- too greeny, too harsh.
I didn't really want to choose any of them, because none of them were right. But having looked at the prices for Rosco Supersaturated Ultramarine paint (£127 for 5litres) I knew that there was no alternative at all.
So after A LOT of deliberating and holding samples under different lights, I uneasily decided to go for the Windsor Blue, as it was cheap, but also because I think that in terms of the costumes working with the set, the HUE of the colour is more important than the depth... if it's the wrong shade of blue then the costumes could so easily look wrong.
I left with a decision made, but not remotely confident that I'd made the right choice. Emily gave me the paints to take with me so that I could do some samples for my own use.
Props List
When I finally got home after this incerdibly long day, I took some time to have a break and eat some food. After a short while I made an Illustrated Props list for the ASMs and DSMs and sent it to Dominique (the Stage Manager), John (the Production Manager), Doug (the Director), and Zoe (my Set Assistant) with the following message:
Hello Everyone!
John, the document attached features the visual references for the 4 swords that we will need, which I think you said you'd be ok to source for us?? Let me know if any problems.
Here is a prop sourcing sheet, with Visual References.
(I tried to attach it to the email but the file is too big, so it is a dropbox link, hope it works)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uqau2ovhet0gkf0/Props.pdf
Verity or Dominique- please could you distribute among relevant DSMs etc. cos I don't have everyone's email.
Hope it's clear, any questions feel free to find me/call me/email me. Prop-sourcing team, please can you make sure that I see a photo of everything you have found before any purchases are made- that would be ace, and liaise with Zoe Rolph re the budget for props. I'm really grateful to have you all on board- sorry the props are so specialist.....
Thank you so much in advance- you've all been so great already!
See you soon,
All the best,
-Eleanor (Designer)
Sunday 30 September 2012
Day 10: Decision-Making and Compromises
So first things first...
Today I made a purchase that has been a long time coming and that I believe will drastically change my life for the better.
Why I haven't bought one earlier is totally beyond me, but I am now the proud owner of a dictaphone!! (which I have named Diane).
This will be so useful for me. Being the unusual combination of an Art Student AND and Auditory learner, I find it very difficult to take-in information in meetings or lectures if I'm constantly trying to make notes, which is an activity I so often find falls by the wayside, as my focus centres round the idea of audio interaction. In that, I really want to be fully focussing my attention on listening and processing information rather then trying to write it all down. I haven't been to one lecture where I haven't though 'oh I wish I'd recorded that because my notes just aren't good enough' and now with all the trillions of things to remember in the production meetings, it seemed like the perfect time to finally get myself a proper dictaphone. I am sure this will help me immensely, so I don't struggle so much in remembering exactly what's been said, who's said it, and what the outcome was. Maybe this is the key into turning a very disorganised person in to a seamlessly organised professional.... maybe.....
Or maybe you'll just see me skulking around the uni corridors pretending I'm in the FBI... maybe...
Today, I tried to do as much as possible, but was often stopped by the sheer fact that it was a Sunday and nowhere was open.
I had an informal meeting with Lucy (one of my makers: responsible for Leonato's Tunic), just to see how much fabric she thought she might need and also when she thought she'd need her top fabric by. Lucy informed me that she wouldn't be needing the top fabric for a while, so not to worry about going up to London to get it this week if it would just make things more difficult. She also estimated about 3.5m of fabric (depending on the width of the role) which makes me think that £15pm is our absolute maximum.
For a while now, I've been getting increasingly concerned about organising the little 'experience details' that, due to not fitting under anyone else's role description, will 100% be down to me to organise. Since August I have been trying to find garlands for the audience to be given by FOH (as per the original plan) and although you can bulk-buy some for really cheap on the Internet (like 10p for 1) none of them are quite right, the delivery is not only costly but takes up to a month, AND there is often a minimum order of between 1000-2000 pieces! So after having one last look tonight, I decided that there definitely wasn't room in the budget for this particular frivolity, when in reality, it would add very little to the play and would delay entry into the theatre somewhat. So that is now scrapped. I've made the decision, I'm confident I've made the right decision, and I'm happy that I've done it. One thing this project has taught me, is don't be embarrassed of designing for 'optimum scenarios'. If you have ambitious ideas but an equally ambitious budget then it can often seem humiliating to reveal your grandiose ideas to others. However, it is often the case that things you thought were hard to achieve are actually well within reach, and that there are ways of problem-solving that can help you achieve things visually that you thought were stupid to design in the first place as you wouldn't be able to realise them. Of course it's still important to consider budget etc and appropriateness when designing, but the logistics shouldn't rule your design. There are certain things that I've had to cut, because they are not achievable (like the garlands) but I am happy to have included them in my design concept initially. Whereas there are things that almost didn't make it into my designs because I felt them to be ridiculous or unobtainable- unachievable, that everyone has actually been happy to realise (like the washing line or the pump for example).
In the same 'experience props' vein of the show, I also had to order rose-petals for the end musical number to be thrown off the balcony, as the estimated delivery is 14 days. However, here is where I encountered a problem: my estimation skills are absolutely appalling (something that was only highlighted by my attempts at learning to drive this summer). So how many rose petals does one need? hundreds? thousands? On ebay 1000 petals are £1.99 + delivery from Hongkong.
So I decided to ask my housemates and my course-mates, eventually coming to a figure of about 8,000. Which seems like a ridiculous amount to me. But there you go...
I guess that if you split that between 4, that's 2000 per show... then there are 3 people throwing them, so 2000 divided by 3..... it's not as ridiculous as it initially sounds, AND it certainly didn't break the bank.
So some compromises, and some decision making, not the most productive day, but still an integral part of the process.
Today I made a purchase that has been a long time coming and that I believe will drastically change my life for the better.
Why I haven't bought one earlier is totally beyond me, but I am now the proud owner of a dictaphone!! (which I have named Diane).
 |
| Now how I look in my head |
This will be so useful for me. Being the unusual combination of an Art Student AND and Auditory learner, I find it very difficult to take-in information in meetings or lectures if I'm constantly trying to make notes, which is an activity I so often find falls by the wayside, as my focus centres round the idea of audio interaction. In that, I really want to be fully focussing my attention on listening and processing information rather then trying to write it all down. I haven't been to one lecture where I haven't though 'oh I wish I'd recorded that because my notes just aren't good enough' and now with all the trillions of things to remember in the production meetings, it seemed like the perfect time to finally get myself a proper dictaphone. I am sure this will help me immensely, so I don't struggle so much in remembering exactly what's been said, who's said it, and what the outcome was. Maybe this is the key into turning a very disorganised person in to a seamlessly organised professional.... maybe.....
Or maybe you'll just see me skulking around the uni corridors pretending I'm in the FBI... maybe...
Today, I tried to do as much as possible, but was often stopped by the sheer fact that it was a Sunday and nowhere was open.
I had an informal meeting with Lucy (one of my makers: responsible for Leonato's Tunic), just to see how much fabric she thought she might need and also when she thought she'd need her top fabric by. Lucy informed me that she wouldn't be needing the top fabric for a while, so not to worry about going up to London to get it this week if it would just make things more difficult. She also estimated about 3.5m of fabric (depending on the width of the role) which makes me think that £15pm is our absolute maximum.
For a while now, I've been getting increasingly concerned about organising the little 'experience details' that, due to not fitting under anyone else's role description, will 100% be down to me to organise. Since August I have been trying to find garlands for the audience to be given by FOH (as per the original plan) and although you can bulk-buy some for really cheap on the Internet (like 10p for 1) none of them are quite right, the delivery is not only costly but takes up to a month, AND there is often a minimum order of between 1000-2000 pieces! So after having one last look tonight, I decided that there definitely wasn't room in the budget for this particular frivolity, when in reality, it would add very little to the play and would delay entry into the theatre somewhat. So that is now scrapped. I've made the decision, I'm confident I've made the right decision, and I'm happy that I've done it. One thing this project has taught me, is don't be embarrassed of designing for 'optimum scenarios'. If you have ambitious ideas but an equally ambitious budget then it can often seem humiliating to reveal your grandiose ideas to others. However, it is often the case that things you thought were hard to achieve are actually well within reach, and that there are ways of problem-solving that can help you achieve things visually that you thought were stupid to design in the first place as you wouldn't be able to realise them. Of course it's still important to consider budget etc and appropriateness when designing, but the logistics shouldn't rule your design. There are certain things that I've had to cut, because they are not achievable (like the garlands) but I am happy to have included them in my design concept initially. Whereas there are things that almost didn't make it into my designs because I felt them to be ridiculous or unobtainable- unachievable, that everyone has actually been happy to realise (like the washing line or the pump for example).
In the same 'experience props' vein of the show, I also had to order rose-petals for the end musical number to be thrown off the balcony, as the estimated delivery is 14 days. However, here is where I encountered a problem: my estimation skills are absolutely appalling (something that was only highlighted by my attempts at learning to drive this summer). So how many rose petals does one need? hundreds? thousands? On ebay 1000 petals are £1.99 + delivery from Hongkong.
So I decided to ask my housemates and my course-mates, eventually coming to a figure of about 8,000. Which seems like a ridiculous amount to me. But there you go...
I guess that if you split that between 4, that's 2000 per show... then there are 3 people throwing them, so 2000 divided by 3..... it's not as ridiculous as it initially sounds, AND it certainly didn't break the bank.
So some compromises, and some decision making, not the most productive day, but still an integral part of the process.
Saturday 29 September 2012
Day 9: No-one works on the Weekend
Today, I experienced that inevitable frustration at wanting to carry on working at my usual pace, but being faced by the difficulties of a 'working week'.
Sarah got up and rang Hogspear nice and early so that we could go and visit them today. But after trying countless times and getting little more than an internet dialling tone (didn't even think that noise existed anymore)
we had to give-up on that brilliant plan and try calling again on Monday. The rest of the day was frustratingly unproductive. I made a Weekend To-Do List:
- Finish unpacking/tidying/cleaning (alas normal life goes on too)
-Sort out action plan regarding sourcing the fabric for Leonato's Tunic.
-Contact Hogspear
-Visit Hogspear
-Make a masterlist of all tasks that need doing in order to complete the show
-Finish old sketchbook
-Start proper Production Journal
-Do illustrator files (10x gobos, patterned screen for balcony, lattice work to go in holes in wall under balcony)
-Work out who I need to get tickets for and what date they're coming on.
-Meet with Kirsty the Technical Assistant- Sunday Lunchtime.
Today I really started to worry about getting the fabric for Leonato's tunic, as I'm aware the makers will be starting soon and we really should have it all sourced. The problem being, I have many brilliant fabric samples for the tunic, all the best ones were just there as 'guidance examples' as their prices were extortionate and way beyond our budget. There was one cheaper sample that I had that I was sort of happy with. I love the lumiosity of the colour, but I'm skeptical about the fabric type- it's a bit vellore-y and I'm worried it looks too modern, especially in the way it catches the light. The unfortunate fact being that ALL my samples came from London.
So I posted the following message in the Much Ado facebook group:
"Costume People,Emilie and Sarah are you both free at some point this weekend just to have a little meeting and talk about this? Sorry I know it's the weekend, I'm just very aware that the makers will be starting Tuesday and we've got no fabric for them xxxxxxxx"Unfortunately poor Emilie has to work all weekend so we were not able to meet. However, she did send a helpful reply detailing her plan of action come monday. Emilie reckons we can find something locally, but I am VERY dubious of this. However, I've put my faith in her knowledge and if she can find something that I like in the pricerange then that would be amazing. I also spent wome time with Sarah working out the budget. I think Leonato's entire outfit can't come to anymore than £50-£60 max, and with needing 3or4mtrs of fabric for the tunic alone, we really need to find something cheap.
However, I'm feeling quite a lot of pressure with this decision for a few reasons.
1. I am a total stickler for fabric accuracy in terms of the colour and correct-look for the period. There's little that bothers me more than if you go to see a production and all the costumes are beautiful yet the fabrics are all wrong- too shiny, too modern.
2. Due to the very small number of makes in this project, after all the fabric samples I sourced, this will be the ONLY one that I will actually get to buy fabric for and have it fully realised purely to my own creative specifications. Not only that, but this may be my last opportunity for a while where I am able to have one of my designs properly realised, and I'd hate to compromise on this amazing opportunity by rushing the decision, or falling victim to the budget, and end-up making a big mistake buying fabric that I'm not happy with in the end. What's the point of custom-making something, if you're not going to custom-make it to your specifications.
Hopefully when I talk to the costume girls on Monday we can have a talk about it all and I can drill the samples I have into their heads so they know what we're looking for.
In the meantime, I got my textiles-student-housemate (an unofficial advisor throughout the creative process) to give me her opinion on the samples I had, and we did some tests of how the reacted when moving under direct and indirect light, as well as both natural and artificial light.
Some other issues that I tried to sort today were the fabric for the auditorium. I looked again on MacDougalls to see if I could find any blue fabric appropriate for the swags but it's all so modern and shiney- not to mention expensive!! The good news is that after spending a lot of Thursday trying to identify the correct sort of chiffon that I'd used for the washing in my model, I discovered that the scrap of fabric that I used was from Jess's textiles starter pack that she got given on starting her 1st year. So she has offered to kindly go in on Monday and ask the tutors exactly what fabric it was- I might even be able to buy it directly off the Textiles Dept! And John is very happy with us just flame-proofing it ourselves, and said it wont come out of our budget!! Hooray!
However, this morning I realised that I really needed to get the fabric for the seating rostra sorted and that I had no idea exactly what I was responsible for, so I sent John the following email:
Hi John,
Just wanted to check some things with you re. the seating rostra.
Am I in charge of ordering the foam for the seating, or is that something you're taking care of?
If it is my responsibility, please could you give me some guidance on what sort of foam I need, where to get it from, and how much I'll need?
The same goes for the fabric covering, I know you and Will talked about it being reversible or something to tie-in with Canterbury tales, so I don't really know what fabric I'm ordering or how much I'm going to need, and whether half of it will come out of a different budget- if you see what I mean.
Also, I got back in contact with Banyards as they never got back to me, and unfortunately the only option they could offer was skinny little sapling with only a few leaves... he said that there were some trees near where they're doing the building work at the moment- he suggested that maybe if they were removing the trees as part of the development near the enterprise pavilion, that maybe I could just borrow one? What do you think about that, and who do I need to ask for permission?
Let me know what you think,
-Eleanor
So hopefully I'll get a response to that on Monday.
Sarah texted me just now to say that she'd had a brainwave about checking dentists' and doctors' uniform websites for the white nehru-collar patrol jacket. Unfortunately following my research I found that due to the nature of their work, nearly all the scrubs and jackets had short sleeves. BUT a brilliant find was the 'catering staff' section on the medical uniforms website. Where I found this:
Available in white, in a dyeable fabric, and the popper buttons are removable, and it's in stick, and it's sufficiently cheaper than the other ones we found. THIS is the ultimate back-up plan.
We also tried to work out the timetable for next week. I think if I send Sarah and Emilie to try and match my fabric samples locally on either Monday or Tuesday, then if they don't find anything, what I can do is when I go back to Brighton on Tuesday evening, instead of coming back to Bournemouth on Weds eve, I can go back VIA London on Thursday and buy the other fabric I had my eye on from Goldhawk Road. However, if this happens I don't know when we'll fit-in going to Hogspear and back to Hirearchy. I have to be in rehearsals all day Monday, but Sarah and Emilie just nee dto be there for the measuring session at 2:00 which will only take about half an hour. Maybe if I brief them during Lunch about the sort of fabric I'm looking for, they can then go out and look locally on Monday afternoon. On tuesday morning after the briefing (although I'm not sure if we go to that) we can either arrange to go to Hogspear OR Hirearchy (preferably Hogspear first, as we already know the prices and stuff for Hirearchy so it would be good to have a comparison before we commit). Then I will go back to Brighton on Tuesday afternoon, see Great Expectations, on Wednesday I will go round all the vintage and charity shops trying to match our other white jacket we got from Clobber, and maybe pick up a few more bargains along the way. And then, depending on the outcome of Monday's fabric shopping outing, I will either return to Bournemouth immediately OR go from Brighton to London to pick up the fabric form Goldhawk road.
Phew.
Sarah got up and rang Hogspear nice and early so that we could go and visit them today. But after trying countless times and getting little more than an internet dialling tone (didn't even think that noise existed anymore)
we had to give-up on that brilliant plan and try calling again on Monday. The rest of the day was frustratingly unproductive. I made a Weekend To-Do List:
- Finish unpacking/tidying/cleaning (alas normal life goes on too)
-Sort out action plan regarding sourcing the fabric for Leonato's Tunic.
-Contact Hogspear
-Visit Hogspear
-Make a masterlist of all tasks that need doing in order to complete the show
-Finish old sketchbook
-Start proper Production Journal
-Do illustrator files (10x gobos, patterned screen for balcony, lattice work to go in holes in wall under balcony)
-Work out who I need to get tickets for and what date they're coming on.
-Meet with Kirsty the Technical Assistant- Sunday Lunchtime.
Today I really started to worry about getting the fabric for Leonato's tunic, as I'm aware the makers will be starting soon and we really should have it all sourced. The problem being, I have many brilliant fabric samples for the tunic, all the best ones were just there as 'guidance examples' as their prices were extortionate and way beyond our budget. There was one cheaper sample that I had that I was sort of happy with. I love the lumiosity of the colour, but I'm skeptical about the fabric type- it's a bit vellore-y and I'm worried it looks too modern, especially in the way it catches the light. The unfortunate fact being that ALL my samples came from London.
So I posted the following message in the Much Ado facebook group:
"Costume People,Emilie and Sarah are you both free at some point this weekend just to have a little meeting and talk about this? Sorry I know it's the weekend, I'm just very aware that the makers will be starting Tuesday and we've got no fabric for them xxxxxxxx"Unfortunately poor Emilie has to work all weekend so we were not able to meet. However, she did send a helpful reply detailing her plan of action come monday. Emilie reckons we can find something locally, but I am VERY dubious of this. However, I've put my faith in her knowledge and if she can find something that I like in the pricerange then that would be amazing. I also spent wome time with Sarah working out the budget. I think Leonato's entire outfit can't come to anymore than £50-£60 max, and with needing 3or4mtrs of fabric for the tunic alone, we really need to find something cheap.
However, I'm feeling quite a lot of pressure with this decision for a few reasons.
1. I am a total stickler for fabric accuracy in terms of the colour and correct-look for the period. There's little that bothers me more than if you go to see a production and all the costumes are beautiful yet the fabrics are all wrong- too shiny, too modern.
2. Due to the very small number of makes in this project, after all the fabric samples I sourced, this will be the ONLY one that I will actually get to buy fabric for and have it fully realised purely to my own creative specifications. Not only that, but this may be my last opportunity for a while where I am able to have one of my designs properly realised, and I'd hate to compromise on this amazing opportunity by rushing the decision, or falling victim to the budget, and end-up making a big mistake buying fabric that I'm not happy with in the end. What's the point of custom-making something, if you're not going to custom-make it to your specifications.
Hopefully when I talk to the costume girls on Monday we can have a talk about it all and I can drill the samples I have into their heads so they know what we're looking for.
In the meantime, I got my textiles-student-housemate (an unofficial advisor throughout the creative process) to give me her opinion on the samples I had, and we did some tests of how the reacted when moving under direct and indirect light, as well as both natural and artificial light.
Some other issues that I tried to sort today were the fabric for the auditorium. I looked again on MacDougalls to see if I could find any blue fabric appropriate for the swags but it's all so modern and shiney- not to mention expensive!! The good news is that after spending a lot of Thursday trying to identify the correct sort of chiffon that I'd used for the washing in my model, I discovered that the scrap of fabric that I used was from Jess's textiles starter pack that she got given on starting her 1st year. So she has offered to kindly go in on Monday and ask the tutors exactly what fabric it was- I might even be able to buy it directly off the Textiles Dept! And John is very happy with us just flame-proofing it ourselves, and said it wont come out of our budget!! Hooray!
However, this morning I realised that I really needed to get the fabric for the seating rostra sorted and that I had no idea exactly what I was responsible for, so I sent John the following email:
Hi John,
Just wanted to check some things with you re. the seating rostra.
Am I in charge of ordering the foam for the seating, or is that something you're taking care of?
If it is my responsibility, please could you give me some guidance on what sort of foam I need, where to get it from, and how much I'll need?
The same goes for the fabric covering, I know you and Will talked about it being reversible or something to tie-in with Canterbury tales, so I don't really know what fabric I'm ordering or how much I'm going to need, and whether half of it will come out of a different budget- if you see what I mean.
Also, I got back in contact with Banyards as they never got back to me, and unfortunately the only option they could offer was skinny little sapling with only a few leaves... he said that there were some trees near where they're doing the building work at the moment- he suggested that maybe if they were removing the trees as part of the development near the enterprise pavilion, that maybe I could just borrow one? What do you think about that, and who do I need to ask for permission?
Let me know what you think,
-Eleanor
So hopefully I'll get a response to that on Monday.
Sarah texted me just now to say that she'd had a brainwave about checking dentists' and doctors' uniform websites for the white nehru-collar patrol jacket. Unfortunately following my research I found that due to the nature of their work, nearly all the scrubs and jackets had short sleeves. BUT a brilliant find was the 'catering staff' section on the medical uniforms website. Where I found this:
We also tried to work out the timetable for next week. I think if I send Sarah and Emilie to try and match my fabric samples locally on either Monday or Tuesday, then if they don't find anything, what I can do is when I go back to Brighton on Tuesday evening, instead of coming back to Bournemouth on Weds eve, I can go back VIA London on Thursday and buy the other fabric I had my eye on from Goldhawk Road. However, if this happens I don't know when we'll fit-in going to Hogspear and back to Hirearchy. I have to be in rehearsals all day Monday, but Sarah and Emilie just nee dto be there for the measuring session at 2:00 which will only take about half an hour. Maybe if I brief them during Lunch about the sort of fabric I'm looking for, they can then go out and look locally on Monday afternoon. On tuesday morning after the briefing (although I'm not sure if we go to that) we can either arrange to go to Hogspear OR Hirearchy (preferably Hogspear first, as we already know the prices and stuff for Hirearchy so it would be good to have a comparison before we commit). Then I will go back to Brighton on Tuesday afternoon, see Great Expectations, on Wednesday I will go round all the vintage and charity shops trying to match our other white jacket we got from Clobber, and maybe pick up a few more bargains along the way. And then, depending on the outcome of Monday's fabric shopping outing, I will either return to Bournemouth immediately OR go from Brighton to London to pick up the fabric form Goldhawk road.
Phew.
Friday 28 September 2012
Day 8: The one where everything goes a little bit wrong...
As well as yesterday went, is probably as bad as today went. First thing, I phoned Banyards, as they never got back to me regarding a tree. This time they were really helpful and had a look for me straight away... but alas, they sent me a photo of the only one they had and it was totally wrong- no way it would have worked, it was a tiny little sappling with no leaves at all really, I don't know where to go from here. oh dear.
The plan for today was to meet with Costume Supervisor Sarah and order the 'White Patrol Jackets' from Denny's and then go to Hirearchy to have a look at what they'd pulled-out for us following a detailed visual email from Sarah.
However....
Denny's is out of stock...
So we try another site, Out of Stock,
and another- Out of Stock.
Denny's is the stockist and as they are out of stock until November, it means that all the other websites are out of stock too.
So that put a major spanner in the works, on top of the fact that despite trying to contact that actor, we still don't even have rough measurements for Conrade.
So we decide that as they are both nearby one another, after going to Hirearchy we shall visit Clobber so that I can get Sarah's opinion on the White Nehru-collared shirt I found there last week.
However, when we get to Hirearchy we discover that they never received our email (alas a small and understandable typo in the email address- Sarah spelt Hirearchy the correct and normal way instead of in their crazy pun way), so they didn't have anything for us to look at that we didn't see last time.
So alas, a bit of a waste of time.
We then go to Clobber, finding that the shirt/jacket is still there, and at half the price of any of the ones we've been looking at online, we decide to buy it at just £14 and hope to find one similar. Normally, I would NEVER EVER buy a 'one-off' of something that I would eventually need 2 of, however, probability dictates that as I found that item with so much ease in literally the first place I went into, then they should technically not be too few and far between... but then again, I wonder what the rules of probability have to say about the last time I was in Hirearchy and Indian Much Ado came on the radio... hmm.
We then trawled the rest of the vintage shops in that area to no avail.
There's a production of Great Expectations that I have free tickets for on Tuesday night, but it's back in the Theatre I work at in Brighton. I wasn't going to go (despite the set and costumes looking AMAZING) but now that we've got something so specific to source, I figured it'd be a good idea to check Brighton- being the Vintage Goldmine that it is. SO I think, if my uni commitments co-operate, that I will leave for Brighton around 3 on Tuesday, and then return on Weds eve, hopefully with some fruitful purchases....
Just as I was starting to feel a little down about the day, I stumbled upon this amazing website called 'Hogspear' who specialize in Vintage Military wear. They had a lot of ebay items going that would be perfect, and some of them where their current bidding price is ridiculous! This one caught my eye specifically- currently going for £6.20!!
http://www.hogspear.com
I thought this place would be perfect for us to go and have a look around, but I thought the chances were quite slim that it'd be somewhere we could get to.
And where is it?
Dorset,
Shaftesbury,
Less than an hour away.
So I send them a hurried email with all the military designs attached, and instruct Sarah to try ringing them in the morning to see if we can come and visit tomorrow!!
Fingers crossed!
Here is a copy of my email to them:
"Hello Hogspear,
I'm currently sourcing some costumes for a production of Much Ado About Nothing in Bournemouth, with some very specific military needs, and from your website you seemed like the perfect place to try.
I have attached to this email the designs, if you can match ANY of the items, that would be amazing.
There is also this link, to a white Nehru collared jacket that we are trying to find a duplicate of:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlwmkTN7T4oK7kvI6hCRtRO3d2n2S4vEQZgI8RWI2mEmnV7FP5XUDao4YW62ZdK58J9l6_9C0j4-j1el4VgGk69z4MFvzWZ6-ItSg1TLorAK1RZ6eyMrpixa-c7Imswp8JtTBBYWm54As0/s1600/P1030443.JPG
I know it's so unlikely for you to have the yellow Skinners Lancers uniforms, but if you have any of the correct cuts of jackets in WHITE (and in a dyeable fabric) that would still be wonderful, as we can buy them and adapt them.
As we're based in Bournemouth- not far away, it'd be brilliant if you could let us know if you've got anything we might be interested in and some rough prices, and the costume team could come and have a look?
Thank you for your time,
All the best,
-Eleanor"
The plan for today was to meet with Costume Supervisor Sarah and order the 'White Patrol Jackets' from Denny's and then go to Hirearchy to have a look at what they'd pulled-out for us following a detailed visual email from Sarah.
However....
Denny's is out of stock...
So we try another site, Out of Stock,
and another- Out of Stock.
Denny's is the stockist and as they are out of stock until November, it means that all the other websites are out of stock too.
So that put a major spanner in the works, on top of the fact that despite trying to contact that actor, we still don't even have rough measurements for Conrade.
So we decide that as they are both nearby one another, after going to Hirearchy we shall visit Clobber so that I can get Sarah's opinion on the White Nehru-collared shirt I found there last week.
However, when we get to Hirearchy we discover that they never received our email (alas a small and understandable typo in the email address- Sarah spelt Hirearchy the correct and normal way instead of in their crazy pun way), so they didn't have anything for us to look at that we didn't see last time.
So alas, a bit of a waste of time.
 |
| Ebay listing for Hogspear- currently going for £6.20 |
We then go to Clobber, finding that the shirt/jacket is still there, and at half the price of any of the ones we've been looking at online, we decide to buy it at just £14 and hope to find one similar. Normally, I would NEVER EVER buy a 'one-off' of something that I would eventually need 2 of, however, probability dictates that as I found that item with so much ease in literally the first place I went into, then they should technically not be too few and far between... but then again, I wonder what the rules of probability have to say about the last time I was in Hirearchy and Indian Much Ado came on the radio... hmm.
We then trawled the rest of the vintage shops in that area to no avail.
There's a production of Great Expectations that I have free tickets for on Tuesday night, but it's back in the Theatre I work at in Brighton. I wasn't going to go (despite the set and costumes looking AMAZING) but now that we've got something so specific to source, I figured it'd be a good idea to check Brighton- being the Vintage Goldmine that it is. SO I think, if my uni commitments co-operate, that I will leave for Brighton around 3 on Tuesday, and then return on Weds eve, hopefully with some fruitful purchases....
Just as I was starting to feel a little down about the day, I stumbled upon this amazing website called 'Hogspear' who specialize in Vintage Military wear. They had a lot of ebay items going that would be perfect, and some of them where their current bidding price is ridiculous! This one caught my eye specifically- currently going for £6.20!!
http://www.hogspear.com
I thought this place would be perfect for us to go and have a look around, but I thought the chances were quite slim that it'd be somewhere we could get to.
And where is it?
Dorset,
Shaftesbury,
Less than an hour away.
So I send them a hurried email with all the military designs attached, and instruct Sarah to try ringing them in the morning to see if we can come and visit tomorrow!!
Fingers crossed!
Here is a copy of my email to them:
"Hello Hogspear,
I'm currently sourcing some costumes for a production of Much Ado About Nothing in Bournemouth, with some very specific military needs, and from your website you seemed like the perfect place to try.
I have attached to this email the designs, if you can match ANY of the items, that would be amazing.
There is also this link, to a white Nehru collared jacket that we are trying to find a duplicate of:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlwmkTN7T4oK7kvI6hCRtRO3d2n2S4vEQZgI8RWI2mEmnV7FP5XUDao4YW62ZdK58J9l6_9C0j4-j1el4VgGk69z4MFvzWZ6-ItSg1TLorAK1RZ6eyMrpixa-c7Imswp8JtTBBYWm54As0/s1600/P1030443.JPG
I know it's so unlikely for you to have the yellow Skinners Lancers uniforms, but if you have any of the correct cuts of jackets in WHITE (and in a dyeable fabric) that would still be wonderful, as we can buy them and adapt them.
As we're based in Bournemouth- not far away, it'd be brilliant if you could let us know if you've got anything we might be interested in and some rough prices, and the costume team could come and have a look?
Thank you for your time,
All the best,
-Eleanor"
Thursday 27 September 2012
Day 7: Shopping for Paint and a big meeting
Another really really positive day today. Couldn't have gone better really as far as I'm concerned. Although in saying that I definitely wouldn't have had this view if you'd asked me at midday. Scenic Artist Emily, and I spent the morning trawling through shops looking for paint. The fist stop was The Range, as we thought this would be cheapest, but they didn't have even a close match to our blue. We then went to Wickes, and they had even less of a likeness- there were literally none that were even CLOSE. Next stop was the very large beanch of B&Q at CastlePoint, surely they'd have something?! It's not even a very 'mixed' blue, it's basically straight ultramarine. In B&Q we found a couple that were not AWFUL but they still bore little resemblance to the actual blue we were looking for. We had the staff busy for ages trying to find a match, and managed to upset a woman who worked there, she said "I've worked here 6 years and I've NEVER been able to not match a colour". If only they offered some sort of cash prize for a situation like this arising, it could have solved some of out budget issues. Our last possible stop before giving up and turning to Rosco was Homebase. By this point, 2 hours after our early start, we had basically given up hope of any normal DIY shop stocking such a pigment. Why would Homebase have something when NOWHERE else did? And then we found one that was ALMOST perfect..... Windsor Blue by Crown..... but only in SUPER GLOSSY. ARGH!! WHY??!
Luckily clever Emily had the foresight to call up the help number for 'Crown' to ask them if it were possible to get it mixed in matte. They told us it was possible but we'd have to go to our nearest 'Crown Mixing Centre'. This was brilliant news, although we were slightly worried about how far away our nearest 'Crown Mixing Centre' would be. Southampton? Weymouth? London? or worse?
No.
Wimbourne Rd.
Briliant!
So we ended up back where we started, on Wimbourne Road, but this time in Brewers. The kind man there mixed us up a tester pot with no trouble at all- we painted a bit on the Ultramarine colour sample I'd been carrying around all day, and you could hardly see where one ended and the other began. Not only that but he informed us that this brand of paint would be on special offer (almost half price) until the end of October! Budget saved!!
So everything happens for a reason- we had a rubbish morning, but only to achieve us an excellent result in the end. Emily is going to paint me up some samples over the weekend, and hopefully I'll feel just as positively about it on Monday as I did today.
I had just enough time to nip home for lunch before my meeting with Doug at 3. However, since I'd been out, I had discovered that Pete (Lighting Designer) also wanted to join the meeting, as did John (Production Designer). Therefore, with only half an hour before 3:00 I called-up Zoe my Set Assistant and asked her to join us too if she was able to. I can't believe she actually came, it was so useful to have her there. I thought if it were just me and Doug I wouldn't need her, but if Pete and John were going to be there aswell, it seemed like a lot of the conversation would be about the Set and therefore Zoe's presence would be valued- which it was, greatly. I felt bad getting her to come in (in the rain) at such short notice so I gave her some biscuits.
The Production Meeting really lived up to its name and was very 'Productive'.
This is a copy of Zoe's notes:
Drapes of fabric around balcony lower, hanging down.
as audience entering washing being put on line and winched up, once don pedro is arriving rush to bring washing down again?
torches for watch? one lantern and one early looking beam torch
Lantern/torch for conrade? inside tent…
tent over boarded over fountain, or towards north wall. either end open,
cleaning pump back to green?
triangle in corner of pool so that pump is over pool.
cutting gobos, thin metal as possible. Tell Ed it has to withstand hot lights
3 entrances?
fire retardant- soak edges (flambar) technical budget.
Every time I have a production meeting, I regret not recording it or videoing it or something, because it's so hard to keep on top of everything. My notes are never as expansive as I need them to be, but it's impossible to make detailed notes and keep up with the conversation/discussion at the same time.
When I worked with Natural Shocks on 'PEEP' I noticed that during each production meeting the Company Manager would take detailed minutes of every discussion and decision and then email the minutes to everyone onboard- reminding everyone of what had been said and keeping those in the loop who were unable to attend. Alas, we do not have such luxurys, so I might have a look for a Dictaphone.
Here are my notes:
Masks- Doug will talk to Paul- head of model-making about whether it would be possible to get them involved. However, if that fails we've got to do the back-up idea.
John has found a good bench, but the legs need to be sprayed bronze and then 'weathered'.
John has also found 2 Wicker chairs, but these need to be stained dark.
Poster- The Poster has been printed, so the issues we had with colour and John's issues he had with format, are too late.
Lighting
-going to be hard to be dappled on the incoming/houselights.
-Are we going to have to paint the horizontal scaff under the mezzanine? No
-Subtle House lights.
-Festoons for the Masquerade scene?
-Get rid of fabric going across the bars, hang it instead, just under the bars.- will enable audience to see if they need to sit down and will disguise lighting an horizontal scaff.
-Interval will happen mid Act 3, Scene 3.
- Lantern for Dogberry, Lantern for Borachio.
-Fog for Hero's grave? (we don't need a monument- let's use the well)
-Beatrice's bedwear has been cut
-The seating rostrum on the North wall are having a board fitted to the back.
-Need to do illustrator file for the GOBOS, do it this weekend, take it to Ed to get Lasercut out of thinnest metal but must be high temp resistant. 10 gobos.
One of the most positive things for me that came out of the meeting was the agreement of being able to include one of the original scenes that I had visualized for the piece. It was the scene-visualisation that I was most in love with when I first designed it, but it was also the one I saw as being the least realistic to be able to fully realise. This is the scene (act 3, scene 3) where the watch look-on as Borachio reveals his treacherous debauchery to Conrade. As you can see from my previous drawings, I designed it so that the washing on the line could somehow be manipulated into a sort of tent fort, lit from within by a hand-held torch, with the traitors within and the Watch outside looking on. there were all sorts of logistical problems with this scene, the utmost being how to craft a tent on stage mid-scene, with very little time. The answer? Shove the interval in just before! Luckily enough, this is about the right point in the play for an interval, and isn't unheard of. This brilliance means that we will have the whole of the interval to orchestrate a tent on stage, and then as the second-half commences, the audience will be plunged into darkness. I am SO excited. I really hope we can do this.
We also had some more discussions about the washing interfering with the lighting. After voicing a lot of points I think the dynamics are suggested as so..
As the audience come into the auditorium the washing line will be down, and the washing will be being hung (the sheets placed higher up the line will already be there).
When the play begins, the washing line rises (full of washing) like a curtain on a traditional theatre.
Possibly on learning of Don Pedro's imminent arrival, the washing is hurriedly removed (thus making it easier for lighting throughout).
At some point in the next few scenes, a few pieces of washing make their way back onto the line in order to be in place for Benedick to get tangled in/hide-behind/ dress as a woman in a sari with, during the eavesdropping scene.
During the interval a lot of the washing is back on the line, with a sheet configured to make a tent for conrade- see logistics of this during rehearsals.
Not featuring for the rest of the play.
Here are some masks that I have been thinking about as a back-up from The Range:
Luckily clever Emily had the foresight to call up the help number for 'Crown' to ask them if it were possible to get it mixed in matte. They told us it was possible but we'd have to go to our nearest 'Crown Mixing Centre'. This was brilliant news, although we were slightly worried about how far away our nearest 'Crown Mixing Centre' would be. Southampton? Weymouth? London? or worse?
No.
Wimbourne Rd.
Briliant!
So we ended up back where we started, on Wimbourne Road, but this time in Brewers. The kind man there mixed us up a tester pot with no trouble at all- we painted a bit on the Ultramarine colour sample I'd been carrying around all day, and you could hardly see where one ended and the other began. Not only that but he informed us that this brand of paint would be on special offer (almost half price) until the end of October! Budget saved!!
So everything happens for a reason- we had a rubbish morning, but only to achieve us an excellent result in the end. Emily is going to paint me up some samples over the weekend, and hopefully I'll feel just as positively about it on Monday as I did today.
I had just enough time to nip home for lunch before my meeting with Doug at 3. However, since I'd been out, I had discovered that Pete (Lighting Designer) also wanted to join the meeting, as did John (Production Designer). Therefore, with only half an hour before 3:00 I called-up Zoe my Set Assistant and asked her to join us too if she was able to. I can't believe she actually came, it was so useful to have her there. I thought if it were just me and Doug I wouldn't need her, but if Pete and John were going to be there aswell, it seemed like a lot of the conversation would be about the Set and therefore Zoe's presence would be valued- which it was, greatly. I felt bad getting her to come in (in the rain) at such short notice so I gave her some biscuits.
The Production Meeting really lived up to its name and was very 'Productive'.
This is a copy of Zoe's notes:
Drapes of fabric around balcony lower, hanging down.
as audience entering washing being put on line and winched up, once don pedro is arriving rush to bring washing down again?
torches for watch? one lantern and one early looking beam torch
Lantern/torch for conrade? inside tent…
tent over boarded over fountain, or towards north wall. either end open,
cleaning pump back to green?
triangle in corner of pool so that pump is over pool.
cutting gobos, thin metal as possible. Tell Ed it has to withstand hot lights
3 entrances?
fire retardant- soak edges (flambar) technical budget.
Every time I have a production meeting, I regret not recording it or videoing it or something, because it's so hard to keep on top of everything. My notes are never as expansive as I need them to be, but it's impossible to make detailed notes and keep up with the conversation/discussion at the same time.
When I worked with Natural Shocks on 'PEEP' I noticed that during each production meeting the Company Manager would take detailed minutes of every discussion and decision and then email the minutes to everyone onboard- reminding everyone of what had been said and keeping those in the loop who were unable to attend. Alas, we do not have such luxurys, so I might have a look for a Dictaphone.
Here are my notes:
Masks- Doug will talk to Paul- head of model-making about whether it would be possible to get them involved. However, if that fails we've got to do the back-up idea.
John has found a good bench, but the legs need to be sprayed bronze and then 'weathered'.
John has also found 2 Wicker chairs, but these need to be stained dark.
Poster- The Poster has been printed, so the issues we had with colour and John's issues he had with format, are too late.
Lighting
-going to be hard to be dappled on the incoming/houselights.
-Are we going to have to paint the horizontal scaff under the mezzanine? No
-Subtle House lights.
-Festoons for the Masquerade scene?
-Get rid of fabric going across the bars, hang it instead, just under the bars.- will enable audience to see if they need to sit down and will disguise lighting an horizontal scaff.
-Interval will happen mid Act 3, Scene 3.
- Lantern for Dogberry, Lantern for Borachio.
-Fog for Hero's grave? (we don't need a monument- let's use the well)
-Beatrice's bedwear has been cut
-The seating rostrum on the North wall are having a board fitted to the back.
-Need to do illustrator file for the GOBOS, do it this weekend, take it to Ed to get Lasercut out of thinnest metal but must be high temp resistant. 10 gobos.
One of the most positive things for me that came out of the meeting was the agreement of being able to include one of the original scenes that I had visualized for the piece. It was the scene-visualisation that I was most in love with when I first designed it, but it was also the one I saw as being the least realistic to be able to fully realise. This is the scene (act 3, scene 3) where the watch look-on as Borachio reveals his treacherous debauchery to Conrade. As you can see from my previous drawings, I designed it so that the washing on the line could somehow be manipulated into a sort of tent fort, lit from within by a hand-held torch, with the traitors within and the Watch outside looking on. there were all sorts of logistical problems with this scene, the utmost being how to craft a tent on stage mid-scene, with very little time. The answer? Shove the interval in just before! Luckily enough, this is about the right point in the play for an interval, and isn't unheard of. This brilliance means that we will have the whole of the interval to orchestrate a tent on stage, and then as the second-half commences, the audience will be plunged into darkness. I am SO excited. I really hope we can do this.
We also had some more discussions about the washing interfering with the lighting. After voicing a lot of points I think the dynamics are suggested as so..
As the audience come into the auditorium the washing line will be down, and the washing will be being hung (the sheets placed higher up the line will already be there).
When the play begins, the washing line rises (full of washing) like a curtain on a traditional theatre.
Possibly on learning of Don Pedro's imminent arrival, the washing is hurriedly removed (thus making it easier for lighting throughout).
At some point in the next few scenes, a few pieces of washing make their way back onto the line in order to be in place for Benedick to get tangled in/hide-behind/ dress as a woman in a sari with, during the eavesdropping scene.
During the interval a lot of the washing is back on the line, with a sheet configured to make a tent for conrade- see logistics of this during rehearsals.
Here are some masks that I have been thinking about as a back-up from The Range:
Wednesday 26 September 2012
Day 6: Measuring!!
Today I had a measuring sesh scheduled with some of the actors. It was all arranged pretty informally via facebook as they still haven't technically started term yet. We only had a few 'definite' yes rsvps, so we were shocked when a magnificent number of them showed up.
On reflection, there were a few things that could have helped the day go smoother:
1. If we'd known the sheer number of committed acting students that would turn-up we would have staggered the measuring times like normal, to avoid waiting around. As it was, I felt very guilty having them come in on their holidays yet making some of them wait for over an hour to get measured. I wanted to also paint a good first impression of us as a costume/set team... but maybe the disorganisation was to be expected.
2. If we'd been able to have the makers help us. Unfortunately both our lovely makers were busy that day- and I gave them very little notice, no it's totally understandable. As it was, being only myself, Emilie, and Sarah we found it difficult to get through any more than 2 at a time, and I myself was very little help.
3. If my email hadn't pretended it was working when in actual fact it was broken. I sent an email to Doug asking if the Studio Theatre was free for us to use for measurings as I knew the costume studios were in chaos. I thought he replied with the fact that 'he was in London that day' which made me presume he meant that therefore the Theatre would be free. However in real life, he never got my email, and it was late rbounced-back to me, he had in fact been replying to a previous email, and so that comment about London was totally irrelevant, thus leading to an awkward scnario of all the actors turning up to the Studio Theatre, and then us having to work out who was meant to be with us, find a space in the haphazard costume studio around all the 1st years, and set-up base- when none of us had really met the actors before.
All of these 3 things were fairly difficult to avoid. Maybe if I'd asked for a definite RSVP from each actor yes or no, and then recorded the responses rigourously, then I would have been able to create an actual schedule. Maybe if I'd given the makers more of a warning as to when the session would be, we could have had some extra help and therefore have been speedier. Maybe if I'd been able to find one of the other acting dept staff to ask about the studio theatre I could have planned our utilisation of space better.
But oh well,
these downfalls actually gave me some time to just mill around the actors who were waiting and see if they had any questions about design or nationalities or costumes or hair or whatever... and it was good to try and get a mental picture in my head of who was playing who.
The measuring session also gave us an opportunity to try the cream jodhpurs on the correct actor. This is the result:
Obviously, as we already knew, they'd need to be taken-in A LOT. Specifically round the bum, the inner leg and the waist. Having talked to Helen about altering them, she's happy to let us do what we want with them as she thinks whatever we do will probably make them more wearable and therefore for valuable items to have in the Costume Store. I then had a chat with Lucy- one of the makers, to see if she thought it was doable. Following these conversations I would say that we can officially cross these Jodhpurs off of our list of things to source.... and add them to the never-ending list of thing that need adapting.
Unfortunately, some of the actors that we desperately needed sooner rather than later, were the actors that didn't turn up. We really needed Conrade so that we can order the chef jackets either tonight or tomorrow. We also really could have done with the girls playing the Watch, as we need their measurements as part of the set to send to Hirearchy for sourcing tomorrow.
I think the plan is that we try to get the actor playing Conrade to send us his normal shirt size so that we can calculate which size of jacket he'd require (S, M, L, XL). And as for the girls, I think it's likely to be a case of just getting the very smallest 'watch outfits' they've got, as they are all meant for men.
After the measuring, I had another brief meeting with Sarah just to discuss our plan of action. We will return to Hirearchy on either Friday or Saturday, and we will need to get the chef's jackets ordered by tomorrow. Sarah has been in contact with Denny's our potential supplier with some of the questions we were worried about, and when I got home I saw she'd been sent a very positive reply:
"Hi Sarah
Our DD15 comes long sleeved not ¾ sleeve.
Our size guide is on our Website under information- you will need to use the unisex garments size chart, I would say they are fairly roomy you can always exchange them if the size is wrong.
They are 280g 100% Cotton Satin Weave so they are quite heavy.
Anything else just let me know
Regards
Victoria"
Originally my main concern had been about whether the fabric was dyeable, whether it would be weighty enough, and whether it had cropped sleeves (because the picture leads you to believe so).
So after this response I think we may aswell go right ahead and order them as soon as we get a rough measurement through for Conrade. It was strange though because when I was looking for comparisons, I found this website:
http://www.lincsprint.com/servicewear.html
featuring a 'DD15' jacket that was clearly exactly the same as the one on Denny's, BUT the photo looks completely different to the one on their website:
http://www.dennys.co.uk/Patrol-Jacket/groupproduct/410/
So they both have the same code, the same description, but on different websites the visual-represntation of them is completely different!! So this has slowed me down a bit as I'm not sure where to get it from. Denny's is trusted, and we've had good experiences with them, not to mention it's £3 cheaper each from them, but if I had to choose between the 2 jackets above, I would prefer the one on the right, which is from the other website- lincsprint. Although the collar is nicer on the left one....
So tomorrow the plans are as follows:
-10:10am: Paint browsing with Emily the Scenic artist.
-3:00pm: Meeting with Doug the director, to discuss a big long list of things.
-Later: Meeting with Pete the lighting designer.
So with that in mind, I spent the rest of the evening creating a moodboard and drop-box folder for Emily with all my inspiration photos for the blue set, and some images of tiles I like. I also need to make a list of all the questions I want to ask Doug tomorrow.
Just now, I did some research into the fabric for the washing-line. I was instructed by my tutor NOT to dye fabric, and instead to order flame-retardant display fabric from Macdougalls. However, I had some problems with this almost immediately when browsing through the website. So I sent Zoe, my Set Assistant, an email asking for her help and advice:
"Hi Zoe!!
How's everything going?
One of the things I really want to get sorted is the fabric for the washing-line. I think this is something we need to collaborate on.
I know Rebecca said 'don't dye fabric get it from MacDougalls' BUT
Firstly, I don't feel comfortable ordering from a website when I have no idea exactly how much the audience will be able to see through it. I'd need to see samples, and I doubt we have time to order them.
Secondly, all their sheer fabric is really modern-looking and shiny, which would totally jeopardize the look of the show.
Thirdly, the colours aren't right- which is a major major issue. As I've said previously, I will compromise on a lot of things, but not the colour. I really need the fabric to be the same colours as in the model or else the costume colours won't work either.
Are you able to help me? I just need a bit of research into what we could do.
I don't know if maybe we can source all the right sort of fabric in white, dye it, and then buy some sort of flame-proofing spray to treat it with or whatever? If you could look into some alternatives for me I would be forever grateful"
So hopefully Zoe may be able to come back to me with some bright idea about some things we could try, furthermore it might be worth mentioning to Rebecca the issues I've had and see what she thinks.
Zoe's a very practical-minded, clever girl, I have every faith that she'll think of some sort of magic to help us.
The very last thing I did was set-up another 'Much Ado' facebook group, but this time just for the creative team, so that w can easily contact one-another without bothering the actors.
For tomorrow, I need to put together a little swatch of the sort of blue I want ready for sourcing paint!
On reflection, there were a few things that could have helped the day go smoother:
1. If we'd known the sheer number of committed acting students that would turn-up we would have staggered the measuring times like normal, to avoid waiting around. As it was, I felt very guilty having them come in on their holidays yet making some of them wait for over an hour to get measured. I wanted to also paint a good first impression of us as a costume/set team... but maybe the disorganisation was to be expected.
2. If we'd been able to have the makers help us. Unfortunately both our lovely makers were busy that day- and I gave them very little notice, no it's totally understandable. As it was, being only myself, Emilie, and Sarah we found it difficult to get through any more than 2 at a time, and I myself was very little help.
3. If my email hadn't pretended it was working when in actual fact it was broken. I sent an email to Doug asking if the Studio Theatre was free for us to use for measurings as I knew the costume studios were in chaos. I thought he replied with the fact that 'he was in London that day' which made me presume he meant that therefore the Theatre would be free. However in real life, he never got my email, and it was late rbounced-back to me, he had in fact been replying to a previous email, and so that comment about London was totally irrelevant, thus leading to an awkward scnario of all the actors turning up to the Studio Theatre, and then us having to work out who was meant to be with us, find a space in the haphazard costume studio around all the 1st years, and set-up base- when none of us had really met the actors before.
All of these 3 things were fairly difficult to avoid. Maybe if I'd asked for a definite RSVP from each actor yes or no, and then recorded the responses rigourously, then I would have been able to create an actual schedule. Maybe if I'd given the makers more of a warning as to when the session would be, we could have had some extra help and therefore have been speedier. Maybe if I'd been able to find one of the other acting dept staff to ask about the studio theatre I could have planned our utilisation of space better.
But oh well,
these downfalls actually gave me some time to just mill around the actors who were waiting and see if they had any questions about design or nationalities or costumes or hair or whatever... and it was good to try and get a mental picture in my head of who was playing who.
The measuring session also gave us an opportunity to try the cream jodhpurs on the correct actor. This is the result:
Unfortunately, some of the actors that we desperately needed sooner rather than later, were the actors that didn't turn up. We really needed Conrade so that we can order the chef jackets either tonight or tomorrow. We also really could have done with the girls playing the Watch, as we need their measurements as part of the set to send to Hirearchy for sourcing tomorrow.
I think the plan is that we try to get the actor playing Conrade to send us his normal shirt size so that we can calculate which size of jacket he'd require (S, M, L, XL). And as for the girls, I think it's likely to be a case of just getting the very smallest 'watch outfits' they've got, as they are all meant for men.
After the measuring, I had another brief meeting with Sarah just to discuss our plan of action. We will return to Hirearchy on either Friday or Saturday, and we will need to get the chef's jackets ordered by tomorrow. Sarah has been in contact with Denny's our potential supplier with some of the questions we were worried about, and when I got home I saw she'd been sent a very positive reply:
"Hi Sarah
Our DD15 comes long sleeved not ¾ sleeve.
Our size guide is on our Website under information- you will need to use the unisex garments size chart, I would say they are fairly roomy you can always exchange them if the size is wrong.
They are 280g 100% Cotton Satin Weave so they are quite heavy.
Anything else just let me know
Regards
Victoria"
Originally my main concern had been about whether the fabric was dyeable, whether it would be weighty enough, and whether it had cropped sleeves (because the picture leads you to believe so).
So after this response I think we may aswell go right ahead and order them as soon as we get a rough measurement through for Conrade. It was strange though because when I was looking for comparisons, I found this website:
http://www.lincsprint.com/servicewear.html
featuring a 'DD15' jacket that was clearly exactly the same as the one on Denny's, BUT the photo looks completely different to the one on their website:
http://www.dennys.co.uk/Patrol-Jacket/groupproduct/410/
 |
| This is the picture from Denny's |
So tomorrow the plans are as follows:
-10:10am: Paint browsing with Emily the Scenic artist.
-3:00pm: Meeting with Doug the director, to discuss a big long list of things.
-Later: Meeting with Pete the lighting designer.
So with that in mind, I spent the rest of the evening creating a moodboard and drop-box folder for Emily with all my inspiration photos for the blue set, and some images of tiles I like. I also need to make a list of all the questions I want to ask Doug tomorrow.
Just now, I did some research into the fabric for the washing-line. I was instructed by my tutor NOT to dye fabric, and instead to order flame-retardant display fabric from Macdougalls. However, I had some problems with this almost immediately when browsing through the website. So I sent Zoe, my Set Assistant, an email asking for her help and advice:
"Hi Zoe!!
How's everything going?
One of the things I really want to get sorted is the fabric for the washing-line. I think this is something we need to collaborate on.
I know Rebecca said 'don't dye fabric get it from MacDougalls' BUT
Firstly, I don't feel comfortable ordering from a website when I have no idea exactly how much the audience will be able to see through it. I'd need to see samples, and I doubt we have time to order them.
Secondly, all their sheer fabric is really modern-looking and shiny, which would totally jeopardize the look of the show.
Thirdly, the colours aren't right- which is a major major issue. As I've said previously, I will compromise on a lot of things, but not the colour. I really need the fabric to be the same colours as in the model or else the costume colours won't work either.
Are you able to help me? I just need a bit of research into what we could do.
I don't know if maybe we can source all the right sort of fabric in white, dye it, and then buy some sort of flame-proofing spray to treat it with or whatever? If you could look into some alternatives for me I would be forever grateful"
So hopefully Zoe may be able to come back to me with some bright idea about some things we could try, furthermore it might be worth mentioning to Rebecca the issues I've had and see what she thinks.
Zoe's a very practical-minded, clever girl, I have every faith that she'll think of some sort of magic to help us.
The very last thing I did was set-up another 'Much Ado' facebook group, but this time just for the creative team, so that w can easily contact one-another without bothering the actors.
For tomorrow, I need to put together a little swatch of the sort of blue I want ready for sourcing paint!
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