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).

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.

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,
We need to source and buy the fabric for Leonato's tunic ASAP as the makers will start on it next week, I've got loads of great samples, but they're all ridiculous ammounts of money (stupid Berwick St), I have 1 sample that I got from Goldhawk Rd which MIGHT work, but I could really do with an alternative too. I was hoping to try Southall, but our trip is way too late. What shall we do? The fabric I've got a sample of was £12 pm from A-one fabrics, I don't know how much we'll need for Callum in meters. Plus I think it may be a bit modern. This is something we really need to sort. Can I have some help with budgeting it and also some help buying and sourcing it? contact me asap if you can xxxxxxxxxx"
P.S.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.

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.

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"

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:

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/
 

This is the picture from Denny's

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!

Day 5: Sheer enjoyment!- Many Meetings & Visit to Hire-archy

Today has been SUCH a strong, positive, productive day. Many more like it please!
Started the day by having a much needed meeting with Will, John, and Emily Cheetham- the Scenic artist. This was such a valuable meeting, and it was really good to get a lot of things straight in terms of dates and priorities etc. I am really glad to have Emily on board as she has such good experience with the AUCB productions, but also I know her well and I really trust her not only to get everything done, but get everything done to a good standard, I'm sure she's a real asset to the team.
We talked through A LOT of things, primarily logistical, but I was really very keen to bring-up something that I felt was worryingly glossed-over at the last meeting, and that's the question of getting everything BLUE. As I expected, this is something I'm going to have to make a huge compromise on- due to budget, but mainly due to time constraints and the every very fast change-over between Much Ado and Canterbury Tales.
Basically, the floor will be blue (tiles painted and stenciled straight onto the rough theatre floor surface), the rostra will be blue, the scaffold will be blue, the balcony will be blue, and a couple of boards at the polar ends of the theatre space will be blue. I've been told that whilst the play is in progress, the lighting will be as such that you won't really notice that the far walls are not in fact blue. Whether this is the case or not, painting them blue is not an option, and putting up boards is too expensive, labour-intensive, and time-consuming. There were another few things that popped-up that I need to think of design solutions for, such as the yellow plastic hats and feet on the scaffold- not very period at all- not very Much Ado- not very aesthetic. We talked about maybe putting decorative balls on top of the vertical scaff- a bit like bed posts, to hide their yellow hats, and perhaps sculpting some 'piles of powder' or spices or rocks of something to cover the yellow feet.
We also talked about the paint-effect on the pool, the positioning of the tiling, the sort of paint needed, and the tasks myself and Emily had to complete within the near future.
NOTES

• Make a mood-board/folder for Emily asap
• Rosco paint? will emulsion do?
• Balls on top of verticals- garden centre?
• Need somewhere to store the normal chairs. 
• Don't forget to do my 'visual scene breakdown' asap too. Job for the weekend maybe?

Emily and I have agreed to go paint browsing/shopping on Thursday and bring back some blue samples to try.
I also need to get the stencil done before next week ideally. Maybe something I could talk to Kirsty about?




Straight after this meeting, I sat in on a meeting that Sarah and Emilie had arranged with Mandy to clarify their roles between them as buyer and supervisor. I am SO glad I sat-in on this. I really had no idea quite how much I can delegate without 'taking the piss'. It's nice to know that I'm actually not too involved in all the logistical stuff, as I know that logic and organisation are 2 skills that are fairly thin on the ground for me. It's also nice to know that if I miss something interpreting my own designs (like the need for socks of vests for example) it's not actyally solely my responsibility. Phew! After this meeting AND the meeting this morning, I feel so much more relaxed about getting everything done- I think I've learned that it won't just be me, in the Studio Theatre, with a paintbrush in one hand, a sewing needle in the other, the budget written on my arm in biro, covered in blue paint, in a pool of my own tears.  I have got a team and I should use them, within reason.
This meeting also gave me the opportunity to chat to lovely Mandy about some things I'd been mulling over. Firstly, we made sure she knew that we'd potentially found Benedick's jodhpurs so that they probably won't need to be made anymore. Secondly, that I thought that Don John's uniform would be a good thing to make. This idea came from 3 motivations:

1. It seemed such a shame to have all these beautiful uniforms shop-bought, that would actually be really nice to make.
2. Anna had expressed to me that she was worried that she wouldn't get to do any 'proper making' and that her and Lucy may just have loads of alterations to do.
3. Unlike all the other uniforms, this one really does seem IMPOSSIBLE to source, and if it wasn't made, it really would be a case of redesigning it.

Mandy seemed like she thought this could be possible, which was such great news for me, but I will await her final decision next week once she's gone over the designs.
Mandy had started to print the designs on the printer in the staff room, and I have never seen such an accurate representation of colour- they had printed so well compared to all the horrible printer issues I have experienced along the way. The CAD pad is still out of action, so I'm not sure what to do about printing my designs A3, as my printer doesn't seem up to the colour matching no matter how much editing I do.
Filled with printer-optimism, I headed to the library in order to print out A4 copies of the designs to take with us to Hire-rachy afterwards. But instead of being greeted by wonderful colour-matching, speedy printing, and a generally stress-free experience... it was quite the opposite. In the end I ended up with about 1/3 of the designs, printed all purpley and dark. But it would have to do. Lacking an i-pad, there's not a lot you can do when out sourcing other than just bring the paper copies with you.

Hire-archy
 Shortly after the library printing fiasco, Sarah drove us to Hirearchy in Boscombe, which I have to say is one of THE most amazing places to be tucked away in Boscombian-surburbia. The lovely man who runs it had the most terrific tash, which made me trust him immediately.
I cannot describe how wonderfully surprised I was by simply HOW much we could source from here- all for what seemed to be quite reasonable prices. We couldn;t get a good look at too many 'specific' pieces because a lot of it is size-dependent, but we will get the actors' measurements tomorrow, then send them along with the designs and a wish-list to the guy who owns it and then have arranged to return on Thursday so that he can find us specific items which he will then put on hold until the show date- in the meantime welcoming us to bring the actors along to the shop for fittings and whatnot- what a lovely fellow!
So we found:

• The ALMOST perfect striped blazer for Benedick
• Everything needed for The Watch, Dogberry, and Verges- shorts, pith helmets, jackets, shirts.
• Black Jodhpurs for Don Pedro
• Military trousers with red stripe
• Blue military jacket for Don Pedro
• Hat for Don Pedro
• Tall Cream Pith hat for Don John
• Garrison caps 
• military regalia- braiding, medal-straps, medals, sashes, sword-straps.
• Riding boots
• A green tweed jacket for Don John

So much more than we imagined we'd be able to get, and it's cheap (ish) and it's local, and  it almost seems too good to be true. Such a good end to a good day!

 Potential Jacket for Dogberry- more beige less green in real life.

 Blazer for Benedick if size is right for Will. Unfortunately the middle stripes are black rather than blue, but I honestly think this is the closest we are going to get- at least without spending 5 times the money.

These are actually navy, but my concern is that they do look very black- might be better off sewing red ribbon onto normal blue trousers from the highstreet.

Whilst I was in the shop a very very very very strange occurrence happened. So as we talk to the owner about how it's a production of Much Ado About Nothing set in India, the radio that he has on in the background suddenly starts talking about ..... Shakespeare...... but not just Shakespeare... Much Ado About Nothing.... but not just Much Ado About Nothing... Much Ado About Nothing set in India. So whilst we were in the costume shop, with my designs, talking about the production, and how we're doing an 'Indian Much Ado About Nothing', the radio does a 10min segment on the RSC production of Indian Much Ado, focussing in on transfering Shakespeare into an Indian context, followed by an interview with Myra Syall.
Out of all the times we could have been in the shop, out of all the shops we could have gone to, out of all the radio stations he could have been playing, out of all the London shows they could be talking about, somehow we ended up spookily listening to Radio 2 narrate our actions as we bumbled round the shop trying to 'transfer Much Ado into an Indian context'. One of THE most bizarre experiences.

Day 4: Costume Store

Today I met with Mandy, primarily to transfer to her my "complete" collection of costume designs, but also just to have a little chat with her and the other staf members about if there are any hand-in requirements for this nit, and what exactly I'm meant to be documenting and how. Seems to me that the blog is a good base to underpin the work on this unit, but I should back it up with a sketchbook/production journal, ensuring that I keep and record all my emails and contacts,as apparently I'm getting marked on my ability to organize and use initiative and whatnot. For now, I will focus on just getting everything done production-wise, and if this means just writing notes haphazardly and presenting and collating eveything together at a later date, that's fine. But I think, just to make things easier for me when this time comes, I will really really really strive to keep the blog updated on a daily basis for the next month or so, so at least I know the basis of what I did on each day, and my reflections at the time.
So I feel a little more relaxed now I have a bit more information about all the academic side of things- although really, as I've thought from the out-set, this project for me is really more about personal development ready for leaving uni and for development of my portfolio- I really want it to be the very best that I can do, and if that means I have to sacrifice focus from the academic/'paperwork' side then so be it. However, I am also aware that the criteria that I am probably being marked-on for this unit, are a list of practices etc that would actually make my life easier if I fulfilled them, and therefore I should probably feel the NEED to keep a sort of production journal as I go anyway.

I then met with my costume supervisor to have a meeting about everything: any progress she had made with sourcing, planning out the rest of the week, and most importantly, riffling through the costume store at uni to see if we could source anything then and there. First we looked through he Arabian Nights costumes from a few years ago, which I have to admit, we thought would be more fruitful than they were. Unfortunately, the straw that broke the camel's back was the conflicting colour schemes- a lot of the costumes from Arabian Nights were centred around blues, pinks, greens and purples, whereas Much Ado is mainly oranges, yellows, and reds. I'm happy to compromise on A LOT of things, but the colour isn't really one of them. Another issue was that a lot of the costumes had a very 'fantasy' element about them- and were not really realistic enough to find a place in the immerisive world of Much Ado. Moreover the fabric choice was too shiny, and alas therefore inappropriate for this production. All of these things are such a pity because the costumes were so beatiful. It made me and Sarah quite whistful- for more makers, more time making, and a much larger budget. But- if we pull this off it will be even more impressive because we have been so limited in these areas. I say limited, but I'm of the strong belief: who needs 10 makers when we've got Anna and Lucy?
So in the end, we pulled out a select few items, and a couple of accessories, mainly for costumes for the 'messenger' or 'boy' or the band or something- i.e. nothing that matched any of the designs. We found a long red cloak that could be useful for the Sexton, but it seemed to be cut for a woman and it had big imaginative embroidered borders on the sleeves and openings which we would have to disguise.
We then had a look in the general costume store with a list of things we thought we might find:
-most things for both of Don Pedro's costumes
-military trousers
-Some of the stuff for the Watch

-Maybe a striped blazer for Benedick
-Boots
-Maybe some of the hats/helmets.
We were quite disillusioned by how much (or little) we actually did find, until Helen showed us these:

How perfect are they?
We don't know where they came from or how they got there, all we know was that we certainly weren't expecting to find them ANYWHERE. We had these 'over-sized' jods down as a make for sure, but since stumbling across these, it seems too good an opportunity to watse.
However, this is where I have to be careful. I know what I'm like, and if I stumble across something that I'd already told myself I wouldn't find, I get so overwhelmed by excitement at finding something that basically matches, that I completely fail to see it in a true light- willfully ignoring any flaws due to a love of coincidence. So I had to have a long, hard look with Sarah and admit to myself, that although the CIRCUMSTANCES for finding the trousers may be perfect, the trousers themselves are not. Obviously we need to see them on the actor, which incidentally we can do this week as I'm mid-way in arranging some preliminary measuring times with the actors. However, on first look my main thoughts are:
-They large in the right places but also large in the wrong places too- very baggy lower-leg, may be difficult to get leg into boot, very baggy round the waist, and they almost have a 'drop-crotch'.
-This excess baggyness also leads to a problem with the way tha fabric falls, at the moment I have a bit of an issue about the fact that the thigh shapes don't stand rigid enough, and that actualy all the excess fabric causes a lot of folds and pleats in areas that shouldn't have them. I don't know how much we're allowed to adjust things from the store, but with a little tweaking (depending on how they fit the actor) they could be amazing.
We also put aside a walking cane for Don Pedro.
After the visit to the costume store, Sarah and I had a productive meeting where we scheduled the following week ahead, made some lists, and talked through some issues. One important thing that Sarah did ask about was the masks and whether we are still having extra 'dressed-up' clothes and accessories for the principle characters in the Masquerade Ball scene. As my updated script/costume breakdowns indicate below,  have definitely cut that idea. Mainly because of time and budget, but also for the more logical reason that the masked ball scene actually happens very early on in the play, when supposedly the audience are still getting used to the characters... so if all the characters' faces are covered, what else is there other than the costume (and maybe voice) that can help the audience identify who is who. Therefore it's actually quite important for the costumes not to change at this point. However, this discussion did painfully highlight to me that I need to do SOMETHING to sort out the mask situation. I know there were plans to get model-making involved but I don't know whether that has gone ahead- another thing to talk to Doug about.


Our week-plan looks something like this:

TUESDAY: meeting with Emilie and Mandy to discuss roles of buyer vs supervisor. Visit Hire shop in Boscome- Hire-archy.
WEDNESDAY: Fitting with the actors.
THURSDAY: Deadline for finding and ordering the cropped military jackets.
FRIDAY: Trawl Winton and Boscome vintage and charity shops.
SATURDAY: Potentially visit costume lady in New Milton.

We also made a couple of rough shopping lists.

 
Things to look for at Boscombe Hire Shop:

• 3 x military trousers
• 2 x yellow & blue Garrison Caps
• 4 x beige squat pith helmets
• 1 x white tall pith helmet
• medals, sashes, and straps.
• Waistcoats
• Don Pedro's admiral-esque jacket
• Don Pedro's hat.
• Shoes/boots.

Things to look for in Southall (8th Oct):

• Turban/ turban fabric for Claudio and Benedick's uniforms
• Leonato's little cream hat.
• Purple fabric swag for Leonato.
• Dhoti fabric/ readymade dhoti
• Pomp-pom shoes
• Yellow turban- Balthasar
• White dress tunic x 2 (to dye for Claudio and Benedick's uniforms)
• Sash/scarf for Benedick and Claudio's uniform.
• white/cream frock tunic (claudio- wedding)
• Red wedding turban
• Red fabric swag- Claudio
• Little cream skinny trousers- Claudio
• Wedding garlands x 2
• Hero's various jewllery
• 3 piece wedding sari
• 2x teal choli
• 2x extra long saris in brigh red and yellow- large print.
• purple sheer sari
• Orange choli
• Flower? Lotus hair piece?
• Cream turban
• Karma bracelets
• Red trousers/swags for Friar
• Antonio's little teal hat
• Long plain cream tunic (Antonio).
• Mirrored purple choli
• Beatrice jewellery
• Deep red silk harem pants
• Yellow patterned sheer fabric.

So there's a lot to get!!

Day 3: More Designs, More organizing

Sunday,
Today I worked hard to try and complete my 'To-Do' List for the weekend, but alas there are a few designs left to do: Beatrice's bedwear, The Sexton, Boy, and Messenger.
The reason I have left these is because I need some clarification from the director. The Sexton is the most straight forward and I should allocate some time aside to do him, but there are various issues surrounding the other characters that I'd like to clear with Doug before I do the designs, and he emailed me to say he'd like to meet asap to discuss, so I won't do anything just yet.
I also updated my important documents to send to Sarah to help with her costume plot, below are my revisited Script Breakdown and my revisited Costume Breakdown.

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=31843A379A3CA19!123&authkey=!AHsALpahCGOaFSs

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=31843A379A3CA19!124&authkey=!ANRDa4R-mkKpqkQ

I also did some more research into jackets. During the initial Production Meeting last Friday, I remember Rebecca saying that my drawing of Don John's jacket was unclear... or more accurately 'you've drawn it wrong- do a technical drawing'. So I did a bit of research into how the jacket would open, and actually my drawing is ALMOST there, the problems being that the openings don't quite line-up and the bottom of the overlap down the centre front tapers up the wrong way because it would actually be the other side of the front that would be overlapping. I found this image of a Napoleonic jacket, which although is a different cut, the opening has much the same technique and method, so it really helped me to understand.

I've also been trawling the internet for Nehru collared jackets for Conrade and Borachio, I found a few, but chef's jackets may still be our best bet. I found this one on ebay which I think we could dye, but it's so expensive...... and 80s.....


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Boys-White-Mandarin-Nehru-Collar-Tuxedo-Dinner-Jacket-Wedding-Ringbearer-6B-/400296329583?pt=Boys_Wedding_Attire&hash=item5d3385416f

I also did the designs for Balthasar and Friar Francis.

Day2: Organizing and Sourcing

I started today by trying to contact the landscaping company that does the university campus to see if they could give me some tree-help. Alas, as I suspected, they go by normal working hours, so I'll have to try again on Monday morning so that I can get the measurements of the base for the tree to sit in to John asap.
Sarah had sent me some links to jackets that we could potentially buy-n-dye, but I'm a little bit concerned about a few things:
http://www.dennys.co.uk/Patrol-Jacket/groupproduct/410/
This was the link Sarah sent me, which is amazing. I honestly didn't think we'd be able to get white jackets with those collars, but apparently chefs jackets are the answer. However, I am concerned both with the quality of the fabric and the length of the sleeves.
On the same website I found these:
http://www.dennys.co.uk/White-Nehru-Jacket/groupproduct/4111/
Where the sleeves look a better length, but the fabric concern is still pertinent. Also the female jacket looks a far better cut than the male one, but I doubt we could get away with using the female jackets presumably due to paneling that is shaped for the bust and hips.
But we shall keep searching.


I then trawled a few shops in Pokesdown, most notably 'Clobber' where I found a few things that might be useful. I found a blazer that's not perfect but could work for Benedick- but it was way too expensive. If I decided we'd like it then I could maybe have a chat about them massively reducing the cost, or maybe they'd be happy to hire it. An even better find was a perfect (!!) white nehru jacket! Just like the ones we'd been looking at on Denny's but for only £12!!! However, a few problems as follows. Although the fabric quality was perfect, it looked like it MAY be coated- in which case it wouldn't be dye-able. And the other (main) problem being that there was only 1, and we would need 2 exactly the same. Still, £12- bargain!

I can't by anything until we've done measurements, which I need to email the director about scheduling in on Monday week when the actors return.
In the evening I did some tile research, but I have a feeling that getting real tiles for the top side of the well is going to be SO pricey, given that half of them need to be ornate.  And although I found some beautiful ones on some websites, they are all WAY TOO EXPENSIVE.
http://www.euromkii.com/category/motif/repetitive-patterns?page=3
Having talked to the rest of the team, it seems that everyone needs some role-clarification. The Costume Supervisor and the Costume Buyer are unsure where 1 ends and the other begins, and the technical assistant is also at a loss. My Set Assistant is a designer on another show, so I don't know how much she's expected to commit. And I for one have NO idea how much I'm meant to be delegating, how much I'm meant to be doing myself, what I'm handing-in, when I'm handing in, and what I'm supposed to record during this project. I was just sticking to the blog and file approach, but since talking to one of last year's designers I've realised that I might need to do a production journal and also an on-going sketchbook. But this is something I need to bring up with a tutor next week methinks.

Day 1: First Production Meeting

Now that I'm back in Bournemouth, things are really starting to kick-off!
Today I spent some time making an 'ultimate sourcing list' which I'm sure will be added to over time,  I've printed out multiple copies which I then distributed at the production meeting.
Here is a copy:
https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=31843A379A3CA19!122&authkey=!AKyKIx6KDgTzWIU
At 2:45 I had my first meeting with Sarah my wonderful costume supervisor and we basically just talked through everything that would be needed for  each design and how we would go-about obtaining these things. We're both still a bit stumped about the yellow uniforms, but we think sourcing white jackets and dyeing them is definitely the way forward. We talked about going to Southall next week but that plan has since been altered via the production meeting. We also had a talk about to what extent props were part of the costume team's responsibility, and where to draw the line.

At 4:00 I had a production meeting in the theatre with the director, the production manager, the head course tutors, and my student team (minus one of the makers and the scenic artist). It was a whirlwind of a meeting and I came-out feeling totally bewildered and overwhelmed- I'm just going to make lots of lists and then hopefully I'll know where to start.

General Notes:

• Flame retardant fabric for the seating will be really really expensive, sacrifice making it 'indian fabric' and just use normal display fabric with a couple of runners sewn along some of the cushions.
• Get Flame-proof display fabric from MacDougals, again will be expensive.
• Benedick will be splashing in the pool and will need rubber boots for that scene.
• Kirsty the technical supervisor has a meeting on Monday afternoon which I might try and get in on, so I know what her role is.
• The first 2 weeks of rehearsals will be off-site in Winton. 
• The Set needs to be basically complete after those 2 weeks to enable the actors to rehearse in the space.
• The floor is really important to get done asap.

Costume Notes:

•  -Look at Denny's and Alexander's for jackets, also livery companies.
  - Look in Army surplus stores and online for the watch
  - Research the right type of braid we need to embellish the jackets (thickness etc)
  - Look in the costume store at the Arabian Nights costumes to see if there is anything suitable

Set Notes:

•   Balcony: The laser cut screen could restrict the view of lighting, sound and DSM too much. They could be out on the balcony or the pattern could be more open.
• - Need a plan B for the audience entrance in case of Rain
• - Illuminated fire exit signs need to be visible
• - Wooden Ladders not widely available due to health and safety regs, if there is a ladder there it needs to be usable.
• - Need somewhere else for the actors to sit, perhaps a couple of wooden benches. These could be used in the wedding scene and could fit under the stairs when not needed in the space.
• -Make sure all fabric is fireproof, buy it in the right colour, don't dye it.
• - First 2 weeks of rehearsals will be offsite, the third week will be in the theatre with the set as near to complete as possible.
• -Tech rehearsal will probably be 24th october, Dress 25th in the afternoon before the evening performance.
• -Scaffolding painted a distressed blue not solid colour?
• - Send John images of swords and he will source them.

So I've got a lot to be getting on with, but I'm not quite sure where to start. So I made a to-do list for the weekend.

SATURDAY
am- Tile Research
am- Try to contact Banyards about tree.
Mid- Visit Pokesdown to try Vintage Shops for Striped Blazer for Benedick.
pm- (go to the bank)
pm/eve- Update Script Breakdown and Costume Plot- send to Sarah
eve/night- (finish unpacking)

SUNDAY
am- Complete remaining designs (6)
eve- Brief Maker about missed meeting.
night- catch-up.

Lads on Tour

Lads on Tour part 1:

Conrade and Borachio.....

Ladies in Waiting

Margaret and Ursula are now complete.
The research for this actually took a lot longer than anticipated.
It took me a long time to find-out the names of the types of Saris that I wanted to use. Both pictured are special traditional Saris each using 9 yards of fabric- much more than the usual amount. This creates a Sari that is more practical for moving, and less sleek and elegant than Lady Hero's attire. It also took me a long time to get the colour-scheme right, in terms of balancing the colours of the rest of the production,

I know the composition is a little squashed, but I felt that it was important to have both the servants on the same design, as the colour interaction between the 2 costumes is really vital.

Work Experience Updates!

Now that time has passed, I can reveal a bit more about what I was doing for my summer work experience.

First of all, the press release has finally been issued for the exhibition I had the pleasure of working on at the V&A.....
It couldn't have been more perfect if I'd planned it myself- turning up for my first day of interning and being lead to a room where I'm surrounded by David Bowie...
The best person in the world.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2198467/Ziggy-Stardust-jumpsuit-hand-written-lyrics-hundreds-items-David-Bowie-memorabilia-public-display-time.html  

And the second placement, where I worked as a Costume Supervisor for Natural Shocks, a company producing 3 shows for the Edinburgh Festival under the umbrella title of 'Peep'... I didn't want to give any spoilers away, but now the festival has been and gone....
And the reviews are in....
The Guardian
The Telegraph
Fest
Fringe Review
EdFringe- Audience feedback.

Photo courtesy of Fest Magazine.  Mr. Meredith sporting my adapted Rocky Horror Costume.

 Costumes for '69'

ALL OF THE PRINCIPLE COSTUMES ARE NOW COMPLETE

And Last but not least....
Hero's Daywear.

I need a Hero

oh but here she is...
so it's fine.

Hero's Bridal-wear... (with the addition of a veil for the final scene)

This has taken the longest of all the designs in terms of rendering.... so many accessories.... and shiny bits....

Fabric Sourcing in London

Over the last few days I embarked on my second round of fabric sourcing- to tie in with a trip to the Paralympics (which incidentally- was rad).

I spent Monday completing Goldhawk Rd- where as usual the fabric was in my price range- but most of the finishes were way too modern- too many synthetics and whatnot- most of it was cheap but looked cheap. Although  in saying that, I did find some gems.
Interestingly I completely neglected to consider the potential embarrassment of showing my Much Ado Designs to all the fabric shop owners- most of whom seem to have Indian heritage...
Leonato certainly inspired a few laughs to say the least....
But the good thing is, no-one reacted with offense... so I guess I can't complain.
On Tuesday I hit Berwick Street. As most of my garments will be sourced rather than made, the fabric sourcing that I'm doing at the moment was not as focused on budget as it might have otherwise been. Primarily I was collecting samples that I felt gave the clearest impression of how I want the garments to look, but the sampling will not lead to actual purchase of that fabric, and will merely inform the supervisor when sourcing the final piece, therefore I could have plenty of fun sourcing expensive stuff from Broadwick Silks and whatnot.
Despite relative success, there are still some fabrics I am struggling with. For one, no-one will let me have a sample of Tweed- so sampling for the Don Pedro design featuring Green Herringbone Tweed is becoming a problem. Also I'm finding it hard to source for Beatrice, I got a lovely selection of turquoise trims, but nothing in terms of the deep red Silk/Silk-Chiffon for the trousers, and no patterned yellow fabric either!
So I think Southall is the next stop.
A problem that I REALLY didn't expect is that the orangey yellow of the Uniforms seems to be a very hard colour to come across. This spells less trouble for the actual production (As at the moment I think the most likely option is sourcing white military dress coats and dying them) but I would still quite like to have a sample of exactly the right colour to go with the designs. Maybe I could do some dying now- but it seems such a waste just for a few little samples.

Here are just a few selections from my sample-book I've been building-up: