LukeGuyverdramaproduction

This is where I designed the roof tiles. As it was made out of polystyrene, it would be easier to lift and mark out where the tiles would go, however, you can’t paint polystyrene because it would look awful. Getting the design model of one of the trucks, we would look at the shape, colour and accuracy with a scale ruler so we know how big the tiles would be. Finding out that the tiles are 20 Cm apart, I would grab a piece of wood, 20 Cm long and start drawing lines across so I can draw my squares on properly. As the tiles are all over the place, I would not have to worry about the width of the tiles but making sure that after you do the first squares, drawing lines upon the middle of the first set of squares and so on.

After I was done with the outlines, I would move on to making the bricks look more effective. The tool that you would use for it is a wire brush because it’s not sharp enough to cut through it and is the best tool for the job. starting from the stop, You would brush the top of the line of first set of bricks by brushing along, diagonally in a straight line because the bricks are meant to look like they’re all stuck together. If the line at the top is not deep enough, start to brush down but making sure that you blend it in by brushing diagonally again.

After I was done, I would start to make the bricks look more sticking out. Before, with a knife, you would cut out the little lines of the end of the bricks then you would start to go over the edges. The method to do this is brush down then start brushing the corner, doing the same to the other side, then after putting pressure with the last line is to go over the bottom of the brick.

Once you have brushed the lines and all the polystyrene, you will need to get a bunch of muslin and start cutting squares out. The reason why you are doing this is because you will need to glue it to the polystyrene as you can’t paint over it. Once you have your squares to cover both pieces, you will get a big pot of PVA glue, dip the muslin in then start to stick it on. You will need to overlap when laying down the muslin, also making sure you get the edges of the roof. Another thing you need to remember is make sure the muslin is touching itself, so in other words no edges because the edges stop it being detailed when painting.

Unit 73

There ways that you have to prepare for scenic painting are straight forward. You will need to prepare your area by cleaning what you want to paint. If you want to paint a set piece, you will need to clean your area by sweeping the dirt because you don’t want dirt to go onto the piece. If you are painting on the floor, you will need to sweep what you are painting on as it can look awful if dusts is painted on. If you are painting with a brush, roller or spray gun, you will need to cover your area with dust sheets but if you are spray painting you will need to do more covering by covering the walls with dust sheets and LX tape so the sheets don’t come down. When you are about to use any type of paint you should always stir the paint because on top of the paint is the coloured layer so you will need to mix it in. If you feel like that the paint is too thick and hard to spread, you should add water to the paint but best to use a tub or bucket for it. If you are going to use a paint brush to paint your object, you will need to double check that the brush is clean by washing it with cold water as you don’t want any excess going into the paint or wall. It is always best to get a tub or bucket so you can pour paint in. This means that other people can use the paint so they don’t have to come over to you to dip their brush in. If you are going to use a roller for painting, you should always have a tray that comes with it when bought. Pouring the paint into the dip of the tray, you should not overflow with paint as it can be a waste or may go on the floor. When you are about to paint something, you should dip your roller into the tray with the paint and start rolling up onto the tray, getting rid of excess paint. If you are going to use a spray gun, you should prepare the tank of air and power box by plugging in the tank to the box then the box into the plug socket. You will have to do this because the box provides enough power for the tank and the tank will provide air through the tubes. Once you have done that, you should attach the spray gun to the tank. When you are ready you should turn on the tank by turning the leaver or pressing the button. You will hear a loud noise coming from the tank which means that the air is travelling through the tube into the spray gun which will spray out paint. This is where you will get your paint and with a bit of muslin, putting the muslin in first over the open tub on the spray gun, then pouring the paint through the muslin into the tub. The reason why you would use muslin is because it filters the paint, getting rid of lumps in the paint which helps the paint come out better.

There are various methods for a scenic elements that can be used. Base coat is when you use emulsion for basing your item so that you can paint over it easier. The reason why this is used so that when you are painting over the base coat, the paint will look better quality and less of a chance that the paint damaging the item. Another method is the first coat. You would use this to paint over your base coat. The reason why you would paint your first coat is because you want the paint to stay on the item, giving it definition. Another method you would use is a second coat. A second coat is a second layer of paint over the first coat. The reason why you would use this method because the first layer may still show some emulsion or could still look poor quaility, but normally that is down to water based colours. Another method you can use is scrimming. Scrimming is a method where you would cover a material that isn’t paintable with muslin or a thin fabric, cover it over with emulsion then start to paint or spray paint the emulsion. The reason why you would this method is because you can make certain materials paintable.

There are a few ways you can translate a model design to stage. By eye is one of the method’s that is used which means that you are looking at the model and painting from an eye view without judging it first. It’s mainly used to create an effect to your item. Another method of transferring is girding up. This is where you would get a pencil or permanent marker and mark out your squares, making sure that there is the same amount of squares each row. After you would then transfer the outlines by looking at the model and working out where everything goes. Another method that you can use is over head projector. This is where you will need to photocopy your design onto a piece of acetate and put it on the projector, painting the outlines that’s reflecting on your item.

Unit 80

step by step, you will need to get all the measurements you need to cut out your pieces for the model. This is where you will need to make the model look better than the white card cut out. What you will need to remember is you will always use MM when it comes to model making but remembering that 305 mm = 1 foot. As CM is next after MM, you would use 1:1250 of the ruler. The equipment that you will need is a piece of material you want to design on, a pencil so you can mark out where you are cutting, a scalpel ruler so you can cut your material, scale and metal ruler so with the scale you can use to measure up and the metal ruler so you can cut neat, a set square with a 90 degree angle so you are accurate with your corners and a cutting board so you don’t damage the surface area you are working on. You will need to learn how to use a scalpel knife properly before you should cut. How you should learn how to cut is to hold the knife like a pencil, gently but adding preasure, start to cut down the line of the ruler. You should hopefully get a nice cutting edge. If you are wanting to cut a curve or edge, you will need to do this free handed but carefully as you will not have support of a ruler.

There are many materials that you can use for model making. (Part of Task 1 & 3)

Unit 76

Unit 78

As design elements for the idea of my stage, I thought that I would make use of the space. First, I would start off drawing on the table with a pencil of the theatre, using the exact measurements. Also I had to remember where the fire doors were. This is where I would decide to use 4X4 or 8X4. I had thought that I wanted to use more 8X4 than 4X4. The reason why I went for the 8X4 is because they would go along the fire exits, not blocking it. For my design, I would use one 4X4 and 12 8X4. The reason why I have used a lot more 8X4 is because the director wants height. What I should of done with the stage was to not make the stage left bigger than the right because my idea was to make the stage base most of the scenes on it. Altogether of my design I was happy to share what designs I had. Even though there should of been moving around of the decking, I felt like I had shared the ideas I had. (Task 1 and 5)

Unit 6

As a team, I think that we work well. At times we have bad moments but we always ask for help if we are stuck on something. The benefits of our design team is the fact that we talk about our ideas to each other and not keep them between ourselves. However, there has been times where we have not communicated properly with each other, making the process slower to work. As a team, the tasks that we would have to complete is to make a model box for the christmas show and to paint the sets for the last dance show and last show of the year called ‘lil abner’. As the dance show wasn’t much to set up, we did have to paint the stage grey. We also had to paint the poles white as well. As it took not long to paint the dance show, we then moved onto focusing what to do for the christmas show. As we knew what the christmas show was going to be, we decided to watch the movie and analyse it. Taking notes from the film, we would search what would symbolise the film and take images so we could stick on the wall. As the show ‘little abner’ was close and was more prioritised, we would have to stop the model box for the christmas show and move onto the painting. This was where we had to do a lot such as spray paint the flooring, paint two trucks and the back of a drop. Once we had done all of that, we would then go back to the design of the christmas show and get that complete.

Reading through the script

Share ideas and creativity

Planning, drawings and different model of the set

Estimating the cost of the set

Managing budgets

Planning

Attending rehearsals

Meetings with the constructing

Read script (Plot)

Read script (Info)

Read script (Real vs. implies)

Director concept

Research

Moon board

Sketch

Director meeting

rough model

Director meeting

Scale white card model

Director meeting

full colour model

Director meeting

Tech drawing

Model presentation

Construct

Paint / texture

Photo shoot

Run

Press night / previews  

Get paid

Get out

As an ASM, there are three different organisations (Small, Medium and Large). Starting from small scale companies, there may still be a large amount of travelling that might have to be done. The job roll is to sort out props and may need to be driving or access to public transport. You would have to be working varied hours and may have to be working evenings or weekends depending if they ask. The benefits of a small company is the fact you will learn the basics if you are wanting to move up to a medium or higher company. However, the down fall is you may have to wait to move up. Another benefit of a small company is the fact that they take on a lot of people so you are more likely to get a place. On the other hand, places could be taken fast so you would have to get in fast. The small company salary could be 15-20k a year. With a medium scale touring company, you will have to start touring so you’ll have to know how to access props and other items from the base. Also the salary for this type of company could be 18-23k a year. The benefits of being in the medium scale is the fact they’re working on bigger shows than a small company, however there is more work to be done in the same amount of time. Another benefit of this company is you will be making more money, however, you are more likely to be working in the evenings and weekends. With the large scale theatre you will find that this is more of an outdoor event as well as an indoor event. There are many advantages but many disadvantages of this type of company such as you can hold more people but however, people may notice that they can’t get a good view of what’s going on from far. Another advantage is the fact that there can be more stunts done outside, on the other hand, it will have to take more work than usual. With the large companies, the ASM will have to do a lot more work than the small and medium companies as they’re travel more. With this type of company, you will be working weekends and evening because you will be traveling. However, the salary could be 25-35K and can rise up to 50K depending how long you have been working there.

When it came to pre-production, we had to do a couple of things such as marking up the stage plan in the studio and sorting out the props table so the actors can practise with the dummy versions. Before we could go over anything, we would be given a copy of a script to skim read it and pick out props. During the time of sorting out the props, we had to do marking up of the studio so the actors and musicians know how much space they’ve got on the real stage. We would have a plan of the auditorium so we would use a triangular ruler to measure where we would need to chalk up and use the tape. We would have three coloured tapes which marks out the stairs, wings and arks. Finally, we would come up with a rough props list, having to confirm with the directors in the first meeting if they’re the props that are needed. When we was sure of the final prop lists, we found it would be easier working in two groups as there were quite a few props we had to sort out. When it came to production meetings, I would attend to all the meetings I was called for. My group wanted to ask questions privately as we wanted to show the props to get a better idea of how the directors want them to look. Half of the times I had to work independently when none of my group were in or busy doing something else. For example, I had to do some research to find out how to make the props or if that the prop had to be bought. Also I would go to rehearsals if I was needed, asking when I need to go and if there was a break, I would ask what time I would need to be back. There was problems with the bricks as expanding foam was not the best idea to make bricks. As someone found polystyrene and made them into a brick shape, it was mine and another ASM to paint the bricks yellow and gab brown paint with a sponge on them.

As there was enough people to handle props, I was managing the AV projector. The AV was connected to the white screen so I didn’t have a monitor in front of me. The easiest way I found out to run the video smoothly was to put it on full screen then move the cursor fades, unplugging the mouse when I see the cursor and menu bars fade away. As I was dealing with the AV, there were a couple of problems I came across where I had to use effect fast. For example, when the house was open, there was a Bluetooth problem where I had to immediately plug in the mouse then click off the pop up. When I am ready to press the space bar, I would listen out for my que to be ready then when I hear the word go, I would press the button. As I was upstage with sound, I had remained silent and only answered when hearing my call on the con. As soon as I am done with the AV projector, I would turn it off from the switch and unplug the power cable.

The technical theatre department team have been organised into the following teams. All of the teams are liaising with directors, going to production meetings to discuss health and safety requirements as well as keeping up to date with the directors about each department.      

Construction - These are the people that make the big props on stage. They are very important as the props these guys create make the show stand out, making it look realistic. There’s not much they can do but when it comes to the show, they’ll have the job of drawing the curtains out because the ASM roll on stage would be to carry out small props. These are the people who have to carry out parts for the big props from the workshop to stage. As they are the ones who create the big props, they’re going to follow out how pacific the directors want it to be. These are the guys who will have to work longer because they will also have to plan out what props their making and where they’d go.

DSM/ASM - DSM and ASM have different jobs to do but come under the same department. DSM stands for direct stage management. ASM stands for assistance stage management. With the DSM, they are the ones who will always be in rehearsals recording what the actors are going to do with the props so they know where the props are going to be. The DSM may need an ASM with them to run a few errands if needed. Also they’re the ones who coordinate the show making sure everything is running smoothly. They will have to write down what to say through the head set as they’re going to have to communicate with a few teams during the show who also have a head set. The DSM role is very important as they are the ones who communicate with every department, confirming with directors what is going on. ASM’s are the ones who deal with props, making sure that they are suitable for the director’s standards. Also when it’s show time, they are the one who take on and off props for each scene. Also the ASM’s would have to mark out the studio where rehearses happen and mark up props table so the actors know which prop is which. They may have to go off site and purchase props if they can not to be made or hired from online.

Lighting - With this part of department, these are the people who set up the lights for the show. Before they can do anything, they have to first plan out what type of lights they need for the show and where they go. They also have to hang up lights and check what light needs to be hanging because they don’t want to make the stage too bright. This is where they need to organise a router for who’s coming in for every show as it only takes one person to manage the mixing board. If there’s manual coloured lights, there would be someone cutting coloured cellophane sheets so they can go in front of the light. They also got to make sure that the lighting is running smoothly by testing the lights before the show in case a light or machine isn’t working properly. Even though the lighting team have to manage the lights, they might have to manage other computer machinery such as smoke machines because it is much easier.

Costume - As you can tell, this department is responsible for making the costumes for the actors. Before they can create anything, they need to research ideas for various designs then taking images of their designs to the directors for feedback and agreement. This is where they will have to be in meetings to ask the directors how exact the costumes have to be. Also with this role, you will have to work with the actors to measure up body, legs and head sizes so they know how much material they need. They will also need to be in for show if part of a costume has been ripped so they can fix it. Even though they have the money for the materials, they may have to go out and buy other stuff to decorate the costume.

Set Design - This department designs the set of the stage. They have to read through the script so they have ideas of creating the set of the stage. They will have to create 3D model designs so they have a clearer picture of what can be created. They will also have to prepare an estimate cost of how much will be needed to create the set. As soon as they get the money they need, they have to manage the budget. They will be there when rehearsals are going on as they could have better ideas seeing how the actors interact with the set and working out what changes they need to make. They will have to go to all the production meetings and communicate. When the shows are still going on, they will have to still work on the design of the next show even though they are not needed for the previous show. In a way, the set design are managing with big props as well but more of the props that are going to be designed. 

Production Administer - This is a role that has a wide range of jobs to do. They’re the ones who market the show so they can get the largest audience possible. They’re also the ones who sell the tickets so they know how many seats will be available or not on the days. They hold the budget as they are the ones who have meetings with the production management so they decide how much each department can have. They also manage petty cash for little bits such as materials and tools that are needed. They will be running the front of house and the staff that are working on bar and selling consumables and merchandise. They are also important at the meeting as they inform everyone how many tickets have been purchased so the directors are aware of how well everything is going.

Sound - With this department, they are reasonable for the sound effects and music if needed. They’ve got to have a plan too like lighting so they know where to put the speakers so they get the best sound from the audience. Also they have to put up the speakers themselves as they are familiar with the plan. Also they are responsible for making sure the level of sound in the theatre is not too low or high. Also sound are the ones who will be talking to DSM, making sure that they are ready to queue a sound effect or piece of music. In the show, they will need to have two people in as one will need to be responsible for changing the microphones and the other one to operate sound but informing if there’s a low battery on a microphone. These guys have to work on the board and computer at the same time as they get the sound effects from the computer.

Musicians - With this department, there are a few jobs that are needed to be done. They will have to learn how to play all the songs by doing separate rehearsals then when it comes to dress rehearsals, they will be practising with the actors. They will have to make sure that they are playing the right song for the right scene as it would be a total mess if they end up playing the wrong song. It is also there job to inform sound if there’s any problems with the sound of the instruments because they will not be able to perform properly. When it comes to the show, they will have a leader of a band that will be listening out for the DSM to tell them when to be ready and start playing as it prepares them. It is very important that there is a replacement for someone in case they can’t make it because of an emergency.

Actors - The jobs the actors have to do is straight forward because they have only one role to do. First of all, they will have to do a rehearsal to see who has the skills for the role. It’s their job to know which lines they will have to learn and say during the rehearsels and show. They will have to work with costume as they’ll all need to be in costume so measurements can be taken for creating.  Certain actors may have to work with sound as well because they will need to do recordings if necessary. If the actors are using props which takes one person to carry, they may not need an ASM. These are the guys who will mainly be working with the DSM and the musicians as the DSM takes notes and the musicians get familiar with the songs their playing.

Review -

The story begins where the audience finds out that the place is set in a nursery that has a cherry orchard tree. The main character was a woman who grew up in a nursery which she lived in with her family. However, as the cherry tree is famous, a seller is trying to get the people who own the tree to sell it and build little houses so people can buy them and the people who own the nursery can make money from the bank because it’s their land. They all disagree with the choice because they don’t want to get rid of the tree but they don’t have enough money to keep it as the mother went into debt with a builder. When it came to a dark moment when the were going into a depressing mood about her dead kid, the lighting would go dim and what they use for sound is a dark heavy beat. This shows that how she is feeling deep down.

Before the bidding of the tree, there is an orchestra with a party going on in the house. This is where the stage was more bright and with the sound, you can tell that they was using multiple laughing effects and they actually had a band playing by the piano. When the tree was up for sale, the seller came to the house to tell that he had brought the tree so he can cut it down and build on it. this is where the lady was breaking down because it was the only thing that put her in a better mood. Also in the play there was a bit of romance going on and even a secret romance between the butler and one of the maids. You would see when everyone went of, the butler would light up a cigar and start to flirt with the maid, kissing her and holding her.   

Roles -

ASM stands for assistant stage manager which has a few jobs you have to do. For example, at the beginning of the job, we were given the script for the play and we had to source out what props are needed in the play by going through and thinking what is a prop. A prop is a small item on the stage, for example, flowers, table, axe etc. The curtains and stairs are not a prop as construction deal with the making of the large items. On a stage, At the end of this, this is where we liaise with the directors to agree with our list so we can prepare a clear prop list. The reason why there isn’t a final prop list is because certain props may not work so the list can change. nine people will have copies of the props list such as the two directors, one DSM (direct stage management) and six of us ASM’s. There were a couple of meetings with the directors and all department who are working on the show for the directors to speak up about what they expect from each teams. I think that this is necessary to have the meetings because this is where us ASM’s find out how the props should be sourced and if there are any questions, they’d be answered.

Scavenger hunt -