SHOWTIME

The show got better and better and better as it went on and I understood more of the underlying messages as it went to. I called three shows which was fun, I was pretty confident doing it as i feel I know the play so well, its so good being involved in rehearsals etc you feel more apart of it and get to know it so much better. Even if I was designer for a different aspect of production ie set I would want to be involved in the rehearsal, i know its hard though with so much going on.

This is the roster i organized, it was very difficult trying to get everyone to work when they were available and i had to say to Liam who was the toughest to fill a spot for that he needs to work thurs otherwis cant call the show, it wasnt a big deal for him in the end so thats good. Laura didnt want him, either did he in the en, to call any earlier then Weds, to give him a chance to see the show first.


This is a rough extimate of the hours I spent during rehearsals= 26 i think It could be more or less not sure exactly as i didnt right it down (something to remember for next time). Not to mention the hours during tech, set helping and showtime etc...

I am sad but happy the show is over. And can not wait for next yrs experiences ;-)

JUNGLE- Preview

12th November

Sound and Lighting is still a bit dodge despite how hard Maddy and Blue are working to try and get it organized. Laura has finalised her book highlighting cues etc which is really helpful. The 3 of them spent some time in the room going through cues etc on this day. Ive still been around doing odd jobs like getting things for props, drinks making sure actors are ok to eat and drink them etc etc etc

For preview I sat in the box to look over Laura's shoulder to get more of an idea for cues, also we think we'll need 2 SMs on each night to organize props anyway and to operate the Betty Page.

Preview seemed to go well, just a few actor issues and sound issues. SM point of view is great ;-)

Cant wait for opening and now CLOSING....

JUNGLE- Dress Rehearsals

So in between tech and dress there was a lot of fixing lights and sounds, however I stepped even further away from the lighting mainly because I wasn't being told when and what was being done. But it was OK as I had more of a chance to check out what SM was doing, good ol' Laura. There were still major stuff ups occurring during the dress run, sound still had not had a chance to have a tech rehearsal with Kim so it put a lot of stress om Blue who had NO ASSISTANT (JEFF stepped in once to assist Blue).

Apparently the actual equipment has been playing up, which is the cause of some of the mistakes. Maddy did some changing around of lights, which added light up in the back OP side near the dress room door also added a SUN in the correct area for Olive to reach out to. Kim has suggested some changes which Maddy has done and I think lighting is getting there a bit more. Peri has helped out a bit more during the end, now ive stepped down, shes been there I think to help program the desk during the changes and also fixed up all the cords in the grid and added some safety chains that were not there.....

PROPS!!!!!

Props are such a big job and I dont think SM who has SOOOO much to do already should have to organize these (thankfully there is at least one assistant for Laura). We have all props now, bar a walkman which Kim said she would get for us, but it works without for now. Ive started to be able to just know what props need to be gathered at interval and which ones need to be added and where. LAURA has typed up our magic sheet of all the props preset for ACT 1 and another preset for ACT 2 as well as where the table is preset at these times. Ive also written up a sheet of props that need to be gathered at interval which makes it so much easier.

-So after every show we will preset the set and props ready for ACT 1 the next show
-All props for ACT 2 are on the props table in dressing room with black marker drawn around them so we know nothing is missing, also what each piece is for etc
- Then at INTERVAL we will get the trolley throw everything on it that is on the 'gather at interval list' and take back out to the props table.
-Then everything on the PROPS TABLE comes out and preset in the required positions.
-After the show all we need to do is bring out the trolley again and return everything ready for ACT 1 for thhe next show.

There has already been a gun broken and will be replaces payed by all of us including cast. Ive just reminded Jesse to be careful when bangs the gun on the table. we need to clean the table at interval. Vaccume after every show (set). Air con goes on before the show and during interval but is off during the show.

DRINKS-

Ive bought all the drinks and have gotten a hang of the food dye needed to make each colouring.

WHISKEY- Water 2xyellow drops and 1 red drop. Ive made each Whiskey colours a little bit different as the actual brands would be different IE the Talemore would be darker as 'its the best'.
BEER- Ginger ale
RED WINE- Grape juice
WHITE WINE- Water with yellow and red dye (Rosie has a lot of allergies)
CHAMPAGNE- Lemonade with red dye to make a Rose LOOKS GREAT as it froths

IM HAVING SO MUCH FUN DOING ALL OF THIS ;-)

I called the 2nd dress rehearsal, I stuffed up a few in the beginning however go the hang of it by the end ;-)

JUNGLE- TECH rehearsal

10th November Technical Rehearsal 1pm to 11:30pm (scheduled don't know actual time)

Peri and I sat at the desk while Maddy was with Kim and Laura on the floor ready to go through lighting. I surprisingly picked up the technical side of programing the cues so quickly. Writing down the lights used and there intensity also helped, so having 2 of us in the box was good. It took quite a long time to tech the lights I believe, because there was no organization prior to seeing Kim as to different lighting states and where they would change into next scenes etc. At this point I had stepped right back letting Maddy do what she was doing and just being there to help tech.

Due to the time taken for lighting Blue didnt get much time to tech her sound which has caused a lot of problems.

I like some of the lighting states, ie I like the fairy lights however feel they should be used more often even dimming them etc for different states, just because it was a huge deal getting them in and they are so effective. I like the purple light, and the shadows it creates with the set, as does the orange light on the coke sign. The wall really works well with lighting and theres so much you could do with it. We attempted to light from behind it, ie in the back corner, and different angles of the light created different shapes and effects like the wall seams to glow and also the light coming through the wall onto the floor creates an interesting shape and effect. However I dont think Maddy ended up using this light, and fair enough as it wasn't working well with the actors sitting in front of it blocking the light onto the floor anyway. It might have been interesting to put fairy lights behind the coke sign to make it seam actually like a working flouro light in Kings Cross, but it does look fantastic with the orange light.

I believe the lighting design needed to be constructed with the CITY and kings cross more in mind rather then merely lighting the areas of the stage. I know it was tough working with very minimal amount of lights and patch points however for example the black spot in the OP/US at the dress room door was a MAJOR problem that should have been addressed STRAIGHT away. I still think actors are in black spots several times during the play.

BETTY PAGE looks fantastic, after all Jeff's heartache to get it up and running, it works well, this is probably my favorite scene for lighting and sound.

JUNGLE BUMP IN

Ive been attending most rehearsals and really getting to know the play. Its interesting seeing how the rehearsals develop and how the actors are starting to get into their characters more and more. I feel im getting a hang of the blocking as well as being able to keep up following the script and prompt lines.

Props are coming together well, Kim said she will bring a couple of things we are still waiting on the Walkman and a couple of bag contents items from her though. WE HAVE OXYGEN TANKS!!!! Thanks to Laura's Grandma who did some ringing around and found a gas bottle supplier in Wagga who were happy to lend us some tanks for the play YAY!!! Laura and I picked them up around the 1st Nov. My coffee peculator broke as well which is ok as I had another one, its just frustrating to have it broken. Laura has done an amozing job with props despite saying she hates doing them... shes labelled everything with masking tape with who owns the item etc. Its definitely so important to get the props ready as soon as possible so actors can rehearse with them. When we finally got the oxygen mask we gave it to James during the rehearsal of that scene IE with Cynthia page after shes fainted, and she got a big shock when there was an actual mask there on her face, it was quite funny, BUT teaches me that actors really need to be informed bout EVERYTHING and props need to be rehearsed with very early on.

Maddy and I spent some time in the studio setting up lights and focusing them on the 6th I think; we spent a fair bit of time in the studio together around this week however I dont have the actual dates and actual times spent. We went through some gells and decided on a purple for the brothel scenes, an orange for the morning sunrise scenes, green for the brothel as well, and just white light to fill the stage. Maddy said she didnt want any other colours as it would be too messy, however I didnt agree with this. I felt I was taking over a little on this day mainly because not much was organized for the day and i wasnt being told to do anything nor had I been shown any designs or other information about lighting states etc which was frustrating as i continually asked to be more involved in the lighting as did Peri I think. It was clear that there actually wasnt any actual designs drawn etc and after rigging the lights I suggested a number of times that Maddy and I sit together and go through the whole play with me pretending to be the director IE as I knew the play quite well and all the blocking from rehearsals, however this did not get done. Monday the 9th, the day of our last Skins show Maddy and I would have sat and done this however Maddy was only just learning how to use the desk with JJ and used up the whole day. Yes shes put in a lot of effort for the lighting however there has been very little organization and no asking for help from assistants and from what I can tell not much of using the script when designing.

The main frustration for me is im finding it difficult working with someone who is so unorganized and still not taking or asking for any help from the people who are scheduled as the assistants, and knowing that if only she had taken some of my advice that lighting could have been done a lot earlier and there would have been more time for changes etc and also would have helped with any embarasment when presenting the lights to the director.

NEXT YEAR- I think all designers should attend as many rehearsal as possible, if not then at least the RUNS, Blue was able to attend one run, it just would help knowing the blocking before setting up lights for areas on stage.

IT HAS HELPED SO MUCH BEING AN SM as well as a TECH PERSON... Having someone around all of the time who knows the play and the blocking helped out with every aspect of design. Jeff was able to ask me questions as to where actors were at a curtain point and I was able to answer straight away, instead of him having to wait to see directors or the SM. Also having been in rehearsals helped with lighting, knowing where actors stand, helped out with rigging. Also the position of the amps for Blue, I was able to make sure they would not be in the way for Cynthia Page when she exits PS/DS, as she needs heaps of space to turn the wheelchair.

Ive helped a little with the SET ie painted a bit, helped construct the crates, cleaned up just because they were going to be up really late trying to get the set complete ready for tech rehearsal. I also put in all of the fairy lights.

FINAL SKINS!!!!

So skins is said and done YAY!!!! Jeff and I mentioned to Dan W, Sam Hartman and Emma V about maybe getting proddies to help us bump IN for this final show sue to being busy with Jungle bump in on Sunday... And they did. IT WAS SO HELPFUL having them there even for a short time just to get EVERYTHING down from the warehouse into the studio and it cut our bump in time down to 2.5 hours, almost half off the time from previous bump ins... AMAZING!!!

SET DRESS-All I have done for this show is add streamers to imply that a party has occurred there ie maybe the night before. We still used Bruce's lamp however ii was not able to find the correct light bulb for Scot's lamp ie only got a screw in bulb.

Its the first show that I havnt sat in and watched record, maybe just because I was a bit over it by then. It took a fair bit of time having to bump in every weekend which was frustrating because the set was already designed, we were bumping in for the proddies and actors so it made sense to get them involved in the bump in. BUMP OUT was extremely fast with all proddies on board AFTER WE CLEANED OUT THE WAREHOUSE awesome!!! Its so clear there now... Blue and I cleared the props bay which was really good for me as now I know exactly what we have up there and where it is (this has already come in handy, props for JUNGLE needed another tray and I knew in my head exactly where one was ;-)

Anyway im happy its over, though ive had a lot of fun making it and its deffinity been a HUGE learning thing for me, and also awakened me to know that I dont want to have anything to do with SET DESIGN...

SKINS- Show #3

We started bump in for the 3rd show at 1pm Saturday 31st Oct. WHAT A HOT and STICKY day BUT we got all the flats up and half dressed by about 4:30pm. It took us a while to get started, I think due to the fact it was so stuffy in the studio, we tried getting the flats in from the warehouse so we could have to roller door closed for the aircon which helped. After an hour or so we pretty much settled into our various jobs ie Sam etc on constructing the bathrooms, while I started dressing the basement and lockers. So by 4:30 the lockers and half the basement were actually ready and dressed, leaving only the posters and a few bits of furniture for Sunday.

Im finding it difficult working with Liam, he has done some work in regards to the set dressing however it seams I have to instruct him and tell him what to do otherwise he will just stand or sit there watching the rest of us bump in.
While im ranting, just a little comment on Maddy. She has done a fantastic job designing the set however her disorganization has led to others having to fill to pick up her slack a little. I volunteered to take back the projector at 9am for Maddy and when I got there there were heaps of items needed to be returned so I ended up spending half an hour walking around TV land trying to pick up the slack from Maddy's doing, I didnt mind returning everything it just would have been nice if she was more organized. OTHER then that we have all worked so well together and we seam to just know our jobs and who can do what IE i needed something screwed to the flat so I got Sam to do it etc. Im looking forward to working on bigger projects with everyone next yr.

Im still trying to work out what I want to do ie lights, costume? Ive enjoyed set dressing even though it was not a hard set to dress ie just got everyone to bring in their rubbish and brought stuff down from the warehouse, BUT I think it would be fun dressing a set with a decent budget etc like interior designing and i find myself noticing the layout of everyday rooms of the house etc. Ive also started to be more confident within the uni, getting to know names of contacts etc which means I feel I could do better in a more organizy job which I enjoy like stage managing. Its been awesome fun sitting in on JUNGLE REHEARSALS and seeing the development from an actors perspective.

SUNDAY- we met at 10am to finish dressing etc which only took a few hours. For this 3rd show of SKINS we've been asked by BRUCE to include a few working lights at the back of the set to help with the depth. We'll use Bruce and Scots lamps from their offices. If I can find the steamers I bought from 1st show we'll be using them for this set.

MONDAY- After Designer BBQ about 2pm was record for the 3rd show. It was slow getting started due to proddies trying to work out shots and actors having trouble with Audio so we ended up being 40mins behind schedule. BUT they ended up cutting a scene so we didnt bump out too late. We were still able to bump out the lockers and bathrooms while the basement was still being used which helps SO MUCH. It was SOOO HOT so thankfully we had the hands of all the proddies making bump out extremely quick. Cant wait until the last show. But maybe not the cleaning up of the warehouse bit...