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...

JUNGLE- The beginning of it all

I am Stage Manager Assist and Lighting assist for our 2nd year theatre project 'The Jungle'.

Director= Kim
Sound= Blue
Lighting= Maddy
Set design= Jeff
Stage Manager= Laura
Costume= Pink

I would have loved to be lighting designer as I want to learn a little more about it and enjoyed designing the lights for our Cloudtreet mock up set design, which was my very first attempt at designing lights. However I feel as though Ive been able to contribute a fair amount to the lighting design. At one of our meetings with Kim where each department presented their concepts, Maddy, Peri and I sat down for about an hour to work out a lighting plan. I had asked Maddy a few times to involve me more in the designing, however it was not until this day that I actually found out a lot of key lighting decisions ie such as having a single light bulb. Maybe Maddy forgot that she could get help from her assistants, which made her quite stressed, BUT we were able to come up with a pretty good lighting design just by discussing each scene. We worked out how many lights we would actually need and their colours.




So far for Stage Manager assist ive helped Laura source props which has been organized via emails from Laura of lists of items still needed. Laura, Liam and I spent some time in the warehouse gathering props needed for the play and also sourced some items fro our own personal belongings. The OXYGEN TANKS have been a bit of a hassle. I rang the hospital, a Dr surgery, the uni nurse and they all seemed to not have any available and also said that oxygen tanks are very expensive and most people wouldnt wont to even lend them out to us. I have an oxygen tank trolley and cords BUT no oxygen tank. We were able to get an oxygen mask however STILL no tanks. We are thinking it needs to be a large drink bottle sized tank, so maybe cover a drink bottle. OR just have a bag with the mask coming from it. I think now Kim wants to have it hanging from the back of the wheelchair.

I have now attended 3 rehearsals which have been awesome experiences. I had never done SM before nor have I ever sat in on a rehearsal. Laura refreshed my mind on some SM short hand and blocking notations etc. Laura is amazing at SM shes a born SM for sure. I guess it comes with practice but im amazed at how she can call lines as well as get all the blocking down. We have a system starting now where Laura gets the blocking down while I prompt lines. Its actually a lot of fun and I would love to have a SM position next yr. BUT now im even more stuck as to what I wanna do lighting, costume, SM???

I CANT WAIT TO SEE THE FINISHED PRODUCT!!!!

SKINS- 1st bump in

So we had our first record last week which seemed to go very smoothly. We were all pretty well organized for bump in and seemed to get the set up quickly, i guess we had a good practice with SLOU.

The toilets look so real:








The basement area was fun to dress as it did not need to look pretty, just a messy junky room so could chuck bottles etc around. Everyone brought bottles, rubbish, clothes and locker stuff as I had asked which was really helpful. I think the crates and stack chairs really add to the junky basement feel. The muddy, streaked walls didn't come out as much as we had hope ie like previously done in the 3rfd yr show DEAL, however theres nothing much more we can do to them, the brown colour is good enough for now. There was some confusion as to what the Basement area was actually supposed to be. I thought originally that it was one of the character's parent's basement at their house, however it has now been explained to be a basement more off a street then a privately owned area.






The locker space works well, despite the fact that we could not get as many lockers as preferred, which does make the space seem a little staged or empty. I really like the junky locker items, it is a true interpretation a a school area. we told the actors many times to play with the lockers and pick the items up etc however they seem a little reluctant to do so but we'll see how it looks.


I was afraid, as were most of us, how the sets were going to fit in and if we would have enough space for the cameras, due to the floor plan actually being drawn outside the yellow line area, BUT they worked perfectly and there actually seemed to be a fare amount of space in between sets.




I think for next week we wont need to change much, I don't really have time to muck around fine tuning it and we have received a lot of nice comments so it doesn't need to have more time spent on it. We have been told some working lamps could add to it however I dont have time for the next shoot, it is something to work on for the shoot in 2 weeks.

SKINS

After receiving the Set designs from Maddy via Blue, I went through the warehouse with Liam and gathered anything we thought was 'Skinesk' and set them aside. I typed a list of items we were using and any other items we might need to get else ware for each set. Maddy designed 3 areas, the BASEMENT/versatile/party space, the LOCKERs space and the BATHROOM space.









At our design meetings I asked everyone to start collecting their McDonalds/take away wrappers, beer/soft drink bottles and anything they thought would be suitable for the set. I didnt want the set to look to much like everything came from the warehouse, which is not easy with NO budget. I passed on the jackets/hats etc to the costume designers.

After stressing out a bit about when I was going to be able to get permanent markers, spray paint and toilet paper, I remembered Liam on set dress as well and got him to be the run around/get everything guy, which was really helpful.

I went into the warehouse a couple times leading up the the first record and during bump in just to double check everything was still there and had not been taken by anyone else. I kept reminding costume, Liam and others to bring their required items writing lists etc. It all seemed to go pretty smoothly and everyone was very organized. Ive also written down everything that each person has brought to the set so nothing gets lost and added it to my Skins file.

the painting was done pretty efficiently on the SUNDAY mornings ;-( but it was all done a lot quicker then SLOU we definitely know what we're doing more now. I went to buy some more liquid nails for the tiles and started tiling, we ran out of the glue very quickly however if we put less on I was afraid they would fall off. BUT fingers crossed they will be ok for the 4 shows.

-SKINS-

Production designer= Michaela
Set Designer= Maddy
Set Dresser= Kerri and Liam
Costume= Peri, Gab and Pink
Props= Laura
Set construction= Bel and Jeff

I am set dresser for this terms tv project, SKINS. Which I am very glad about as it will give me a chance to be more involved in a set based role. We are designing for 4 shows. The idea behind the plot is a drama of Australian teens in a technical collage from a mid/lower class status, who are mixed up in drugs and alcohol.

There was discussion about whether we design one set for the 4 shows and set dress them differently however our budget is way to limited for this, and have decided to keep the same set for each and adapt it each week only as needed. Eventually we should have a pristine set that has evolved over the 4 shows.

The show will be shot using multi cam ie 3 cameras. We are not aiming to recreate the original show, we wont to adapt it to an Australian version with our own take of the script

#18 Peer Assessment

My team consisted of Liam, Belinda, Michaela and Laura. I believe we all put in a lot of effort in different amounts per show considering which role we had. Altogether we worked well as a team and everything seamed to run pretty smoothly. We worked well with the budget only forking out a small amount of our own cash, we used a lot of the same objects for each show as we wanted to have random stuff on the walls for each one just with a different theme and it worked well. We used a fair bit of ouir own belongings which were respected by all ie nothing was lost or broken.

Here is my peer assessment of my team:


LIAM: 2/5

Liam started out well being the first to organize which groups we should be in through a facebook email. He was very set on his MANLY BAR idea and would not budge from it even though the team did not like it however I think this ended up being a good thing as it was a goos start and something in which we could improve in. Our sets seamed to change considerably from designer to designer. Liam needed a fair bit of direction during post production.


MICHAELA: 4.5/5

I was so impressed with Blue's organizational skills for the 3rd show. She didn't want to disappoint anyone and definitely succeeded. She seamed to have considerable communication with all involved in the show during post production and had the added bonus of the holidays to plan everything down to a T. I was just stand by for this show however I would have liked to have had more impute in the big decisions, which is more my own fault for not choosing SET DESIGNER as a role preference. Blue always wants to take on extra chores and could not have done a better job then she did.


BELINDA: 3.5/5

Belinda did a great job with her set designing by making bold moves such as changing the order of the flats and furniture. The locations of the bar looked great allowing the audience to see the set in many of the shots. I think the opening shot through the bottles might have been pushed by Bel which was great as it is so effective. She put in 110% effort throughout the entire semester, sometimes over exerting herself and unfortunately she rarely asked for help from other team members even when offered. The main fault of Bel's is her inability to work as a team and communicate for example the POSTCARD incident (she spent a lot of money printing without informing the team). I also felt very much pushed aside as set dresser which should have been my opportunity to show what I could do however any work that I did was overlooked by Bel and redone or done herself, I just felt my input was a waste of time. Bel spent hours in the warehouse set dressing without informing me (the set dresser for the show...??). Other then that she has done a great job on the show.

LAURA: 3.5/5

Laura has such a stress less attitude which rubs off on everyone around her. She was always there when we were working on any part of the post production and always offered to do erans etc that needed to be done ie Bunnings trips etc. Laura is the quiet achiever of the group and their to get the job done. I believe she was a real asset to our team.


ME: I thoroughly enjoyed making this show and felt I put in a lot of effort in all of my roles. It is disappointing that I was COSTUME DESIGNER on the first show as non of us knew what to expect, it would have been nice to be the last costume designer. I wanted to have at least one opportunity at a larger role such as dresser or designer however I wasnt able to fully take on the responsibilities.

#17 Reviews of Shows

SHOW-1:

*You could see the black line above on the flats a lot in this show

*their seemed to be a lot of blank space on the walls, maybe the posters were too high, I still maintain that the colours of the flats were hideous and came out very boring on screen. The blue also came out too dark on screen.

*The lighting was pretty disappointing, its amazing how much lighting effects the set, in this case the dull lights accentuate the dull walls. The lighting behind the bar was good however seemed too dark at times.

*I liked the angles used in many of the shots. The set really gave off a 'used bar' feel. I also liked the TV in the background.

SHOW-2:

*There was a lot more colour in this show which gives off a much more happy, brighter vibe. The lighting was also a disappointment being too dark at times and the distraction of the contrasting lights above the bar. At one point the glasses cast some interesting shadows on the table which i liked.

SHOW-3

*I like the hand held used in this show it gave a more lively feel and with practice i think it could look very effective

*From an acting perspective I thought it was a bit flat, i remember on the day the actors were having trouble. I liked that the actors were not slumped on a couch though, they sat up better on the floor.

*The fairy lights twinkling in the background look very pleasing

*The set was a lot fuller then the 1st show which works better on screen adding more visual interest. this show just seemed more realistic

SHOW-4:

*The random posters on the walls as well as the fridge, suitcases, and bar shelf add a lot of interest to this show.

*This show really shows how lighting can effect depth (one actor appeared to be sitting directly against the wall however in actuality she was sitting quite a distance form it)

*I thought that you could not really see much of the set at any one time due to the use of very closed in tights shots which is disappointing.

SHOW-5

*The opening scene to this show is amazing, being shot through the shelves and bottles panning to the bar. Having the bar at the front enables the audience to see more of the set and created more depth of field. There were a lot more areas for scenes to be shot in this set ie the back two couches, the bar and the stools.

*The candles in the background are a nice subtle shine and interest for the shot at the bar.

*One major issue I thought was the scene where Miranda fights about her being cheated on. It is more of a blocking issue, where there was a shot that showed majority of the set and pretty fairy lights and then the next shot showed a plain wall with the toilet sign.

SHOW-6

*This is by far the best show of the series. There is a lot more movement and interest in the set which seams to have rubbed off onto the actors as they did an amazing job in this show.

*It is great to see the progression of the 6 shows, they seam to become more realistic and have more set dressing items which definitly adds interest. The subtle details are so important.

I have learned so much during this whole process not only from a design perspective, but also an Actor and Tv Production perspective. There is so much I will take with me to future productions and am excited to have a go at other roles with more responsibility such as SET DESIGNER. I also would love to get more involved in STAGE MANAGER in future theater productions just because they have more responsibility.

#16 Problems

On Tuesday I re-upholstered a couch!!!! The things you do as a designer... it was interesting. Went through a lot of staples, it looks good however there was not much fabric left so we will need to cover the corners with cushions and a blanket over the top.

Just a little annoyance thing.... there hasn't been much communication between designer and I. Set dressing should be the biggest job now that the basic set is already designed even with the alterations. However I feel that I haven’t been allowed to do anything for it. I have constantly asked for where we are up to design whys for a couple of weeks now, and don’t seem to get much feed back. I feel the Proddies knew more about the set then I did at the demo and production meeting (it was only after the production meeting that Bel sat Laura and I down and showed us sketches and her ideas). I have spoken to Bel who seems to think she has tried to let me know what has been happening, however I don’t believe this is so, she seems to want to do it herself.

I’m not having a go at the work Bel is putting in, because she is dong a lot, I’m more saying that she is doing too much and not letting anyone else have a go or help her. Which makes it look like the others are no doing anything. This show is my chance to do the most work for one show yet everything seems to be done. Bel was in the warehouse Wednesday night sourcing set dressing things without notifying anyone… this is supposed to be my job… I had already gone through the warehouse with Laura after the production meeting and collected anything I thought was suitable, and we are using a lot of items from previous shows.

I was asked to research some images for the posters on the walls and postcards. I have the postcards coming on Sunday night with my family (and grass skirts) and had done the research, however after talking to Bel again today to see where she is at and found out she had done the set dressing sourcing… I found out she has also done the image research and has most of the posters she wants already ready to print… I feel any input I have had has been a total waste of time.

So this is my bitchy email but I really felt I needed to explain why I have not been able to do as much as I would have liked for this last show. And I will end with saying Bel has done a good job as designer I really like that she has changed the set around and am excited about our last show, I would just like to have been more involved and been allowed to do my job.

#15 Hick ups

As I have said previously there have been a few communication problems during this show. One major issue is the amount of money spent on printing pictures for the corkboards... $70... was spent without notifying the team first who are essentially the people who will be paying for it...

Hopefully we will get funding from TV club for such things.

#14 Record

UNFORTUNALTY, after a week of trying to not accept that I was getting sick, I woke the morning of record feeling terrible. I had a few things that were needed in the show so dropped them off in the morning:

*make up brush
*candle lighter
*grass skirts (were wanted for the front of the plimphs however after some discussion with Bel we thought they looked too tacky and messy as the bar was quite full already)
*some other ornaments/postcards
*corkboard

I left to spend the day in bed and see the doctor…

I was so disappointed to not be at our last show and feel like I have let the team down by not being able to help out with bump out. Hopefully I will be able to help out in the other teams bump out.

:-(

#13 Rehearsals

SUNDAY 24th: We met at the studio at 830 ready to dress the set... by now we all pretty much know what needs to be done to get the set ready without too much discussion ie putting the string on the items to be hung etc so everything went pretty smoothly. I had to go back over the hill to get a few things with Michaela at one point; it is good to have our own cars over the hill for such reasons.The set was pretty well dressed before 5pm when we had to leave to see a film, and we organised to meet Monday morning at 10am.

I really like the way Bel has moved the bar to the front of the set, allowing the camera to capture the set in one shot rather then just wall, which has been the case in the other shows. It has been a shame not being able to see much of the set in the other shows. However I think moving the arch and the angled doorway made the set a little too box like… The angled corner broke up the wall a bit, it would have been nice to have more extra fake rooms going off from the set ie the arch way however due to lack of flats this was not possible. The state of the flats are absolutely pathetic unfortunately but I think we did really well working with what we had and the bubbles in the flats etc are not that visible on screen. I still don’t like the colour of the walls.

#12 First Stages of Bump In

So we met in the studio tonight at 5pm to get the flats up before tomorrows actual official bump in. We put in the furniture ie tables/plimphs/barrel and bar and masking taped where they will be ready for the lighting designer Tom to bump in his lights early tomorrow morning. He is wanting to aim spot lights on each table etc

We were all a bit tired so worked pretty efficiently trying to get it done so we could get a good nights rest for bump in and got out of the studio at 8pm even though we had booked it until 9pm. Belinda was pretty organized with the order of how bump in would run writen on a poster and also the order of flats and the floor plans stuck up for us to see. It was very much left to Belinda to decide where things would go, however we had a few changes to the floor plan, ie removing the little table from in front of one of the roisterers as it cluttered the space and moving the bar out a tad.

We are meeting tomorrow at 830am ready to paint over the masked edges between flats/move all the furniture etc in position/start some dress setting/cover the front of the bar with fabric... We are way ahead of schedual and have plenty of time for any hick ups

My parents are bringing grass skirts, postcards and cocktail glasses tomorrow night. If the grass skirts are not suitable we have Monday morning to quickly buy something to replace it or we can use fabrics to cover the plimphs... hopefully it wont be a tiring long day...

#11 Production Meeting

We had our production meeting today, which was good to see the proddies who are working on this show. I would have liked to have been in the design demo to get Bel's ideas for the set a little clearer, however I was needed for the 3rd show, so Bel gave us a more detailed description of her ideas and had some sketches that were useful.

Up until now i havnt fully understood the concept, hence i havnt started set dressing sourceing. After the production meeteing we scavanged throught the warehouse for 'stuff' suitable for the show. It will be as though two gay guys own the pub with a travel; vibe, with objects and posters that would have come from their travels. I am going to do a bit of google image searching for posters and art works that we can get blown up at officeworks and then framed to be our expensive 'artworks'. We need posters such safey signs and underage 18+ signs.

While Laura and Bel were painting our extra flat I ripped off the fabric on the couch (a bigger job then first anticipated) we want to use and gave it two coats of paint. I have shotgunned reappulstering it ;-)

Checked out the 4th show of team Alpha...... AWESOME!!!! Absolutly love how it has changed/evolved. The brick wall does wonders and the posters make it feel more lived in and used. Attention to detail such as laminating a cocktaill menu is amazing and has definatly raised the bar for poor old team Beta...

We plan to meet in the warehouse after class Wednesday to apoulster the couch and get more organised with set dressing 'stuff' we dont want to have to buy anythiing more as we have already gone over budget and are now digging deep in our own pockets.

#10 Show 5- Set Dresser

SHOW #5: Our next show will be designed by Belinda, dressed by me, costumes by Michaela, props by Laura and Liam will be our stand by. Originally Belinda didn’t want to have couches in the set and just have stools and tables rather then a main sitting area, unfortunately this idea was not passed at design demo and we have been told to keep the couches. I believe we need some kind of main sitting area rather then couches as the actors always seem to look very slouched and uncomfortable.

I am waiting to see Belinda’s floor plans, with the new set out of flats, tables and bar before I can start searching for set dressing items. After a few conversations with Belinda the set seams to be a mix of styles from many countries. It will have a travel vibe to it with ‘stuff’ on the walls such as postcards etc think Greece, Italy, France mixed with Australia. We defiantly need to have a group meeting early next week to put together some ideas and see who owns what that will work with this theme. I would also like to discuss further will Belinda to finalise and fully understand her idea and vibe for the set.

Bel's Floor plan

#9 Show 3

FRIDAY: Met at 6:30pm at Crowbar to pick up stools and tables, stored them in the warehouse

We couldn’t start bumping in on Saturday due to Ryan having booked the studio to film his music video, which was a bummer for me as I had a 21st in Griffith Saturday night and wanted to help out bumping in the flats before Sunday, as I wan going to be late getting back to Wagga.

SUNDAY: I was able to get back to Wagga at about 2pm, however most of the set was already up, just needed to be dressed. Fortunately I was very organized before I left for Griffith and had my car packed with everything I needed for the show so I could go straight to the studio ie cushions, beanbags, wall hangings and fabrics and candles. Sunday night I went to town to buy peanuts for the bar and a gas lighter for quick lighting of the candles. We needed a long lighter to reach the candles in the deep glasses and lanterns.

MONDAY: A nice early start for designers, 7am, to get the set dressing underway. A lot of the fabrics were quit crushed so I went back home to get the iron, might be a good idea to have the iron there for the next show as it comes in handy for costume as well. Another idea is to have a hair dryer in the studio during record as one of the actors spilled water on her costume and the wet stain is not very appealing not to mention for continuity sake.






At 9am I went into town to purchase a sample pot of APPLEWOOD paint (and coffee), as our spare paint disappeared, might be an idea to have our own locked cupboard for our paint etc in the warehouse with a clear label of what its for. A few of my own belongings have been kept in the warehouse as we are using them for every show, which I am happy to do as I have written up on th white board everything I have in there.

We had to see a movie at 10:15am for Screen Studies so we left the set to dry after painting the stencil and masking tape between the flat joins. On return we had a few last minute touch ups, extra posters to put up etc. I attached some of my scarves to the cushions as some were too bright or didn’t match the décor or were just plain ugly. I think we had the perfect amount of cushions in the end after scavenging from many people.

Belinda had a design demo for our next show #5, just before record was to begin. So I stepped in for costume as she had filled me in earlier for this exact reason. Belinda was pretty organized before hand, having given the actors slips of paper with exactly what she was envisaging for them to wear. The actors did well following her instructions and also brought extra shits etc just in case.

It was difficult trying to collect actors to foresee their costumes as they were quite late and wanted to have cigarettes etc before coming to the studio, just making life harder for the designers. In the future we should designate a time and place that actors HAVE to meet up with the costume designer an hour or 30 minutes before record.

Belinda wanted the tarot card reader to wear a flowing white skirt, however the actor’s green skirt looked better and she seemed more comfortable in her own skirt. All the actors wore quite blocked colours with no patterns which was really good as it worked with the set which was quite busy.

Once the lighting was finalized and the candles were lit, the atmosphere of the set really came to life, feeling like a lived in and used bar. The cushion sitting area fixed the problem of the actors looking slumped on the couches. Actors seemed more relaxed and comfortable.

#8 Record and Bump Out

30th march- Record day. Dressed the set with posters, signs, numbers plates and the black board/specials board. I brought I needle and thread to stitch the couch covering, as the staple gun was not very functional. With help from Laura it ended up looking passable, despite the time it took to complete. Bottles were in place, as well as the little extras such as the ashtrays complete with cigarettes and ash (or dirt), serviettes, bar nuts (which everyone enjoyed eating, next time I will buy two packets). The set looked amazing and we had many great reviews and comments.







Issues during the shoot:

*Had to move the ghost in behind the arch as the black curtain made the wall look like a black hole. Then we had to move the it over a little later during the record as there was a gap.

*Needed to be very fast refilling bottles, for continuity, to keep with the schedule: Belinda. We needed a funnel to speed up the process, so I went on a hike up to the Nosh and borrowed one.


* We had major problems with the posters falling off the walls- masking tape is not all that great.

*The blue paint came out quite dark on camera almost black.

*Heels could be heard as actors came down the stairs… felt on their shoes would have helped.

* For the opening shot we needed to move the bar back out of the way to allow the camera to get a better angle, was easy enough with an army of strong Proddies (not that designers are not capable)

COSTUME ISSUES and COMMENTS- (don’t know actual actors names so will refer to them as the character they played)

* Jason (lawyer) turned up in a shiny bright red tie NO NO!! Got one from Scott (thanks Scott). He also did not own a pair of black slacks and wore black jeans. I thought this was great in the end as it gave him more of a relaxed, lawyer type look, with more personality. It also gave a 90’s feel, which is when the play was originally set.

*The waiter did not own a pair of denim jeans, however the bar tender brought a spare for him… phew! I decided against having aprons as the bar tender looked a little ‘butcher’.

*I was worried about the full black skirt Gabrielle wore, her legs were never in shot. Her shirt colour was a perfect off white.

*Will the construction worker wore very a obvious, staple almost cliché costume, however this was my fault as I told him to wear a flanny and boots. Not a major issue though.

*Alex (doctor) wore gym clothing as she had just been swimming even though her scene was meant to be quite late in the night.

*Kelly and Sam (uni Students) wore casual clothing and I was happy with their choices. I believe the casting was very well done for this show.

*I asked Jeff to bring over some cardigans and shirts for Evan, just because I really wanted him to be excentric. He wore one of Jeff’s vests over his own red t-shirt and jeans.

* There was one point where Evan and the extra in the background (Liam) were wearing similar coloured tops (ie red and salmon), I could not do much about it though.

*I had told the extras NO white, black, shiny etc so what does one of the extras wear… a shiny white top… could not do anything about it. Another extra that had to stand right next to her was also wearing a white top but had brought another brown shirt, so I got her to change and it, which made the world of difference.

So glad this one is over. I am looking forward to the next show as Michaela is designing and seems to be so organized already and raring to produce something awesome. I am on stand by for this one so am ready to take any task.