Reflection Week 30

Monday 8th May, Today was the first day of setting up the set for Bonnie and Clyde as it is pre production week. We still had set from Art and Life, so this was the first thing we did, we took everything out that we needed to and we moved the steel deck into the wing, so we could start rigging lights, with the lighting plan we produced on Friday. However, Richard, Alex and Han sat together this morning sorting out what to change and make it look better, so suit around all the steel deck. After this we were able to get all the pallets in to start organising the proscenium arch. At first Han thought this would take at least 2 days because we hadn’t figured out how to attach them and put them up supporting them. We then thought about putting leg braces on them because that would be the only way to support them, however the black flats that are hiding the wings would be in the way. So we had to move them a little bit and angle them because we still needed to hide the wings. When we first got the pallets, we lied them all out and sorted them out by the better pallets and the ones that are more fallen apart. With all the pallets we already had some ideas for some of them. For example we knew what pallet we wanted for the table and the ones we wanted for the porch and diner. So our main goal right now was to sort out the arches. Which we were able to sort out and pick the nicer ones out quite quickly because we had already had ideas for them already. This was a while ago and we did change them around quite a lot but we still had an idea of what we wanted it to look like.  After we chose what ones we wanted Jordan and Leah started fixing them together while the rest of us except from Alex and Richard doing lighting, we were taking the more rubbish pallets and started to pull the planks of wood off. This was for putting random bits of wood on the arches to make it have a more abstract look. As well as there will be posters on them eventually. While they were still putting up the proscenium arch, James and I started to clear away the props table able from Art and Life, so we could angle the flat in the background so the treads can fit in and let there be room for the actors to get into the wing as well. We were able to do this with some difficulty because there were doors that were attached to the flats so it was really hard to move, so we had to move it one by one which was difficult but we were able to do it. Then we were able to put up the first arch and it fitted really well. We then had the idea of putting a safety chain at the top and attach to the tab track so it has more support than just the two braces. Then we were able to put the other one up as well, which means we had them both up and done in 1 day, which allowed us to start building other things the next days.

Tuesday 9th May, So we straight to the theatre again and started off where we left off. Except from James, Leah and I went to town to get paint, look at props and get plastic piping for the jails. When we got back, Leah, Jordan I and started on the jail doors, which at first we had difficulty because we made one but it didn’t go right, so we had to take it all apart and start it again. We also had trouble with the drilling because we didn’t have a drill bit big enough to let the poles go into the wood. So we had to go to estates and ask them for a bigger one if they had one. We had to stop before we could finishing making the first jail door, because we needed to go get the steel deck out to place it in the areas of where they will be put up. This was for focusing lights, but they had done most of them by now anyway. When we went back to finish off the jail door it looked much better having the two bigger sides than the 4 little sides because it looked more professional. We didn’t measure out the middle bit, so it wasn’t exactly in the middle but we learnt from this and made then next one in the centre. When we started the next one we made another mistake as well, because we wanted the middle big of wood that has the poles shorter, so we asked for a smaller size. However the better idea for this was to have the all the same size and cut it so they are even because once we put it on, one side wasn’t very even, which didn’t look too bad. However we learnt from these mistakes to make it better. We were only able to do 2 today because of all the moving of steel deck and because we didn’t have enough pipes. We ended up only buying 10 at first to see how we should use them. So we decided to go straight away in the morning to get the rest so we could finish off the jails tomorrow. While I was doing this, in the theatre they had finished focusing and started programming and they started to paint the steel deck ready for the legs to arrive tomorrow.

 

Wednesday 10th May, Straight away we went to go buy the rest of the poles that we needed so we could easily finish off them today. We were aiming to build the rest today, so we could start on the table and diner tomorrow. We got back and went to get on with the jails straight away. The good thing was James and Doug had already cut all the little 80cm lengths out, by the time I got there and because I was doing it yesterday and I knew what I was doing, I went to go and help them. We figured out when we drill the holes, because they are not exactly in the same place, it makes the poles bent, however it doesn’t look that bad and it fits in with the rest of the set. The most difficult part of making the jail doors is getting the piece of wood that is holding the pipes in the middle straight into the middle. We were going to make the holes bigger, however that would mean we would have to glue it and we didn’t have enough time to wait for it to be stable or dry because people started painting them in the theatre. We had finished another one, so we went into the theatre and we had a break. After lunch the legs came, where all of us were in the theatre helping out because were going to start putting the steel deck up. However we found a problem with the legs, the 6ft and 5ft were perfectly fine, however with the 4ft ones they were all different sizes, not being safe enough for us to use. We think this was because they were second hand and they didn’t cut it themselves. So instead we only put up the 6ft and 5ft steel deck pieces we could at that moment. By the time we did this we didn’t have a lot of time left to finish the jail doors. So we went back to tweed and carried on where we had left it. We had the hang of it, so we were able to do it quicker. We came to the last one we needed to do and there was no more long pieces of wood that we could use. So we had to go back to the idea we started with, which was 4 small pieces and 2 pieces of wood holding it together. We were able to make the frame but not put the support pieces and more screws in. So we were going to do that straight away tomorrow morning. Meanwhile when we were doing this in Tweed, in the theatre they were painting everything and programming. 

Thursday 11th May, We started off by going straight to Tweed to finish off the last jail door which only needed to attach these two little bits of wood too and some more screws.  However we only got half way through that and Han wanted us in the theatre to put more of the stage up because some of the 4 ft legs were the right size that we could use. At this moment I wasn’t aware of this because I was in tweed all of yesterday. When we set all of the 4 ft steel deck pieces we could, some people went off to see if he had done anymore. In this time I thought I could quickly go into tweed and finish off putting 2 screws in places that needed them. This only took 2 minutes, so afterwards I took it into the theatre, where Tanya could start painting it because she couldn’t lift. When i got back I got there before they came back with the legs, so it means we didn’t have to worry about that afterwards. We finished putting the steel deck up in enough time, for Doug, James and I to start looking at and building the table for Sheriffs Office and the diner. The first thing we looked at was the table because this was going to be a more simple thing to build rather than the diner. We didn’t have any more long pieces of thinner wood, so we went for the thicker good. Which probably was the better design because it makes it more stable. While Doug was cutting the legs I started to sand down the pallet which I was able to do a pretty good job, but it still needed finishing. Also at this moment James was sanding down the pallet that we were going to use for the diner. We wanted support on the legs so we put 5 screws on each legs to keep them attached. It still didn’t have enough support, so we put more wood between the legs to hold the table together and make it better, if they were going to lean on it. When we picked it up, it was very stable and we took it to the theatre to finish off sanding it there. While I was sanding it more outside and finishing it off, James and gone to see if art had an electric sander that we could borrow and he carried on sanding down the diner pallet, while I finished off with the table. The only thing that the table needed now was to be painted. Unfortunately, we were not able to start the diner and that was the main thing that needed to be done tomorrow.  While I was in Tweed, in the theatre they were still programming and painting and also attaching the last lot of treads that I helped out with. As well as I did paint for a while because they needed the legs to be done from the steel deck.

 

Friday 12th May, The main priority today was to build the diner. This was down to James and I because everyone else we painting, programming, or doing stuff towards sound as we have the band call tomorrow. Straight away James and I went to Tweed to start doing an idea for the diner. We thought we would make the frame and then take it to the theatre to finish it off in there. Once again we went with the thicker pieces of wood because it would make it more stable and easier to attach to the pallet. We already knew how to attach them because we done exactly the same as we did with the table yesterday. We then came across a big problem, when we first put the legs on and stood it up the diner was too tall because we forgot about the wheels adding more height to it. We then had to saw the legs down which was really hard to do because we didn’t have enough support and were afraid of breaking it. However we quickly did that and moved onto the support bits for the legs. We were hoping to finish the diner in the morning but because of the step back with the legs being too tall, it took much longer. We put the support legs on it and put them lower than we did for the table because the diner was much taller. After this we were against time because we still needed to cover it up and put the jails together in the theatre. We took the frame of the diner to the theatre and quickly decided how to cover it up. Leah and I started taking pallets apart to cover up the front of the diner. However James had to quickly cut some pieces of wood to put in the middle of the frame, for the planks of wood to attach easier because they were to short to go across the whole frame. We then decided only to cover up one end side of the diner because we only needed to hide it away with the rest of the set. We made the side look more uniform because it was meant to be a desk. We were able to do this quickly because Han and I were working as a team and then www were able to attach the jails which we had a problem with. By this time the programming been completed and everything to paint was mainly done as well, because we were going to paint the diner tomorrow because we had no time to do it then and there. With the jails, we attached two of the doors together on the floor and the other one to the arch, where we had to saw off an edge of the proscenium arch because it wasn’t straight. We then had to hold up the jails next to the other one and steady, ready for Han to attach them with hinges. We then let go and it was staying up because the end was leaning on the floor which was good. However when we folded it away we thought string would take too long, so we went to go get the safety chains where all you had to do was click it in and out and put one so it is holding it on the arch and the other where all 3 are together. On the other side there were only two jail doors being used because not a lot of action happens on that side. This was the side with the odd door out which made it  a little harder to attach but it still did. This also meant we couldn’t close the jails together because the piece of wood was in the way, so we had to slide the jail behind the proscenium arch and attach it with one safety chain so it doesn’t come flying out. After this we had to quickly clean everything away for the band call tomorrow and to show the company the set. We hadn’t completely finished the set but we had done a lot in the 5 days we had. Overall with the set I was very pleased with my self making all the set pieces, for example the jail doors, the table and the diner, which made me think of maybe going into set designing.

Saturday 13th May, Today was the band call for Bonnie and Clyde, so we went straight to the theatre and tried to finish off everything we could ready for the reveal of the company to see the set. This meant attaching the new wheels Gary had brought for the diner so it is easier to move. I took charge on this because I was the one who does all the drilling for the diner, so I thought I would finish the job. This didn’t take that long, but at one moment we thought the wheels may have been too big and might spilt the wood. We tried it out and it didn’t. However there was one wheel where we couldn’t put all four screws in because when I first put the screw in it was too close to the edge and went through the side, however it was stable enough. Even though we put new wheels on, pulling it out, it still hits the sides of the steel deck this is because we put a pallet next to it, so there is a tighter squeeze. Therefore we thought of the idea of Leah pushing the diner out from under the steel deck because she will be behind there moving the car anyway. We also finished off undoing the hessian and attaching them to the areas needed. We cable tied them in-front of the car, so you couldn’t see under the steel deck and couldn’t see the car all the way through the show. We also put them above the diner and table where there were gaps. But on Monday we will probably put them in other places as well, so it doesn’t look like we are hiding something. With the jails because we had tied them back, they didn’t want to stay next to each other, so Doug went and made a block of wood to move so they stay next to each other. There was a really big gap in between the treads so we thought of putting the hay bails to cover that spot. However when we were taking down everything for Lilies we took all the straw off, so all we did was pile straw on top of the bails. Even though we hadn’t properly finished the set because the diner wasn’t painted and other things, we were at a point to show the company. We were going to paint the diner in the band call anyway because we didn’t need to do anything. I was really impressed by all the companies reaction to the set because it showed how much work we had put in to get to this point. When the band call started James and I went into the office to carry on with props. we were going to start printing things off but realised the only printed we had access to, didn’t print off in colour. So we just got everything, saved it to the desktop so we can easily just print everything out on Monday to a different printer.