A short post about a short film.

Last weekend I left for three days to be a production designer for a student film thesis. It’s called Taking The Road and it is about two characters that murder hitchhikers as they make their way across the nation on a road trip. This was set in the 50′s. This means we had to find someone who had brand new cars from the 40′s or 50′s. Lucky enough, we found a guy. He hooked us up with a lot of stuff..but one problem. We needed a 1950′s gas station. We ended up finding a nearly gutted one. No walls..just exposed 2×4′s and plywood. I talked some of the guys into cutting me pieces of Masonite that fit in front of the exposed insulation. After that, it was up to set dressing and a good paint job to make it into a convincing gas station. I decided to make it look dingy since, in the script it’s supposed to be on the side of the road in an isolated part of the state. I pulled tons of props and set  it up to look like the owner had cans of oil and roughed up magazines. I paid attention to all the little details.. i even asked our crew (the smokers at least) to donate some of their butts and ash to an ashtray that sat at the edge of the counter. I’m still waiting for the rest of the pictures to be uploaded, but here’s one…

By the way..I must add..I worked on this for about six hours..with no heating. IT WAS SO COLD.

Process of A Murder By Poe and A Picasso

Continuing in the process..we have to add paint and this can be a tricky thing.

My concept (or underlying theme) for my design is that it is (as the script calls for) a “puzzle box”. The first play, A Picasso, we start in an underground vault where Picasso has been arrested by the Germans for his provocative art work. At intermission, the walls of the vault literally are pulled apart and they slide into their new position: a dilapidated victorian house. Nothing is as it seems when pieces of the set unhinge and become different things. a wall suddenly becomes translucent (really!), the floor opens up to unleash murderers and their victims, and beds (or gurneys) roll out with dead bodies.

Here are some pictures of the paint job that I’m putting on right now. (I took a break to post this stuff)

This is a drawer that pulls out and an actor’s “dead” body is shoved inside. Then another actor pulls out an axe and begins to saw his limbs off. Of course we really cant do that. So lots of fake blood is squirted on the murderer’s face to show the carnage. So far, the blood hasn’t stained too much of the set..but we are watching it carefully. If it does start to become a problem, we will have to seal the paint job or talk to Special Effects to see if we can have a more friendly version of the blood that we can wash off at the end of the performance with no hassel.

The third from the left pilaster (the molding on walls) is the one I chose to paint on the set. Its got great scrolls and detail that I wanted to bring to my victorian house. I want that dark effect that it gives with the shadows.

Here’s how it turned out:

I have to paint it so that it looks 3d..since the budget didn’t allow for actual fancy molding.

Here’s what it looks like from far away. I’m still dilligently working on the walls and platform. Might be a long night for me.

The wall has hinges so that it can open to reveal a character. this is the one that becomes transparent when special lights are put on it.

That’s it for now..i’ll keep you posted on my progress..

process continued..

After a budget was assigned and I met with all the other designers plus the director, manager, TDs, and department heads to discuss whether or not they approved of my ideas, we built.

Build took a really long time because of how ambitious my design ended up. Also, for Theatrix (the name for the plays that are all student run/designed and aren’t on mainstage), we dont  have carpenters or a large quantity of stock…so that means..we have to literally dig in garbage cans and use recycled lumber. You find what can..and you  make it work.

Build has just finished this week and now the lighting designer can play with what i’ve given her.

This is a picture of it unpainted and with a one of her light looks on it. Notice one of our actors is VERY tall. This can prove to be a problem for the set and lights since it’s such a small space.

Here’s a picture of it without the “wings” as we’ve come to call them attached. Again, unpainted.

Theater Design Student stuff.

People always seem confused when I say that I’m a theater student…but not an actor. So, in light of me working on my next show…i’ve decided to document my progress from beginning. to end.

Lets start with the plays: A Murder By Poe and A Picasso by Jeffery Hatcher.
I read them over a few times each..making notes and trying to find a common theme in each. I have to design a set for both plays in one night. So that means the design must either transform..or stay the same, but work for each play separately. I want a transformer..

Here are some pictures that began my design process..

for some reason the wallpaper spoke to me. I had many other images as well to help me with shape and color ..

THIRD POST from last night

due to confusion with my other wordpress that i opened a year ago for a class I took, I accidentally posted in that one instead of this one. So here’s what I have in the first blog from last night:

projections are super important to the future of theatre. I’d like to share a few really awesome videos of projections on buildings at night. I  never knew that this was such a popular thing, but apparently it is. Unfortunately due to the nature of projections, it has to be completely pitch black out so that no stray light interferes with the effect. But when it’s done right, a projection can change the way we perceive the shape of the building itself. It can turn a brick building in a rippling jello or suddenly have a gigantic hand crawling across it. take a look and be amaaazed.

It can also be interactive. This floor is a pool of water that moves when walked on.

SECOND POST from last night

due to confusion with my other wordpress that i opened a year ago for a class I took, I accidentally posted in that one instead of this one. So here’s what I have in the first blog from last night:

Just wanted to share a really neat piece of art that it in the Phoenix Art Museum where I frequently like to go when I have free time in Arizona. Its a projected tree that blows in the wind. It doesn’t react to touch but its really beautiful to see in person.

Post from last night

due to confusion with my other wordpress that i opened a year ago for a class I took, I accidentally posted in that one instead of this one. So here’s what I have in the first blog from last night:

This is a really interesting idea about how to use gloves that act as a keyboard. Its for sale for about $130 i think.. but if you have the cash to spend on a cool gadget, i’d drop it on this one. Using this technology i’m wondering if they could create something that could be used to make digital art. For example, holding a paintbrush that has sensors on it to make a piece of art on your computer…

Student films..

As I started poking around looking for student Academy Awards..I also fell upon some animations that I thought were quite charming on youtube. I’m a sucker for child-like animation and simple storylines so I’ll link to a couple that I thought were really great..

In light of the Academy Awards coming up in March, I’ve decided to look up past winners and browse around on the oscars.org site. Apparently I had no idea that they had student Academy Awards that are granted to students who make documentaries or animations. Here’s the link to the page. I attempted to link to individual videos but it failed.

http://www.oscars.org/awards/saa/winners/2009.html

“Sebastian’s Voodoo” was one of my favorites that I watched..
http://www.oscars.org/video/watch/36saa_sebastiansvoodoo.html

The Ipad

There are a lot of different opinions about the Ipad for example some might say its a glorified itouch. But with the new craze being aimed towards mini computers (like netbooks) I think it will sell really well, especially since it’s price is a very affordable $500.