'Sweet Changeling' - Set Dressing

I helped dress the sets in both locations. My job was to wallpaper the walls in the bedroom set and dining room set. Ana Castanedo told us about a trick for wallpapering on walls so that it comes off easily and without damage.

1. First we made a grid with masking tape on the wall
2. Next we stuck double sided tape over the masking tape
3. Then we peeled off the back of the double-sided and carefully applied the wallpaper strips

This wasn't as easy as it sounds, it was hard to get the wallpaper straight against the wall and to not create lumps in the paper. As I was the only tall person in our group I was the only one who could reach high enough up the wall. Therefore I became a sort of wallpaper master and I could probably do it with my eyes shut now.

The videos below show a timelapse of this process in both locations. They're also 360° videos so feel free to move around to see how the space changes!

'Under the White Sun' - Dressed bar set

Graphics dressed in the bar set

I was unable to make it to set dress the graphics because of responsibilities on the other two films I was working on. The others were kind enough to dress them for me and send photos of them. I think they fit in well with the set although I feel like the posters could have been dirtied down a little more.

Above: My beer label stuck onto a bottle. It was nice to see my work in context and I was happy with how this one turned out.

Below: Film still

'Sweet Changeling' - Dressing list

After another meeting with the Production Designers from LCC they confirmed we had a budget of £100 for the dining room set. I made the list below after the meeting with Sorrel and Vicky about what we would need to dress the set. Luckily the Scrapstore had a lot of fabric and wallpaper that was suitable so this saved us spending a lot of money on those essential pieces. Sorrel was also able to provide a lot of the props as her grandma has a lot of appropriate furniture and small pieces.

Left: Rough Dressing List   Right: Figuring out my weeks schedule

"Sweet Changling" - Washing Machine

Sorrel and I were put in charge of making the washing machine for the shot looking out from the inside.

Sorrel found a washing machine door in the tip over the holidays and after our first meeting back we decided to get started on constructing something that would allow the camera team to shoot looking through the door.

I started by looking up photos of what it looks like from the angle the shot would be.

Above photos from Google Images

Then I drew up some designs. Luckily our washing machine door had the hinges still so the task wouldn't be too difficult.

 We showed these design ideas to Ashleigh, the technician in woodwork. We were told it would cost about £11.13 and we immediately started working on it. Ashleigh was a great help and I have learned how to use so many more tool in the making of this. I really wanted to get more confident using the machines in woodwork as it is definitely useful to have this knowledge when designing in the future. After completing this I saw that Woodwork are holding some Technical Skills sessions over February and I booked a session as I thought this would be an invaluable lesson.

I covered around the hole in metal tape so that you couldn't see the MDF if the door was opened. Ideally, we would put some sort of rubber seal there but you wouldn't really notice and we didn't have the time.

However, I think the finished thing looks good enough for the shot they want as its only a quick shot. Plus when we showed them they thought it looked amazing. So I guess that's just my critical eye telling me to make it as realistic as possible.

'Under the White Sun' - Set Decorating

Dirtying down the jukebox

Dan, Tom & Emily (Technical Arts second-year students) had made a jukebox for the bar set and on a very stressed Saturday night, before the first shoot day on the following Monday, I helped them finish off making the jukebox. They had done an incredible job and I think the dirtying down we had done together looked very effective on set.

Above: the dirtying down I had done with wire wool and a mixture of paints
Below: Proud looking Dan on set with the jukebox early on the Monday morning

Set Decorating

Whilst I waited for the print room to open at LCC I also helped paint some of the tiles to make them look dirtier.

'Under the White Sun' - Printing at LCC

As Jane had become ill over and had to take a break for personal reasons I thought it was best to take on the role as head of the department. I feared that the communication between the group had gotten very sparse and I realised I had no idea what anyone else had done/was doing.

I found the graphics list (below) from the Google Drive and went through all the uploaded graphics so far, noting down how much we had left to complete before shooting.

Above: Graphics Checklist

After going through the list I messaged the group and updated the team on what needed doing before the deadline date which I had set as the Thursday before the first shoot day on the following Monday. This would give me Friday to go into LCC and organise with Seb what he wanted printing, quantities and sizes. Below is a list he wrote out for me on the day.

RECEIPTS FROM COLOURED PAPER & PRINT CREDIT

Graphics ready to be dressed in the bar set

Organising and printing the graphics was quite a demanding task. I had never used LCC's printing room before and Seb was too busy to show me around, plus he had never used the room himself. I felt a little uncomfortable about being in this situation in an unfamiliar environment but I knew I had to get it done. I went in and the staff working there were lovely and very helpful which put me at ease. I was waiting in a queue for a printer for over an hour at the end of the day, I was exhausted but after seeing the positive responses from the film team I felt quite proud of myself for overcoming one of my fears. Asking for help is something I really struggle with and working on these projects have helped me get over that just a little bit more.

'Under the White Sun' - Beer Labels

We also had to design alcohol labels. Over the Christmas break, I was telling my family about what I was working on and as my youngest sister, Rose (aged 4), is incredibly talented I asked her if she would like to design and draw an image for a beer label for me. She came back within about half an hour with the design below (left) painting of a robot holding a beer, I love it. Working with my family is always nice as they're all very creative and often we have a shared way of thinking which makes collaborating really easy. She gave me full permission to use her drawing however I saw fit, so I created the logo on the left and she seemed very happy with that.

I created this second label after making the poster from my previous post. One, because we were running out of time and we really needed a few more different brands and two, in my mind, it nicely adapted into a beer label.

BEER TAP LABELS

The taps in the bar needed logos covering so I altered all the alcohol labels we had made collectively, into circular ones that could be printed for the taps.

I really enjoyed making the graphics for this group. I only wish that they hadn't been in the first shoot phase so that I would have had more time to do more for them.