Contextual Studies - Goggle making

For the Unit 6 festival, I designed and made the goggles we would be using for our installation. I knew they could be made easily and in a few pieces out of cardboard. I happened to be inundated with the stuff after my house had bought several desks from IKEA.

Initial drawn designs -

Rather than making them out of three pieces we managed to make them out of two; a front piece and another piece that would block out the light from the sides.

Dan modeling the goggles after assembly -

After this, I then made the viewing holes and passed the goggles on to the other members of my group who were painting and attaching the elastic.

Me modeling finished goggles -

I'm pretty happy with how these turned out considering how simple they were. They fit well and weren't too uncomfortable to wear. Sometimes it doesn't have to be complex, it can be as simple as some cardboard and elastic. Cardboard can be a very useful material and this is a nice reminder of that.

Farley's prop house

We visited Farley with Kerry and were taken on a tour by Francesca Farley, the granddaughter of the founder Joseph Farley.
They hire out antique props which mostly date back from before the early 1900s.
This was such an inspiring place to look around and would certainly help to create an authentic looking set.

Rough Model and floor plan

Looking at my very rough card model I can easily see that the rooms are too small. It is hard to compare to the screenshots as it looks like a wide angle lens may have been used. But this was still very helpful for figuring out big errors.

Stairwell ~

Playroom ~

Boy's bedrooms ~

Music room ~

First floor plan ~

Rough floor plan with dressing

Using the makerspace

Before the start of this academic year, I had decided to try challenge myself more through my work. At the top of my list was learning how to use the 3D printer.

The grey piano was my first attempt, I wanted to make a piece of furniture from the 'Moonrise Kingdom' set for my model. The first piano was actually very successful but I think it was a bit small so I decided to print another model that I altered myself in SketchUp. This time the 3D printers were having some trouble and kept getting clogged before it finished. Eventually, I ended up with the white piano (pictured bottom right).

It is a shame these machines don't have proper technicians because I think they can be a valuable resource for us. Maybe there is something we can do to save our makerspace.

Contextual Studies: Reflection week 1

The topic for this unit is transformative space. I think the main goal of this unit is to help us understand collaboration and improve our collaborative skills with the outcome being an installation at a festival held at uni.

We met our mentor Toni who encouraged us to find a space in pairs and think about ways we could change the space. I was paired with Edith who is also a Set Design student so our thinking was very influenced by films we'd seen and liked mutually.

We both showed interest in the fire escape stairs as they look very industrial and dark, almost sci-fi and futuristic.

This stairwell reminded me of Deckard's balcony view in Bladerunner. Maybe this is something to keep in mind when transforming the space.

House of MinaLima

After hearing about the importance of graphics in a lecture with Anna I got talking with friends about a small exhibition of graphic art by MinaLima. It was mostly graphics from Harry Potter. It was interesting to hear about their thought process and how their designs tied together the Potter universe as a believable time in history.

I think I quite like the idea of working on graphics for a film, it's always been something I've enjoyed doing in my spare time. So maybe this is something to consider looking into for work experience.

Highgate Cemetery

"Highgate Cemetery has some of the finest funerary architecture in the country. It is a place of peace and contemplation where a romantic profusion of trees, memorials and wildlife flourish." - Highgate Cemetery Website

I had been wanting to visit the cemetery since I moved to London but had never found the time or someone willing to come with me. The cemetery is split into east and west, the west is the oldest section, originally opening in 1839.

We found out that the new Fantastic Beasts movie had filmed in the cemetery and even features in the trailer. I myself had thought it'd be a beautiful location to shoot a film or even replicate.

We decided to sit and draw some of the statues in the east cemetery and it really did feel peaceful there. I found the history of the cemetery and some of the people within it fascinating.