Top Girls: Evaluation

I feel that my role in Top Girls was very small, and mostly insignificant. It wasn't a built set so I can understand that technical drawings aren't really needed. I also wouldn't have been able to do scene by scene ground plans quick enough as my CAD skills are still being developed. I cant say I have learned much from this production, but I am proud of the girls and what they achieved, the show looked great.

I was able to give John Camble a seating plan, made to his Health and Safety regs, but as I hadn't set up the page layouts for the paper space (because I didn't know how) the drawing is just not very good. It is also one of the drawing's I had lost the .dwg file for, but I still have a .pdf that I am able to submit. If I were to do it again the drawing would be presented to a much more professional level.

I know that my learning will begin once I start working with Richard McCabe on In Extremis as there is a lot more work involved in that set, and I will be able to get some guidance from Richard in regards to my drawing.

In Extremis: Drawing the Ground Plan

Each time I drew a part of the set, I could copy and paste the plan view and front elevation into this drawing, placing them in accordance to the centre lines and the model box to the designers specifications. 

I continued to work on the last drawing of the ground plan, but was able to work through it properly from what Richard had told me. 

With each drawing I did of an individual item I was able to copy and paste it into the drawing and line it up in accordance with the centre lines and also with Rhiannon's model box. I started with the floorboards as they were the first thing I did, using the centre point to line it up with the centre point of the room. 

I worked my way backwards then adding the rostra and treads, then the structure and then the wheel, as we were unsure if the wheel would be made in the end. I was a bit confused by the wheel so just did a rough mock up of it to go into the ground plan at the correct dimensions. After my next meeting with Richard I will be able to draw a more accurate wheel, I'm just not sure what materials we are using to build it. 

Once all the items were in I labeled and dimensioned up the drawing, ready to be passed on to John and Pete. 

In Extremis: Drawing the Wheel

The wheel was a bit of a challenge for me. 

I mocked up a quick plan view for the ground plan before I had time to draw a detailed wheel. It wasn't the drawing of it that was confusing me, I was just unsure about what materials were being used on which sections and the best ways to make it. 

Once I'd spoken to Richard about it I was able to draw the wheel properly as you can see on the drawing. It was difficult doing the side elevation as I needed to match up the perspective and the cladding, it took a lot of trial and error but I got it right in the end! I think it's my favourite drawing as it is quite detailed and looks exactly like Rhiannon's model. I cant wait to build it!

In Extremis: Drawing the Structure

Drawing the structure was certainly a challenge. Rhiannon didn't know to scale how big she'd made it, so the only dimensions I could get was by measuring the model box. I first did the flattened version of the drawing, but of the legs and in between supports. I then had to draw the A frame piece at the back of the structure. It wasn't very self supporting and I felt that if we built it how Rhiannon had built it, it would just fall apart (a beam going down the centre not being supported from underneath) so I had to adjust the design to be more structural. Rhiannon gave me a hand drawn technical drawing of the rear of the structure, but the problem with hand drawing things is that they are never exact, and drawing things in CAD they have to be precise. To make sure the long A shaped beams were as true to the design as possible, I had to change them as the lengths and measurements she gave me didn't add up. This was my first taste of working with angles and it is difficult! Once that problem was sorted I felt like I had stepped over a big hurdle.

I felt I couldn't draw the structure as accurately as I would have liked because I couldn't quite get my head around how they were going to be built. I feel this is just because I have no experience with construction. Richard says that my drawings wont be at a professional level until I understand what I am drawing. Also, the size of the structure is quite awkward, 1:25 doesn't fit nicely on the page layout and 1:50 is a bit small. Need to experiment with layouts. 

In Extremis: Drawing the Rostra

I actually started drawing the rostra with I was with Richard because how I drew it was important to how we made it. I like the process of building up my drawings as we'd make them because it helps me learn about construction. 

You can see on my drawings the process I went through. I didn't find it too challenging to draw the rostra, you just have to think of the total height you need it, and subtracting all the different layers at the correct thickness. The only confusing bit was the treads, as according to H&S regulations they have to be a certain depth and height, and then working with the cladding and plywood, making sure you take the measurement of the thickness away from the formers so when we build it, it will be the right height! 

I enjoyed this process, especially drawing everything from the different viewpoints and elevations as it helped me learn about materials and building processes. 

In Extremis: Drawing the Floor Boards

In the original drawing I did before I met up with Richard, I draw the plans to the idea that we were going to order in ply wood and cut it down from pieces of 4'x8'. Richard said that the best thing to use would be rough sawn 6'' x 1/2''. I had to redraw the pieces at 145mm wide, and also considered that the pieces of timber were over three metres long so the calculations had to take that into consideration. 

Another thing I failed to think of on my original drawing is that we need to think of spacing in between the planks, as they cannot lie flush with each other or they will warp and rise. 

Again, the working process is done in the way of a CAD drawing, well annotated to you can see my working process. This is probably the least challenging of all my drawings that I have to do, and it will be the least challenging thing to make! 

In Extremis : Meeting Richard McCabe

Richard McCabe is a Production Manager and Set Builder who has been in the industry for an extremely long time and is currently working for Industrial Set Design company Helix 3D. Yesterday, Richard came in to work with myself and In Extremis Set Designer Rhiannon Price to discuss the construction of the set.

Being part of this meeting and discussion about how exactly we were going to build this set, where we were going to source materials from and all sorts of other topics covered was a really brilliant experience as it showed me how my role would translate into industry and what exactly I would be doing if I was a Production Manager.

Richard is a fountain of knowledge, and full of good advice and tips from the industry for us. He explained that timber can come in (within reason) any size we need it, and there are lots of different types. The ones we need to know about at the moment are Rough Sawn as most of the set will be made from this to give it the medieval effect. There is also PSE (Prepared Side Edge) and PAR (Prepared All Round)... these are the same. Timber generally starts at 4mm thick but that is a bit too thin to use for the floorboards. Richard also explained to me that for every cut that is made, you are losing 4-6mm as you need to take into account the thickness of the blade. This means that you have to over-order timber to make sure you have enough.

"If you cant hide it; highlight it." - Cant remember why I have this written down but it sounds good. 

We spent the morning going through the set piece by piece starting at the front, working our way back and then upwards discussing each set piece in great detail. This was a really good process and Richard's knowledge of construction is brilliant. I have a lot to learn about timber and building materials! Richard was intrigued by the wheel that Rhiannon had designed, and seemed determined to build it; probably because John said it would be too difficult to build! 

After lunch we created a budget list working out how much wood we'd need for each piece, calculating the amount we need in total and how much it's going to cost. This was great because it got the first load of budget breakdown done, and I think it helped Rhiannon a lot because she was unsure of how and when she could do this.

Myself and Richard then started working on CAD together, and we worked through drawing the Wheel in preparation for the CNC cutter, which felt good because I had some responsibility. What I was creating digitally is actually going to be made and if it doesnt work then that falls on my shoulders!!

Richard set me a deadline and a load of work that needs doing in preparation for In Extremis and it finally feels like I'm doing something with some kind of responsibility as opposed to just floating around not being considered and involved.

Items for submission to Richard:

Full Studio Groundplan with IE Set

Front Elevation of IE Set

Front, Side and Flat Elevation of Structure

Full Tech Drawing of Floor

Full Tech Drawing of Rostra

inc. CNC Ready Drawing of the Stairs.

Full Tech Drawing of the Wheel

A Page with each item listed.

These drawings also need to be fully annotated and fully layered correctly.

The date for submission to Richard is; 26th October 2011.

I really enjoyed today and the experience of working with Richard. It made me feel like the role I had undertaken had a contextual use, after feeling very left out of Top Girls. I understand that I have a lot of work to do, I'm determined to produce a beautiful set of drawings to send to Richard on time.

In Extremis: Floor Plan

My first job for In Extremis is to work out the exact dimensions for the floor plan ready for Richard McCabe who's coming in tomorrow. Richard McCabe is a Set Builder who I will be working with to produce technical drawings to be built from.

What John Camble and Rhiannon Price wanted me to work out was the best positioning for the textured floor cloth, and also the planks of wood downstage center. For the wood at the front of the stage we spoke about me taking a 4' x 8' peice of timber and working out how we would cut it up for the optiomum amount of planks, all at three metres long to stagger against each other downstage.

First of all I measured the floorcloth on the model box, which measured 7387mm, so I increased the measurement to make it easier to work with to 7400mm. (I had previously asked the designer if it was ok to adjust the measurements). The length of the floorcloth is 5300. I centered it up in accordance to the center lines on my floor plan.

For the planks I wants to work out how many peices of 4'x8' we'd need so I calculated the optimum width to get as many peices as possible out of the wood leaving as little to waste as possible. I chose 200mm as we can get 6 lengths at 2440mm to work with.

The total wastage is 20mm x 2440mm.

I then lay all the planks top to bottom to work out where the joins would be to make each section up to 3000mm.

The next calculation was how many planks of wood I would need to get the full width of the acting space at 5400mm, and the answer was 27. I realised my method for calculating the lengths was taking too long and would be difficult to then transfer into the drawing without re-drawing every plank. I created a different method that was much quicker using maths, you can see on the drawing the processes I used.

Whilst I was working on this, I has news from the designer that because she wasn't aware of the health and safety regulations of the Studio Theatre, the whole set had to be shifted back to make enough room to access the fire escapes and for the audience.

The first thing I then did was mark out the seating area, which is 5 rows at 1000mm and clearance of 750mm between the audience and the start of the acting area. The designer suggested moving the floor cloth as far back as it would go because the doors on the back wall wouldn't be used for access and no one needed to pass behind the structure.

I ran out of time to complete this any further, but hopefully I can just explain to Richard that I'm new to this and I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to be doing. I will be able to make a more concise ground plan after our meeting with him.

Health and Safety regulations must be considered in designs and when I'm drawing up construction drawings, I learned that this is very important. Having to use my maths skills quite a lot has been a change, but a welcome change! 

Studio Theatre Ground Plan: Creating the AUCB Layout

After creating the Layout in a plain template, I wanted to learn how to make my own layout and the only issue I was having was that the associate who was supposed to be teaching me handed me a pre-done template that wasn't quite to my specifications.

The reasoning behind me doing this unit was so I could learn how to do this to make me more employable in the future. I have been contacting another associate who works as a Spatial Designer; Nikki Wright and she has guided me via email on the correct wizards to use to create my layout.

I switched AutoCAD to "Classic Veiw" and went to "Insert - Layout - Create Layout Wizard".

I selected the basic architectural layout, but ended up deleting most things on there and insterting my own text, boxes and inserting the AUCB logo.

At the moment I have not been able to get a coloured Vector of the logo so the one I have used is a CYMK .jpeg file. I can only use this on the A3 page as any bigger it will distort.

When I have transferred all the drawings for the groundplans (not including elevations) I will email it to my associate, Nikki Wright, at Advanced Interiors for checking.

Teaching and guiding myself through the programme has helped me learn a lot more effectively than if someone else did it for me, which was the problem I was having previously. Hopefully my new contact will be able to gently guide me rather than do it for me!

Studio Theatre Ground Plan: Using Layers

Separating the Drawing Into Layers

When I drew out the plan I put the different lines into different colours, but I didn't separate them onto layers as I wasn't aware how to do this.

I spent a few days battling and pressing different buttons to try and work out how to create my own layers correctly labelled. Here is an image of the layer manager of the ground plan;

Once I'd separated my drawing into layers and created a whole new layout, my work felt a lot cleaner and I felt more like I had done it myself rather than if someone had done it for me. It was very satisfying and represented a major breakthrough on AutoCAD.

Top Girls: Seating Plan

The Riddle of the "Top Girls" Seating Plan

This morning I had a meeting with John Camble the Production Manager of Top Girls to work out where the acting area and seating for Top Girls was going to be located inside the AUCB Studio Theatre to comply with the Directors wishes and the Health and Safety Regulations.

Firstly we worked out the centre in accordance to the lighting grid and the fire exits. it was from these points that we worked out the acting area, predestined as 6000mm x 5000mm, and then the propsed seating plan.

The rostrum used as standard by AUCB is 2000mm x 1000mm, with an increase of 200mm with every level. Health and Safety legislation denotes that there needs to be an aisle of 1000mm to access the fire escape.

We wanted two rows of seating on the 6000mm side, and three rows on the shorter 5000mm side. Working out the total space we will take up (12000mm x 9000mm) it is now my job to work out the optimum number of seats we can fit into the Studio, allowing for rostrum and access points.

This is the rough visual guide that John made for me...

... So from this I set to work.

I used my basic ground plan that I created in AutoCAD for the Studio Theatre and removed all layers apart from the basic architectural and irremovable features (balcony, radiators, doors etc).

Putting the 6000mm x 5000mm acting space in the right place, I could then work out the clearance for seating and create a component for the rostrum and play around with them.

The end result is not as symmetrical as I'd have hoped for as due to access laws we had to move the seating arrangements off centre.

This is the final result...

John has now utilised this and will enquire about seating costs and budgeting.

This morning when I was set the challenge I felt quite daunted as I am still new to using AutoCAD and technical drawings. Once I'd laid out the area's and created the seating plan component I felt a lot more confident in my abilities. I was efficient in this exercise, took me roughly half an hour to do and John seemed please with what I had acheived, and we worked together to move the seating around as my initial drawing did not have enough clearance but was symmetrical and true to John's drawing.

Studio Theatre Ground Plan: Getting Started with AutoCAD

During my placement at The National Theatre I worked in the 3D Digital Drawing Department and was taught the basics of using AutoCAD. Over the summer I practised what I learned using the free programme "DraftSite" which is a similar programme used for technical drawings in a .dwg/.dwt file.

When I started drawing up the Studio Theatre I used a blank template, and just focussed on re-learning all of the tools and utilising them in the most efficient way.

Working from the technical drawings of the theatre Will gave me, I had to re-measure all the lines from a 1:25 scale so I could draw them 1:1 in AutoCAD, with the option to scale them either to 1:50 or 1:25 to be printed out and used.

It was good getting to grips with AutoCAD again and I feel very confident that I will be able to teach myself further how to use the programme.

Top Girls: Meeting the Designer

Today I had a meeting with the Designer of Top Girls, Zoe Brakes to discuss what her set entails. At this moment in time I'm not actually sure what my role will be on this (need to talk to Will). The budget for this set is £1000. 

We spoke about each Act and the different elements the set contains, and it seems quite basic. 

Scene One: 

Restaurant; Table and 6 chairs. 

Scene Two:

Office; 3 separated segments for desks and 6 chairs. 

Scene Three:

Den; Not yet confirmed with Director

Scene Four: 

Interior; Not yet confirmed with Director

Tables will possibly need reinforcing as people are standing on them and the chairs may need carpeting on the legs for smooth movement. The floor will be either painted or a vinyl as to be discussed. 

Everything is very much up in the air at the moment, and I'm not quite sure what I am supposed to be working on in regards to this production. I am going to focus on drawing the Studio Theatre up. 

Top Girls: Production Meeting

Today we had the first meet and greet/production meeting/script read-through for Top Girls. It was good to read the script with the actors as it contextualised my work and I knew what was going on. I also got to meet the rest of the production team and see how the acting department do all sorts of stage roles, not just acting.

Zoe Brakes, the designer, went through her set and the costumes for the show which was good to see and understand.

I'm a bit worried about my role on this as it doesn't look like any construction drawings are going to be needed and my role might be a bit redundant. Will need to talk to Will to see what I can actually bring to this production. It may be that I just do a seating plan and nothing else as I'm sure the other productions will take up a lot more of my time!