Snapping Away

Today we learnt about lighting and filming, also the differences in taking pictures and taking video.

We used 150 watt lights and larger 650 watt lights to illuminate the set. The smaller lights we used to clamp onto surfaces, the larger ones had independent stands. These had to be turned off when moved as there was a risk of the bulb blowing. We also wore gloves whilst handling them as they get very hot.

We experimented with different coloured gels, blue and orange was popular for Gregor's room, which created a contrast between moonlight and candlelight. We also used a smoke machine to create a more sinister scene.

Once we had finished filming the bedroom we moved onto the living room, we set up a blue light to put behind Gregor's doors and used a smoke machine to make Gregor;s bedroom doors look more sinister. So a shard of blue light would escape into the living room and smoke would seep from underneath as if infecting the premises.

Here are some photos from the day:

Soot and Stone

I finished off the stone for my fireplace today. I sanded down the filler and covered the surrounding carpet and fireplace in newspaper stuck down with masking tape. I spayed the stone effect as directed and let it dry. It fully dries in six hours.

I waited until the end of the day to take away the masking tape, I then went over it with black paint to make it look sooty. The stone effect helped to add a lot of texture to the MDF.

The carpet in the living room was finished off around the edges by Ben today.

The skirting board was distressed in Gregor's room today and Ben glued some dirt to the floor, which also makes it look more dusty. John bought in some fake and real hair which he scattered around the room and turned into hair balls.

Karen started putting in the wooden window cross bars today and started to paint them. Curtains were also hung.

Accessorising

I've been looking at what people are bringing in to decorate the set. Obviously we don't have enough time to make all of our own props so we have been collecting bits and bobs.

I have brought in a candelabra and a few antique books, among these are a dutch bible and what I believe to be a dutch novel. If these are put on show then maybe they'll give a more European feel to the apartment as Czech books will be difficult to find.

I noticed some place-matts were brought in which will match with the wallpaper nicely:

Sarah Wackett found a picture like the one described in the 'Metamorphosis', she placed it in a nice guilt frame:

These things will be able to go into the rooms soon, as the floor, walls and ceiling in Gregor's room are finished as well as the skirting. Stuart and Adam have finished and installed the doors. Ben is painting the floor in the living room and Karen is finishing off her windows with a layer of paint.

The skirting in the lounge must be finished and a carpet will be placed in the living room, and then furniture can start going in! 

Stone in a Can

I started off today cutting MDF to fit into my fireplace when placed on the floor, this will be made to look like stone. Ben conveniently brought in a spay can which gives a stone effect, so I will try this tomorrow morning. I've put the stone there because realistically if coal is knocked out of the fire, it wont burn the floorboards or rugs. Many fireplaces have tiles or bricks too. I used filler for the gaps which occurred as the MDF was hard to get into the correct shape. I also sanded it down as if it were a little worn as sharp edges would look unrealistic.

I helped John paint the ceiling today too. He used his brush to make splatter marks where as I contrasted this with a sponge adding a more mottled look. Its a shame we didn't have more paint as we were limited to the same colours.

Fireplace Finale!

On wednesday I sanded the filler on the fireplace, smoothing it all down, and painted it. First I used a thick white base coat and when dry I applied a layer of black paint. However when I arrived Thursday morning the paint had cracked and I had to mix more black paint with PVA glue (50/50) so it would have a smooth finish. I then used a gloss glaze on the fireplace and when this was dry I added graphite powder.

Sarah Longbottom helped me make a grate for the front of the fireplace today, she cut the grate out in the workshop and sanded it down with sandpaper and files. I then sanded the separate parts further and proceeded to stick them together with wood glue, paint it black, glaze it and add graphite.

Yesterday I stuck the main fireplace board to the wall with wood glue and pins, I also  made a couple of the back panels (with the aid of Sarah and John) which would make the back box of the fireplace. This also needed to be painted, glazed and had graphite applied.

I also acquired a 6'x4' 15mm MDF board for the mantle piece, which I sanded down and prepared in the same fashion as the fireplace grate. I glued the board to the wall and pinned it at the back whilst John held it in the right position.

We also used a glue gun and pins to secure the tiled panels onto the fireplace.

I also drew out a design on plywood for a decorative fireplace cover which would be secured about a foot and a half above the grate, John cut this out for me. I sanded it down and prepared it with the paint and glaze and glued and pinned it onto the back of the flats frame.

Today I drew out the last two panels for the fireplace inner box which Sarah most kindly cut out for me on the bansaw. I prepared them with paint ect... then glued them in place from the back. I used duct tape to block any light coming through the other side.

The last thing I did today for the fireplace was to cut two triangular shaped pieces of MDF for under the mantle piece to make it more stable. I pinned and glued it.

After all of this I helped Sarah cut the architrave for the doors. We angled the frames at 45 degrees at the corners and routed the outside edges. We then pinned the frames to the flats.

Fireplace and Wallpaper

The wallpaper was put up in the living room after the painting in the bedroom was finished. Henry demonstrated how to apply wallpaper paste and soak it into the paper before applying to the wall. However we discovered that the paper which was bought could be applied dry, to a pasted wall. This saved a lot of time too. We were also cutting the paper at first, but then decided to apply it strait from the roll to save time and effort. The pattern had to match and this meant a lot of wastage.

I then helped to apply the wallpaper in the bedroom, which was difficult as the walls had been distressed and were a little lumpy, they also had to be brushed down as dust would stop the wallpaper from adhering so well.  These walls were then distressed further by Ben, John and Emma after the wallpaper had dried. They used scenic paints in browns, greens and yellows. They also tore the wallpaper and used wire brushes.

I cut my fireplace board out of MDF with the jigsaw, I also bought some chord and glue gunned it to the board in the shape of my design. I used a strait piece of timbre to make the chord on the design strait. I am currently using polly filler to fill on the gaps and smoothen the design.

I cut some plywood into strips, painted them black and stuck my tiles onto them. They had been glazed by Jess Fitzgerald the day before, the glaze was mixed with ochre paint to give the tiles a bit of age.

Tiles

The flats are up! The fireplace had to have a different frame, we made a square within it 4"x3'4" this we routed. So now there is a hole in the chimney breast which is to be built into. We shall be starting this when the wood order arrives.

Today Gregors room has been painted with different shades of brown. It will then have wallpaper on top of this. I left early to paint my tiles for the fireplace.

I created a design via looking at art nouveau fireplace tiles. I also used colours which will hopefully complement the rest of the room. The fireplace, I believe, is out of context. But I have been unable to find any information regarding traditional czech fireplaces. Group 2 had a book regarding this subject but I happened upon it too late. I was unable to find such a useful source. So continuing the theme of art nouveau I believe we can make it work, as long as we all stick to the same basic idea.

The tiles I made out of MDF, I cut them into squares of 15x15cm, sanded the edges and painted them white. I then put covent garden primer over the white for a smoother brush stroke when applying the oil paints. The designs were drawn onto paper and I cut them into stencils. I then traced them onto the tiles with pencil. I made two designs which will hopefully complement each other. I painted on the designs at home with oil colour. I shall wait for them to dry and then apply glaze over the top. I expect they will be dry within a couple of days as they are thin layers.

Flats, Flats, Flats!

So it seems that most of the flats are finished! The flats for the bedroom had to slope down so instead of using 8'x4', we started of with 8' and sloped down. The wood we needed to cut is a such:

2@8'
4@7'4"
2@6'8"
1@6'3"
1@6'4"
2@6'

Using the @ sign stops us confusing it with measurements, for example 2x8' might be a little confusing. A handy little tip we were taught.

Constructing flats

Today we learnt how to construct the flats. The flats are 8' by 4' and are constructed with lengths of softwood and wooden skins. A frame is made with the softwood and the wood sheet is glued and nail gunned on.

Full PPE is needed.

The room dimensions also changed today, the living room in now 16' long and 12' wide.

Foam Board

On tuesday our group were shown how to make a scaled down set out of foam board; so as to anticipate the amount of room we would have for furniture and movement. We rounded down 1' to 1"...

We decided our rooms were too small, and Andy gave us the option of increasing our rooms to 16'. The group however decided only to extend the living room to 12' by 14'.

I also figured out my measurements for the fireplace, it shall be 4' high and 3'.6" wide. The chimney breast in the living room will come out a foot from the wall.

Fireplace Designs

These are the designs which I created via looking at art nouveau reclaimed fireplaces. 

This last design is the final one, the tiles however shall have a different design, I will create a bug-like tile which will work with the storyline and hold some symbolism.

Fireplaces I've looked at

Here are some reclaimed Art Nouveau fireplace's on which I shall base my designs:

Art Nouveau Fireplaces

Our group has been looking at art nouveau furniture and so I thought it might be best if I can design a fireplace by looking at reclaimed art nouveau fireplaces.

Fireplaces in the Czech Republic in the late 1800's would most likely have been stoves rather than decorative fireplaces, however I'm finding it hard to research this. Its like finding a needle in a haystack, so I'm just going to try and match the fireplace to the furniture.

I took a book out on fireplaces from the library but its victorian and a little too grand for what I've been picturing.

West, Trudy. (1976). The FIREPLACE in the home. United States of America. David & Charles inc.

Group Meeting

We had a meeting today and looked at each others designs. We have a floor plan and know whats going where, we just have to design the furniture.

I have been given the fireplace in the living room. It has been impossible finding anything on Czech fireplaces so I'm opting for late Romanian gothic architecture. So we will end up with a gothic fireplace, maybe made out of cast iron. This is a modern design of gothic revival (1880)

http://www.lunahomestore.com/acatalog/heb055.jpg

We will meet up on monday at 1pm to compare our final designs.

Waddeston manor

I visited the manor on saturday, but only the grounds were open, I did eat in the restaurant though and took some photos of the hallway. I like the duck egg paint...

More images

This is a German writing desk from the 1800's which I will use as a guide for designing.

The next image is just inspiration for the living room as I intend to add a fireplace.

Presentation

Our group had the presentation today, and asides from this we also organised ourselves into two groups. I will be doing the living room.  I need to come up with two designs for the room by Monday, unfortunately I will not be here so I will be posting my designs on the blog on Sunday so my group can take a look at them.

I plan to look at slightly warmer tones for the living room, as this is still part of a working family home, however I plan to show the effect that Gregor's room has on it, the doorway will be the most sinister part of the room. I also plan to add a focal point to my design, this will most likely be a chimney breast and fire place.

Inspirational Images

I have been looking at images to give me some inspiration for designs.  Here are some I've found on the web:

http://www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00057/rokinella9_57773a.jpg

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs24/i/2007/313/a/0/Dilapidated_room_1_by_miasmicnectar.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/08/04/article-1204285-05F22331000005DC-436_634x439.jpg

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/exhibition/dublin/main/A_SingleRoom_7.083.jpg