set&sound design & making frame reflection

On tuesday 29 and wednesday I worked on the details of my character design and their costumes. I also came up with some ideas for face shapes and features, but I think some may have slight changes. I decided my characters would be trapped in a realm of reincarnation where they would have to come back as animals, stuck somewhere between their human and animal form. On wednesday I worked on the base of my design in the workshop, which was scrap metal sticks that I bent into shape by hand, and then screwed nuts and bolts into. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was essentially practice for the actual method i used to make my “skeletons”. I came back to the frames I made and I was unsatisfied with them. The legs i made were too far apart, and the shoulder and hip angles were curved, instead of being straight lines.

Looking back on my sketches, I think there could have been more explanation for my design choices. I chose certain features for characters in relation to their animals (height, hair color, costume color) and emphasized the fact that they are stuck in their animal form with features like fur and feathers growing out of their costume. My storyline with reincarnation was about how my characters have died, and are in the slow process of turning into animals in the next realm, the animals I chose were ones that could be spotted near their graves and surrounding areas. Throughout this project, I gained more confidence in my skills because of my time in the workshop. Communicating with others and asking for help is something I struggled with, but after learning the tools of the workshop with tutors I felt more assured, and it also gave me an understanding that most people were in the same position as me; just starting to learn how to use the tools.

I had low expectations for thursday because before this, I had no interest in theatre design or behind the scenes aspects of it because I was focused more on film. I kept an open mind as I always try to do, and was one of the first to volunteer with set building. One thing I found interesting about set building is that it seems like a theatre is always under construction, because sets are almost like different rooms and require a lot of work that I didn’t consider could happen daily. I learned that a lot of film and theatre skills are transferable, and my favorite part of the day was working on sound design. It was fun to watch sound play a part in creating an environment that I hadn’t considered before. I also took note of what software was used because I want to incorporate it in my project. Although it isn’t typically used in theatre, learning about projection mapping was something I enjoyed directing and playing with as well.

On friday, I asked for advice on how to fix the shapes of my skeletons and I went back into the workshop to revise them. I marked the wire on the points that needed to be bent, but instead of bending the pieces of metal by hand, I used a hammer so they would be closer to right angles instead of curves. Although it was frustrating to start over, I was grateful for the opportunity to learn how to properly bend my metal and I ended up liking the result more than my original attempt. I also learned about tools I hadn’t thought to use before, like the drill, hole puncher, hammer, and clamp.

Another aspect of being in the workshop I enjoyed was the chance to start over. In the end, it impacted how much time I had to finish my project, but I still would not give up the opportunity to start over multiple times because it was a chance to practice something I was not good at/never tried before. It also forced me to consider solutions to problems in a new way. Instead of molding the metal with my hands, I used a hammer so I could get the sharp angles I wanted. I spent a lot of time working on the framework of my piece, and even if it didn’t show in the end the quality of it mattered to me.

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