Great Expectations - Final Shoot

These are a collection of images from my final shoot for the set of Miss Havisham's house.  

I designed, built and dressed the entire set myself.

 Overview of whole scene

       

Close up of wedding cake, made from polystyrene covered with icing and decorated with icing frills, twists and roses, then dressed with cobwebs.

Close up of sourced props (pewter tea set) dressed with cobwebs and grated chalk for dust

 Plaque made for the fire place, designed for the set. "SATIS" was the name of Miss Havisham's house, by creating the plaque it gave the scene more of an identity. 

                                     

 More pictures from the shoot

Set Build Progress

Havisham set 2 weeks before deadline, fireplace to finish, window to glaze and curtains to hang. 

The crackled wood effect paint was created not by crackle graze but by using a mixture of pva and water brushed in one direction over the surface of a base coat, then a top layer of paint applied to the glue when tacky.

 I created a moulding for the fireplace, depicting the word "Satis," the name of Miss Havisham's house in Great Expectations. It will be set in silicone rubber then cast in Plaster. 

Great Expectations

For my final project at university I have chosen to use Mr Charles Dickens as the starting point for my theme. As 2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the writer i felt that it would be fitting to adapt one of his famous novels. I chose Great Expectations as the book my set would be based on. Every time I have readthe story ,the house belonging to Miss Havisham; "Satis House" has always struck me as a setting full of mystery and a place that would be fascinating to explore. I therefore felt that recreating Miss Havisham's wedding reception room on the day that Pip revisits her would be interesting and allow me to explore a wonderful setting and era.

I began research and looked into timelines and what Dickens based the house on, once i had collected information i began designing and made a 1:25 scale model of my set.Wallpaper design and colour way

1:25 scale side wall

Curiouser and Curiouser Props

The flamingo table was made from a variety of plastics welded together

included the vacuum formed flamingo bodies.
The wonderland key was made with resin then painted and aged.

The cake was a fruit cake with currents cut up then placed onto the surface

with tweezers. The cake case was cut from cardboard with a scalpel, the words "curiouser and curiouser" wrapped around the sides.

The bottle's label was a parcel tag with the words "drink me"

written on it in black ink.

A page taken from my folder

Curiouser and Curiouser

Current project at university is Adaptation, using an extract from a book and creating my own version of the prop, I have chosen Alice's Adventures in Wonderland after she has fallen down the rabbit hole and comes across a "three legged table" a "little golden key" a bottle with a label that says "drink me" and a cake with the words "eat me" written on it in currents.

The title for the project is "Curiouser and Curiouser" my choice of title is down to the original text where alice exclaims this line when entering Wonderland and also because i want to look at playing with the scale of the objects.

These are my initial designs for some of the props

Drink me Label:

Flamingo glass table:

Tiny gold key:

Detail: Key

Props for the BBC

Just finished making props for the BBC Inside Out South East programme. This show was about the future of Pfizer, i was asked to sort out props for the laboratory scene including an "experiement" in the shape of Kent, i sourced the majority of the lab equipment from Gravesend Grammer School who kindly lent me a variety of beakers and test tubes.

I made the "experiment" by mixing condensed milk with gelatin this when set made a gummy block, I then traced the shape of Kent through a template with a scalpel to cut it into the shape i needed.

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Magwitch

Have been busy for the past couple of months undertaking the role of Production Designer for ViolaFilms production "Magwitch" a prequal to "Great Expectations." The short film is to be shown in February 2012 and is currently in the post-production stage.

Here are some previews of some of the sets I designed, dressed and created.

Swan Head Prop

The swan head prop in shot for the film.

Commision work

I was approached by a group of students studying film production at a university in Bath to make a prop for a short film they were producing. The prop was to be a life size, realistic swans head and neck. I used a mixture of furniture foam, feathers, sculpy, latex and paint to create the prop.

Narrative and Genre

Based on a Bollywood version of Romeo and Juliet, I designed and created a set design using ancient indian architecture and patterns then created a model box to illustratue my ideas (1:25 scale) I also created a batik print for the backdrop in order to maintain the bollywood genre.

A vital aspect to take into consideration for the design was the famous "balcony scene." For my production i wanted a different aesthetic, moving away from the more traditional balcony on the side of the stage. I therefore chose influences from past indian architcture as well as looking into encorporating the lotus flower into the designs.

Blood, Sweat and Tears

"Hold your noise!" cried a terrible voice, as a man started up from among
the graves at the side of the church porch. "Keep still, you little devil, or
I'll cut your throat!"

A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on
his leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied
round his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and
lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars;
who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in
his head as he seized me by the chin.

"O! Don't cut my throat, sir," I pleaded
in terror. "Pray don't do it, sir."

Part of the 2nd year project named "blood, sweat and tears" I sourced, distressed and broke down a costume for the character Abel Magwitch, a character from the Dickens story "Great Expectations.

Set Construction work

Based on the Images by William Hogarth, a group of 6 of us spent 5 weeks designing and constructing this full size shop front. The coffin makers shop front was based on Hogarth's prints Gin Lane and Beer Street.

Images from the final photoshoot of "A Midsummer Nights Dream" project

Midsummer work

Close up deatil work on the fairy dress for Midsummer Nights Dream, includin a cluster of suffolk puffs, sculpted parchment paper (with the MND script on it) as well as a copy of the play transferd onto silk then gathered in pleats.

foundation art and design work

this is the initial photo of my final project for my foundation course, my theme was midsummer nights dream and my aim was to create costumes and props.

more foundation work

One foundation project was entitled "Skin and Bone." I decided to focus on the "bone" aspect of the theme, looking at the texture and colour of bones and making it into something aesthetically pleasing. I chose to make jewellery in order to approach the idea of "bone" outside the human flesh.

I used Plaster of paris for the base of my jewellery as it resembled bone particularly well. I molded a thick paste of the paster around curved shapes such as bottles. Once the plaster had dried i pulled it off the mold and carefully broke it into pieces. I then used amounts of thin copper wire (salvaged from old cables!) to "sew" the plaster together. In order to do this i had to initially use a needle to scratch away the plaster to make small holes for the copper.

The overall outcomes were effective, the stark white plaster was a good contrast to the bright, delicate copper, the abstract shapes of the plaster worked well with regimented work of the copper wire.

The Nomad

For this project the aim was to create a nomadic shelter, something that could be carried around. i began to look into circus tents and similar stuctures and came up with the idea of using a belt with fabrics sewn to it. The belt could be removed and tied around a tree as a secure central point. Then undo the fabrics attahed to the belt to create an open air decorative shelter.

Recycled Jewellery

As part of a recycling project i created bracelets out of rolled up plastic bags,then attached a silver chain.

I also made flower rings out of a metal base then plastic bag petals and center.