I finally got around to making the last of the props for the interior set. These included the missing windowsill and a selection of pots, jugs and tankards.

 

I also got to seal the walls with a 50:50 mixture of PVA glue and water. The next coat of paint should be the final one as we need to start filming.

 

The art department - Giulia and Jennifer - made a great job of painting the furniture, floor and woodwork to give it a realistic look.

 

Some sample shots of the finished set with furniture

 

We finally started filming on Wednesday morning, starting with the exterior set of the main village street.

 

It took a while to set up the equipment and get the first shot right but it was a good learning curve as I was using gear that I hadn't used before.

 

We were able to use this arrangement for the final scene by switching the regular buildings with their run-down counterparts.

 

 

We were able to get different angles -  as planned -  of the interior set by removing separate walls and replacing them afterwards. We managed to capture enough footage for the project but we over-ran the schedule which means we might not get to use our characters, The next post will have the finished piece.

The simplest, and cheapest, solution to the problem of securing the top corners of the walls together - while still being able to separate them easily - was to use metal L-shape brackets. Now anybody should be able to remove or replace a wall (providing there's a screwdriver nearby).

 

 

These are some test shots we made to see how the cardboard furniture we had made would look in the set. We would get away with using the tables but the chairs are a bit big considering the cardboard figure is made to scale.

 

we decided that the table, while they were a good height, were too wide and long for the space inside the set. I then built four tables using strong card and wood - for the legs.

 

 

 

 

I wasn't levelling anything in this shot, I was just using the level as a straight-edge for the knife I was cutting with.

 

 

I cut some 2" x 1" into 1/4" strips for the legs.

 

 

 

The legs were fitted first using hot glue.

 

 

I then cut a 1/2" strip of card to use for braces.

 

 A short brace was glued between the two legs at either end

 

 

 Then another brace was added between these, similar to a real table's design.

 

 

When all the pieces were in place I added seams of glue along the joints for extra strength.

 

  

 

 o,k, so they're not pretty but they're sturdy and hopefully will look better when painted.

 

 

We also ditched the idea of making chairs as they were time consuming and fairly fragile. Instead I made some benches, which would probably have been used back then.

 

 

I also made two sets of shelves for behind the bar. One to store the bottles and tankards etc. and another for the beer barrels.

 

I also made a window and door from the same strong card which were glued into place.

 

 Several views of the interior with the window, door, shelving and some furniture in place. Next thing I have to do is paint the floor. This needs to be finished before the polystyrene walls can be secured to the MDF. Originally, for the floor, we were going to paint a timber effect straight onto the metal sheet . Then we discovered that our magnets (for the characters feet) will still work through a sheet of paper so I'll get away with painting that to look like a wooden floor. We still have to make barrels, bottles. jars, jugs and tankards, a clock, paintings for the walls, china cups and a grate for the fireplace. And this is just for the first verse as everything will have to be aged for then transition into dereliction.