05
Classic Set Revamp

The project is about revamping a set from an earlier work, utilizing the skills from the last project and learning new ways to represent a previously established space in order to adapt it to a new era and place.

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For my set revamp, I chose the newsroom from Citizen Kane. I started by rewatching Citizen Kane, as I had seen it for the first time last year, and then decided to create a set based on my own experiences of working at a haberdashery during sixth form college. Talking to others helped me think of doing the 1970s, as that was the start of hobbies really. I like the work of directors like Nora Ephron; You've Got Mail was a big inspiration for my piece as well as the work of Nancy Meyers, so I decided to do a rom-com set in 1977 in NYC. I chose the Garment District in New York specifically to be my setting after doing research into what it was like in the 1970s.

 

To start with, I did lots of research into 1970s craft stores, especially stores that had gone under. I looked at the Vogue archives and documentaries about department stores and also watched fashion documentaries. I took screenshots from Citizen Kane and measured them using actors' heights in Photoshop. I came across a problem when the stage was stilted, but I used set photos and corrective warping, as well as averages for shoulder heights, etc., to get the correct measurements. I chose to use Vectorworks for the flexibility, as I knew that I was going on work experience for a week during the project.

 

I adapted the layout of the set to better fit my design, for example, adding period-accurate shelves, cupboards, and tills. I wanted to tell a story through my set and show that it had gone through decades, so some bits were recent and some were meant to be there from the original construction. My visuals reflected this, with the different eras being different colors, e.g., the 1960s pieces being a bright yellow. I utilised both illustrator and Vectorworks to create the intricate designs from the original film.

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I produced my visuals using Blender, and I went over them in Photoshop. I created my model from Vectorworks and used UHU glue to put it together. I also tried out VR for the first time and incorporated it into my workflow, which was really interesting as I could stick my hands out and see how the staging would go. Even though I went on work experience halfway through the project, I was really happy with all my outcomes. I was really grateful to have extra time to complete it. I think this was my favourite project of the year so far!