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Author
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Topic: Building sets with NO experience... HELP!!
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Kavan2
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posted 01-13-2001 10:30 PM
Okay, here goes. I'm shooting a movie in March which is going to be (I hope) pretty elaborate. It involves going underground to investigate an alien base. So, I need to build the base from the ground up. We're more than likely going to be shooting on a soundstage in Boston. But, we need to build the set. What I want is basically one corridor about 15' long, and then a big square room about 20' by 30' with little walls coming out of the side. What's the best thing to use to build this? The budget now is $4000, and we're shooting on DVC Pro, so we're going to dedicate around $1500 to set construction. What's good to make walls out of? Just plywood attached to a frame? What about styrofoam? If I want the corridors to appear to be metal, will spray painting the wood chrome suffice if they're not brightly-lit, or should I try to cover the flats in sheet metal? Where could I get sheet metal? I'd like the corridor to have a pentagon shape, kind of like the corridors in Aliens. Or I could do just an underground, earthy type corridor where the walls appear to be made of dirt. I heard spray painting foam is a good way to achieve this because it erodes the foam. Any suggestions? Where can you get foam sheets big and thick enough for work like this? Will $1500 be enough? I'd like to make it in a way where it can be broken down into smaller pices for trasnportation and storage. Any help? Any websites or other places that have useful info on stuff like this? I appreciate any and all advice.-Kavan |
Sluggo
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posted 01-13-2001 10:44 PM
plywood attatched to a frame would probably be fine. spray painting the wood chrome wouldnt really work because you would still be able to see the knotholes and lines and "fingerprints" of the wood. sheet metal would be much better (but much more expensive) than paint. you can buy it at Home Depot. sorry, dont know the answers to your other questions.------------------
Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication--Leonardo da Vinci, used in an early Apple Computer ad |
Kavan2
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posted 01-13-2001 10:47 PM
I saw some sheet metal at Home Depot, but they were only 2'x3' sections. Can I get bigger sections somewhere else? Also, what's the best way to attach the metal to wood? How thick should the plywood/frame be to support metal on it? Should I use something other than wood for a support? Like PVC pipe or brass pipe or something?-Kavan |
Jack the Ripper
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posted 01-13-2001 11:34 PM
Ok i dunno if this would work so if it sounds dumb, please disregard it. As far as putting the metal onto the plywood flats, you could probably use rivets. this would give the effect that the metal had been riveted to other metal like the frame and stuff.------------------
I feel like a one-legged cat burying cat turds on a frozen pond. - Mr. Anderson (Beavis and Butthead) |
Kavan2
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posted 01-14-2001 12:48 AM
Good suggestion, but where would I get the rivets and the necessary tools and how would I go about doing that? |
Sluggo
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posted 01-14-2001 03:10 AM
a wooden frame behind the plywood will be plenty strong enough to support the wall. pvc pipe wouldn't do anything. and the plywood should probably be around 1/2 of an inch thick.to attatch the sheetmetal to the wall, just use nails. if, like you said, the lighting isn't directly on the walls, the nails will look enough like rivets. check around at other hardware stores for bigger pieces of sheetmetal. you might have to order it from a construction supply catolog if you cant find any in a store a word of caution--if you are going to be building a major set, you should really have some experienced construction people to help you build and to make sure the set is safe. [This message has been edited by Sluggo (edited 01-14-2001).] |
cdolsen
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posted 01-14-2001 09:06 AM
instead of plywood, make the flats of 1x2 and cover them with cloth. gesso the cloth then paint it. this is standard stagecraft. you might check a library or book store (amazon.com?) in the theater arts section, stage craft. these cloth flats are light and easily stored. chickenwire covered with cloth, gesso and quick crete can make rocks and other non-flat set pieces. |
Kavan2
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posted 01-14-2001 10:28 AM
cdolsen, forgive my ignorance, but what's "quick crete" and what are 1x2's? I will be enlisting the help of people who build sets for theater and alos people who are carpenters, but I wanted to have an idea of what they could do and use, because they've said they haven't worked on anything quite so elaborate. Thanks for your help guys, and fel free to keep the advice coming on this post.-Kavan |
cdolsen
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posted 01-14-2001 11:43 AM
1x2 is lumber finished to 1" x 2" and various lengths up to 16 ftquick crete is a form of fast setting concret usually used for patching walkways, etc [This message has been edited by cdolsen (edited 01-14-2001).] |
Sarge
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posted 02-07-2001 05:11 PM
Listen to cdolsen. He's got it happening. I'll pass on a couple things for you to hang onto...
Brace. Make triangular gussets for EVERY wood to wood joint. And when you're making the frame for the fabric, put a cross piece half way down to stop the frame from bending. Butt joints are fine.
Brace again. Make "L" shaped props on the back of each flat, and throw a hundred pounds of sandbag on the slort end of the "L". Keeps it from tipping over.
Brace, once more. Wherever possible, screw in some 1x2's acoss the top or open end of a series of flats. And always remember...
A triangular brace can't shift.
Oh, and remember. When you're painting the flats, the camera only sees in two dimensions. You can sculpt a chair rail out of plaster for thousands of dollars, or spray paint one on with some masking tape and a couple cans of Krylon, and the camera won't be able to tell the difference.Sarge |
