Set 1 – Terry’s Flat
This was the first set I made. It is where I planned the bulk of the film to be shot in, though as I iterated on the plot this changed. I wanted it to look homely and characterful, and I needed it to have a few key functions: 1) the window needed to show a city rooftop scene outside, of which I could change the colour of the sky and create the effect of rain; 2) some of the props in the flat like the door and the bin needed to be functional for the progression of the plot, and others like the lamp and the fridge I wanted to make functional for aesthetic reasons.
For the window, I cut a number of Perspex squares to fit a wooden frame I had made which would sit behind the cardboard wall and window of Terry’s flat. I scratched the slides with a penknife in an alternating pattern to create the impression of rain drops progressively falling. I was really happy with the effect of this in some shots, but several problems arose from it related to lighting: ensuring that the scratches on the slides were angled correctly for light proved to be tricky, and meant that I was having to focus light on the window area of the set; it was hard to maintain consistency of the reflection of the lights and lit up set on slides that I had to change for each shot.
I made a fridge out of small cardboard boxes and a hinge from an old glasses case. I fitted it with magnets, so the door would close, and a little electric bulb in the ceiling. I then papiermached it and painted it.
The set itself has a heavy plywood base, and I erroneously used cardboard to make the walls (in all future sets I would predominantly use wood, because cardboard can be bent and worn, and if a stray elbow knocks it mid shot it will move).
I made the lamp out of a small electric bulb and battery circuit, the kind you experiment with in Primary school science lessons. I attached some floral fabric to a wire frame I made, and covered the base of the bulb’s stand with plasticene.
The sofa has a wood base and then a plasticene cover moulded on top.