They were not lying when they said it was an intensive course!
I have been in London just under 2 months now and it is AWESOME!
RADA is amazing and tiring! i have just finished my rotation in the props department which was interesting and chaotic!
The first week (i know i am going back about 4 weeks looking at the date stamps but bear with me!!) i was there we did three mini project to introduce us all to various methods and materials.
We started the week by making casts of each other’s faces
using dental alginate (an gooey type substance usually used to cast dentures)
and mod rock (normally used for broken limb plaster casts). It was a great way
to develop trust with each other . There is nothing more disconcerting than having your whole
face encased (barring nose holes of
course!) and being left alone while it sets! From that we made rubber moulds which
would be the base for the final fiberglass resin masks.
This is where we were able to get a little creative as you
can see below I went a little Mardi Gras with mine and I made another that was
more of a stone effect.
We then choose an item from a cook book and were set with
the challenge of replicating the dish.
With thoughts of afternoon tea I naturally choose a
strawberry cream scone NOM NOM NOM !!!. I like to think that it looks rather appetizing but
with plaster of Paris filling I would
not recommend taking a bite. To make the strawberries that lovely gloss finish they were painted in French enamel varnish which is a solvent based on methylated spirit (so i dries really quickly) and is used for loads of different things including staining wood and simulating stained glass effects.
We
also got to do little wood turning using the Lather. I decided on a basic shape
then added a little Dark oak wax to give it a smooth deep colored finish. I always like turning wood i find it really relaxing once you get into it and generally you can make more than candle sticks and spindles i just was not very adventurous with my designs .
It was a fantastic week and although the tasks seem
linear in the sense of we made masks on Monday and candles sticks on Wednesday etc.
Instead it had more of a flow to it. While I waited for resin to dry I started
on the prep for the scone and then back to the mask to add pigment then back to
the scone.
I felt busy all time
and it really made you realized how much planning and time management goes into
making a few small props and before I knew it the week was over and I had an
armful of props to take home.
The next week we started on the shows which were 'house of special purpose', 'the mysteries' and 1 minute. I mainly worked on bits for the house of special purpose. Polished my rifles(ooo err!) fixed a gramophone which was a really lovely project with all these mp3's and ipods about there was something really comforting about listening to a record being played on a gramophone....oh dear feeling like an 80 year old now.... I also helped make some rocks for the mysteries which was messy! lots of polystyrene lumps covered in butter muslin pva glue and vermiculite they looked pretty cool - especially once scenic art had worked their magic!!
Before i knew it the week was over and the shows opened. I have only managed to go and see the house of special purpose which is about the russian imperial familiy and thier days at the ipatiev house. I have not been to a play in a while and i was not dissapointed! Excellent acting, set and lighting and i am not biased honest!!! it was great to see the how all the little bits either i worked on or had seen about in the workshop came together in the show. If you are about in london in the next week i reccommend that you check out the productions that are on here!
After all that i started work on a personal project which i can not tell you about next as it is a super secret present for Mr D.
next blog : more pictures and excitement with my metal work project back in the construction department!
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