I am currently at my least favorite part of the design process. Technical Direction. Basically, I have to decide the best way to figure out how to build the design and keep it within budget. While in grad school, we had discussed that all making art is affected by three things: time, money, and quality (and you can only ever have two of them). Something cheap and fast won't really be good, or something cheap and good will take time. So, this is the part of the design where I have to make choices balancing these three elements (always with good in the equation). Well, good and safe. Fortunately, the design for Hi-Fi is simple enough that making it safe isn't a huge problem. So, the challenges for this design.
The first one: how much can I pre build for this show (and where to build it). Pre-Building is always the best strategy for a show as you can give yourself the time you need to add all the details. But, when you pre-build you need to have a shop to build it in. And, you have to think about door ways. If I were to start building the parts of the circular surround, I'd have to think about how to get it from where I build it into the shop. Will these parts fit up the stairs and through the doorway? I worked on a production of "Big Love" and the director really wanted a claw footed bath tub in the set. However, the space was at the top three flights of stairs with a narrow turn radius and no elevator. From the get go, I discouraged the use of the tub as I wouldn't be able to get it into the space by myself and at previous load ins there was not a lot of support. However, case in point. How will thee parts of the set get into the space if they are pre-built. I prefer to build sets on site, as that provides me with the most amount of space.
Second: engineering. How are these pieces going to fit together? I'm building a curved surround. Do I want a genuine curve or a faceted curve. A genuine curve is cooler and more complicated, but it shows a level of craft and quality of design that automatically puts you at a higher level of design (basically, low paying community theatre doesn't do curves). I don't like to work with stock sizes a whole lot as it feels a bit like, well stock scenery. However, sometimes it's how you put the stock pieces together that make the set not feel like stock. For example, the flats behind the band for cry baby were stock flats, but I stacked and staggered them to make them have a bit more of a custom feel.
Third, and concurrent with every step: budget. How much will these things cost to build them in the way they are engineered. Can we afford to build it they way it is engineered? I had one set of engineered plans for the surround that I think would work, until I priced and realized I was going to spend about 40$ on only one part of the surround. It'd be cheaper to do if it were build in a different way. But not as attractively. So, I have to price out everything to see if I do expensive and good or do I make the sacrifice and apply a different kind of finish to make the choice look intentional. I think intentionality is the most important aspect of making choices. If I can't build something or paint something the way I really want to, I have to make the choice look like it was the intention all along and not a mistake. Because I don't like mistakes.
And the fourth challenge is time. It is extremely important to create a schedule and stick to it. You must know how long it will take you to do something so you can budget your time accordingly! I currently have three projects on my board and in order for me accomplish them all, I must stay organized and scheduled! Calendars and lists become my best friends. One of my former professors gave me the advice, that the best way to spend the first fifteen minutes of every work day is creating your list. Organization is the most important challenge. (I wonder what he would think about spending my time blogging about how important time is)
It's all about choices! So, it's time to go make some.
Back to the drawing board!
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