creating flats

Flats needed for the drawing room and study
17 @ 4 x 8 ft
1 @ 3 x 8ft
7 @ 2 x 8ft
1 @ 3 and 1/2 x 8ft
1 @ 1 and 1/2 x 8ft
3 @ 3 x 3ft footers for the windows
3 @ 4 x 1 and 1/2 foot headers for the doors

(only 2 doors but double needed for connecting the rooms)
Please note that the headers for the doors are only for support whilst the set is under construction. They will be replaced with the doors at a later date.

For each 8 x 4 flat, 2 x 8 ft pieces of wood and 5 x 4 ft were cut using the saw in the workshop. On the 8 foot pieces of wood, one end was marked so that we knew where to start when putting everything together. We measured along these and made a mark every 2 feet with a pencil, using a square to make sure the lines were straight. We finally realised we could mark them in bulk which saved a lot of time!
On each end, we made a mark a distance from the end equal to the thickness of the wood. Using a power drill to make two holes in each end, which helped to prevent the wood from splitting when the screws were inserted we then starting from the marked end of the 8ft piece of wood and drilled the screws in the 4 foot pieces of wood at each marked point repeating this process at the opposite end.
Once this had been screwed together we then PVA glued over one side of the frames. A 4 foot by 8 foot plywood skin was then placed on top and manipulated to be flush with the edge of the frame. An electric nail gun was then used to fix the plywood to the frame. manipulating the board was the most difficult part of the process.


Using an air pressured nail gun we had to be aware of all the health and safety and PPE only one person should operate it and must always wear safety goggles/glasses as a nail could easily hit you in the eye and blind you !

After skinning with the plywood the lower half sheets approximately 3ft of the full flats and footers were painted in a wood effect as this will become the authentic walnut paneling in the rooms. Putting the flats together required a lot of man power as the screws need to be put in at the back working from the bottom up every 2ft while being held together. The front needs to be checked at the same time to ensure that the ply is flush at the point the screw is going into the frame.
We layed the flats out into an approximate positions befor we joined them as it saved time and hasle.Remember always start in a corner and work your way out!
Once assembled the walls need to be further braced with long L shaped sections of wood (made by screwing two lengths together) at the top and the bottom of the flats.

Documentry of drawing rooms

Living rooms through out history very interesting historical insight into the living areas of homes including an interesting depiction of the drawing room very valuable piece of research which made me personally understand the use of the Drawing room in upper/middle class society.

programme shown on BBC4 throughout the month of April and May in four parts specifically focusing on the first episode dedicated to living rooms http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010flp4

other research i have looked at is the obvious book The Death of Ivan Ilych' Leo Tolstoy, Fine Creative Media 2004
and an interesting book me and nikki found called 'Russian Houses' Elizabeth Gynor, Benedikt Taschen Verlag, 1994

Set mock and layout

After a very fun day of making the miniature set including furniture to a scale of and " to a ft we were told in our next tutorial to re think the size this upset some people but we knew that we had to make changes in order to create a clean set that was movable and workable.

The above images shows a mock up of the drawing room the scale of the room has now been changed to 16ft by 16ft instead of 12x12ft in this room you can see a cabinet which will hold nicknack's a rug a sofa/love seat a poffe and a coffee table we are unsure still whether we will remove the overbearing fireplace. The 'room of the study' became 12ftx8ft which will be very effective in making a claustrophobic environment for Ivan to die in.

Below image is a final room plan for both rooms including furniture and measurments.Note furniture not drawn to scal or placed in final place.

whats it all about Ivan !

'the set we will design and build will need to express ways in which disturbances in the emotional field and crisis with characters manifest in the physical environment through incongruity, juxtaposition, intensification, distortion and discord. The embodiment thus becomes a metaphorical extension of the psyche. We are required to develop a conceptual response to the given text:

Leo Tolstoy - death of Ivan ilyich (1886)
This Blog will show all my research primary and secondary and an indepth analysis and finally a review of the film programme .