Photo by Craig Bailey Perspective Photos

Second Star to the Right

Scenic Design by Liv Miller
Lighting Design by Davis Kranchalk
Costume Design by Ava-Sofia Settoon

I was the Technical Director for a production of Second Star to the Right at Emerson College. For this production I worked as the primary TD and served as the point person for budgeting, drafting, creating construction drawings, and communicating with the shop throughout the entire production process.

BUDGETING

To the left are examples of the budget that I estimated for this production, and how it evolved from the preliminary estimate to the final estimate. Each line item has its own sheet with details about material type, amount, and cost.

In the finals estimate I included information about the agreed changes to the scenic design in the “notes” column.


Below shows the format for the detail pages for each line item. In preliminary estimates, I include different options for how we can achieve the desired look or effect, and in the final estimate I include either links or company names for purchasing when necessary. This specific example shows the Wooden Platforms line item detail page.

DRAFTING

To the left is the groundplan and section view drawing that I created for this production.

To the left are the drawings I created for the “Wooden Platform Levels” which was a cluster of platforms of different levels. We utilized pre-existing stock platforms with the exception of platform 5 which was a combination of a stock platform and two additional custom built platforms to achieve an organic shape.

The drawing on the left details how to modify and combine our stock columns to achieve the desired height for the designer.

The drawing on the left shows how to create the rock facing for the “Stone Platform”. We used layers of pink insulation foam that were later carved into an organic shape.

PAPERWORK

To the left is the Show Document that I created. This spreadsheet served as a living document for me to track the progress of each scenic unit through out the build period. This also helped me keep track of the drafting that I needed to complete.

To the left is the Strike Plan that I created. This document helped me form an efficient plan for strike. Being able to breakdown each task beforehand made delegating and explaining tasks easier at the strike call. This also helped me create a list of any special hardware or tools that we would have to bring to the theatre from our shop.