For this project, the first set that caught my eye was the Space Odyssey hotel room. I had never watched Space Odyssey but that set made me want to. It had so much potential for so many historical storylines and that is what I loved about it. Initially, I had two ideas; one involved making the space into a haunted ballet studio and the other into a manor house that turned into a WW2 hospital. I decided to go for the WW2 hospital manor house as I liked the design layers that were presented such as what the room was used for before versus afterward.
The mini script I developed was as follows:
It is 1941. World War II is among us. Hollygrove Manor opens its doors to the wounded and is converted into a hospital. The protagonist of this tale is Annabel, a young woman that has recently trained as a nurse to support the war effort, however, she does not quite know what she has signed up for…
Affirming my idea, this then allowed me to start my visual research. Upon reflection, I wish I had done more visual research into reality shots of manor houses that had been converted at this given time as many of them were staged and probably needed more photos to refer to for my visuals. I also discovered a manor house in Hertfordshire which shared a similar interior design inspired by the French rococo era called Wrest Park.
In the meantime, in parallel to my research, I needed to survey the room using screen grabs and photos of the original set. Initially, I found this extremely challenging as there were no shots at eye level where there was a person in the doorway. So I had to look up some of the furniture used in the scene and use the measurements I found of similarly styled furniture as a point of comparison for the rest of the images. This proved most effective. The grid on the floor also acted as a very good guide for discovering the floor plan of the room. The photoshop measuring tool also proved most useful.
Having got the measurements of the room and knowing what parts I wanted to change to make it into a manor house (adding windows, a fireplace, converting the bathroom into a servant’s quarter, and adding bookshelves), I started the tech drawing on Vectorworks. I chose Vectorworks as I wanted to improve on this software and I knew the only way to improve was to use it. It proved more temperamental than I thought it would be but I learned a lot and do not regret the decision to do the tech drawing in this way. I also made making the model a lot easier as I knew all the measurements were accurate. Before the portfolio, however, I need to ensure the measurement lines are smaller and not cover the elevations.
When making the model, there are some aspects I wish I had spent more time on such as the markings on the windows and cabinets. They looked a bit messy, so I want to spend more time on that before the portfolio. I also wish I had incorporated some removable walls and want to try and do this in my next model.
When it came to visuals I will admit I was rushed and as a result, there are many aspects that I want to improve before the portfolio or over the summer. Such as the perspective in the first visual in particular with the beds. I also want to try making the second visual black and white and to make it look more chaotic to make it appear to be more of a realistic scene.
In conclusion, I found this project to be quite challenging time-wise, and there are many aspects I hope to improve on before the portfolio hand in ...
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