I had watched a enough movies and TV series to think i knew all i needed to know about TV, but was in for a surprise. First of all, how are there departments that deal with every little detail?? then all these blocks of hundreds of people from different background have to all work out something similar from someone else’s mind and put it all together and make it sync……aaarrrghhhh too many people to keep up with.
Do you remember Dylan, yes the eye candy who introduced me to this, he took me up on a project that entailed making the first ever Kenyan Soap Opera TV Series. I was over the moon, little did i know what was in for. We do our first day out of the office (OUT OF THE OFFICE) i was almost running to the car, just to get off my desk, i couldn’t wait i asked questions after questions, for a minute even the driver thought i was a parrot, but i just wanted information and details on anything and everything, i dint want to miss a thing (OK that sounded like that AeroSmith Jam….lol).
Then i heard Dylan explain some stuff, some really cool stuff and my face lit up. So this blank space (studio) was to be made into different houses, again my face went like 0_o, now am so confused you could actually see it all over my face. I just stood there and saw Dylan’s pull out those cool drawings he was doing at the office, and my face lit up. It was very simple just reducing real life houses sizes and making a ‘FAKE’ one in a controlled space where camera can work.Dylan then seats with me and gives me a document known as the ‘Character bible’ its like a list of all the characters and a brief about them on the film their names bla bla! Well, you are supposed to read that and it gives you the characters personality, what they like, what they hate, how they dresses and all this details should help you come up with a space such a person should live in, for some weird/really cool reason i got understood so fast that i was almost ready to start designing spaces, but not too fast. I needed a mood Board ( i will write about it soon).YAAAAAAAAY, this is like a dream (OK i have never had one in this lines, but i bet it was coming lol) so it began. Many ‘Fundiz’ all over the place cutting wood, welding metal and all the construction stuff/noise that you can think about.So we drove toward somewhere (now i know that somewhere was Film Studios now M Net Studios on Ngong Road)and we got in to this big empty black hall, and my face was like 0_o what!!! my mind just saying (i have been played yo!! i have been played!! shoulda stayed on my desk and be on facebook all day) but i gave it a second chance (whatever it was).
If you have watched it, then i worked on that show, more as an intern but i found myself leaning more towards being a set dresser.I also learnt the spaces you make are not really called ‘houses’ anymore but SETS. With the mood board approval from Dylan the Production Designer then it was a go ahead. We went on to work day and night on the awesome MALI DRAMA SOAP sets by Alison Production, and it was simply amazing. I learnt something new everyday from Dylan llyod the South African Award winning Art Director.
However for Every shoot i have moved departments from Art director all the way to a stand by Props. (will do a write up on Art department positions soon)
