The main set for the Vitruvius project was constructed between April and May 2006. The following is a general description of the process and some photographs.

Materials used:

• Pink insulation board for making set mock-ups, the background hills and buildings
• Durham’s Rock Hard Water Putty to cover the insulation that make up the background hills
• Acrylic modeling paste for smoothing out areas that were too textured from the water putty
• Balsa and pine wood for constructing the temple ruins
• Epoxy putty (called Quick Wood at Home Depot) for detailing and smoothing some parts of the set pieces
• Shades of green and brown acrylic paint
• Poly-fil and spray adhesive for making foliage and wire covered in liquid latex for tree trunks (see previous post)

The stage is made out of pine and mounted to a metal shelving unit on wheels. I used insulation board and hot glue to mock up some architectural ruins and explored composition by using the camera viewfinder to check for positioning. For the initial test of the stage and materials I used pink insulation foam and water putty to make a sculpted background.

I found the materials and stage to be adequate and proceeded to work out the final design. I sketched rough visuals of set pieces that I would need and compositional arrangements for the overall set design.

The foreground architectural pieces were made from balsa and pine wood and carved with a Dremel. I chose wood for the foreground elements because it affords some strength and stability during the animation. I also think that wood is easer to modify and repair in case I need to drill, carve or glue things during filming.

Insulation board covered in water putty was used to build up the vertical dimensions of the stage floor, especially to either side of the central area. The idea is to break up the ground from being a totally flat plane which should help the foreground visually blend into the background. The background is made of 3 planes of insulation board covered in water putty. The buildings are also made of insulation board covered in a plaster-of-paris fabric wrap. Everything is smoothed over with acrylic modeling paste and then painted.

For the trees and foliage I used poly-fill and wire coated with liquid latex (see previous post). Once all the set pieces were constructed, textured, and painted, I secured everything with wood glue, hot glue, or screws.

Photos of set development.

I needed some trees for the set have more detail set so I got some poly-fil and something called “cluster stuff” which looks like very tiny cotton balls. I’m using a flat green interior latex paint for coloring the ground and foliage.

I’m waiting for the paint to dry and will then attempt to put it into place with my tree trunks. For the trunks I got some wire and twisted two strands into a Y shape. I then took the two Y shapes and twisted the bottoms together for a basic tree. I could keep going through a few more iterations to get a more detailed tree but I think this will suffice for my current needs.