Panto. Scaling up Bushes and Clouds using an overhead projector. December 2013.

Theatre will often work to a 1:25 scale. But not on this occasion!  :-)

The original pictures of the Clouds and Bushes had been drawn by one of the Tutors onto paper, they were drawn to a 1:10 scale. After careful deliberation though, by the Tutor who was helping us to scale them up and transfer them onto hardboard, it was decided to do the clouds at 1:10 and the bushes at 1:20. I think this was differentiate the clouds from the bushes but no longer can remember for sure.  :-(

 

First the original drawing had to be traced onto tracing paper, which I did do, this was because we needed to use the drawings on an overhead projector.

 

 

Normally you would use acetate but we didn't have that, so we used tracing paper. The reason you needed a see through paper was the light of the projector would shine through the drawing and then project this image onto the hardboard.

Lois and Poppy I recall, then worked out the scaled up dimensions onto each individual drawing with the aid of a scaled ruler. Each picture of the clouds and bushes was then cut into individual squares which could be used separately on the overhead projector.

 

 

 

Some of the clouds and bushes, due to their size, had to have a straight line drawn through them and divide them into 2 sections. This was due to the fact that when they were projected onto the hardboard to the correct scaled up size, they were too large for the hardboard. The above picture shows this. When they were drawn up they were each given a letter to identify them and numbers as well, if they were to be divided into 2 sections, so we were able to then join the correct pieces together afterwards.

 

 

Each individual traced cloud and bush, along with its scaled up measurements, was then placed on the lit up overhead projector. The hardboard was placed at one end of the workshop and the projector was moved to a position, so that once it shone the image onto the hardboard it would be of the correct scaled up size.

Once the image was at the correct size someone, and I did take part in this, then drew around the projected image onto the hardboard so it could been seen and eventually be cut out.

This whole performance did take time.