I went to the Wimbledon College of Art today, so I could see Stephanie Odu’s and Elly Wdowski’s end of year of projects. The college had put on a show of the all the students work. Stephanie is studying Set Design For Stage & Screen, and Elly is studying Design for Performance. (I hope I got those right)

I was hoping to meet both of them there, unfortunately Stephanie is away at the moment, but Elly was there. Good thing as I didn’t have a clue were to go. Elly was on hand with her mobile and she guided me in. From her directions, I was able to find her quickly. I haven’t seen Elly since dropping the costumes off at her place last year, so it was good to see her. She looked exhausted, but happy. It’s how I felt when I finished shooting the film. Tired from the long hours I had to put in, but happy with the work that was done and that I got everything done.

Elly showed me her display. Her project was a theatre production of “The Red Shoes”. Her version is based during the second World War. She talked me through the storyboards, telling me what happens in the show. There were drawings of all the costumes and there were models of the sets, that Elly had made. There was a factory, whose roof had been blown off by a bomb, and a field with Power Pylons in it. And there were these little cardboard men in there. You can have a better look of her work at http://www.wcatheatre08.co.uk/courses/design-for-performance/eleanor-wdowski/

All of it looked like pieces of art. You can see Elly’s storyboards in the picture above and they look fantastic. I wish I could draw like that. I can draw a bit, but I was never good with shading and lighting. Elly’s work was great.

We chatted for a while. Catching up on things that have happened since the film finished. I was also there to ask for Elly’s help on the Prologue. Her time is limited between now and the shoot date, but there are a couple of days when she can help me. I now need to arrange it with the actors, so we can get them down on those days and get their costumes.

After that Elly lead me over to Stephanie’s display. The production design section was on the other side of the gallery. Elly had to leave me there, as she had to get back to manning her display. You can actually buy pieces from the displays and Sod’s law that someone would want to buy one while she is away. I would rejoin Elly once I had a look at Stephanie’s work.

The first thing that struck me about Stephanie’s display was the piece on Blood + Roses. There were photos on the wall from the Dining room set and a folder with all her designs and work on the film. What a feeling to see you film displayed in this way! Good thing there was nobody there, otherwise I would of grabbed them and I would of acclaimed to them “that was my film!” I felt really proud to see it up there. There were pictures and work from other films, including “Jack Says” - Mike Reid’s last film. There was also a short film that Stephanie had directed herself. It was called “Untitled” and it was playing in a continuos loop on a small video screen. I had watched and it was really good. There were storyboards from the film and again Stephanie is a talented artist. It beats my block men that I drew for my storyboards. Anyway, here is the link for Stephanie’s work - http://www.wcatheatre08.co.uk/courses/set-design-for-stage-and-screen/stephanie-odu/

I had a quick look at the other work there and then I had to get back to Elly. It was about 4pm and I had to be making tracks. I had to get back for work tonight. I said goodbye to Elly and then I rushed back to Wimbledon station. I was only there for a hour. Shame I couldn’t of been there longer and had a look at the rest of the student’s displays. But a man got to earn money to live.

An interesting story to leave you with. Ben Woodiwiss was there for the opening night of the Theatre Degree Show. His girlfriend’s mother is one of the teachers there. She was quite surprised that Ben was talking to Stephanie. Stephanie had gone to her to ask for permission to work on the shoot and she didn’t know it was the film that Ben had written. Small world.