Dave m Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Our set person quickly ordered a half boat ( don't know the story) that she took to be a garden seat. It arrived and is a bathroom(?) mini shelf ornament 18" ( that's a genuine coincidence) high the set has now been changed so the boat is dropped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrV Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Well that's brightened MY day for one ?Life imitating art eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave m Posted May 18, 2016 Author Share Posted May 18, 2016 apparently "it looked bigger on the internet" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 I suffered the opposite. My fellow directors wanted to give a new set design grad a chance and hired her to design a touring set for one production. She spent weeks on it and turned up a week before first night with a beautiful looking set of drawings. The conversation went;Me; "So you want me to build this out of solid steel and it will weigh 7 tonnes?"Her; "Yes, it'll look great."Me; "But will it fit in the Transit?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_s Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 One designer I know made a scale model of a Luton (even remembered to account for the spacet taken up by the roller shutter) and cut up the set model into pieces that would (a)fit into the one venue that had restricted headroom and (b) fit in the van, but found it wouldn't fit in the lift or go up the stairs to the third floor studio space. Cue bits of rope,pulley blocks, hard hats and risk assessments to haul the pieces up the outside of the building... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart91 Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 A while back I was gathering quotes for some signs for our premises. One looked particularly attractive, far cheaper than the rest. It turned out he'd priced out in millimetres, rather than the centimetres that I'd specified... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 I suffered the opposite. Same here, I wanted a 30cm mirror ball for a specific job. Does anyone want a 30" mirror ball as I have one in the store? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 I thought these half couplers from CPC were a complete bargain....http://www.sabretechnology.co.uk/downloads/cp1.jpg Until they arrived and I found they were 20mm dia not 2". But if anyone is building a birdie rig using 20mm conduit for lighting bars, I'm your man http://www.sabretechnology.co.uk/downloads/cp2.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 Tell me you didn't buy a box of 100 as the price was so good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatman Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 A while back I was gathering quotes for some signs for our premises. One looked particularly attractive, far cheaper than the rest. It turned out he'd priced out in millimetres, rather than the centimetres that I'd specified... Almost as bad as NASA back in 1999! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikienorth Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 Finding out that on one side of an american tape measure there's imperial feet, and on the other, decimal feet (feet divided into tenths, not inches) Apparently it helps for automation and calculation, not for levelling trusses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xllx Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 Finding out that on one side of an american tape measure there's imperial feet, and on the other, decimal feet (feet divided into tenths, not inches) Apparently it helps for automation and calculation, not for levelling trusses. Also found in Japan. 2 days work wasted when the parts of the set built by the British chippies didn't match up with the parts built by the locals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibbothegreat Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 Ah, I may just win the internet on this one... in the early 90s, working for the Edinburgh International Festival as Head of Sound, I was dealing with a German Symphony Orchestra who were performing an amplified piece of contemporary music in the Usher Hall. They brought the PA with them (602s, the first time I encountered d&b) but the main issue was getting them into suitable positions for surround sound. We bodged and dodged, and got most of them where they were needed, but they also wanted classic left and right pros positions, and the closeness of the seating to the stage didn't allow room for stands. 'No worries' I pipe up, 'we have an excellent team of flying carpenters just waiting for these kind of challenges, I'll get them to make us some boxes. So let's just confirm the dimensions...' Measuring duly done, I phoned the Head of Stage, and put in my request. Sounding somewhat perplexed, he asked if he should come down and measure it himself, to which I rather testily replied that I might not be the best DIY person, but I was pretty sure I could take simple measurements for a speaker box! 'Oh, and they need to be black' I added. 'OK' said HoSt, and it struck me that he sounded unusually bothered by the request, but just put it down to them being in a particularly busy period. Back to the fit-up... A couple of hours later, the German PM came and asked if I had an ETA for the pros boxes. No word yet, but I'll ring them. 'Yes, we're working on it!' came the very short reply, so I reassured my German pals and on we press. Another hour, still no sign, so I ring again: "Yes, for heaven's sake, one is on its way, we're doing our best!" Almost simultaneously, I hear the voice of the Liverpudlian stage manager of the UH ringing out from the get-in lane: "What de fook?!?!?" and rush out to see what's up. Suffice it to say that it was at this point that I got the clearest possible demonstration of the order of difference between millimetres and centimetres... The full joy of it is that it meant that each side panel was actually bigger than a sheet of ply, so it became a major piece of construction - and as for the amount of paint used, and the requisitioning of every space heater and infra-red lamp in north Edinburgh to persuade it to dry in anything less than an overnight session - well truly heroic is the only fair description of their achievements... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart91 Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 Finding out that on one side of an american tape measure there's imperial feet, and on the other, decimal feet (feet divided into tenths, not inches) I've twice in recent years asked someone to do some measuring for me (offcuts of cable etc.) and they have mixed up inches and centimetres. So when they tell me a piece is 1m long, it is actually 100 inches. It seems that you can complete a school career without ever running a measuring tape against something, so these kinds of blunders will doubtless become more commonplace. One other related story I heard of from a production manager: A one-off stadium show needed a large set piece. A design was produced, and the lowest bidder was chosen to build it. Unfortunately the materials hadn't been specified, so it was built from steel rather than aluminium. The cost of the addition crew required to move it onto the pitch eclipsed any costs saved on the build... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Suffice it to say that it was at this point that I got the clearest possible demonstration of the order of difference between millimetres and centimetres...Which is why, when I were a nipper in a drawing office, the boss taught me "Millimetres, or metres, nothing else" and even then, make sure it is clear which is which. I did met a yardstick that went 24" 25" 26" 26" 27" 28" and on to 35". It caused quite a lot of confusion until we worked out why so much stuff between 2 & 3' had to be re-made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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