Bringing to the Fore

Here's a WIP preview of the sort of effect I'm after for the foreground set; inviting white-washed gate and fencing and a bough of leaves frames the scene. (Giant resting line-producer cat not to be included in final version of film. :-)

Dear Constance has begun construction on the foreground set. Last session, she began by hand cutting a stack of 24 pickets out of cedar shims and discussing what the ornaments might be on the gate.

In the days that followed, I built the gate, stained all the pieces brown, and then again with pickling white wood stain after that. I chose to top the two newel posts supporting the gate with matching wood and iron acorns. I placed them on the ends of a small wooden spool I cut apart on top of softened square stock ends. I really like how they came out. Making the miniature gate with working hardware (the gate will be opened during the shot) was satisfying.

 Making these wild flower tufts was rather quick and easy and should look quite pretty in the foreground around the fence I think.

I wanted some weeds and flower shrubbery to grow around the fencing so I picked up the clumps of DEAD kitty grass usually laying around the place (finally a use for these), dyed the clumps green and let them dry well. I then hit the tips with matte medium and sprinkled them with small pieces of colored paper while wet.

I have found a FAST and easy way to chomp a lot of paper into very small pieces is to fold torn pieces in your color group choices into a "roulade" (a tight roll used to make it easier to finely chop fresh herbs in cooking) and keep it in one hand whilst I repeatedly slicing at it between that thumb and forefinger. There's no danger of being cut because you can go slowly and make sure you are slicing only between fingers. But this method means that you can have the smallest pieces as you could wish in less than a mere 20 slices.

Last Friday, Constance was a huge help in helping me find a good position for the foreground set piece for camera POV, etc. She then papier mached the underside of the whole piece all alone! She also began installing the finished gate and fence by making holes in the set and macheing around each picket. It's looking fantastic and should come together well soon. Thank you, Constance!