3/1/16

In problem 2 we are grouped into production shop to cast bids on a build for 2 shows in the Voorhees theater after the Haunted Hotel. A concert and a Talent show needed to share a stage. The Concert wants their logo printed on the floor, and the talent show wanted to have a glossy black floor. In addition to this the deck needed to have sound reduction, downstage masking, and fireproofing.

We determined that the problem would center around utilizing shop resources to make the most out of abundant supply and stretch limited resources for maximum return. But we focused too much comprehensive drafting and construction that we did not do a indepth cost and labor analysis.

Probing into the project we found out that the deck needed to be soundproofed, and that repainting the deck to cover the logo would be very inconvenient for the staff and student labor. We also learned about the spacing and uses of stud wall and trisket decks. We had to adapt the deck to have interchangeable center panels and sized the custom triscuit to line up with established stud walls instead of 4 foot sheet material dimensions.

We decided that the main issues of this project would be satisfying both the band and the talent show with the same show. Optimize the available resources to minimize expenses and student exploitation. Pacing the schedule and calendar to ensure enough time for even freshmen carpenters to complete the build. By breaking down the scenery into smaller elements we determined how much material each piece would need the tally up a combined budget at the end.

Challenges we faced were coordinating duties and tasks to balance the workload with the team members and keeping everyone informed on progress and assignments. This made it difficult to tally a final budget and bid at the end of the project. We also did cursory calculation on how much labor would be needed for construction and load-in. The time table was set on how much time we felt the tasks would take.

We ended up with a comprehensive model and cut list for each element of the stage that satisfied each condition for the show, but only had a general idea of how much labor we would need.

In the real world, this situation would be similar to a roadhouse theater that needs to have fast changeovers to the next show and share space with multiple shows.

Since this was a theoretical build in an academic setting, we did not need to consider transportation to  the theater, hiring carpenter and load-in crew, and bidding on strike.

We learned the importance of estimating how long tasks and build should take as pieces are being drafted.