Unfinished Clockwork

Thanks to the glories of the internet, I have stumbled upon some progress shots of the clock set! The photographer's focus was the actors and not what stood behind them, but there is still some set documentation to be found. When this photo was taken, the clocks were at a midpoint - faces painted, but without the details of borders, hands, numbers and other symbols that were to come.


The actual clock-face painting process was an unexpected breeze. As I mixed the four yellow tones, a helper showed up with friends in tow! Friends! In tow! There was a person to go with each can of paint, and I was thrilled by how quickly we managed to get every single circle covered in a new tone. After only 6-7 hours, we had completed this step for the entire set, a pace that blew my dreams away.

Now then. In this particular scene, the lighting was designed to be a more cheerful yellow than at any other point, so the colors are a bit warmer than they really were, but look- behind the actors- you can see the variety of clock sizes, the 4 yellow tones, the greenish background. Now imagine about 13 times as many clocks as you can see here (a conservative estimate) and you'll perhaps begin to imagine what was happening on my drop cloth.

Unfortunately, I had to leave town before getting any shots of the finished set, but I'm hopeful that some will surface before the show's 5-week run is through. I may have to send a friend on a photo-expedition.

Thanks to A.R.T. in Fresno for the image.