Studio layout advice requested

[firehawk]

Ahhh yes. I understand it now! Thank you. That is a much more impressive and artistic stylish "experience" for sure! :thumbup:

I made the fashion wall red brick in the drawing only because didn't find any white. But in reality could the fashion wall(s) be a fake brick/block like the realistic fake bricks I've seen in restaurants that is applied onto a walll? Then it could be changed if needed in the future for a new fashion wall? Real brick has texture properties that light would react to so maybe the more smooth fake surface would not work as nice?

re: Makeup over greenscreen room:
Will that cause the height of the greenscreen room to be too low? At only 11' feet wide there isn't (?) hardly enough room to light the green wall from the sides so I'd have to light it from the ceiling so I need height?
Or maybe only have the makeup room only over the back part of the greenscreen room (crew area) so there can be a high ceiling over the talent and green wall part of the room?

 

[morgan_moore]

I think 'the experience' is worth showing to a cost engineer.. which may prohibit it. Our mezz was built buy us using scaffolding for 'no'money ($2000 and three weekends)

the fashion wall.. imo the cove is still the main studio and the main space should be white.

the gscreen room Ive got 12foot height (excluding floor) which seems enough for an upright - thats on a 25 foot side wall raising to 30 for the whole bldg. the height has not really be discussed

please understand im just playing (we might get a building down the road) and im no expert at achitecural detailing, knowing how wide corridors should be or ceiings or whatever.

 

[firehawk]

Thank you I agree. Time to talk with architect again I think.
I'm going to go ahead and share a lot I am thinking about buying to get input. It's limited due to size and easements.
One person recommended getting the smallest amount of land you really need and build the biggest building you can afford because having extra land you don't really need just means more taxes each year and more land upkeep all the time - mowing etc.. Another person said more land more land!


So there would be limited # of parking spaces and a large truck would have to pull alongside the building instead of straight into the OH door to unload.
Thoughts?

 

[morgan_moore]

Comments.. I think Im pretty swayed by the UK - which is a miserable fight for land, parking whatever, everyone hates everyone else.

-it looks massive could the bldg grow 10X10

-what is the parking culture. In the UK parking is very valued as street parking is always gone. maybe your personal parking or 3 to the rear.

-a studio.. especially if blacked out is a depressing place. to work... the joy of having a coffee/sandwhich outside is huge - where is the bit of land for that coffee and sit down?

-I dont smoke any more. but consider a zone for that too.

- 'dumpster' you need clear rules on waste disposal. In the UK that is costly and you dont want 10 plaster sheets and a capet or fake wood floor to despose of without charging for that effort. Any bin in sight will be filled by clients! Hide it or charge.

I also think you need to access your accomodation from an ext stair case. clearly room for that. you might also need a fire exit from the mezz/changing room zone.

I ont know about hedges/cypresses to gain privacy, reduce noise.

 

[paulears]

You now seem to be building a set, not a studio. Access up should be the shortest and steepest you and the regulations can cope with. It's a real waste of valuable space.

 

[morgan_moore]

these I my doodlings not his. T|here is a risk you are correct. To some extent width and (lack of) angle have practical purpose if those stairs are used for lights, make up cases, and the like. Keeping stairs off the wall sides expands options for doors and desks against walls, which id suggest are better than island desks but ultimately its all a formula driven by practicality..

My overall idea is to make the op think he could have an 'imaginitive' space.. or not. it probably revolses around the clientelle being fashion or diesel tanks.

 

[firehawk]

My overall idea is to make the op think he could have an 'imaginitive' space.. or not. it probably revolses around the clientelle being fashion or diesel tanks.

rogar-BigGrin(DBG) :grin:

 

[firehawk]

Comments.. I think Im pretty swayed by the UK - which is a miserable fight for land, parking whatever, everyone hates everyone else.

-it looks massive could the bldg grow 10X10

-what is the parking culture. In the UK parking is very valued as street parking is always gone. maybe your personal parking or 3 to the rear.

-a studio.. especially if blacked out is a depressing place. to work... the joy of having a coffee/sandwhich outside is huge - where is the bit of land for that coffee and sit down?

-I dont smoke any more. but consider a zone for that too.

- 'dumpster' you need clear rules on waste disposal. In the UK that is costly and you dont want 10 plaster sheets and a capet or fake wood floor to despose of without charging for that effort. Any bin in sight will be filled by clients! Hide it or charge.

I also think you need to access your accomodation from an ext stair case. clearly room for that. you might also need a fire exit from the mezz/changing room zone.

I ont know about hedges/cypresses to gain privacy, reduce noise.

On this particullar lot I do not think the bldg could grow 10X10 due to easements. I think a 55X80 is the biggest that would fit.

Street parking would likely be ok so long as I didn't do it often and with too many vehicles. This street is a dead end circle drive so traffic is low.

I have idea of making a scenic "garden-ish" space at the bottom on the lawn - fence, plants and a bench for photos op. It could serve also as a sit down break spot to get away.

Good point on the dumpster I didnt' think about clients filling it up and leaving their junk!

Smoking. When I worked in TV people smoked like freight trains. I would prefer to not allow smoking on the premises but that may be a source of conflict?

I am hesistant for more external doors. I am trying to minimize access to thieves with minimal doors and windows. The top and left sides of the pic are the safest sides on this lot as the other 2 sides would be easier to commit crime and not be seen by anyone

 

[Mitch Gross]

I don't like the "fashion" stairway. Keep the thing as simple a box as possible so that clients can load in their own set designs. A studio is a box.

I don't know about where you live, but where I am there is no smoking indoors in a place of business. You want to smoke you step outside, clients included. Pumping atmosphere into a set for the look is a different matter, and many Covid restrictions in certain areas don't allow it but let's hope that's a nonissue by the time this is built.

I still see problems with your personal space & the studio space sharing the building. You should definitely have your own entry if at all possible. Sometimes people want to shoot on a stage to all hours and sometimes they want the set built or struck overnight before or after the shoot. This will suck for you living there plus they might not exactly love having you around either. It's something you need to consider.

 

[firehawk]

Thank you. Several have suggested exterior entry for the living quarters. I worked up this idea. If I buy this lot, I really prefer entry doors only on 2 sides of the building due to visibility / theft deterence. So I put it above the other main entry which also provides a rain shield for below without having to build an awning? However it's thus right on the front of the building making it obvious that there is a 2nd story to anyone that sees the building. But it does provide entry/exit for me without ever having to even be seen by people working in the studio. They wouldn't even know I was there.

Thoughts?

 

[Mitch Gross]

I think an architect could make that front entry look a bit nicer and acceptable. A securely locked entry is a securely locked entry and I think that's fine to keep the entrances on one side of the building. I do think that you should have an interior stairwell of some kind, even if for now it is behind a locked door. You could move the workstation and the greenscreen wall inside the storage space out four feet from the exterior wall so you could add an interior door right by the main floor entrance and a landing and stairwell against the building wall with an interior wall to enclose it. This would go up to the mezzanine / possible living space. If you chose to make it part of the studio then it could be more open but if you want it for your private space then enclose it and put a lock on the door. It you do make it part of the studio you can still use it for your access with a locked door upstairs off the mezzanine. Depending on your local regulations two forms of egress may be required for any living space, and an exterior window may also be required.

BTW, I have no idea what the surrounding area is like but you definitely need to think about sound insulation in the exterior walls of this building. You need far more than a normal building, and a big issue will be that door for the van to pull in. I would suggest not using an overhead retracting metal door and instead use a pair of large swinging doors that open French door style. These will be rather expensive as I'm sure they would have to be custom designed and very think for sound insulation. The other option would be a side-sliding door that ran on a track alongside the exterior of the building outside the side cyc wall. Either solution will be custom, complex and expensive, but you need to consider it for audio.

 

[firehawk]

Thanks again Mitch.

If the big door ends up on that side of the building do you think it would be ok at 16 X 10 high instead of 16 X 12? Being at the side, a large truck won't be able to back straight into it anyway so they would have to park sideways near it and carry stuff into the building. My van is less than 9' tall.

 

[firehawk]

Grid question please. If the white cyc is about 20' deep how big should the light grid be? Plan is to have the grid 18' above the floor.
I dont' need to make it cover the entire shooting stage do I?
I overlaid a cheap pink grid as my estimation of size below

 

[Mitch Gross]

Thanks again Mitch.

If the big door ends up on that side of the building do you think it would be ok at 16 X 10 high instead of 16 X 12? Being at the side, a large truck won't be able to back straight into it anyway so they would have to park sideways near it and carry stuff into the building. My van is less than 9' tall.

Plenty of stages don't have clearance for a truck to enter. If a full-sized Sprinter van can get in then you should be OK. An inexpensive addition would be a shed dormer roof nice and high that turns the side of the building into a covered carport tall enough to extend over a full-height 18-wheeler. Added staging / setup space on nice days and in the rain the crews will thank you (and it'll keep your indoor space a lot cleaner).

 

[Mitch Gross]

Grid EVERYWHERE there isn't a second story. People want to light into their sets, not just over them.

 

[morgan_moore]

I don't like the "fashion" stairway. Keep the thing as simple a box as possible so that clients can load in their own set designs. A studio is a box..

Some studios are a box with a viewing platform which works both to keep the client feeling special.. but also to stop them putting thier laptop in the middle of the floor and then getting the hump when you drive over it or tread on it.

Im considering the 'studio' starting where the room widens out - ive totally never suggested encroaching on that box.

IMO is a studio is not a soundstage.. which is indeed a box

Having the stair in the middle maybe artsy but it also stops the stair fouling doors into any side spaces or using the side walls as wall facing desks.

Is it technically the correct solution depends on the desire for doors in the near spaces.

And yes I would expect the balcony to house lights which fire into the stage space.. and that is where a wider stair comes in its own, to carry lights and cases up which is not great on a 30in stair.

 

[paulears]

The thing I always keep in mind is that you have in front of camera and backstage, and studios are never pretty where it doesn't matter. Clients expect quality where it matters and if the out of vision stuff is painted black, and has hooks on the walls hanging cables, piles of bits and pieces everywhere, and staff tube handrail staircases, they don't care. They fall into two camps - those a bit awed by the studio atmosphere and the others bored by it. They care about what it looks like to the cameras. Spend your money where it matters. Make their working spaces clean, tidy and exactly what they need. The first time production stops because a fire truck goes past, you failed.

 

[morgan_moore]

by stairs fouling doorways I mean this , which is not too clear but I hope communicates that the first two doors cannot be used

 

[morgan_moore]

I think an architect could make that front entry look a bit nicer and acceptable.

absolutely.

accom entrance (stairs) should be at the back or dead side.

client entrance should be a bit special with a small porch and maybe a logo.

fundamentally insurance deals with burglars. someone determined could just drive through the walls!

 

[morgan_moore]

The thing I always keep in mind is that you have in front of camera and backstage, and studios are never pretty where it doesn't matter. Clients expect quality where it matters and if the out of vision stuff is painted black, and has hooks on the walls hanging cables, piles of bits and pieces everywhere, and staff tube handrail staircases, they don't care. They fall into two camps - those a bit awed by the studio atmosphere and the others bored by it. They care about what it looks like to the cameras. Spend your money where it matters. Make their working spaces clean, tidy and exactly what they need. The first time production stops because a fire truck goes past, you failed.

I disagree that this is the whole story. Ive just returned from a food shoot and the top bod at the location was really only there to pop an eye on what we were doing once or twice. I DL and lutted the shots befroe showing her. She had at least two zoom meetings during the day and we were in a rental location basically able to give her her own office. The other choice would have been to shut the shoot while she zoomed and go and hang outside in the rain to give privacy. Yes maybe this seems mad - I dont disagree.

So..
front of camera
dirty kit store
producer zone


IMO