About this FAQ's sheet.
Our FAQ's sheet may not answer all your questions, but we intend to add any questions that you have that are not answered here. Please e-mail us all the questions you wish, as many as you wish. To understand a new technology like this needs a lot of questions answered.
Question Categories
| - The Economic Issues of Hollyworkz | |
The Economic Issues of Hollyworkz
| - Site Preparation and Construction | - Striking |
Site Preparation and Construction
First of all, prefabricated anything that can be used over and over again, and assembled in far less time than building from scratch on site saves. Hollyworkz panels are made of steel, therefore they can withstand multiple set-ups and strikes better that wood flats, and they are assembled in less time because fasteners such as nails or screws are not used and hand tools are not required.
Also consider that there is no need to extensively prepare the site for Hollyworkz structures. From my experience managing the movie ranch and well over 1000 shows, building sets on site seemed to require a lot of trucks and equipment. The tighter the building schedule the more equipment was needed. Grading services were always requested to clear staging areas for lumber and materials, sawing, and fabricating. Areas where the sets were to be located had to be cleared to get the truck and equipment as close as possible. I was always saddened to see the natural look trampled and then the cost of thousands spent on greens to try and revive it. Most of the damage was caused by the need to build the supporting structures. Hollyworkz is prefabricated, so except for a level footing (which can be done with about an 8” path of sand under the wall panels where needed to raise the lowest end of the wall), there is no need to clear all these areas or remove scrub vegetation.
Still have doubts? Please, go to our website; take a look at the photos of us putting up the prototype. Do you see any road grader damage? Removal of vegetation? Do you see a road with a lot of trucks? Do you see milling areas or staging areas? Do you see us building anything with tools? Do you see us using heavy equipment? We rest our case.
An important feature of Hollyworkz panels is that the sheathing is not attached to the frames. Important for other reasons, the advantage of this feature during construction is that set builders can attach fascia to standard sheathing in the shop beforehand and slide it into structure on site.
Another cost savings is striking. Again, because of Mr. Sipe’s unique experience on the movie ranch, most companies want to leave sets behind rather than endure the cost of striking, and that is because of the use of glued wood flats and nails is more trouble than the salvaged materials are worth. Most of the time he had to tell them no because they picked a vista that was popular as it was, such as a large pond with a mountain backdrop. If he would let them walk, future revenue would be lost. Another reason for striking costs is that sets are usually half-built structures, not to any building code and made only for the purpose of filming. With Hollyworkz structures, there are no glued flats, no nails or fasteners to deal with. The sheathing/fascia slides off. The frames easily come apart and are stackable.
Hollyworkz Panels vs. Building Standard Wooden Flats
First of all, there is no standard wooden flat. There are many ways to build wooden flats. They are built with various thicknesses of OSB, particle board, utility plywood, luan plywood and even cellotex over top of 1x3 frames, 1x4 frames and 2x4 frames. Stage flats (stretched canvas over 1x3 or 1x4 frames) really aren't used much anymore so no need to go there. Material costs (excluding labor) are slightly higher using steel, but are offset by mass production. The bigger the run, the smaller the cost. Labor costs of wood construction is very intense and can easily overtake costs of steel, even if flats are prefabricated in the shop and transported to location. Machinery with appropriate fixturing leaves little manual labor other than set up.
Weight wise, steel 2x4 studs weigh about the same as wood studs, and considering the use of steel track instead of 2 more 2x4's for a sill, steel cross straps instead of wood cross bracing, and rivets instead of nails, a 4'x8' Hollyworkz panel may actually be lighter. A Hollyworkz panel weighs about 40 pounds.
Another reason Hollyworkz panels may be lighter in weight is that the sheathing is NOT attached to the frame with any fasteners and is completely independent of the structure. It slides in and out (panel by panel) as often as you desire independent of the structure. You can use anything you want for sheathing: plywood, OSB, luan, fiberglass, foam core, cardboard, and at any thickness too (so long as it can stand upright without bending in the middle under its own weight)! We would even suggest styrofoam panels as the sheathing and fascia combined as long as there is a lip of the material at the top and bottom that would slide into the holding channels on the frame. So again, weight is not an issue.
Unique Features of Hollyworkz Panels
| - Versatility During Shooting |
The independence of the sheathing and fascia is a very important feature for Hollyworkz structures. One identified problem with other wood construction techniques, witnessed notable times over the years, is not having the ability to make changes during filming to accommodate desirable lighting changes, camera angles, or actor movements that were not foreseen prior to actual filming. The challenge for us was to create structures where one or more of the panels could be removed without having to disassemble the entire structure or wait lengthy periods of time until the carpenters could start pulling nails and rebuild. We accomplished this by fabricating various lock assemblies and connectors that mechanically connect but do not permanently join the panels to one another such as nails or screws. No fasteners are needed to assemble our structures. Simply put, the panels are interchangeable, a roof, floor or wall panel is the same, and a panel in the roof, or wall, or just the sheathing from any panel may be removed in little time without having to be concerned with structural integrity. A door can be changed out for a window without taking out the framing!
Some traditional set builders will argue that building with prefab wood flats can be just as easily assembled using screws, and easily disassembled with most screws still usable and ready to be built into another set. That would require a screwdriver and involve screws. Hollyworkz needs neither and the labor of breakdown is less intense. Can the sheathing be separated from the framing of a wooden flat? We don't think so. Most all flats we have seen are glued. Besides, screws damage the wood and they may be reused only a few times before they have to be scraped or rebuilt.
Designed Fo Use in Adverse Weather
The prototype that is shown in the photos section was built in a field for taking demonstration pictures. Note that there is virtually no damage to the vegetation. We got our pictures, but two successive storms developed before we could strike it. Winds exceeded 50 mph during the second storm and the set came down. After examination by two independent engineers, we realized that we had not put the structure together correctly and one essential support panel to attach the rear wall was never used, so the back wall was essentially unsupported and free standing. At the time we were only concerned with photographing it being put up, and the panels were never intended to be used again.
From memory we lost only about 4 panels out of 22, meaning that they were bent beyond bothering to try to bend back and use. We are still using the others. The steel is 100% recyclable, are wood flats? So you may conclude as we did that our structures withstand gusts exceeding 40-mph and probably a lot higher. Mr. Sipe’s experience with wooden sets on the ranch is that they had little tolerance to wind or rain. Our product is far superior.
Hollyworkz panels will go through fire and water for you because steel sinks and doesn't burn. The sheathing may need some consideration.
Custom is Standard with Hollyworkz
| - What About Custom Sizes? | |
| - What About Seams? |
It is important to understand that we do not build movie sets. We do not do custom anything as a general rule. Hollyworkz is “out of the box” prefabricated steel panels with various connecting pieces used by set builders to assemble in whatever geometric structural pattern desired, and then cover them with whatever sheathing and fascia desired. We suggest using 1/2” or 3/4” OSB because fascia can be put on with roofing staples. OSB has the advantage of doing better in wet weather conditions. The panels come in 4x8, 4x10, and 4x16-foot sizes.
Perhaps not everything can be made by 4'x8' frames. The height doesn't matter to us up to 16'. The 4' width may be a concern to a set designer who specifies a 3' wall, but after considering the tradeoffs of a 4' panel vs. a custom 3'panel, we would bet the design changes.
Because the sheathing is not attached to the frame, and slides on and off, the question of what to do about seams comes up. We suggest the use of tongue and groove OSB to start with only because it's a little stronger, but not required. Fascia such as faux paneling can be used to simulate anything from stone, brick, stucco, logs, clap board, bamboo, and etc., and is designed not to show seams. Otherwise, just as on all construction techniques, the seams are hidden with some form of fascia.
What About Shooting Interiors?
Rarely does extensive interior shooting happen on an exterior set. The limitations are more than bearable to most cameramen and directors. The soundstage comfortably provides little limitations and a lot of flexibility. Our frames are one sided but reversible. Just by turning the panels around they become interior walls.
On rare occasion, some interior shooting must take place on an exterior set such as insert shots or pickups. This can be done by reversing the panels, or using more panels and building the interior off to the side of the exterior mate. Depending upon how much filming needs to be done, using something simple like foam core or luan plywood and Velcro to make interior walls might do the trick.
| - How to Budget Hollyworkz Structures? | |
| - Advantage of Renting |
How to Budget Hollyworkz Structures?
At the outset, all prices are negotiable. We don't have set prices. The model for our business was a steam cleaning machine rental company. The cost of building the cleaning machine is somewhere between $400 and $600, yet they rent them out for less than $30, eventually making a profit on future rentals. My point is that we can rent our panels for far less than what they cost to manufacture because we own the panels.
Since we don't have to recoup our costs on the first rental, we can rent them for whatever it takes to beat any price for any project that we want to be a part of. There will be projects that we will pass on because the set design is not suitable for our panels (such as many theater productions nowadays use only pieces to suggest a setting, or movie sets with perspectives).
Our method of bidding on a project is by considering the size and scope of the project relative to the use of our panels (how many panels and over how much time), the logistics (such as where it is located), and unique script requirements involved such as fire and water effects or use of explosives. We will take a look at the plans or sketches and determine where and what panels can be used, and what connectors will be needed. We will then return a rendering of the Hollyworkz structure or structures as they will look when assembled and ready to be covered with your sheathing, and a proposed rental price for that project in light of your particular circumstances.
Our intent is to engineer the use of our panels to meet your requirements as close as possible, so as to bring what experience we have to bare upon their use. We are not the answer to all sets, but we hope to kick the lead out of the cost of set building.
If you are with a small production company, without soundstage facilities, or you produce one project at a time, renting our structures may be best for you. Renting our structures by the show affords the opportunity to meet script requirements without further cost obligations or storage considerations.
If you are with a studio, or your company has several productions a year, a lease may be best for you. We offer a declining percentage lease to studios as a way for the studio to generate revenue above and beyond the cost of the lease, without a capital expense. This essentially means we will be in business together. You become our salesman because we can afford to keep the basic lease cost down by sharing a small percentage of the studio revenues from renting our structures to sound stage tenants.
Manufacturing and Delivery Lead Times
We contract with manufacturers in the major production areas (and there aren't many) to build our frames thus cutting down on shipping costs and delivery times. Business alliances with established studios and scene building shops under a lease percentage arrangement provide storage warehouses and offer additional services you may want. We don't mind spreading the wealth around.
Generally, we do not have inventory on hand because we are a new company. Between rentals there may be some inventory available that we can ship to you, however it will be unlikely exactly what you need with all the connecting pieces you need. Manufacturing starts with an order. Depending on the size of the order, and the location destination, it could take 4 to 6 weeks. This will lessen as business grows.