The Cestrian team has been working very closely with a local Manchester-based TV studio to produce film sets made from… cardboard!
The TV and film industry spend big when it comes to building sets; costing time, money and the environment. Every year, thousands of sets are built from wood and MDF and then disposed of once the filming stops. Tom Henderson and Chris Gilmore of Vectar Project are challenging the film industry to “clean up it’s act by switching to cardboard sets.”
Vectar Project has developed a way to design and build cardboard sets that are as strong as wood but are cheaper to build, quicker to re-position on set, and has up to a 90% lower carbon footprint than traditional methods. The board is made from wood sourced in Sweden which provides a product that is 100% recyclable.
Design & Print Experts
Vectar Project had an exhibition in January 2022 and approached Cestrian to support them with the printing, finishing, and cutting of some of the sets. Cestrian worked alongside the design team at our sister company; Creative Digital Images to create the artwork for a range of sets including: a train carriage, prison cell, kitchen, concrete column and more still in the making.
The production at Cestrian included the digital printing of brick walls, tiles, flooring, granite surfaces, cupboard doors, windows, and an infinity wall. Once printed, some of the sets had texture added in via our cutting machine which can be seen below on the kitchen tiles.
Some sets were simpler to produce and build:
Whilst other sets were more complex and required additional props:
Vectar Project has already caught the attention and support of ITV, BBC, BAFTA (weareAlbert), Creative England, The National Theatre, RSC, GMAST Manchester, SAIL in Leeds and more recently SKY News shown in the following video clip.
Paul Price, Managing Director at Cestrian “Our cardboard engineering experts know the full capabilities of this material, so we were delighted to be approached by Vectar Project for this ground-breaking idea. We understood exactly what we needed to achieve and the end-result. We believe that this is just the beginning and that other players in the TV and film industry will see the full cost, logistical and environmental benefits.”
Do you need help reducing waste in your projects?
If you are considering ways to reduce waste and switch to 100% recyclable cardboard for your next project, Cestrian can help. Please get in touch with our team.
