Transcript Scenery - HCC Learning Web

Scenery
 The
Scenery Designer creates the visual
world in which a play unfolds.
 Brief History
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Greek theatre – Background was a permanent
building structure.
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Machine to bring gods in and out
Periaktoi – Vertical 3 sided column which would could
be rotated to present 3 different scenic pictures.
Medieval theatre – “mansions” were set up in
town squares.
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Represented different bible stories.
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Elizabethan and Spanish theatre
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Similar to Greek in that it had a permanent
background structure
Used furniture pieces.
In Italy with the development of the proscenium
theatre, actual scenery began to appear.
Since then, scenery has progressed to become
more realistic and have improved machinery.
Designers have also crossed into other media
such as film, TV, Concerts, theme parks, hotels
(Las Vegas), and things like Cirque de Soleil.
 Robert
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Edmond Jones
A good scene should be, not a picture, but an
image. Scene-designing is not what most people
imagined it is – a branch of interior decorating.
There is no more reason for a room on a stage to
be a reproduction of an actual room than for an
actor who plays the part of Napoleon to be
Napoleon or for an actor who plays Death in the
old morality play to be dead. Everything that is
actual must undergo a strange metamorphosis, a
kind of sea change, before it can become truth in
the theatre.
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Objectives of Scene Design
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Creating an environment for the performers and for
the performance.
Helping to set the mood and style of the production.
Helping to distinguish realistic from nonrealistic
theatre.
Establish the locale and period in which the play
takes place.
Evolving a design concept in concert with the director
and other designers.
Where appropriate, providing a central image or
visual metaphor for the production.
Ensuring that the scenery is coordinated with other
production elements
Solving practical design problems.
 Scenic
designer begins by reading and
Analyzing the play.
 Considers the world the characters live in.
 Establish Mood and Style
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Happy, sad, frightening, or uplifting?
Exaggerated or cartoonish? Serious?
 Realistic
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and Nonrealistic Scenery
Realistic looks similar to real life
Nonrealistic gives freedom to designer to use
symbols within the set design.
 Locale
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Should tell the audience where and when the
play takes place.
Should tell the time period.
Can also tell about the characters in the play –
messy or neat, Royalty or suburban, etc.
 Design
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and Period
Concept
Sometimes the scenic design influences the
production.
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Ex. Midsummer Nights dream dir by Peter Brook
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Central Image or Metaphor
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Provides a visual representation of a major theme or
feeling embodied in the play.
Coordination of the Whole
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Should be consistent with the play and director’s
concept.
Technical Director makes sure that the design is safely
constructed to support the action.
 Practical
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Aspects of Scene Design
The Physical Layout
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Must fit into playing space - stage space
Movement behind scenery
Changing space
Physical movement on stage such as sword fights
Ground Plan – floor plan drawn to scale which shows
placement of scenery and furniture, the way the doors
open, backstage space and escape stairs
Stage areas – Stage right, Stage left ect.
Upstage and downstage came from when stage was
raked. To Upstage someone meant to literally be up
stage of them.
 Materials
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of Scene Design
Turntable – or revolve
Trap doors
Wagons
Treadmill
Fly Loft – fly scenery or furniture
Flat
Cut-outs
Scaffolding etc
Scrim – gauze which allows light to pass through
but can be painted.
Screen projection
 Special
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Effects
Prop – property – not permanent part of scenery
or costumes
Fog, ghosts, knives that appear to stab
Ultraviolet light
Strobe light
Sound effects
 Elements
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of Design
Line – the outline or silhouette of elements
Mass and Composition – the balance and
arrangement of elements
Texture – the feeling of the elements
Color – shadings and contrasts of color
combinations
Rhythm – repetition of shape color and texture in
a regular or irregular pattern
Movement – the way the action unfolds and the
way it progresses from one scene to the next.
 Steps
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in the Design Process
Read and analyze the script
Meet with the director and discuss ideas
Roughs or thumbnail sketches
Meet with the director and discuss sketches
Create color renderings and usually a model
May use CAD (Computer assisted Design) program
to create the design and ground plans
 The
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Collaborators and the Production Process
Technical Director – responsible for solving
overall technical problems
Prop Designer – provides furniture, lamps,
handheld props
Scenic Charge Artist – Set painter
Stage Manager – Tapes floor according to ground
plan to layout for actions
Design Assistants
Carpenters/Technician
 Designing
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the total environment
May rearrange the seating
May change the architecture of the theatre space
May use their surroundings to become part of the
set.
 Summary
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Set design creates the environment and sets the
tone.
Often it is the first thing the audience sees
Uses elements of design to create the set
Collaborates with the director
May be realistic or nonrealistic
May use symbol or metaphor strongly In a
nonrealistic set.
Many people collaborate to create the set