scenic design -...
TRANSCRIPT
SCENIC DESIGN Creating the Performance
Environment
DESIGN PROCESS
Read (3 times)
Analysis
Meet with Director & Other Designers
Research
Generate Ideas
Communicate Ideas
Execute Design
WHAT SCENE DESIGN DOES FOR
PRODUCTION
Defines and Characterizes Stage Space
Determines what is on-stage and what is off-stage
Creates Environment
Aides in Establishing Good Stage Pictures
Can Reveal theme(s) of the play
Indicates Style
Indicates Mood
NUMBER ONE RULE
The scenic design should create an environment
for the play and characters that is supportive of
the production concept & style as well as
transforms the space.
SCENIC DESIGNER MUST CONSIDER:
Mood & Spirit of the play.
Historical Period of the Play
Locale of the Play
Socio-economical Level
Personality of the Characters
Season of the Year
Elements of Composition (the stage picture)
Practicality of the Set
MOOD & SPIRIT OF THE PLAY
MOOD:
The feeling of a play
SPIRIT:
the manner and style
in which a play is
presented to the
audience or the
production concept
Using the Elements of Design you can alter the mood and spirit of
a play: You can take a dark, sinister play and by using bright colors,
delicate lines, and round shapes; make it feel comic.
HISTORICAL PERIOD OF THE PLAY
Use historically accurate visual clues that help audience identify the period of the play.
Architecture, Furniture, decorative arts, & landscaping
DON’T assume design must adhere to every historical quirk, use the motifs, lines, & fabrics to create a faithful representation. Instead, mirror the essence of a period and use it to EHANCE the mood and spirit of the play.
LOCALE OF THE PLAY
Geography has effect on Architecture
Use visual keys to help audience identify play’s location (reduce to informative elements) Ex. Locale communicated by wall treatment, city=plaster
wall, country = log walls.
Type of Room ex. Placement of fireplace, built in wall for warmth and
utility or decorative in parlor
Decorative Furnishings (lamps, rugs, curtains) identify locale and type of person
SOCIO-ECONOMICAL LEVEL
Type and Quality of materials used
Fashionable colors
Furnishings in environment
Level of order & cleanliness OR run down
WHAT DO YOU THINK COMMUNICATES
SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS
PERSONALITY OF CHARACTERS
TRAIT SCENIC ELEMENT
ORGANIZED
DEPRESSED
VINDICTIVE
LOVING
WORLD-TRAVELER
TRADITIONALIST
ACTIVIST
SEASON OF THE YEAR
SEASON &
Scenic Element SCENIC DESIGN
Winter & Dinning Table
Summer & Window
Fall & Porch
Spring & Tree
ELEMENTS OF DESIGN/COMPOSITION
ELEMENT EXAMPLE
LINE Cartooning = reducing lines to simple outlines
SHAPE Character of the line will create perceptual
key explaining the psychological nature of the
object (abstract designs)
MASS Exaggeration of an object can change the
character of the object (Alice in Wonderland)
VALUE
ELEMENTS OF DESIGN/COMPOSITION
ELEMENT EXAMPLE
COLOR controlled by nature or history. Can work to the antithesis
Substitute natural color selection or unexpected hue= musical theatre, comic, or other worldly
LIGHT
TEXTURE
PRACTICALITY OF SET
Needs of the Script
If it’s in the script and important to the action-do it
Needs of the Director
What the director wants
He/she needs to know before they can begin blocking
Needs of the Actor
Must be able to move easily & efficiently
Safe for actor (slippery surfaces, too high steps, raked stages)
Create so actor can concentrate on performing
PRACTICALITY OF SET
Construction Demands of the Design
Difficulty of the build
Unusual construction techniques
Special rigging or mechanics of the set
All Above equal extra time, money, problems during run
Time and Fiscal Budgets
Difficulty
Cost
Labor/Time
CONCEPTUAL RESEARCH
Create as many potential solutions to the design
challenge as possible.
Produce thumbnail sketches or functional models based
on a synthesis of information (director’s concept, script
needs, & research
Employ Elements of Design in a variety of combinations
generating a variety of potential “solutions”
Multiple “solutions” are key to creatively vital design
INCUBATION & SELECTION
Set the Whole project aside.
Helpful to return with “new” eyes providing insight
and possibility.
Allows for best SELECTION of best design
Best fits the parameters of the design challenge
Usually the best design involves bits and pieces of all
your conceptual work
SCENIC PAPERWORK
Thumbnails
Ground Plan
Center-line Sectional
Scenic Rendering
Scenic Model
Elevations
Detail Drawings
Painters Elevations
Prop List
SCENIC THUMBNAILS
Rough
Conceptual
Ideas and
Design
Solutions
SCEN
IC T
HU
MB
NA
ILS
GROUND PLAN
GROUND PLAN
Title Block
GROUND PLAN LANGUAGE
CENTER-LINE SECTION
SCENIC RENDERINGS
SCENIC RENDERINGS
SCEN
IC M
OD
EL
SCEN
IC M
OD
EL
SCEN
IC M
OD
EL
SCENIC
MODEL
SCENIC
ELEVATIONS
SCENIC
DETAIL
DRAWINGS
SCENIC PAINTER ELEVATIONS
SCENIC PAINTER
ELEVATIONS
SCENIC DESIGNER;
POET OR NOVELIST