Theatre design is the design of the space where a performance takes place. It is the creation of a unique stage environment meant to house a dramatic action. Theatre design relates purely to the visual aspect of a production. Theatre designers create a stage environment meant for performing live plays, musical shows and various dances. ASPECTS OF THEATRE DESIGNThere are various parts that make up theatre design. They include:
ELEMENTS OF DESIGNThe elements of theatre design include:
Set design is possibly the most important of the elements in the overall design for a play. This is because other elements like lighting and costume designers need to know the basic shape of the set design before they can do their work. The set designer and costume designer work together with the director to create a unified look and design for the show. The set designer will create a plan that include any building ,furniture or rigging that needs to be included to create the total set. Set design is vital for creating the environment in which the characters on stage will act, but the costume designer can actually inform the characters themselves when the audience sees a character dressed a certain way, they automatically make assumptions about the character such as whether she is rich, poor, good or evil. Costume designer designs the costume for each player to wear, help to supervise the making or purchasing of the costumes .He or she works with the director and closely with the script to create the looks right for the period and characters. While fitting with the overall vision for the design of the show. EVALUATION Explain these elements of design in theatre. (i) Set (ii) Lighting (iii) Costume GENERAL EVALUATION
READING ASSIGNMENT Cultural and Creative Art (New Edition) by Peter Akinyemi& Co- Authors (Book 2)Pages 69 -73. WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
THEORY
RelatedLast updated: November 16, 2007
The Design Team: Resource: Wilson and Goldfarb, Chapters 5 and 6 Objectives for this lesson: Students will examine:Background:
Costumes and mask-making are quite old. Sound is a brand-new technology. Lighting - may go back to the Renaissance - with gaslight in the 1800's, lighting came into its own Designers are more vulnerable to shifts in technology Designers are both artists and artisans (craftspersons). Brief History of Design:
Chapter 5 -- Set and Costume Design Functions of Design: Scene Design 1. Help set the tone and style of the production 2. Establish the locale and period in which the play takes place 3. Develop a design concept consistent with the director's concept 4. Provide a central image or metaphor, where appropriate 5. Ensure that scenery is coordinated with other production elements 6. Solve design problems ( **the following is from Cameron and Gillespie... 1. help tell the story 2. provide mood, color, emphasis 3. enhance concept 4. create environment in which actors can create convincing life 5. be aesthetically pleasing on their own ) Establishing tone, style, and mood: 1. Tragedy vs. Comedy (Julius Caesar's Rome must look and feel very different from the Rome of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) Plus subtleties of environmental mood 2. Level of Abstraction -- "natural" or "stylized" -- "realistic" or "nonrealistic?" 3. historical period If updating, retain mood of original What does the audience think it looks like? (Cowboy hats of the 1940's movies were not realistic, but audiences probably thought they were. "Realistic" concepts change: new images of the past are grittier - Lion in Winter and The Three Musketeers in 1976 were very dirty-looking). 4. Geographical location Quality of light, is the sound coming from inside or out? What is the essence? 5. Socio-economic circumstances How do clothes and light and dealing with sets differ in characters' socio-economic circumstances? How important is it to differentiate? (In O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms, class is essential; in Maeterlinck's impressionistic dramas, it is not.) 6. Aesthetic effect Even intentional ugliness can be beautiful - ugliness beautifully arrived at. {Top of Page} Factors of Design: 1. Line {Top of Page} Designers at Work:
Materials of set designers: Traditional "flats" (107)- 1 x 3 " wood frame covered with muslin (a rough cotton fabric) and then painted - can look like walls or other solid structures, yet very lightweight. Platforms and parallels (collapsible platforms) are also common (note: see images when you click on "flats" above...) Wood, plastic, and metal, etc. are becoming more widespread. Cyclorama - U-shaped back of stage, for sky or background.
scrims -- our production of The Night of the Iguana used a number of scrims ) "flying" set pieces from the "fly-loft" "wagons," "treadmills" Renderings - loose free-hand drawings of early impressions. Ground-plan - a bird's eye view. Three-dimensional models Thumb-nail sketches Elevations (scale drawings). Instructions for building. Technical director oversees construction. The scene designer also often does the Properties (Props) that are not part of the regular scenery, handled by actors (canes, furniture [handled], letters, etc.) Props are usually: designed and built or bought or rented stolen -- ! :) :) {Top of Page} The Costume Designer Costume Designer's Objectives: 1. Help establish tone and style of the production 2, Indicate the historical period of a play and the local in which it is set 3. Indicate the nature of individual characters or groups in a play: their stations in life, their occupations, their personalities 4. Show relationships among characters: separate major characters from minor ones, contrast one group with another 5. Meet the needs of individual performers: make it possible for an actor or actress to move freely in a costume; allow a performer to dance or engage in a sword fight, for instance; when necessary, allow performers to change quickly from one costume to another [I was playing Joey in the musical Pal Joey, and in the first part of the first act, my costume changes were so quick that I had to wear THREE costumes at the same time; each one got taken off to reveal the other ones as the act went on...] 6. Be consistent with the production as a whole, especially with the other visual elementscostumes are often rented or bought ("pulling costumes"), built from scratch , or rebuilt, or borrowed. -clothes must be "right" for the character. -comfortable to actor (within reason) and usable. -aesthetically pleasing - can make a big difference to actor's character. Designer must analyze: Given circumstances - sex, age, health, social class, focal importance Shape - silhouette (outline) pleasing. Movement of costume. Texture and draping. Enhancement or suppression of body lines (different periods have different styles: pushed up bosoms of the French Empire, flattened bosoms of the 1920's, codpieces in medieval and Elizabethan, togas in Rome). Individual actors - long necks, skinny arms, etc. Costume shop foreperson executes the designs. Costume designer's resources: Makeup, hairstyles, and masks-- all related to costumes. {Top of Page} Chapter 6 -- Lighting and Sound Design The Lighting Designer Lighting not an important factor in design till 1830's with limelight, but even then needed sharper control Electricity was the key to imitate natural effects to enhance: change shape, mood and tone Now high-tech, computerized Objectives of Stage Lighting 1. Provide visibility -- let the performers and other elements be seen 2. Help establish time and place 3. Help create mood and tone 4. Reinforce the style of the production 5. Provide focus onstage and create visual compositions 6. Establish rhythm of visual movement {Top of Page} Lighting instruments - the term used to refer to the units that deliver the light (including the housing and the light bulb, or lamp). The lighting designer can influence only five things in lighting: Color, direction/distribution, intensity, form, movement 1. color - changed by using gels -- colored pieces of plastic (heat resistant - the only color light that will get through is the color of the gel) mixing of colors -- warm lights (amber, straw, gold) with cool colors (blue, blue-green, lavender) can produce depth and naturalness 2. direction / distribution - can be up to 150 lights in a production 3. intensity - brightness -- controlling the amount of current to instrument - "dimmers" control that amount 4. form -- the shape of the light 5. movement -- alterations in the other factors will give impression of movement - this would also include the movement of a "follow-spot" (powerful spotlight as that swivel and shine on different places). {Top of Page} Instruments: (see the photos in text) a. spotlights: ellipsoidal reflectors - long distances, sharp and clear b. fresnels (pronounced "fruh-nel'" - named after Frenchman Fresnel who designed a "step lens" - the lens had less and more even mass, so it would heat evenly, avoiding the problem of regular convex lenses heating unevenly and thus cracking - "fill" light - diffused, to "wash" or "blend." c. striplights, footlights: footlights used very little these days, but strip lights used to add "fill" light. d. flood lights: no lens, no color - for a "flood" of light Click to see other Lighting Instrument pictures {Top of Page} Sound Design Sound design has always been used in some way (rolling cannonballs for sound of thunder), but with modern technology, more precise sounds are possible. Reproduction -- the use of motivated (called for by the script) and environmental (help create more illusion of reality) sounds (135) includes sound effects... Reinforcement -- the use of amplification Modern practice of "mic'ing", sound effects, background music - further technology (some discussed on 138) and expertise may increase sound capabilities, as it appears to be one of the hardest to control. Different kinds of mikes. See these related links: You can take short study quizzes based on textbook materials by going to the Student Online Learning Center page for our textbook... {Top of Page} Next Section: History of Stage Lighting
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