Thursday 25 November 2010

Introduction to the Task.





 My name is Samira Shabani. I’m studying Creative Art and Media Diploma, with A-Level Textiles. This is a 2 year course. It's challenging in its own way but I’m very determined to do the best I can in each class.
In this creative and media diploma, one of the subjects that are included with this course is set design with Ms Wyglidacz. So far I have done a mood board based on 1950s New York, and I have done a lot of research on it, because we’re doing the set, the plant and the graphics of the production “Little Shop Of horrors”. As set is very essential in the theatre I will try my best to make it. I will give different ideas in my group discussions and cooperate with everyone. I will be looking forward to making the set as it’s significant, in the production. The picture below is a picture taken from our teacher while we were doing work.
 

1950's New York Mood-Board and Evaluation On It



We had watched the film "Little Shop of Horrors". I then had gained information about the film and saw how the layout of the set is. This then helped me when we had to print out images for my "1950's Mood board".
A mood board is for visual research which represents a theme that you want to show. In the search engines, any criteria required can be simply searched, whether it is an image or a page of interest, or a theme or mood.
One of the most common search engines also known as Google. When rummaging through images, some images appear to be distorted of a poor quality. Generally, the best size of printing out any image without blurring is 300×250 jpg.              
You can access the WebPages for free and don’t necessarily need to pay for the usage; in other words you don’t have to pay royalties or download fees. Some of the examples can be Gettyimages.com and Fotosearch.com. The keywords that were appropriate for this theme is 1950’s New York Backstreet.
The mood board helped me design the set because I had selected and edited appropriate images to go on my mood board. We had chosen 1950’s New York pictures from my mood board and we used these visual influences to tell us what kind of detailed colours, textures, and period details to use on the set design.


Wednesday 24 November 2010

Staging Types


The O2 Arena is set in South East London. It has the space of nearly 23,000 but this is depending on the event. It’s one of the largest indoor arenas in Europe alongside the Manchester Evening News Arena. The O2 Arena since its opening in 2007 has been host of many concerts, from UK bands and artists to international superstars. The sports that the O2 Arena had held are:


v  Darts
v  Boxing
v  Basketball                       
v  Gymnastics
v  Hockey
v  Tennis
v  UFC
v  Professional Wrestling
v  The Olympics

 

The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in the London district of Covent Garden. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera houses original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. The Royal Opera House seats 2,268 people and consists of four tiers of boxes and balconies and the amphitheatre gallery. The proscenium is 12.20 m wide and 14.80 m high. The main auditorium is a Grade 1 listed building.

The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613. A second Globe Theatre was built on the same site by June 1614 and closed in 1642.
A modern reconstruction of the Globe, named "Shakespeare's Globe", opened in 1997. It is approximately 230 meters (750 ft) from the site of the original theatre. The Capacity of the Globe Theatre is 3,000–seated and standing.




The Brewery is a music venue located on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Brewery was opened in 1983 by Kenny Hobby. The Brewery has long been a stop for up-and-coming touring acts, as well as established acts with a somewhat diminished fan base. It hold up to at least 300 people.

The Swan was a theatre in Southward, London, England, built in 1595 on top of a previously standing structure, during the first half of William Shakespeare's career.  It was the fourth in the series of large public playhouses of London, after James Burbage's The Theatre (1576) and Curtain (1577), and Philip Henslowe's Rose (1587–88).

Wembley Stadium is a football stadium located in Wembley Park, in the London Borough of Brent, England, which opened in 2007 on the site of the previous 1923 structure. The 90,000 capacity venue is the second largest stadium in Europe, and serves as England's national stadium. It is the home venue of the England national football team. Besides football, Wembley can be configured to hold many other events, particularly major concerts. People such as Lady Gaga and George Michael gave performed on this stage.








Set Design and Types of Staging

A Proscenium theatre is a theatre space whose primary feature is a large frame or arch. The audience all watch from the front. The use of the term "proscenium arch" is explained by the fact that in Latin, the stage is known as the "proscenium", meaning "in front of the scenery."Its traditional staging which often has decorative architecture. It’s normally used mainly for drama, plays, musicals, concerts etc.

           


In theatre, a thrust stage is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. This type of staging is more modern. The performers are amongst the audience so it feels more ‘friendly’. It’s usually used for drama, but also display & exhibition e.g. fashion shows.
                         


In-the-round is more of a contemporary staging were the audience completely surrounds the stage so they feel included in the performance. The stage itself in this arrangement is typically round, diamond, or triangular, with actors entering and exiting through the audience from different directions or from below the stage. It’s very flexible uses e.g. Rock/classical music concerts, exhibition, presentation & conferences, TV shows.

               





This is an image that I uploaded. It's an image based on one of the stages called "Thrust". It’s a plan that also has measurements and the height and width.








Meeting With Ms Jones (Client)


When we met Ms Jones as a group we had asked her a few questions such as,
“What does the set need to look like?”
“What’s the colour theme of the production?”
She then told us the "Little Shop of Horrors" Production set needs to be moist and dry. She had added “The set needs to be a damp, dull street and look like a rundown layout”.
The colour theme has to be mostly red and black to represent the colour from the title
Later on in the scene she said their needs to be “brighter colours”.
She had liked our ideas of the flower signs for the florist scenes. The colours we used, and the images of Brooklyn Bridge and how we had positioned it on the miniature set.
She had finally added “When the dentist scene comes up she said it needs to be a “Grubby dentist – and look unprofessional”.


This is a florist scene and one of the main characters acting in it, as he is talking to one of the plants we had made; this is just the small one.




This is the plant that we had ended up making for a few of the scenes in the "Little Shop of Horrors" Production. It was fun making it, I really enjoyed it and it came out how we planned. We were all very happy about the result.

 





This is a picture of the florist scene of the whole set and some of the people acting in it.







Ms Jones also talked to us about the "Mushnik Florist" sign so we had to make one from scratch. So we tried different colours and styles and we decided as a group to try this sign out for the florist sign, but we didn’t end up actually choosing it for the final piece, because it was the wrong colours – as it had to be brighter so it can stand out, seeing that it was too dark.

We had tried out different idea for the mushnik florist idea again and then we ended up choosing this one because it was more visual and can see it better on stage as its more noticeable for the audience and the people at the back of the hall. As you can see the 'Mushnik Florist' sign on the image below. 










This is an image from my journal that I kept from the start of this project. This is with client notes with Ms Jones and an image from the miniature box. which i then typed up and added some more information.




 
 
 
Relationship with the client
It’s crucial to have constant communication with the client because if there are any changes occurring, the designers have to be aware. In this case the client was the director and her creative vision of what the show should look like as a whole is the most important element, so the design team needs to be clear about all her requirements. It is also vital that the designer communicates visually with the client, so they have a clear vision of what the show would look like. This Is where using mood boards, the set models and other drawings is useful.

Wednesday 17 November 2010

Jobs in Theatre/Staging




Director – They control a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors. Also this is a person directs the actors and crew in the making of a film.

Producer - A film producer or movie producer is someone who selects a screenplay, initiating the process of film making. The producer oversees the whole process including coordinating, supervising and controlling matters such as fund-raising, hiring key personnel such as the film director.
Designer - A designer is person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "Specifies the structural properties of a design object”.
Lighting Designer - The role of the lighting designer (or LD) within theatre is to work with the director, set designer, costume designer, and sometimes the sound designer and choreographer to create an overall 'look' for the show in response to the text, while keeping in mind issues of visibility, safety and cost.
Musical Director – This is just someone who directs music such as an; orchestra, The director of music for a film, The director of music at a radio station, The head of the music department in a public school, The co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college, The head bandmaster of a military band, The head organist and choirmaster of a church or an Organist and Master of the Choristers, a title given to a Director of Music at a Cathedral, particularly in England.
Stage manager - is one who has overall responsibility for stage management and the smooth execution of a production.
Stage crew - Sets the stage and helps with the scenery design, set hire, rostra/staging/treads and flat hire as well as sound and lighting design and fit up.
Choreographer – this may refer to the design itself but it’s just is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified.
Props Master - A prop master is a professional who supervises the use of properties, better known as props, in a theatrical production or on a film.
Publicist - is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a public figure, especially a celebrity, a business, or for a work such as a book, album or film . Most top-level publicists work in private practice, handling multiple clients.


The image above is showing a stage manager directing a production. You can see he has a sheet in his hand which probably is a time sheet where he knows what time and when everything in the production should take place. He's also got an ear piece and that shows he can communicate with everyone at all times. 





Construction manager – This entails the planning, scheduling, evaluation, and controlling of construction tasks or activities to accomplish specific objectives by effectively allocating and utilizing appropriate labor, material, and time resources in a manner that minimizes costs and maximizes customer/owner satisfaction
Dresses/Wardrobe assistant - This includes -     
 
-                  Buying and hiring suitable costumes and accessories
-                  Helping to make or assemble costumes
-                  Mending, altering, cleaning, washing, ironing, packing and storing costumes
-                  Fitting performers with costumes and accessories
-                  Organizing and keeping records of outfits
-                  Making sure all items are ready to wear when needed