How set designers changed over the years?

Shakespearian theatre

This is the Shakespearian theatre which was originally called the globe theatre. It was built in 1599 and was the typical public theatre. Then the Globe Theatre was built on the same site again by June 1614 and closed in 1642. The it opened again in 1997.

When the audience came to watch the show they had to stand up. The ceiling was open so even if it would rain everyone would et wet. It was also overcrowded.

The English Renaissance

The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating from the early 16th century to the early 17th century.

Inigo Jones was born in July 15, 1573 and sadly died in June 21, 1652. He was the first significant British architect of the modern period.

Jones' best known buildings are the Queen's House at Greenwich, London. He started working on it in 1616. You can see the image down below.

This image below is a masque Costume for a Knight, designed by Inigo Jones.

 Early stage sets of the
16th  &  17th century:

•If there was any performances in Europe it would mostly be to amuse and entertain the Kings, Queens and Courtiers.

•At the time of making of the sets the best artists and architects were asked to design the sets.

19th Century

•In 19th-century Britain the audiences shaped both the theatres and the dramas played within them. The upper class favoured opera, while the working class, whose population in London alone tripled between 1810 and 1850, wanted broadly acted theatre with scenic wonders and machinery.

Scenery still looked very architectural and practical. The three major scenic trends during the 19th century, especially in Europe, were:

•Historically accurate scenery

•The development of the realistic box set

•A revolt against the two dimensional world of painted canvas.

 

           

Edward Gordon Craig

 Edward Gordon Craig was an English modernist theatre practitioner; he worked as an actor, director and scenic designers as well as developing an influential body of theoretical writings.   He broke away from traditional realistic set design.

         

Early 20th Century

                 

Set design was very diverse during the 20th century. There was a lot of different theatrical movement going on in terms of playwriting and theatre philosophy which directly influences stagecraft.  In 1920 a german theatre director helped designers to develop new ideas when Bertolt Brecht believed in a very bare stage so that the ‘truth’ of the acting was clear and not cluttered by elaborate scenery.

Artists and Designers like David Hockney and Pablo Picasso have developed theatre set design even further, creating exciting and innovative designs. Some of the big budget productions of contemporary mainstream theatre are very technically complex and elaborate. At the turn of the 20th century several strands of new drama were developing in the UK.

Visual Research

1)      Visual research. Publicise/ advertise – leaflets and posters. Staging/management – stage manager and stage hands – backstage roles. Green room to calm mood – where people stay and relax in.

2)      Stage set. The making of the plant (use picks)

3)      Posters, leaflets. Copyright – legal rights

4)       Different roles, write out a journal or diary of what u done backstage – what u needed to do to get everything on and off stage.

5)      Interview or questionnaire or film people about the production.

Poster Analysis

The image above was the original poster that I found on the internet and then I analysed it as you can see below. Also above are other different posters, texts and titles that I looked at to get my final idea.

The image below is another poster that I analysed to full detail.

What is a performance?

A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which one group of people behaves in a particular way for another group of people. Sometimes the dividing line between performer and the audience may become blurred, as in the example of "participatory theatre" where audience members might get involved in the production. Singing choral music and performing in a ballet are examples.

   

                                                       

The first image is a street performance and the bottom one is a Festival. Following this is Bands/Rock/rap/pop concert, a dance and Ballet performance. The finishing of is drama/play and  a musical theater performance.                                              

 

Health and Safety Precautions

Pre – Production

Risk	Solutions
use of power tools	Wear safe clothing/ goggles
cutting equipment	Use cutting mats, cut away from bodies and don’t carry open knives around
use of paint and glue	Use water based
heavy lifting	Work in groups and bend knees not back
careful of slippery exterior	Clean it before and be careful
The plant	Make sure it’s safe and no sharp bits are sticking out. The plant is completely finished in order to be safe. The guy inside the plant should have plenty of water and air to breath because it can get hot in there.
Use suitable materials	check out fire ret ardency and rules for particular venue

Production

Risk	Solutions
Stage blackout	Tripping/ colliding/ falling – use of torches and communication, All scenery positions clearly marked on the floor
Height hazard and falling of stage	Clear announcements to cast/crew
Scene changes	Pulling curtain during blackouts. Moving scenery properly. All crew have their own well rehearsed job roles so they would know what they’re doing and wouldn’t be muddled around on stage for no reason.
Crowd control	Controlled ticket sales and leaflet sales at the door also staff on the door to make sure no-one without a ticket gets in.
Seating plan	Find out the limit of the venue by researching the venue. Tell staff where they’re being seated.
Fire	Fire extinguisher and clear signs and exits, understandable announcement and usual fire precautions.
Props being misused/lost	Keep props (inc. weaponry) on specific tables by keeping log book under control of manager, and charts.

This website is useful for looking at Health and Safety regulation and problem solving,
                               http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/fivesteps.htm

Musical Research

“Chicago Musical”

These images are from the internet as I was researching the different musicals. The lighting plays a big part to make it colourful, dark etc. For example the spotlight goes on the characters on stage that are acting.

"Cat's Musical"

I explored another type of musical. These images are ones from the production of the show in London. The staging for the “Cat’s Musical” includes a lot of space for all the actors to move around and act. As you can also see in one scene all the cast are on the stage which shows the stage is big.

    

              
                                                                “Les Miserable’s”

This is also another type of Musical that I had done research on. These images are also from the show that they put on in London.

The Actual Prodution - helping backstage

Day One - Monday 8th March 2010

 My group and I had to make everything before the production occurring on the 8^th and 9th of March. The "Little shop of horrors" Production was going to begin at 7pm. During the day I had helped out backstage and helped out with closing and opening of the curtains when we were having a dress rehearsal. We had to also prepare the props before the audience came. Furthermore I helped out with the technical services that had to be provided on the night.


Day Two - Tuesday 9th March 2010
  
I had mostly done the same things again on the second day as I did on the first. However In addition I had helped out with the assistance of organizing the clothes for the cast. I had also helped out in getting one of the actors in and out of the plant costume and lent a hand with putting props on stage and the backstage.

Designing and Building of the plant

 

 

         

These are different images from the start of the making of the plant. The Photos above are us making of the leaves for the bottom of the plant. On the photo above is me painting the top of the plant’s mouth green. The other images included the making of flowers for the florist scene. For this we had used pieces of metal and different coloured tissue paper. It also includes the making of the wall. This was done on to a large piece of paper with brown paint and a sponge.

            
I had planned out the props for the stage by making the same thing but miniature to see how it would come out if I made it bigger. I had also measure a proper size for the plant because it has to be big enough for the audience to see but not big that it take up the whole stage. We had to consider appropriate colours for everything for the plant, flowers, and the wall. The important thing I had also considered is the suitable materials for everything. We had to build everything from scratch.

 

These pictures above are the images of us planning for the making of the plant.

The two images below are examples of the final product on stage at the production.