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.

 

Stage Designs

 

 

These photos shown above are ones that we had put in a model box. Firstly I had researched images on the theme “1950’s New York”. I had then printed and cut the images, and then I had stuck the images on poly tile to make it 3D, and just laid it out on the model box on how it would look on the real stage.

 

 

 

These are some of the pictures used in the model box.

 

The first picture is an image of the "Mushnik Florist" sign that we had to make. We decided as a group to try this sign, but we didn't end up actually choosing it for the final piece, because it was the wrong colours - it had to be brighter so can stand out, as it was too dark. The second image above is the final design that we had chosen as 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 it’s more noticeable for the audience and the people at the back of the hall.

Publishing The Event

This was the Final Idea for the “Little Shop of Horrors” Poster. I had done this with a group. I had researched different “Little Shop of Horrors” Posters on the internet and came to a conclusion of the final idea.

I had researched different “Little Shop of Horrors” posters and analysed the titles and the images used on these posters. Finally the leaflet above became the final idea for the poster that will go around school. We had chosen this final idea due to the bright colours and eye catching text and image, this is important because the target audiences are teenage Students, so I thought it would look nicer. We had been careful of the legal considerations such as the copyright issue.

This is one of the posters that we had planned to use as our final idea, but it isn’t the final idea because we didn’t like the layout , colours and it doesn’t look to attractive for teenage students.

After a lot of planning and researching I finally came up with this idea of a poster. I liked this one because the blood drips from the title and give a sight into how the production is going to be like. The plant opening its mouth at the front of the poster shows it might eat something/someone.

It’s very useful to have information so the details for the event are at the bottom of the poster e.g. venue, time, date.
 

Audience

We had attracted the audience by making posters to come to the “Little Shop of Horrors” Production. We had included things such as the date, time and where it is. The target audience was Heston Community School students.

The audience feedback was: -

     “The big plant was scary; did it really eat that man?” (George 5 yrs)

     “The show was amazing! It was really lively and colourful.” (Anisha 14 yrs)

     “It was very professional looking for a student production. The lighting and sets made it look very convincing” Mrs. Bansal (Mum 39)

     “The props and background were impressive, especially the giant plant and how it got bigger and bigger in each scene, that was the best bit. It really looked like it was eating people” Mr. Edwards (Teacher 59)

     “There were some scary parts and the songs were very good” (Faizan 16 yrs)

     “I wish I had known it was gonna be that good, I would have auditioned for a part. It felt like a professional musical” (Amrit 13 yrs)

     Personally I think the play was really good. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and really get into it and even join in with the singing. Also I think the production was appropriate for teenage students.

 

Interviewing with Professionl Practice designer.

We interviewed a professional production designer who had been working in theatre, film, and television since 1990.

What fascinated you in to production design?

I had always loved theatre as a child since she saw I saw my first pantomime. When I realised I had a natural ability for art, it made sense to become a theatre designer.

What sort of problems did you encounter?

It’s a very competitive industry, you have to be highly ambitious and really good skills to succeed, and also you work on a self-employed free lance basis which means you have to find your own work. You have to be disciplined with cash flow.

What qualifications did you take?

You have to have aptitude for art and design; it helps to be interested in history as well. The other qualifications are 3D design; this is the subject you have to be strongest in. I had also done a bachelors degree in theatre design, a master’s degree in Film/TV design. I had done a foundation course before the subjects. All of these took me 6 years.

How do you deal with finding work?

You have to get yourself an agent to find you work who then takes a percentage of your pay as a fee. You should also network with the people in the industry.

How much did you get paid?

The pay is very good in film and television, especially in commercial work. In commercial work, you can get over £600 a day, this is because it’s a free lance job, and you have to balance periods of unemployment.

What are the pros and cons of being a designer?

The pros for being a designer is that it’s extremely varied, you are always doing something different. It’s also extremely creative. You also get paid well when you are the head of the department, and the best thing is that you get to travel a lot.

The challenging parts of being a designer are that it’s a very high responsibility and stress; you also have to manage tight budgets and deadlines. The job is very insecure as you may not get employed for a long time. This is a very demanding job it may take over family life.

Have you ever had a bad review?

Yes actually once. This was due to a technical issue about sight lines. You have to make sure the entire audience can see the stage.

What’s it like showing your work to an audience?

It is very exciting, especially in some nights, when you sit amongst the audience and they have a positive reaction. You realise that you have a significant impact in how much the audience enjoys and understands the performance.