Chapter 13 Scenic Design The Nature of Design

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Chapter 13 Scenic DesignThe Nature of Design

• The visual and aural elements of design provide
  an audience with an understanding of time, place,
  mood, etc.
• Scene Designer responsible for the stage set
• Costume Designer responsible for the outfits
  and accessories worn by the performers
• Lighting Designer responsible for the light /
  illumination of the stage space
• Sound Designer responsible for the aural world
  of the play and the sound system
• Designers make connections between symbols and
  ideas, creating the world of the play in which
  the performers interact. They deal with the
  practical and aesthetic concerns of the stage
  production.

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History of Stage Design

• Originally created simply by physical space for
  performance no sets
• Some special devices to create effects
• Greeks deus ex machina / periaktoi
• Medieval mansions / position of secrets
  master
• The Beginnings of Scenic Design
• The evolution of the proscenium stage
• The growth of realism as
• the predominant stage style

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Questions of Design

• Everything we encounter in real-life can be
  considered a scenic design
• The architecture of the room, the furniture, the
  color, the fabrics, the details - all work to
  create a unified whole that provides a sense of
  place, time, and mood.
• How does this translate to the stage environment?
• The designer must ask
• Questions of scale
• Performer relationship to space
• Specific choices of what inhabits the world of
  the play in regards to symbolic meaning as well
  as practical implications

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Objectives of Stage Design

• Creating an environment for the performers and
  for the performance
• Helping to set the mood and style of the
  production
• Helping to distinguish realistic from
  nonrealistic theater
• Establishing the locale and period in which the
  play takes place
• Evolving a design concept in concert with the
  director and other designers
• Where appropriate, providing a central image or
  visual metaphor for the production
• Ensuring that the scenery is coordinated with
  other production elements
• Solving practical design problems

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Aesthetics of Stage Design

• The creation of the physical space can establish
  mood, style, and meaning for the production.
• Connections between scenic design and painting
• How do we determine focus in the visual
  environment?
• What does the play call for? Sad, happy,
  frightening, etc.
• How can the environment of the play create that
  sense of emotion?

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Realism vs. Nonrealism in Design

• Realistic Theater Settings that resemble the
  real-life counterpart (Traditional Western
  theater)
• Nonrealistic Theater Uses imagination and
  symbol to evoke meaning and spatial ideas
  (Traditional Eastern performance)
• Regardless of the style, the designer must
  indicate locale, period, and a sense of the play.

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The Design Concept

• The Design Concept
• A unifying idea carried out visually
• Important when shifting the play in time and
  place allows audience to know when/where the
  story occurs (this happens most often with
  Shakespeare or Greek works)
• Establishes Central Image or Metaphor
• Provides the means to coordinate the whole design
  all the design elements
• The design concept must be unified with the
  directors concept to insure that the audience
  receives the same message in the production.

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Stage Design Theater vs. Popular Entertainment

• Crossover potentials for scenic design
• Film
• Television
• Rock Concerts
• Theme parks / Las Vegas
• Game Design
• Animation
• The lines between pure theater design and scenic
• design for other types of entertainment continue
  
• to blur and evolve.

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The Practical Side - Physical Space

• Stage design is determined by the physical space
  of performance
• The scenic designer develops a ground plan that
  lays out the location of walls, furniture, etc.
  from a birds eye view of the stage
• Space is determined differently by the types of
  stage spaces

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A Basic Ground Plan
Stage Space (4th Wall)
Audience Space
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Another Basic Ground Plan
Backstage
Stage
Audience Seating
Audience Seating
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Yet Another Basic Ground Plan
Audience Seating
Audience Seating
Stage
Audience Seating
Audience Seating
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Stage Areas
Backstage
Upstage
Up Right
Up Center
Up Left
Right Center
Center
Left Center
Offstage Left
Offstage Right
Down Right
Down Center
Down Left
Apron
Curtain Line
Downstage
Audience
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The Practical Side Materials

• Elements and terms commonly used by scenic
  designers
• Turntable v
• Wagons v
• Shifting scenery v
• Flys v
• Flats v
• Cutouts v
• Scrim v
• Screen Projections v

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The Practical Side Special Effects

• Special Effects has become more important in
  spectacle productions to allow theater to
  compete with film
• Special Effects can include
• Fog, ghosts, knives, swords, breakaway props and
  furniture, etc.
• Often special effects are created by all the
  design team working together to create a single
  effect.

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The Elements of Design

• The Six Elements of Design
• Line
• Mass and Composition
• Texture
• Color
• Rhythm
• Movement
• Designers commonly use these elements in
  discussing design choices with the rest of the
  team and the director
• A common language to communicate artistic ideas.

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Steps to Scenic Design

• Read the script
• Meet with the director to discuss ideas and
  concept
• Develop rough sketches (thumbnails)
• More meetings with the director
• Complete sketch of the design (rendering)
• Upon director approval make a 3-D scale model
  (white model vs. color model)
• Develop the ground plan and elevations
• This is a mutable process that changes with
  every director/designer relationship as well as
  different production needs!

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The Collaborative Process

• The scenic designer does not work alone in the
  theater process

Director
Stage Manager
Scenic Designer
Lighting Designer
Sound Designer
Costume Designer
Props Designer
Make-up Designer
Technical Director
Costume Shop Manager
Master Carpenter
Sound Technician
Master Electrician
Scene Shop
Running Crew

• And this is only a basic crew with no special
  effects