designs

Stage Directing Theory

Featured Pages: Film Directing

Meyerhold @ Work * film directing * Spring 2003 Don Juan (I direct and will use the webpages in class, in addition to Hamlet); check Biomechanics (Acting II) * Brecht Theatre * diggo [ new ]

Meyer sum

Summary

1. First impressions: notes of reactions to play on initial reading, including images, colors, etc.

2. Research: Summarize the most important insights you have gained from your research into your play. Discuss specifically how your research findings will influence your interpretation and/or production of the play. List sources consulted (in bibliographic form).

3. One-sentence statement of action (root action/significant action).

4. Structural Analysis: identify and briefly discuss inciting incident, each major complication (in order), major crisis (turning point), major structural climax, major emotional climax, resolution. Give enough detail in your analysis so that the reader can identify the point in the play that you are talking about and why you consider this the inciting incident, etc. For complications, note the effect of the complication on the action.

5. Brief discussion of theme. State theme clearly and support your choice of theme with evidence from the play.

6. Brief discussion of style of the play. What choices are you making about style for your production? Why?

7. Spine of the play--identify and discuss briefly.

8. Character Analysis--Biography.

9. Motivational Units: Break your scene into motivational units and number/name the units. Present this portion of the analysis in promptbook format, with starting and ending points of each unit marked; unit analysis should be on page facing page of text.

10. Discuss any particular directorial problems posed by the play and the scene.

NOTES: biblio, references & ect.

Questions

Evaluation of Directing:
Play/Production: _______
Theatre/Company:
Dates:
Director's Name:

Interpretation/Concept:

Visual Elements:

Aesthetics:

Ensemble:

Acting:

Supporting Actors & Characters:

Evaluating the Designs:

Notes

meyerhord.us

Most directors work from inside out and from the outside in. They concentrate not only on the life of the characters but also on the play's structrual or external elements, including its central conflict, function, event, architecture, and suspense. Michael Bloom

stage designers

Henning Nelms� �Scene Design: A Guide to the Stage� (Dover Publications, ISBN 0-486-23153-4). Though written by a Canadian, most of the terminology is familiar. It�s definitely for students starting with little or no background, and it lists for $8.95.

Harvey Sweet "Graphics for the Performing Arts and The Complete Book of Drawing for the Theatre" [out of print].

Elements of Art:
Line
Depth
Shape
Pattern and Repetition
Texture
Composition - Rule of Thirds
Color (value)

Stage designers are responsible for designing stage settings for productions, from single scene dramas where the action takes place in one room, to complex scenery and scene changes required by major productions. They may also become involved in costume design.
Considerable research may be necessary before work can start, especially if a particular period or country is portrayed. Designers produce models for approval by the director of the production. Models are frequently used to demonstrate the setting of a stage or a location, and designers are often skilled in modelling; or they employ assistants to make them.

stage lighting design and stage set design @ amazon *

Planning the production

The Director and Designer work on the style and period in which the production is set. Once the decisions have been made, the model box is produced and presented to the Production Manager and the various workshop and wardrobe departments.

The model box is a three dimensional miniature version of the set with all scenery and props scaled down on a scale of 1:25. The model acts as a tool to help everybody create the vision of the director and designer on stage. It is a main point of reference when building the set and the props.

The set

The Construction Manager and drawing office provide detailed drawings of how the set should be built. Each set may be required to play in many different venues and must be capable of being taken off stage quickly to change over to a different production the following day.

Every item of scenery has detailed construction drawings produced on Computer Aided Design (CAD). The plans are then handed to the scenic workshop and Paintshop and props team.

Props

A prop may be a hand prop, furniture or small items, which may be man-handled. These can range from huge casts for tall statues to a bunch of flowers or a letter. Attention to detail is crucial and reference books are constantly in use to ensure accuracy to a particular period.

The costumes

In collaboration with the Costume Department the Costume Supervisor and Designer decide on the best way to create the costumes. This may include the shoes, hats, armour, underwear, jewellery, buying the fabrics, booking the costume makers and setting up the costume fittings.

To create a particular period feel or a design with a particular colour scheme, neutral fabrics often arrive direct from the factory to be treated by the Dyeing Department. Fifty percent of costumes are broken down in some way to look worn or to show general wear and tear. Common tools of the trade for the department include a cheese grater, sandpaper, Stanley knives, a blow-torch, emulsion-based paints and fabric paints.

At the beginning of rehearsals all the actor�s measurements are taken. The Men�s and Ladies� costume departments work closely with the designer to discover the best way to interpret a costume. The Armoury and Boot Department make, recycle or adapt boots and shoes for a production. The Hats and Millinery team create a particular look using felts and straw, wire, buckram, plastics and veils.

RSC

You should discuss your design concept with the design team and visit the venue with as many of the team as possible. This must be done early to allow time for the design process (you may wish to begin even before the play is cast), and to allow time to clarify ideas as the early rehearsals begin. Please try to avoid burdening yourself with the additional pressure of late decisions regarding the design. The designers will need to produce a design, to identify difficulties, safety issues or unusual expenses involved with your production. The design meetings need to be held far enough in advance of the budget production meeting that a designs/models/ideas etc. can be brought to budget meeting. Also, the earlier you get a floor plan, the less reblocking you will need to do when you find out what it really looks like� Where the set is concerned, please, both of you try to be realistic, taking into account the budget, the time to build the set and the limitations of the venue. Don�t forget to provide time for costume fittings in your rehearsal period. If possible, get a sound tape made on cassette and use as early as possible in rehearsals.

You may need other production meetings with your design team to keep things on track, so keep time available for this. You will also need to discuss well in advance with your stage manager, set designer, lighting designer and sound just how the final rehearsals will run - in our hired venues time is very precious, so must not be wasted. If you are directing a musical you will need additional time, resources and personnel. Please see the section on musicals in this document.

Stage Design powerpoint *

Godot.06 UAF main stage *

Script Analysis

Theatre Books Master Page *

books?

Meyerhold and His Set Designers by Marjorie L. Hoover; Peter Lang, 1988

Design for the Stage: First Steps by Darwin Reid Payne; Southern Illinois University Press, 1974

- Part 1: the Scene Designer - 2. the Designer's Role in the Production Plan - 3. the Designer and the Playwright - 4. the Designer and the Director - 5. the Designer and the Physical Stage - 6. the Designer's Areas of Influence - 7. "The Art of the Theatre: the First Dialogue" - 8. "The Building or the Theatre" - Suggested Reading
- Part 2: Creative Research - 9. the Nature of Research - 10. External Research - 11. Internal Research - 12. Historical Accuracy - 13. Research into Designs - 14. the Designer's Library - 15. a Filing System for the Scene Designer - 16. "Stage Design for the Epic Theatre: an Evaluation of Caspar Neher"
- Part 3: from Text to Designs - 17. a Note: an Explanation Concerning Explanations - 18. from Text to Designs - 19. Reading the Script: Some Initial Considerations - 20. Environment: Creating a Living Atmosphere for the Actor - 21. the Overview: Madame Butterfly - 22. Research into Action: Romeo and Juliet - 23. Detailed Analysis of the Script: the Church Scene in Faust - 24. the Design Concept on the Stage: the Glass Menagerie - 25. a Note on the Progress of Scene Design During the Past Decade - 26. the Scene Design as a Physical Embodiment of Abstract Qualities: the Caretaker - 27. on Being Upstaged by Scenery

A Method of Lighting the Stage by Stanley McCandless; Theatre Arts Books, 1958

[ dramaturg pages ]

Theatrical Design in the Twentieth Century: An Index to Photographic Reproductions of Scenic Designs by W. Patrick Atkinson; Greenwood Press, 1996

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