Help with stage designing

[niceonetrev]

Hello there.

 

right firstly, I suck at designing in the creative sense....

 

We've been given the task of designing a stage that can be used for more than one production by adding or taking away other features on the set, ie. pillars or a fire place etc..

I have to think of 4 different ideas and then pick one.

 

The set has to be based on any for the following: Musical theatre, period drama, shakespearian, abstract or industrial. It also has to fit our criteria of our stage being 8m X 8m and have a budget of £1000

 

Please someone aid me in gathering some ideas, I have no idea what set to choose or how to make it flexible.

 

When I think of something my mind turns to a white sheet.

 

.... like now.

 

Please help. Trev.

[Ynot]

We've been given the task of designing a stage that can be used for more than one production by adding or taking away other features on the set, ie. pillars or a fire place etc..

I have to think of 4 different ideas and then pick one.

Coursework project.....??

[opsprops]

Are you talking of creating practical stock scenery which can be adapted to a variety of sets and designs or is this a theoretical design exercise?

 

I can give you a breakdown of the type of stock scenery we hold which is extremely versatile and would probably come in under budget. We have over 270 separate items, but that would take a while to establish.

[niceonetrev]

Are you talking of creating practical stock scenery which can be adapted to a variety of sets and designs or is this a theoretical design exercise?

 

I can give you a breakdown of the type of stock scenery we hold which is extremely versatile and would probably come in under budget. We have over 270 separate items, but that would take a while to establish.

Yeah it is course work a theoretical thing but the best idea will get create for the college.

 

The design brief is:

Produce a generic set design for one of the following:

• A, Shakespearian
  
• B, Period Drama
  
• C, Musical Theatre
  
• D, Industrial
  
• E, Abstract
  

This design is not show specific and you must allow for as many different productions as possible to be able to be played upon it with only minor additions to set dressing to make it suitable for a specifc production. The set must also break down into component form to enable one, some or all of the scenic elements to be used for the produciton. Your design must fit onto our main stage (8m X 8m approx)and have a materials budget of no more than £1000.

 

Any ideas??

Thanks =)

[Suzette]

Can I just confirm this - you are asking the Blue Roomers to do your coursework for you????

[Just Some Bloke]

Can I suggest that maybe a little research might be in order here?

 

Maybe a trip to your local library to look for books showing set designs might be in order. Maybe even your own college might have a suitable library.

 

Then by looking at other sets for various productions, you might get some ideas of your own about what would make a good generic set.

 

If that doesn't work, try watching videos or DVDs of stage shows.

 

If that doesn't work try looking at photos of sets online (Google image search may help).

 

Whichever way you go about it, helping yourself to generate your own ideas through suitable research is always going to be better than asking others to do your coursework for you.

[paulears]

I'm guessing, but I suspect this could be the Design 1 unit which has these words as assessment criteria:

PASS

produce workable design ideas that fulfil the

brief and will communicate the basic visual

requirements.

MERIT

produce design ideas that show some insights

and imaginative design solutions in approaching

the brief.

DISTINCTION

produce creative and imaginative design ideas

that fully complement the production and show

a real understanding of the design potential of

the brief.

 

This indicates you must produce a workable design idea - with the emphasis on 'you'. It does seem that any marvellous stuff we give you actually gets you a better grade - but if you tell them you got it from us, you don't even get a PASS, as it wasn't you that did the work.

 

We don't mind looking at your ideas and telling you how good or bad they are - but you do seem to want us to do the work for you. Please note that you also need to understand what you are talking about to get more than a pass.

 

Nice try, though

[niceonetrev]

Can I suggest that maybe a little research might be in order here?

 

Maybe a trip to your local library to look for books showing set designs might be in order. Maybe even your own college might have a suitable library.

 

Then by looking at other sets for various productions, you might get some ideas of your own about what would make a good generic set.

 

If that doesn't work, try watching videos or DVDs of stage shows.

 

If that doesn't work try looking at photos of sets online (Google image search may help).

 

Whichever way you go about it, helping yourself to generate your own ideas through suitable research is always going to be better than asking others to do your coursework for you.

..oh no, im not asking for anyone to do my coursework. The design concept is only half of the C/W ive got to write up at 2000 word essay on how to construct it etc..

 

Im just asking for ideas or tips from professional stage designers. How would someone approach this task or what would be the basic/ easiest approach to designing a stage.

 

Im just trying to gather some motivation and ideas to get pencil to paper.

 

Any help is much appreciated.

[MarkPAman]

Im just asking for ideas or tips from professional stage designers. How would someone approach this task or what would be the basic/ easiest approach to designing a stage.

JSB has given you some places to start. Let us know when you have some of your own ideas.

[the kid]

Might just be me but when doing design 1, 2 years ago we didn't have to do that. (I guess they have changed)

 

What is regarded to be minor?

 

For me the down side is that it is a nonspecific show. I don't see my self as a designer but even if you are doing 3 shows with one "changeable" set you need to know what you NEED and want, for each show.

[paulears]

the rules for getting grades stay the same, but the 'how to do it' is left to the individual teacher. A 2000 word essay is just what they want, no the spec.

[Just Some Bloke]

Im just asking for ideas or tips from professional stage designers. How would someone approach this task

 

Research. :P

[dave singleton]

Surely thats what he's doing though?! He's researching by asking pro's how they would approach the situation and not to do it for him.

 

Might just be me but when doing design 1, 2 years ago we didn't have to do that. (I guess they have changed)

 

Same here! Then again I see what paulears' saying. We did a similar project to this but it wasn't main coursework, just a one day exercise type thing.

 

I would start by having a flick through companies offering stage sets for hire (normally have loads of pics). For example SLX Set hire. Also have a look at the "Show Your Show" thread, there's some great basic set's in there. Take ideas down on paper and compare similarities and find usable ideas.

 

If your like me you may have many ideas for one show and a big FA for the next. If you need some inspiration from a real pro and really want to understand what kind of process major set designers go through to make there Set's a reality then I suggest you look through Mark Fishers website. It shows how his mind is put onto paper and what processes he goes through to make things work.

 

By all means take ideas from others, use certain features if you like them but do not copy completely and defiantly make sure you justify everything you put in. If you cant explain a reason for putting something somewhere (or rather don't bother to) it will be seen you don't understand the brief. You really must make it clear say "the movable Victorian style lamp post exists in this section of the design because the character Oliver has to swing on it" Etc etc!

 

 

Good luck with the project. I no how annoying it is to try and make something like this really work for your marks if its not really your forte. I had trouble because all I was interested in at the time was movers, experience soon changed that! :P

[niceonetrev]

Now thats the kind of stuff im looking for, thank you so much on that ill chase up those links and take it from there. Ill let you know how I get on.

 

Thank you to all those who posted, much appreiciated.

 

Trev.

[andy_s]

Surely thats what he's doing though?! He's researching by asking pro's how they would approach the situation and not to do it for him.

I understood JSB to be suggesting that professional designers approach a situation by researching the needs of a particular show - it might be by researching the period the play is set in, researching a style of performance they and the director are interested in, (eg shakespeare "kabuki" style)researching particular artistic movements - eg lets create a "surrealist" environment, or an "impressionist" one - or a whole host of other areas to be researched.

 

I have to say I don't think much of a syllabus that sets this type of assignment as I'd question its relevance to current professional practice. - I don't think many professional designers these days work from a kit of stock parts any more. I can think of a "season" design concept for shows at Chichester or ENO in recent years where a design has been specifically created to be adaptable for each show in the season, and there are obvious advantges in cost, time saving etc, but generally I'd say the demise of the resident designer and the rise of the freelance designer has meant that designing from stock has largely fallen out of favour. One person's "useful stock" might be only good for another's trashcan.