huiling17 Posted December 14, 2008 Share Posted December 14, 2008 Hi. I would like to find out the origin of 'german legs/side masking'. I tried looking online but was unable to find an answer... Thanks!! Hui Ling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnlinford Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 There are several classical schools of masking. IIRC "german masking" is basically a box set with doors from the side, while italian masking is the (more traditional in the UK?) series of prosc arches with borders and legs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnlinford Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 To clarify (was rather tired last night), German side masking runs upstage-downstage, perpendicular to the prosc - often venues will have hemp or counterweight bars installed to do this. Italian side masking runs across the stage, parallel to the prosc. Have had a hunt for online resources talking about this, but can't find anything masively useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huiling17 Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 Thanks all. Yup, I was curious why German legs are called German legs... :) Would be good if someone knows of its origins? ;) HL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 German Masking brings up plenty of possibles, but I suspect you need a german speaker to search theatre history in that country - it does seem to be fairly common both in Europe and the USA, but I've drawn a blank in english - some german text looks hopeful, but I can't understand much of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin.riesch Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 hi,are you talking about this? http://www.kotter-edling.de/k14.htm if not, ask me - the german. best regards,martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huiling17 Posted December 22, 2008 Author Share Posted December 22, 2008 Hi Martin, Thank you for your kind response. Unfortunately, not quite what I was asking. I would like to find out why are German legs (quoting John Linford :German side masking runs upstage-downstage, perpendicular to the prosc - often venues will have hemp or counterweight bars installed to do this") call German legs. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin.riesch Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Hi hulling17, I do not really understand "german legs / sidemasking" - can you tell it in another way?I am a student in "theater- and entertainment-engineering" in Berlin - so I will find out what you are looking for. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psychedelic Theatre Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 A couple of quick MS paint drawings to explain German and Italian legs for Martin: German legs run perpendicular to the proscenium arch (the two rectangles) The legs are the vertical lines, they'd have slits in for entrances/exits etc.http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r77/Psychedelictheatre/German.jpg Italian legs are parallel to the proscenium arch.http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r77/Psychedelictheatre/Italian.jpg Hope that makes a little more sense! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obsoperator Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 are you talking about this? http://www.kotter-edling.de/k14.htm Martin, thank you for that fascinating reference. I think we have to consider that these are very collquial, imprecise terms that may be regional or limited to a specific time period. As a comparison, when I was in school in the '70s, "Continental Scene Painting" referred to "flat on the floor", and "American" scene painting referred to "vertically on a paint frame or nailed to wall battens". But previous posts on BR indicate that there are lots of paint frames in Great Britain. Edit: typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huiling17 Posted December 25, 2008 Author Share Posted December 25, 2008 Thanks Tim! Martin, hope what Time as supplied clarifies? Merry X'mas! HL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin.riesch Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 Hi,thanks fo the drawings - but I have never seen this "construction" in german theater.The "Italian legs" are known as "scenery-alley" (very small street between two houses) in german theater-speach. They are arranged parallel to the audience but mostly a little bit diagonal to the audience (so the audience can not look into the alleys).In January I will ask my Professor of Theater-Engineering if he knows "German legs". All old theatres have scenery-alleys: Drottningholm (1766) near Stockholm in Sweden, Goethe-Theater (1805) in Bad Lauchstädt in Germany, Dresden Opera House (1749) in Germany. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huiling17 Posted December 28, 2008 Author Share Posted December 28, 2008 Martin, Thanks! Shall wait for your reply. :) HL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin.riesch Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Hi, "German Legs" in unkown here! Nobody have ever heard this. Best ragards from Berlin,Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Perhaps this is a bit like the pastries that are called "Danish Pastries" in the UK, but "Belgian Waffles" in Denmark. You probably just have a different name for the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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