Autumn leaves

[kayjaybee]

I'm trying to find some autumn leaves for set dressing.

 

The budget is pretty much nil, but could go up to £10 if I had to.

 

I've got some red ones thanks to a small Photinia Fraseri 'Red Robin' in my garden http://www.gardensandplants.com/images/plants/Photinia%20x%20fraseri%20Red%20Robin.jpg

 

and I've got some dry green ones (thanks to scavenging in the woods and a low oven)

 

But I've probably not got enough to for the full run of the show as the intention is they will get walked on (so will get crushed) and thrown around a bit, so some will need to be replaced for each performance.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Also this brings me to another question....should the cast be walking on them or is this a H&S risk due to the risk of slipping?

 

(I noticed dry leaves are being used in the current production of Cardenio at the RSC but they were just placed around the edge of the stage and they werent' really walked on)

 

Thanks

 

KayJayBee

[TomG]

I have about 2 tons of leaves at various rotting stages in my garden compost bin, if your anywhere near the south of london, and have your own bags, im sure u would be able to take / find some that you would like. The most recent lot were collected this autumn.

[musht]

fabric cut?

 

http://www.rapidonline.com/productinfo.aspx?tier1URL=Educational-Products&tier2URL=Art-Craft&tier3URL=Design-Accessories&tier4URL=Artificial-leaves&moduleno=79966&kw=leaves

[TomHoward]

Why not talk to the grounds dept at your university? Our grounds guys must clear tons of leaves every day - although it's not exactly the time of year for it they may have something.

[Ynot]

To answer the H & S question...

 

ANY question of safety is down to a full and sensible risk assessment. If you say that the leaves will be walked on, no planned running or dancing, then the risk will be very low, and the severity of any projected incident related injury medium at worst. So That would mean a pretty secure RA decision.

 

However, if there's dancing etc on the space, then the likelihood increases, as does the severity of any resulting injury - so you either change the floor covering or accept the increased risk if you can judge it to be within acceptable limits after rehearsing the cast on the leaves etc.

 

 

[kerry davies]

I feel incredibly silly and old writing this but; leafy break-up gobo and what we used to call "acting"? A couple of suitably decayed branches DSR and DSL to give a clue? Suspension of disbelief?

 

I don't know but it has to be better than dipping into Tom's compost heap. His hedgehogs would only get upset.

[Jivemaster]

http://www.props4shows.co.uk/woodland_props/autumn_mottled_leaves_pk72/26600_p.html

http://www.props4shows.co.uk/sprays_and_tendrils/scatter_leaves_10cm_pk72_asstd/23723_p.html

 

And NO I don't work there!

[Matthew Robinson]

I feel incredibly silly and old writing this but; leafy break-up gobo and what we used to call "acting"? A couple of suitably decayed branches DSR and DSL to give a clue? Suspension of disbelief?

 

Aren't leafy break-up gobos more suited to giving the impression that there are leaves on trees that the acting is happening under? Eg, a park in summer, rather than bare trees with leaves on the ground?

[kerry davies]

Yes, Matthew, that is the convention. The trouble is I grew up through the sixties so anything conventional becomes a challenge to be avoided and subverted rather than rigidly followed. If gelled projections are back/side lit it works like a painted floor cloth.

 

The wider context is that I see umpteen threads on BR where technicians are spending far too long reproducing reality rather than creating an atmosphere representing that reality. Creativity seems to take a back seat to literality (if there is such a word) and I find that sad and disempowering.

My opinion only and please disagree violently, there is a debate to be held about whether we should be creatively representative or accurately reproductive.

[TomG]

I feel incredibly silly and old writing this but; leafy break-up gobo and what we used to call "acting"? A couple of suitably decayed branches DSR and DSL to give a clue? Suspension of disbelief?

 

I don't know but it has to be better than dipping into Tom's compost heap. His hedgehogs would only get upset.

 

I'm sure the hedgehogs wouldn't mind :P but on a more serious note the leaf breakup gobo is a good, easy ,no H and S implications (in-relation to slips and trips :P) idea.

[Matthew Robinson]

Yes, Matthew, that is the convention. The trouble is I grew up through the sixties so anything conventional becomes a challenge to be avoided and subverted rather than rigidly followed. If gelled projections are back/side lit it works like a painted floor cloth.

 

The wider context is that I see umpteen threads on BR where technicians are spending far too long reproducing reality rather than creating an atmosphere representing that reality. Creativity seems to take a back seat to literality (if there is such a word) and I find that sad and disempowering.

My opinion only and please disagree violently, there is a debate to be held about whether we should be creatively representative or accurately reproductive.

 

True, I hadn't thought about that way of doing it. I've forgotten that gobos can project an image recently, spent too much time crewing live events where gobos are used to break up a beam...

[mark_s]

The wider context is that I see umpteen threads on BR where technicians are spending far too long reproducing reality rather than creating an atmosphere representing that reality. Creativity seems to take a back seat to literality (if there is such a word) and I find that sad and disempowering.

 

I can't disagree with that sentiment strongly enough - surely it depends on the context, and on what our set designer's vision is? Maybe the leaves will be manipulated at some point? Maybe the sound of crunching from walking on dry autumn leaves is important to the production? Obviously only the OP can answer, but I can think of many reasons why he might want actual leaves rather than some lighting-based imitation.

 

Realism has its place alongside more 'creative' approaches, and it depends entirely on the production which is most appropriate. Designers in the past have gone to painstaking lengths to be as realistic as possible (banks of beamlights behind a window to recreate sunlight through the window for example, instead of merely sticking a window gobo in a profile and being done with it) - surely you wouldn't accuse their work of being 'sad and disempowering'?

 

I'm not having a go, I just want to provoke meaningful discussion :)

[J Pearce]

A lecturer at my Uni was very fond of the phrase 'engineering perceptions'. Id apply that in this circumstance as - we don't need to create a virtual reality, just enough for the audience to perceive a virtual reality.

 

Stylistically this could take any number of approaches, depending on the desired effect. The crux of it is that we need to communicate with the audience. The audience know they are in a theatre, they're willing to participate in this game called suspense of disbelief and we need to engineer their perceptions to communicate mood, location, time, whatever it is we are trying to get across.

[kayjaybee]

Thanks for all the replies and the interesting discussion it provoked.

 

I've managed to get some from the ground which although not exactly autumnal oranges & red, they are dry and crunchy and not bright spring green.

 

I had found the link to the fabric leaves but they aren't within budget sadly.

 

As someone else mentioned, I am sourcing the leaves as this is what the director has asked for. I'm not sure at this stage if a break up gobo will be used as well, but I do know that the leaves will be kicked at one stage.

 

All I can do is take what I've got back to the Director to see what he says...there is of course, always the chance, that he'll change his mind....:)

 

Thanks again