KRISTA D. PRICE
Stagecraft: Week 12 - VIRTUAL
(November 16-20, 2020)
Important terms/concepts/info are in RED.
Google Classroom assignments are in BLUE.
This week's unit is focused on:
PROCESS OF (SCENIC) DESIGN: WHERE TO "START"
In our next unit in Stagecraft, we will be learning about THE PROCESS OF DESIGN.
Almost everything created for art or commercial use has gone through a design process. However, many non-artistic people assume that artists simply have a "flash" of inspiration or "just come up with" ideas because they're creative. While I wish that was true, that is RARELY the case. Great ideas and inspiration are typically the culminating results of curiosity, research, and artistic collaboration.
In our next unit, we're going to explore the design process by talking about one of the most important aspects of design in a show: the set. The set in a production can do FAR more than show location. Since the scenery in stage shows (unlike most films) does not have to be LITERAL, the space in which the story is told can be FIGURATIVE, metaphorical, representational, abstract, poetic, and/or uniquely enhanced to get at the "heart" of the show's meaning or characters.
For me, one of the most FUN aspects of deciding how to stage a play/musical (and its characters) is designing the set that will become the "world" in which the story is told. This unit is focused on that process.
This week's self-directed learning (to be completed by class on 11/20):
1. Read ALL of the information written above for understanding of our next unit - what we'll be learning and why. Then complete the following learning tasks in order.
2. Choose your INDIVIDUAL focus for the week and write it in your REFLECTION Journal in Google Classroom under Week 12.
3. Watch: Scenic Design video (above). (You only need to watch 4:00-11:05.)
Google Classroom Reflection Journal
Title: Scenic Design (week 12 - day 1)
1.) What does the set "do" in theatre? (at beginning of video)
2.) Before designing a set, with whom should the designer speak? (About what?)
3.) From where could designers get "inspiration" for their designs? (as shared in the video)
4.) Why are models important?
4. Watch: KP Teaching Video - Design Process & Literal vs. Figurative Design (5:00)
Google Classroom Reflection Journal
Title: Steps in the Design Process (week 12 - day 1)
1.) List the steps (in order) of the Design Process
2.) What types of things are designers looking for when reading a script and where (specifically) do they find it?
3.) Set design often begins with a show's what?
4.) Which of the nine set designs shown in the video did you find most intriguing and why? (You'll need to pause the video on your favorite to be able to analyze the design.)
5. Do: SCENIC DESIGN EXPLORATION (Google Classroom Assignment - complete AFTER the above items)
1.) Go online and Google various scenic designs (for the stage). Find ones that "move" you when you see them. Do you find yourself being drawn to more literal designs or more figurative / metaphorical / representational / abstract / poetic designs? What do certain designs make you "feel"?
2.) Once you've found your "top 10" scenic design photos, put them in the Slideshow Assignment on Google Classroom (follow directions given on the second slide).
Advice from Price: How can/should you find "good" scenic design photos?
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Just Google! Image search with key words like "set design", "scenic design", "lighting design", etc.
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If there's a show you're curious about or love, you could search by title of that show & "set/scenic design"
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Have fun exploring!
6. Watch: Designing a Set (3:35)
Google Classroom Reflection Journal
Title: Process of Design (week 12 - day 2)
1.) What do you need to be a scenic designer? (awareness of space...)
2.) What did the designer share is the PROCESS of designing a set? (talk to...)
3.) What does the designer say "informs the character and what kind of person they are"? the ________
4.) What advice did she give to future designers?
Write this phrase: "There's no such thing as an original idea - it's all an amalgamation of your ________."
7. Watch: Designing Broadway: Tony Winner Bunny Christie (5:13)
Google Classroom Reflection Journal
Title: Research/Inspiration in Design (Curious Incident) (week 12 - day 2)
1.) What did this designer look at when she was "coming up" with ideas for her design?
2.) What "feel" did she want the scenic elements to have?
3.) What are the benefits of NOT thinking about sets on stage as literal realistic spaces?
8. Do: Literal vs. Figurative Design - Designing...ME! (Google Classroom Assignment)
1.) Identify a space in your home that LITERALLY represents YOU. Think in terms of "if a play was written about me", what is a space that might be included in the set that not only shows the setting, but also reflects things about ME as a "character".
2.) Identify a space/object/environment that FIGURATIVELY represents YOU. Think of the CHARACTERISTICS that define WHO you are at your core or something deeper about you, and look for those elements in the physical world around you.
3.) Once you've found both LITERAL and FIGURATIVE representations of YOU, take photos of those places/spaces, and complete the assignment in Google Classroom: Literal vs. Figurative: Designing ME!
4.) For an example (from Ms. Price's own life), click HERE.
9. Reflect (after Friday's Zoom class) on your INDIVIDUAL focus for the week and write about it in your Process Journal in Google Classroom under Week 12 (end-of-week reflection)
This week's ZOOM classes:
Day 1: Tuesday, November 17 @ 12:50 (quick check-in - REQUIRED)
Day 2: Friday, November 20 @ 10:40 (be ready to share the assignments listed below with your teacher/peers)
1.) Scenic Design Research (see description above - #5)
2.) Literal vs. Figurative Design - Designing...ME! (see description above - #8)
Where will we go from here?
After learning about the Design Process, and aspects of scenic design, you will read a script and design your own set for a musical!
