study party!

Hey-o!!!!

shindig/study party at my house this friday at around 7ish!

bring food, beverage, and movies! (edgar may bring pineapple express) or if we find midsummer nights rave, that would be cool too. 

study first, party later! 

i live at 222 mora st. its a 15 minute walk from the metro station. get to the metro, walk towards the clock tower. go down river and then turn left onto Mora. its across from cost plus i think. 

my number is 415 823 0411 if you get lost. 

you are welcome to bring friends from class if they would like to study too. 

hope to see ya'll there! (here...) 

btw: fucking awesome job at the live design today! :D 

Music for the Live Design

Here's everything.

Order:

- Mortals Intro, Chase (Harpsichord)
- Pause (Harpsichord 2)
- Finish Chase (Yakety Sax)
- Puck and the Fairies (Danse Arabe)
- Mortals Awake (Spanish Caravan)
- Fight! (Battle Music!/Firestarter 0:00-~1:53)
- Fairy Dance (Battle Music 2: Electric Boogaloo! ~2:00-5:00)
- Puck Makes Amends (Chinese Dance)
- Mortals Awake 2 (Spanish Caravan 2)
- If We Shadows

puck speech

423 If we shadows have offended, 
424         Think but this, and all is mended, 
425         That you have but slumber'd here 
426         While these visions did appear. 
427         And this weak and idle theme, 
428         No more yielding but a dream, 
429         Gentles, do not reprehend: 
430         if you pardon, we will mend: 
431         And, as I am an honest Puck, 
432         If we have unearned luck 
433         Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue, 
434         We will make amends ere long; 
435         Else the Puck a liar call; 
436         So, good night unto you all. 
437         Give me your hands, if we be friends, 
438         And Robin shall restore amends.

there it is, take what you want! 

"The Stage is a Dangerous Machine" by Arnold Aronson

- George Tsypin is the primary figure of postmodern stage design
- Fascination with steel, "'a material capable of sleek beauty and strength,'"
- Element of danger in stage designs, either implied or actual physical danger
- Not concerned with theatrical conventions or tradition when it comes to designing
- His juxtaposition of new and old themes in his designs defines the movement he is associated with
- uses these modern themes in juxtaposition because he believes artistic interpretation reflects our sensibilities
- Transformable sets are important to his work, influenced by David Mitchell
- Sense of scale enhanced by use of vertical space, often suspending elaborate designs well above the main stage
- Constructs sculptures before designing sets
- Creates these sculptures as a sort of monument to a show, unique in that most designers do not keep records of their work
- Intends to have sets be able to stand on their own as art in addition to functioning architecturally
- Act of mechanical drawing very important to his process, views it as an artistic endeavor and essential in creating a beautiful stage
- In his design of Wagner's opera "the Ring of the Nibelungs" he created a stage design he describes as "antitheatrical", where stage and audience were not separated but interconnected.

????

Who took the evaluation at the end of class yesterday? I know I handed it off to Eli and I don't think I ever got it back...

So whoever has it has the list of the last readings we are waiting to have up... 

Basic outline for Live Performance!!!!

mmkay, so we didnt get to go through the entire stumble through of our performance, so here is the basic outline. please make comments or leave new ideas we can use!

REMEMBER: MEETING 9PM MONDAY THE 1ST AT STEVENSON REC ROOM! that is where we will be putting it all together. you MUST be there! 

mortals enter

edgar and allison from down L. enter cutely, have a picnic

Konstantin screams and sez line. he and  i enter from up R run across stage

we re-enter in audience, run around theater, com back on stage 

all go to sleep as "rocks" facing upstage

Puc enters

enter from close to stage in audience

does unhuman dance and sprinkles potion on mortals

when done, sit on edgar

while puc is doing his business, fairies move towards stage taking their time 

crawl around chairs, over chairs, have fun!

eli will choreograph fairy dance

with upside-down stuff, possibly west side story status with oberon vs titania?

fairies turn into trees, oberon and titania down R and L creating semi-circle around mortals

using levels!

mortals wake up

confusion!!!!

sword fight choreographed by Z

somehow resolved (?)

everyone is happy!

sneer at puc

thats what i got. comments much appreciated. 

Notes for directors and designers. is there a different direction by Pamela Howard

designer and director are merging to become a single unique creator of text and vision.

in the 20th century there is a move out of playhouses and into new spaces which results in a look at architecture 

designer/director relationship has conflicts

director believes it is a wonderful relationship

"life of sweetness and light, ideas flowing freely"

designer is described as an agreeable wife: "supportive, cooperative, good with money, decorative, and passed over."

the author discusses designer/directors, like Philip Prowse

he worked with Giles Havergal and Robert David Macdonald

they only wanted to do plays that they were passionate about and the passion would communicate directly to the audience

prowse worked on own visual language . had a team of interpreters who worked with constant elements

architect and theater maker Appia "creation" means synthesis of space, light, and performance achieved by personal vision

out of necessity the stage director was born - he financed and planned productions. worked with specific designer

designers and visual artists could not choose plays they wanted to do or hire directors they wanted to work with 

essay ends with the statement that we should end the master/ servant relationship

“Richard Foreman as Scenographer” By Arnold Aronson

· Text, character, language, sound, space, thought, and décor intertwined to create visual production
· Audience inspired by wonder and thrill resulting from intricacy
· Points of focus debatable but equal engagement for entire audience
· Theater vs. stage – sets overpower actors
· Incorporates framing – objects vs. actors and audience vs. stage
· Sets incredibly unique – “rough around the edges” (Victorian-like) and not industrial
· Uniform color scheme plays with lighting, which plays with mood
· Homey comfort provokes eroticism?
· Strings represent connection – connect stage and even audience, one “embodiment”
· Lines everyday occurrence and visual – power to frame, focus, or disrupt
· Stage: empty vs. dense (black dots)
· Projects reflections of text (reverberation) and it hits audience, evoking personal response
· INTERACTION

“Scenography as a Machine” By Christopher Baugh

· What should stage look like?
· Surreal nature: real actors vs. unreal stage
· What is the significance of the stage’s location in the show? Location vs. scene
· Where do props come in and why?
· Scene metaphor for machine – scenography
· Early twentieth century idea
· Edward Gordon Craig (1872-1966):
1. Published several works – book Scene (1923) and volume of essays On the Art of Theatre (1911)
2. Public controversy – puppets instead of people
3. Rejected traditional ideas and adopted mechanical reality
4. Patented work (1910)
5. Screens “moved” with actors – modern approach
6. Screens = space
7. Hamlet for Moscow Art Theatre
8. Stanislavski disagreed but, in turn, praised – claimed primitive design and “rough around the edges” techniques, although derived clear aesthetic feel
9. Technology limits – audience fills gap
· Adolphe Appia:
1. Reformed Wagner – scenographic
2. “Machine” controls action – scene = tool used to accomplish
3. “Rougher around the edges” than Craig because lighting not available – drawings provided
4. Stage not image, symbol of ideas and qualities
5. Worked with Emile Jacques Dalcroze, who hadn’t worked theatrically but stressed effect of performance (scenography)
6. Physical movements corresponded to music - generated consciousness and societal impact (Eurhythmics)
7. Began experimental theater – projects specified by space
8. Revelation for audience because beyond the norm and required interaction – brightly lit
9. Craig and Appia became architects of power of lighting
· Scenography created tension between performance and stage (live)

"Can Theater and Media Speak The Same Language?" Notes

hey guys, here are the notes for "Can Theater and Media Speak the Same Language?"

Can Theater and Media Speak the Same Language?

- Aristotle- “That spectacle is the least artistic aspect of theater"

- Technology is not helpful to stenography, “unless its intent is specifically to create a sense of dislocation and disjunction, or to draw upon the cultural signification of film and video in our media saturated age”

-       Theater is the only medium that is directly possible to be what is trying to be. Different from photography which is an image of something in the past- the theater allows the actors, sets, and props to imitate things that are outside where they are while still being a 3 dimensional space.

-       The inability to project images to “fit” the stage creates a disconnect between real time and stage time- makes it impossible for the audience to bring the two together.

-       The eye loses its ability as an information perceiver

o      The change in time/ space because of the contrast between the current reality of the stage and the past reality of the photo

-       There is a disconnect between film and the stage because film works by overwhelming our senses to become the complete reality before us, When is projected onto a stage, or rather onto a wall of the stage it becomes only a part of the combined reality with the actors- thus losing its ability to move people.

-       The stage represents a possibility of infinite location- by using a still image (we people already know is a captures shot of a larger place or event) it limits the possibilities of the setting and opportunities of the stage.

-       There are times when media can be used in theater- specifically when it is being used as a means of disorienting the audience. There are examples- Wooster group, Collapsible Giraffe, and Radio Hole all use media as a means of throwing the audience off balance. 

Behind the screen door reading

here are some notes/ thought provoking passages

the writer's thesis breaks down into 3 different things. how did the door create tragedy?
in sitcoms why is the door always unlocked? and are the doors we see in on TV the stage different than the doors we see on stage?
according to him the door evolved tragedy because "the door hides; and the door reveals" Agamemnon's screams would not have been hidden and the surprise of him erupting through the door would not have provided the intended sympathetic audience reaction.
The door in a sitcom is unlocked because it allows for the miscreants to come and go at free will providing an unblocked way to add conflict in the story.
there is a difference between the door of tv and the door of tragedy "On stage, a door is a sign of the liminal, the unknown, the potential, the terrifying, the endless. On screen, a door is a sighn of a door."


"what is theater, after all, if not a series of exits and entrances?"

"theater functions as a kind of collective dream for the society . It is the door into the soul of humankind."

"The door is a threshold, a liminal space that marks a boundary between two spaces yet belongs to neither"

"A passage between two spaces- two world- that the door signifies is a dangerous one."

the 14 art commands as said by Guillermo Gomez Peña

pretty cool stuff. possibly something to consider for our live design?


http://www.pochanostra.com/art_commands/

Even more costumes

Hey,
Here are the collages that I did for the costumes as well as the color palettes. Just thought they ought to be up here too.


I think the presentation went really well today! I can't wait to get the other two done with, we're going to start talking about the live design tomorrow at our usual meeting so I hope to see many of you there!

~Duckie Leitner

some more costume sketches

Hey there guys, So here are a few more idea's we had for costumes.  Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia, and Helena. some more detailed sketches for the fairies, and Oberon and Titania. 

We decided that the cyber-goth would be appropriate for Oberon and his people, while Titania would be a cross between raver and cyber-goth. Her fairies however, would be the epitome of PLUR...

:)

Light in the museum exhibit

So Edgar, myself, and a few other students got together and helped Melanie with her exhibit way back when and i have finally gotten around to posting the images.

Working on the Stage Design

So we decided today that we will be working from 2-5 in the Greenroom at Theater Arts on Monday. If we are not there we will be in the drafting studio (i think thats right). 

You don't have to stay the whole time, just come for as long as you can. We do have to present the next day so it would probably help if everyone had an idea of what we were putting up there. 

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN PICS!!!!

hey again! 

So here are some rough sketches I came up with for the fairies. We had talked about having the fairies wearing less and less clothing the more important they were, but in some way keeping the sensual fairy thing going on. SO! 

I did 3 phases of costumes... 3 levels of importance. All across the board they would have spandex type material covering bust and butt (lets have a little decency) and the color can be different on all of them or mix and match (good fun). So in order to clothe the lower level fairies it would consist of chiffon wraps- a wrap for the top and a wrap for the bottom. It would be easiest to do a wrap because it still allows mobility for the dancers. Chiffon is perfect because it still allows the color to show through, and like Z says... people want to see have naked fairies dancing around...

just some ideas. 

As for other people to costume for... Just the main for people

Lysander

Demetrius

Helena

Hermia

On a side note...

So in the midst of all this theater design work I thought I might post something completely off topic. I do a fair amount of 3D-Computer Image work with an open source program called Blender. I am currently working on an industrial landscape project and below is the model of a water tower that will be central to the landscape. It is a full 3D model (untextured) that I've been working on for a while and am quite happy with the way it turned out.

comments and criticism welcome!
~Duckie