Back of the flat:
Front of the flat:
Painting the flat with base layer:
Finished painting the base layer:
Costumes are essential for any theatrical production. The costume designer is responsible for creating the costume “look” of the show. Working closely with the Director and scenic designer, the Costume Designer uses their knowledge, skills, and experience to bring the Director’s vision to life.
Costumes refer to anything worn by an actor on stage. Shoes, pants, shirts, dresses, hats, socks, and even underwear. Make-up and hair, while part of the overall design, may sometimes be considered a different discipline.
TEN FACTORS OF COSTUME DESIGN
Lighting design: The concept that a designer creates to provide light onstage to support the mood or atmosphere of the play.
Light plot: The map that shows where all of your lighting instruments are placed on stage and where they will be lighting.
Lighting grid: Up above the stage, it is the system of bars and electricity that power the lights.
Lighting board: The control panel that powers the lights; when they turn on and off and at what intensity.
Cyclorama: The large white “sheet” at the back of the stage that can be lit or projected on.
Backlight: Lighting from the back.
Sidelight: Lighting from the side.
Top light: Lighting from above.
Front light: Lighting from the front.
Footlight: Lighting that is placed on the floor in the front.
Spotlight: A single source of light focused on a single subject.
Fill light: Lighting source that adds lighting in and around the set/scenery/stage.
Wash: A large group of lighting that can “wash” the stage in light that you bring up at once together.
Lighting angle: The angle of the lighting instrument in relation to the subject; usually 45%.
Gobo (or patter): A pattern (in the olden days it was a circle of metal) that blocks light to give you a shape onstage.
Gel (or color gel): The color that you want the instrument to throw onstage (or light onstage).
WHO AM I: Pippa Vanderway
WHAT TIME IS IT: Summer night-time, most likely a summer holiday.
WHERE AM I: A campsite at an old summer camp that has been closed for years after “accident.”
WHAT SURROUNDS ME: Woods, trees, camping gears. Sarcastic, egotistical, narcissistic, and sassy teenagers. And soon to be dead bodies of teenagers who Pippa killed accidentally.
GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES/RELATIONSHIPS: Pippa’s father left the family when Pippa was young, leaving Pippa with her mother, who loved breakfast cereal (especially corn flakes). Pippa’s mother died the morning of the day the play is occurring, leaving her daughter a letter and a gurgly sentence that Pippa assumed to be a wish for her daughter to become a horror movie-style serial killer. Hence Pippa set out a goal to fulfill her mother’s death bed wish and came to murder teenagers with her bedazzled machete. However, Pippa fails at purposely killing her victims. Instead, three teenagers die accidentally during their interaction with Pippa.
WHAT DO I WANT: To impress and not fail mother, also to fulfill her deathbed wish by becoming a horror movie-style serial killer.
WHAT IS IN MY WAY: Pippa’s clumsiness, accidentally causing people to die and Pippa’s inability to intentionally and purposefully kill people horror movie style.
WHAT DO I DO TO GET WHAT I WANT: Marvin and Sasha attempted to teach Pippa how to kill people like a horror movie serial killer. Pippa read the letter that her mother gave her and realizes she does not want her to become a serial killer.
PROPS: Bedazzled machete, stick, letter
Constantine Stanislavski was born in Moscow, Russia in 1863 (died 1938). He was an actor and eventually moved on to become a director and teacher. He developed a new approach to acting. It took him years of experimenting to get to what is now known as the Stanislavski System. Most acting that we see now has its roots in the Stanislavski system. Before the invention of the Stanislavski System, acting looked more like a comedy play on stage. Melodrama asks actors to practice the movements, gestures, and voices to create the characters = Outside to the inside. Stan “the man” wanted actors to work on characters from the inside and thus create more of a “true” or “real” (ie. not artificial) performance.
Concentration: learning to think like an actor and to respond to one’s own imagination
My definition of my first theater experience is the first time I ever stepped on a stage and performed in front of an audience.
It happened in my last year of elementary school. I have just transferred from a Chinese local school to the first international community I’ve ever known, The British School of Beijing, Shunyi. As a born introvert who has never spoken English in conversations or classes, I was extremely self-conscious and nervous. In my memory, Chinese local schools barely had any drama clubs or theatrical plays. The only shows at school assemblies were collective dances and singing.
When my homeroom teacher announced that we were to perform a song in the weekly assembly, my first reaction was fear. I have never stepped on a stage and never wanted to be the center of attention in any social event. And my imperfect English only made the situation worse. I was given one line, something about this nonprofit organization called Girl Rising. I quite literally had “one job.” I remember standing under the spotlight during rehearsal, everyone is staring at me, I’m staring at the script… the word…
Rising.
I have NO IDEA how to pronounce the word, is it rEsing? rAIsing? rEEsing???
In a panic, the words “Girl Racing” slipped through my mouth. To this day, I can still hear the sound of my classmates’ muffled giggles and that one annoying kid mocking me for my mistake whenever I think back on it.
“rīziNG.” The teacher hushed my classmates’ inappropriate reaction to my pronunciation and kindly corrected me.
After this incident, we rehearsed the song multiple times before the assembly, but it wasn’t after a few trials before I finally learned the correct pronunciation. The assembly eventually ended successfully, but I will never be able to forget the embarrassing experience during the rehearsal.
My challenges:
For me, the two most challenging qualities are being a risk-taker and being positive and energetic.
I enjoy being quiet and being in my comfort zone. They’re some of the main contributing factors to my personality. As a visual artist, these factors often come off as beneficial; they allow me to stay focused on my artwork and be an independent learner. I am fearful of failure and embarrassment. Being quiet put me in a position that avoids public attention and I feel safe. The only times where I feel inclined to experiment and be dramatic is in front of intimate friends or family. I hope through taking this course, I can become more willing to challenge myself and be brave enough to take risks and be expressive.
It is easy for me to fall into the pit of harsh self criticism, frustration and eventually give up on a difficult task. This happens all the time when I am creating artworks. I want to do everything as best as I can and push my limits to reaching perfection. But like any normal human, I often fail. When it happens, I am keen to giving up and starting something new altogether. It is an unproductive habit that I’ve developed due to my fear of failure. At the end, I am left with a pile of unfinished work and a heap of negative emotions risen from self doubt. I am respectful of others, but dislike myself. I recognize the harm this causes to my mental wellness, and I am motivated to become more confident about my talents and allow myself to stumble over mistakes.