Lesson 5 - Understanding Scripts - 28/11/16

Read a script three times
The first time is a simple read through to just take in the story. The second reading is where the designer would begin to document initial thoughts and questions. The third read through is a more in depth analysis where the designer really starts to come to terms with the themes and ideas of the play.
Questions
1- What is the plot? 2- What is the theme? 3- What is the logic and does it make sense? 4- What is the exposition (context)? 5- What are the complications (drama)? 6- What creates the tension? 7- What is the cause of the action? 8- what is the resulting action? 9- How does it conclude? 10- Protagonist? 11- Antagonist? 12- Most interesting character? 13- Where does it take place?
1- What is the intent of a particular scene? 2- What are the major plot points? 3- What is the climax (turning points?)  4- Resolution? 5- Conclusion? 6- Important lines of dialogue? 7- Who controls the scene? 8- Where does the story change?
Discipline Questions
Time of day?
Target audience?
How long does it run?
Rehearsal period?
House or touring?
Intended style?
How much are you getting paid?
What is you exact job description?
Who are you going to be working with?
How much artistic control do you have?
Big or small crew?
Study Task - Read and Respond to 'Last night on Earth' and 'The Mountain Top'
What would the set designer be looking for?
What would the costume designer be looking for?
What would the lighting designer be looking for?
What would the sound designer be looking for?
The last night of the world
- Set designer
There is not much background information given in this segment so the set designer will primarily be looking at any set descriptions. For example, they would see the 'parlor rug' and so possibly look at sitting rooms and private houses in 1969. This would give some indication on what the average parlor would have looked like.
- Costume
Once again there is very little to go on so the costume designer may want to look at the context they do have. For instance, it is revealed that the male speaker (M) works in an office so it might be assumed that they would be dressed more formally. For the female speaker (F), they could look at how housewives (assumption) dressed in the 1960s and base their designs off of that.
Additionally, we know that they have a parlor and a fireplace. From this, it can be guessed that the couple may be slightly better off than average and so will be dressed accordingly.
- Lighting
The segment appears to be fairly melancholic so the lighting designer could possibly look at softer and more warm colours. Because it is set in a home and not outside, they would want to stick with a more natural colour pallet. There are also references a fireplace, little lights and green hurricane lamps. It would be important to not choose any colours or light that would over power or clash with these. Because fire is forbidden on stage, they would have to look at alternative ways of depicting the glowing embers.
Sound
The scene appears to be mostly silent so the and naturalistic so the designer for sound look for more subtle cues like the radio and the sound of running water.
The Mountain Top
The Lorraine Motel, Memphis, Tennessee
- Set Designer
- Costume Designer
As the show is based off a real historical figure, the costume designer would be able to look at how Martin Luther King, Jr dressed and so base their designs off of that.
When designing Camae's uniform, they would be able to look at the uniforms of people working for The Lorraine Hotel during that time period.
- Lighting Designer
It is revealed early on to be night so the designer would look for ways to depict this. When lighting up the hotel they would likely choose more artificial lighting.
- Sound Designer
The play is set during heavy rainfall.
Plays and Shows
Betrayal - Harold Pinter
The play is set in London and Venice, from 1968 and 1977, with the action takes place in reverse order.
The playing around of time in this piece can become quite confusing, with the audience unsure as to whether or not they are in the future or the past.
To overcome this, Colin Richmond incorporated revolves to serve a thematic purpose. In this production the direction of the rotation would indicate the direction of time travel. For example, a clockwise rotation would mean the play is moving forward in time, while anti clockwise rotation would show that the action is moving backwards in time.
I liked this technique because revolves are usually used to serve a purely functional purpose and this method gave them an added meaning and served to make the story clearer.

Deepcut - Philip Ralph

Deepcut is a perfect example of how stories are used to inspire change within a society. The play tells the the story of four suspicious deaths within the military community base, Deep Cut, between the years of 1995 and 2002. All four deaths were originally ruled as suicides, despite a lot of evidence that points otherwise.
The play caught the attention of Liberty, a charity that aims to promote human rights and civil liberties. With their aid a further investigation was opened to look into the deaths of the soldiers, specifically Cheryl James.
A much larger investigation was held that ultimately ruled that the cause of death for the soldiers being suicide.
In regards of the set specifically I liked the damage done to the wall as it suggested to me that the deaths and the lack of any proper investigation left regular family homes completely destroyed. Initially I had thought that the stains looked almost birdlike, which gave the set an almost animalistic atmosphere. This natural imagery contrasted the brutal nature of the deaths.
A Verbis ad Vebera - From Words to Blows 

This was my favorite of the three third year shows because of it's audience participation and use of rope in an abstract and powerful way. Although I wasn't completely always sure of the plot I felt that the actors gave off a sense of emotion and you were still able to identify with the characters. Personally, I thought that the play relied more on emotion and feeling than actual plot. I liked this effect because it meant that you didn't have to understand what was going on to be able to feel for the characters. It had a form of universal language that made it much more powerful. The lack of any permanent set meant that the audience weren't tied down to a particular set and were able to be taken all round Britain. 
The House of Small Cubes - Kunio Kato

I am including The House of Small Cubes because it is another example of a story that relies on visuals rather than words to convey thoughts and emotions. In this film, the audience is taken on a journey back through time as an old man travels through the floors of his house that have since become flooded. This animation uses different colours to depict different time periods and how they are perceived. He uses darker colours for the present and contrasts this with softer shades of brown when looking back in time. This makes the entire piece more bittersweet and suggests just how much things have changed as well as how cold the present is compared to the past. The growing size of the rooms show just how much the old man has lost, as well as how small his present life has become. 

Continuous line drawing

I have begun to really enjoy the continuous line drawings as I am able to see a vast improvement in my sense of scale and perception. I am now more able to more accurately capture details and proportions. 

Back to back drawing
I had a lot of fun during this task despite the discovery that I have awful communication skills. It was a lot harder than I first thought it would be and definitely showed that I have far to go in the world of accurate and reliable communications.
I found it hard to give instructions (as is evident by the resulting picture) and even harder to follow them. I had absolutely no clue what I was doing (as is even more evident).