New to design, 1984 is the show.

[moderately_clueless]

Hello all. Just curious how your set was for 1984 or if anyone has ideas or suggestions. I've looked over the script over and over again, but I don't know, the set seems overly simplistic. In fact, the script doesn't even mention a set, just props. I know the set is supposed to be very basic, as it is part of the point of the show, but I just feel like it needs a bit more. As for lighting, we don't do much more than just getting the stage lit at my school, but I'm always looking for something new to try.

I'm new to design, as this is my first year having any say in what happens in my theatre, so I'm open to any suggestions. Thanks.

[ship]

1984, I was a Sophmore/Junior in High School back than. Mouse was popular for the hair, Duran Duran was the tops along with more to my tastes at the time Ratt, CNN I believe had just come out along with MTV, (at least in that era) Reagan was tops in popularity, computers were still an option in what people chose to waste time with or not, and Atari was still out there along with the the Apple IIE. Beyond that there was Girls, Girls, Girls! If that's any help great, otherwise if rememberences of the times is of help, ask away.

Sorry, never read the script. That George Orwell? I went to a public school and never read the book amongst many greats my own partents did read when going to the same school. Guess Big Daddy watching you was about 10 years before his time. Think Bush.

[moderately_clueless]

Haha, well, thanks for enlightening me. I always thought the eighties sounded a bit scary.

But it is the George Orwell story. It's one of my favorite books, so I'm hoping my school can do it justice.

[ship]

got an idea but I'll need to refine it further.

[SHARYNF]

HI
Everyone tends to develop a style over the years, and I tend to like to use more multimedia to create the effect of the set. We tend to want to be able to take a show on the road and have a pretty simple type of setup

SO with that in mind one thing to consider is to get a series of square or rectangle or triangular shaped pieces of white spandex, and you can stretch them into an interesting shape and use them to creat a suspended background.
If you have watched some of the concert series on PBS for instances you may have seen these ideas they tend to look like sails from a boat, and PBS tends to use them simply for color accent.

Anyway instead of a large cyc, these allow you to creat a feeling of a backgrourd or use them for reinforcement of the message

SO you could project on to these parts of images to create the feelings of the various scenes in 1984, but also if you wanted you could project for example headlines, or bits of scenes that are situations today that are examples of the 1984 predictions.

This method can give you a lot of flexibility, and at the same time not a lot of set building, and a high tech sort of feel.

Sharyn

[soundlight]

Just remember that you have to either rent or buy Transformits...and that can be a hefty bill, and a hard decision to justify to a high school drama program if you already have a cyc. I know this from experience...

[SHARYNF]

yup forgot about the budget :-(
here is a link for pricing http://www.fastdrape.com/SpandexRentals.html
the other optiion is to make odd shaped flats that you can hang, and the get a white plastic that you can stretch over it.

there is a plastic shrink material used for boat covers that works well, stretches over the frame and heat shrinks with a hair dryer or paint removal gun
http://www.go2marine.com/product.do?no=154408F


Sharyn

[cutlunch]

Just on the lighting I would definitely have some cold washes like you get under some mercury lights or cold fluros. This will help make the audience feel edgy in the scenes that need it. Like in the prison. I haven't seen the play but have read the book.

[moderately_clueless]

Originally Posted by cutlunch

Just on the lighting I would definitely have some cold washes like you get under some mercury lights or cold fluros. This will help make the audience feel edgy in the scenes that need it. Like in the prison. I haven't seen the play but have read the book.

Thanks, that's what I was thinking too. We're going for a very plan color scheme, so I'm thinking of just putting some very pale blue washes. How else could I get the look you described? And just out of curiosity, could you explain what exactly you mean by mercury lights and cold fluros? Cause I haven't had any experience with either before. Thanks.

[cutlunch]

What I mean by Mercury lights and cold fluros is that these type of light give off a cold light heading towards the blue/green spectrum. Mecury lights can be used in big areas like gyms, wharehouses etc. Our local equivalent to Wal-mart put some in part of a new store. To me they look to cold for in a shop as opposed to a warmer light towards the redish end of the spectrum. Mecury lights are the ones that normally you have to wait for to cool down after they have been turned off before yiou can restart them,

The cold fluros just mean those type that put out a colder bluish light instead of the ones that put a more yellow light. If you are under the cold fluro's you will definitely notice the differnce from the warm type. (Cold fluro's was probably a bad choice of words when I meant a cold looking light output)