I've done it as a cutout before and I like it alot better. My only problem and the reason Im using a
gobo is there is no budget for this production. The high school I graduated from has had a couple actors graduate who've gone off and been pretty successful. Well, every summer and winter, they put together a small black box show with $0 budget, and all the money they make goes to fund a scholarship program for the upcomming graduates. All the lead roles being played by the adults and everything. And this year they want to do RENT. Now Im primarily a lighting person (studying lighting design in college and all), But I'm the only person who has some knowledge in the field of technical
theatre that they know that will do a show for free. So I was asked to be the technical director of the show. So Im designing set, lights, and sound. Now Im pretty good with sound as well. Especially for what I'm going to do. But set... I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IM DOING. Luckily one of the actors in the shows father is a contractor, and it's rubbed off on his son. So I'm showing him what I want, and hes going to
build it in our shop. The lamp post (maybe not in the right time period) I was going to use just to resemble being outside on the street for various parts. What do yall thank of that?
The black box program to raise scholarship money is a fantastic idea! I hope it goes well.
Do you volunteer at local community theatres as well? Great place to learn, and there are probably some people with construction experience volunteering at those very theatres; check them out, and you can start learning construction as well
I can think of a couple of immediate options if you want to go the cutout route: 1) Go to a Sears, Lowes, Home Depot, any place that sells appliances and get a refrigerator box. Paint it black, cut out the skyline, make the window holes, and make a small
jack to hold it up so NYC doesn't faceplant in the middle of the show.
2) The father who is a contractor- see if he will donate a sheet of
luan and have him make the cutout. Paint it black,
etc...
In zero budget shows especially, one
bit of advice: borrow, Borrow, BORROW! You can borrow mini Christmas lights, for example.
You haven't said anything about the space in which you're working- size, height, wings or not- but it sounds like you have a good basic crew. If you can recruit actor's siblings, parents, or responsible and not-too-young children, you can round out your crew. You're already the TD, and you might have to take on SM duties as well. Teach someone to run the lights and sound, coordinate the scene changes, and you will have built yourself a heck of a spot on a resume...
Break A
Leg!