Painting the backwall

Starting to add the detail to the back wall, I used burnt umber paint on the bottom then added  product called crackle glaze which cracked the layer of white paint that I put on the top to show the umber underneath. I thought in the end it turned out well I think the white could have been thicker but I don't think the crackle would have come out so well and I am not able to go over the same area twice when applying the white coat. After painting the windows I feel it really brought the whole thing together and I am pleased with the outcome.

corset making

 

 

This week we have been making a corset that is the same century as the project that we have been designing for, I found it really helpful to get and idea of the shapes that they would have been and to see the style they would have been in. I really enjoyed this week of making learning how to make the channels for the boning and being able to work out a pattern for certain measurements, my corset fit really well and I was able to nearly complete it within the week all that is needed is to put binding on the edges to neaten them up.

adding details into the model box

At this stage I'm just adding details to the model box like some more chairs to be used by the actors, also the wood on the back wall ready to add the paint and I have also added handrails to the stairs.

Development of the model

 

 

 Adding more detail to the objects within my model box, my set at the moment is mostly wood because of the design that I have chosen so I am making most of it from smaller scale wood and eventually I will also make the back wall wooden. I will also stain the wood of the different object to suite the colour of my idea, I have started this with some of the smaller pieces. I have added stairs stage left for the actors to be able to get to the higher level and have made the cart from wood also. I have finished the barrels and used different string for the representation of the rope.

adding to the white card model

Starting to add to the white card model, using materials that would allow the model to look more realistic making sure that I stay within scale.

white card model

development of white card model adding a few more objects to be part of some of the scenes that seem important in the play. Roughly mapping out positioning's.

playing with ideas in the model box

 

 I started to play around with items within the model box to get an aesthetic and lay out that I could work with as a design. I like the timbers and rope that would be found within a shipyard so I played around with having these laying around and also wanted something that would create a 'structure' within the piece so I added the boxes that the players could interact with. I wanted to stick with the wooden theme so added some barrels that the wood could be stored in. I moved them around the space to where would cause the least amount of sight issues and so far the above image is what I have come up with. I wish to play around with the back wall as well to create the aesthetic I am aiming for.

design ideas

 

As a starting point I wanted to link the idea of the opera to somewhere that was pivotal of the time and would give the aesthetic that I feel I wanted for the set. I thought about the idea of poverty within the times and how the characters make their wealth in any way they can, this lead me to thinking about trading and use of ships. At the time new ships weren't really built instead old ship were regenerated or rebuilt, this would link with the idea of reusing items such as clothes so I started looking at the Chatham Dockyard which is local to me at home and I looked at the ropery and workhouse. I really like the textures within the workhouse building and though this could be a good starting point for my design.



Beggars opera

For this terms project we are going to be designing for the play 'The Beggars opera' by John Gay, the design will be for the Crucible theatre in Sheffield.

Model box for the Sheffield Crucible  ------>

final performances!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/suonnlqzqu5ahmo/zWMAJD6VJs#/

After running through the story a few times with small audiences that seemed to be very positive about what we had created I felt confident about showing the story to the target audience of the children. There were moments that I wondered whether it would work wit an audience there e.g. the moving trees I thought that they would notice straight away but they were amazed both times. I thought that the final performances went really well it all came together and the children really enjoyed being part of the story, on the second performance however there was a cue that went wrong but it was covered very well and the audience didn't notice which I think showed that we knew the story well enough to be able to carry on.
This project has taught me a lot about the design process and also about audience experience, I've really enjoyed all the processes and think it went a lot better than expected I feel this project has brought our group closer and we have managed to balance ideas and everyone's opinions to create a very good piece of performance.