Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Explores the numerous complex processes and practices needed to create two and three dimensional designs for stage and performance. Students will engage in a series of creative projects, research, analysis and presentations to enable them to develop and realize their design solutions. Laboratory fee required. Students with credit for FPA 375 may not take this course for further credit.

COURSE DETAILS:

Detailed Description

This course is about the relationship between source materials and space; primarily as it relates to scenography for live performance. Through several hands-on projects, this class aims to develop process techniques, text-analysis skills, visual communication methods and ultimately hone the ability to respond visually to a variety of source materials. 

We will be tackling five significant projects, each one having their own unique challenges. The requirements for each project will increase in difficulty and demand as we progress through the course material. Serious participation and engagement in the projects is expected. The more you put into these projects, the more you will get out of this experience.

Good stage design is the direct result of hundreds of failures. You won't get it right away, the point is to iterate and try until you find the right thing. 

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Course Objectives:

1. To acknowledge and develop artistic processes unique to scenographic design for live performance.
2. Be capable of responding and iterating quickly on design ideas as a process and understanding that the work prior to the opening of a production is a sketch and not the final product. 
3. To tackle and develop ways to engage with a wide range of source materials and learn to balance instinct and practicality within your design ideas. 
4. Provide an overview of different methods of communicating ideas visually both for artistic discussion and leading up to practical execution. 
5. Have a grounding in ways of talking about a script, brainstorming ideas and sharing in the collaborative process.
6. To understand the scope of what is expected and required from a professional in scenographic design across different forms of the live performance industry. 
7. To practice and improve drawing ability and other communication crafts, such as model making, rendering and some drafting.

Outside the scope of this course:

1. Provide enough instruction for expert competence, proficiency in design for the stage. This is a field that requires years of experience and practice to master.
2. Cover all possible processes for design performance creation. These vary greatly across the world and couldn’t possibly be covered in the scope of this class.
3. Thorough and complete set design ideas. This class will be focused on ways of illustrating ideas with an eye to practicality and execution, but will not be fulfilling the requirements for the finished product. 

Grading

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

Minimum Requirements

1x  12" triangular scale ruler, imperial measurements (not metric!)
1x X-ACTO Knife, #11 blades - don't get off brand - opus won't have it. (buy some blades, I will get a bigger pack that we can all share too!)
1x metal ruler, 12", with cork backing
1x sketchbook, 100 sheets minimum, at least 8 1/2" x 11" (21.60cm x 27.84) - could be a bit smaller too,
       main thing is that you can carry it with you and it fits in your bag. 
1x  at least 9"x12" or 11"x17" Smooth Bristol, 24 sheet pad, 100lbs
1 of each Staedler or equivalent graphite drawing pencils - in these thicknesses HB, 2B, 4B, 6B
1x Mechanical Pencil, .5mm mechanical pencil, HB Lead
1x plastic eraser - ie mars plastic eraser
1x cutting matt, at least 11"x17" size - smaller if its easier for your work table
1x Sheets of 3/16" black foam core or closes to 4.75mm
1x bottle of white glue, 200-300ml, elmer's or sobo for example
1x 4ml bottle of super glue, lepage ultra gel, for example - fast drying ideal
1x 3/4" roll of masking tape - black is best

Recommended:

2x sheets of 11x17" mat board, black on 1 side at least
a few sheets of black construction paper
1x angled forceps and tweezers
1x small box of water colours
1x pad of tracing papers
1x fine tip liner paint brush
1x small round tip brush
small set of acrylic paint or water colors - dont get anything fancy!
construction paper, in colours
1x 18mm olfa knife, heavy duty
chipboard

Nice to have:

access to a colour printer
Ikea goose neck lamp 
1x T square, 12"
old / used magazines
selection of needle files
set squares
compass
circle stencils

REQUIRED READING NOTES: