This project was a chance for us to explore designing in an alternative space, as well as for a large, community based, ensemble. We were given the choice between two Operas, Carmen and Noye’s Fludde, which we would then have to design for. The focuses of this project are to develop our model making skills, as well as costume and technical drawing skills, whilst experimenting with designing for spaces other than a traditional theatre. From this project I hope to improve my own model making skills and development of ideas, as, in past projects, I struggled to track the development of my ideas, so by association I also hope to improve my Sketchbook skills.After studying Woyzeck last term I felt a little more prepared for studying and designing for an opera this term. Having studied designing for different spaces in my last Independent Research Project, I felt quite prepared for this task. Due to all of the research I had done for IRP I was careful when I was considering aspects of my design, such as site lines, acoustics as well as where my audience should be. Specific research in to music and light festivals helped me to consider how lighting can influence, improve and affect my design choices, I looked in particular at a Light Festival in Amsterdam and their use of large structures that are used to create light as well as manipulate it. In particular, I found a piece of work that was meant to represent the Lace Industry in Amsterdam, very inspiring, it was a large piece of woven fabric suspended above the river of Amsterdam that was then projected on to, because of the way the fabric dipped in certain places the projection caught each bit of the fabric differently and created and amazing effect, as well as lit up the night sky
I also began by researching tidal waves and tsunamis, to get an idea of how I would want my waves to look, as well as researching eye witness accounts to in the hopes of being able to channel some of their emotions and feelings upon seeing the flood, in order to try and make my audience feel the same way. I looked particularly at the tsunami that hit Japan in 2011; the waves reached run-up heights of 36m and travelled as far as 6 miles in land[2], this gave me an idea as to how massive the impact of these waves can be and I wanted to be able to get this across in my design. To create water effects I explored the way lights hang in the air, particularly when smoke and haze are introduced, this helped develop a few of my ideas for the flood and taught me a lot more about how lights work and can influence design and affect action.
I started out the project by listening to the Noye’s Fludde Soundtrack several times, the purpose of this was to help me better understand the sequence of events and how quickly the action unfolds with the music throughout the opera. From listening to the soundtrack I decided that my piece should be dramatic and inspiring in order for it to fit with the tone of the music. For me the most important aspect of the design was the flood. The flood is what is used to ‘cleanse’ the world of evil and allow the chosen few to remain. What I quickly realised is the flood should be ‘big’ not just necessarily on a physical scale but also on an emotional level, this, for me, should be the most memorable and dramatic part of the performance. After researching the flood, the next most logical thing to look at was the Ark, after extensively listening to the music, I pinpointed the exact amount of time in which the ark must be built; three minutes and twenty-five seconds. This small time frame in which to build the Ark left me with 2 options, either; build the ark using large and/or small set pieces already present in Arkwright that can easily and quickly moved and put together by the cast, or, have the ark already built and dramatically reveal it. I want the ark to be dramatic and allow the performers lots of options to be creative so the second option, to me, seems more suitable. By having a large structure that is pre built it allows a more complicated, as well as, a more developed piece of set to be in place, the dramatic reveal of the ark will also add to the theatricality of the performance. I sketched a few designs and researched wood as well as arks and boats, and eventually settled on a design that encompassed the wooden feel of the ark, fit well into Arkwright as well as created several different levels for characters to stand on. The movable bits of set also allowed the ark to appear as if it is moving away from ‘dock’. The Ark was made using mostly mount board one piece of mount board makes up each step and the deck itself was also made using mount board. To get the detailing of the wooden planks on the Ark I layered up masking tape and then painted it and cut it into tiny strips, then using tweezers and PVA I placed each plank on individually to create the messy, deck like effect I wanted. In order to create the dramatic effect I desired I did lots of research into lighting effects, projections, and festivals. I decided that a lot of my design would be enhanced by lighting to change the atmosphere, for example the use of haze to make blue light hang in the air to make it look like water had risen. Some of the challenges I have faced when considering my design is not being able to make a lot of the effects in the model box, this has made it very hard to illustrate what I want from my design, even when playing with the design in the model box it has been difficult to create the effect I desire.
I decided to build a large wooden structure around the chemistry building in Arkwright, the intention of this was to include Arkwright in my set to make it seem as if the building was part of the production, and not that the set had just been dumped in the courtyard of Arkwright. The intention of this was also to create a stage, whilst maintaining the deck appearance of an Ark, that allowed the actors to utilise different levels and areas, the slight raise allows the cast to be seen by the audience and create a sense of empowerment, but the height difference is not so large as to restrict sightlines. The maximum height of the ark is the same height as the top step in Arkwright, which makes it about 1m 60cm, this was intentional as it blends in well with the building as well as creating a height difference that does not dramatically affect sight-lines. In my head I think I had always envisioned the ark as a solid structure and I think I should have been more open to the idea of a less physical ark that could be constructed by the cast members. I did lots of research into the way water moved and worked but I really struggled to find a way to actually create the water effect that I truly wanted in Arkwright, whilst I think the end result could look spectacular I would have liked to have had more time to experiment on a real scale. Based on previous feedback on my projects I tried to spend more time in the research stage of my project, developing and exploring initial ideas and how I came to my final idea, rather than just jumping to a final idea, I also tried to reflect this more in my sketchbook, as I had previously been told that my sketchbook was not developed enough or thorough. I found both of these changes helped me with my work and designs, by logging all my research in my sketchbook as soon as I found it, rather than toward the end of the project it made my design clearer and also made my headspace feel clearer as I didn’t have to try and keep track of it all in my head, it also meant that when I was presenting I was easily able to show where my ideas had stemmed from and how they had developed accordingly. I was much happier with the appearance of my sketchbook as well as the content and this is something that I hoe to carry across into other projects. I also felt that throughout this project I improved upon my drawing skills, normally I struggle to get drawings down because I get frustrated when they don’t turn out how I envisioned them in my head, however, throughout this project I made a concerted effort to draw sketches even though I knew they wouldn’t necessarily turn out how I wanted them to and I think this greatly helped my sketching skills. I discovered a lot more about designing for spaces other than a theatre as well as more about instillations and lighting, I hope to carry this forward into other projects in order to influence and improve my design work. Finally I used Sketchup more than I had in some of the previous projects and I hope to use this skill to help illustrate my designs in future. For the next project I hope to improve my costume drawings.