Love and Information
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Overview
Technical Stage Department
The technical stage department had three main scenic elements that were the bulk of prep, fit-up and production consideration. These elements were: A large BP screen, four light boxes hung at an angle, and a cloth hung from a steel box frame down onto the floor which thrust into the playing space.
The BP Screen
A priority of the design was for the venue to be entirely white. Initially, white masking on the Chandler tab system had been requested in order to produce that effect. The stage department immediately recognised that using the white masking in stock would not be adequate. As such, a plan collaborating the LX design, design, and stage departments needs manifested into a discussion about back-projecting onto a screen hung at tab track height behind and around the scenery. This way, the colour of the set would be manipulatable by the LX department and provide a wider scope of colour to the set.
The RCS already had a 15Mx8M BP screen that had a defect in its conduit pocket and had been stored away having never been used. In contact with the BP Screen Company, Harkness, we arranged for this BP screen to be sent to their shop and cut in two at the dimension of 15Mx3.8M, the height of the Chandler Tab Track. This way, the department cut a large sum of money from the cost of a new BP screen and added two BP screens to the Chandler stock.
The BP screen would have hung from a 6M scaff bar joined to two 3M curved scaff bars with scaff joiners. This bar configuration would be hung on drifts that went to cross bars directly above. Floods would be placed behind the screen and back-light onto it.
Stage Management
LX Department
The lighting for this show was to resemble a photography studio, which opened up interesting avenues to go down in terms of design. Large flooding photography umbrellas, photography strobes as well as some generic fresnels were added into the plan as movable fixtures that actors could manipulate on set. This would help differentiate and shape each scene as well as giving it that photography studio look. An OHP projector was going to be used to highlight certain scenes and add an extra element for actors to play with and manipulate.
A giant light-box was to be suspended in the air above the actors. This was supposed to imitate the large diffusion screens you would see above models in photography. This proposed a challenge as it cuts off a lot of space for overhead and backlighting. This meant most of the fixtures were placed front of house and with many at steep angles around the light-box, cutting into as many areas as I could reach. There are some fixtures that are placed lower than the usual catwalk height and hover just above the tab track. This was to give myself as much throw as possible as the light-box was such a huge obstacle.
The light-box itself was difficult to light. The structure was a steel frame with muslin stretched over it. At first we settled on LED tape but the brightness would have been a problem and getting a smooth look would have been difficult. The simple construction meant we had little space to fix onto and to hide extra wiring and transformers. In the end we settled with flood lights to ensure it covered the entire box with few harsh lines and hotspots. Fitting these in between the catwalks and light-box was challenging as space was limited as well as considering the optimal angle and throw of the fixture. Rigging them above catwalk height would have given a more even and softer look to the box. However the downstage left box would have been entirely unreachable, so instead we decided to underig them just above the light-box.
There was also a row of floods behind the BP screen that could colour mix and light the cyc in various colours to suit each chapter.
Sound Department
AV Department
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