Technical Theatre

Technical Theatre

Sound, Costumes, and Stage Management

​Sound Designer Job

• Plans and provides the sound effects in the play, including music from existing sources.

• ​All the music and/or effects in a play considered as a whole make up the soundscape

• ​May also call for sound effects to recreate lifelike noises or use music or abstract and unidentifiable sounds to support the drama

Multiple Choice

All music and/or effects in a play considered as a whole make up the ________

• Soundscape

• Drama

• Design

• Lighting

​Designer's Work

• Sound designers and composers begin their work by studying the script and gathering as much info as they can about any sound or music it calls for

• ​An early meeting with the director and the design team is essential to get a clear understanding of the production concept

​Designer's work

• ​Some director will already have clear ideas about what the sound effects should sound like, while others may request that the sound designer sit in on rehearsals to assist with developing effects and music to fit the specific contexts in which they will be used

• ​Once they have a precise sense of what the production needs out of the music or sound, the composer begins composing the necessary musical pieces and the sound designer begins to gather and create the necessary sounds

Multiple Choice

Who is the other sound person other than the sound designer?

• Technician

• Lighting

• Composer

• Conductor

​Sound and music in the theatre

• ​Motivate actions onstage and indicate events taking place offstage

• ​establish the time of day, season, and weather

• ​Locate the action in a specific place

• ​Create mood and changes in mood

• ​Stiumulate audience expectations of what is to come

• ​Provide information about the characters

• ​Build transitions between scenes

• ​Offer shortcuts that rapidly advance the plot or recall past events

​Planning tools of sound designers and composers

• ​Plot: A list of all the music and sound cues for each act/scene. It indicates where the sound or music occurs, the page number of the script where it appears, precisely when it begins and ends, and the quipment that will be used to produce it

• ​System layout: Shows the type and location of speakers son stage, on the set and in the auditorium. The system layout may also include a layout of how all of the sound equpiment will be interconnects

• ​Cue sheet: Version of the sound plot to be used by the sound technicians who will run the equipment during the performance

Multiple Choice

What "shows the type and location of speakers on stage, on the set and in the auditorium. May also include a layout of how all of the sound equpiment will be interconnected"

• Cue Sheet

• System Layout

• Plot

Multiple Choice

What is "a list of all the music and sound cues for each act/scene. Indicates where the sound or music occurs, the page number of the script where it appears, precisely when it begins and ends, and the equipment that will be used to produce it"

• Cue Sheet

• System Layout

• Plot

Multiple Choice

What is "a version of the sound plot to be used by the sound technicians who will run the quipment during the performance"

• Cue Sheet

• System Layout

• Plot

​Sound

• ​Sound and music cues are often dependent on the precise timing of the onstage action and can only be set after the play's blocking has been determined.

• ​Ideally, the director, cast, and crew will have severeal opportunitites to fine tune the timing of the completed music/sound design during technical rehearsals

• ​Technology provides the tools for a sound designer's work, and since the tech changes and improves, the Sound Designer must also work to stay abreast of these changes

• ​Improvements in tech can often simplify the designer's workload, as well as provid new methods for creating effective soundscapes for productions

​Collaboration

• ​Sound designer will meet with the director and the design team to discuss the details of the set and director's interpretation of the play

• ​A lively exchange of initial ideas and first impressions helps clarify the steps that each person

• ​Once the shows opens, the designer's work is essentially complete

• ​It's now the job of the stage manager and sound crew to make sure that every aspect of the production runs just as the designer intended, time after time, until the production closes.

• ​Sound engineer: works under the designer and must take the sound design and ensure that it can be created in a given space. This involves selecting equipment to reproduce the various elements required

​Costume Designer

• ​Create the look of each character by designing clothes and accessories the actors will wear in performance

• ​Depending on their style and complexity, costumes may be made, bought, revamped out of existing stock, or rented

Multiple Choice

Costumes may be made, bought, revamped out of existing stock or ________________

• Rented

• Owned

• Lived in

• Seen

​Costumes

• ​Shapes, colours, and textures that a designer chooses make an immediate and powerful visual statement to the audience

• ​Creative collaboration among the costume designer, director, and the set and lighting designers ensures that the costumes are smoothly integrated into the production as a whole

​Costumes can..

• ​Reinforce the mood and style of the production

• ​Distinguish between major and minor characters

• ​Suggest relationships between characters

• ​Change an actor's appearance

• ​Suggest changes in charactor development and age

• ​Be objects of beauty in their own right

​They also need

• ​Accessories

• ​Such as canes, hats, gloves, jewelry, or masks

• ​These costume props add a great deal of visual interest to the overall costume designer

• ​Often are the items that truly distinguish one character from another

Multiple Choice

Canes, ______, gloves, shoes, jewelry, or  _______ are accessories

• Gum, soda

• Jat, hewelry

• Animals, People

• Hats, jewlery

​Designer's work

• ​If the production is set in a specific historial era, the fashions of this period will need to be researched

• ​At the first meeting with the director and design team, the costume designer may want to present a few rough costume sketches

• ​Should also check with the director on the exact number of characters needing costumes as non-speaking characters the director plans to include may not have been listed in the script

• ​Must draw up the costume plot which is a list or chart that shows which characters appear in each scene, what they are wearing, and their overall movement throughout the play

​Costume continued

• ​Costume plot help track specific costume needs of every character

• ​Can also identify any potential costume challenges such as very quick changes between scenes

• ​When the director and production team have approved the designers preliminary sketches, they can draw up the final costume designs

• ​The final designs are done in full colour showing style, silhouette, textures, accessories, and unique features of each costume

• ​Once the show opens, the designer's job is complete. It goes to the wardrobe assistant to make sure that it runs according to plan​https://aact.org/sites/default/files/costume_designer_job_description.pdf

​Make-up Artist

• ​Responsible for preparation and application of make-up to cast members

• ​Key duties include consulting with director, costume designer, and hairstylist, make-up design, maintaining inventory of make-up products consistent with general makeup requiremtnts for cast members, acquiring any make-up products specific to character cast members' appearance on stage, applying make-up for cast members unfamiliar with basic requirements and techniques

​Hair Dresser

• ​Responsible for the design and execution of hairstyle and colour for cast members appearing on stage.

• ​Duties include submitting hair design and colour samples for cast members appearing in a production, creating designs as agreed upon while isntructing cast members in the proper procedure for execution of the design, monitoring and maintaining hair designs and colour throughout the run of the production

​Stage Manager

• ​Typically provide practical and organizational support to the director, actors, designers, stage crew, and technicians throughout the production process

• ​Director's representative during performances, making sure the production runs smoothly

​Stage Manager

• ​This role is especially important to the director in rehearsals

• ​Director and manager work side by side with the manager recording the director's decisions about blocking and notes for the actors, keeping track of logistical and scheduling details and communicating what goes on in rehearsals to the rest of the team

Fill in the Blanks

Who works side by side the stage manager?

​Responsibilities

• ​Scheduling and running rehearsals

• ​Communicating the director's wishes to designers and crafts people

• ​Coordinating the work of the stage crew

• ​Calling cues and possibly actor's entrances during performance

• ​Overseeing the entire show each time it is performed

​Stage manager

• ​In rehearsals they also record all blocking, plus all the light, sound, and set change cues, in a master copy of the script called the prompt book

• ​Info in the prompt book also allows the manager to run the tech rehearsals, calling each cue in turn to determine precisely how it needs to be timed to coordinate with the onstage action

• ​Also works with the technical director to work out a smooth and efficient plan for the stage crew to follow during set changes

• ​Furniture and prop plans for complicated sets are drawn up by the stage manager and tech designer to show exactly where the furniture and props are to be positioned on stage at the beginning of each scene

• ​https://aact.org/webdata/uploads/Sample_SM_Job_Description.pdf