Scenic design (also known as stage design, set design or production design) is the creation of theatrical scenery. Scenic designers have traditionally come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but nowadays, generally speaking, they are trained professionals, often with M.F.A. degrees in theatre arts.
The 'stage picture' is the 'look' or physical appearance of the stage for a play, whether in rehearsal or performance. It reflects the way that the stage is composed artistically in regard to props, actors, shapes and colours. The stage picture should express good principles of design and use of space. It should be visually appealing for the audience or should express the show's concept. The stage picture is also crucial for the creation of atmosphere for the audience.
The scenic designer is responsible for collaborating with the theatre director and other members of the production design team to create an environment for the production and then communicating the details of this environment to the technical director,(production manager) charge scenic artist and propmaster. Scenic designers are responsible for creating scale models of the scenery, renderings, paint elevations and scale construction drawings as part of their communication with other production staff.
In Europe and Australia scenic designers take a more holistic approach to theatrical design and will often be responsible not only for scenic design but costume, lighting and sound and are referred to as theatre designers or scenographers or production designers.
Like their American cousins, European theatre designers and scenographers are generally trained with Bachelor of Arts degrees in theatre design, scenography or performance design.
Set construction is a process by which a set designer works in collaboration with the director of the production to create the set for a theatrical production. The set designer produces a scale model, scale drawings (including, but not limited to: a groundplan, elevation, and section of the complete set as well as several more detailed drawings of individual scenic elements) paint elevations (a scale painting supplied to the scenic painter of each element requiring painting), and research about props, textures, etc. Models and paint elevations are generally hand-produced, however in recent years many designers and most commercial theatres generally produce scale drawings on computer drafting programs such as AutoCAD or Vectorworks.
The technical director or production manager is the person responsible for evaulating the finished designs and considering budget and time limitations. He or she engineers the scenery, has it redrafted for building, budgets time, crew and materials, and liaisons between the designer and the shop. Technical directors often have assistant technical directors whose duties can range from drafting to actually building scenery.
A scene shop is often overseen by a shop foreman or master carpenter. This person assigns tasks, does direct supervision of carpenters, and deals with day-to-day matters such as absences, breaks, tool repair, etc. The staff of a scene shop is usually referred to as scenic carpenters, but within that there are many specialities such as plasterers, welders, and scenic stitchers. Scenic painting is a separate aspect of scenic construction, although the scenic painter usually answers to the technical director.
There is also usually a separate man/woman referred to often as a jack of all trades, but is also known to be whats called a Fred-John in parts of the country, he doesn't specialize in a particular aspect of construction, however he is skilled to some degree in most.
Theatrical scenery is that which is used as a setting for a theatrical production. Scenery may be just about anything, from a single chair to an elaborately re-created street, no matter how large or how small, whether or not the item was custom-made or is, in fact, the genuine item, appropriated for theatrical use.
The history of theatrical scenery is as old as the theatre itself, and just as obtuse and tradition-bound. What we tend to think of as 'traditional scenery', i.e. two-dimensional canvas-covered 'flats' painted to resemble a three-dimensional surface or vista, is in fact a relatively recent innovation and a significant departure from the more ancient forms of theatrical expression, which tended to rely less on the actual representation of space and more on the conveyance of action and mood. By the Shakespearean era, the occasional painted backdrop or theatrical prop was in evidence, but the show itself was written so as not to rely on such items to convey itself to the audience.
Our more modern notion of scenery, which dates back to the nineteenth century, finds its origins in the dramatic spectacle of opera buffa, from which the modern opera is descended. Its elaborate settings were appropriated by the 'straight', or dramatic, theatre, through their use in comic operettas, burlesques, pantomimes, and the like. As time progressed, stage settings grew more and more realistic, reaching their peak in the Belasco realism of the 1910-20's, in which complete diners, with working soda-fountains and freshly-made food, were re-created onstage. Perhaps as a reaction to such excess, and in parallel with trends in the arts and architecture, scenery began a trend towards abstraction, although realistic settings remained in evidence, and are still used today. At the same time, the musical theatre was evolving its own set of scenic traditions, borrowing heavily from the burlesque and vaudeville style, with occasional nods to the trends of the 'straight' theatre. Everything came together in the 1980-90's, and continuing to today, until there is no established style of scenic production and pretty much anything goes. Modern stagecraft has grown so complex as to require the highly specialized skills of hundreds of artists and craftspeople to mount a single production, and it is impossible to tell at this time where things may lead.
Flats, short for Scenery Flats, are flat pieces of theatrical scenery which are painted and positioned on stage so as to give the appearance of buildings or other background.
Flats can be soft or hard covered. Soft covered flats (covered with canvas or muslin) have changed little from their origin in the Italian Renaissance. Hard covered flats with a frame that is perpendicular to the paint surface are referred to as studio or Hollywood flats
Usually flats are built in standard sizes of 8, 10, or 12 feet tall so that walls or other scenery may easily be constructed.
Often affixed to battens flown in from the fly tower for the scenes in which they are used, they may also be stored at the sides of the stage and braced to the floor when in use for an entire performance.
Some casts have a tradition of signing the back of flats used on their production.
Platforms are set pieces that can be on mobile or not. They allow for different elevations and for bringing on sets quickly. They are the skeleton for creating theatrical illusions.
Theater drapes and stage curtains are pieces of cloth that fully or partially cover a stage. They come in many different types.
The front curtain (also called a grand drape, act curtain, house curtain, house drape or main drape) hangs upstage of the proscenium arch. It is usually made from heavyweight material as its purpose is to hide the stage and muffle sounds. In smaller theatres, they usually consist of two curtains which part horizontally (known as a traveler). In larger theatres, they usually open vertically, disappearing out of sight into the fly tower. This style of opening is known as a guillotine reveal, after the famous execution tool. A single curtain which covers the entire opening by moving horizontally is called a wipe. A tab or tableau curtain gathers the two sections of fabric up and to the sides and usually forms a draped effect when it is opened.
Austrian (or braille or contour) curtain.
The Austrian, braille or contour curtain is suspended from a "gridiron" and either raised or lowered by a counterweight system in order to expose, or close, the stage. It has a characteristic set of folds.
Teasers and tormenters are horizontal and vertical curtains (respectively) that obscure portions of the stage and act to reduce the size of the proscenium. These can also be called legs or border
A scrim is curtain made of a special fabric that is opaque when lit from the front, but transparent when unlit.
A backdrop is a painted curtain that hangs in the back of the stage to indicate scenery.
A cyclorama or cyc is a large curtain that encircles the stage and provides a background.
Technical Director (TD) or Technical Producer (TP) is usually the most senior technical person within a theatrical company or television studio. This person usually possesses the highest level of competence in a specific technical field and may be recognized as an expert in that industry. The technical director provides technical direction on business decisions and in the execution of specific projects. He or she may be assigned to a single project, or may oversee a number of projects with related technologies. This position is often similar to that of chief scientist or chief responsible to make sure that the technicians hired, volunteering or renting the theatre know how to properly use the sound, lighting and rigging equipment. It is their job to make sure the technical equipment in the theatre is cleaned and safe; although these duties should be delagated to a shop or house manager. Technical directors of theatre companies are often hired to fill the role of technical director for productions as well, but these are two separate jobs.
A Technical Director for a specific production(s) is responsible for working closely with the Scenic Designer and Director. It is their responsibility to determine how the scenery will be built and out of what materials. A TD will take a Scenic Designer's artistic draftings and create technical draftings of them. These are the draftings given to the scenic carpenters. They should be clear and have all the information a carpenter needs to start work immediately. A TD also keeps close contact with the Production Manager and keeps them informed of their budget's status at all Production Meetings.
Technical Director can also refer to the in-house chief designer/master carpenter for a smaller theater company..
Stagecraft is a generic term referring to the technical aspects of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes, but is not limited to, constructing and rigging scenery, hanging and focusing of lighting, design and procurement of costumes, makeup, and recording and mixing of sound. Stagecraft is considered a technical rather than an artistic field as the focus of stagehands is usually on the practical implementation of a designer's artistic vision.
In its most basic form, stagecraft is managed by a single person (often the stage manager of a smaller production) who arranges all scenery, costumes, lighting, and sound, and organizes the cast. At a more professional level, for example modern Broadway houses, stagecraft is managed by hundreds of skilled carpenters, painters, electricians, stagehands, stitchers, wigmakers, and the like. This modern form of stagecraft is highly technical and specialized: it comprises many sub-disciplines and a vast trove of history and tradition.
The majority of stagecraft lies between these two extremes. Regional theatres and larger community theatres will generally have a technical director and a complement of designers, each of whom has a direct hand in their respective designs.
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Sub-disciplines
Stagecraft comprises many disciplines, typically divided into seven main disciplines:
-1. Costume, construction, and maintenance.
-1. Lighting, which involves the process of determining the size, intensity, shape, and color of light for a given scene.
-1. Makeup, or the application of makeup to accentuate an actor's features.
-1. Production, comprising stage management, production management, show control, house management and company management
-1. Scenery, which includes set construction, scenic painting, soft goods (drapes and stage curtains), and special effects.
-1. Sound, which can include musical underscoring, vocal and instrument mixing as well as theatrical sound effects.
Theatrical property, or props, which includes furnishings, set dressings, and all items large and small which cannot be classified as scenery, electrics or wardrobe. Some crossover may apply. Props handled by actors are known as hand props, and props which are kept in an actor's costume are known as personal props.
Lighting designer (or LD) within theatre is to work with the director, set designer, costume designer, and sometimes the sound designer and choreographer to create an overall 'look' for the show in response to the text, while keeping in mind issues of visibility, safety and cost. The LD also works closely with the stage manager on show control programming.
he role of the lighting designer varies greatly within professional and amateur theater. For a Broadway show, a touring production and most regional and small productions the LD is usually an outside freelance specialist hired early in the production process. Smaller theatre companies may have a resident lighting designer responsible for most of the company's productions or rely on a variety of freelance or even volunteer help to light their productions. At the Off-Broadway, or Off-Off-Broadway level the LD will occasionally be responsible for much of the hands-on technical work (hanging instruments, programming the light board, etc.) that would be the work of the lighting crew in a larger theatre.