Thought it was time for me to share.

In our meeting Clay, you said that you and Isaac wanted to do something different, so I have been trying to ignore the stage directions (thinking of them as suggestions, not absolutes), and this is where I am right now:

My main concept is the fragile nature of beauty, that something can look beautiful and in reality be something horrific. The idea of the beautiful painted tapestries for the sets, which are the fuel for the pyre, the gorgeous theatre which was built so poorly that it became the coffin for 72 people that night.

I would like the victims of the fire to show they were victims – I would like them to be burnt. Makeup distorting their appearances, nothing too graphic or haunted house cheesy, a light hand will be needed to create a subtle but terrifying image. This is a fine line I realize, I definitely don’t want to “hit the audience over the head” with this, I just don’t want them to forget that these people were burned alive.

In our meeting Clay, you mentioned you wanted the audience to be aware of themselves and their environment, to re-evaluate their surroundings, wonder about and question their safety and security. I think the way I can do this is by showing the effects the fire and smoke would’ve had on the clothing and the bodies.

I like the idea that Clay mentioned, that this is the story the ghosts tell to themselves when everyone else goes home and I would like the clothing to reflect this. This means period clothing for everyone, and they should all show signs of wear, especially for the victims.

I love the idea that the clothing looks like it is dry rotting on the actors, it would be a challenge to create this look without the clothing actually falling apart – I realize it does have to last the run of the show. :)

The fabric used in this period really lends itself to the phantasmic and spectral aspects of the show. It was mostly lightweight muslins and linens, with layers of semi-sheer fabrics. I want the dresses to be lightweight and ethereal, cobweb like. I dont want them to be heavy or too costumey.

I have a few logistical questions. Knowing these will really help me in fleshing everything out. Will we see the parents, or are they just voices off stage? I also would like to know if we have an actor for the role of carpenter, since no one was cast for it, also, are children in the show (there should be 3) or are the roles of the children played by the actors? I also have questions about the bleeding nun, how is that going to be staged?? I would also like to know if there is an intermission planned.

Here are a few of the images that I’ve collected:

I love the melty - burning feeling of this painting by Leonor Fini.

Here are two burned/melted faces, the first is from Frances Bacon Head and the second didnt have the artist listed. They are obviously too dramatic - but both are compelling.





This photo of a clematis by Joyce Tenneson really evokes the "cobweb like" feeling i would like to achieve. The second photo is also by Joyce Tenneson and the ethereal feeling is so strong, and i love the way the gauze wrap is so delicate and also shows what i mean by "cobweb like".Thats all for now.

first model pics

hey all

heres my model, damn near anything on it is negotiable as far as colors concerning lights costumes and of course the directors. just throwing this out there, id love to hear comments and concerns. my dead line is incredibly close though, so please let me know some time soon, the long er i hold up tim the more pouty he will be. and rightfully so

hey issac, im really sorry i havent gotten back to you, my phone is completley trashed. i will have to find eric and see if he has your number, if not is there a way that you could more securely transfer that information. sorry for this confusion, i promise i have not just been ignoring you

brian

a random thought

i dont know EXACTLY how well this willl work but i have an interesting idea. using a fog machine (not haze) placed underneath the deck, and a rosco image-projector, i beleive that we could project an image onto a plume of smoke. this would give the effect that an apparition is seemingly appearing out of nowhere.


inspiration came from Richter's "perfect medium" in which he captures spirits unseen by the naked eye on film. you can see a compilation of pictures above

any thoughts on when this plan could be best executed within the script Isaac? i could take a picture of one of the actors in a costume, then edit the photo on my computer, print a slide of it and project the image in its exact form onto the plume of fog. what do you think? this would need to be planned in advance. unfortunatly i can not garantee sucess in the project, yet i do feel optimistic.



above is the actual projector. it slides directly into a lighting instrument similar to a gobo (therefore is very versitle in location thoughout the theatre).

yell-o

Apologies for the rare posts.

Thank you for all of the inspiration buddy! i really enjoy looking at the work of Gerhard Richter and "the perfect medium" and his blurred photo paintings. as the LD i do beleive that i can begin to capture some of this effect with some sort of diffused haze and tight "cool/bright" specials encased in a warm "bubble". a key element in getting this effect comes with the actual tone of the actor or costume. if you notice in the above painting by richter the character is very pale and in so illuminating more so. is there a way to make an actor reflective is this regard, yet still dull and dead?

my hope is to have the haze exhaust from under the prososed planking allowing the aura to build around the actor out, rather than from the instrument out. does this make sense? the sepia-tone should be no problem to acheive with gel. maybe a tea-stained-like style could be applied to other mediums.

in order to capture the feel of theatre in this era i hope to have gas-colored footlighting. this color with possible mixing could really add interesting angles.

a thought i had is to project through the planking of the set or with the footlights the shadows of the actors onto the back wall. i think this effect with give the actor a greater pressence in the space. a pressence not possible by a mortal but maybe by a spirit or ghost.

please excuse the lack of clarity i thought i should purge ideas onto the blog after a long day. response more than welcomed.

Nice to Get Started

Hey everyone,

It's nice to see you all posting away. Just one quick blog maintenance thing... Don't post your personal info on the blog, anyone can read it. Eric, I took your phone number off your post, just so's you know... anyway... on with the play itself.

I'm glad, Brian, that Anselm Kiefer really spoke to you. The more I read about him + his fascinations with texture and mysticism the more right-on I think he is. The other artists I've been looking at are Francis Bacon and Gerhard Richter. I've also been reading/looking at the book The Perfect Medium a catalogue and analysis of 19th Century Spirit Photography.

I want to try to draw some links between these different things. First, the Francis Bacon. I think with Francis Bacon, what I'm drawn to is the attitude behind the art rather than specific images vis-a-vis this play. Bacon said of his own work that "I would like my pictures to look as if a human being had passed between them, like a snail, leaving a trail of a human prsence and memory trace of past events, as the snail leaves its slime". J.G. Ballard (who wrote Empire of the Sun amongst others) said of Bacon (whom he was friends with) something along the lines of Bacon's paintings are like the dead trying to draw what they looked like when they were alive. This quote speaks to me of what the characters themselves are doing in this play.

Kiefer I think speaks for itself. The rough textures, the mystical symbols, the way it draws on the more occultish ends of Judaism etc. Also, the moments of beauty. There's a painting of his that has his trademark rough-hewn textures all over the canvas, and then at the top, one lone white feather. This play is full of those moments.

The Richter and the spirit photography speak to a very specific thing to me, and trying to find the theatrical equivolent is gonna be tough, but I think is part of our jobs... it's the blurryness of it. When ghosts appear on photos, they're orbs of light. When they appear in the spirit photos, they're bits of ecoplasm, or sometimes super-imposed images. Here-yet-not-here. The same sensibility invades blurred photo paintings">the Richter blurred photos as well. You get the sense of a person, yet they're not really there. How do we do this on stage? (Besides using Pepper's Ghost, of course). Also, the sepia color of the old photographs really speaks to me. Is there any way to make these people somehow old photographs of themselves but come to life?

Anyway... check out these artists and let me know what you guys think.

Also... any visuals that I should be looking at?

howdy

hello all,
please excuse the long wait on my reply to this blog but i have not been able to find any internet connections down here in daytona untill now. i am very excited that this blog is in existance (though i am not an avid blogger myself) i think it is a great way for us to keep in contact. i am really happy to see all the direction that has already occured. thank you issac for your regurgitation of the script. brian, as you know i was feeling the same about shining up through the cracks...especially in the scene with the actor wherein he speaks about the creaks (sp?) in the floor. i really like the back wall idea too...with a lot of textures i assume?
some of my thoughts with this show include a different angles than most of us are used to at VCU. i am feeling very low sides ...maybe even from onstage?...footlights with period gas color aswell as some LEDs maybe to incorporate some pretty color mixing in the more abstract moments. possible some moments with pointalism and color mixing to acheive the many tones of fire. as you are aware, the lines in the show could be roughly gathered into 5-10 different levels of "lucidity". one of my main concepts so far is to portray what the actor is seeing, feeling, and thinking in reference to the text. the key is delicacy. think of it as the stages of a dream in which you are barely asleep and can sense the "real world" all the way into full lucid dream in which you are completely aware that you are dreaming yet you wouldnt be able to tell the difference between "real life" and "what you are living"....does this make any sense???...call me if it doesnt ....anywho....i think there is a lot of potential for this show and very little boundries. let me know what you think.