The Flick

Unified Artistic Design

The Flick is about transformation. Through the design we will visualize how the characters grow and transform their lives into something better. Along with the characters transformation, we will see the transformation of the theatre. The costumes, lighting, sound, and setting will all depict the mood of the play as being depressed at the beginning and raising to happiness by the end. The mood will also be shown through the colors used. I will work with the actors, designers and technicians to bring this unifying vision to life in a way that will portray The Flick.

Location 

The location of my play will take place at the Paramount Theatre in Charlottesville, VA. This theatre looks a lot like the theatre I pictured when reading The Flick. This theatre is historic and has a stage in the front. It also has two aisles for the audience to walk down as they are entering. This setting matches the setting of the book. The tickets for this play will be available at a reasonable price such as 10-25 dollars. The target audience for this play would be people that have not reached their goal in life yet. They are middle-aged people that do not have a very good occupation. This play will show how it does not matter what age you are or what your occupation is, you can still achieve your goals and dreams. 

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Scenic Design

The set design for this play would incorporate many different elements. First of all, this play would take place in a movie theatre scenery. The time period would be portrayed as the modern 21^st century.  The environment would be very casual. Since the theme is transformation, I would be depicting the depressing and unorganized lifestyle versus the happy and satisfying lifestyle. This image below shows how people can have the potential to be better in life if they just try. This image shows how someone can grow and transform into the person they always dreamed of. The stage will help be set up to portray the story of how Avery and Sam grow in life from being custodians to projectionist. Later, Avery will own his own movie theatre so he can use the projection system that Sam gave him from the old theatre when was bought. When exhibiting transformation, I will also incorporate how the old and dingy movie theatre transformed into a nice, clean and up-to-date theatre. There will be drapes on the stage that signify the beginning and ending of the play. The drapes will also be a visual for the background of the specific setting. During the play, the aisles will be used and the platform stage.

http://www.praxisnow.com/liveeventm2/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Money-Potential-Graph1.jpg

Costume Design

The costumes for the characters will represent their personality. They will also illustrate their habits and what they like as a person. The costumes will be designed based on their social class to represent their economic status. For Rose, she will wear unisex clothing to depict her personality. The costumes for the characters will start off being very causal in the scene with the old theatre. After the theatre is bought and redone, the characters will wear uniforms that signify professionalism and separate them from the audience. This demonstrates transformation as well. The characters are transformed to be more professional. The costumes will specify character’s social and professional roles. The characters will match, wearing causal uniforms.  I will consult with the costume designer about how they should wear accessories such as their name badge and Rose may wear a hair clip to hold her hair away from her face. As well as talk about the color of the uniforms being professional with a bright colored polo and kakis. The bright colored polo will represent transformation and modernism.  The polos will have “The Flick” embroidered on them so the audience knows they work there.

http://www-tc.pbs.org/arts/media/nuarte/assets/08-the-costumes.jpg

Lighting Design

The lighting of the play will create the mood. When the mood is depressing or sad, the lighting will be dark and dim. When the mood is exciting and happy, the lighting will be bright and colorful. The lighting of the old theatre will be dingy and won’t be as bright. The lights may be dim with a yellow tint to signify the history of the lights. The lights of the new theatre will be much brighter and crisp looking. The newer lights will be LED lights that can depict different colors and style. It is up to the lighting designer to decide how he or she would like to depict this.  The lighting will reinforce the central image and theme of the play.

http://store.rclighthouse.com/content/168950/Pick/Custom_RC_LED_Light_Set_you_design.JPG

Sound Design

The sound of the play will be depicted through a variety of instruments and music in the background. There will be surround sound so everyone in the audience can hear the characters and the music. The music will create the mood based on the tone and rhythm being played. The sound will help tell the story by getting louder with happiness and quieter with sadness. I will converse with the sound designer to include sounds like the sound clip below when Avery gets fired and the mood is sad. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R9gVc9ggZg

Reference

Baker, Annie.  The Flick. New York:Theater Communications Group, 2014. Print.

KABUKI THEATRE

 

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Kabuki is a traditional Japanese Theatre. It is the most popular for it's drama, which contains singing, and dancing performed in a highly stylized manner. "A rich blend of music, dance, mime, and spectacular staging and costuming, it has been a major theatrical form in Japan for almost four centuries" (Kabuki | Japanese Arts). Kabuki is known for its unusual and shocking character of this art form. "In modern Japanese, the word is written with three characters: ka, signifying “song or music”; bu, “dance”; and ki, “skill or craft" (Kabuki | Japanese Arts). Kabuki is one of the Japanese traditions that is used for entertainment. This theatre is for everyone to attend unlike the other Japanese theaters. Kabuki is mainly known for its unique and extreme makeup that described each character's personality. Red symbolizes strength and a sense of justice, blue means evil, and brown is used to represent supernatural beings.

makeup.jpg

A very informative video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hALJT_zRzOg

Snapshot of Kabiki History

The Kabuki theatre was established in the early 17th century, when a female dancer named Okuni, who had been an attendant at the Grand Shrine of Izumo, achieved popularity with parodies of Buddhist prayers. She assembled a group of female performers who danced and acted around her. "Okuni’s Kabuki was the first dramatic entertainment of any importance that was designed for the tastes of the common people in Japan" (Kabuki | Japanese Arts). The pleasing character of the dances and the prostitution of the actors proved to be too disruptive for the government. This led to women being banned from performing in 1629.  In 1652, young boys dressed as women to perform the programs, but this type of Kabuki was suppressed in 1652, again because of concern for morals. Finally, older men took over the roles, and it is this form of the all-male entertainment that is practiced today. "These performances were called Kabuti, whose original meaning is 'tilted' or 'off-killer'"(Felner 130). Kabuki plays grew in sophistication, and the acting became more subtle.

Miko Okuni w.jpg

Interaction with the Audience

Traditionally, there is constant interplay between the actors and the audience in the Kabuki theatre. The actors frequently interrupted the play to address the crowd. The audience responded to the closing of the play with the appropriate praise or clapped their hands. They also could call out the names of their favorite actors in the performance. The audience may also give gifts to their preferred actor as praise.

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Watch a Kabuki Theatre

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67-bgSFJiKc

This video will show the Kabuki traditions and how it is performed. It will also explain the costumes, props and what they represent. 

Works Cited

"Art & Culture Du Japon: Kabuki." Art & Culture Du Japon: Kabuki. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.


Felner, Mira, and Claudia Orenstein. The World of Theatre: Tradition and  Innovation. Boston Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, 2006. Print.




"Kabuki | Japanese Arts." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2015.




"Kabuki (Japanese Theatre)." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.


"Kabuki Theatre." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.

 MIME

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Mime Theatre is a performance done by acting and no words. The actor’s movement primarily means telling a story and not a script. The term “minic” usually evokes images of a story acted out with out words. The body movements by the actor are shown through symbolic and realistic gestures. This type of theatre performance is mainly for entertainment and is known as “silent comedy”. The actor often portrays the story in a ridiculous manner for entertainment. The actor conjures up the existence of unseen objects and people on stage. The actor’s/actress’ appearance is traditionally seen as wearing tight black and white clothing with white facial makeup. However, contemporary mimes often perform without whiteface and wearing other colors such as red. Similarly, while traditional mimes have been completely silent, contemporary mimes, while refraining from speaking, sometimes employ vocal sounds when they perform.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl-BL0TdDX4
The actor in this mime performance is illustrating a typical day without using any words. 

Snapshot of the Mime/Pantomime History

Mime is also called pantomime, which is the art of using movement. The Greek word "pantomimus" which translates to "imitating all" was a highly regarded form of solo dancing often accompanied by music, which encompassed comedy and tragedy and facial expressions rather than primarily the spoken word to communicate. Its popularity was also widespread amongst the Romans until the Christian church prohibited it's public display. “The first recorded mime was Telestēs in the play Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus who was an ancient Greek tragedian. Tragic mime was developed by Puladēs of Kilikia; comic mime was developed by Bathullos of Alexandria.” The word pantomime has been used to refer to an individual as well as an actual production or performance.

https://jeckorico.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/theater2.jpeg
This image shows a tradition mime actor. He is wearing a black and white striped shirt and his face is painted white. Also the tear drops painted on his face shows the emotion that he is portraying.

Works Cited

"20 Last Minute Halloween Costumes That Are Actually Hilarious." Vimbly. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. http://www.vimbly.com/blog/20-more-last-minute-costumes-that-still-hallowin/?hvid=5zRyD9


Felner, Mira, and Claudia Orenstein. The World of Theatre: Tradition and  Innovation. Boston Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, 2006. Print.

"Mime and Pantomime | Visual Art." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1452384/mime-and-pantomime>.

"Mime Performance - Is This Our Life?" YouTube. YouTube. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl-BL0TdDX4>.

"Pantomime." What Is Pantomime? Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <http://www.pantomimes-mimes.com/pantomime-history.html>.