Transcript Exploration: Directing and producing

EXPLORATION: DIRECTING
AND PRODUCING
Drama I – Unit 2
What is a Director?
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Oversees the entire process of staging a production
STAGING: coordinating everything that actually
happens on stage
What does the director do?

ROLES:
Read and re-read script
 Interpret it’s meaning
 Form a vision of how the production should look
 Decide how the action should unfold
 Conduct auditions, choose cast, divide the play into
rehearsals, schedule the rehearsals
 Blocking
 Character relationships/emotions
 Evaluate as you rehearse
 Consult with all designers and techinicians

What skills does a director need?

SKILLS:
 Must
be able to see end result
 Must inspire, motivate, and focus actors, and crew
 Strong visual sense
 Certain personality traits
 Be able to handle movement
 Knowledge of technical theater and acting
 Be able to analyze a play and present an
interpretation
Who are part of the director’s staff?

STAFF:
 Assistant
Director – helps keep the rehearsal process
organized and running smoothly, a variety of other
tasks
 Stage Manager – director’s technical liason backstage
during rehearsals and performance
 Prompter – feeds lines to actors when they forget them
History of the Director

1500 – 1600s
No director (like we have today), an actor-manager fulfilled
all responsibilities
 Many plays, few different looks – all productions basically
looked the same

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1800s
Emphasis on realism and advancements in technology
 Production more elaborate– too much for an actor-manager
 George II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (1826-1914)
considered the 1st modern director

Formed a small court theater
 Innovative: use of platforms, presenting crowds as small groups

What is a Producer?

Handles the business end of the production
What does a producer do?



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EVERYONE works for the producer
Secure rights to the play
Raise money
Hire actors and staff
Arrange for theater
Supervise publicity and ticket sales
What skills does a producer have?



Financial management
Marketing savvy
Assess artistic merit and commercial potential of a
play
Who is part of the producer’s staff?


Business Manager – responsible for fundraising,
publicity, programs, ticket sales, paying bills
Artistic Director – handles the hiring of the director,
cast, and designers
The Production Team

Design Team
 Design
and coordinate the production’s set, props,
lighting, sound, costumes, and makeup
 TOGETHER,
WITH THE DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER,
THEY MAKE THE PRODUCTION TEAM
The Production Concept

Production Concept – how the play should look and feel

How does it happen?
1st discuss the script and production concept
 2nd discuss marketing and budget
 Designers begin formulating ideas to meet budget and
concept
 Once decisions about set design are made, rehearsals can
begin
 Other decisions – makeup, sound, costumes, etc. are made
throughout the rehearsal process

Assignment

Think about a film that you know and analyze the
production concept it reflects. What kinds of
images come to mind when you think about the
production? What forms and colors predominate?
What prevailing mood does the production convey?
When you have analyzed different elements that
contribute to the overall production concept, then
summarize them.
What is theatre defined by?

3 things…
A
story to tell  script
 Someone
to tell it  actors
 Someone
to listen  audience
Types of Stages

Proscenium Stage
A
picture frame
 Audience
sits on one side to watch action

Thrust Stage
 Combination
 Audience
of arena stage and proscenium stage
sits on two or three sides

Arena stage
 Audience
sits all around the stage
Stage Areas

Right

Left

Upstage
 Area

away from the audience
Downstage
 Area
towards the audience
Theatre Space Layout and Terms

Lobby – where the audience gathers before and
after performances and during breaks
 Box
office – buy tickets

House – where the audience sits
 Orchestra
– seats nearest the stage
 Orchestra pit – area for musicians
 Balcony – projecting upper floors
 Mezzanine – lower balcony
 Light and sound booth – where technicians control light
or sound
Stage House

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Stage – where actors perform
Fly space – above the stage where lights and
scenery are suspended
Proscenium arch – picture frame
Scenery – onstage decoration
Curtains – 3 kinds
Apron – acting area that extends beyond the
proscenium arch
Back wall – separates the stage from backstage
Backstage

All areas other than the acting space
Wings – they are immediately outside the scenery, unseen
by the audience
 Stage manager’s booth – the place the stage manager calls
the show
 Prop table – where all items carried onstage are kept
 Dressing rooms – where actors get ready
 Makeup room – room for makeup and hair
 Green room – a lounge area in which actors may wait
before they go onstage
 Stage door – a private entrance for actors
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 Scene
shop – where scenery is built
 Costume shop- where costumes are made, maintained,
and stored
 Prop shop- where props are made and stored