Transcript Stagecraft 3D scenery Not everything in the world is rectangular. To create natural shapes or curved, irregular shapes we use construction methods different from flats.

Stagecraft
3D scenery
Not everything in the world is rectangular.
To create natural shapes or curved, irregular
shapes we use construction methods
different from flats and platforms. There are
also materials that are very useful for
irregular shapes and textures.
“We need a rock on stage.”
What happens when the designer
asks for a natural shape- a rock.
There are three basic ideas for getting
a rock on stage.
Get a real rock
Carve a rock out of foam and coat it
Build a skeletal structure and cover it
with a skin
A real rock will look right and sound right
and be solid enough to climb onbut
It will be very heavy and difficult to get it to
the theatre and we can forget about scene
changes.
That doesn’t mean we don’t use real rocks
sometimes.
Polystyrene is the most common type of foam for
scenery. It can be carved with just about
anything but for large scale work the usual tool is
a hot wire or hot knife. Burning polystyrene
releases toxic gasses, so protective gear is
REQUIRED.
Because of this we
don’t use foam in
school. But in the
entertainment
industry it is
common.
Polystyrene (Styrofoam) is a cheap
and light material that can be carved
and shaped to create many
textures.
Polystyrene doesn’t take paint well and has a soft
texture. To finish the piece of scenery it has to
be covered with a hard coating that will take
abuse and can be painted.
These coatings can include• Specific foam coatings made by Rosco, etc..
• Fabric and glue
• Joint compound and water
• Fibre glass
To create an odd
shape we can also
build a structure
called an armature.
This acts like our
skeleton and
provides frame to
hang the skin on.
Armatures can be
made of wood,
steel and
sometimes
cardboard.
Skeleton and Skin
One approach to
building the structure
is to use Sabre sawed
plywood sections.
These can be
specified by the
designer and allows
us to place platforms
that can hold
performers in certain
areas. This method
works great for just
about any shape.
Armatures of steel are often used for
permanent construction. For
theatre we often use wood
structures. But depending on the
requirements of the piece we can
use just about anything that will
give us the desired look.
One very useful thing for this kind of
construction is the sonotube.
Sonotubes :
These are the giant
version of cardboard
toilet paper tubes that
are used as concrete
forms in civilian
construction. For us the
light weight tubes can
be used as cylinders
with texture on the
surface, or cut into
pieces to create lots of
different shapes.
Skin
We can use many different
materials to cover the armature.
Everybody has used paper
machete in art class. Other
materials use similar techniques
but the outcome is
more durable.
Some of the usual
kinds of skins arewire mesh and
concrete
wire mesh and
fabric with glue
fibre glass
Fibre glass is used for many items that get wet
often. Boat hulls are a common use and marine
stores are a place to get the materials. This
process has toxic fumes and should only be
used with the proper safety equipment.
Theme parks and restaurants are other big users
of fibre glass scenery.
Many times to get the complete shape you
want the armature alone does not have all
the detail we need. In this case we use
wire mesh to provide a strong enough
surface to apply the fabric or concrete
external texture.
Wire mesh- there are many kinds of metal wire
mesh that we can use. Hardware cloth comes in
¼” and ½” squares. Welded wire uses a larger
gauge wire which is more structural and comes
in hole sizes ranging from 1” to 6”. Chicken wire
has hexagonal holes and uses a flexible gauge
wire. Chicken wire can be formed into very
chaotic, natural shapes.
Hardware cloth/ Welded wire
Chicken wire
Now we are
going to go
through the
process of
creating the
cypress knee
chair for “As
you Like it”.
The same
process can
be used to
create all
sorts of
natural set
pieces.
The first step is to
create the
structure, the
skeleton, of the
desired piece of
scenery. In this
case a chair that
looks like it has
grown out of the
ground. We
started with a
chair, attached a
plywood shape for
the base shape,
and added
cardboard tubes
for the individual
cypress knees.
To get the
tapering effect
we attached
ethafoam pool
noodles to the
tops of the
cardboard
tubes.
Now comes
the skin. Over
the structure
we attach a
chicken wire
mesh that is
formed into
the exact skin
shape we
need. The
frame is wood
and
cardboard
tubes so the
wire can be
stapled to it.
The wire is finished.
This is the structural
part of the unit.
After this everything
is cosmetic. Notice
that we have added
some sticks to the
seat. Any regular
surface can ruin the
illusion of chaotic
naturalism.
Over the chicken
wire is added the
fabric skin. We are
going to cover the
fabric so anything
will do. The fabric
is dipped into a
solution of white
glue and water and
used just like
industrial strength
paper mache. It
will take 2-3 days
for all the glue to
dry. This skin will
give us something
to attach the
texture to.
Did I say that this is a
messy process?
Wear work clothes!
The texture is a mix
of joint compound,
latex caulk, and
sawdust with paint
included for base
color. You may find
many people with
many formulas for
this kind of thing.
Anything that
works is correct.
Earlier I had
taken a silicon
mold of actual
bark. This mold
has now been
used to create
three sets.
The mold is pressed
into the still wet
texture mix and the
bark impression is
applied to the whole
unit. This will also
take many days to
dry so there is plenty
of time to fix things if
they don’t come out
right the first time.
When the
texture mix
dries the
piece looks
almost
complete.
The paint in
the mix has
taken a step
out of the
painting
process.
Now all we
need to do
is some
detail
painting.
Some dry
brushing of
highlites and
color sprays
and the unit is
finished and
ready for
actors.