7ftsmalldesigns-blog

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Audio Artefact 2.8

This is an ambience track I created in advance of my One button show. It was created as a pre show track which sets the mood of the piece and contrasts a later snap change which will shock the viewer. This is one of the first more theatrical audio recordings I’ve every mad and I am quite proud of it. 

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Lighting Inspiration 8

This image is from a production of Miss Saigon which I was Head Electrician for. This character, Thuy, dies in the first act but comes back in a nightmare that the protagonist is having. My lighting designer wanted to show a real difference in this so to do so she placed a green gel into one of the followspotsj and we had a bird at his feet to light his face. This way the shadows that are typically created by footlight were filled in with green, which added some very unnatural colours to his face. This effect worked really well for the desired look.

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Lighting Inspiration 7

This image is taken from the Australian Ballet’s production of Sleeping Beauty. This show was absolutely incredible and this last image stayed in my mind for hours afterwards. The image does not do the piece justice as the gold was gleaming and the costumes had a sparkle on it. This image is really pretty too as it has the singular bean of light coming through into the space from the OP ceiling. 

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Lighting Inspiration 6

This installation, by Jim Campbell, is a really cool experiment with topography and using point to create shape. I really like this and feel that It could go one further if it was a coloured exhibit. While I understand that the white fits with the simplicity of the piece, a pixel mapped full colour version could look absolutely amazing.

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Audio Inspiration 2

I found this clip through the depths of the internet and it reminded me of old Get Smart or TV Batman episodes. That prevalence in the thin instruments in TV themes and transitions was huge in that era and I quite like it. It takes me back to my childhood so I feel this would be a really interesting thing to be able to use in a theatrical context. Obviously it would have to match the mood and era of the show but pair it with the right vision and you could have some really interesting transition style audio.

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Audio Inspiration 1

This clip is from The Encounter, a show where every person in the venue is wearing headphones and the audio is recorded through a Dummy Head Microphone and then two other Microphones the actor has with him. The actor then uses these and some loop pedals to tell a story. This show has become critically renowned and is touring globally.

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Vision Inspiration 5

This new technology pioneered by intel and first used by the Royal Shakespeare Company is absolutely incredible. They are using live motion capture on stage and transforming that into a cgi character projected into the walls and all over the stage. Essentially they are warping the physical characteristics of the actor to create something that has never been done before in live theatre. This show is on my bucket list to see as this would be unforgettable. 

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Vision Inspiration 4

This clip is a trailer from 1927′s production of the Magic Flute. 1927 is a theatre company which bases its entire aesthetic within animated projections. The set is a blank wall with cutouts or steps in it and this allows the set to be flexible and literally become a blank slate for the designers to work from. 1927 do some amazing work including their own musicals and operas. Golem is their dates production which is touring globally. 

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Vision Inspiration 3

This performance is incredible. The ability to track a dancer or actor across a stage with projection is huge and lends itself to so many amazing effects and tricks that Vision designers can make. I love the ending where the motion tracking is being used to cut a hole out of his chest.

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Vision Inspiration 2

White night is always an amazing time of year for me. I really like watching the amazing stuff artists come up with both in the practical installations and in things like this incredible, awe inspiring projection on the south face of the Royal Exhibition Building. This particular work uses the beautiful old architecture of the building within its design and creates some really amazing designs. Including one grayscale scene in the show where skeletons and spiders crawl out of the crevices of the building and you almost think it’s real. 

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Vision Inspiration 1

This video does something that I really want to do in my practise at some point, and that is to allow a dancer or actor to interact with the projection. This turns the Projection into a character and not just a backdrop. The integration of lighting and Projection is also extremely seamless. I really love these shows for their production values because occasionally something comes across that blows even my mind. 

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Lighting Inspiration 5

 This image is taken from Book of Mormon. This image is so well timed. the reason I chose it however is that It has so many things to pull out of it. The most obvious being the spots on the ground, perfectly lining up with each mormon to give them a backing of cool white, while the set is still in the warm african scene. The ability to do this comes down to the fact that these major musicals have months upon months to rehearse and tech in the theatre so that everything can be spot on. Another thing I love is the cyclorama curtain and how they've not only textured it but coloured it to look like a cloudy sunset. I’m not sure whether this is just very accurate and deliberate focusing or a projection but it’s a very nice image.

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Lighting Inspiration 4

These two images are the set design and the final finished result of the set of Matilda. This is a perfect example of when set electrics are done well. I love the mixture of dapple light shone onto the pro arch and the books that are internally lit. This, combined with the frantic nature of the set, means that when the audience walks in they have no idea where to look, and are completely dwarfed by the scale of this set. It really is an incredible thing to walk into.

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Lighting Inspiration 3 This image, taken by Nick Jeremiah, has a beautiful gradient in the sunset. I have for a long time wanted to create something like this in a theatre, using a gradient cyclorama or something similar where I have a lot more control over the colours on the back wall. I also love the contrast of natural lighting in the background and artificial fluorescent lighting in the foreground, this makes clear that the gas station, while it has some beauty in this image, has no place being in this scene. 

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Lighting Inspiration 2

This image is taken from the Melbourne production of Cabaret. This production had a beautiful lighting design which was primarily a conventional rig. The tone of the show was driven by isolation of space and creating this on such an already small stage was a really interesting approach. The harsh backlight in this image really shows the drama of the musical and while it is often very start, the colour they do put into it adds a really pretty note to what is a very dark show. This juxtaposition, especially in one particular song, tomorrow belongs to me, is heartbreaking when you think of the context the show has.

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Lighting Inspiration 1 This image is from Anti Gravity, with the lighting designed by Paul Jackson. This piece was really interesting as it used technology as one of the main themes, with hazers, speakers and lights all being used by the dancers to create really interesting effects. This image really stand out as well to me as there is a beautiful contrast between the warm bright par can wall on the left to the cool blue dark right. The direction of the haze also carries the eye, making the image a really pretty metaphor for the passage of time in a day, 

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Vision Artefact 2.7

This is some of our research on the poem, Howl, which we had to create a vision design for.