research

PUT PHOTOS OF EVERYTHING

During our planning stage we came across a few things that I would need to research

Cabaret styles

Stages

Haze and low fog machines

Tables

Colours

Light fixtures for the style

Cabaret:

For our performance the dancers choose the genre of cabaret. I had never done any work or research on cabaret before so this was a new learning curve for me. During our planning production meetings I quickly realised that there wasn't a time period to any of the dances, this was a problem as without a specific time point it's hard to research so I chose to research cabaret as a whole genre. This meant looking at different time periods and looking at the average and similarities between each era.

I wanted to do some research into the fixture commonly used during cabaret, this was because specific types of fixtures give a different feel to a setting.This was a big thing for me as there weren't many onstage props or scenery required so to make the venue feel and look like a cabaret venue I wanted to use specific fixtures and techniques.

I found that the type of fixture used add a huge effect to the feel of cabaret. I found that Parcans and Fresnel where the most similar during each era  from our earliest  to our most modern. I know from experience that Parcans give a soft wash or somewhat cloudy feel to them, they are traditional fixtures which means they aren't mechanical. Fresnel are the same to some extent but the size and edges of the fixture beam are adjustable to your choose. (http://www.stagelightingprimer.com/index.html?slfs-fixtures.html&2)  

Whilst researching cabaret we found many similarities with the layout and props we would need, for example round tables where used a lot to make the audience feel more relaxed and embedded into the performance, the other was colour.

To get the feel of round tables we started to look into hiring some large round tables from other suppliers, we wanted a medium sized table with a rustic look to it, we wanted this as many of the tables from our research were plain wood and could fit an average of 4-5 people around them. We choose to look for smaller tables as we knew our audience wouldn't be large and we wanted them to face the stage, this meant that they could only really sit around 3/4 of the table. Because of this we choose a 4 man table that would probably fit 3 people per table. We did this as it was cheaper to hire smaller tables as they were more common and less of an inconvenience to transport, we also didn't want large tables because of our venue. The venue isn't large and because of the dancing there wasn't a lot of space for the tables and chairs.

The other key point was colour, from our research we found that colour took a large part in cabaret and that every colour gave a different feel and genre. In our show we had many small genre pieces, this made it hard to pick a specific colour as some performances were cold and some were really happy. I choose to go for a traditional red feel to the opening scenes but adding some effects of other colours. I added a smaller bar above the audience as this could add extra colour to the scenes and add a different feel to each scene quickly if I needed to. This bar was also lowered so that it sat about 8ft in height. I wanted to do this as in traditional smaller cabarets the ceiling would be really low and the fixtures wouldn't be far off peoples heads.  Whilst researching cabaret I found that colours symbolise different things, for example blue could be used for a cold and slow dance but could also show that the performance is based outside. This is the same for green, green can represent outside bit nor necessarily. During the programming stage I had to make it clear where the location was and what effect I was trying to make.

For the chairs we started looking at wooden, traditional ones, we tried to use the same supplier for the table and chairs to keep it simple. Unfortunately as our budget was £250 we weren't able to hire chairs or tables as the director had hired and brought many costumes, this left very little monies for the technical side. We spoke to other local colleges that we have links with and managed to source  1metre circular wooden tables, the director didn't like the wooden tables so we put table sheets over them.

The staging was another factor I had to look into, we have small portable staging and large steel deck available to use. The steel desk is 8ft x 4ft and can be put at many heights, the portable staging is 75cm square and a height of 50cm, this is a lot smaller and can only vary in height depending on the pieces you have available. I decided to go with the smaller portable staging as it would give me more flexibility and I could be more creative due to the size and varying heights of the staging. The staging tops would be black and this wasn't a huge problem.

During the programming process I wanted to use the lighting console to the best of my ability. I was also looking up instructions in the manual or on the ECT youtube channel, this was really good as I was constantly learning short cuts and better ways of doing this. An example of this is when I wanted to use a hang during one of the songs. I didn't know how I would make the effect so had to research different ways of achieving this. I learnt other ways of completing a different task but also understood the less obvious commands and tricks of the console.

During the programming time I also had to source and sort out all the sound effects and microphones needed for the show. During the planning stages we agreed that two wireless headsets were to be used along with two directional mics and a na.