|
|
|
|||
| Go to page [Previous] 1~2~3 | ||||||||||
The Amazing Pog Veteran user 372 Posts 
|
If performers see the value in expensive visual props, could a good case be made for the value of expensive audio props also? Should a bizarre performer pay for musicians to craft the music of their show/act? Do performers pay as much attention to their music as to their wardrobe, scenary and props?
'One of the safest ways to make a good performance is to have tricks which work so easily, that mechanics can be forgotten and every attention devoted to presentation' - Corinda
|
|||||||||
docsteve Inner circle 1831 Posts
|
Quote:
On 2013-04-27 07:12, The Amazing Pog wrote: I think you could if you had the means Pog - what a hugely exciting idea! Or how about a full sound effects team allowing you to summon a storm! I love grand ideas along the lines of Caleb Strange - making the moon disappear! Playing tribal drums at a stone circle and being joined by people in animal masks! A string quartet might be affordable, and there's no doubt live music affects us more than recorded. Would love to try it sometime.
[
|
|||||||||
|
The Amazing Pog Veteran user 372 Posts
|
A full on theatre peice!
 I have to admit to thinking a bit less grand than that, docsteve, just sorta hiring someone to record a soundtrack for you (unique to you and your show) - but yeah, if you got the dosh, then bring on the macabre opera!
'One of the safest ways to make a good performance is to have tricks which work so easily, that mechanics can be forgotten and every attention devoted to presentation' - Corinda
|
|||||||||
IAIN Eternal Order england 18807 Posts
|
Don't forget, when black and white silent movies started, a house-musician would be there to help add the correct emotive soundtrack...even the comedian doug stanhope had a cd out with a friend playing guitar during his set...
I've asked to be banned
|
|||||||||
The Curator V.I.P. Beware Vampire, I have 3910 Posts
|
Plus, the props aren't necessary expensive. I do a 30 minutes show with a holed stone in my museum. (OK, I've a museum and that may be a little expensive...)
|
|||||||||
|
The Amazing Pog Veteran user 372 Posts
|
Could be worse, you could have a menagerie!
'One of the safest ways to make a good performance is to have tricks which work so easily, that mechanics can be forgotten and every attention devoted to presentation' - Corinda
|
|||||||||
|
MRSharpe Special user Never a dull moment with 940 Posts
|
Just a general reply here about olfactory enhancement. I've been in the theatre business for 30+ years doing props, scenery and effects. I don't know about you guys, but to me taking a chance on making an audience member puke or actually ill or making myself so, is going a little too far. RE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadaverine
You can do a lot with olfactory enhancement without going into a cemetery at night with a shovel!
Custom Props Designer and Fabricator as well as Performer from Indiana, USA
|
|||||||||
DrTodd Inner circle 1976 Posts
|
Quote:
On 2013-04-21 12:59, The Curator wrote: I smiled when I read this. The simple answer is that it really matters and it does not need to be that expensive, but it does take time. Like others have posted it is great fun to scour the yard sales, bric a brac shops, charity shops, ebay, etc. sometimes objects appear in my life and spend time on my shelves before they find a purpose. Cloth is a very inexpensive way to dress a set along with some selected choice objects. Christian Cagigal creates a great aesthetic with very few props. My own sets have been a bit prop heavy over the years, but now I am exploring ways to streamline the set while continuing to create the feel that I want. http://www.todd-landman.com/wp-content/u......dd-2.jpg http://www.todd-landman.com/wp-content/u......d-11.jpg http://www.todd-landman.com/wp-content/u......mage.jpg |
|||||||||
Brynmore13 Elite user Australia 485 Posts
|
Dr Todd,
Your layout tells a story in and of itself, I can imagine you showing the spectators the photos on the left hand table in the last photo, or having a volunteer sit on the chair in the middle and fall into trance, or experience a ghostly touch. Very elegant in the simplicity, but speaking volumes too.
All is perceived through the gate of the mind.
|
|||||||||
Wizard of Oz Inner circle Most people wish I didn't have 5155 Posts
|
It's also amazing to me how beautiful any prop becomes under proper stage lighting.
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
|
|||||||||
Philemon Vanderbeck Inner circle Seattle, WA 4696 Posts
|
Quote:
On 2013-07-20 01:32, DrTodd wrote: I really love these set-ups. You definitely can tell when a performer has had a theatre background. They fully realize that the stage setting adds a great deal of ambience to a show. It winds up being a character in its own right. Thanks for giving us a peek into your world. I hope you can inspire others to start doing the same with their presentations.
Professor Philemon Vanderbeck
That Creepy Magician "I use my sixth sense to create the illusion of possessing the other five." |
|||||||||
Ed Solomon New user Ed Solomon 70 Posts
|
A thought or two.
I agree with much that has been said about reality of the props in use. If you are going to represent a decrepit crumoudgeon doing bizarre things, It would help if you are decrepit crudgmogeon. Works for me. |
|||||||||
George Ledo Magic Café Columnist SF Bay Area 3042 Posts
|
This is one of the things that theatrical designers deal with all the time, supporting the story while staying within the budget. For this purpose, "expensive" doesn't mean much as opposed to "appropriate." The trick is to understand the story being told and to support it with appropriate visual elements.
I'm a theatrical designer, and I love huge sets, but, as an audience member, the best set I've ever seen was done by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, during their rep season of the four Henry plays back around 1975. It was a bare stage, all the way to the back wall of the theatre. No legs, borders, teasers, tormentors, flats, or anything else. White lights. But when those actors came out, they grabbed you by the neck and shook you and you were still shaken a week later. It would have been so easy, given their resources, to build huge sets utilizing the latest technology, but they chose to let the actors tell the story. That, to me, is theatre in its most basic, powerful form, and as it was meant to be. Too often nowadays, a show relies on scenery and props to make up for the lack of content. We see it in movies all the time. And it's really sad.
That's our departed buddy Burt, aka The Great Burtini, doing his famous Cups and Mice routine
www.georgefledo.net Latest column: "Sorry about the photos in my posts here" |
|||||||||
|
Philemon Vanderbeck Inner circle Seattle, WA 4696 Posts
|
I would venture to say that the RSC performance succeeded DESPITE a lack of set, not BECAUSE of it.
Professor Philemon Vanderbeck
That Creepy Magician "I use my sixth sense to create the illusion of possessing the other five." |
|||||||||
|
George Ledo Magic Café Columnist SF Bay Area 3042 Posts
|
I think I see what you mean, but I don't know that either "despite" or "because" are appropriate terms here. And, conceptually, the bare stage was the set - a conscious decision made by the director and production team for that particular run, for whatever artistic reasons they had.
Personally, I would rather see a play take place on a bare stage than have to look at what's usually stereotyped as an amateur or high school set trying to pretend that everything is "realistic." For me, that's very distracting. Of course, on a bare stage, the actors really have to act.
That's our departed buddy Burt, aka The Great Burtini, doing his famous Cups and Mice routine
www.georgefledo.net Latest column: "Sorry about the photos in my posts here" |
|||||||||
|
MRSharpe Special user Never a dull moment with 940 Posts
|
In my extensive experience in the theatre business, if the audience is critiquing the setting, props or costumes to themselves while a performance is in progress then the actor and directors aren't doing there jobs well at all. There's a lot of bad scenery out there that is very distracting it is true, but usually the bad scenery and bad acting go hand-in-hand.
Custom Props Designer and Fabricator as well as Performer from Indiana, USA
|
|||||||||
|
George Ledo Magic Café Columnist SF Bay Area 3042 Posts
|
Quote:
On 2013-07-21 15:37, MRSharpe wrote: I would say "the actor and directors and designers aren't doing there jobs well at all."
That's our departed buddy Burt, aka The Great Burtini, doing his famous Cups and Mice routine
www.georgefledo.net Latest column: "Sorry about the photos in my posts here" |
|||||||||
Wyld2006 New user If only I was clever enough to come up with something witty to back up my... 41 Posts
|
Can props be so easliy discounted though? I do agree the heart of the show lies in the performance, but when I see props cleverly added for a story line, or the theme of the show I believe these act as the icing on the cake. You want icing on your cake right?
|
|||||||||
| The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The spooky, the mysterious...the bizarre! » » How important are expensive props and decor? (0 Likes) | ||||||||||
| Go to page [Previous] 1~2~3 | ||||||||||
Posted: Apr 27, 2013 11:12 am 
| [ Top of Page ] |
|
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.04 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
|
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < 
|