Every great design has its beginnings in a great idea, whether your medium of choice is scenery, costume, lighting, sound, or projections. Unmasking Theatre Design shows you how to cultivate creative thinking skills through every step of theatre design - from the first play reading to the finished design presentation. This book reveals how creative designers think in order to create unique and appropriate works for individual productions, and will teach you how to comprehend the nature of the design task at hand, gather inspiration, generate potential ideas for a new design, and develop a finished look through renderings and models. The exercises presented in this book demystify the design process by providing you with specific actions that will help you get on track toward fully-formed designs. Revealing the inner workings of the design process, both theoretically and practically, Unmasking Theatre Design will jumpstart the creative processes of designers at all levels, from student to professionals, as you construct new production designs.

The Theatrical Firearms Handbook is the essential guide to navigating the many decisions that are involved in the safe and effective use of firearm props for both the stage and screen. It is an invaluable resource for fight choreographers, props designers, backstage crew, directors, actors, stage managers, and more, at all levels of experience. Written in an informal and entertaining manner, with over 100 illustrations, it establishes baseline safety protocol while empowering performers and designers to tell their story of conflict in a way that makes the most of both established convention and current tools of the trade. Within these pages you'll find practical instruction couched in the language of theatre and film, making firearms technology and concepts approachable to dramatic artists without any dumbing-down of the subject material. This handbook is equally at home within the worlds of academic training, professional performance, and independent or community theatre and video productions

This book explores the development of Robert Lepage's distinctive approach to stage direction in the early (1984-1994) and middle (1995-2008) stages of his career, arguing that globalisation had a defining effect on shaping his aesthetic and his professional trajectory. In addition to globalisation theory, the book draws on cinema studies, queer theory, and theories of affect and reception. Each of six chapters treats a particular aspect of globalisation, using this as a means to explore one or more of Lepage's productions. Productions discussed include The Dragon's Trilogy, Needles and Opium, and The Far Side of the Moon. Making theatre global: Robert Lepage's original stage productions will be of interest to scholars of contemporary theatre, advanced-level undergraduates, and arts lovers keen for new perspectives on one of the most talked-about theatre artists of the early 21st century. -- .

"Directors and Designers "explores the practice of scenography--the creation of perspective in the design and painting of stage scenery--and offers new insight into the working relationships of the people responsible for these theatrical transformations. With contributions from leading practitioners and theorists, editor Christine White describes the way in which the roles of director and designer have developed over time. Featuring chapters on theater and site-specific performance, theatrical communication and aesthetics, and the cognitive reception of design by the audience, this volume provides a valuable resource on current approaches to scenography for professionals and students.

Together with other leading set design and theatre talents, McLane invites us into the immersive and exhilarating experience of building the striking visual worlds that have brought so many of our favorite stories to life. Discover how designers generate innovative ideas, research period and place, solve staging challenges, and collaborate with directors, projectionists, costume designers, and other artists to capture the essence of a show in powerful scenic design. With co-writer Eila Mell, McLane and contributors discuss Moulin Rouge!, Hamilton, Hadestown, Beautiful, and many more of the most iconic productions of our generation. Among the Broadway luminaries who contribute are John Lee Beatty, Danny Burstein, Cameron Crowe, Ethan Hawke, Moises Kaufman, Carole King, Kenny Leon, Santo Loquasto, Kathleen Marshall, Lynn Nottage, David Rabe, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Wallace Shawn, John Leguizamo, and Robin Wagner. Filled with personal sketches and photographs fromthe artists' archives, this stunningly designed book is truly a behind-the-scenes journey that theatre fans will love.

Master the art and technique of blue and greenscreen compositing with this comprehensive how-to course in creating effective and realistic composited scenes in video formats. You get clear, understandable explanations of the different types of keying techniques and how they work, including real-world examples and tutorials. Topics include setting up a greenscreen studio, how to light the screen effectively, how to light the talent or foreground material, and matching lighting to the composited background plate. Complete tutorials of each of the major software keyers walk you through the process for creating a clean and accurate composite.

The Fake Food Cookbook: Props You Can't Eat for Theatre, Film, and TV contains step by step instructions on how to create the most realistic prop food for a theatrical production. From appetizers such as oysters on a half shell and chicken wings, entrees such as lobster and honey-glazed ham, to desserts, breakfasts, and even beverages, every meal is covered in this how-to guide. Full color images of each step and finished products illustrate each recipe, along with suggestions for keeping the budget for each project low. Safety Data Sheets and links to informative videos are hosted on a companion website.

For readers who want to become part of the thriving wedding video industry, Wedding Video Handbook explains everything a wedding videographer needs to know. Each chapter explores a different part of either the business or the production ends, and covers topics including secrets for getting clients, selecting the proper equipment, and tips on capturing special wedding moments despite difficult filming conditions. The book includes handy primers on marketing and advertising, handling phone calls and appointments, pre-production preparations, what to shoot on the wedding day, interacting with other vendors, editing and packaging the DVD or video, and generating referrals. Fully up-to-date with information on the newest tools and equipment used in this rapidly-evolving market as well as the cutting-edge trends in wedding video products, Wedding Video Handbook is packed with practical advice from a pro who has spent years in the field.

Packed with more than 350 techniques, this book delivers what you need to know - on the spot. If you create graphics for television, this book is for you. 'Broadcast Graphics on the Spot' show you how to produce more compelling TV graphics. From gathering images for use in broadcast graphics to working with fonts, mastering keying and rotoscoping, or working with logo motion, this book includes step-by-step procedures for creating over-the-shoulder graphics for news anchors, lower thirds, titles, and full-screens that can be used in everyday news productions.

This urgent and provocative study explores contemporary Shakespeare performance to bring a sense of theatre as technology into view. Rather than merely using technologies, the theatre's distinctively intermedial character is essential to its complex technicity; the changing function of gesture and costume, of written documents in the making of performance, of light and sound, and of the interplay of live and recorded acting complicate the sense of theatre as a medium. In a series of probing discussions, Worthen interrogates the interaction of live and mediated acting onstage, the impact of written media from the handwritten scroll to the small-screen app in acting as a techne, the work of Original Practices as an interactive modern theatre technology, the economies of theatrical immersion, and the consequences of an emerging algorithmic theatre, providing a richly theoretical reading of the stakes of theatre as an always-emerging technology.

Dramaturgy and Architecture approaches modern and postmodern theatre's contribution to the way we think about the buildings and spaces we inhabit. It discusses in detail ways in which theatre and performance have critiqued and intervened in everyday spaces, modelled our dreams or fears and made proposals for the future.

Nonlinear is a buzzword for every broadcaster and facility house worldwide. Systems range from the humble to the exotic, and despite the growing acceptance of the technology, many users, both new and experienced, find the complexity of the operation and the time spent loading the material and rendering effects difficult to manage at first. Non-linear editing also comes with its own specialist language, requiring each editor to be conversant with a new range of skills from day one. As desktop systems improve the role of the traditional editor is constantly evolving and expanding.

This is an operational manual for professional trainees and students in the post-production industry. It will also serve as a useful reference tool for producers and directors. Written in a concise and clear manner, the book serves as a practical guide to the efficient management and operation of non-linear editing systems. It describes the technology involved, the essential techniques to be mastered including on-line and off-line editing, project management, rendering effects, working with graphics and audio, and adding third party applications. Designed for quick and easy reference, this is a practical user guide to non-linear editing that comes complete with an extensive jargon buster that will get you fully conversant with the technology in a short space of time.
Patrick Morris is a Trainer in Post-Production for the Television Corporation of Singapore and the Singapore Broadcasting Authority as well as Chairman of the South East Asia User Group. He is an AVID Certified Trainer with a working knowledge of Lightworks, Media 100, Quantel, D Vision and other systems. Formerly a consultant and SeniorEditor for BBC, ITV and SKY TV, he also spent many years a Training Manager for BBC Wood Norton and as Senior Video-Tape Editor for Television South West.
A quick reference guide containing all essential information
Provides useful on-the-job' information
Basic concepts are explained in a clear manner for ease of understanding

Sergei Radlov started as one of the left-wing directors among the disciples and companions-in-arms of Vsevolod Meyerhold in post-revolutionary years. With Radlov, both the Academic Drama Theatre and the Opera and Ballet House were reinvigorated. In the former he directed Jack London, Ernst Toller, Evgeni Zamyatin, and updated Aristophanes. In the latter he did "modern" operas, such as "The Love for Three Oranges" by Sergei Prokofiev, "Der ferne Klang" by Franz Schrecker, "Woyzeck" by Alban Berg, "Der Rosenkavalier" by Richard Strauss, and Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov" in its authorized version.
Most of all, Radlov cherished the studio theatre he had created himself which he considered his life's work and was madly protective of it. To save it, he refused to leave Piatigorsk with his first group of actors and found himself a German prisoner with the rest of the company. This event cast a shadow over the last years of his life.
In this meticulously researched book, David

Edward Gordon Craig's ideas regarding set and lighting have had an enormous impact on the development of the theatre we know today.
In this new and updated edition of his well-known study of Edward Gordon Craig, Professor Christopher Innes shows how Craig's stage work and theoretical writings were crucial to the development of modern theatre. This book contains extensive documentation and re-evaluates his significance as an artist, actor, director and writer. Craig is placed in historical context, and his productions are reconstituted from unpublished prompt-books, sketches, journals and correspondence. Most of the designs and photographs, and many of Craig's writings cited, are not available elsewhere in print. Readers will gain insight into a key period of theatrical history, the life of one of its most fascinating individuals, the nature of stage performance, and into revolutionary ideas that are still challenging today.

Here is help for actors, directors, stage managers, producers, and event planners who want to understand every aspect of technical theater-from scenery, lighting, and sound to props, costumes, and stage management. In this thoroughly revised new edition, the popular guide firmly embraces the digital age with new content about digital audio, intelligent lighting, LED lighting, video projection, and show control systems, all explained in the same approachable style that has kept this book in the pockets of industry professionals for many years. A brand-new chapter on sound design has also been added, and every chapter has been updated with more information about the basics of theater technology, including draperies, lighting instruments, microphones, costume sketches, and more. This book teaches: Who's who on a theatrical production team What is needed to know about technical theater and why What to look for when choosing a space for a show How to communicate with lighting, scenery, audio, and costume designers How to stage manage an effective show or presentation Covering both traditional and digitally supported backstage environments, this book is an essential guide for working with every technical aspect of theater! Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.

Women Writing and Directing in the USA: A Stage of Our Own features interviews with some of the most successful theatre artists currently working on and off Broadway and beyond. The book provides an insight on what it means and what it takes to be a successful female-identifying playwright and director in the USA, where the professional theatrical landscape is still mostly dominated by straight white men. The interviews explore a wide range of themes, including if and how the artists' female perspective influenced their art, the social and cultural significance of their work, and how theatre and women working in theatre can participate in awakening greater social awareness. Readers will learn about some of the most current and relevant American theatre artists, such as Young Jean Lee, Pam MacKinnon, Dominique Morisseau, Rachel Chavkin, and Martyna Majok. Written for students in directing and playwriting courses, Women Writing and Directing in the USA: A Stage of Our Own features inspirational and informative stories that will help young theatre artists find and pursue their artistic voices.

The Cambridge Companion to the Circus provides a complete guide for students, scholars, teachers, researchers, and practitioners who are seeking perspectives on the foundations and evolution of the modern circus, the contemporary extent of circus studies, and the specialised literature available to support further enquiries. The volume brings together an international group of established and emerging scholars working across the multi-disciplinary domain of circus studies to present a clear overview of the specialised histories, aesthetics and distinctive performances of the modern circus. In sixteen commissioned essays, it covers the origins in commercial equestrian performance during the late-eighteenth century to contemporary inflections of circus arts in major international festivals, educational environments, and social justice settings.

The Cambridge Companion to the Circus provides a complete guide for students, scholars, teachers, researchers, and practitioners who are seeking perspectives on the foundations and evolution of the modern circus, the contemporary extent of circus studies, and the specialised literature available to support further enquiries. The volume brings together an international group of established and emerging scholars working across the multi-disciplinary domain of circus studies to present a clear overview of the specialised histories, aesthetics and distinctive performances of the modern circus. In sixteen commissioned essays, it covers the origins in commercial equestrian performance during the late-eighteenth century to contemporary inflections of circus arts in major international festivals, educational environments, and social justice settings.

Perfect for children, parents or anyone else keen to try their hand at face-painting anything from tigers, aliens and sharks to unicorns, rainbows and superheroes.

Focused on the contemporary Anglophone adoption from the 1960s onwards, Beyond Scenography explores the porous state of contemporary theatre-making to argue a critical distinction between scenography (as a crafting of place orientation) and scenographics (that which orientate acts of worlding, of staging). With sections on installation art and gardening as well as marketing and placemaking, this book is an argument for what scenography does: how assemblages of scenographic traits orientate, situate, and shape staged events. Established stage orthodoxies are revisited - including the symbiosis of stage and scene and the aesthetic ideology of 'the scenic' - to propose how scenographics are formative to all staged events. Consequently, one of the conclusions of this book is that there is no theatre practice without scenography, no stages without scenographics. Beyond Scenography offers a manifesto for a renewed theory of scenographic practice for the student and professional theatrical designer.

Traditional speech work has long favored an upper-class white accent as the model of intelligibility. Because of that, generations of actors have felt disconnected from their own identities and acting choices. This much-needed textbook redresses that trend and encourages actors to achieve intelligibility through rigorous language analysis and an exploration of their own accent and articulation practices. Following an acting class model, where you first analyze the script then reveal yourself through it, this work breaks down a process for analyzing language in a way that excites the imagination. Guiding the student through the labyrinth of abstract concepts and terms, readers are delivered into the practicality of exercises and explorations, giving them self-awareness that enables them to make their own speech come alive. Informed throughout by notes from the author's own extensive experience working with directors and acting teachers, this book serves as an ideal speech-training resource for the 21st -century actor, and includes specially commissioned online videos demonstrating key exercises.

A hands-on, step-by-step guide to directing plays - by one of Britain's leading theatre directors. Stephen Unwin has worked with hundreds of different actors in a multiplicity of different venues. He is the ideal author of a 'how to' guide to directing. As Unwin himself says: 'Directing plays is difficult. The aim of this book is to lay out what skills are needed, and to give some sense of how you might develop them. The emphasis is on the professional theatre, but the book is useful for directors in other contexts - amateur dramatics, university drama, school plays and so on. Directing is directing, wherever you do it.' Starting at the very beginning, Unwin takes us step by step through: * Choosing the play * Casting * Design * Rehearsal - Establishing Facts, Improvisation, Language, Character, Blocking, Using Specialists and so on * Running the Play * Putting it on the Stage * Opening Night

A practical guide to the art and technique of lighting for the stage, this book explains the complex mixture of craft, collaboration and creativity behind successful lighting design. The designer paints with light - revealing form and composing a living picture from collections of objects and bodies in a given space. This handbook for professional practice walks you through how to achieve this, from first concept to development of design ideas, planning to realisation and, finally, public performance. Now fully revised, this second edition of Nick Moran's Performance Lighting Design has been brought up to date to consider advances made in the technology used for lighting design for live performance. Alongside this, Moran introduces new concepts and ways of working; includes a section on analysing the finished design; and discusses recent research into contemporary lighting practice, addressing emerging trends, particularly for drama. Combining practical information with aesthetic considerations, Performance Lighting Design is the ideal book for students and practitioners of stage lighting working on the contemporary stage.

The definitive guide to writing music for the stage, by the Composer-in-Residence at the Donmar Warehouse. Music has played a vital part in drama since the earliest days of theatre. For composers, writing music for the stage is an opportunity to exercise their utmost creativity and versatility: a good musical score will both support and enhance the play it serves, and can lift a prosaic moment into something quite extraordinary. In this book, Michael Bruce takes you through the entire process - from initial preparation, through composition, rehearsals and recording, and finally to performance. He covers everything a composer needs to know, including: * Getting started - spotting when and how music might be used in a play, doing research, considering form and content * Building a 'sound world' - finding and using source music, creating incidental music, choosing the best instrumentation, scoring, utilising technology, writing music to accompany song lyrics * Working on the production - understanding the composer's role in rehearsals, collaborating with key creatives, employing actor-musicians, getting the show on * Recording - knowing when to record, booking and working with musicians - and the studio engineer, running a recording session Throughout the book, the author draws on his own experience of creating music for a wide variety of plays at the Donmar Warehouse, the National Theatre, in the West End and on Broadway, including detailed case studies of his work on The Recruiting Officer, Coriolanus, Privacy, The Winslow Boy, Noises Off and Strange Interlude. The book is accompanied by online excerpts from his scores. An essential companion for all composers - amateur, student or professional - Writing Music for the Stage is also invaluable reading for other theatre professionals, including directors, playwrights, producers, actors, designers and sound designers - in fact, for anyone seeking to understand how music helps to create worlds and tell stories on stage. 'This fascinating book - like its author (with whom I've had the good fortune to work on three productions) - is bursting with practical advice, good sense and invention. A must-read for all those with an interest in how music works on stage.' Mark Gatiss 'A good score makes a world of difference to an actor. Read Michael Bruce's book and you'll understand why. He is a genius.' Judi Dench 'Michael's music is wonderful: inclusive, original, respectful and - in its rightness - sheer joy.' Josie Rourke, from her Foreword