Ron Naversen 2230 Communications rnav@siu.edu 453-3076
The goal of this course is to introduce the student to the basic design processes related to scenery for the theater, including a working knowledge of the elements and principles of visual design, script analysis, period research, theatre graphics, historic set designers, theories of design, and the presentation of design ideas and concepts. The course also aims to familiarize the student with dramatic literature by assigning plays written from a variety of periods and countries.
1) Water
color brushes and paints, drafting equipment, drafting vellum (not tracing
paper), cold press illustration board or heavyweight watercolor paper.
2) Attendance is
mandatory (see Departmental Attendance
Policy in student handbooks). You cannot learn if you are not here and your
fellow students are deprived of your insights and contributions.
3) Attendance at
Department of Theater productions. You
are part of a theater community and as such should exposing yourself to the
work of others to expand your appreciation of the art and craft. We will also
make reference to the design work during class.
4) Assigned Readings
Learning to Look: A Handbook for the Visual Arts. Joshua C. Taylor
The Dramatic Imagination. Robert Edmond Jones
Plays and articles as assigned.
Assigned projects are designed to teach specific aspects of a scene designer's job requirements. Projects progress in difficulty requiring the students to capitalize on the work they have done before. Therefore it is essential that the student keep up with the work. Projects will be graded the week they are due. Students will have the opportunity to raise their grades by reworking projects and turning them in during finals week. Late projects will be reduced one letter grade, which cannot be raised if a project is resubmitted at the end of the semester. Students are graded individually on their ability to grasp basic functions and aesthetics of scenic design as well as demonstrated growth and development of their graphic skills.
10% Class Participation
10% Element Thumbnails exercise
10% Watercolor Exercise
A given thumbnail will be transferred into watercolor medium and rendered twice in ½" scale, once to suggest a comic style and second a serious style.
15% The Boar by Anton Chekhov
Written 100 word/ 50 word Analysis, Metaphor, Floor plan, Sectional Elevation. Period Research, & ½” Perspective Rendering
15% Medea by Euripides (Robinson Jeffers adaptation)
Scene/Title Study, Collage Imagery/Assemblage, Floor plan, Perspective Sketches or 1/8 or 1/4" Models.
10% Oral Research Reports into the work, history, & design philosophy of period and modern scenic designers.
Visual examples are required. Each report should be approximately 20 minutes. The class will first report on period designers & then on modern designers.
Reports will be given in chronological order.
15% Shakespeare/Elizabethan
Period research into theater practices, architecture & decoration: 1/8” or 1/4" Faux Perspective Thumbnails & Floor plans for each scene
15% TBA
½” Perspective rendering & Front Elevations, Paint Elevations & Prop List/ or ½ or ¼” Colored Model, Front Elevations & Prop List
Sebastian Serlio Jo Melziner
The family Bibiena Mordecai Gorelik
Inigo Jones Donald Oenslager
Adolph Appia Ming Cho Lee
Edward Gordon Craig Santo Loquasto
Boris Aronson
Joseph Svoboda
Julie Taymor
Additional Reading Sources:
Scenery for the Theater Burris-Meyer, & Cole.
Designing & Drawing for the Theater Pecktal, Lyn.
Designing & Painting for the Theater Pecktal, Lyn.
Scene & Lighting Design for Theater Parker & Wolf.
The Scenic Imagination Payne, Darwin.
Theory and Craft of the Sceonographic Model Payne, Darwin.
American Set Design Arnold Aronson.
American Set Design 2 Ronn Smith.
Individuals who have any disability, either permanent or
temporary, which might affect their ability to execute projects in this class
are encouraged to inform the instructor at the beginning of the semester. The instructor will adapt the class for
these individuals as necessary. The
instructor reserves the right to alter the course content to benefit the class.