Overall Evaluation

Overall I think that we have worked well in preparation for We Will Rock You. Everyone has for filled a role and helped with the process. Our main piece of scenery was the rock, from which a guitar appears in the play. I think our approach to building it was good and the chicken wire worked well to form a rock shape. I also think the painting worked well because we chose the correct colours.

When we were coming to the end of finishing the rock, the door was painted a different shade to the rest of the prop. We overcame this by going over it again with a slightly lighter paint, and darkening the rest of the rock. Another issue we had was when we were covering the door with chicken wire and the paper fell off. We decided to tip the rock over but this lead to a flat cover as it evidently didn't stick to the wire. Instead of restarting, we put together handfuls of paper and stuck it down to give a more rock-like appearance. Also, we decorated the interior with purple, red and blue silk fabric because we did not want chicken wire to be noticeable  I think the silk gave a good finish. 

                           

As for the stage itself, Emma and I worked out measurements to scale, for how big the stage would be and how many rostras we would need / how much of the stage we would have to build. We also calculated the height and length of the truss' and the flats. However, when the truss arrived, it became apparent that there was more masking than what we had previously thought. Instead only 2 small triangular shaped stages were built. In the end, we ended up not using as much staging, which was good because it meant the stage could be bigger and it would be easier to transport the rock on and off stage. The fact we needed less staging was also an advantage because it saved us a lot of time and money.

If I were to do it again, I would definitely ensure that the rock was made more efficiently so it did not take as long to complete. I would do this by working at a faster pace. If the rock was finished sooner, we would have had time to make more props and be more involved in my opinion. But we worked well as a group and the show overall will be a big success. 

Health & Safety Powerpoint

Set Construction Techniques Powerpoint

2D Design

When the trusses arrived. We discovered that we would not need as much rostra as we first thought. Above is a birdseye view image/design of how the performance space actually looked. The red lines represent the truss's positions on stage.
We used 8 pieces of rostra overall, 4 of the lowest and 4 of the second lowest. In addition, we built 4 triangular shaped blocks of staging to create the jaggered effect down stage left and right.
We also changed the position of the scenic element - the rock. Originally it was brought on from the sliding doors, upstage centre, however in the technical rehearsal it looked too obvious and messy. As a result, we decided to move it and for it to enter downstage stage left. This way it could be easily moved and it helped with making the entrance more subtle.

Scale drawing of the rock

Above is a scale drawing of the piece of scenery that we as a group created. As the rock had an uneven shape, the height is from the tallest point and the length is from the widest points.

Scale Drawing (Trusses)

Above is a scale drawing of the trusses we have used for WWRY. The idea was to create a tunnel effect from the audience's perspective. We did this by making the front truss the tallest and longest, the middle one slightly smaller in height and length and the back truss the smallest out of all three. I think this worked really well.

Original 2D Stage Design

This is a birds-eye of how the set for We Will Rock You will look. We have decided to use pieces of rostra for the staging along the back and down the sides of the performance space, it will be slightly raised. Also, the extra pieces pointing inwards, we will build ourselves. I have ensured that they gradually decrease in size to sustain the tunnel effect that we wanted to create with the 3 trusts.
The rock is our piece of scenery that we have made ourselves and it will be situated upstage in the centre. It can be transported easily because we have attached wheels to the bottom.