7/31/2019 GCSE Set Design Model Answer Part 2

1/1

Analysis of the design/technical elements

Reasons they were usedin the way they were

Evaluation ofeffectiveness

Awareness of integrationof elements

Justification of ideasoffered

Terminology

2 How effective do you think the use of the design/technical elementswas in your chosen scene or section.

(This answer is part 2 of the design/technical elements question)

Adhesionis a very romantic story which explores the question why somepeople stick together, often in surprising pairings while others, who seemideally matched, split up.

The trees, held by the other actors were slowly moved into a small circle bythe other actors, giving just enough space for the two dancers in the duet.The audience gathered all around the trees and the two dancers creptbetween them into the circle. It successfully gave the impression that thedance was taking place in a clearing in a forest and this added to theromantic tone of the dance, a tone which was created initially by theromantic piano music. It was almost as if we were seeing a secret, intimatemoment and this made the audience feel privileged.

Using the trees to define a small space within the space as a whole focused

the audiences attention on the dancers

faces and bodies, and this wasvery effective in making it a very intimate dance.

The video screens showing live feed of the dance were above theaudiences heads for this dance and slightly behind, meaning that wetended only to glimpse the action on the screen and tended to focus only onthe live action. However, the extreme close-ups used for filming this dancegave an abstract quality to the projections. We were aware of largesweeping movements and this added to the romantic tone withoutdistracting us from the intimate scene.

The lighting for this scene came mostly from four follow-spots, one in eachcorner of the space. They were at quite a low level, just high enough to hitthe dancers over the audience heads but low enough to throw shadowsfrom the trees. The fact that they were follow spots not fixed spotlightsmeant that the light was constantly moving, giving a dynamic quality. Thelow angle and the shadows this created enhanced the shapes of the actorsbodies very effectively.

Two of the followspots in opposite corners used a pink gel for this scene andtwo used a blue. This might have been to suggest the male/femalecharacters but I think it served to give a romantic quality. They were softcolours, very much in keeping with the mood of the dance. These colourscast the audience in a soft light, too and the colours reflected off the whitewalls of the set which further enhanced the gentle, delicate mood of thispiece.

Some accent light was provided by the (battery) candles dotted around thetrees positioned by the walls and by the central arch. These were also veryeffective in creating a gentle, romantic mood. The girl dancers flowing reddress added to this again.

All of these features were highly effective in creating a clear mood for thispiece and the audience was enthralled by it, not wanting to move, perhapsbecause they felt they were watching something secret, almost as if theywere voyeurs.