Hello ID1608!
Use the chapter handout plus periodicals and web searches to research and understand the space needs of performing arts venues. Pay specific attention to: audience and stage configurations, seating standards, acoustical considerations, lighting (both commercial and stage use). Make sure also to consider sustainability, economics and ergonomics. Where possible, address aesthetics as well.
Remember, this is about research and dialogue with the whole class contributing information.
Off you go!
~T
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18 comments:
Feels Like a Performance Space...
So I have taken the first step (in more ways then one), and am absolutely clear about how my stage will be used. I believe I will get the most enjoyment in designing a medium, intimate space. In order to design an eclectic, rustic, artsy feel I will go with the Proscenium stage. As the audience sits in anticipation of the awesome show they are about to see, the critique over the stage design will begin; to make the overall theatre experience greater. The thrust stage seems to be the best way to form a connection between audience and the performer; If not with ground seats, then with above balcony seats. Of course these are my finds and you may not agree.
I know when I go to the theatre, the stage and interior are the most exciting parts. Now this would be completely different if I were designing for a space to hold a rodeo or a U2 concert.
p.s. There is a show at the Tampa Theatre on Thursday, Jan. 10 @ 8pm The Dresden Dolls... look them up on YouTube...If you like then go there. Tickets are 8 dollars with student ID.
Oh the Dresden Dolls! My favorite band for about a year now. Unfortunately, my wife and I will not be able to attend the show :(
Good choices, so far. Now do some research on auditorium acoustics and lighting and see if there are any points you can bring up about that in the blog.
Reference Links
From Randy Sabedra of The Art Institute of New York and Parsons School of Design
Lighting Design / Web Links
To learn more about Light Artist, below are some useful links:
http://www.peterfreeman.co.uk/home1.htm
http://www.artistscareers.co.uk/level3/03light.html
http://www.imagepluslight.com/gallery.htm
http://home.planet.nl/~jvansant/index.html
http://www.paulfriedlander.com/
http://k279.virtualave.net/RLA/
http://lightenergystudio.com/LightingDesignsFrameset.htm
http://www.deannesabeck.com/index.htm
http://personal.inet.fi/taide/esa.laurema/
http://www.claydon-creations.co.uk/gallery.lightart.pre.asp
http://www.keiichi-tahara.com/work/
Books:
Keiichi Tahara
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/2843232627/qid=1064676267/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-0629973-9712732
Ingo Maurer
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0811834166/qid=1064676351/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/104-0629973-9712732?v=glance&s=books
James Turrell
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/3775790624/qid=1064676641/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-0629973-9712732?v=glance&s=books
To learn more about Vision, below are some useful Internet links:
Vision – How We See:
How Stuff Works - The Eye
http://science.howstuffworks.com/eye.htm
IESNY - See The Power of Lighting ... the Video
http://www.iesna.org/pl_web/index.cfm
More Illusions:
How Stuff Works - Illusions
http://science.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=eye.htm&url=http://dragon.uml.edu/psych/illusion.html
Dale Purves Lab
http://www.purveslab.net/
Sand Lot Science
http://www.sandlotscience.com/
To learn more about Lamps, below are some useful links:
How Stuff Works
Howstuffworks.com - Lamps
http://science.howstuffworks.com//light-bulb.htm
Lightsearch.com - Ballasts
http://www.lightsearch.com/resources/lightguides/ballasts.html
How Stuff Works - Light
http://science.howstuffworks.com/light.htm
Howstuffworks.com - LED's
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/led.htm
Technical Guides
Lightsearch.com - Principles
http://www.lightsearch.com/resources/lightguides/principles.html
Lightsearch.com - Color Metrics
http://www.lightsearch.com/resources/lightguides/colormetrics.html
On-line Lamp Catalogs:
Philips Lamps
http://www.lighting.philips.com/nam/product_database/sag.shtml
Osram Sylvania Lamps
http://www.sylvania.com/catalog/
General Electric Lamps
http://www.gelighting.com/na/business/products.html
Fun Stuff:
LightBulbJokes.com
http://www.lightbulbjokes.com
To learn more about Fixtures, below are some useful links:
Finding Fixtures
Elumit.com
http://www.elumit.com/
LightSearch.com
http://www.lightsearch.com
SearchSpec.com
http://www.searchspec.com/search.html
LightingForTheHome.com
http://www.lightingforthehome.com/
The Lighting Resource Center
http://www.thelightingcenter.com/
Research
RPI Lighting Research Center
http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/index.asp
Light Guide: Demanding Environments
http://www.lightsearch.com/resources/lightguides/environments.html
Measuring and Testing:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
http://eetd.lbl.gov/BTP/lsrfacilities.html
On-Line Magazines
Light Forum
http://www.lightforum.com/architecturallighting/index.jsp
To learn more about Calculations, below are some useful links:
Calculations
How To Use Photometric Data
http://www.searchspec.com/library/articles-indoor003.html
Light Guides: Light Loss Factors
http://www.lightsearch.com/resources/lightguides/lightloss.html
Software
Visual
http://www.lithonia.com/software/Lightware7/Visual/Default.asp
Rayfront
http://www.schorsch.com/
AGI 32
http://www.lightinganalysts.com/
LightScape
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=775075
Lighting-Technologies: Lumen Micro
http://www.lighting-technologies.com/
To learn more about Concepts and Applications, below are some useful links:
Technical Guides
GE Lighting - Literature Library
http://www.gelighting.com/na/litlib/segmentbrochures.html
DesignLights™ Consortium - Light Guides
http://www.designlights.org/guides.html
RPI Lighting Research Center - Library
http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/Library/home.htm
LightForum.com - Library
http://www.lightforum.com/architecturallighting/resource_library/techniques.jsp
Lighting Design Books
Architectural Lighting by David Egan
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0070205876/qid=1051466015/sr=1-6/ref=sr_1_6/102-9944701-0881731?v=glance&s=books
Light Revealing Architecture by Marietta S. Millet
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0471286443/qid=1051465098/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/102-9944701-0881731?v=glance&s=books
Interior Lighting by Gary D. Gordon
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/047144118X/ref=pd_sim_books_1/102-9944701-0881731?v=glance&s=books
Architectural Lighting Design by Gary Steffy
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0471288632/ref=pd_sim_books_1/102-9944701-0881731?v=glance&s=books
Detailing Light: Integrated Lighting Solutions for Residential and Contract Design by Jean Gorman
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0823013413/ref=pd_sr_ec_cs_b/102-9944701-0881731?v=glance&s=books&st=*
Time-Saver Standards for Architectural LightingTime-Saver Standards for Architectural Lighting by Gary Steffy
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0070610460/ref=pd_sim_books_3/102-9944701-0881731?v=glance&s=books
To learn more about Execution, below are some useful links:
Writing Specifications
IALD/LIRC Guidelines for Specification Integrity
http://www.searchspec.com/library/articles-indoor004.html
Online Education for CEU’s
Lightolier.com - Online Education
http://www.lightolier.com/edu/eduprograms.htm
RPI Lighting Research Center - Learning Online
http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/education/learning/
Cooper Lighting - Education
http://www.cooperlighting.com/education/
Education
Lighting.com Education
http://www.lighting.com/index.taf?_UserReference=1AF5CFF50C5595633EAC2928&_pi=1036
Professional Organizations
IES of North America
http://www.iesna.org/
IES of North America - New York Section
http://www.iesny.org
National Council on Qualifications for the Lighting Professional
http://www.ncqlp.org/
Dark Sky Organization
http://www.darksky.org/
Daylighting Collaborative
http://www.daylighting.org/index.htm
The Nuckolls Fund.org
http://www.nuckollsfund.org/
I think the thrust stage is agood choice but I am going with the proscenium stage.My performance hall will be used for plays and ballets, so the proscenium will allow me to have touring performances.I will have to pay special attention to sightlines so the audiance can see the dancers feet.I will also go with the american seating arrangement with more aisle space than the continental.I will need to have cutting edge technology, acoustics, lighting and heating and cooling systems so that touring companies will want to perform at my hall.The materials that I will use throughout the space will help to absorb noise to help with acoustics.
For this project I would like to design a stage for Models and anyone else that might be in use for a runway. I wanted to design something that would not be for your average use of a stage, like dance or musical orchestra. I thought it would be best to go with a thrust type of stage so that the audience could see exactly what was happening from all angles. There would need to be ample lighting on the runway and stage as well as in the isles and above so that one would see everything happening with the clothing or otherwise. There would need to be some acoustical value added to acheive a quiet and not too busy atmosphere for the models. I have visited a couple of the sites listed above in Tim's entry. I found them very useful especially http://www.elumit.com/default.aspx I highly recommend you all to take a look at this site for lighting fixture ideas.
I would like my auditorium design to serve as a small intimate space for a local stage group. The main purpose of the space would be to support rotating theater productions (mostly plays with a small combination of musicals). I would like to accommodate approximately 100-150 audience seats. I have found a few layouts which will certainly serve this purpose.
As for research, I have found a great article on auditorium acoustics by Arthur Noxon. In the piece Noxon details the many complexities and considerations that go into acoustical design. Important considerations when designing an auditorium’s sound features must include reverberation, reflection, diffusion, absorption, vibration, and other acoustic metrics.
A main ideal of acoustical design is understanding direct and indirect sound. Direct sound is the sound “directly” absorb by the audience members’ ears. Noxon details that each audience member absorbs a very small fraction of the direct sound. The sound that is not absorb, is then referred to as “indirect sound”. The indirect sound is typically a main focus for auditorium designs, because what happens to these stray sounds can make or break the outcome of a functioning space. If the stray noise is left unabsorbed the whole of the space is ruined. Also addressed in Noxon’s article is the idea of background noise and how such noises can interrupt a persons ability to hear properly. Noxon introduces a few key concepts to keep in mind when designing around background noise. One is the “signal to noise” ratio, which deals with direct signals-the signals from the performance- and background noise. Background noise is categorized into three forms: operational system noise, intruding outside noise and self-generated audience noise. The article goes into detail about each.
I found this article to be a solid introduction to better understand what happens with sound in a performance or auditorium space. Here is a link to the site, I will also bring in a print out to share…….
http://charmian.sonoma.edu/~bryant/Fall2006/Phys300%20F06/Phys300%20info%20by%20chapter/Auditoria%20WEB%20references/aa101.pdf
Great site that talks about auditorium lighting....
ftp://ftp.acousticdimensions.com/Tools/Worship_Tools/Articles/arch_lighting.pdf
Maranda is kicking butt with her posting gang. What else have you got. Keep up the good work!
Through the readings, I have determined that my performace space will be used first and fore most for ballets and other dance companies. The proscenium stage is said to be one of the most flexible and multi use stages, yet it will need to fit just one type of need, dance. Chosing to outfit this space for dance performances, will easily allow for other mediums to work with the space as well. The stage is to be a minimun of 50 feet wide by 40 feet deep; this is just a minimun, ideally it should be a little larger. Dancers require a sprung floor therefore the stage floor it's self cannot be built on concrete; it can be built up on crisscross sleepers with neoprene cusions between. Wood is a good choice for stage floors, especially pine due to its softness and ease in accomidating screws and other attachments. Although dancers cannot have screws or other saftey hazards exposed, the wood floor should be covered with a temporary vinyl. This is not the most sustainable product but a soft, maluable rubber may offer the same effect. The vinyl covered floor must extend off the stage to the crossover space and the passageway to and from the dressing rooms. Most companies perform to prerecorded music, however some like to have the option of bringing their own orchestra. The orchestra pit should be able to accomodate 20 to 50 musicians.The orchestra pit should be able to raise and become an extention to the stage. This needs to be accomodated for when raking the audience seating. On stage and off, the air will need to be controlled for the dancers' comfort, a warm 75 to 80 degrees. For dance performaces, it is always important, like Mary mentioned, that the audience has an unobstructed view of the dancers' feet. To allow for this the stage should be on the shorter side, on 2 feet 6 inches tall. Also, to make the most of the space, functionally and finacially, the seating will be continental. This will allow for a larger audience, 1000-1500, to feel like a 500-750 person audience. Having a larger body of patrons will allow for larger performaces. Acoustics will also play a large part of the design. If prerecorded music is being played, the sound system needs be replicate it accurately to the dancers especially then the audience. Secondly, if the orchestra is performing in their pit, the dancers need to be able to hear them clearly, then the music needs to be transfered to the audience. The space should also have other acoustical treatment as needed for holding other musical performances, while not taking away from the dances. Dance performances require alot of technical equiptment, especially lighting. Lighting is key to setting the mood, following the dancers, and needs to be able to change rapidly. befor and after performaces, light needs to be able to guide guests to their seat and perform small tasks. During the show, lighting should be quite dark with way finding for late or other moving guests. House lights are to be dimable for signaling purposes. Decorative lighting fixtures may be used, but they can't be all decoration. Everything inthe space should have a true function.
Offers dance floor coverings:
http://www.harlequinfloors.com/americanenglish/index.asp?language=4§ion=65
The areas of dance lighting:
http://www.northern.edu/wild/LiteDes/dance.htm
I like the idea of a thrust stage, because I feel it allows for more interaction and it’s more personal with the audience. However, I don’t like the fact that since it is multidirectional, it’s a bad choice for touring productions, and I would like my performance space to accommodate most if not all productions. The lighting design is very important in any stage design because the lighting directs the audience’s attention and controls what the audience sees. One of the main goals of stage lighting is to illuminate the performer’s expressions and prevent the light from distracting the audience at the same time. With acoustics in theaters, the main goal is to get natural sound to sound natural with the help of electronics. There is a substantial amount of space between the performers and the audience, therefore, electronics are almost necessary for larger theaters, and the cave-like design of theaters does not help to cushion sound. However, with the help of acoustics the sound can reach audience members with out sounding as if it were coming from another direction.
I prefer the proscenium stage over the thrust stage, because it is easier for preformers to be facing one direction, rather than having to rotate in order to be viewed from all angles. My stage will be used for plays and musicians. I agree with Halle about the importance of lighting in any stage. The audience's focus is based on the direction of the light on the stage and the intensity of it. Audiences usually pay more attention to a brighter light, and when it comes to plays and musicians there is always a shifting in light quality to highlight the important aspects of the show. As for the acoustics of the space, it will be very important for the wall materials to be able to absorb the noise as well as project it clearly to the audience. Lighting and acoustics flow together in any theatre design to allow for a functional space that meets its purpose.
After doing some research I have come to the conculsion that I am going to design for a proscenium stage. stage. I want to design an auditorium for broadway musicals and plays. Since most of these will be touring shows, it is the most practical stage design. There will be need for an intimate auidence/stage relationship, as well as the need to change scenery in a quick motion. I have choose to place 900-1300 (american style) seats in which the house floor has an upward slope, as well as I would like to inculde a balcony. Acoustics are going to have to be incorporated especailly in the balcony, where sounds tend to echo more. Lighting is key, I will need the neccisary lights to properly light the stage, the actors, as well as the audience and the isles. The lighitng needs to be flexible, so as the mood of the play/show changes, the lighting van change as well.
I agree with halle about the thrust stage. I like the fact that it challenges the performer(s) to think about more than one direction, whether they are acting, singing, or dancing. At the same time, however, it does give the performer some type of privacy, just in case they have to slip backstage, unlike the theater-in-the-round/arena stage. Based on this, I would like my performance space (with the thrust stage) to be used for musicians or concerts because each angle gives the audience a different perspective, and no one misses anything that's happening on stage.
After reading out handout, I realize how many little intricasies go into designing a theatre. The most astonishing thing that came to my attention was the variety of ways that one could go about designing a certain stage. Building stages for a specific purpose wouldn't be that daunting of a task, but once you get into modern day theatres that encompass all that a stage can do, then the really crucial part of the design comes in. I can see know how one person can spend all their energy and time just in theatre design. The lighting itself would present a task that only a knowledgabe person in the field of lighting could perform. The lighting is what makes the theatre, the theatre. The special effects and movement of the light allow the person to experience something beyond the mundane of everyday life that allows the theatre to be a special and sought after experience.
Ok so. I have decided to design a small intimate theatre space used primarily for small concert venues. I'm thinking I want somewhere around 150-200 seats give or take. I'm interested in this type of theatre space because I think it will be a challenge to accomadate harmony between lighting, space and the necessity of acoustics. I am leaning towards Continental seating but have not made a firm decision yet. I am thinking that a thrust stage may be most appropriate for optimum intimacy but I haven't gotten all the details together just yet.
Interesting information on the website that Maranda recomened.
I have decided to design a small children’s theater to seat about 68 people. After doing some research on seating I decided to go with the American, I think it would be a better choice especially since it is a children’s theater. I also decided to go with a thrust stage instead of proscenium because of the audience type. It provides a more intimate setting. I also decided to go with a slopped house floor and staggered seating. The shape of the stage is from the ancient principal western form of Greek Archaic.
i found a good website about stage acoustics. it goes over echoes, reverberation, and the types of materials you can use to absorb sound.
http://stage-directions.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=332&Itemid=39
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