Prelim Lighting Design and Before

134 Days


So, it's been a while since I have written on this blog... BUT I am back.

Image A

A lot has happen in the 115 days that I have been gone but I hope to catch you up and then share some images with you.

Rob Gretta, the director, decided to set our Into The Woods in the time period of 1914-1916. He justified the concept by linking it to WWI. The wolf being French, the giant being german and the first character killed by the giant is representational of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.

So at that point the show is loosely housed within this concept. 

Image B

We knew the setting for the concept but Rob did not want to make the show incredibly realistic, considering the text is based on Grimm Fairy Tales. As a designer this means to me that he wanted the production elements to be stylized in a form that fit with the concept. Through some amazing research images (Images A & B) from Scenic Designer, Clare P Rowe, and Costume Designer, Patrick Holt, we eventually landed within a style. This is an Art Nouveau illustration style that was popular during the early 1900's.

Image C

After that the costumes and the set were on their way to being finalized. The set became a beautiful open stage in Rowe's representational woods. (Image C) In the color palette of earth tones with highlights of dark blues and oranges.

Lighting Design Analysis and Concept Development

Now that we had this setting it was time for me to start finalizing some thoughts about the lighting concept. I knew from the beginning that I wanted the colors of the light to have a richness and depth to them because most of the characters have a few layers to them and the richness of color will accent the stage with a storybook feeling. While reading the script the dichotomy of "Excited and Scared" spoke to me more than Good and Evil or Right and Wrong. 

When a line in the text sticks out at me, I always start to think about why and how does it apply, if possible, to the whole show and not just the character, in this instance Little Red. In the case of "Excited and Scared," I realized that the characters at the beginning of the show are all in need of something to solve their problems and they all realize that their problems can be solved by traveling into the woods. So, to me "Prologue/Into The Woods" is the characters showing their excitement to have their problems solved in the woods. Towards the end of Act I the characters have mostly solved their problems, or at least know how to but there is already a darkness creeping into the woods, there is something not quite right. When we get in to Act II the woods are now a scary place to be because now they have to deal with the repercussions of getting what they want. After that reasoning I decided that my concept would now be emotionally connected to the idea of Excited and Scared.

Knowing in the back of my mind that the director wanted a style applied to the production I thought that it would be great if I could tie in the texture of the show with the style of the set and costumes. So now the lighting concept has developed into "emotionally excited and scared and stylistically art nouveau."

Preliminary Lighting Design

Concept Images

Village Color Concept; Warm and Rich

Village to Woods Transition - Keeping the characters cut out of their environment. The environment of the woods is exciting and slightly spooky but the characters are still warm.

TO...

Act I woods color/angle research

End of Act I woods color concept

Act II Woods color concept

Note: I usually try to stay away from using other production photos for research but this design for a dance piece by Justin Townsend was too good of a representation to leave out.

Village texture concept - Inspired by John R. Neill storybook illustrations

Woods texture concept - inspired by the Art Nouveau images of forests and woods

I hope you all enjoy and if you have any questions be sure to ask.

Into The Woods Quick Thoughts pt. 1

249 Days

The words "Into The Woods" are sang and said numerous times throughout the text.

A few months ago Dramaturg, Kevin Becerra, and I were sitting on my porch having a quick discussion about Stephen Sondheims Into The Woods. The conversation was had shortly after we both were informed that we would be working on the production together.

Kevin through out an idea that had been on his mind. What are the woods? What does Sondheim mean by "the woods?"

I thought this question was very interesting and upon first thought I had some ideas.

Fast forward a few months, still a couple months away from the first production meeting. I begin to think of the same question and I also begin to think about what that question means to the lighting design. With no directors concepts or concrete details, I feel that I can explore this question with no negative impact in the future development of the show.

When it comes to lighting I think that Into The Woods could provide a necessity for obvious movement in the design. The title and repeated line suggest a sense of movement. Although lighting design should always provide a sense of movement I think that Into The Woods should showcase a specific attention to movement.

The phrase "Into The Woods," while providing a sense of movement also provides a feeling of change.

Obvious statement time:

If you are traveling INTO the woods then you were not in the woods before. Thus showing that the characters are being set in an unfamiliar setting.

The last observation I would like to record for the night is an extension of the previous. Regardless of textual evidence. If the characters are traveling "into the woods" then where will they come out? Will they come out? Is the woods a vessel for travel or is it the ultimate destination? Can the woods be depicted as some sort of limbo, a place where the characters go to spend time, perform a duty, pay their dues to receive a better life.