LIGHTING ‘METAMORPHOSIS’ -Deconstructing an answer
QUESTION: As a designer, outline your ideas for lighting this extract. Explain and justify how these would help to create an appropriate mood and atmosphere at this point in the play
Cut ‘n’ Paste this into a word doc and then Highlight/Underline
RED = references technical vocab,
GREEN for any pearls of wisdom (LINKS TO Social/Historic/Cultural)
BLUE = references to MOOD /KEY WORDS from the Question and/or Designer’s Intentions /Aims
Put a Q in the margin for quotes- count them! (Be aware of how they are used to justify or focus.)
The mood when Mr Samsa starts hurling apples at Gregor is violent and extreme. It’s as if all Mr Samsa’s pent up frustration comes out. As a lighting designer, I would cover the stage in a blood red wash on the line “Apple for you Gregor!”This would symbolise the anger being demonstrated by Mr Samsa. Being an expressionistic play, this symbolistic use of colour is justified. At the point when the apple hits Gregor (It’s sunk in”) I would follow Berkoff’s stage directions and have a strobe light flash on and off quickly- ‘strokes of lightning’. This would catch the family and Gregor in different poses: father triumphant, Mother and Greta distraught, Gregor in agony. It would also have the jumpy, jerky, non-naturalistic feel of a silent movie which would support the 1900s period I feel.
In the next scene, Berkoff puts ‘lights up on the FAMILY.’ In this scene, we see Greta practicing French and father sleeping. As a lighting designer, I would want to convey a more naturalistic mood by using a dim top light in warm yellow to indicate the gas light that would have been used in the 1910s. [See diagram]. I would focus a small profile at ground level onto the down stage right stool and have a flickering red fire effect created by a motorised gobo to create the illusion of a fire. This would link to Berkoff’s idea of total theatre where the audience is using their imagination without the need of an elaborate set. This naturalistic lighting would create an evening mood and a calmer atmosphere several days after the apple throwing.
In this part of the scene, Gregor is absent from the dialogue but there are still references to him when Mrs Samsa asks Greta ‘What’s he doing?’ Berkoff says in his Introduction ‘Gregor is always watching’so I would keep a dim pin spot on Gregor’s room. This would pulse larger then smaller several at the times when the family mentions him and keep reminding the audience of his presence in the scene.
In the last part of this scene, Gregor’s dream, I would want to emphasise the surreal mood that is present. Berkoff describes the family ‘as if under water’ and ‘twisting ‘around in their sleep’. I would use dim footlights coloured blue, which would up-light the facial expressions that the family have. This would have the effect of making facial shadows increase and emphasise the ‘horrified’ expressions Mrs S. is pulling, ‘Father – do something’. Gregor would be lit from the front by a tightly focused spotlight of white light which would gently pulse when he is not speaking. Its low angle also cast large shadows onto the cyclorama upstage – making the actor’s gestures and limbs look larger and more grotesque making this scene quite nightmarish in atmosphere.
What band is this and what number out of 10.
Name 2 things this example does that you didn’t do.
This video from the dance company ‘Motionhouse’ uses creative projections projected onto a white set (a curved ramp that the performers can get to the top of and slide down.)
What ideas could be ‘stolen’ for your production.
The cloth that the performers swing from is called a ‘silk’ – it’s originally a circus apparatus.
‘Motionhouse’ are famous for using projected images and interacting with them.
SAMPLE ANSWER – If you wanted your set to be more ‘high tech’ and ambitious than Berkoff’s “minimalistic” original.
EXPLAIN: My set would be a 2 storey box set with Gregor’s bedroom up stairs and the Samsa’s living space down stairs (and down stage). The whole set would be white to enable multiple projectors to project moving and still images onto different parts of the set. All the walls would be made from gauze that can be transparent when lit from behind.
There would be a central door in the backwall for the appearance of the Chief Clerk and Lodgers This is where the family would exit to access the upper level. There would be a trap door/hole with a pole in the upstairs bedroom area to allow Gregor to move between his bedroom and the living space. There would also be circus-style silk in the bedroom (disguised as curtains around a window) to allow Gregor as the ‘bug’ to move in extraordinary ways.
There would be a stair case behind the gauze to allow the family to go up and down to Gregor’s room.
[MUCH OF THAT COULD HAVE BEEN EXPLAINED IN A DIAGRAM WITH NOTES]
Functionality:
Circus style silks that could reach to the downstairs floor (maybe disguised as curtains) – this allows Gregor to move up and down as a scurrying insect.
Hidden hand hold in white (to blend into the white walls) to allow Gregor to move as an insect and position himself in unusual and gravity defying poses.
Expressionistic:
Projections can be naturalistic – wall paper – shelves etc
or
more expressionistic. For example, when Greta says Gregor has been leaving a slime trail across the walls the audience sees that animated. First in Gregor’s room (more naturalistic) and then the trails/ slime oozes down the walls and into the Living space.
JUSTIFICATION: Symbolic of the idea that the Samsa’s feel that their lives & house is being contaminated. It will support the idea that there is no where in the house that is untainted.
Flash backs:
Projections of the outside world can be projected on the upstairs wall whilst Gregor is describing his life on the road downstage. Busy train platforms – cold, poorly lit streets – snow etc. This all supports the story Gregor tells and makes us feel sympathy for him.
If the question is a SET design one then focus on the shape and functionality of the set (maybe one paragraph about it being made up of white flat spaces that can have images projected against.)
If it’s a LIGHTING design question then you can say 1) that projections are a form of lighting 2) what your projections would be.
It’s unlikely that there would be a whole question about projections BUT you can combine them with the other type of lighting effects you know about.
As a designer, outline your ideas for lighting this extract. Explain and justify how these would help to create an appropriate mood and atmosphere at this point in the play.
Extract used P109-112
Read the extract IN FULL
In pairs / small groups take EACH of the MOMENTS identified below and MIND -MAP (15 mins) the information you think is relevant to answer the question. [Include a diagram for the placement of the lights]
Your conversation needs to be FULL of the vocabulary of lighting (placement, type of lights, colour, special effects and over all MOOD /ATMOSPHERE)
MOMENT 1 = The apple throwing
MOMENT 2 = ‘New scene’ Bottom of P110/111
MOMENT 3 = ‘Gregor’s Dream’ P112
Create a MIND-MAP that has 1 introduction (with an overview of the context of the extract, your AIMS (affecting the audience) or how lights assist with Berkoff’s/Kafka’s style)
2-3 paragraphs where you EXPLAIN and JUSTIFY specific ideas/moments with terminology
(If time allows) Present ONE of your ideas/moments to the class.
IN CLASS you will write out your answer to the above question.
You may use your notes
You should attempt to have 5 quotes
You must have a diagram (but take no more than 5 mins producing it) TIP: your diagram isn’t meant to show ALL your lights for ALL of your ideas -use the diagram to ‘explain’ your most ambitious idea and refer to the diagram in your writing when you get to that bit of your answer.
EACH of your paragraphs should address one of the MOMENTS specified above.
THIS WORK WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE MARKING CRITERIA
