"Whose Shoes" Speculative Design
Speculative Design For A Kids Play:
"WHOSE SHOES?":
To start the new year, we each had the opportunity to individually design a set for this play.
To start off the project, as well as reading and analysing the script, I wanted to create a couple mood boards of the general idea that I had in mind. I wanted to see what come to my mind when I thought of certain things in the play and so I created these boards.
Helena Bonham Carter perfectly described Imelda too me because she too has an eccentric way of dressing and acting. I saw Eldemina as Wendy from Peter Pan and her little sister as Cora from Titanic.
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The colour scheme I had in mind were the typical colours that you might see as you go through the seasons; relating to nature. My idea was to use these colours in each scene when they’re in a specific season/location, relating to the certain parts of the story, with overlapping colours when there’s a crossover of seasons.
COSTUME DESIGNS:
Like mentioned previously, I want Imelda to be the central focus in the play. She is the one to emerge from clothes, who seem to be a hoarder of them along with shoes, but she is the storyteller, and you don’t know if the story is real or if it's just a figment of her imagination, so everything seems to be an extension of her.
Her clothes will be a big storyteller too, being physical evolvements produced from and within the story.
This dress is what she wears as she emerges from a pile of clothes present somewhere on stage. It has to be big, bold so it captures the audiences attention and creates wonder. It also has to be big and puffy as it will hide layer after layer of her seasonal outfit changes that will stay on underneath, rather than her having to come off and on stage every scene change.
SUMMER DESIGN:
The cold long, dark days and nights have gone, and the sun has taken dominance over the year. The yellow dress resembles that. Green for the burst of growth for all plants and grass. A loose fitting outfit overall to allow for the summer heat.
WINTER DESIGN:
The cold long, dark days and nights are upon us. The need for warmth is paramount. She wears darker colours accompanied with the subtle whites and creams to camouflage in the snow and dull skies. She wears a bounty of brown faux fur around her neck and nape. Matching that is her skirt, which is made from a thick faux suede material, lined and rimmed with white faux fur. Over and underneath the skirt in a white thin sheer mesh type material that matched her cape- like top half. Trying to insinuate the summers long lost flow of fabric. Mimicking it, trying to lure back summer.
INITIAL DESIGNS FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES:
Before designing, we had a couple lessons on the type of sets and stage that were available. We knew traditional theatre is the most common, and so I decided to focus on a transverse stage because its exciting, intimate, and you can have so many interesting view points of the acting.
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On the second design I drew above you will see Imelda is wearing what appears to be very shaggy clothes. This is because I wanted her clothes to be a big aspect of the show. This is like a story she’s telling as she’s doing her laundry, so she’s wearing many layers of clothing and also hanging washing out to dry, so to speak, as she’s telling her story and letting it sit there to be on show.
The first thing I thought of when I started to think about the actual set was that washing line from my drawing on the mood board. This was inspired from when I was reading the script, all I could think about was how; old women have long washing lines down the whole of their gardens. I thought this was be very appropriate as she first emerges from a pile of clothing at the very start.
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SPRING DESIGN:
As the spring comes around, her dress will consist of the remnants of winters, so some blacks still, but with spring, springs new life, so colour begins to emerge. Green and pinks will begin to show themselves. She will be slightly covered up, but with the skirt starting to hang looser as the days warm.
AUTUMN DESIGN:
For this one, as I draw the experimental shape for the dress, the details because ominous as you couldn’t really pick the definite shape and texture of materials for it. Therefor I have called it the experimental one as I’ve draw the outline over it with tracing paper so that you can still see the shape and colour.
For the details of the dress, the need for warmth is beginning to take over. The days aren’t so long and warm any more, but it is by no means cold yet. She wears a faux fur top with a longer, thicker, curtain type material for her skirt. The materials isn’t light and flowy any more, but it still holds that resemblance of the summers flow. The colours now remind of of berries, the bounty of harvest and golding, auburn falling leaving.
SKETCH-UP DESIGNS:
I decided, before making my full 1:25 scale model, I wanted to do a mock up whilst practising my skills in digital model making. Therefore, I constructed this in Sketch-up as you have a very easy and clear view of the basics, whilst being able to add people and big structures.
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Each screenshot is taken at different angles to fully appreciate the set.
SKETCH-UP DESIGNS:
STORY BOARDING:
Also before making the set, I drew up some storyboards so I could add in props and set pieces that Imelda had to have on set in order for the play to run smoothly. It consisted a lot of laundry baskets, piles of clothes, shoes, newspapers, pillows/cushions, the two main big curtains, and of course, the washing line with clothes pegged on.
Above:
Story board 1 is captioned: "Entrance of Imelda Bag Lady"
Story board 1 notes: 'curtains on both ends'
Story board 2 is captioned: "Imelda talking to the shoes, and beginning to talk about Eldemina"
Story board 2 notes: '(Imelda on top of clothes basket to heighten herself for audience when she wears the shoes)
FINAL PHOTOS OF MODEL:
STORY BOARDING:
Above:
Story board 3 is captioned: "Eldemina throwing the shoes into the lake."
Story board 3 notes: '(Washing line drops down slowly, slightly raising and dropping here and there. Instead of clothes., blue yarn is replaced and also had blue yarn tied along washing line draping downwards as different levels and lengths to imitate water.)'
Story board 4 is captioned: "Family panicking over the lost shoes. Eldemina decides to leave"
Story board 4 notes: '(Blue yarn is wheeled around and the washing line in back. Sheer fabric, just enough to see through, replaces the blue yarn for the lake scene. This acts as the families perimeters. The middle will be pulled to one side to act as door where she will be able to run through to the other side of where he family are standing on and run behind one of the two main curtains at either side of the stage.)'
