Speeding up scene changes
Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Directing
Forum Discription: For questions about handling shows, actors, crew, board members, children ...or do we repeat ourselves?
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5001
Printed Date: 11/23/24 at 4:19pm
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Topic: Speeding up scene changes
Posted By: peacock
Subject: Speeding up scene changes
Date Posted: 3/14/11 at 12:05pm
| We just finished our annual play. I was pretty satisfied with everything, except the scene changes. We are very slow. There is not fly, and the wings are pretty narrow, so we spend a lot of time trying to shuffle things around. Any suggestions on ways to speed up, besides just not having anything on stage. |
Replies:
Posted By: Majicwrench
Date Posted: 3/14/11 at 12:45pm
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In my humble opinion most small theatre companies do waaaay tooooo much scene changing, and make it waaaaay tooooo complicated. The last two shows I have done I have used flats painted basicly one color and we just carried on and off a handful of props and such to set the scenes.
Less is More.
Are yoiu doing scene changes with curtain open or closed?? Scene change can be somewhat entertaining if done right.
I do have flats that fold out, like pages in a book, so I can change the whole look very quickly if that is what I want. But at the moment I am really into the bare bones approach.
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Posted By: David McCall
Date Posted: 3/14/11 at 4:44pm
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Think choreography. Make sure each item has one or two kids (if needed) assigned to it. Before each scene change, have the kids stand in a position that is as close as they can to where the item will be placed or removed from the stage, then have them close their eyes and look away from the lights until the blackout. It helps to get the eyes adjusted to seeing in limited light. When the lights go out they will move their items in their predefined choreography so that they don't crash into each other. As soon as their item is placed, they should leave the stage quickly and quietly.
Scene changes should be measured in seconds, never minutes.
You can get fancy and leave some light on the stage (side or backlight) while attempting to make the choreography interesting for the audience. ------------- David M |
Posted By: B-M-D
Date Posted: 3/14/11 at 8:15pm
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If appropriate to the play try to have all locations on stage to begin with and do your scene changes with lighting transitions. Another suggestion is to have the change happen while another scene is occuring at a different location on stage. However this method requires "choreography", speed and silence on the part of your stage crew. Also is it possible for the actors themselves to make the changes in the transition from one scene to the next? I would avoid blackouts of ANY kind for scene changes at almost any cost. Blackouts in my opinion are a sign of laziness and in general show a lack of creativity or sense of entertainment. ------------- BD 
"Dying is easy, comedy is hard." |
Posted By: David McCall
Date Posted: 3/14/11 at 8:41pm
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Blackouts or curtains can be magical if the time is minimal. It is cool to see the stage go black and then come back with a completely new scene a few seconds later. I've also seen beautifully done period pieces where the light never changed. Pretty much anything can work if you design your scene changes for efficiency. ------------- David M |
Posted By: JoeMc
Date Posted: 3/14/11 at 11:37pm
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30 seconds is far too long for a scene change, unless it's during a blue or a brownout. Generally I strive for seamless changes, which are engineered during the rehearsal/blocking period & choreographed for the cue - cue [top/tail between cues _ first last lines] tech rehearsals, [except I include all the music numbers for a Musical]. ------------- [western] Gondawandaland "Hear the light & see the sound! TOI TOI CHOOKAS {may you always play to a full house!} |
Posted By: edh915
Date Posted: 3/15/11 at 12:01am
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If you can't do it in less than 35 seconds, then don't do it. Figure out an alternative set design. Majicwrench and David McCall are both one hundred percent correct. It really helps to have (appropriate) music playing, and a choreographed approach is the only way to go. Recently saw a production of "The Shape Of Things" that required longer than normal set changes - not because the set was complicated, but because the lead actor had to undergo physical transformations (weight loss, hair style, clothing changes, etc.) and there was no time for it except for the scene change times. The director worked out a whole mimed secondary story with the set change crew - working together, having a falling out, making up, and getting back together. It worked really well, and I don't think they had any scene change longer than a minute and a half, but that was a unique situation. Under ordinary circumstances stick to the 35 second rule. I'm a fierce proponent of "less is more." The audience will always be glad to meet you more than halfway. They're not as dumb as some directors think they are. |
Posted By: NDTENOR
Date Posted: 3/15/11 at 12:19am
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Yes..... one of the things that definitely defines an "amateurish" vs. a "more professional" production is well organized and efficient scene changes. And in a very real way they need to be "choreographed" just like a dance number.
The audience generally will "accept" a scene change , even if it is done in full light as long as it is done quickly and efficiently and people seem to know what they are doing. And , of course , many classic and traditional musicals incorporate an "on one" song where there is a soloist who does a number in front of a closed curtain to allow for a big scene change to take place behind the curtain and the next scene begins immediately after the song. |
Posted By: vickifrank
Date Posted: 3/15/11 at 9:38am
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Consider dividing your stage into upstage and downstage. Close the mid curtain and play a scene downstage while changes are occuring upstage. Or use a scrim to divide the stage and project backgrounds on the scrim for upstage scenes and look through the scrim (or travel it off--don't use sharkstooth, it doesn't travel well) for the upstage scenes.
This way no-one needs to see a scene change again. ------------- _____________ http://www.studio-productions-inc.com 1-800-359-2964 The theater scrim people |
Posted By: David McCall
Date Posted: 3/15/11 at 11:51am
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Very few venues have enough depth to do a full stage projection from behind a projection surface, so you have to project from the front. When projecting from the front you have the problem of those pesky actors needing to be seen. This involves a lot of compromise.
If the actors go upstage at all, they will be partially lit by the projection so you have to design your scene so that there is very little detail near the bottom of the image. The actors shadows will put shadows on your projection too, thus destroying any detail that might be at the bottom.
Then comes the need to light the actors. If the director has them moving around then you need quite a bit of light downstage and that light will wash out your image on the scrim. Even if you can focus such that none of the direct light hits the scrim there will be bounce off of the floor (even if the stage is painted black).
Light from the projection will get through the scrim and light the activity behind the scrim. This causes a double image in some cases, and it will reveal all of the ghost moving stuff around behind the scrim.
Scrims are not wonderful for projection for all of the above reasons, but it can be done. The best thing, if actors need to be in front of the scrim, is to use a painted or printed scrim instead of a projection.
We have a white downstage scrim that a director always wants to use in this way and we do it every show, and it looks like .... ------------- David M |
Posted By: vickifrank
Date Posted: 3/15/11 at 4:20pm
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As David notes, projection can be tricky for several reasons. However I disagree on a few points....
Rear projection: You can do rear projection with an ultrashort throw projector. Of course that may be difficult to find at a good price. So you could also reflect off a mirror. Either of these methods can cut the distance in half. Should you not have the space for even that, you can project on part of the scrim. Remember that some of the distance is lateral distance, and since you should n-e-v-e-r rear project onto a scrim from directly upstage--you should always project at a sharp angle to the scrim and adjust with the keystone adjustment. (This is for the same reason that David mentions, scrims are fabrics with holes in them so some of the projection goes through the holes. That produces 'hotspotting' and the light tends to blind your audience. Steep angles make for better projections). BTW--don't rear project on sharkstooth. Sharkstooth is a cotton fabric with relatively big holes when stretched. You can imagine that cotton isn't as good a light transmission medium and the holes are huge--bad combo.
Front projection: With a sharkstooth and with projection from directly in front of the scrim, what David said is true. Much of the projection goes through and can produce a ghost image. That is why you still (in front projection) project from a steep angle. With Chameleon scrim you can get some double image but far, far less. (It passes less light through holes, while the synthetic fibers transmit more light from the back).
Sharkstooth scrim is definately not that good for projection, I'd say 'OK' not great--and really bad for rear projection. Chameleon is 'good' for both types of projection (although not as good as a projection screen obviously). Here's why: Chameleon has smaller and less regular holes in it. These do not stretch out like sharkstooth's holes. A denser surface, means less projection is 'lost' through the holes. Also for rear projection, Chameleon is thinner and is composed of fibers that transmit the light better from back to front. (I've had professional projection folks tell me they preferred it in side by side comparisons with rear projection screens. What surprised me was that they preferred the dark grey Chameleon in that setting). I'd say Chameleon isn't as good as a projection screen, but better than ordinary scrim. Of course, I do sell the stuff. So of course I'm a bit biased. I always suggest that customers get sample swatches and test for themselves. That's the only way you can be sure it will work the best for you. ------------- _____________ http://www.studio-productions-inc.com 1-800-359-2964 The theater scrim people |
Posted By: Majicwrench
Date Posted: 3/15/11 at 4:53pm
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So Peacock, chime in here, what slowed you guys down?? How do you think you can tighten it up??
BTW, wonderful discussion all.
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Posted By: David McCall
Date Posted: 3/15/11 at 5:54pm
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I tend to agree with a lot of that. Unfortunately I have not used your scrim material yet, but I believe you. You sent me a sample some time ago and it looks really interesting. I think I would be much happier with a darker scrim. The white sharkstooth scrim that came with the room really picks up the stray light. I've worked with a dark scrim before and it was much better. ------------- David M |
Posted By: MusicManD
Date Posted: 3/21/11 at 12:55pm
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The slow scene changes usually end up being a Stage Manager or set design issue. If the SM is efficient and the crew is sufficient and has everything assigned, even complex scene changes should be pretty quick. If your problem comes from something like hauling off flats and hauling on others, you might consider building triangle shaped 3 sided flats on wheels that can simply be turned for your use. The "book" style flats are also really great. I'm a huge fan of hiding things in plain sight. Maybe you have a huge set piece that needs to come on in Act II? Why not disguise it and work it into your set design for Act I? That way, rather than trying to bring on something difficult and complicated during intermission, you can just clear out your "camouflage" and be ready much more quickly. Of course, I deal with a tiny stage with almost no wing space and zero storage, so I have to make it work with minimal sets and hide things. Our musical used three basic sets- inside at a New York home, outside the summer house, and inside the summer house. On each side of the stage, we had a black flat and a white set of stairs. The third scene called for double stairs, while the first called for only one set. Rather than try to pull the stairs off and find a place to store them for the first scene, we simply threw a black drop cloth over them. Faded well into the black flat and with enough color in the foreground, was not noticeable. For the second scene, we did need a door that went into the house. I considered building a freestanding door frame, but we did already have a flat with a door frame built in- I opted to paint the flat black to match the other two and the door white. This represented the only major scene change in the show- my stage crew had to pull back one black flat and replace it with the "door" flat. They also tossed a drop cloth over the second set of stairs. For scene 3, they replaced the original black flat (during intermission) and pulled the cloths off of both staircases. Furniture and set dressing did the rest. |
Posted By: David McCall
Date Posted: 3/21/11 at 1:09pm
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member_profile.asp?PF=1575&FID=10 - vickifrank Have you found any way to join pieces of your scrim material together to make a larger drop. In our venue we typically use drops that are 20' tall by 48'-50' wide. I would guess that you would want to put together 3 20' x 16' pieces together. ------------- David M |
Posted By: peacock
Date Posted: 4/16/11 at 11:39am
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What slows us down? First, no fly space, 5' wings, no real backstage. Second, we were doing Get Smart which has gazillions of props (gadgets etc). Third, I think I make my sets too elaborate. Next am planning to do a play with one set. I guess I have always considered scene changes late in the planning process, but it sounds like I should think about them when I choose the play. So many of us on the site function with absolute minimum theaters, so it always helpful when people give simple and cheap suggestions. |
Posted By: David McCall
Date Posted: 4/16/11 at 6:35pm
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It can be tough working in a facility with so many limitations. However you can do a great show in any venue. It can sometimes take a lot of creativity and ingenuity. If you know the venue in advance, you can plan ahead by thinking through your scene changes as you design the set.
The famous Goodspeed Opera House is an old town hall on the 4th floor with no fly and almost very limited wing space. The shows they do are really quite wonderful. They use a combination of sliding panels and the masterful use of roll up drops.
There are ways of designing in such a way that everything can be on the stage at once, and you can use intermissions to swap out parts of the set. In some cases you can design your set pieces to hide large props used in other scenes.
A turntable can hold 2 or 3 sets at a time, but it takes up a lot of space. You can build multiple smaller units that have 2-3 sides.
You can tie 2 or 3 double sided flats tied together with double acting hinges (hinges can be made of fabric). By folding in them in different ways you can reveal different scenes.
A set of 3 flats tied together into a triangle (Periaktoi) and rotated to reveal the 3 scenes. ------------- David M |
Posted By: tech_director
Date Posted: 7/04/11 at 11:41pm
| I seriously cannot stand the idea of "no blackouts". I agree with trying to avoid blackouts but sometimes with the show you are working on in the space with the set requires that the stage go dark. Play some nice music and time it well. Audiences expect it. As an audience member, I quite enjoy them, it gives me a moment to soak up what just happened. |