# Pageant Set



## lighttechie5948 (Mar 22, 2009)

Any ideas on a set design for a show called PAGEANT. It is a musical comedy about a beauty pageant, where all 5 contestants are played by men. It's not like a drag show, they are supposed to look literally like women. 

The director is trying to think of an idea for a set design, and his shows are always "Over the top", he always has to have a WOW factor. He doesn't want to do the same set that everyone else does, which is a pink wall with stairs in the center. He wants something a lot bigger than that.

Info on the show is at The Official "Pageant - The Musical" Web-Site


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## gafftaper (Mar 23, 2009)

Hey Joseph. The standard answer around here is, this is YOUR set created by YOUR vision. We won't give you the vision. Now if you need help developing your vision we are glad to give you pointers. If you get stuck in HOW to make YOUR vision reality later, we are here for you. 

So how to do you find your vision? Now that's a question I can answer. Here are some ways to get started. Personally I love pictures and research. I would start by researching beauty pageants on-line and see what sort of crazy obnoxious sets you can find pictures of. Save every picture you find in one folder and just keep looking at all of them until you are inspired. Secondly talk with the director about what he feels the key theme of the show is. Think about how your set can support that theme. Ask the director if there is any specific color pallet he wants, or artistic style he would like to be reflected in the set. Are there any specific things that the script requires of the set (Do you need a balcony with two doors and a window stage left?). Now take all that, think about your realities of budget, theater limitations, and your set construction capabilities and start dreaming. 

When you have that dream come back and we'll help you figure out how to build it.

Currently I'm building a set for "As you like it" I need to build a forest of 18' high trees and that are 2 dimensional so they can be rigged to fly. The director wants the woods to be very abstract and not at all realistic. How do I build an abstract 2D forest that doesn't look like the college ran out of money and the T.D. doesn't have the talent to build a set? I'm off to Google image search right now to look at more "abstract tree" image results.


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## avkid (Mar 23, 2009)

Build the stairs out of backlit Plexiglass.


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## lighttechie5948 (Mar 23, 2009)

gafftaper said:


> Hey Joseph. The standard answer around here is, this is YOUR set created by YOUR vision. We won't give you the vision. Now if you need help developing your vision we are glad to give you pointers. If you get stuck in HOW to make YOUR vision reality later, we are here for you.
> 
> So how to do you find your vision? Now that's a question I can answer. Here are some ways to get started. Personally I love pictures and research. I would start by researching beauty pageants on-line and see what sort of crazy obnoxious sets you can find pictures of. Save every picture you find in one folder and just keep looking at all of them until you are inspired. Secondly talk with the director about what he feels the key theme of the show is. Think about how your set can support that theme. Ask the director if there is any specific color pallet he wants, or artistic style he would like to be reflected in the set. Are there any specific things that the script requires of the set (Do you need a balcony with two doors and a window stage left?). Now take all that, think about your realities of budget, theater limitations, and your set construction capabilities and start dreaming.
> 
> ...



It's not MY set design, I'm the Lighting Designer, I just said I'd help the director with the set design, he usually does it, because he was stuck on some ideas.


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## gafftaper (Mar 25, 2009)

Design can be a wonderful collaborative process. I work a lot with our directors here at the college to really get the concept worked out of the show's giant unifying vision. What is the artistic motivation? We create the world that the play is in but things have to have a reason for being in that world. Maybe it's functional and required by the script, but it can be much more. 

Like I said, research lots of pictures of beauty pageants... you can find all kinds of great ideas of other ways to lay things out. 

As for me, I'm working on these abstract tree's. The director wants them abstract... but we haven't worked out why yet. Without knowing why they are abstract, they won't make any sense. When we have the why and what they represent, how they look will follow naturally for brom both a functional and artistic point of view.


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## joeb (Mar 26, 2009)

Not to hijack the thread, but what type of abstract are we talking about? Abstract in the sense of "abstract art" or just non-realistic. Have you thought about strips of erosion cloth in varying widths to fly in to represent the trees?


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## Franklights (Mar 26, 2009)

why not make a set out of LED lit exposed 12" box truss with spandex or muslin video projection surfaces so you can add variey and light the trusses according to the mood of the scene. add a few movers and you're golden. the video can also play into your look with images of models, etc... Your video can be as simple as a powerpoint slideshow froma laptop as opposed to expensive production gear. I am not sure of your budget but this should be pretty affordable. check my website, the front page has a fashion show look that might interest you.


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