Bookcases

I have looked at what the most important things to have in my set are. From reading the scene i have chosen, there are no definite clues as to what props or things to interact with. 'The queen sat up all night searching her brains for his name...she went through every single name she could think of.' Other than thinking of names, she could be reading names, therefore a bookcase would be quite an important prop, along with many books, possible strewn across the floor.

Research into Gothic Victorian Bookcases/ bookshelves:

Many of the Gothic-style Victorian bookcases i found were closed cases; in which the books would have been kept behind glass cabinets. However, i did find an open bookcase, 'a Victorian Gothic style bookcase with a top drawer', which i liked the look of.

Gothic Victorian Interiors/Exteriors

Research into Gothic Victorian architecture and interiors and exteriors. See mood boards also.

I particularly like the dim glow of this Gothic interior.

Seeing as my genre is Gothic horror (in the Victorian era), I need to bring elements of horror into the set. For one, i would like to incorporate the wallpaper peeling effect, to emphasise the decay and unkempt look of the building. I would also like to include cobwebs, I'm not yet sure how I would make them.
I visited Dickens world back in November to have a look at how the place has been set out. Handy that it is set in the Victorian era. One of the attractions; Haunted house, had included a paint peel effect on the walls and the ceiling. I did take some pictures of this, typically they were too dark and nothing can be seen. The effect is similar to this:

Although i would want parts of the wallpaper to hang off, as if they have been pulled down slightly.
However i have got some pictures of the buildings set in the square. Excuse all the Christmas decorations, I happened to visit Dickens world during the Christmas season, so everyone was getting ready for Father Christmas.

Looking at Gothic Interiors/ Exteriors has reminded me of the set from The Addams Family. The family live in a gloomy mansion next to a cemetery and a swamp. They delight in the macabre, unaware that neighbours find them peculiar or frightening. Their home is a grand building, yet it is old and rickety. Similar to what I want to get across from my set.

Another example of the same genre is The Munsters. It was a 1960s American family sitcom depicting the home life of a family of ‘monsters’.

You can see from this image that the house is covered in cobwebs, adding the element of horror. Cobwebs and thick dust are usually signs of a creepy place, and are often seen in horror films.

Theatre Royal

After visiting the Theatre Royal I was able to visualise what the set model would look like more easily than before. The theatre seemed much smaller in real life. However i was concerned that the theatre had changed slightly. The stage was straight rather than curved, and the seating plan was different too. However we were told to stick witht he original plans of the theatre.

Above: Photograph showing the proscenium arch.

Technical Drawing

In order to create the set model, a technical drawing of the theatre would need to be drawn at a 1:25 scale. After being given the technical drawings for Theatre Royal in Margate, I started to work out the scale for the two technical drawings given.
One measurement was given on the drawing: 8235mm. This measurement would help me work out the scale factor of the drawing.

• Actual dimension (8235mm) divided by measurement from the drawing (72mm) = Scale factor of drawing (114.375) Scale factor is 1:114

To work out the rest of the measurements:

• Measurement from drawing multiplied by scale factor (114) = Actual measurement

All of the actual measurements then need to be converted to a 1:25 scale, therefore:

• Actual measurement divided by 25 = Measurement at 1:25 scale

I have found working from these technical drawings (especially the plan view one) quite difficult and unclear. The technical drawing showing the proscenium arch has part of it missing, which makes it harder to work from.

Initial ideas

After a tutorial I realised that I wasn’t supposed to be altering the narrative at all. Although this would be a lot easier, it meant that I had to change my ideas. The narrative was to remain the same, so therefore I just had to add the gothic horror element to the set/ scene. I wanted to create a set that wouldn’t need that many backdrops or different scene changes. Therefore I decided to sketch out a room; a sort of hall way/ library. Different scenes would introduce different props, and lighting could black out certain parts of the set, so only some of the set was on show. For example a spotlight could be used.

I think it would be interesting to have quite a dark set, i.e pretty much just black and white, but with the odd thing in red. This would be a good contrast. The colour Red is associated with horror for blood, danger, sin, anger, and so on, but i think it also would suit the gothic Victorian feel to the set as well.

Although i don't want to compare too much to Sweeney Todd, I have noticed that it is filmed as though it were in black and white. There doesn't appear to be a lot of colour, accept for red. This is shown by this poster for the film:

Using a piece of tracing paper, I have also drawn in characters over the set just as an initial idea and to see possible places for them to be, and how they might interact with props/ scenery.

Mood Boards

I have put together two mood boards to do with Gothic Horror, using photocopies from books, internet pictures, and my own sketches. I think it has been good to put all my ideas together, so that i am able to picture what i want to achieve from the set.

Gothic Horror

 

Sorry about the delay with uploading my work! Not used to keeping a blog.

I have chosen to go with the gothic horror genre, as this appeals to me the most. I have decided that I want the set to look decayed, yet beautiful in a way, to show that the house was once grand. I think this would fit in well to the theme of ‘romanticism’ as well, and the idea that death/ decaying is seen as beautiful.

I started off by sketching some ideas down for the room the scene would be in. However, at this point, I had changed the narrative quite a lot, so that it would fit in to the Victorian period. The idea being that the young girl was actually kept in a mental institution, due to her imaginary friend ‘Rumpelstiltskin’. Whether the audience believe Rumpelstiltskin to be real or not, the girl’s carers believe her to be mad. However the set is portrayed from the girl’s point of view, so the audience would therefore see Rumpelstiltskin.

In my chosen scene the young girl would be laying on her bed, or another idea would be that she is cutting her hair; as a gift to Rumpelstiltskin, to prevent him from taking her child. An act like this in the Victorian era would surely make people think she was mad.

The sketches both take place in a bedroom; however the scene in the text doesn’t indicate that it would be a bedroom. I have also tried to incorporate the romantic idea of her wasting away; dark circles around her eyes, pale looking face.

I have also looked into costume, getting most of my costume ideas from Sweeney Todd. I also happened to watch a programme on channel 4 (Wedding House) about a gothic Victorian wedding theme. So I made sure to pay attention to the wedding outfits they wore.

I quickly sketched down a couple of the costumes.