How Magic Comes To Life

In the second unit of the course Stage Chemistry, we learned about trap doors, the different types, which one is better to use for different situations and we learned about stage decks. We went to Steppenwolf Theater for an FE. There, we learned more about what it takes to make the decks, the safety protocols that have to placed, lighting and different stages. For our action project, we had to chose two motions that happens in the play Aladdin. I chose to do the flying carpet and the cave of wonders. I made a model of my stage and made the motions will work on stage. I made my model from my blueprint. During this project, I had a hard time creating my motions because they are small and making them work was a little challenging too. In this project, I learned how to make a scale model and learned how to be cautions when having traps doors or flying object. I am proud of how my flying carpet turned about because I struggled the most with that, but it looks good and it moves. To know more about how built my stage check out my project below.

KIS. Stage. 2017.

Flying Carpet:
The carpet will be hung from the top with strings and it will be movable. There will be a pulley system that will move the carpet side to side and up to down. The carpet will only be use in the flying scenes and an actor will take the character of the carpet.
There is a rolling car on top of the stage that will hold the carpet with strings. The strings will be attach to pole on top and to the carpet. When the car moves forward, the carpet will move with it like if they are flying straight. I drew the strings that are holding the carpet by hand with a 3D drawing pen called a 3Doodler. I couldn’t find small poles so I did the top system of cardboard symbolizing the metal that will actually hold the weight of the actors. The carpet will just go back and forth. Making all of this motion happen took me about 3 or 4 hours because I would mess up in the measurement and I would have to start all over.

Here are some safety protocols our crew follows to be safe:

• Watch heads when the carpet is flying. 
• Grab onto the edges of carpet when flying.
• Only two people on it at a time.
• Careful with pole on stage.
• Keep balance on carpet so it won’t tilt.

KIS. Flying Carpet Gif. 2017.

KIS. Safety sign for carpet. 2017

Cave of Wonders:
The cave will be beside the stage because it’s used in the beginning. It will be rolled in when needed. The cave is medium size so that an actor can go in the mouth of the tiger. It will be placed in the side of the stage so it can go directly to the scene of Aladdin in the cave.
The cave is thin so it can go directly to a scene inside the mouth. The cave will be on wheels so that it can move easily. I printed a picture of the head of the tiger and a cut a cardboard around it so it can be stable. The head of the tiger is placed on top of a small deck so that it moves across the stage easily and it won't take up that much space.

Here are some things our crew do to keep themselves safe:

• Watch feet when rolling.
• Careful when navigating it on stage.
• Careful when walking through it.

KIS. Rolling Tiger Head Gif. 2017.

KIS. Safety sign for rolling cave. 2017.

Calculations:

KIS. Force Diagram. 2017.

In order to find how much work is put into moving this cave I used the equation: W=FxD. Before I could find out work I had to first find out how many newtons there is and find my distance. For that I did 15x4.44822 = 66.7233N. I multiplied it by 4.44822 because 1lbs = 4.44822N. Then to find the distance I did 3x12ft/4=36/4=9ft/3=3m. Once I had my Newtons and Distance I went back to the equation and put in the numbers, 66.7233Nx3m=200.1699J.

A Whole New Theater

In the first unit of the course Stage Chemistry, we studied stage productions, stages blueprints, how to set up a theater and we blueprinted our school. In doing blueprints, we learned how to take measurement, how to convert inches into feet and how to scale real life measurements to paper blueprints. For our action project, we had to chose a place where we would like to hold a play. We would have to transform the place into a theater. I chose to transform a room in our school for the play Aladdin. I chose it because it has many things that I need for the audience and for the actors. I had to measure the length and width of the room along with other rooms that I used. The other rooms where amenities for my theater. During this project, I had difficulties measuring the rooms and converting them to feet. I also struggles with finding ways to satisfy the actors and audience when creating the environment for the rooms. In this project I learned how much work goes into a stage production, how calculating the measurements is really important and how you have to think of the actors, audience and how you want to play to turn out. Overall the project was a little stressful, but I liked how I challenged myself to do more rooms then put everything in one and doing all the calculation. To know more about my project, check it out below. Hope it give you an idea when planning a play and making your stage.

I chose a room called OC because it's a big room and I was able to imagine my stage in that room. OC gave me space to have a stage that is big enough for the actors and I have plenty of seats, that is what I wanted. In the process of planning the seating, stage and how it will all work in opening night. I was thinking about the audience and actors all the time. I wanted to give the actors a space for themselves and I wanted them to feel special by having two room for them. I also wanted to audience to feel comfortable by having a lobby for them, restrooms available for them and providing a variety of snacks for them. Although having different rooms for these things I had to measure the rooms to scale it to paper, which was work than I had to do and was challenging, but I was able to do it with help from my peers and teacher. Creating the blueprints took more time than I thought because I kept messing up in the scaling and placing things where I want them to be. I also took a while to thin of good logic statements because I didn't want to write something obvious. I struggle a little in this project, but I liked how I challenged myself with more rooms even if in that time it was hard and I was able to go through with it. I like the final product of my blueprints and my cover page.

JV. OC. 2017.

Comparing my theater to Goodman Theater: