Major Project: Set Design

Set design is an important aspect of our project, which definitely shouldn't be overlooked. I have been thinking a lot about the style of back drop / back cloth that we can have for the scene whether it be a 3D style set or a simple back cloth that will be hung up. 

The scene is based around a masquerade ball, and the two are arguing just outside of the ball, so ideally I would like something which looks like a ball, but has a door so they look like they are stood outside it, or a backdrop like the picture to the right which looks like it is 'outside' of the ballroom so none would be there.

I did some research into palace, ballrooms, and masquerade ball style back cloths and found some imagery below which is used in pantomimes such as Cinderella and other theatre productions. A few of them are back cloths which are tied up onto a pole, whilst others have 3D aspects to them which pieces of cardboard which brings it more to life. I really like the 3D aspects of the productions, however, i'm not sure we would be able to get it in time and also if it would fit in our budget. 

I have began to look into some theatre hire websites and companies to see if there was any back cloths and/or cardboard pieces that we could hire or get made and see the prices of them.

• http://www.3dcreations.co.uk
• http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/props-hire-store

I also looked onto Propit (http://www.propit.co.uk/#) however, they didn't have many large set pieces and when contacting them, they told me that most the props are hired by the week which meant the price would go up very high as we only want it for a couple of days.

I have begun to focus my search more towards just a back cloths as the sets I was finding didn't fit with what I wanted. I found on various sites very high rental prices which are way above our budget and finally found Qdos Entertainment, a company which specialises in all things theatre production and they have been very helpful! I accepted that most companies lowest prices was around £100 - 150 for a few days to a week of hire, and began looking for the best backcloth I could find.

I found the backdrop PALACE which looks perfect on the photograph for what we want! Admittedly, the lighting helps so much and they have obviously added things to it, however, after a long search it was the best one I could find and I really like it. I decided to contact Annabelle and ask more information such as the size and the price. Due to there being a lot of bookings for the cloths, I decided to book it for a few days in advance, as they won't send us it any earlier than our booking day and I want to make sure it gets here on time. Although this may cost more it's definitely worth it instead of it not arriving!

Annabelle was very helpful and after a few conversations and information I have all the paperwork and have signed an agreement. The only issue is that due to the theatre not being a HUGE theatre, the cloth is 40ft by 20ft which means we will have to pull the bars up really high and tuck some of the cloth in. I asked Alison and she gave me the measurements for the stage so that we have a rough idea of how much will have left over.

Here is an image of the back cloth we have chosen which is called 'PALACE'

Another important aspect of our set design is the masquerade ball scene. Originally, I wanted a separate backcloth for the scene, however, I think it will be too expensive for our budget and there are other ways around dressing it up. I want to either use the same back cloth or use the theatre lights to light up the background. Also, i've bought some balloons, party poppers, ribbon and a small helium canister so that we can decorate the scene more and make it more party like. The extras will be wearing ball gowns and masks so hopefully everything should fit together nicely!