A Memory Of Lizzie: Set Design research

1	Scenic reference from script	Page #	Research task
2	“small American schoolyard – Massachusetts in about 1871/2.”	9	Find pictures and descriptions of small American schoolyards of period.
3	"The other's disperse around the playground area"	10	Find pictures of playgrounds from 1860s
4	"Lizzie Borden finally excused herself and went down stairs taking the cat with her"	14	Find pictures of Lizzie's Basement
5	"Lizzie was in her room with her friends"	14	Find pictures of 1860's houses.
6	" City Hall bell ringing eleven o' clock"	19	Pictures of churches from 1800's
7	" I went to the sitting room"	21	Sitting rooms from the 1800's
8	"In the ground, at the churchyard"	25	Find pictures of churchyards where the kids play funerals.
9	"In the ground, at the churchyard"	10	Find pictures of Fall river.

After re-reading the script, I came up with 3 significant sets for the stage. Since we are not changing the scene, we have to make sure that all the scenes are on a composite set. The type of stage that I have chosen after my research is a Proscenium stage. 

This is an example outline of a proscenium stage. Picture taken from Pinterest. "http://www.pinterest.com/pin/505529126894349122/"

 

This is an actual proscenium stage facing the audience. Picture taken from Pinterest. "http://www.pinterest.com/pin/505529126894349138/"

For doing this, I have chosen Lizzie Borden’s basement, the front side of her house with fencing and also the play ground where they spend most of their time.

This is an example of the fencing around her house. Picture taken from Pinterest. "http://www.pinterest.com/pin/505529126894348831/"

This is an example of a playground. Picture taken from Pinterest. "http://www.pinterest.com/pin/505529126894349292/"

  I have researched on these significant environments from the Victorian Era and I have pinned them on my Pinetrest account.

 Seeing many pictures and being inspired by them, I have decided that the set will be made as if the season was fall. I had the free will of choosing this since seasons were not mentioned in the script. The shadows of trees without leaves would make the script look much creepier.

This is an example of the trees without leaves. It looks very creepy. This picture is taken from Pinterest. "http://www.pinterest.com/pin/505529126894349080/"

 I also decided that the set would be really simple with one significant feature for each. For the playground I was thinking there should only be one slide and a few trees. For the basement, there should be creaky floorboards and a chair or two. For Lizzie's house there wouldn’t be anything shown except the outside part, thus I will incorporate fences in that scene but it depends on the director's decisions too.

These are the type of colors that I will be using. This picture is taken from Pinterest. "http://www.pinterest.com/pin/505529126894349747/"

The color palette that I have chosen for the set has all neutral colors with browns and yellow ochers. I will incorporate some black and red in places symbolically to increase the thrill of the scene. After doing my research on these, I have a much clearer and more concise idea of what I want to do and where I am going in terms of making the product.

This is the link to my pinterest account for the rest of my research: http://www.pinterest.com/mifrah28/theater-set-design/