All My Sons. The Wind Beneath The Wings. and technical elements. Designing and constructing the set

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1 All My Sons The Wind Beneath The Wings Designing and constructing the set and technical elements.

2 Introduction The set design and technical elements involved in this production have made All My Sons one of the schools most ambitious plays to date. From having to build an (almost) full size model of a P40 WW2 fighter plane, through to covering the whole stage in grass and recreating a WW2 battle scene has created a variety of challenges. With almost 2 months of planning, a whole month of building and just 3 nights of performances before we rip it all back down again, this article will give you an insight into what goes on in the Ashton theatre in the run up to the performance you are watching tonight and will give recognition to some of the people who you won t see on the stage!

3 Initial Ideas and Production Meeting Helen Brown (Director) had already decided back in July last year that she wanted to put on a production of All My Sons, and said that she would like to look into the idea of building a plane crashing through the rear wall of our stage. During our first official All My Sons production meeting a few months later we decided how much time we would have to put this together (1 month), what model of aircraft we would base our design on (American P40 KittyHawk), and what else we would need for the set (fake grass, a garden bench and a fallen tree). We also decided to paint the rear wall to look as though the plane had flown through it. Various technical aspects such as a lighting design, atmospherics, sound effects and special effects were also discussed and agreed on. Initial rough design Model kit design for reference Once we had a good idea of what was required for this production, then came the task of working out exactly how we would construct this, and sourcing the crew for the preparation and running of the shows.

4 Crew Helen Brown (Director) As well as being Director of Drama here at the school, Helen is also given the task of directing this year s Junior School Play. Helen brings the creative mind to the production, deciding on how the play should be staged, what scenery should be used and what technical elements could be added to further enhance the play. Helen is also responsible for casting the play and directing all rehearsals with the cast. Alex Davies (Production Manager) Alex s role in the school is the Senior Theatre and Events Technician, and for this production he was tasked with managing, designing and constructing all the scenery and technical aspects of the production. He had to take on board Helen s creative ideas and work out how to turn them into reality, which can sometimes be much harder than you would think! Willem James (Assistant Production Manager) Willem is now nearing the end of a very successful year and a half at the school as the Theatre and Events Apprentice. Having taken on a variety of roles for the productions here at the school, he was tasked with helping to design and construct the set as well as oversee and implement many of the technical elements of the production. This will be the last large school production that Willem will have the chance to work on, and his skills, knowledge and friendly attitude will be missed on the next one!

5 Crew (Continued) Niki Holmes (Scenic Artist) Niki Holmes is a Royal Academy trained freelance artist based in Shrewsbury who has helped us out on a number of productions. Niki has been heavily involved with the design process of this production and is also responsible for all of the painting and decorating on set, making what we have built look so realistic. Niki specialises in Fine and Scenic Art and has been invaluable to many recent productions here at the school. Anya Tonks (Lighting) Anya is a pupil here at the school and is involved with the Monday Technical Theatre society. Anya has worked on the technical side of a few productions now and so has gained a reputation of being a responsible and reliable member of the team. For this production Anya is responsible for operating the lighting during the rehearsals and performances. Archie Duckworth (Sound + Projection) Archie is also part of our Technical Theatre society and has successfully carried out a variety of roles on a number of productions. Archie has been very helpful in gathering sound effects and audio files and will be responsible for operating both sound and projection for all of the rehearsals and performances.

6 Crew (Continued) Tiggy Cowan Taylor (Props and Makeup) Last but not least, Tiggy has keen member of the Technical Theatre Society, Tiggy has been extremely helpful in preparing for this production in the weeks prior, as well as helping out with the props and Makeup during rehearsals and performances. Lucy Mulligan (Hair and Makeup) Lucy has stepped in to help out in the dressing rooms with the hair and makeup for the rehearsals aswell as the performances. It can be a very stressful and time constraining task but she has coped very well. Annabel Donovan (Hair and Makeup) Rather than taking a technical role on the production, Annabel has also been invaluable with helping the cast with their hair and makeup before each run of the show. The hair and makeup makes a big difference to the appearance of the actors on stage and Annabel has been a huge help with this.

7 To paint the back wall, we projected an image that Niki had made onto to rear wall to allow her to paint it from the scaffolding before we began construction of the plane. The next thing to go in was the staging we would use to support the cockpit. We also added the stairs for access, and constructed the scaffold framework that would support the wings. To cut out the rib pieces and for wings and cockpit, we once again used a projector to enlarge the model kit instructions we had onto sheets of plywood, then traced and cut them out.

8 Once all the parts were cut out, we could fit them to the scaffold framework. We then stretched sheets of plastic over them to create the skin of the wings, cockpit and fuselage.

9 Smoke and Propeller For some of the special effects, we used a smoke machine and some tubing to pipe smoke into the exhaust tubes on the plane. We also added an extra scaffold bar running right through the middle of the fuselage and fitted a propeller we had made to the front of it. This then allowed the actor playing the pilot to operate it. Painting Once the set had been constructed, Niki could then add the final touches which make the set look so realistic. This included the decals on the wings and cockpit, the shark teeth on the fuselage, and lots of other paint effects around the set. Fake Grass Laying the fake grass down on the floor and adding props such as the bench, plants, a flagpole and more really made the set start to look realistic, the end was finally in sight.

10 Lighting The lighting makes a huge difference to the set and the play, and transforms the overall image. The lighting had been designed weeks before, with colours, positions and lighting states decided on. We spent 2 days installing all of the fixtures and one day positioning and focusing them. Some extra lighting effects we used included adding Led fixtures inside the wings to recreate the flashing of the guns, moving lights above and around the plane to look like searchlights, and some lighting fixtures from above which would produce a moonlight through leaves effect. Sound Although there are not many sound effects in this production, they were all difficult to find and edit. We had to record the voice of the pilot for the final speech and overlay it with strings music and battle sounds. We also sourced effects such as birdsong, crickets, phone rings and car horns to use at various points. Technical Rehearsal Sunday the 25th was our technical rehearsal. This is the first time that we introduced all of the technical elements to a rehearsal, and the first time the cast got an idea of what would be happening around them. It took almost a full day to run through the play trying to get the timings, volumes, brightness levels and atmospheric effects right. The day ended in us doing a full run of the play the whole way through with all the technical elements added to check that everything was working well together.

11 Special Thanks Many people have been involved in the planning, designing and preparation of this set and everything alongside it. We would like to mention a few of these people whom without their help, this production would not have been possible. Technical Theatre Society Maintenance Department (GMOs) Student Technical Team (Anya, Archie and Tiggy) Grounds Department Student Painters (Sophie Li and Linda Zhao) Microvideo Niki Holmes (

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