The neverending cycle...

Initial design concept for Into the Woods.

Even though we are opening Take Me Out in two days, we are already hard at work on the next show. We asked Clare Floyd DeVries, the scenic designer for Into the Woods, to fill us in on how the early stages of the design process are going.

Clare writes, "Shows start early. The director and other designers and I have been talking for months about the setting for Into the Woods. Our goal is projected scenery –more like video or animation than like a conventional “built” set.

The first step was to experiment with a powerful projector. An hour spent on the third story lighting bridge (as it swaaaayed!) taught us how big an image we could project. Next came creating images to project. This meant research, sketches, some changes, and snap-shots of bread. Once the design was approved, I made a starter set of images and storyboards. The computer wizards will tweak and add to these until it all ends up digitally projected. It’s a very collaborative effort.

But the show’s environment won’t end with projections. Some pieces must still be built. (“Real” tables work better than illusionary ones, for instance.) The lighting designer must create lighting for actors that dovetails with both real and projected scenery. The sound designer will add his part.

So - right this minute - the computer wizards are doing something wizardly, the lighting and sound designers are gathering ideas, and I’m doing construction drawings for built stuff like Rapunzel’s Tower, Cindy’s Mom’s Haunted Tree, and the Baker’s table… because the set carpenters start early too."