The LCD Screen: Is this the future of set design?

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:00pm

Is this the future of set design. I sat in disbelief at Catch Me if You Can as I watched this annoying device take over an actual set. Is this an effort to save money on paying construction crews? I hope that set design isn't going to embrace this device for every musical (and likely play if it becomes a big enough trend). Is it really cheaper or do designers think audiences was this one dimensional substitute for the real thing?

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:05pm

Might i ask why you were annoyed by it? Because it isn't the way sets have been designed for the past several decades? I am just genuinely curious. Any new technology, or way of doing things, is always met with distaste and hostility by the old guard.

I certainly don.t view it as a matter of cost, though at times it can be, but as a matter of having a new tool that allows a new dimension and style to be added to the mix.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:07pm

Because there's no ingenuity to it. It created a flat feel on stage.

For example, there's a song at the top of the second act of Catch Me where they show a silouette of a woman dancing. Why couldn't this be done with live actors? It just ruins the magic of LIVE theatre for me.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:08pm

well... part of the allure of theater for me is the actual set design... and to replace that with an LCD screen or videos as the set... well for me... it kinda cheapens the magic of what theater is... it doesn't matter how great the show it... but that's just me... it's also like watching tv for 100 bucks!

[blaxx]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:10pm

I'm with you, I'm tired of it.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:14pm

So if it isn't any cheaper than building an actual set (an employing more people in this troubled economy), why do it?

Often times I caught the audience staring at what was going on with the screen (it formed words, there was a bouncy ball with the lyrics to one song so we coudl sing along). Yes, Catch Me has many locals but I've seen multiple location musicals (for example the original Dreamgirls or even the original production of Ragtime) use a bit more stage magic to change space.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:16pm

So, your problem is with how it used in THIS instance? I just don't believe that justifies condemning the entire technology.

Also, it generally doesn't replace an entire design. It is an aspect of it. It (everything on it) still has to be designed, built, etc by humans 9even if in a computer, yes. Thank you animators)..

Cheapens the magic? That seems like a low blow just to have a gripe, IMO.

The LED screens also open the doors to do scenic effects in many smaller venues that would neverwise be able to house certain things.

Do you think a landscpae painted on an LED screen is any different than a painted drop? They are very much the same, just in different media.. Both are painted by hand. The differences is that in one, the artist paints on a canvas drop with a brush and the other paints with a mouse and a screen.. both take VERY similar skill and the image has to be created and built. The LEd screen simply opens up the opporunity to use one batten and drop for 6 drops as opposed to six battens and six drops for six drops...

[inick122492]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:18pm

Oh god please no! Theatre is already dissipating.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:24pm

When has it used successfully then?

[snarkywannabedreamer]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:33pm

ROA actually does it successfully and tastefully... In fact, they did something I've never seen in a show before with their LCD- A live feed of action happening in the basement of the theater where actors down there sing a duet with actors on stage. Pretty clever.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:34pm

Rock of Ages tasteful? Erm...

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:36pm

I think that an LCD Screen along with a fully functioning set is fine...but when the screen IS the set, it just seems liek you're watching a movie and not live theatre.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:37pm

yes... cheapens the magic

[BwayTday]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:38pm

I'm not sure about Broadway, but in L.A. as I remember I enjoyed the screen that 9 to 5 had. It added a bit more 'umph' (for lack of better terms). And it had a HUGE set

[winston89]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:40pm

A good example of a show using LCD's in an effective way would have to be Shrek with the Magic Mirror character. Yes, it is LCD's but the way it is done is kinda amazing. Johnny T does the voice for the mirror but despite what some people thing it isn't pre recorded at all. He is off stage wearing the same motion capture suit that they use for the designing of video games etc and the whole thing, while being done on an LCD is done live at the same time.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:43pm

It does work in Shrek because it is used to create an effect that would be almost unnecessary with a set piece. I get that. But Shrek also has an actual set.

[Tag]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:47pm

The Lord of the Rings used it extremely successfully (although most of you probably never saw it!).

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:54pm

I agree. I think it looks so cheap. It looks like you are watching a concert.

Guys and Dolls Revival's LCD= BARF.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:55pm

But there are shows that have done it well. Hairspray's LCD screens were very simple and they matched beautifully with its fully functioning set.

[GoodMorningBWW]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 9:00pm

Broadway never had an LCD screen. It was a "light bright" type wall. The TOUR did have an LCD screen though.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 9:03pm

^ Aha. I saw the tour 2x and the screen worked wonderfully.

[GoodMorningBWW]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 9:08pm

I saw it twice too & it worked wonderfully. Except for the second time during 'You Can't Stop the Beat' a computer error message popped up on the screen.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 9:11pm

Here's a nice montage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuvXq6l00y0

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 9:20pm

Oh man does that make me glad I saw the Broadway production and the first national tour.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 9:23pm

^ Actually, the non-eq tour was excellent...don't let the clips fool you. It stopped in several major cities and got great reviews in them. Of course it mainly went to small towns and it got decent reviews in those cities as well (but most theatre critics in small towns are just... pathetic).