Scene Design

1
Scene Design

• Vocabulary

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Backdrop

• A large piece of cloth upon which scenery is
  painted, fastened at the top and bottom to
  battens, and hung at the back of the stage

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Border

• A horizontal drape that runs across the top of
  the stage, hiding the lighting instruments.

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Box Set

• An interior set with three complete walls the
  fourth wall is open to the audience

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Center Line

• An imaginary line drawn down the center of a
  stage from upstage to downstage.

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Curtain Line

• The imaginary line the curtain touches when
  closed.

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Cyclorama (Cyc)

• A large backdrop meant to resemble the sky.

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Elevation

• An eye-level view drawing showing the flats
  arranged in a continuous row to be used in a set.

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False Proscenium

• A frame built inside the proscenium to reduce the
  size of the stage opening.

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Flat

• A wooden frame covered with cloth or wood used to
  represent walls.

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Front Elevation

• A scale drawing of the set shown from the front
  as if the scenery was flattened into a single
  plane.

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Ground Plan

• A scale drawing showing the top view of a set and
  its relationship with the stage.

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Ground Row

• A low, horizontal piece of scenery designed to
  hide lighting instruments on the floor or the
  bottom of the cyc or backdrop.

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Jack

• A triangular brace for supporting scenery.

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Legs

• Vertical curtains, usually hung in pairs, stage
  left and right, used to mask the backstage area.

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Masking

• Flats or drops behind scenery openings used to
  mask the backstage area.

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Plaster Line

• The imaginary line representing the proscenium
  arch. Used to represent the separation between
  the stage and the apron.

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Platform

• Any horizontal playing surface

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Perspective

• A head-on view of a set having the illusion of
  depth

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Raked Stage

• A stage that is slanted, either to increase
  visibility or to produce false perspective.

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Returns

• Flats placed at the downstage edges of the set
  extending into the wings right and left.

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Reveal

• A thickness piece placed in a door, window, or
  arch opening to give the illusion of thickness to
  walls

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Scrim

• A drop made of special fabric that seems opaque
  when lit from the front and translucent when lit
  from behind

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Extreme Sightline

• The seat in the auditorium that, by its location,
  has the best view of backstage. Used to
  determine masking requirements.

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Wagon

• A platform on wheels.

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Wings

• The offstage areas to the right and left of the
  set.

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Working Drawing

• A detailed drawing showing how a piece of scenery
  is to be constructed.