As the Technical Director and Scenic Designer for this production of Big Fish produced by Illini Student Musicals, I had to decide where in the set money should be allocated to and what stock scenery I can harness to maintain budget. This show will be produced in our upcoming Spring 2024 season and has yet to start build. Below I will talk about some of the effects I plan on integrating into the design.
The set features an raised platform center, with an I beam spanning across the stage. The platform will be built with stock 4x8 platforms and 2x4 stud walls. The corrugated metal towards stage left will hang on a track and slide towards center revealing scenery. The I-beam will be made from scratch and will be hung using air craft cable pick points at each bolted connection (every 8').
To achieve the flower effect in the previous image, I began sketching out methods to reveal a flower drop from behind the I-Beam. I thought through methods that include pulling pins, opening nets, and pulley's but ultimately decided on proceeding with the bottom left option, because of its simplicity and ease of execution.
This scene features fabric from a lineset in order to create a circus tent effect onstage. This fabric will be made from shear voile because it is FR and is $5.99/yard.
To achieve the tent fabric effect, I designed a roll drop built from 4" PVC to allow an operator on the deck to lower the fabric onto the stage or off the stage. The fabric will include small led fishing weights to create tension as the fabric is lowered.