Brett Gibson
Mrs. Graham
English 4
9/12/12
Stagecraft
Introduction/what is stage craft
Stage craft is a generic term referring to the technical aspects of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes, but is not limited to, constructing and rigging scenery, hanging and focusing of lighting, design and creation of costumes, makeup, and creation of props, stage management, and recording and mixing of sound. One might think that stage craft is only practiced on Broadway or the play your school is hosting but that is incorrect. It is actually practiced in a few other places like the visual effects in movies or even the wild stages in the music industry. Stage craft is practiced in more places than you know.
History
According to the “stagecraft” article in Wikipedia the first known practitioners of stage craft were the Greeks. They used huge scenic houses that were referred to as “skene,” which is the Greek word for "scene" or "scenery.” These houses were very advanced for they had a series of hand cranks and pulleys to move characters in the air or to change the background to match the scene or produce other desired effects to capture the audience. Skene were also designed so that they used no other light but that of the sun at any time of the day. Due to some plays lasting from sunrise to sundown, they had very specific designs and had to be placed in a way that the stage could capture the light.
This changed drastically in medieval times. The performers, unlike the Greeks who had a fixed place they performed, had to travel from town to town with more mobile/portable stages. This then didn’t allow for them to perform plays lasting from sunrise to sundown, so they no longer required the intricacy of the Greek stages. This also made their plays less intricate and almost, in a way, less professional. The stages on which they performed were usually makeshift, basically made from whatever one had. They were designed in...