Earthquake Presentation
13 December 2007
The setting is ancient Greece Medea rising in her chariot with the powerless Jason below. He has come to the realization that has lost; Medea has obtained vengeance by murdering their children and then, the final blow comes in an earthquake as though the Gods themselves are confirming Medea’s triumph. The force of this quake is to appear to be of epic proportions, the ancient equivalent to the Great San Franscisco Earthquake of 1906. A general rule of thumb with earth quake is that there will be Rumbling, falling objects, landscape changes and almost always fire. This would be achieved through strategically executed set design lighting and sound.
The set would have three key elements that attribute to the earthquake: a platform under which a hydraulic lift will be placed to create a rise in the “earth”, an upstage building that with be compromised by the earthquake, and an irregular platform unit with a breakable seam to give the appearance of a crack in the ground. An earthquake happens when built up pressure in the earth’s crust, due to the movement of tectonic plates, is rapidly release released. This release is sometimes characterized by an increase in land elevation; such an elevation will be achieved with the lift/platform unit. The displacement an earthquake can often compromise, if not destroy, man-made structures. The upstage building with be representative of such. Within the structure, visible to the audience will be two or more columns that appear to support the structure this will be in slight resemblance to the Parthenon and it will have large flowing drapes inside of it. As the earthquake occurs, the columns will fall and a large piece of fabric held overhead will fall and debris will rain over the stage. The most important piece would be the irregular platform unit; it will pull apart at a crack shaped seam to create an opening in the “earth”.
The lighting for the earthquake...