Special Effects/Other
For a props class final project, each student had to construct a photo of a scene. I chose to do a potential scene from BEOWULF, where the hall has been burned down. There is a stone hearth, a support beam, an antler, a fish head, and bread in the smoking rubble. There is light smoke coming up from the embers.
I vacu-formed the stone hearth so I could run a tube through the plastic that the smoke could run through.
The fake bread was made out of Great Stuff that I then painted.
For a props class final project, each student had to construct a photo of a scene. I chose to do a potential scene from BEOWULF, where the hall has been burned down. There is a stone hearth, a support beam, an antler, a fish head, and bread in the smoking rubble. There is light smoke coming up from the embers.
In ALTAR BOYZ, the Boyz use a device gifted to them by SONY called the "Soul Sensor DX-12" to measure "lost souls" in the audience. As the band continues their set, souls are saved and the numbers on the sensor go down. ALTAR BOYZ Black Hills Playhouse Director: Justin Speck Set Designer: Amber Marisa Cook Lighting Designer: Chris Haug Properties Designer: Becky Hicks
Discussing with the set and lighting designers, we decided to use an outdoor LED sign to act as our "Soul Sensor." Because the numbers would go down as the show progressed and the numbers had to represent the size of the house for each performance, I had to program 5 different categories of numbers, ranging from a full house to a petite house. Each house size had 45 cues that I got to play with effects, style, and text. ALTAR BOYZ Black Hills Playhouse Director: Justin Speck Set Designer: Amber
The "Soul Sensor" lived on what we called the "DJ Booth," where the Stage Manager and Sound Board operator lived during the show. It was to the right of the stage, and the actors would gesture and "summon" the "Soul Sensor" to "sense" throughout the show. ALTAR BOYZ Black Hills Playhouse Director: Justin Speck Set Designer: Amber Marisa Cook Lighting Designer: Chris Haug Properties Designer: Becky Hicks
In ALTAR BOYZ, the Boyz use a device gifted to them by SONY called the "Soul Sensor DX-12" to measure "lost souls" in the audience. As the band continues their set, souls are saved and the numbers on the sensor go down. ALTAR BOYZ Black Hills Playhouse Director: Justin Speck Set Designer: Amber Marisa Cook Lighting Designer: Chris Haug Properties Designer: Becky Hicks
For JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH, I designed and built multiple shadow puppets, such as the New York City cityscape, helicopters, sharks, a peach, and a rhino. JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH Augustana University Director: Coleman Peterson Set Designer: Jacee Casarella Lighting Designer: Andrew Canaan Properties Designer: Becky Hicks
I sketched and colored in the negatives of each puppet. I then cut them out and mounted them on dowels. JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH Augustana University Director: Coleman Peterson Set Designer: Jacee Casarella Lighting Designer: Andrew Canaan Properties Designer: Becky Hicks
In this production photo, you can see the New York City cityscape, the peach, and the seagulls being backlit. JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH Augustana University Director: Coleman Peterson Set Designer: Jacee Casarella Lighting Designer: Andrew Canaan Properties Designer: Becky Hicks
For JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH, I designed and built multiple shadow puppets, such as the New York City cityscape, helicopters, sharks, a peach, and a rhino. JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH Augustana University Director: Coleman Peterson Set Designer: Jacee Casarella Lighting Designer: Andrew Canaan Properties Designer: Becky Hicks
In this production, I had to create these heads that would bleed onstage. They had to bleed during a speech, and they were onstage for sometime beforehand, so the actor had to activate the bleeding. THANKSGIVING PLAY Augustana University Director: Dan Workman Set Designer: Jacee Casarella Properties Designer: Becky Hicks
In the story, these heads would have been kept in a props closet of a high school theatre teacher for years, which is something I wanted to show with the design. THANKSGIVING PLAY Augustana University Director: Dan Workman Set Designer: Jacee Casarella Properties Designer: Becky Hicks
The actors would play with the heads like they were soccer balls. The blood used was able to be washed out of the stage and costumes with laundry soap. THANKSGIVING PLAY Augustana University Director: Dan Workman Set Designer: Jacee Casarella Properties Designer: Becky Hicks
In this production, I had to create these heads that would bleed onstage. They had to bleed during a speech, and they were onstage for sometime beforehand, so the actor had to activate the bleeding. THANKSGIVING PLAY Augustana University Director: Dan Workman Set Designer: Jacee Casarella Properties Designer: Becky Hicks
