Module Information

Module Identifier
TP11720
Module Title
Scenography Site Project
Academic Year
2017/2018
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2
Co-Requisite
Co-Requisite
Mutually Exclusive
Pre-Requisite
Other Staff

Course Delivery

Delivery Type Delivery length / details
Workshop 18 x 2 Hour Workshops
Practical 1 x 4 Hour Practical
 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment 7 Hours   1. Scenographic Project (duration of presentation,  approximately 45 minutes). Individual contribution towards the conception, realisation and presentation of a tutor-led, group- devised, scenographic project.   60%
Semester Assessment 2. Design Portfolio and Analysis (equivalent to 2,000 words)  A portfolio of documents of process and analysis charting the development of ideas and reflecting critically upon the outcomes of individual work within the practical group project.  40%
Supplementary Assessment 1. Conceptual Project (equivalent to 3,000 words)  Documentation of a conceptual (unrealised) project based upon the principles and approaches studied in the module.  60%
Supplementary Assessment 2. Design Portfolio and Analysis (equivalent to 2,000 words)  A portfolio of documents of process and analysis charting the development of ideas and reflecting critically upon the outcomes of individual work within the practical group project. OR (should the Scenographic Project element have been failed, originally) 3. Essay, 2,000 words. An essay contextualizing the proposed conceptual project in relation to examples of contemporary site-specific performance practice.   40%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate awareness of a range of approaches and principles appropriate to the development and presentation of a location-specific scenographic project.

2. Show creativity in finding design solutions within particular, designated parameters.

3. Exercise effective collaborative skills within the processes of group working.

4. Reflect critically upon the aims, methodology and outcomes of an original project.

Aims

The aims of this module are:

• To explore the use of a range of scenographic methodologies within a specific presentation/performance environment.

• To provide students with the experience of undertaking an extended process of practical group investigation.

• To encourage students to take responsibility for collaboration and group work within the context of sustained process and presentation.

• To enable students to analyse their own experience of the conceptual and practical processes undertaken.

Brief description

This module builds directly upon TP11620 (Scenography Studio Project) by inviting students to challenge, extend and develop the range of key concepts, skills and methodologies introduced by that module and explored within the studio environment. Here, the accent falls upon other locations, the making of space and the function of place. Under conditions of close supervision, students prepare and realise an original work wherein the place (enhanced, modified, or uniquely constructed) and our total, immersive, experience of that place, become the key compositional elements and concerns. The research and development pertaining to the work is documented by each student, with the resulting documentation providing the basis for a critical evaluation of the project. This module completes the Part One introduction to fundamental scenographic concepts and practices, which in turn provides a skills and knowledge grounding for the degree scheme at Part Two.

Content

20 x 2 hour workshops (2 per week)
1 x 4 hour public presentation

The site project is devised collaboratively by the group under the leadership of the course tutor. Each workshop session begins with an introductory demonstration and task setting exercise, forming the basis for individual and collective concept exploration and experimentation. As such, the work is created incrementally, week by week, through dialogue, exchange, research and play. What is explored and discovered in week one, will inform and direct the investigations and experiments in week two, with the work increasingly sharpening in focus, refinement and detail. Students will note and record the unfolding and re-folding of this process as the basis for their individual portfolios of critical reflection and analysis. Given the above, the following schedule is indicative of content covered and subjects addressed, but the order will have some flexibility according to the project’s particular development.

Week 1
1. Introduction. Module overview: the specifics of site (principles).
2. Here and now: the specifics of (this) site.

Week 2
1. Good manners: site and congruence.
2. Bad manners: site and incongruence.

Week 3
1. Time as place: site and indifference.
2. Place as time: the host and the ghost.

Week 4
1. Architecture: site and the physical.
2. Ambiance: site and the metaphysical.

Week 5
1. Guide Dogs Welcome: the politics of place.
2. Keep Off The Grass: control and transgression.

Week 6
1. What are you doing here? (Individual project ideas).
2. What are we doing here? (Collective project ideas).

Week 7
1. Site and intervention: material phenomena.
2. Site and intervention: immaterial phenomena.

Week 8
1. Site and the stranger: the spectator.
2. Site and the stranger: the guest.

Week 9
1. Where’s the art in this? (Us).
2. Where’s the art in this? (Them).

Week 10
1: Project resolution: today’s ghost.
2. Notes on reflection: yesterday’s ghost.

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number Application of number may be necessary for the development of proposed ideas (for example in working accurately to scale) but this element is not explicitly assessed.
Communication The individual student’s ability to articulate and communicate ideas and opinions is developed across the duration of the module. This area of development is encouraged and assessed within all aspects of the processes and related assignments.
Improving own Learning and Performance Self-regulation, motivation and time-management are demanded to maintain engagement with the development of the course and the completion of its assignments. Assessment criteria recognise effective personal management and performance.
Information Technology Skills of information handling are not formally assessed, but are exercised through the conduct of research, presentation processes, and the collation of materials within design portfolios.
Personal Development and Career planning The module encourages the development of skills directly applicable to careers within cultural (particularly theatre/performance) industries. Further transferable skills (project planning and execution, the development of personal creative initiatives) are also developed through the completion of assessment tasks, though careers need awareness does not constitute an assessed element.
Problem solving Creative problem solving, outcome recognition, and the identification of appropriate strategies and procedures, are encouraged and assessed across the duration of the module.
Research skills Appropriate personal research and information literacy skills, are exercised and assessed through the development and presentation of the design portfolio.
Subject Specific Skills TThe following subject specific skills are developed and directly or indirectly assessed: • describing, theorising, interpreting and evaluating performance texts and performance events from a range of critical perspectives; • reading the performance possibilities implied by a script, score and other textual or documentary sources; • engaging in performance and production, based on an acquisition and understanding of appropriate performance and production vocabularies, skills, structures and working methods; • developing skills of observation and visual, aural and spatial awareness; • engaging in research, whether independent, group or performance-based.
Team work Group working is addressed and exercised throughout the module. Practical classes demand the application of skills necessary to conduct successful collaborative activity. Assessment criteria relate directly to the development and employment of collaborative skills.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 4