Tour of the set of Little Shop of Horrors: through Elements of Design and Principles of

Composition

The following slides will provide actual examples of elements

of design and principles of composition in action!

Erik Chocianowski

Whenever I start a design….

When you start to think of a scene, try to think of it in terms of

the elements of design. The elements of design that I want you to

concentrate on are line, shape, color, texture. All of these words

are capable of telling a story, you just need to work on arranging

them.

If you think this is difficult, it’s not. We already think in this way,

and while we don’t knowingly do so, those words help us define

the world around us.

For instance when you are in the supermarket, looking for an

avocado, how would know when you found an avocado?

Line, Shape, Color, Texture

You look for the thing that looks like an

avocado.

Oval Shape? Check.

Green Color? Check.

Bumpy Texture? You got it.

Looks like you have an avocado.

If you saw something that was not

green but yellow, what can that be?

Similar texture, different color

Well, you might have a lemon. You go

through your daily life easily knowing that

when you want a lemon over an avocado,

you grab the thing that looks like a lemon.

Oval shape, slightly bumpy, and yellow.

If you wanted to create a large lemon on the

set for whatever reason, these are the things

that you would incorporate into your design

of that set piece. Yellow, slightly bumpy and

oval. That way, everyone would know, “Hey,

that’s a giant lemon on stage!”

Applying Color, Shape, and Texture

Let’s think about our Skid Row set. It is a cold, dirty, hard place. How can we use color,

shape and texture to describe that.

Is a skid row building going to have smooth, clean walls? Or will it have dirty, rough

walls.

Describe it in in these terms and you can come up with some materials you can use.

How did I design the walls of the buildings in Little Shop of Horrors?

I made brick buildings!

If you look closely, everything about the

buildings says dirty and rough! The

buildings are made up of dark red bricks

(color) that look hard and a bit bumpy

(texture). How else do you know they are

bricks? The individual bricks look like small

rectangles (shapes).

Talking about lines

Look at these toothpicks and think of them

in terms of line. There is the same number

in both images but one looks neater. Why?

The picks in the top image are all in the

same direction and placed evenly. The picks

in the bottom image look like they were just

dropped there.

How can these two situations tell a story?

Think of a backstory for both of these

images.

If we also examine the scene even more…

We can use the element of line to describe

the set piece. When the lines, found in the

fence and on the board are all over the

window, what can we assume? Is the fence

old and broken with no one to fix it? Was

the window boarded up quickly to keep

people out? The more disorder we have in a

scene, the more run down things appear.

Run down, depressed areas can be done

using these techniques of line placement.

The devil is in the details!

Let’s say we wanted to describe this these

lines. They are jagged, are heavy at times,

and run different directions, not perfectly

straight. What are these?

They are cracks! What I did was give the

scene a backstory with these cracks. The

store is old, run down and has no money to

repair the cracks.

You see this and you are automatically

thinking the same thing!

Old store walls before the renovation…

The store was in disrepair, cracks in

the walls, old refrigerator, just a

mess!

After the renovation!

Look! No cracks! The absence of the cracks

makes the walls look new and clean. Now

the store seems to be doing well.

Remember, it’s the little details that make a

scene look more authentic and real. The

more attention to the details, the better

your set design will be.

So let’s talk

about the

Principles of

Composition

Within your use of the elements, you can

apply the principles of composition to

further your story telling abilities. We’ll

discuss a few: Balance, Unity, and Emphasis

Find out more at the PowerPoint Getting Started Center

Balance and Symmetry

Definition: the ways in which the elements

(lines, shapes, colors, textures, etc.) of a

piece are arranged (Esaak, 2014).

There are two types of balance, symmetrical

and asymmetrical. Symmetry is equal

balance, meaning if we were to evenly

divide a picture in two, we would have a

mirror image. Think of your face, if we drew

a line down the middle, the left side would

look like the right side.

Balance and Asymmetry

Creating balance does not have to be

mirror like. You can have asymmetrical

balance as well. Asymmetry is “balance

that occurs when elements are placed

unevenly in a piece, but work together

to produce harmony overall” (Esaak,

2014).

These buildings use a large rectangular

shape (element) to create a sense of

balance. What type of balance do these

buildings use?

Emphasis

Emphasis is “a principle of art what occurs

any time an element of a piece is given

dominance by the artist. In other words, the

artist makes part of the work stand out, in

order to draw the viewer's eye there first”

(Esaak, 2014).

When I want the viewer to look at

something, or I want something to stand

out, I use an element to create emphasis.

How did I make this flower refrigerator

stand out?

Emphatic Refrigerator

This stands out for one reason, the trim

around the doors is black and the rest it is

white. That is a high contrast difference to

create emphasis. What I want the viewer to

notice is, “Wow, this refrigerator is beat up!

Old! A piece of junk!”

This set piece is two sided, one old side and

a new side. When I didn’t want the viewer

to look at I it too much, I used another

principle of composition.

Unified Refrigerator

To make it less noticeable, I used the

principle of unity in my color choice.

“A principle of art, unity occurs when all of

the elements of a piece combine to make

a… harmonious, complete whole” (Esaak,

2014).

An all white refrigerator, especially on a light

wall, really fades into the background.

Do you agree?

So in conclusion…

Whenever you begin thinking about the design of your set, make sure you consider the elements of

design and principles of composition.

When you are designing the whole set, play with the layout of your set pieces. Balance them

symmetrically, asymmetrically balance them, place them to create emphasis, unity, etc. Evaluate how

you want to use the elements of design with the principles. Push yourself to make more detail that

will make your setting more realistic.

Most importantly, have fun telling a story visually.

References:

Esaak, Shelley. "What Is Balance in Art?" About.com Art History. About.com, 2014. Web. 04 July 2014.

Esaak, Shelley. "What Is Emphasis in Art?" About.com Art History. About.com, 2014. Web. 04 July 2014.

Esaak, Shelley. "What Is Artistic Unity?" About.com Art History. About.com, 2014. Web. 04 July 2014.

*All other work is originally produced by the author.