A weblog about theatrical drapery and stage curtains for Production Managers, Set Designers, Custom Drapery Resellers, and local/school/church Productions
In the United States today, and maybe across the world, nothing is more beloved than a good pair of jeans. That emotional attachment can be used on a grand scale on a backdrop, without having to rip up the entire crew’s wardrobe to make it happen. Why not use digital denim?
Illustrated or photographically rendered denim can be created to whatever custom color or texture, stone wash or weathered style that fits your needs. Illustrated seams and rivets can be added to add accents in just any way your heart desires. Actual rips and tears can be added to areas to reveal back graphics or add a glow of light.
It’s all about capturing the essence of the artist and emotion at your show.
Sometimes you want your show to convey an urban edge. Nitty Gritty, concrete and steel, graffiti and decay. Attitude! I recently designed just such a graphic for a touring band. Using several concrete photographic assets, I created a 40′ wall that looked like it was straight out of south Detroit.
We added the band name in chipped paint like it had seen seven years of rain and snow. The thing that I think would put it over the top would be to have custom cut graffiti letters sewn to sharks tooth scrim and drop down over the wall like the logo and wall had been tagged.
The power of the progressive unveil. Something to think about when planning your show.
Something that is often overlooked today when in the throws of the creative process is the use and/or influence of architecture. I am lucky enough to have lived near Detroit for the last twenty plus years. I know to the rest of the world Detroit has a less than desirable status but I can tell you the people are great and the old architecture is second to none from a creative standpoint.
My point here is to take a look around you at the architecture near you. It’s often overlooked or taken for granted yet it standsthere in all its glory and history, either grand and opulent or rundown, burned out and beaten down, you can find beauty and creative juice right in front of you if you look.
Take a look at the backdrop we did for Flogging Molly for example. A grand old building in Detroit with busted windows makes an awesome digitally printed backdrop. (http://www.sewwhatinc.com/graphic_design.php)
According to Wikipedia, “It involves a setting where steam power is still widely used- usually Victorian era Britain- that incorporates elements of either science fiction or fantasy.” Many times you’ll see the use of futuristic machines made of brass and copper, dials and gauges and cogs that make the impossible seem likely or at least somewhat possible.
I bring it up today because I think the fantasy quality of it allows for amazing creative opportunities in a stage setting. The use of printed backdrops on a grand scale with real world brass, dials and gauges on your stage can make your audience gape in awe of your next production. Just some creative juice if you’re struggling. (see header graphics here for an example- http://www.sewwhatinc.com/graphic_design.php
Recently Rent What? was able to add a gorgeous, shiny, beautifully created drape to its Rock ‘n Red and Timeless and Traditional Series. It is an unbelievable 30′ high by 60′ wide Red Satin Austrian Drape, with close to 50% horizontal and 25% vertical fullness in its beautifully sculpted folds.
Our client needed something spectacular for a special edition of an internationally famous play here at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Utilizing our fabulous and easy to assemble rental Drapery Lift System (more on the different types of drapery automation to come in a future blog), this refined yet exotic Austrian Drape was able to be lifted and dropped with complete control from our client.
With the help of our sister company Sew What? and the brilliance of their representative Gwen Winter, we were able to have them make this luscious drape merely from an simple idea in our client’s vision, and actually create it completely from scratch.
With the incredibly hard work of an amazing sewing staff, she was instrumental in helping organize its development and creation in just two days– unheard of in the drapery design industry. A drape of this size takes more than 240 yards of material to construct, which is more than 720 feet, or 8640 inches, or 22,000 centimeters of material! And each panel is painstakingly sewn one at a time, with the lift line sewn right through the back of the seams. The seamstress has to gather all of this material on the vertical seams in order to create the iconic “smiles”, or soft swags, that an Austrian drape is known for. The greater the horizonal fullness, the longer and deeper these swags will become. Because it’s being lifted and lowered by a lift mechanism and not human hands, the lift lines have to be stragetically and evenly placed exactly right. The drape’s extremely elaborate construction takes a HUGE amount of man hours to sew and create, so that when the lift mechanism is activated, this beautiful drape will ride up and down smoothly and flawlessly so the audience will be completely blown away.
You can see now why it is so impressive that our sewing masters were able to cut, sew, and design this gorgeous 30×60 foot Red Satin Austrian drape in just two days!
Now that we have added this amazingly versatile and gorgeous drape to our Rent What? collection, we know it will be a huge hit for all sorts of events– from holiday parties, rock concerts, stage productions, television shows, and everything in between. We can’t wait to see what else our clients will come up with next for us to help design for them!
A while back I had the pleasure of working with Little Big Town to develop a custom graphic treatment for their tour with Sugarland.
The band came to me with the idea of doing four drapes that would gather near the bottom. Their vision was to capture an antique damask motif like the old wallpaper you see in grand southern homes.
For me, this was an awesome graphic challenge to tackle. I’d never designed wallpaper before much less antique damask style wallpaper. I addressed it by gathering several pieces of reference material and addressing the design of the main larger graphic first. Having the largest piece designed helped set the tone for the project and gave me a direction for creating the smaller supporting graphics that complimented the boarders of the main graphic. The most time consuming part of the challenge was making the pattern work in a way that repeated properly. Once the pattern was complete and duplicated properly both left and right, up and down I duplicated the pattern and sized it to fill the designated image area correctly. I then added age to the pattern with digital custom made noise and scratches, one piece at a time, keeping in mind at all times that the design, scratches and all had to work well with the lighting effects to create mood, look and feel. The end result worked well and allowed for a dramatic compliment their show. It can be seen on this link.
A couple of years ago, we did an original illustration of Ted Nugent as Uncle Sam for tour backdrop. The advantage of creating an illustration from the ground up in the largest possible usable form is afterward he was able to use the art to extend the value of his investment. That same illustration was used on his tour merchandise as well as the cover of a book he wrote and on promotional materials.
I’ve seen this done a few times. When original digital art has enough data and is built right it can be used in many applications as a tool to promote your business and generate funds for you.
I have posted about the wide variety of specialty drapery collections that Rent What? has available for rent, from “Rockin’ Red” to “Industrial Textures” to “Delightfully White” and beyond. At Rent What? we have tried to think “outside the box” to continually re-imagine soft goods and stage decor to create interesting and beautiful new drapery options for our clients.
Today, I want to give you a sneak preview of our newest specialty collection, the “Swanky Collection.” We have just added the first piece in the collection, and it is definitely something different. Rather than a traditional custom stage curtain made of fabric, instead this piece is actually a series of individual linear pieces composed of mirrored plates suspended on invisible threads.
Each thread of mirrored plates is separate and distinct – different heights, different placement of mirrored plates – allowing a completely customizable dazzling linear mobile. By attaching each thread to a different location on the stage truss, you can create a unique mobile “drape” for every show.
I am so excited about this new piece. I hope you like it as much as I do. Stand by as we add more “Swanky” pieces to the collection – I’ll keep you posted.
Something that can give a stage a great deal of depth is the planning and integration of real world objects in front of a printed backdrop. It takes some coordination and planning can help pull off the effect but the end result is worth it.
Case in point, we did an illustration of a steam punk machine complete with all the cogs, wheels, bells and whistles for Motley Crue. ( you can see it on the header of the graphic design page on sewwhatinc.com)
The stage designer used huge barrels, copper tubes, oil drums and alike placed strategically in front of the printed piece to pull off a dark, fire breathing mad science steam punk effect.
People still come up to me and tell me how much they loved that stage. Isn’t that what it’s all about. A memorable experience.
Earlier this year we were contacted by Jason Bishop, illusionist extraordinaire, regarding our Metal Mesh drapery. He felt it had just the right look to complement his amazing illusions. The textures are terrific, and the ability to light it in different colors gives it so much versatility. After working with Sew What? Account Manager Gwen Winter, Jason chose to purchase a custom 25′ h x 45′ w Metal Mesh Drape, fashioned as a Tear-Away for that quick “magical” reveal.
Well, last week Jason contacted us again to rave about the drape. He sent us photos of the drape on stage with The Jason Bishop Show. They’re terrific photos – check them out!
