My feasible idea.

1. MY NOW, SOMEWHAT
FEASIBLE IDEA
S E T D E S I G N F O R T H E B U D D I N G S C E N I C D E S I G N E R
E R I K C H O C I A N OWS K I

2. WHAT IS THEATRICAL SET DESIGN?
• It is the creation of scenery and pieces that tell a
story in a theatrical production.
• As any aspect of a production, the quality of the set
design could be helpful or harmful to the overall
success.

3. CHALLENGE
STATEMENT
• Designing a set can be
difficult for high school
students and higher level
skills such as modeling
may not come so easily to
these budding artists.
• How else can students get
practical experience in
designing a set?
• Can a technologically
mediated environment
offer benefits not present
“I don’t know why but my set in traditional techniques?
design turned into math
equations!” -confused

4. OBJECTIVES
• At the completion of this, students should be able
to:
• Explore set design to try coming up with solutions to
design challenges.
• Logically evaluate their work as well as the work of
other students within the environment.

5. SOLUTION: SECOND LIFE
• Second life offers an active and practical approach to
learning set design.
• Students can work inexpensively and relatively easily in
designing and modeling.
• Students can bring skills they use in Second Life into the
first world.

6. WHY SECOND LIFE THOUGH?
• Second Life is an immersive
environment, social, and is fairly
easy to learn how to use.
Besides some shortcomings
between it and reality (gravity),
there is an obvious bridge that
exists between the two
• Some programs (3d Studio Max,
AutoCAD, CAD) are used for
some complex projects, with all
that potential, the robust
programs have a slightly steeper
learning curve. You can literally
do ANYTHING…

7. MY P.O.A.
(PLAN OF ACTION)
• Step One:
The environment
• The visual
spaces I’d like to
make is a large,
proscenium
theater with a
small thrust. This
is the most
common type of
stage for high
schools.

8. STEP TWO: THE PIECES
WHAT GOES ON THE STAGE?
• Here I am a little conflicted
and I have two possible
outcomes.
• I could have students create
set pieces for a show and
manipulate them and lay
them out the way they see
fit…OR
• I can have a stock supply of
set pieces that I share with
students and they pick and
choose and manipulate
them to come up with a
design plan.

9. STEP THREE: WHAT WOULD STUDENTS
NEED TO KNOW
• Students would need to have a basic
understanding of design principles, as learned in my
Edmodo learning environment, TheatreTEK.
• If students make everything, they would need to
learn how to construct objects in Second Life or
bring objects in from other programs.
• Either way, students would then need to learn how
to move, scale, and alter the properties of objects.
• Using the camera and snapshots would allow
students to get screen shots of their design.

10. WHAT WOULD MOTIVATE STUDENTS?
• Given the fact that students understand the
importance of planning, students would see the
benefit of making set design models in a virtual
space.
• Students will also have the chance to socialize. The
design field is a social one! If students were all
skilled at modelling, getting together, sharing input
with their peers may still be a little difficult. Now it
can happen easier and instantaneously.

11. WHAT I HOPE TO COME AWAY WITH
• I’d like to make an immersive environment where
students can play with designs and be informal; let
their creative ideas run wild.
• At the end of the day, students can create a set
design and use their plan in their creation of an
actual theatrical set.
• And if I can throw a racecar in there for students to
test drive…all the better!