Category Archives: Observation

Costume Observation Heinrich – Team DIMATH

Observation No Comments

Delirious Jena – Des Lebens Überfluss | Theaterhaus Jena 

Text/Direction: Hannes Weiler / Stage: Florian Dietrich / Costumes: Lena Hiebel / Dramaturgy: Friederike Weidner

Focus on Actor: Mathias Znidarec

Heinrichs costume consists of:

  • shirt
  • leather-pants
  • shoes
  • fur-coat
  • mud

With the help of small changes in the costume one can distinguish three different “Heinrichs” during the play

Confused Heinrich

Heinrich is poor,starving crazy
Heinrich is poor, starving, crazy

First Heinrich is confused and really thirsty. He even doesn’t recognize his wife. The fact that Heinrich doesn’t wear a shirt but is full of mud emphasizes this crazy state.

Heinrich without shirt but full of mud
Heinrich without shirt but full of mud

 

Clear in Mind Heinrich

After Klara (his wife) gives him something to drink, Heinrich gets a clear head. He puts his wide sleeved shirt on which supports his sweeping gestures.

Wide sleeves support the sweeping gestures of Heinrich
Wide sleeves support the sweeping gestures of Heinrich

 

Greedy Heinrich

During the play Heinrich gets greedy for a short moment. He has stolen some gold and doesn’t want to live ascetic anymore. This characteristic is expressed by a big fur coat. His posture changes also.

Greedy Heinrich
Greedy Heinrich emphasized by the fur coat

 

Back to the Roots Heinrich

At the end Heinrich is poor and hungry again. Because he is also wet his shirt is full of mud now. He looks pretty depressingly.

Shirt is wet and full of mud. Heinrich is poor again
Shirt is wet and full of mud. Heinrich is poor again

 

 

Costume Observation by WISEHA team.

Observation No Comments

Die Disziplinaranstalt | Kassablanca Jena 

Direction: Mathias Znidarec / Stage: Cederic Kraus / Costumes: Filomena Krause  / Dramaturgy: Friederike Weidner

Focus on Actress: Lena Vogt 

1. Entrance: guardrail – fur cap/black jacket/trousers – Aglaia – russian Style

2. downstairs – jacket off > black pullover – GOES OFF

3. comes in with tinsel (hangs it up)

cap off = Semjon – GOES OFF

4. white fur coat / grey scarf / silver dress / gold sneakers > Aglaia / Russian chic, ritch

Coat off, jewelry off > evening dress – GOES OF

5. pink Tulle dress (2 skirts) / white shoes > maiden like

Black trousers under

Tries to take off the upper part of the dress – then the lower part

> White shirt / black trousers

> Takes off this – Wonderwoman Costume (blue skirt/red top) – rebell like

GOES OFF

6. black bathrobe (sitts in front of the TV) – GOES OFF

7. black bathrobe (stands in front of the shelf – talks in camera) – GOES OFF

8. blue shorts / white T-Shirt / silver sneakers

Director (Spider) allocates the roles

9. Fürst Myshkin: > takes on a white hair-band

Role plays:

Theater for Kids: Octagon (paperboard)

Operetta: GOES OFF and comes in with wihte T-Shirts ans huge skirt

   – By and by she takes off the T-Shirts (8 or 9)

Pink (plastic) Jacket (sits next to the author)

Take off the skirt > blue shorts – GOES OFF

Comes in with 3 helmets (red, blue and white), everybody gets one

Movie advise scene: everywhere film-costumes (hidden everywhere at the stage) Spiderman, Batman, ET-finger, …

 

A: Lightning

  • A candle-light with a bulb (plastic light).
Disziplinaranstalt-17-2000x1333
Picture from Theatre website

 

  • Spotlight on important situation and persons, for example: a discussions with only twopersons.
  • all lights were bright, as she screamed.
  • Sepia-Light in the end of the theatre piece.

Technology

  • Loud music is played to symbolise a party
  • 10 TV’s with sometimes different scenes and on many places (audience, stage, ..)
  • TV scenes illustrate the theatre piece and connects the scenes together
  • On the screen.

a: Ad: Gillette (with Sebastian Vettel)
b: Miley Cyrus Pictures
c: Ad: Different commercials
d: Videos from love scenes from different movie.

e: Ad: Frauengold

  • a webcam is on the shelf and the image is transferred to the live TV
  • at the end is a scene on all screens, on each screen is a person there, and they do not talk directly to each other but it seems like a conversation

 

The robot was controlled by another person via remote control
The robot was controlled by another person via remote control
A TV set on the stage
A TV set on the stage
Actors looking to TV.
Actors looking to TV.
Actress controlling the Radio.
Actress controlling the Radio.
Stage
  1. –  She used the transparent wall to look at themselves
  2. –  has a box in hand with glitter, and throws them into the air on to it
  3. –  sometimes she sits on the couch, sits elegantly on the couch backrest or is on the table
  4. –  She goes with her face to the wall. and her face glued to the wall
  5. –  she holds a book in his hand and reads from it or holds a vase
  6. –  she holds an invisible cigarette and doing so as they would smoke
  7. –  they used to change the radio to the total volume
  8. –  she brings many letters, throws around, takes a letter and reads from it
  9. –  she runs from the stage into the audience
  10. –  she has a box in her hand, she makes up and gets a robot out there and puts it on the floor
  11. –  the robot is remotely controlled, and moves on the stage (octopus robot)
  12. –  she nudges with a broom the robot away
  13. –  she holds a oktagon before the face
  14. –  She sits on a judo helmet, holds a sword in her hands or throws a shoe
  15. –  she takes a lot of utensils from the cabinet, among other things, an inflatable dolphin .
Posing on the Sofa.
Posing on the Sofa.

 

Actress

With a new costume.
With a new costume.

 

With a big gown like costume.
With a big gown like costume.

 

Die Disziplinaranstalt
Picture from the theatre website.

 

 

DSC_0024

Actress
From the theatre website.
From the theatre website.

 

 

Interaction with other characters

  • she dances with another actress
  • she takes scissors and tape and binds it to another actor .
  • Interaction with Robot.
Actress scared from Robot.
Actress scared from Robot.

 

Actress hitting the robot with a stick .
Actress hitting the robot with a stick .

 

All the together watching an add on TV.
All the together watching an add on TV.

 

End:

All together at the end of the play.
All together at the end of the play.

 

All together At the end of the play
All together At the end of the play

 

Stage At the end.
Stage At the end.

 

Stage At end.
Stage At end.

 

shoes

Costume Observation Klara – Team HEMASU

Observation Research No Comments

Delirious Jena – Des Lebens Überfluss | Theaterhaus Jena

Text/Direction: Hannes Weiler / Stage: Florian Dietrich / Costumes: Lena Hiebel / Dramaturgy: Friederike Weidner

Focus on Actress: Johanna Berger

What is the costume?

  • dress/skirt and top
  • dress has a hoop skirt underneath
  • wide skirt -> takes up alot of space
  • skirt fabric is gathered
  • skirt has a train
picture: Susann Luge
picture: Susann Luge
  • top without sleeves
  • very tight, almost like a corset
  • top ornamented with lace
  • a zipper in the back -> can’t undress herself
  • dirty white color
  • skirt possibly made out of cotton
  • shoes: used high heels closed leather corpus, with canvas, worn out, with shoelaces
picture: Susann Luge
picture: Susann Luge
  • black tights
  • no jewelry, no makeup, no nail polish, tired eyes, very pale
picture: Susann Luge
picture: Susann Luge
  • french braided hair in the back with a lot of loose strands hanging into her face

 

Which impression does it create?

How underlines the costume the the role the actor/actress is playing?

How supports it the actor/actress?

  • wife of Heinrich
  • impression: run down wedding dress
  • looks shabby, probably has only this dress, wears it all the time
  • too long for everday use
  • more simple -> simple fabric(cotton) but intricate fashion of the dress -> could mean she is coming wealthy family but choose poverty deliberatley
  • stiffness of the dress reflects her minimal movements and gestures
  • probably has never been a housewife

How is the development of the costume during the piece?

  • apart from stepping on her train, almost no interaction with her costume by the other actors

How does it change in relation to the actor’s/actress’ role?

What other support is needed?

  • no change of the dress during the piece
  • no clothing was added(except for the video part)
  • when she is shot down the dress becomes flat and looses it’s volume
picture: Susann Luge
picture: Susann Luge

How influences the costume the posture & movement of the actor/actress?

How interacts the actor/actress with his/her costume?

  • the stiff dress forces her into a stiff posture -> includes having her hands on the dress all the time to be ready for movement
picture: http://www.theaterhaus-jena.de/blog/fotogalerie-delirious-jena-c-joachim-dette/
picture: http://www.theaterhaus-jena.de/blog/fotogalerie-delirious-jena-c-joachim-dette/
  • never turned towards the person she is talking to only turns her head in their direction
picture: Susann Luge
picture: Susann Luge
  • never sits down only crouches down
picture: Susann Luge
picture: Susann Luge
  • she needs to pull up her dress in order to walk, otherwise she would step on it
picture: http://www.theaterhaus-jena.de/blog/fotogalerie-delirious-jena-c-joachim-dette/
picture: http://www.theaterhaus-jena.de/blog/fotogalerie-delirious-jena-c-joachim-dette/
  • crouched down to grab the skirt before moving
  • always tried to grab a ring of the hoopskirt
  • lifted skirt higher for running
  • skirt nice for sweeping eggs and straw
  • if one hand carries something the other hand holds up the skirt
  • if both hands are full she needs to kick the skirt forward to be able to walk

Observation Task

Observation No Comments

The task is to observe an actor/actress & his/her costume during a play. That shall help to develop a feeling for the meaning of costumes on theatre stages & to outline what distinguishes such a costume from everyday clothes.
With other words, our main goal is to understand what a costume defines & how it characterizes a figure on the stage.

Next to a description of the context, our specific questions to answer are:

  • What is the costume? Which impression does it create?
  • How is the development of the costume during the piece? How does it change in relation to the actor’s/actress’ role?
  • How underlines the costume the the role the actor/actress is playing? How supports it the actor/actress? What other support is needed?
  • How influences the costume the posture & movement of the actor/actress?
  • How interacts the actor/actress with his/her costume?

Our approach is doing a direct observation in the field* as we went one-time group-wise to the theater house in Jena – some teams watched Delirious Jena and some visited the piece Die Disziplinaranstalt. Every team consisting of three students followed one actor/actress during the play & observed his/her role with focus on the costume worn in order to answer the questions & goals described above. Before that, we asked the stuff of the theatre house for the permission to take recordings (notes & photos) during the pieces.
After the observation students have analyzed & presented their observations group-wise. Please see their results under the following posts in this category.

 

*cp. Yvonne Rogers et al Interaction design : beyond human-computer interaction. 3rd ed. Chichester: Wiley, 2011. p. 248 ff.