Ray Bradbury

Scenic and Projection Design:

Kian Michael DeVine

Collaborators

Director: Shelly Elman

Stage Manager: Katelyn Adams

Lighting Design: Bella Bledsoe

Costume Design: Caitlin Eldred

Sound Design: Joseph P. Monaghan III

Props: Jalin Walters

Technical Director: Andrew Patton

Design Statement

The concept of Fahrenheit went through a lot of iterations. At first, it was an industrial, dirty, dystopian take on a world over-reliant on technology. Then, it was a brutalist cityscape with overarching themes of Authoritarianism. But finally, it was a look into how intertwined the human experience has become with short, meaningless, attention-span-shrinking content, as opposed to challenging or thought-provoking media, and where an overreaching government can see to benefit from that. The concise design statement, as articulated by my director Dr. Shelly Elman, "The Future is Now."

The Process of Designing Fahrenheit 451

RESEARCH

Research for Fahrenheit was a lot of fun. I got to learn a lot about a fascinating style of art that I tried to incorporate into my design: Italian Futurism. The ideology of the movement really sang to the tune of this show: Intellectualism is despised, out with the old in with the new, destructive might over all else. All of those ideas speak to the themes of the script as well as the concept we chose. The style incorporates a lot of suggested movement, repetition, and geometric shapes in vibrant colors. For the tone of the play I saw it as a necessity to keep the structures of the set dark and flat, but to allow for the space to be brought to life with bright, high-contrast lighting throughout. This is something that Bella, our lighting designer, and I talked extensively about throughout the entirety of the design process.

One thing I got to do as the show was getting ready to premiere, was present my research and work at an undergraduate research conference held at the college with the above powerpoint.

Early Design Work

Fahrenheit 451 was a new kind of challenge for me. It was the first incredibly conceptual piece that I designed. Shelly was insistent that technology be brought into the architecture of the set. I found ways to represent phones, television monitors, and an Alexa in the world of the play so that the audience would be confronted with the technology they are familiar with, while the characters are explaining the malady they have brought on to modern society.

Thumbnail Sketch

This is the first sketch of the overall design that we went with. We kept the main and circular platforms pretty much the same throughout.

Projector Screens

This is the design for the version of the projector screens we ended up using. They were designed to be able to move and seperate. Visually, they are meant to look like a shattered monitor.

Final Rendering

This is the last rendering I did for the set. Included is a projection look that ended up not being a part of the show.

Vectorworks Model

Projections

This is the first time I've done anything with projections, and in order to get the look I was after I had to create most of the content myself. In order to accomplish this I had to learn Procreate, After Effects, Photoshop, Premiere, and a host of other programs. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of the google site, I cannot include any of the animations I made in motion, so still images will have to suffice.

FIRE ANIMATION

Used multiple times throughout the show. It ignited in a circular motion.

HEAD OF THE HOUND

XRAY VIEW OF THE HOUND

TEETH OF THE HOUND

Used to indicate Hound's presence in conjuction with lights installed beneath the set. In show, the jaws moved up and down and the fog inside moved and grew as if it were breathing.

TEETH OF THE HOUND

Served as a drawing/plan as Beatty was describing it

HOUND RUNNING

These were the key frames of the hound running. In show this was an animation for when Beatty was speaking about the Hound.

BEATTY'S HOUSE

MONTAG'S HOUSE WALL

MONTAG'S LIVING ROOM FURNITURE

CLOCKS

Parts of the animation created for transitions of the show where the ensemble were acting as voice clocks to show the passage of time.

RAIN

Animated sequence in show, this was when Montag first met Clarisse. She was catching the rain in her mouth.

DANDELIONS

In show, they were animated to sway in the wind as Montag spoke with Clarisse and she told Montag to appreciate the nature and small things around them.