Management of scenography | D'Ascenzi

eleonora d’ascenzi

Management of scenography application of a constructive sequential process in a scenery project

tesi | architettura design territorio

Il presente volume è la sintesi della tesi di laurea a cui è stata attribuita la dignità di pubblicazione.

“Per la particolarità degli argomenti trattati e l’interesse indubbio per le questioni affrontate con competenza e passione da parte della candidata si riconosce la dignità alla pubblicazione in quanto il lavoro presenta potenzialità applicative in ambito scientifico e lavorativo”.

Commissione: Proff. S. Acciai, A. Capestro, C.L. Ceccherini Nelli, F. Collotti, G. Giovannoni, A. Lambertini, S. Mecca, A. Picchi, R. Renzi Alla mia famiglia.

in copertina Incisione vittoriana di un antico teatro greco.

progetto grafico

didacommunicationlab Dipartimento di Architettura Università degli Studi di Firenze Susanna Cerri Gaia Lavoratti

didapress Dipartimento di Architettura Università degli Studi di Firenze via della Mattonaia, 8 Firenze 50121 © 2017 ISBN 978-88-9608-087-0

eleonora d'ascenzi

Management of scenography application of a constructive sequential process in a scenery project

Presentation

This original research, driven under the guide of Saverio Mecca and the consultancy of Alessandra Picchi, reminds the role of architecture of the interior as grammatical value for the architect’s education, always and expecially in contemporaneity.

The complexity of the topic, developed as an articulated analisys of some particular components of the management project with a specific link to the Italian TV world, makes it even more innovative and allows to measure the architectural design through rather unusual observation lenses. Theoretical components of the architecture of interior on its specificity of theatrical scenography, dominant field of Italian architecture in its urban reverberations for about two and a half centuries, are the basis for the interpretation of the phenomenon analyzed, in its extremely contemporary relapse.

Analyzing the complexity of geometrical systems designed by Sebastiano Serlio, where urban imaginations and architectures of interiors are assumed as part of the same topic both showing roots to classical canons and to proportional references human related able to define a specific language, is possible to understand the meticulous descriptions of the artificial articulations that belongs to the scenic space. Introducing the use of central perspective as key element that provided to Andrea Palladio and to Vincenzo Scamozzi the design skills for two masterpieces of Italian architecture in Vicenza and Sabbioneta, providing also the basis of change promoted later by Galli Bibiena for a new multi-point prospective system used both for city planning than for theater design across Europe, Serlio was able to defines a theoretical research about the ephemeral space of scene, that we can trace until today apparently in different contexts. That space, de-composed, absorbed, understood, and re-assembled in the use of Scenography, with its tricks and false deceptions, although articulated and defined in its cultural perimeter almost five hundred years ago, finds in the contemporary analysis conducted here on television spaces, in their complex multi-dimensional articulation linked to the medium of timely resumption, some unexpected continuity parameters of a descriptive and evocative nature; stage to stage, scene to scene, theatrical, urban, television set. Like as the Greek periaktoi one the first invention of scene-change obtained by mechanical movement of stone or wood elements, with the sound of thunder amplified by rocks in huge metal pots, also the television space is made on an imaginary amplification of space represented; it combine also the short-lived production value of the individual sets, extremely high for their short duration.

This research carries out a careful analysis of the phenomenon’s comprehension in all its complexity. Equipped with precision tools, Eleonora D’Ascenzi’s powerful work is taken as a research metric focusing on the study of the work time-phases for the creation of a television set. The research analyze case studies, from the sketch to the staging, thanks to the availability of major Italian designers, businesses and television producers. Economical tools ultimately drive the hypothesis of research that better management of individual work phases, from contract to time to overlapping execution of supplies and job postings, could, by demonstrating, improving and harmonizing process times and costs embodiment.

Riccardo Renzi Dipartimento di Architettura Università degli Studi di Firenze

5

Introduction

previous page Survey of a studio before the scenery construction.

The theatrical scenography Since the beginning, one of the most difficult part of the set scenery is to overpass the bidimensionality and to generate a 3d dimensions space. In the old Greek the depth of the space was created through perspective views and the use of vertical and horizontal planes.

Agatarco di Samo (44° a.c) used this technique in the commedies of Eschilo and Sofocle. In the theater of the old Greek was in fact used a rettangular stage where at the end was elevated a wall full of architectural elements that was used as an intermediated space between the space of the action and the backstage that must be not visible for the audience. The scene was very rich and it was constitued by different entrances that they represented the entrance of different actors.

The disposition of the roman theatre it is not so different from the Greek one but it had more pomp. The set sceneries in fact were realized in stone and they were usually disposed in three different level, looking at the orders.

The medieval theatre didn’t have a special building and it was connected to the idea of “festival” that could be used rarely.

The first scenographies were a portion of the real space of a piazza and they were costitueted by a stage with a painted background.

Around 1800 the scenic design was influenced by the crysis that runs over the european art. The maniacal search for true scene operated by Andrè Antoine forced the set designers to conceive their scenes as a photographic repetition of certain scenes instead of a representative arrangement.

In that sense the scenographic Naturalism offered its best proof thanks to Kostantin Stanislavskij who used a taken care of truly scenography. The aim of this kind of scenography is to help the actors to dress the part. This way of thinking had as an opponent a kind of set dressing called “materialistic symbolism”that was based on “rhythmic movements of lines and on the music harmony”.

This movement was established also in Paris among Theatre-mixte of Paul Fort (where worked painters as Toulouse-Lautrec, Edoarde Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard) and among the Theatre de l’Ouvre where Aurelien LugnePoe introduces sceneries free from every kind of decorative elements. Because of the contribution of the Russian Ballets, the european stages became a place where were painted scenes of barbaric iconics.

The highly simplicity of this kind of scenes depended on the necessity to have a empty stage and on the mentality of the artists that look at the space as a framework to zoom in. It was the time of the painter-set designer. In Italy this realistic-painted scenery was represented by Carlo Ferrario and it was inherited by Antonio Rovescalli, Mario Sala, Carlo Songa, Angelo Parravicini, Vittorio Rota and Guido Galli.

This kind of personal contribution didn’t get out the theatre of the 19th century tradition, against which the futurism turned against.

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In the Manifest drawn up by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti in 1913, instead of an optical box it was proposed the variety theatre because of the skill to surprise the audience and to bring the action amongs the viewers.

The futurists used the modern tecnologies in order to conquire the lightning, space and movement in an abstract architecture composed by volumes and planes.

Enrico Prampolini summarised the parameters of this new way of thinking in five points: • denial of historical reconstruction; • replacement of the scenic action with an emotional order; • synthesis of the scenic expression through plastic tecniques; • set design as a relationship with the audience; • color and scene as tool that moves the audience instead of words and gestures.

They were part of the movement Umberto Boccioni, Gino Severini, Giacomo Balla and Fortunato Depero who tryed to overpass the limits of the space and the time in order to create multiple spaces and atmosphere. Above all, Enrico Prampolini exceed the definition of the Euclidean space through an anlaytic proceeding articulated in three subsequent points: architectural synthesis of cromatic surfaces, volumetric construction of scenic elements, integration of the previous one with rythm.

In this specific scenarium, the actor is a relative element that could be an accessory and he contrasts with the absolute element of the theatre.

The influence of the futurism was felt in the constructivism scenery which is realized in abstract key: the structures are composed by stairs, slides, platforms and so on.

In the same field must be located Teatr Kamernyj: his scenography is articulated on the altitude crushing of the stage and on the vertical elements used as unit of measurement and as scanning of the scenic space. The costructivism issues had a great deal with the origins of expressionism. that states in theatre in the postwar period, pursues a subjective view that shall be substracted from outside world in favour of introspection.

The set design is, consequentially, the symbolic expression of the lines, color, shape and object.

The scenographies show the deformation and exasperation of the reality through the lightning and the use of the color.

The Expressionism crysis depended on the new vision expressed by Bertold Brecht who in fact preferred the misery of middle classes to a new land dreamed by the previous current. The

set scenery of Bertold Brecht represented at the same time the know and the unfamiliar (because of the kind of adopting acting) and it was composed by modifiable structures that can live during the playing.

The pursue of the new during the second post war promoted the importation of american models to which can be applied also the structures of the set scenery.

The art director defined the general setting and entrusted the exectution to a set designer who had freedom that can’t step outside the boundaries. This determinated a long relationship between the art director and his set designer, such as the relation of Luchino Visconti and Mario Chiari.

The surge of the new balance between actors and scenic objects was given by Antoin Artaud that used the symbolism.

previous page Example of italian theatre.

Vicenza, olympic theatre.

In this specific scenarium fitted a set scenery which used the fake as a truth.

As well as Appia, Artaud needed real objects and accessorizes but he also neeeded lightning that lead the scenarium to a theater dimension.

Around the 1960’s the performer game, the esemble workshop and the theatre of the absurd revolutionized the space.

The set designer in fact must bear in mind that the action, starting from an indefinitely point can invade the all space, including the technical areas, in that sense tare exemplary the solution realized by Jerry N. Royo and Eugene Lee. The reform initiated in Polonia by Stanislaw Wyspianski at the beginning of the century took two different directions: the first one, tending to realistic solutions, subordinated the text to the visual element. the second one claimed more indipendence for the set designer that express the substance through a plastic-visual alphabet.

The scenographies realized in italy around the 1960’s and designed by Emanuele Luzzati, used poor materials and created the second forefront.

The epicenter was Carmelo Bene because he broke up the traditional mechanism and used a structure where were included different forms of entertainment. In this kind of scenarium, the set design established a relationship with the structure of the action and put the actor at the center of different kind of objects.

At the end of 1960’s Luca Ronconi replaced the stage with a system of platforms that moved around the audience, actors and equipment.

The scene became a theme of the poetic drafting.

Image observation, light and sound.

Commision and characters Image observation When a setting is planned it must be take into account the movement that the camera need to do, the light sources, and lenses that are used.

The camera records in a three dimension space and it returns in movement and in two dimensions. Recent examples of scenography challenge the concepts of perspective by their engagement with the spectator. Essentially, this inquiry by designers revolves around the creative experience of performance for spectators, which has a lot to do with the conceptualisation of the act of seeing as a dynamic negotiation between the stage and the auditorium.

While the visual experience of perspective in theatre has often linked the prosceniumarch with active framing as in film or painting, and the manipulation of sight lines has been associated with camera angles, such an approach is being augmented by the attention to the way in which specific details can break out of a sense of two-dimensionality.

One of the major charateristics of recently scenography is an apparent emphasis on focal distance and spatial arrangement of objects on the stage, at

the same time as breaking with concepts of a pictorial representation of place. These new scenographic experiments effectively drive the mise-enscene by encouraging in the audience an engagement and analysis of the animation of the stage space as it contributes to a complex and multivalent performance. It does so by challenging perspective as static.

This silent and often unacknowledged process of analysis engages spectators in a strong visual narration and begins to make the links eith linear perspective and cinema more tenuous.

The light The rewriting of recent developments in lighting technology must be rooted in its deictic quality and in the developing importance of scenography for the presentation of the commercial product. However, the importance and effects that lighting creates can now be quantified as a necessary part of a top quality production. As the technology has increased and become more and more specialist so the expert has entered to take over this extremely influential and powerful role of directing the audiences attention on stage. The obvious power of lighting has become recognised both by directors and the theatre industry. The complexi9 ty of set design lighting is high-

next page Stage equipments, Teatro Farnese, Parma XVII-XVIII sec.

lighted by Judith Greenwood, "Lighting works on two levels: It can presents one mood on stage which may produce a second complimentary or contradictory mood in the audience, as when a garishly bright lighting state, seemingly festive and indulgent, may provoke apprehension in an audience which senses rising hysteria beyond the lights’ unreal edge..... for light can induce in people common states of happiness or sadness as well as more complicated attitudes of resentment, conviviality, introspection or unreasonableness."

The scene lives especially thanks to artificial light. When a set designer plans he always need to think about the light.

The lightining takes place at finished scene and that is why he bears in mind the yield coefficient during the design and the construction.

Indeed the light is a very important part of the setting and it affects the material choices, the close-proximity colors and some architectural elements like openings that justify the source of the lights.

The shadows knowledge became a keyword for this kind of job.

The sound Every possible tactic must be adopted in order to have a perfect sound in the scene. For that reason metallic structures are used instead of wood structures, avoiding, for example, the typical crunches of that material.

Insulating materials, sound-absorbent panels, carpets, moquettes etc are used to guarantee a good sound in the scene.

An air tight-stopper must be used for the openings.

Despite everything is very hard to have a sound quality such that can be used in direct engagement. As a result the sound is sometimes realized in a laboratory where it is recreated.

Since the beginning, cinema needs a dedicated space, isolated from the outside, where the scenes are recorded. For that reason it was born the film set usually just a shed where the scenes are set up.

When cinema was born and different from today the scenes had a highlight settings with a great use of painted backdrop and curtains.

The highlight was realized through the light of the day. Edison built a film set in a metallic structure and put it in a revolving stand in a way that it can use the light hours as much as possibile.

The film set has been modifying during the years but there wasn’t a sub-

stantial change. The structures are not made in wood but in concrete because of the sound: the live-recorded asks a insulated and airtight place.

The glass ceiling is now substituted with a concrete ceiling because, thanks to the artificial light, there is no need to use the day light.

The wall are insulated, there are new safety standards both for the structures and the way of realisation.

The commision Architecture and setting have different handlers. The architect plans of his time, for a particular customer and he is limited to external factors (planning regulation, laws of the market, construction restrictions).

The set designer plans out of his time: he can uses different styles and, sometimes, he can come up with styles of future times or of other worlds.

The planning time must be very quick as the realisation.

For that reason it uses materials and prompt construction methods. His work is not thought to keep in time and in space but, his aim is to keep in the history just as a image.

The set is rapidly realized because it must be ready to allow the work of the movies or spot.

The equation time-money is the keyword for this kind of job.

The set designer need to satisfy his handlers: the story of the film, the characters, the director and the producer.

Characters A good set is a set that seems hidden.

The film setting must emphasise the characters, highlighting and giving them a here. The set designer has a very important rule in the movies. He decides the set, he chooses the recording places where the troupe must move, he decides if it is better plan a set in theatre or use a real place. The reason that can put a strain the setting are, overall, economic and of time.

Most of the time the set designer is called to participate when the project is in a state of preparation, the script is defined and even the costs of setting are laid down.

The producer shall draw up the esti-

mates of the settings not thanks to a real analysis of the work but looking at the previous works and at the budget.

While the architect personally estimates times and costs, the set designer is more affected by the producer decisions.

The furniture Sometimes in the television and cinema the scenes are overloaded with repetitive elements and furnitur, e.g three coaches instead of one,.

The aim is avoiding the “horror vacui” that plagues the set designer and the filmmaker. This kind of hyper decor is an important trick used in the production design and this overload tendency is also used in the scene design. There is a quote used in the cinema that explains in a good way this behaviour: “if you want see a glass in a screen, put ten glasses in the scene”.

Furniture in the set is very different from furniture in architecture: in this last case architect design the interior

looking at cultural and social profile of the customers.

The furniture is always used in a logically way: a bed has the function of the bed, a table has the function of the table and so on. In the case of the movie setting the furniture, like the clothing, influences the character: it has a strong relationship with the human figure. The interior design is not following its set design: there is no subdivision between scenography and furniture.

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Rental of furniture The interior designer needs a large amount of furniture an, for logistics reason, decides to rent it. In Rome and in Milan there are services that work on this. All the things that could be useful are chosen in the warehouse, the notes are draw up and the budget is estimated.

When the production gives the goahead, the material is carried in the warehouse and it starts its use. The services are very important but they are not enough to satisfy all the furniture requirements.In case of not sufficient elements, the furniture is requested in external shops: antique dealer, art gallery, and so on.

Set design: preparation and realization Looking at the preparation of the setting, it’s important to start from the beginning. From the story, written in a few pages, it is leaded a treatment, made up of actions according to the temporal sequence.

From the treatment is leaded the real script that is the processing of the story trough cinematographic language.

The script is divided in internal/external or night/day scenes.

External scenes mean all the places where the actions are made in a open space (also if they are constructed in a theatre).

Internal spaces mean spaces that could be constructed in a theatre or in a closed place.

The setting is not limited to the planning but it realizes all the things that are inside the frames. The setting is the common thread that joins the different elements: • planning the scene; • decision of the interiors; • furniture;

• decision of the interiors; • needs of the scene.

The scenario is represented thanks to the talent of the set design and it is led trough the rhytm. The mounting process is the most evident form but also the disposition of the elements and their frequency highlight the importance of the rythm in the setting.

In order to design a set it is important to establish steps: • to choose which could be the area where the set takes place.

This part includes several location scout and this accurate choice creates the film setting before every kind of constructions in theatre because they influence all the settings for the set design.

A movie recorded in Rome has a different set design compered to a movie recorded in Milan. They have different external volumes and lights for example. That choice influences the theatre constructions too.

• to decide which and how many sets are constructed in theatre.

Usually it would be better to build in theatre the scenes that last for a long time and require many actors and extras, that require an important effort of preparation. In this case in fact the lightning, special effects, proofs and so on ask more time rather than a speed production.

The “real” set scening it’s not easier.

Sometimes it’s more difficult than set up a theatre because of the several adjustements and avoiding the documentary effects.

Storage of a television studio. previous page Use of the light in a scenography.

The preparation The preparatory stage consists of eight steps: • table read; • examination script; • searches and documentations; • preliminary interview with director, photography director and producer; • surveys; • planning theatre scenes and adjustments real scenes; • general furniture settings; • coordination and control of the scenery.

The examination of the script is done with cure and, if it is possibile, in different sessions with all the troupe (help assistant, interior decorator, props) in order to guarantee a good comprehension. When the script is finally examinated, it becomes the official document that explains the work to do. At the end of the examination the scens are catalogued in: • theatre scenes (with a brief description);

• by the real scenes (interior and exterior) with possible adjustments; • list of locations; • description of a main furniture; • list of what is required During the preparatory stage the director, the photography director and the set designer meet for the first time.

This is a crucial part because of the birth of trust relationship.

The surveys The surveys are useful to understand which place could be the best for the movie. In order to have a good survey it is necessary to have: • a camera; • blocknotes; • metre; • compass; • all the instruments useful to take information.

A detailed survey it is necessary to prepare possible adjustments of the external or internal places and to prepare with great accuracy the necessary products. The survey is determinant for the definition of the work and

it must be done carefully. Sometimes in fact it is not possibile to come back in the same place because it could be expansive. The places are often chosen in order to substitute the real location that, for logistic reasons, is not reachable.

The surveys are made with the director, the photography director, the sales representative but it is better if there are also the chief engineer, head elettrician. This is very important because the choise of the location also means to choose a place where the troupe easily work, where it is possible to have a truck access, where there is safety for the troupe: the location must be chosen not only according the scenarium but also according to the movement of the troupe. Another important point for the set designer is creating a “movie geography”: recording a unique scene in different locations giving the idea that is recorded in the same place. The “movie geography” has the aim to avoid jumps between different scenes.

The scene design Scenography has different times compared to architecture.

The realization of the scene in fact is very quick and, for that reason, the drawings of the project must be clear.

They must include the design details in order to avoid the interruptions during the installation.

Choosing and sampling materials are other important phases of the work where it is borne in mind that procurement some materials maybe ask some days. Scene sketches and plastic models are made in a quite big scale to explain performers the work to do. Geometrical drawings, plans, sections,facades and details need to be represented in a correct scale.

Usually the scales are: • 1:200, 1:100 for general plans; • 1:50 for executive drawings; • 1:20, 1:10, 1:5 for constructive details and decorative specific.

The scenography has a great realisation speed (there are not admitted interruptions) and the con13 trol of the execution it is useful

to make adjustments in progress. The materials are easily and quickly applied: the aim is to make a ephemeral realization, exactly the opposite of architecture.

The project is given in a 21x31 format to the head of constructions department and, from this point, there are calculated the money and time estimates.

The scene construction The construction department is composed by several departments: carpenters, masons, plasterers, smiths, glaziers, etc..

The set designer has frequent contact with the scene performers and often visits the set during the staging. In the set it is necessary to leave room between the external perimeter and the theatre walls. This space it’s important for transitions and for safety rules.

It’s a good rule to trace the plan on the floor through a wooden shaft and eventually also get up the scheme, in this way it is possible figure out the dimensions and the distributional characters.

The scene elements Setting a scene it must be speed and easy. The elements are modular and at the end they are disassembled, cleaned out and recovered for the next constructions.

The structure is an important element that is composed through straight elements. All the accessories (like stairs, frames, balaustrades and so on)are constructed “out of work” and this part influences costs and times of constructions. Elements that are parts of the scene design are: • movable partitions (elements that are removable in case of filming); • pavements (parts of the scene because it is always figured out.

The pavement consists of material like wood,marble,linoleum that are maybe quite expensive but economic in the long term.)

• ceilings (there is a graphic scheme that determinate the height of the scene in order to do not allow the lightning and the tools to exceed the scene);

• backdrops (the backdrops could be composed with models or they could be painted. The lightning it is crucial for the realistic aim); • light bridges (planes on vertical supports that set up the perimeter of the scene and that host all the lightning apparatus).

Another important element that could be used is the connecting between the real scene and the theatre. If, for example, passing from a real scene to the theatre, an actor climbs the stairs and enters in a door on a hallway there is the necessity to have the same “real “stairs and the same “real” door in the theatre.

While in the traditional architecture the professional’s assignment ends with the construction, in the case of scenography, the set designer ends his work when the shootings are made and the scene is demolished

Collaboration between different professional operators. previous page Mounting cameras in a television studio.

Mounting of cameras in a television studio.

Tooling departement A very relevant function is taken up by the tooling department, a space that assumes the function between the laboratory and the warehouse.

The stage technicians build scaffoldings, practicable turrets, temporary bridges and so on.

A well maintained tooling department helps the interior decorator and his collaborators in the work’s organization.

Television and spot scenery In television the set design has a permanent presence: everything is shown in television needs backcloths, starting from newcasts to the intervals.

The set designer mostly works for musicals and soap operas.

The scenography uses some specific locals like the television theatre.

The television theatre is not a big local and it is perfectly soundproof.

It has a kind of “attic” and it contains a control room.

The security camera system it’s different from the cinematographic one.

The action is recorded by three or four cameras at the same time and it is cutted together by the art director who selects the shots through his screen.

The shot is not on film but on electronic broadband and, differently from the cinema, it is continuos. A full-lenght shot and a close up is recorded in the same time. The light required it’s more than the cinematographic shot and it

doesn’t need ongoing adjustments.

The “attic” it’s a suspended metallic framework that it has the needed projectors in order to have a diffuse light.

The scene is composed by three sides, the fourth it’s occupied by cameras and services.

The television comedy The dimension of the television scene is small in comparison to the cinematographic one. In the television the set is full of details and it is descriptive. In the case of the musicals there is a huge use of painted and photographic backdrops.

There is a relevant use of electronic equipment, light movements, laser effects: it’s an unreal set design with inventions that must leave space to the stage. For that reason there is so much importance on the light.

While in the case of the movies it is possible to have the theatre for all the duration of the recording, in the case of the television this is not possible.

The theatre in television is in fact at the same time place of recording and of construction. The scenes are mostly built outside, speedy mounted, recorded and disassembled with the same speed.

The speed in construction is such as to allow the installation of the next scene. That means there is a very detailed design.

Consequentially the scene is composed by very light materials with simple mounting and disassembling.

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Case studies

Film Master in Rome: Monari scenery

previous page Sketch of the scenery and existing place.

The budget of the spot was very low, for that reason the request was to have the same location for the three different commercials.

The location is identified in a ancient villa in the Parioli headquarter in Rome. The house has a price of 4000 euros per day and all the three commercials were recorded in one day.

The choose of the space was very important because it must be an adaptable place, able to host three completly different scripts.

The production, however, had just one hour to make the survey of the house because the owners rent it all the days and in the day of the survey there was a marriage. One script was in fact dedicated to a 1980 telenovelas, another is dedicated to a collectionist and the last one to a dachshund, The production was looking for a “kitch” place that required not so many and important changes.

That’s why they spend more time in the search of the places rather than in the design of the space. In the telenovelas script the set designer, Alessia Petrangeli, add just some elements like for example plants or accessories (chandeliers, little stuff and so on) in order to have a space that can represented a typical telenovelas set.

In the case of the hobby commercial they try to find inside the villa a no light office and they try different ambients inside the house.

In that case the set designer had to recrack everything.

The room was in fact a sitting room with not so many accessories.

Alessia Petrangeli drew a new space inside the villa but everthing is about just furniture and stuff. The thing that really made the room different was the light, the room was in fact covered with black cloths and the aspect of the space totally changed. The light is ricreated internally with lamps that create the atmosphere. The construction of the scene includes more accessories and elements than what at the end is really necessary for the shots.

For the third commercial, the scene of the dachshund, they use a space full of elements and the set designer cleaned up the room in order to emphasize the dog and make the scenography just a blurry contour.

In that part of the house there were a lot of elements and, contrary to the first and second spots, the work was related to minimise the stuff.

There was also a fourth script related to an athletic man and it is not recorded in the villa. This last script required the use of a stadium but, because of the low budget, it was selected a lit-

tle stadium in Rieti that costs 15000 euros and, thanks to the 3d design, it was rendered like a big stadium. Consequentially everything was made in a post-production with 3d compositing

by Milan graphic company.

In the past and with an higher budget the same spot it would have been totally in a real place.

In such cases it also required a large numbers of appereances and a bigger stadium. For that reason it is used the blue back. The blue back consists in a double impressions of the sequence: on it is firstly recorded the action of the actors and of the real elements, then it is put on the screen the wished background: real landscape, city’s street, painted landscape and so on.

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Mediaset in Milan: Who wants to be millionaire scenery

The television set design required a very fast organization. As opposed to theater set design, the timetable it’s very short and the timing of the programs are not concluded far in advance. In August, when the palimpsests are organized, the television productions are still quite vagous and not exactly planned. From this, the requirement to design and to realize the set in no time. This is certainly the hardest part in this kind of job.

This kind of job in fact expects more in preparation than in the details design.

Sometimes in fact the details are directly drawn up during the preparatory stage with carpenters, because of the limited time. The interface with the carpenters it’s sometimes more important of the design itself. The pratical part of the set design it’s relevant and everything goes around it.

The technical engineering and its time are the basis of the set design and they lead planning. If the architectural times are not respected there is a penalty to pay, if the scenographical times are not respected the program can’t be on air. That part it’s not easy to learn and it doesn’t exist an handbook that explains how to manage it.

The carpenters and all the laboratory have a fundamental significance non only for the realizations but, in some ways, also for the design itself. While

Who wants to be millionaire scenery.

architecture has some rigid rules to built, scenography it’s ephemeral and it doesn’t requires structural rules that claim to be as much endless as possible. Working on fleeting it’s not easier than working on lasting. This emplies more fantasy of the corrispective architecture in term of drafts and schemes but also a continued research of new construction problems. Problems of realization become at the end opportunities and new alternatives to construct, they form thereby part of cultural background of set design, always on the go.

In terms of construction there is no rule, nothing that is already estabilished or a priori, every time there is the

necessity to find solutions in architecture, engineering, dynamic and other sectors that are not directly related to set design. Sometimes for example scenographies rotate and they need to respect also dynamic rules. For that reason the scenographer need a good team that follow him and that shares his ideas. Before the design phase and after the explanation of the production requirements (basically what kind of program it is),the set designer interfaces with director, who gives the times of the show, director of photography,who can emphasize or destroy a set through his work, named head of programming and the producer. Even the materials choice depends on the all team. The light, for 21 example, it’s strictly related to

Plan of the scenery.

the materials that are chosen. Faced with a reflecting materials the refrection will need to be examined. The relationship between set designer and director of photography becomes significant for the set itself. A not obvious point, that makes a show a good show, it’s the relationship between the set designer and the anchors/actors: the scenery is like a dress for people who live it and they really are the inhabitants of the scene.

The scenery Chi vuol esser milionario was a television program and it was the Italian version of “ Who wants to be a millionaire?�. It was born in the United Kingdom in 1998 and it was exported to many different countries. The scenery is composed by a black tunnel, illuminated by three bright robots that create light beams. This corridor is in the middle of a circular structure where is located the public. In the centre of the scene are located two monitors and two stools symmetrically placed facing each other.

The tool on the right is reserved for the anchor while the tool on the left is re-

served for the competitor. Lights and sounds are responsable for informing the public to an event inside the program. For example the contemporary use of lights and sounds is used to determine the arrival or the exit of a competitor and they are integral part of the scenery.

The scenery is the same in all the world and it is adapted to the different legislation of the nations. For example, in case of Italy, Alessandra Picchi, the set designer, worked choosing fireproofing materials because of the Italian law. The studio that hosts the scenography was also smaller than the studio that was used in United King-

dom. The result was a reduction of the scenery that can not be visible through the different views of the camera. This kind of reduction was related to the end-outline marker but it didn’t interfer with the directing of the show.

At the end, the day before recording, the english directors controlled the set and if it was possibile to start the show. They made a check of the format that must be the same of the original one. The greatest difficulty was to work without an example. They didn’t give plans and sections of the original set design. The only solution was to work looking at the videos. Thanks to them and working with director, it was possible to rebuild the same atmosphere and the exact environment. This scenery was to be demountable and it was actually dismantled and reassembled three times a year. During the design process this aspect was taken into consideration because the setting was to be demountable not just once but all the time. The first charatesitic of material was to be quickly demountable but at the same time also strong enough. After a first analysis was choosen the iron that met all those requirements.

Details The setting was composed by an half circular iron gallery with sittings that host the audience. In the middle of the setting there was a circular platform, 90 cm talls, with a concave portion composed by slices of triples bombproof glass that reflected the light and it became a kind of lantern in the scene. The slices of mirror covered a design that is realized in plywood and it was painted in white to emphasize the light and the design itself. The light in some parts was included In the structure itself in the shape of iron sluicers. This part was removable and accompanied by the support of the bodyworks in the background, where people were not able to see. Another important part, that is the result of the Italian law, was the protection of the sittings. There were mounted iron nets under the chairs in order to respect the safety of the audience. The bright top part of the studio was composed by ribs in wood, that go in all the scene and they have a tapered shape.

This scenery is also placed in different Mediaset studios and the plan it’s adjusted depending on the space. There are therefore different plans for different studio.

In the plan were marked in blue the camera views and the busways that occupied the entire studio and that

were prepared by the photography director. The light that were used are: direct and indirect light.The direct light was represented by busways (each busway contains three projectors) while the indirect light was in the structure of the scene itself and it was included in the main ribs. The light was also postioneted in the central platform where there were radius located projectors. Corrisponding to main platform there was a lightning iron ring located precisely above the host and the competitor that was composed by many projectors which glazed the scene and they didn’t smudge the contours of the scene itself. The geometric design of the scene in this case stood out thanks to the symmetric plan but also thanks to the trick of the lightning. Some details, like for example the stool of the host, were strictly depending on the format and they must be adjusted fitting the actors without betraing the rules of the program. The close-up were in fact reguled by the original format and the details, as the height of the stool itself (1.10 meters), became fundamental for the success of the camera views and, consequentially, to the loyalty of the english format.

23

Day

Starting Until to from

16/12 9:00 19/12 19:00

17:00 17:00

20/12 8:00 9:00

17:00

16:00 21/12 08:00

17:00

22/12 08:00

17:00

23/12 08:00 17:00 24/12 08:00

17:00 20:00 14:00

Companies

Technical Service Responsable Videotime P.L.Bonini Xenon R.Neri Backstage P. Dicostanzo Promovideo M.Breda Eurovideo M.R.Falco Movigroup G.Gregoraci Clonwerk M.Letterini Xenon R.Neri Stage system G.Marsella Ascotecnica G.Assi Ascotecnica G.Assi Celsius G.Aloisi Ascotecnica G.Assi Celsius G.Aloisi Ascotecnica G.Assi Xenon R.Neri Ascotecnica G.Assi

Timing The production plan of the program was concluded in August in order to allow the shooting on September or during the Chrstimas period for the January shooting. In that period the set designer went to the studio that was a empty space and, leaving the space for the emercency exits, started to trace the plan on the floor. The set designer control the workers team in order to have a clear and detailed drawing. The drawings are realized in chalk with the technical rules of design (as the auto-frettage with rope and chalk) and with special tools like 1.5 meter

Job description

Dismantling cameras Dismantling vehicle Dismantling audio Dismantling jimmy gib Removal plasma monitors Dismantling backdrop Dismantling direction studio Remove american lightning Dismantling lahyer Dismantling scenery Dismantling scenery Disconnection elettric cables Dismantling scenery Disconnection elettric cables Dismantling scenery Disassembly motors Dismantling scenery (possible)

of rules. On this drawing in fact corresponded the lightining projectors and this is one of the reason of the necessity of a detailed drawing. Before the construction and even before bringing panels of the structure the photography director set up the lights on the basis of the floor drawings. The lightning, projectors and busways, were located before mounting the iron structure because, when the construction was finished it was not so longer possible to made changes. The day one was dedicated to the cleaning, the tracing of the plan and the mounting of the lightning. The second day was

Timetable of the dismantling scenery (chi vuol esser milionario).

instead spent in the first part of the construction from the moment when the lightning system was already ended up. The third day was again spent in the construction of the scenery and it was dedicated to the indirect lightning which is the light inside the scenery itself. This part required elettricians who were not the same of the second day but were the scenery workers.Those kind of workers made in fact the entire lightining system. The fourth day was dedicated to the installation of the stage, to the lightining and to the cabling of the labtops that were present in the scene.There was called a specific company to realize this part of the work. Before ending the construction all the monitors must be wired because the cables could not be visibile and, when the scene was completed, it was no longer possible to open the scenery. The fifth day was important to conclude the lightning operations.

The slices of the central platform was to be yet open for the last cabling.The glass part of the platform infact was closed except two slices, allowing the latest changes. When the work was finished it was possible to board up the glass. In case of necessity this part of the platform could be open.This some-

Timetable of the construction scenery (chi vuol essere milionario).

times implied the breakup of the glass slices and for that reason, depending also by the economical avaibility of the production, there were constructed one-two more than the provisions necessary. This day was also dedicated to the mouting of the black panels. The black panels represented the backdrop of the scenery and had the aim to cover the remaining part of the studio.

The sixth and last day was concluded with the cleaning and the check of the functioning of the monitors and so on.

The photography director definitively placed and angled the cameras. At the end of the preparation the tecnichal troupe started proofing and shooting.

Day

Starting Until to from

16/12 9:00 22/!2 9:00 29/12 8:00

18:00 18:00 18:00

30/12 8:00 31/12 8:00

18:00 18:00

02/01 8:00

18:00

03/01 8:00

18:00

05/01 08:00

18:00

07/01 9:00

18:00

08/01 morning finish

Costs The costs were indicatively expressed by the english format. When the Italian production decided to buy the format they had an idea of the costs of the scenery.The costs needed to take in consideration also the maintenance.

After 9 years the scenery needed to be restored and the ribs, the stairs and the iron structure were renovated. The set designer was also the head of security and lead the team and the production in order to have guarantee not only a good installation but also a great maiteinance and dismantling.

09/01 morning finish

11/01

morning finish

12/01 10:00

11:00

Companies

Ascotecnica Xenon Ascotecnica Celsius Ascotecnica Ascotecnica Celsius Ascotecnica Celsius Movigroup Ascotecnica Celsius Ascotecnica Xenon Clonwerk Xenon/ Solbiati Michelangelo Clonwerk Backstage Xenon/ Solbiati Michelangelo Clonwerk Backstage Stage system Xenon/ Solbiati Michelangelo Clonwerk Backstage Eurovideo Xenon/ Solbiati Promovideo Clonwerk Eurovideo Videotime All

Technical Service Responsable G.Assi R.Neri G.Assi G.Aloisi G.Assi G.Assi G.Aloisi G.Assi G.Aloisi G.Gregoraci G.Assi G.Aloisi G.Assi R.Neri M.Letterini R.Neri M.Biffi M.Letterini P.Di Costanzo

Job description

R.Neri M.Biffi M.Letterini P.Di Costanzo G.Marsella

Lightning Lightning Wiring Audio system Delivery Lahyer

R.Neri M.Biffi M.Letterini P.Di Costanzo M.R.Falco

Lightning Lightning Wiring Audio system Delivery monitor

R.Neri M.Breda M.Letterini M.R.Falco R.Dellospedale

Lightning Jimmy gib Wiring Delivery monitor Technical scenery

All

General proofs

Scene tracing American lightning Scenery construction Connection eletric cables Scenery construction Scenery construction Connection eletric cables Scenery construction Connection eletric cables Mounting backdrop Scenery construction Connection eletric cables Opening crystalls Moving lightnings Wiring tribune Lightning Lightning Wiring Audio system

Mediaset in Milan: Isola dei famosi

Isola dei famosi scenery. previous page Section of the scenery.

Plan of the scenery.

Isola dei famosi is the Italian version of the reality show Celebrity Survivors.

The Italian version started in 2003 and it was shown on Rai. After some conomic problems the program was deleted and Mediaset bought the emissions right and broadcast the ten edition. The program consists of an abandon of show-famous people in a desert island where they try to find sustenance to survive. The air was recorded in studio 20 in Cologno Monzese and the scenography had a great importance to show what happened in the island during the week. Through nominantions people are at risk of elimination and the audience has a very important rule: it decides to save someone instead of another one. The scenography, designed by Eugenio Falascone with the help of Floria Massa and Francesca Jacomini, consisted of a main circular glass platform that occupied the centre of the studio.

Around it there was a first ring of sitting where are located the main important guests of the show while, in the second bigger ring, there was a gallery that host the common audience. The principle shots are recorded facing to a ledwall, a special “wall� that showed the episodes of the island. This part was made by led in order to show to the public audience the most relevant events of the week and

the live broadcast of the life of the island. There were two main entrances, one for the anchorwoman and one for the special guests. The first one is a switchglass door where Alessia Marcuzzi, the anchorwoman, walked down the stairs. The other one is exactly in front of the first one and it’s a movable panel that slide from the main ledwall. The scenography had a grey backdrop that was important to define the contours of the scenery it had also the aim to cover the remaing part of the studio.

Management The production plan of the program has the aim to allow the shooting on January 2015and it required the preparation during the end of December 2014. In that period the set designer went to the studio 20 in Cologno Monzese with his team and he started to trace the plan on the floor. The drawings are realized in chalk with the technical rules of design and they are completed in one day working.

The trace of the plan started on 16th December and it was finished in the same day, in 8 hoursof working. On this drawing the lightining projectors were oriented in the days following and they asked around 5 days of working. This part required elettricians that were called from and 27

Timetable of the construction scenery (isola dei famosi).

external society. The lights were handed over in 23rd of December and, after that, it was possibile to work on the scenography’s staging.

Starting from 2nd of January until 16th there was the staging of the project while in the days following the studio was used to proof the lights and to start with the dry runs. This part was important to conclude the lightning operations. When the scenography was completed in fact was possibile to start the lightning proofs. At the end of the preparation there were some little changes or adjustments in order to have the best condition to record. In the 26th of January was the start point for the broadcast.

Costs The cost of the scenography was indicatively expressed by the swedish format and it was around 40000 euros.

The costs didn’t take in consideration maintenance or possibile future adjustemnts. As well as in Who Wants To Be Milionaire the set designer was also the head of security and lead the team

Day

Starting from

Until to

Company

16/12/

10:30 am

finish

M.P allestimenti Unisider Videotime

Dal 18/12 08:00 am 16:00 Al 30/12 02/01 08:00 am 16:00

Dal 03/01 08:00 am 16:00 al 18/01 Dal 13/01 08:00 am 16:00 Al 18/01 18/01

08:00 am 16:00

18/01

08:00 am 16:00

M.P allestimenti Unisider M.P allestimenti Unisider M.P allestimenti Unisider M.P allestimenti Unisider

and the production in order to have guarantee not only a good installation but also a great maiteinance and dismantling. As well as in Who Wants To Be Milionaire the set designer was also the head of security and lead the team and the production in order to have guarantee not only a good installation but also a great maiteinance and dismantling.

Job description 26th of Novemeber, in order to monitor the work of the scenography and to keep a record of the necessaries and the stuff, was drafted the job de-

Technical Service Responsable M. Pistoia M. Quaresima E. Carpineti M. Pistoia M. Quaresima

Job description

Scene tracing

American lightning Lightning grid Discharge materials Scenery construction

M. Pistoia M. Quaresima

Scenery construction

M. Pistoia M. Quaresima

Scenery construction

M. Pistoia

End construction

M.Quaresima

End tribune

scription. The job description in this case was a kind of list of the necessary stuff for the realization of the scenographic installation: • tribune of the audience (mt 12.00 x 5.20 ca); • exit iron stairs for the audience sitting on the tribune; • 184 metal back of the sits; • scenographic wood stair; • modular ledwall (mt 7.50 x h 4.00 with 0.5x0.5 module) with entrance door (1.5 x 2.5m); • 350 blue retsina plating modules for the pavement;

Day

Starting Until to from

24/03

08:00

16:00

25/03

08:00

16:00

26/03

8:00

16:00

Showlive Unisider M.P allestimenti Dibitecnology Videotime

C. Renzetti M. Quaresima M. Pistoia A. Micoli E. Carpineti

27/03

8:00

16:00

Showlive Tribe Unisider

C. Renzetti F. Di Lazzaro M. Quaresima

M.P allestimenti Dibitecnology Videotime

M. Pistoia A. Micoli E. Carpineti

Tribe Unisider

F. Di Lazzaro M. Quaresima

M.P allestimenti Dibitecnology Videotime

M. Pistoia A. Micoli E. Carpineti

Unisider Unisider Ascotecnica Movie Engineering

M. Quaresima M. Quaresima G. Assi M. Tirelli

Video time Movicoop

E. Carpineti F. Longo

Timetable of dismantling scenery.

• 70 blue crude plating modules for the pavement; • metallic grid structure (mt 67.00 x h 10.00) to sustain projectors with engine; • lightining curtains; • black backdrop (mt 70.00 x h 4.00); • sofa seats that occupy 24 mt; • wood stage with metallic structure (mt 1.30 x 13.90 x h 0.45); • circular transparent platform (diam mt 5.00); • wood siiting for audience and hosts (mt 17.00); • 15 switch glass screens (mt 2.00 x 4.00); • 1 opening switch glass; • 1 semi-circular ceiling (mt 20.00 x 1.00 x h 1.60); • grey backdrop (mt 3.00 x h 6.00); • 5 pvc panels (mt.2.10 x h 5.00); • 10 pvc panels (mt 2,10 x h 3.00) List of involved workers The television scenography is a particular working environment because it asks to different professionals to

28/03

8:00

16:00

29/03 30/03

8:00 8:00

16:00 16:00

31/03

8:00

16:00

01/04

8:00

16:00

Companies

Technical Service Responsable Di.bi technology A.Micoli Movicoop F. Longo Movie Engineering M. Tirelli Eletech M. Zottola Videotime E. Carpineti Backstage D. Mascheroni M.P allestimenti M. Pistoia Showlive C. Renzetti Backstage D. Mascheroni M.P allestimenti M. Pistoia Showlive C. Renzetti Unisider M. Quaresima Dibitecnology A. Micoli

work together in a very short time without face off against. In the case of this specific scenery the companies called to work together were: • Di.Bi Technology: provision of audio, lights; • Movicoop: loading furniture and cleaning; • Movie Engineering: supports of camera; • Eletech: rent of movie video system; • Videotime: lightning installation; • Backstage: mounting and dismantling audio;

Job description

Dismantling staging Removing furniture Dismantling fuse box Dismantling monitors Removing lightning Dismantling audio Dismantling stage Remove switch glass Dismantling audio Dismantling stage Remove lightning Dismantling iron stage Remove perimetral lightning Remove switchglass Dismantling walls Dismantling backdrop Remove lightning Remove American lightning Remove switchglass Remove ledwalls Dismantling perimetral Grid Dismantling backdrop Remove lightning Remove American lighning Remove ledwalls Dismantling perimetral Grid Dismantling backdrop Remove lightning Remove American Lighning Dismantling tribune Finish dismantling Pick up tribune Dismantling camera binary Studio cleaning

• Mp Allestimenti: tracing, mounting and dismantling furniture; • Showlive: mounting and dismantling switch glass; • Unisider: mounting and dismantling stage, walls, tribune; • Dibitecnology: dismantling lights; • Tribe:mounting and dismantling ledwalls; • Ascotecnica: tribune removal.

Construction of the scenery. previous page Timelapse of construction.

Mediaset in Milan: timelapse La settima porta

The construction of a new scenography is composed by lilting and different steps.This way of working is clearly shown in the construction of the scenery La settima porta designed by Roberto Bassanini, a Mediaset art director.

La settima porta is a cultural program that explains natural phenomena in order to give a clear dissemination of scientific knowledge.

This program is recorded in rented studio in Cologno Monzese and it is paid

by Mediaset per day.

The scenography is strongly influenced by the subject matter and it is composed by white floor and furniture. In the centre of the scenery there is a ledwall where are represented the videos and, altough the prelevant color

of the scenery itself is the white, there is the possibility to use the outer walls of the scenery in different colors. On the basis of the specific subject the color changes and creates the correct atmosphere.

The scenery is realized trough the traditional method of management and it is realized in 10 days. Unbeknownst to the operator is used a timelapse camera in order to highlight the steps and to understand how the scenery is constructed.The first day was spent for the tracing of the scenery while the day after was spent in the positioning of the american lightning and the central ring.In those two days the studio is not completly used in terms of time but there were several down-

times.The third day was called a company to mount the blackdrop and its floor covering. After a first part of the day where the studio is used by different operators, at the end of the day the studio was used just by two operators that finish the blackdrop mounting.The fourth day was instead dedicated to the construction of the tribune of the audience and the fith day was spent to finish it and to cover the floor with modular square parts of pavement.The sixth,the seventh and the eight day were used to finish the coverage of the floor and to complete the painting of the tribune itself.The last two days were dedicated to the mounting of the outer walls.Those two days were crucial to the success of the scenery because of the backlog and for that reason at the end of the construction is possible to see a large numbers of operators: the video, audio,electric operators in fact were forced to begin later their work. If the focus is in fact devoted to the last part of the construction is possible to see the company overlapping and a little bit of confusion.

The lack of a specific program and the division of the work based on the work of the companies instead of the division of the construction activities has led to finish the mounting with 31 two days more.

Management of sceneries through a sequential process

Management of sceneries through a sequential process

Introduction The increasing uncertainty and competitiveness of the job market highlights the importance of the organisational innovations that are characterised by effectiveness and economy. The organizational innovations are called to finalise and to increase efficiency and effectiveness of the production process. Project management takes into account the uncertainty and for that reason induced to develop advance organisational methods.

This way of thinking includes anticipated acquisition of informations and the idea to act on the basis of available informations that could be relevant in the design of the construction site.

Project management in the set design, as well as in the construction building, has the aim to reduce the market uncertainty.The uncertainty condition is antagonistic towards quality aims of process and product and must be developed organisational strategies that are geared to reduce the uncertainty thanks to: • the anticipation of design and planning; • the increase of operators adaptation to restrictions, contingencies and unexpected; • the operators coordination and self-control;

• semplification of interdependencies, reorganising tasks in order to minimize the coordination costs.

In the production processes it is tested that the behaviour of an individual it’s crucial and it is conditioneted by the quality of the organisational structure. This kind of structure in fact may lead to collaboration, empathy, ability to change and the quality pursuit. During the uncertainty control, the most relevant organisation it’s related to the interdependence between operators and their technical tasks. The difficulty of making decisions lies in the allocation of priorities and in the way of coordination.

In the set design the organization could be oriented in the relationship between structure and technology and it is based on the combination of the interdependences of the process components. Those rules of organisational design are useful to define new models of a organisational structure that are defined “sequential” and that can set up an effective answer to the challenges of the set design. The design consist of the reduction and control of uncertainty and this result can not be pursued through a simplification or ignoring the real complexity of the system, because this way of proceeed in fact solves the problem just partially and temporarily. The way to act is,

on the contrary to extend and to investigate the relevant variable analysis and their relationship. The scomposition of the project in sub-projects and activities and the indentification of interfacing are consistent elements in the organization of the big projects.

On those issues the most important theoretical contribution is donated by Thompson with its fundamental essay Organizations in Action.

According to him the structure indicates the internal differentiation and the conformation of the organizational relationships: the main components of a complex organization are predeterminated during the design where there is the segmentation and subdivision of the components. This rational model of organization it’s the result of an approach and of a strategy that considers closed the production system while the organic model aims to an open system. In the organizational design it’s necessary to proceed with the integration of the two parts, considering the production system as an open system, indeterminate and adaptable in case of uncertainty, but also necessarily governed by rationality and aiming to the certainty. The uncertainty is the principle antagonist of the rational approach and it generated by thecnology and environment.

35 The organisational structure is

the principal way to reach a limited reasoning power because it identifies the boundaries of the actions and it determinates the coordination conditions between the interdependent actions.

The analysis of the internal interdependence, direct relationship of interdependence and connection between subsystems it’s one of the most interesting contribution of Thompson. The subsystems must be located in a sequential way in order to dispose them in an autonomous group. Those rules of design can be used to design an organizational structure that is defined “sequential”. This kind of structure is appropriate to achieve effectiveness in a set design that is charaterised by high level of uncertainty.

The “sequential organization” it’s a useful mediation between application of management rules and the planning of constructive phases. The fundamental characters of a sequential structure consist of different combination rules of the combined tasks to realize the project. The new hierarchy it’s built on a detailed analysis of the technical and organisational interfaces. The design of the constructive process has the aim of the continuity of the production flow, the reduction of down times, the reliability of the process through a monitoring system that stabilizes the process in uncer-

tainty condition. The planning of a sequential organizational structure can’t be realized being adapted to one rigid structural model but it needs strategical rules and specific tools to some contingent situations of a specific project. A sequential constructive process is firstly characterized by the combination of the necessaries tasks to realize the project and by the reponsability to be different from the tradizional process that follows the skills of the traditional crafts: • every single constructive phase or sequence must constitute a subset of a coherent and autonomous construction process that allows the operators to carry out the tasks in a independent and continuous manner.

In this way in fact there is no interdependence with other operators, in such way in fact the operators of another sequence don’t take action in the same part of the project during the executing. In such way it’s allowed the completion of that specific sequence; • each sequence must allow the responsible operators to work without unproductive down times; • each sequence must be realized by only one company or by a coherent group of companies in order to avoid interdependences that generate organisational dysfunction;

• in the interfaces between different sequences it could be possibile to place a completing observation that is a intermediate step of control.

Looking at those rules we can define the meaning of “sequence”: a sequence is a set of omogenous basic rules realized by a single company or by a coherent group of companies in a specific time and place without discontinuity The elaboration of the list of tasks represents the first step and the process structure itself. The subdivision in basic tasks should be extended to the entire process of the production of the construction site in order to plan the new organistional structure.

The tasks on the line are more probably at the borders of the traditional crafts skills or close to organizational interfaces that create interdependences between different operators whose rythms are not coordinated.

Preliminary program Once completed the tasks list, ordered chronologically, it’s possible to start a containement operation, subassemblies individuation, contents definition, sequention of each position in relation to identifiable and significant unit of place of production according to the charateristichs and the important of the project. In this way the blur tasks list is transformed in to a first sequential scomposition and in to a indicative program that defines a first duration and chaining sequences ipotesys in the individuated units.

After the predisposition of tasks list and basic program of work, a organizational process provides for the interaction between those actions in ordert to eliminate as far as possible the inefficiency causes, acting on the operational content of the sequences. It acts also looking at the priority of the places of greatest potential dangers and it shall prepare the tools for the conflicts solution.

Example of sequential organizational structures Once completed the tasks list, ordered chronologically, it’s possible to start a containement operation, subassemblies individuation, contents definition, sequention of each position in relation to identifiable and significant unit of place of production according to the charateristichs and the important of the project. In this way the blur tasks list is transformed in to a first sequential scomposition and in to a indicative program that defines a first duration and chaining sequences ipotesys in the individuated units.

After the predisposition of tasks list and basic program of work, a organizational process provides for the interaction between those actions in ordert to eliminate as far as possible the inefficiency causes, acting on the operational content of the sequences. It acts also looking at the priority of the places of greatest potential dangers and it shall prepare the tools for the conflicts solution.

Sequential organization and quality The sequential organization of the production process in the scenery proposes to be efficient in order to reduce the risks of non-quality related both to the economic-temporal program and to the project. All the actions of the risk analysis, prevention, control, documentation and communication laid down in the deisgn determine the predisposition of a continuous control of the process, starting from the concept to the delivery of the work. The acknowledgement of the design documentation by the team responsible of the work esecution is a necessary condition for the practical implementation of the sequential organization in a scenery: only a careful analysis of the project done by both designers and the directly involved operators allow those last to became efficient actors of the process.

One of the costant problems of the early stage of the scenery (and also of the construction sites) it’s the adaptation of the requirements of the project to the capacity and technical habits of the operators. The graphical and written documents must be completed and integrated.

The program more than a technical tool of sources management is an organizational tool able to generate and to control social and human relations.

The evaluation of the technical tools pertinence does not depend on only internal qualities, that can be independently analized, but mostly on the way that the social relations can be organized.

The management of a well-prepared and detailed scenery, particularly on the technical and organizational interfaces, is characterized by lesser extent of uncertainty and by most suitable organizational structure to face and solves problems. The experiences show that it’s necessary to adapt a program and the project itself to errors, delays in provision, non recongnised compliance, human problems and so on. In a organizational structure it’s important to have the foresight to draft a program including “frictional” times between sequences that allow to absorb the deviations compared with the original program, to control the execution times of the sequences — with the aim to maintain the continuity condition of the outflow of the sources- to enhance self-control and participation of the process like the training of the operators, their active participation and scenery preparation.

Altough the proposed procedure for the program redaction allow the maximum reduction of uncertaint, in the real managementof a scener the experiences show how the program must be adapted, also minimally, to provision errors, design errors, needs variation and to the deisgn specifications.

37

Application of a sequential process in a unrealized scenery

Application of a sequential process in a unrealized scenery

Render of the scenery.

Sperimental case: Sky competion.

Rules and project The application of a sequential process is used in a project of a scenery.

In this case the scenography concerned is by Alessandra Picchi and it is the result of a 2012 competion for Sky, an international brand of a television platform. The scenery had to represent the studio of Uefa Champions League and the competion guidelines were very strict.

The UEFA Champions League is in fact one of the strongest brands in the world of sport and it stands for prestige and excellence built around the best football in the world. The scenography had the task to enlight the brand and to put in the centre its logo. The logo is in fact an important recognitional sign, research showed the logo has

a high recognition rate of 88% among European football fans.The rules of the competion put the logo in the centre of the studio and they were studied by the team marketing of the brand: • the UEFA Champions League logo must never be modified in any way and only supplied artwork should be used. It should always be applied to a clean background and not restricted withinin a box; • the Startball can be used as an independent graphic element. However, it must be used in conjuncton with the whole UEFA Champions League logo in all applications where the Startball is applied; • the logotype may be used as an indipendent graphic element, provided the full UEFA Champions League logo is used in the overall layout;

• where the UEFA Champions League logo is applied on an item of branding in close proximity to the partner’s logo, in principle the UEFA Champions League logo should be in a dominant position and never smaller than the partner’s logo; • blue and silver are the colours at the heart of the Uefa Champions League brand. It is these colours that immediately link any branding to the competion. The brand colour palettehas been simplified and clarified to ensure the partner’s use of colour. The scenography, at the same time, had the aim to represent also the stadium. Central to the concept of the stadium is a ring of huge oodlights which encircle a magnificent football stadium crowned by a silver Startball roof. The oodlights illuminate the stadium with a spectacular “Ceremony of Light”. This symbolizes the spectacle that is created for each UEFA Champions League match night.

The project consists in circular inclined platform that represents the logo of Uefa Champions League. That part is embossed and it is the desk of the anchor that has his stool behind it,at the centre of the scene. Around the circular desk there are the stools of the opinion leaders and behind them a kind of wings that cut the scene and give a sense of three-dimensionality.

The desk and behind platform create a game of hoops that go up and down around the anchor. In the back of the scenography there are panels composed by several materials. The panels have some transparent part to give an illusion of depth and they are also movable thanks to the wheels because of the necessity of a quick installation and removal. For that reason they create a backdrop but at the same time they can also be eliminated. They all are constructed with the same materials but they are composed in a different way in order to spice up the simple space, creating a place with different volumes. Each panel support at least one monitor and it become a kind of movable totems that have a lightning inside that emphasize the different shapes of the panels themselves.

Three of those are located to the right of the anchor and the reimaning three to the left of him.

41

Movable panel.

Different composition of the panels. previous page Plan of the scenery.

The management of project duration Look at the scenography duration means to analyse the programming tools of a project. Every project is simultaneously characterized by technical specifications, period for realization and budget. Monitoring must be exercised on those three different dimensions. The time management it’s relevant in a set design because the time grading plays a central role on the progressive wording of a problem that is related with times, costs and technical specifications. In a project the time-analysis it must not be considered as a set of durations associated with tasks. Moreover, it’s not a problem related to the time-allocation of sources but it’s a design problem of a organizational structure. In order to have a temporal identifications, the actors of a project place their actions on the basis of target dates and they identified in a timetable. In that specific case the scenography, once its

definition and planning it’s made, it’s connected with a list of appointments which correspond to “milestones” or to the end date of the project. The use of those just mentioneted milestones in the definition and in the programming of the scenography often corresponds to a scrambling technique that shows a sequence of sub-projetcs. One of the most difficult part of this procedure is the starting setting of the dates of the milestones.

Usually there is a kind of attitude which shall be such that the time is distributed in different actors.

The milestones must be fixed after an accurated drafting of the problem.

The most important date is, obviously, the end date because this is essential to distinguish a project from a repetitive production. Inside the planning every responsible can consider himself in the lead of a subproject where the starting and the ending date must be respected.

In this case, moreover, the correct timing is due to the respecting of the “appointaments” by the responsables of the previous activities and by the availability ot the all necessaries sources and tools. The scenography asks the actions of different professions and the working period of each of these can change according to the working time adopted including overtimes, night job, festive day and so on.

43

Scenography activities scomposition In order to respect the duration of the project and to improve the timing the scenography was decomposed in the main activities.

The management of the timing of activities represents in fact one of the most relevant element of the scenographies. The management is aimed to the decision, simulation and communication of the timing of the constructive operations related to set scenery. At the end of the planning in fact the problem is carrying out of the work according to a timetable.

In order to carry on this operation, it’s necessary to have all the detailed informations that allows to precisely identify the technical characteristcs of the set scenery. A scenogaphy is composed by activities and tasks.

Every task is very relevant because the non-execution stop to conclude the project or compromise the achievement of the objectives.

It’s, moreover, characterized by a start and an end point, uses resources and it is connected to another task or to activity with which there is a cause-effect relation.

To analyse means to deconstruct in sub-systems in order to separately consider them and take in consideration their relations.

Every complex constructed operation implies the implementation of a series of contemporary or subsequent operations that are connected each other thanks to a cause-effect relation. As a general rule, in fact, a decision is made working both on a temporal-technical and on a economical-temporal dimension.The principle parameters used to analyze and to plan a constructive process are: • input (factors); • output (results); • transforming process (understood as succession of actions displayed according to logical-technical relations.

After the subdivision of the set scenery in technical sub-systems and in elementary tasks, the operations flow graphs are indentified in order to activate the production of the set scenery.

The planning of a set scenery is articulated in a organisation where prevails the identification of tasks and the responsability in relation to the criterias defined by the adopted organisational structure.

The scenography’s work is dealt with its components reaching, if it is necessary, to break down every single operation in micromoviments of whom are recorded both timing and mechanical stuff.

The set of problems in the set scenery could be: • progressivity of operations; • distribuition of operations depending on competence; • organisational behaviour; • timing efficiency; • economical efficiency; • technical reliability.

Definition of scenography activities and interdependent activities A scenography activity can be defined as a task or operation that can be finished before the realization of the set scenery itselfes.

In a logical-techincal graph it is always represented by a cell identified with a number or a name or a description of the operative content.The activities are in this way connected by logical relation and they can be distinguished in two main activities: • in series activities; • in parallel activities.

The first one are being made one ofter another, the second one can be realized at the same time for a better use of the time.

The principle aim of the set scenery design is the efficiency of the project that is possible to be obtained deleting the inactivities by not only the operator but also by the machinery. In that way is in fact possible to reduce stopovers, especially if the machinery has a higher unit cost, as in this case.

In the scenography in fact the machinery has a pretty much the same cost both in operating conditions and in stationary state.

The goal is to regularise the production flow, minimising inefficiency caused by stopovers. This aim can be reached armonising the productivity of the sin-

Scomposition of activities.

gle elements. The first step to increase the quality of the efficiency of the process is the drafting of the models as the scheme of the interdependent activities. This scheme in fact carefully records the activities of the machinery and of the operators.

The procedure consists of: • list of actions and activities of each operator, describing them in a briefly way and recording the timing of each operation; • list of resources used; • drafting of a chart where are indicated each operation.

In that way the scheme of the interdepent activities is a tool to highlight the inactivities related to the work and with the aim to: • reduce the constructed lenght; • determine the most efficient combination of production’s factors; • determine the most efficient use of the machinery; • balance the productive activity of the machinery and the operators; • eliminate the stopovers.

In that scenography the activities are strictly connected and they start from the tracing of the plan of the project.

The activities of the mounting are in fact divided in a sequential way and they take in consideration both the series activites and the parallel activities.

The tracing of plan are the first activity

that can be made from the operators, that part is fundamental because, only after that part, there is the placement of the american lightning that can not be fixed later bacause of their position.

According to the companies the first activity requires 2 hours while the position of the american lightning requires 8 hours.

Only after this crucial part is possible to start the construction of the scenery that are made at the same time by the main responsable company of the mounting scenery and by the company responsable of the cabling.

In this scenography the parallel activities are the mounting and the cabling and they require the work of two different companies. At the end of the mounting it’s possible to prepare the monitors that are required for this set scenery and it is called another company that rent the stuff. Only after this activity it’s possible to work at the electricity and at the ground lightning.

All this parts are connected in the last activity that is crucial for the functioning of the scenery that is the general proof.

List of involved companies Looking at the experience of the scenography construction in the Michelangelo studio it’s possible to reduce the number of the companies that work on the project.

The reason it’s especially due to not only a better management of the companies themselves but also a saving timing and, consequentially, money.

In order to consider in a very real sense the involved companies there is a distinction between the use of the scenery in an internal and in and external studio where those terms depends on the relationship with the production.

In a internal studio the companies are: • Ascotecnica, main responsable for the mounting; • Celsius, main responsable of the cabling; • Clonwerk, main responsable of the monitor mounting and checking; • Xenon, main responsable of the mounting and functioning of the american lighting; • studio operators that work on sound, ground lightning and video.

In a internal studio the companies are: • Ascotecnica, main responsable for the mounting; • Celsius, main responsable of the cabling; • Clonwerk, main responsable of the monitor mounting and checking; • Xenon, main responsable of the mounting and functioning of the american lighting; • Backstage, main responsable of audio; • Promovideo, main responsable of jimmy jib, a special camera; • Eurovideo, main responsable of cameras; • Studio elettricians, main responsable of ground lightning.

45

Wbs diagram.

Wbs diagram with codification.

The use of the Work Breakdown Structure In order to highlight the relations between the different activities is used the WBS, the work breakdown structure. The WBS is a synthetic description of the set scenery and it is used to: • create a base to plane costs,timing and the use of project sources; • define the general costs and the timing during the drawing up the tenders; • find the critical parts of the project; • define the responsibility related to the different parts.

The success of a scenography depends on the capacity to define the aim of the project. The following WBS represents the hierarchical structure of the project.The WBS is a diagram where are also defined costs and timing of the single operation. An higher level can assign the responsability of the actions and indicate the name of the responsible for every single processing.

In that way is easily to recognize the hierarchy between the component activities. In the following WBS the connectng lines are plotted starting from the lower edge of the cell to the upper part of the inferior cell.

In this case the WBS describe the scomposition of the technical operations looking at the main responsable companies. The lower level, named “work package” host processes that are under the responsability of one operator.

Roll up is the name to describe the process under which the costs are included at the inferior level.

In the WBS is easily to recognize the main companies and their specific operations: the breakdown of the activities shows wants to highlight the parts that compose the scenery construction and it shows, for every single activity, the main responsable.

The WBS is in fact an useful model especially at the starting point of the project’s analysis. Basically it’s an analyti-

cal breakdown technique where are defined timing and costs of the activities.

In the following WBS is also used a numerical codification that is important to have a clear and easily identifiable diagram. The number of levels are just three because of an easily understanding.

Timetable of the scenery To have a correct timetable of the scenery it’s important to have: • an effective representation of the project, the component activities and the dependency relation between them; • evaluation of the necessaries sources and rispective costs; • evaluation of the minimum necessary timing; • identification of a chain of activities;

• verification and optimisation of the program.

In order to reach those elements it’s important to use a graph unrestood as a representation of the project, a map of requirements to lead a work beginning with a starting point to the final aim.

The CPM (Critical Path Method) is a structured approach for the project planning that is used to respond to those needs. This method is represented by reticular graph that is a key element for the management of timing, costs and resources. The CPM is also the basis for the control of the project and of the profit both during the design phase and during the planning techniques. The term CPM is in fact used to indicate the timing planning and the timing,cost and resources control.

New scheduling.

This method uses the vertices and the vectors. The vertices represent the activities while the vectors represent the dependences between the activities.

This dependence cab be represented trough a graph, a matrix or a table. The benefit of this method consist of the possibilty to trace in advance a flow-chart and proceed both to analysis of sources and activities and to the scomposition of the process in repetitive activities.

After this analysis and looking both at the WBS and to chart of the interdependent activities it’s possible to create a new timing that take in consideration the hierarchy of the operations, the involved companies and the timing of the mounting scenery. Thanks to experience at the Michelangelo studio in Cologno Monzese, it is also possible to try to reduce the costs of the scenery eliminating the downtimes.

The idea is in fact to use the studio not as an office with “regular” hours but as a operative space. The costs of the studio are in fact very expansive and a not correct management or the presence of the downtimes implies an unreasonable amount of energy.

For that reason, according to the responsable companies, the management of a new scenography is not based on the timing but it is related to the scomposition of the activities with a

best use of time and money as a result.

In order to have a truthful management the companies are asked about the necessary stuff for this specific scenery.

The necessary tuff is not taken in consideration looking at total numbers of the operation but at the working turns where one turn is a 8 hours of working.

In that case the companies have indicated the schedule: • Ascotenica needs 6 turns with 4 operators each; • Celsius needs 5 turns with 4 operators each; • Clonwerk needs 2 turns with 3 operators each; • Xenon needs with 4 operators each; • Backstage (or audio operators) needs 2 turns with 2 operators each; • Promovideo(or jimmy jib operators) needs 1 half turn with 2 operators each; • Eurovideo (or video operators) needs 1 half turn with 2 operators each; • Electricians needs 3 turns with 3 operators each.

The idea is to schedule the timing of the operators using the studio as much as possible. It means to involve more operators, of course, but it also means to have an important time and cost saving.

In the previous method is involved just one team that work 8 hours for each

next page Traditional timetable of construction in an external studio.

Traditional timetable of construction in an internal studio.

New timetable of construction in an external studio.

New timetable of construction in an internal studio.

day. The old schedule in the new scenography is put down looking at the previous examples of scenographies management and to the experience in Cologno Monzese. The studio is used 8 hours per day and it is not exploited for the rest part of the day. The meal break it is also not taken in consideration in the management of the timing and the consequence is that usually there is 1 hour of downtime.

The new schedule of timing is, at the contrary,studied looking at more teams of the same companies and take in consideration a meal break that allow the complete use of the studio.

As a consequence there is also a reduced overlap between the companies that is often the cause of the slowdown of the activities.

In the timing of the new scenery is also considered a meal break every 5 hours according to the italian law. In that way also at first sight it’s possible to understand that there is a great time saving and, moreover, a energy saving. Another important aspect that is highlighted is the lack of overlapping that guarantee a best way of working.

The studio is also intended as a machinery that has a cost and that is the reason why the covering of the timing is in this way emphasised.

Comparison timing in the traditional and new method Thanks to this new subdvision it is possible to compare the old method of management of scenographies based directly on timing and the new method of management based on the breakdown of activities.

In order to guarantee a correct comparison are made different schedules, respectivetely one using the traditional method and the other one using the new one.

In the first timetable is represented the classical scheme of a possible construction of the scene.The scenery is mounted in 9 days and the studio is used for 8 hours per day. All companies in fact start at 8:00 am and they finish at 5:00 pm. In that case the management is related more in the subdivision of the companies in the different days rather than looking at the breakdown activities. The result is the service interval of working and, consequentially, a disproportionate amount of energy.

In the new method is important to take in consideration the order of the activities.The scomposition of the scenery in fact highlights the organisational structure of the scenography’s mounting and allow an improved utilisation of the studio.

The possibilty to work using the studio all the day and dividing the work

in activities guarantees the reduction of the occupation of the studio and, at the same time, the saving of energy.

The breakdown system and the sequential process are fundamental to reduce the unnecessary costs and this system can be used both in the studio of the production and in a rented studio.

The timetable is exactly the same but,as we’ll see, the cost will be different.

The same procedure is also used for the management of the dismantling and once again it shows the time and energy saving.

To understand what could be the saving for the dismantling is important to compare the traditional method and the new method.

In the traditional method the dismantling require the use of the studio for 5 days.The first day starts at the end of the day because it is considered a possible end of the registration.

Usually in fact the scenery is removed immediately after the recording of the episode.The same procedure is analyzed for the dismantling in an external studio.

Thanks to the scomposition of the activities is possible to save time and energy for the studio.In this case in fact the studio is occupied just for three days instead of five.

The benefit of a time reduction is re-

Day Starting Until from to

Companies

01 02 03

8:00 8:00 8:00

10:00 17:00 17:00

Ascotecnica Xenon Ascotecnica Celsius

04

8:00

17:00

05

8:00

17:00

06

8:00

17:00

Day Starting Until from to

Companies

Tracing scene American lightning Scenery construction Connection eletric cables Ascotecnica G.Assi Scenery construction Celsius G.Aloisi Connection eletric cables Ascotecnica G.Assi Scenery construction Celsius G.Aloisi Delivery lightning Movigroup G.Gregoraci Mounting bacldrop Ascotecnica G.Assi Scenery construction Celsius G.Aloisi Delivery lightning Clonwerk M.Letterini Wiring Audio technicians Internal responsible Audio system Electricians Internal responsable Lightning Clonwerk M.Letterini Wiring Audio technicians Internal responsible Audio system Electricians Internal responsable Lightning and american Video technicians Internal responsible Jimmy jib and Elettricians Internal responsible monitors End pointing devices All internal All internal General proofs Clonwerk responsible General proofs M.Letterini

01

07:00 9:00 18:00

9:00 18:00 01:00

Ascotecnica 1 Xenon Ascotecnica 1 Celsius

Technical Service Responsable G.Assi R.Neri G.Assi G.Aloisi

02

7:00

16:00

16:00

01:00

Ascotecnica 1 Celsius 1 Ascotecnica 2 Celsius 2

G.Assi G.Aloisi G.Assi G.Aloisi

07:00

16:00

11:00

20:00

04

7:00 7:00

11:00 9:00

Ascotecnica 1 Celsius 1 Clonwerk Audio technicians Elettricians Ascotecnica 1 Celsius 1 Elettricians Clonwerk

G.Assi G.Aloisi M.Letterini Internal Responable Internal responsable G.Assi G.Aloisi Internal responsable M.Letterini

05

07:00

16:00

06

07:00

16:00

Day Starting Until from to

Companies

Job description

Day Starting Until from to

Companies

01 02 03

8:00 8:00 8:00

10:00 17:00 17:00

Ascotecnica Xenon Ascotecnica Celsius

Technical Service Responsable G.Assi R.Neri G.Assi G.Aloisi

01

07:00 9:00 18:00

9:00 18:00 01:00

Ascotecnica 1 Xenon Ascotecnica 1 Celsius

04

8:00

17:00

Ascotecnica Celsius

G.Assi G.Aloisi

02

7:00

16:00

16:00

01:00

05

8:00

17:00

G.Assi G.Aloisi G.Assi G.Aloisi

07:00

16:00

8:00

17:00

G.Assi G.Aloisi G.Gregoraci G.Assi G.Aloisi M.Letterini P.Di Costanzo R.Neri M.Letterini P.Di Costanzo Studio responsible

Ascotecnica 1 Celsius 1 Ascotecnica 2 Celsius 2

06

Ascotecnica Celsius Movigroup Ascotecnica Celsius Clonwerk Backstage Xenon Clonwerk Backstage Electricians studio

11:00

20:00

04

7:00 7:00

11:00 9:00

Ascotecnica 1 Celsius 1 Clonwerk Basckstage Elettricians studio Ascotecnica 1 Celsius 1 Elettricians studio Clonwerk

G.Assi G.Aloisi M.Letterini P. Di Costanzo Studio responsable G.Assi G.Aloisi Studio responsible M.Letterini

Promovideo Eurovideo Elettricians studio All internal Clonwerk

M.Breda M.R.Falco Studio responsible All internal responsable M.Letterini

Tracing scene American lightning Scenery construction Connection eletric cables Scenery construction Connection eletric cables Scenery construction Delivery lightning Mounting backdrop Scenery construction Delivery lightning Wiring Audio system American lightning Wiring Audio system Lightning and american Jimmy jib and monitors End pointing devices General proofs General proofs

Technical Service Responsable G.Assi R.Neri G.Assi G.Aloisi

05

07:00 11:00 07:00

16:00 20:00 16:00

Backstage P. di Costanzo Electricians studio Studio responsable Video technicians M.Breda

06

07:00

16:00

All internal Clonwerk

07

8:00

17:00

08

8:00

17:00

09

8:00

17:00

07

8:00

17:00

08

8:00

17:00

09

8:00

17:00

Technical Service Responsable G.Assi R.Neri G.Assi G.Aloisi

Job description

03

03

Job description

Tracing scene American lightning Scenery construction Connection electric cables Scenery construction Connection eletric cables Scenery construction Delivery lightning Scenery construction Delivery lightning Wiring Audio system

Mounting backdrop Delivery lightning Lightning and american Wiring Audio technicians Internal responsable Audio system Electricians Internal responsable Lightning Video technicians Internal responsable Jimmy gib and monitors All internal Internal responsible General proofs Clonwerk M.Letterini General proofs

Internal responsible M.Letterini

Job description

Tracing scene American lightning Scenery construction Connection electric cables Scenery construction Connection eletric cables Scenery construction Delivery lightning Scenery construction Delivery lightning Wiring

Mounting backdrop Delivery lightning Lightning and american Wiring Audio system Lightning Jimmy gib and monitors General proofs General proofs

Day Starting Until from to

Companies

01

20:00

24:00

Video technicians

Technical Service Responsable Studio responsable

02

8:00

03

8:00

12:00 17:00 17:00 17:00

04

8:00

17:00

05

8:00

17:00

Audio technicians Movigroup Clonwerk Ascotecnica Ascotecnica Celsius Ascotecnica Celsius Ascotecnica Xenon

Studio responsable G.Gregoraci M.Letterini G.Assi G.Assi G.Aloisi G.Assi G.Aloisi G.Assi R.Neri

Day Starting Until from to

Companies

01

Video technicians

Technical Service Responsable Studio responsable

Audio technicians Ascotecnica Ascotecnica 1 Clonwerk Celsius Ascotecnica 2 Ascotecnica 1 Celsius Ascotecnica 2 Xenon

Studio responsable G.Assi G.Assi M.Letterini G.Aloisi G.Assi G.Assi G.Aloisi G.Assi R.Neri

20:00

24:00

02

07:00

16:00

03

11:00 16:00 07:00

20:00 01:00 16:00

ferred to a faster system of management but at the same time is also referred to the further opportunity to rent the studio and obtain an income.

This consideration is relevant in the case of an internal studio because the money can be used for example

Job description

Day Starting Until from to

Companies

Dismantling cameras and monitors Dismantling audio Dismantling backdrop Dismantling wiring Dismantling scenery Dismantling scenery Dismantling lightning Dismantling scenery Dismantling lightning Dismantling scenery Dismantling american Lightning and ring

01

20:00

24:00

02

8:00

03

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12:00 17:00 17:00 17:00

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8:00

17:00

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Promovideo Eurovideo Backstage Movigroup Clonwerk Ascotecnica Ascotecnica Celsius Ascotecnica Celsius Ascotecnica Xenon

Job description

Day Starting Until from to

Companies

Dismantling cameras and monitors Dismantling audio Dismantling backdrop Dismantling scenery Dismantling wiring Dismantling lightning Dismantling scenery Dismantling scenery Dismantling lightning Dismantling scenery Dismantling american and ring

01

20:00

24:00

02

07:00

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03

11:00 16:00 07:00

20:00 01:00 16:00

to buy a better and faster equipment or to have more productions and, once again, more income.

The idea to have more teams for the same company for sure require a larger number of operators.

In this specific case in fact the two

Technical Service Responsable M.Breda M.R.Falco P.Di Costanzo G.Gregoraci M.Letterini G.Assi G.Assi G.Aloisi G.Assi G.Aloisi G.Assi R.Neri

Job description

Job description

Video technicians Basckstage Ascotecnica

Technical Service Responsable M.Breda P.Di Costanzo G.Assi

Ascotecnica 1 Clonwerk Celsius Ascotecnica 2 Ascotecnica 1 Celsius Ascotecnica 2 Xenon

G.Assi M.Letterini G.Aloisi G.Assi G.Assi G.Aloisi G.Assi R.Neri

companies that use the double shift are Ascotecnica and Celsius.Both of them use eight operators instead of four but, as we will see in the costs, this is also an interesting money saving also for the companies themselves.

Dismantling jimmy jib Dismantling monitors Dismantling audio Dismantling backdrop Dismantling wiring Dismantling scenery Dismantling scenery Dismantling lightning Dismantling scenery Dismantling lightning Dismantling scenery Dismantling american Lightning and ring

Dismantling jimmy jib and monitors Dismantling audio Dismantling backdrop Dismantling scenery Dismantling wiring Dismantling lightning Dismantling scenery Dismantling scenery Dismantling lightning Dismantling scenery Dismantling american and ring

As in the case of the construction schedule is also planned a dismantling table looking at the external studio. Altough this fact doesn’t interfer with the time management it’s crucial to understand which could be the less expensive example for this kind of scenery.

Costs of the materials. previous page Traditional timetable of dismantling in an internal studio.

Traditional timetable of dismantling in an external studio.

New timetable of dismantling in an internal studio.

New timetable of dismantling in a external studio.

Code 010 011 011/1 020 021N 030 031 032 034 035 036N 040 050 050/1

Description Inclined plan for logo logo Possible press for logo Desk for relators Illumination plant Movable totem External fixture of totem Internal blade Tubular 400 Supporting tubulars Lightning’s totem Freestanding fixture Lateral wings Possibile behind wings

Costs of the scenography The costs of the material for this scenography are calculated thanks to the breakdown of the scenography itself.

The costs are divided for type of material and are expressed in unit cost. In order to have an estimate as much real as possible it was called Icet Studios srl, the most important Italian company for the realization of scenographies. It in fact deals with television and advertising set, theatrical and cinematographic set as well as fashion shows and events.

In the table is given the cost for each component and the total amount for the realization of the scenography itself.

N 1 1 each 2 2 6 6 6 6 6 6 1 2 each

Unit cost 2.360,00 1.860,00 630,00 1.180,00 800 1.120,00 960,00 620,00 182,00 380,00 450,00 0,00 2.120,00 980,00

Total amount 2.360,00 1.860,00 0 2.360,00 1.600 6.720,00 5.760,00 3.720,00 1,092,00 2.280,00 2.700,00 0,00 4.240,00 0 34.692,00

Costs of the scenography in an external studio The costs of the scenography is not to all to do with the costs of the material but rather the most expansive part of the construction of the scenography depends on the costs of the studio and of the companies. For that reason it is asked to the main companies taken in account their pricelist and how this is managed.

In the case of an external studio in fact the companies have a pricelist related to the hours worked. The list below express the costs pr hour per operator: • Ascotecnica: 28 euros; • Celsius: 30 euros; • Movigroup. 25 euros; • Clonwerk: 35 euros; • Xenon: 32 euros;

• Backstage: 30 euros; • Promovideo: 32 euros; • Eurovideo: 32 euros.

In this sense it is possible to have the correct cost of each company, looking also at the total number of operators.

In order to compare also the cost of the construction scenography according to the traditional method of management with the costs of the scenography to the sequential process are here listed both of them.

According with the sequential method of management the total amount of each company is: • Ascotecnica: 4144 euros (37 hours per 4 operators); • Celsius: 4080 euros (34 hours per 4 operators); • Clonwerk: 1680 euros (16 hours per 4 operators); • Xenon: 1280 euros (10 hours per 4 operators); • Backstage: 960 euros (16 hours per 2 operators); • Promovideo: 512 euros (8 hours per 2 operators).

53

Consequentially, the total amount of the companies in that case is 12656 euros. As we can see, there is no big difference in term of cost of the companies, on the contrary the amount is approximately the same. The biggest saving is more about the cost of the studio because of the reduction of the working days. An external studio, big enough to host this kind of scenography, costs around 1000 euros per day of rent. The utility bill is instead around 250 euros per day and it includes lightning, heating and so on.Looking at this, the cost of the scenography with the old method is around 11250 euros (9000 euros of rent and 2250 euros of bill) while the cost according to the sequential method is around 7500 euros (6000 euros of rent and 1500 euros of bill). The total saving is, in this way, around, 3750 euros.

The total amount of the dismantling is 7568 euros but, in order to calculate the costs of the scenography of an external studio must be considered also the costs of the rent of the studio that is around 1000 euros per day.

The cost of this particulary set design is 63916 euros and this cost depended on materials, the cost of mantling and dismantling and last but not least the rent of the studio.

Company

Euros per hour

Promovideo Eurovideo Backstage Movigroup Clonwerk Ascotecnica Celsius Xenon

32 euros 32 euros 30 euros 25 euros 35 euros 28 euros 30 euros 32 euros

Number of operators 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4

Hours 4 4 16 3 16 34 32 16

Total Amount of Mounting 256 euros 256 euros 960 euros 150 euros 1680 euros 3808 euros 3840 euros 2048 euros 12656 euros

Company

Euros per hour

Promovideo Eurovideo Backstage Movigroup Clonwerk Ascotecnica Celsius Xenon

32 euros 32 euros 30 euros 25 euros 35 euros 28 euros 30 euros 32 euros

Number of operators 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4

Hours 4 4 4 4 8 32 16 8

Total Amount of Dismantling 256 euros 256 euros 240 euros 200 euros 1120 euros 3584 euros 1920 euros 1024 euros 7568 euros

Costs of materials

Costs of dismantling 7568 euros

Costs of the studio 9000 euros

Total amount

34692 euros

Costs of mantling 12656 euros

Company

Euros per hour

Hours

Promovideo Eurovideo Backstage Movigroup Clonwerk Ascotecnica Celsius Xenon

32 euros 32 euros 30 euros 25 euros 35 euros 28 euros 30 euros 32 euros

Number of operators 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4

Total Amount of Mounting 256 euros 256 euros 960 euros 150 euros 2240 euros 3808 euros 3840 euros 2048 euros

4 4 16 3 16 34 32 16

63916 euros

13558 euros

Company

Euros per hour

Promovideo Eurovideo Backstage Movigroup Clonwerk Ascotecnica Celsius Xenon

32 euros 32 euros 30 euros 25 euros 35 euros 28 euros 30 euros 32 euros

Number of operators 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4

Hours 4 4 4 4 16 33 16 8

Total Amount of Mounting 256 euros 256 euros 240 euros 200 euros 2240 euros 3696 euros 1920 euros 1024 euros 9832 euros

Costs of materials 34692 euros

Costs of mantling 13558 euros

Costs of dismantling with traditional method.

Costs of set scenery with traditional method.

Cost of set scenery with new method.

Costs of set scenery with traditional method.

previous page Costs of mounting with new method.

Costs of dismantling with new method.

Costs of set scenery with new method.

Costs of mounting with traditional method.

Costs of Costs of the dismantling studio 9832 euros 14000 euros

Total amount 72082 euros

On the contrary, according with the traditional method of management the total amount of each company is: • Ascotecnica: 3808 euros (34 hours per 4 operators); • Celsius: 3840 euros (32 hours per 4 operators); • Movigroup: 150 euros (3 hours per2 operators); • Clonwerk: 2240 euros (16 hours per 4 operators); • Xenon: 2048 euros (16 hours per 4 operators); • Backstage: 960 euros (16 hours per 2 operators); • Promovideo: 256 euros (4 hours per 2 operators);Eurovideo: 256 euros (4 hours per 2 operators).

Costs of materials 34692 euros

Costs of mantling 12656 euros

Costs of dismantling 7568 euros

Costs of the billing 2250 euros

Total amount

Costs of materials 34692 euros

Costs of mantling 13558 euros

Costs of dismantling 9832 euros

Costs of the billing 3500 euros

Total amount

In the case that it is used a tradional method instead of a sequential method the cost of the set design increases.

The total amount of mounting, as demostreted from the table below, is 13558.

The total amount of dismantling in the traditional methos, as demostrated from the table below, is 9832 euros.

The cost of this particulary set design depends on the materials, the cost of mantling and dismantling and last but not least the rent of the studio.

Costs of the scenography in an internal studio The cost of the scenography in an internal studio take in consideration the same procedure of the external studio, although it is not easy to define the costs of the internal operators. For that reason it is considered the same pricelist of the external companies while for the cost of the studio it is considered just the utility bill. In that case in fact the saving is calculat-

57166 euros

61582 euros

ed just looking at the utility bill that it the reason why it is considered around 250 euros.

On the contrary the time saving (in that case 3 days) must be seen also looking at the possibility by the production to rent the studio itself and acquire an income. The idea to economise time is in fact fundamental to understand that, saving energy, it’s possible to have a machinery that is in operation at all time.

The cost of the construction of the set design using the sequential method is 57166 euros.

The costs of the construction of the set design in an internal studio using the traditional method is [Tab].

55

Conclusion

The experience acquired during the stage in Mediaset was relevant to understand the mechanisms of management. The scenography in fact, differently from architecture, requires a very speed way of working and it must be as much as perfect. While in architecture a delay may incur in penalty, in the case of the scenography it can compromise the broadcast of the program itself. The management and the organization become the key elements for the success of the set scenery.Looking at the time-lapse realized in Cologno Monzese, it was possible to understand directly the way of working of the companies involved in the construction. In this way the downtimes came out and there were highlighted also the final overlaps. The use of a sequential process in tha management of a case-study scenography allows to reduce the multiple interferences and elimate, at the same time, dysfunctions associated with the old method of management. Thanks to the double shift of the first two days of the companies and the relocation of some tasks it is possible to observe a cost-time and energy reduction. This

kind of management provides not only benefits but also initial difficulties as for example the overcoming of the consolidated habits and the observance of the schedule. For that reason there is the necessity to have a training scheme that responds to that needs. Comparing the traditional method of management and the new experimental procedure is possible to highlight: • limitation of slippages, overlaps and interferations because of the breakdown of the construction in sequences; • decreasing costs of the rent of the hosting studio; • improving the quality, reducing the conflicts between the activities of the companies.

The management through a sequential process reduces the costs and the overlapping activities and increases, at the same time, the quality of the working.

57 New scheduling.

Foreword

Look at a picture from far away to capture the overall value.

This phrase describes the unusual and, at the same time, original author's approach of this degree thesis on the world of scenography.

Overcome the scientific rigor of space analysis, “forget” the perfect geometries studied for years in university courses, to open up to a different reality, the one described by the scenery, full of suggestions and charm.

The author experienced the field personally, with great passion and curiosity, looking into the realization of a television set, observing the times of realization mounting, listening to directors, set designers, technicians and all those people who, day by day, make their indispensable contribution to create magic the world of entertainment.

This thesis path allowed the author to “look beyond…”, an essential feature for those who want to grow and develop in harmonious way a complete his professional role, feeding every day the passion for a boundless and fascinating world like the one of art, always waiting to change the perspective and find one new vision of the architectural world.

Alessandra Picchi Scenografa

59

Bibliography

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Mecca S. 1991, Il progetto edilizio esecutivo, La nuova Italia scientifica.

Bernetti S. 2007, Scenografie e scenografi della televisione italiana.

Niccol A. 1971, Lo spazio scenico, Bulzoni.

Bianchi M. 1991, Organizzazione e tecnica di analisi delle procedure aziendali: l'incremento della produttività aziendale attraverso l'analisi delle procedure di lavoro, Pirola.

Burke R., Barron S. 2014, Project management leadership: building creative teams, John Wiley & Sons.

Degli Innocenti P. 2001, Architetture per lo spettacolo, Alfani, Firenze.

Del Prato V. 1990, Manuale di scenografia: il cinema, la televisione, il teatro, La Nuova Italia Scientifica.

Izenour C. 1977, Theater Design, Yale University Press.

Lawrence P.R., Lorsch J.W. 1967, Organization and environment: Managing differentiation and integration.

Lori R. 2000, ll lavoro dello scenografo: cinema, teatro, televisione, Gremese Editore.

Mancini F. 1980, L'illusione alternativa: Lo spazio scenico del dopoguerra ad oggi, Giulio Einaudi, vol. 618.

Pevsner N. 1976, History of building type, Thames and Hudson, London.

Prampolini E. 1950, Lineamenti di scenografia italiana: dal Rinascimento ad oggi, C. Bestetti.

Rebora R. (ed.) 1974, Scenografia in Italia oggi, Görlich.

Renzi R. 2011, Allestire per la moda: architettura, città, moda, Edifir.

Roman D.D. 1986, Managing projects: a systems approach, Elsevier, New York.

Schlemmer O., Moholy-Nagy L., Molnár F. 1975, Il teatro del Bauhaus, Giulio Einaudi.

Simon H.A. 1996, The sciences of the artificial, MIT press.

Solarino C. 1993, Per fare televisione, Madrid.

Tafuri M. 1976, Teatri e scenografie, Touring club italiano, vol. 6.

Thompson J.D. 1967, Organizations in action: Social science bases of administration, McGraw-Hill, New York.

Mancini F. 2002, L'evoluzione dello spazio scenico dal naturalismo al teatro epico, Edizioni Dedalo, vol. 5.

Mecca S. Naticchia B., Poggi P. 1995, Organizzazione per sequenze del cantiere edile: rapporto finale: dicembre 1994, Università degli studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di processi e metodi della produzione edilizia.

61

Index

Presentation Riccardo Renzi

5

Introduction

7

Case studies Film Master in Rome: Monari scenery Mediaset in Milan: Who wants to be millionaire scenery Mediaset in Milan: Isola dei famosi Mediaset in Milan: timelapse La settima porta

17 19 21 27 31

Management of sceneries through a sequential process Introduction The preliminary program Example of sequential negoziatonal structures Sequential organization and quality

33 35 36 37 37

Application of a sequential process in a new scenography Sperimental case: Sky competion.Rules and project The management of project duration Scenographies activities scomposition Definition of activities and analysis of the interdependent activities List of involved companies The use of the Work Breakdown System Timetable of the scenery Comparison timing with the old method Costs of the scenography Costs of the scenography in an external studio Costs of the scenography in an internal studio

39 41 43 44 44 45 48 48 50 53 53 55

Conclusion

57

Foreword 59 Alessandra Picchi Bibliography

61

Finito di stampare per conto di didapress Dipartimento di Architettura UniversitĂ degli Studi di Firenze Luglio 2017

This research project analyses scenography’s time and cost management, heading to use a new method of organisation.

In the first phase of the wor it has been made a general analysis of the set scenery that showed common points with architecture but also relevant differences as, for example, the different life-time and the different construction scheduling.

In order to consider a possible improvement, and before studying the scenography’s organisation, it has been decisive to understand the set scenery mechanisms.

The study was carried out through the analysis of preceding experiences and through the direct observation of a set scenery’s construction.

Due to those instruments and to the involved companies background it has been applied a sequential process with a corresponding breakdown of activities.

The new method highlighted the possibility to have a shorter timing and a reduction of the companies numbers by increasing the operators of the remaining companies.

It was thus shown an economical saving and, not least, a reduction of the work overlapping, the main cause of safety problems.

Eleonora D’Ascenzi, Rome, 1991, architect. She studied Architecture at the University of Florence and she graduated at the bachelor degree with honors in 2013 pursuing a sustainable project studied with professor Luca Marzi. In 2016 she had the Master’s degree in the International Course of Architecture and she graduated with honors and recommendation for publication with professor Saverio Mecca and dott. Alessandra Picchi. Passionate about set scenery introduced a sperimental thesis about time-cost scenography’s management.

ISBN 978-88-9608-087-0

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