Today, Melissa Merz led us through a discussion of the fundamentals of design. She had distributed a section from a theatre design textbook that presented a variety of terms and their definitions as they relate to set and costume design. Most of these terms are terms that musicians, dancers, architects, painters, etc. use all of the time. The motivation for today's class was to explore the intersections and differences in meanings of these concepts to all of our artforms. Here are some of the terms and a few definitions from the costume textbook:*
It's interesting to think about how we use these terms in music. For instance, I mentioned that musical lines are most often "dotted" lines that we perceive as contours. We also tend to use shape as a verb in music more often than as a noun.
Melissa also showed us a series of photos in the second part of class that drew parallels between fashion and architecture throughout history. Consider:
and
Interesting, no?
*J. Michael Gillette, Theatrical Design and Production, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.
Line: A relatively narrow, elongated mark. Lines have dimension, quality, and character
Shape: Any line that encloses space creates a shape.
Texture: The visual or tactile surface characteristics or appearance of an object
Position: The relative location of adjacent shapes or masses (mass: three-dimensional manifestations of shape)
It's interesting to think about how we use these terms in music. For instance, I mentioned that musical lines are most often "dotted" lines that we perceive as contours. We also tend to use shape as a verb in music more often than as a noun.
Melissa also showed us a series of photos in the second part of class that drew parallels between fashion and architecture throughout history. Consider:
and
Interesting, no?
*J. Michael Gillette, Theatrical Design and Production, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.