Project 5: Le Cid Resource Guide: The Historical Era of El Cid

1. El Cid: This resource is linked to a larger source that describes famous Spanish people in history. This resource describes the life of El Cid from beginning to end.

http://www.ctspanish.com/legends/elcid.htm

This resource covers an excellent amount of information about the life of El Cid and Spain's ability to push the Moors out of Spain with the leadership of El Cid. The article also details how El Cid spent more of his time fighting other Spaniards and fighting for other kings before he rose to power and ruled Valencia, a kingdom of Spain. The resource makes it known that El Cid never completely pushed the Moors out of Spain; however, he did contribute to conquering much of the land that the Moors had previously possessed. This resource is valuable due to the detailed description it gives of the life of El Cid, and to a scenery designer it gives them the sense of what time period they are dealing with.

2. Facts about El Cid: This resource gives a description of El Cid's life which is divided up in sections pertaining to each other.

http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/el-cid.htm

This resource provides interesting facts about El Cid and divides his life up into sections such as El Cid's banishment from Spain, his famous battles, and his ultimate rise to power in Valencia. Besides paragraphs of everyday information this resource also contains bullets that give unknown interesting facts about El Cid. This site is valuable due to the usually unknown facts that are provided that could assist a scenery designer.

3. Myth Encyclopedia: Cid, El: This resource takes a different perspective of El Cid and describes the tales made from El Cid.

http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Ca-Cr/Cid-El.html

This resource starts off by providing the basic information of El Cid regarding his life; however, it also describes El Cid's life when he is mainly dealing with the Moors and his actions for or against them. This resource also describes the tales, poems, plays, and epics that were written about El Cid by Christians and Moors after his death in 1099. It also describes how a certain tale was the basis for Pierre Corneille's 1636 tragedy Le Cid. This source is valuable due to bountiful supply of poems and plays provided to assist a scenery designer.

4. El Cid: National Hero of Spain: This resource gives a massive description of El Cid's life and tales written about him.

http://forum.stirpes.net/biographies/8555-cid-national-hero-spain.html

This resource goes into grave detail in describing El Cid's life which is divided up into two sections, the first describing El Cid's rise to power and fighting the Moors, the second greatly describes the same occurrences but in great detail. The second section also talks about the tales and poems that were written about El Cid prior to his death including the basis for Le Cid. This resource is valuable due to its substantial amount of information provided to understand El Cid in life and tale.

5. Infoplease: El Cid Military Leader: This resource simply tell the life of El Cid from a military perspective.

http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/elcid.html

This resource although small is to the point and simply describes the life of El Cid from a military standpoint and his accomplishments on the battlefields. It describes how he was called El Cid by the Moors but his countrymen called him El Campeador which means the champion, so his name by what we refer to him as is the Moorish name given to him. It also describes how the tales written about him after his death were only written because of his great military career which so many people respected him for. For a scenery designer this is valuable because the military perspective could assist them in some different scenery ideas.

6. Battles of El Cid: This resource is divided up into several descriptions of battles that El Cid fought in and led armies to victory.

http://perso.wanadoo.es/ibg3/med/cid.html

This resource gives detail descriptions of battles such as Graus, Zaragoza, and his personal battles that he fought once he was ruler. It also describes the consequences of fighting against the Moors because when El Cid died in 1099 the Moors poured into Spain and took control of Valencia, El Cid's home city. This resource also contains links at the bottom of the page for the viewer to view the poem of El Cid, the tale, the song, and many other links to find more information on El Cid.

7. Scenery of Valencia: This resource is a PDF file that shows the scenery and map of Valencia.

http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/files/publicacion/doc/paisajes_in.pdf

This resource was chosen to show the viewer what the landscape, geography, and scenery of Valencia, Spain looks like to give them an idea of what El Cid was trying to preserve in the late 11th century. Although this file pertains to what Valencia looks like today, Spain for the most part has not change since the 11th century. The file shows scenery and antique building structures. I believe this file is excellent for a scenery designer of Le Cid to get an idea of what the scenery should look like.

8. The Milli Gazette: Muslim Influence in Spain: This resource takes a different perspective showing the reader the Moorish influences in Spain.

http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/01112001/03.htm

This resource shows the reader the many influences the Moors left in Spain after they were finally oust back into Africa. I believe for a scenery designer, although there is only one picture, this resource can give descent descriptions so Moorish influence can applied to an Le Cid production. The one picture however does show heavy Moorish influence on the side of a building that could help in applying to a set.

9. Moorish influence on Spanish Architecture: This resource also gives description and many pictures of Moorish influence in Spain.

http://www.xmission.com:8000/~dderhak/index/moors.htm

This resource gives an excellent account of historical references to Moorish influence in Spain by describing the advances that Moors brought in architecture and education. This resource contains many pictures of Spanish buildings heavily influenced by Moorish design. These pictures could most certainly help a scenery designer for a Le Cid production apply the correct scenery designs to the play.

10. Rolf Hicker Photography: Moorish Influence in Spain: This resource is excellent for scenery designers in a Le Cid production.

http://www.hickerphoto.com/moorish-architecture-pictures-photos.htm

This resource contains at first pictures of famous buildings in Spain that are heavily influenced by Moorish design then under each picture it tells why it looks the way it does. After the pictures on the page the author goes into detail describing why and how the buildings are designed the way they are. This resource is a scenery designers paradise because not only does it give the necessary pictures for designing purposed, but is also gives the information back up the pictures telling why the Moors influenced the buildings the way they did.

Project 3: Option #4 Design Scenery

For project 3 I have decided to do Option 4 and design a certain piece of scenery from a Shakespeare play. I have chosen the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar and the scene I chose from the play is scene depicting the assassination of Julius Caesar. The reason I have chosen to do the Julius Caesar play over other Shakespeare plays is unlike the others, Julius Caesar depicts real events in history and not fictional material and I can most relate to and imagine Julius Caesar material. Another reason I have chosen Julius Caesar is because I am a history major and because I am a history major I truly enjoy Roman history and its effects on the rest of the world. The life and death of Julius Caesar is an important time in history and altered the rest of Roman history up to the Roman Empire's demise in the fifth century. Julius Caesar had claimed himself emperor and many senators in the Roman Senate did not approve of this including Julius Caesar's good friend Brutus. These many senators felt they had no other choice but to assassinate Julius Caesar in order to save the Roman Republic. As Julius Caesar entered the Senate hall one day, Brutus and the other Senators assassinated Julius Caesar by stabbing him to death with their daggers. This act of violence began a long and bloody civil war to win the heart of Rome itself.

My scenery design of the assassination scene from the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar took place on 18"x 12" drawing paper that way details could be distinguished much clearer. Originally I was going to go with doing Julius Caesar in 1920's gangster style scenery; however, my lack of knowledge of this era and an inefficient ability to connect the story to the time era I was unable to make this happen. Instead I continued with the original story line with the Roman scenery, but I designed it to how I imagined the stage would look if I was conducting the play. I first reduced the scene design to a 13.5"x 7.5" drawing. I made the background of the stage large gray stone pieces to depict Roman style walls. The floor is also made of stone; however, the stones are smaller in size compared to the wall and are a darker shade of gray. The next items I added to the design are the two small, short columns divided up one on each side of the stage. These columns are made of small white stones in the shape of cinder blocks, and on top of these columns are gold colored pots that contain small plants or shrubs inside to add color and beauty to the scene. Next I designed the stage to be four feet off the ground and is colored red to also bring the beauty out in the scene. Connecting the stage to the stone floor are three separate flights of stairs: two of the stairs are in front of the side entryways and are a light brown color, and the middle stairs is much larger than the other two is designed in a gold color signifying importance. The three entryways are designed with the most importance in the scene. The two side entryways are smaller than the middle entryway, they are dark behind them, and made for entrances such as the Senators creeping up on Julius Caesar. The middle entryway clearly draws the most attention to the scene. On the sides of the entry are two round, white columns that are wrap in a gold colored swirl all the way to the top where a long flat stone connects the two columns. The middle entryway can serve two purposes: one being just being an entry and exit spot where Senators enter or exit the Senate hall, second a small chair or throne can be placed in front of the entryway and the spot becomes the backdrop where Julius Caesar sits on his throne at the Senate with the gold stairs in front of him. This is how I would design the assassination scene for the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar.

Project 2: Design/Mask

Part 2: Summary of Mask

The mask I am creating is from the character Pantalone from the theatre style Commedia dell' Arte. The character Pantalone is one of the first characters to appear in commedia theatre and he is the most miserable second only to Magnifico. Pantalone is an old, grumpy man who walks around complaining, and the only time he is not whining or complaining is when he is talking about making money or sex. He is instantly recognizable on stage due to his stance because he is the oldest of the old and is hunched over with his head bent up so he can constantly walk around over viewing his workers and the status of his money. Pantalone is constantly thinking about sex and always gets excited when it comes up in conversation, and a great fact about him is he is completely weak which makes his sexual fetishes even funnier. If his hands are not being used at any point in time he has them over his two most prized possessions, his purse for his money and his genitals for his sexual fetishes. When not on his two great possessions Pantalone uses his hands considerably to make gestures for his words.

The mask construction began with some clay I bought from Wal-Mart. I got a large bowl of warm water and soaked the clay till I could bend it and form it easily. I formed the clay into one large mass and began forming into the figure to match the example I used from the Internet. Once I had the cheekbones, eyebrows, and eyes formed and attached another large mass of clay to the mass of clay to form the nose which is rather large for the character Pantalone. This part of the project was by far the hardest to accomplish. After I was through forming the clay I inserted the clay into the oven for several hours to speed up the drying process. Once the clay model was finally dry I allowed it too cool off before I began the next step. Instead of using the old school method of paper mache by dipping strips of paper into a paste substance I bought a product called Celluclay from Hobby Lobby which is a powdered down form of paper mache and all you have to do is add water and it forms into a paste like substance similar to clay but much softer. I mixed up the Celluclay and had it ready, but before I put it on the clay model I put aloe vera on the clay to keep the Celluclay from sticking to the clay model. I put the Celluclay on the clay and formed in until it much the clay underneath then put it in the oven for several hours until dry. Then I cut out the eyes with a knife and sanded the mask down. Then I removed the mask from the clay and painted it antique maroon on the outside and cocoa on the inside. Finally I attached the eyebrows, nose hair, and the head band with super glue.

1. Pictures of Greek Theatre Devices

1. Periaktoi

2. Ekkyklema

3. Theologeion

4. Pinakes

5. Thunder Machine

6. Charonian Steps

7. Mechane

8. Skene

9. Orchestra

10. Parodoi

Project 1: Greek Stage Devices of Pollux

1. Periaktoi:

A periaktoi is an ancient Greek theatre device used on stage during performances. It is usually a three sided triangular device that has a different scene on each side of the device and rotates for quick and easy change between scenes. If many periaktoi are lined in a row it appears as a wall of scenery that can easily be switched to the next wall of scenery.

http://www.hstech.org/howto/carpentr/flats/periak.htm

2. Ekkyklema:

A ekkyklema is an ancient Greek theatre device used on stage during performances. It was a device on wheels that was rolled out, literally a cart, that showed a changing in scenes. Due to the fact that they weren't allowed to show violent or gory acts on stage the ancient Greeks would paint the scenarios on these carts to show the audience. Because of this the Greeks would paint the outcome of a battle or event on the ekkyklemma to show the audience what has occurred.

http://www.encyclo.co.uk/define/ekkyklema

3. Theologeion:

The theologeion was another device used by the ancient Greeks during theatre performances. A theologeion was a raised platform on stage from which the gods spoke from. When the word is broken down theo means "god" and logeion means "word." A theologeion could have also been a high upper stage or balcony.

http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/greektheater/tp/0711307Arist_tragicterminology.02.htm

4. Pinakes:

A pinakes was a device used by the ancient Greeks on stage during theatre performances. A pinakes was a device, usually temporary, placed between slots on stage to depict certain events. They were painted panels often being scenic placed between openings called thyromatas. These panels being temporary so they could be changed throughout the play.

http://www.whitman.edu/theatre/theatretour/glossary/glossary.htm#p

5.Thunder Machine:

A thunder machine was also another stage device developed by the ancient Greeks to use during stage performances. A thunder machine is simply a machine developed in a way to make sounds that sound the same or similar to actual thunder. Many times a simple drum would be used to mimic the noise or a piece of metal with smaller metal pieces inside of it shaken up.

http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/textt/Thundermachine.html

6. Charonian Steps

Charonian steps were another device developed in the time of ancient Greek theatre during performances. The Charonian steps were stairs that led from the stage to the orchestra or came out of the middle of the orchestra. The characters that would emerge from the Charonian steps were usually characters of the underworld such as ghosts.

http://books.google.com/books?id=3DGXKt0IpIMC&pg=PA398&lpg=PA398&dq=charonian+steps&source=bl&ots=GVF2qrDp6r&sig=GqIBDHHuri37xDrQ85mAF1XdOWA&hl=en&ei=D8xoS7XhJ8ng8QbwiYm1Bw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CCIQ6AEwBw#

7. Mechane

A mechane was another device used by the ancient Greeks during theatre performances. A mechane was device made of wooden beams and pulleys designed to lift an individual into the air representing flight. The machine was especially used to bring characters acting as gods on the stage from above. This term comes from the Latin phase deus ex machina meaning "god out of the machine."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechane

8. Skene

A skene was a device used in ancient Greek theatre during performances that transformed over time. The skene was originally a simple room behind the acting area that actors change masks and clothes in, but over time it became the background of the acting area itself. Its transformed into a two story building with columns, three doors, flanked with two wings, and decorated with paintings of gods and other characters.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/547420/skene

9. Orchestra

The orchestra was used in ancient Greek theatre during performances. The orchestra, which means dancing space, was normally circular where the chorus would sing and dance and interact with actors on stage. The earliest orchestra's floor was simply made of hardened dirt and range about sixty feet across. At the center of the orchestra was the thymele which was an alter.

http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110tech/Theater.html

10. Parodos

The parodos was another part of ancient Greek theatre used during and for performances. The parodos, or parodoi for plural, which literally means passage way was used by actors and the chorus during the play to enter and exit the area. The audience also used the parodoi to enter and exit the theater before and after plays.

http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110tech/Theater.html