Sunday, February 17, 2008
Sam Buntrock - Sunday in the Park With George
New York Times: "WHEN people think of Broadway special effects, the first things that probably come to mind are big, lumbering spectacles like the chandelier in “Phantom of the Opera.” Such elements are designed to drop jaws, stop shows and above all draw attention. But they don’t always draw good reviews."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
the thing i really liked that the director said was that the special effects were not an add-on to the play, they enhanced it. so often when special effects are used they distract or overshadow from what is going on, when they aren't even really neccessary. i would love to see this show because i do think it is possible for special effects to enhance but not distract.
It's a very hard task to incorporate large effects seamlessly into a show without the audience even noticing it. Let's face it, they're going to notice it, the question is for how long? The problem I've always had with special effects is that when an effect occurs, I say in mind "focus on that effect", rather than "focus on that attribute of the SHOW". When a designer can lose that separation most viewers have when witnessing an effect, I think they've succeeded. Let's hope the bigger budget and flashy technology doesn't steal this show's charm.
Special effects do add on to a show. They make them exciting to watch for the audiecne and they can bring something to a show in a way the actual thing can not. This is the type of show where special effects are not really needed to tell the story, but make the experience much more meaningful.
Post a Comment