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NYTimes.com: NEW YORK Fashion Week is around the corner, and as any aspiring model knows it can be a cutthroat scene. Ask any of the girls who walk for the House of von Macramé. That is if they’re not already dead.
Oh boy. Shows like this where the main goal is to wow the audience with special effects and distract them from bad acting and performing (any Disney show on Broadway) really get me annoyed. I have no problem with cool effects and gallons of blood; if anything I love that stuff. My problem is when these shows are advertised as theater. This leads general audiences to believe that being blinded by blood is real theater, causing these shows to gain more popularity (and funding), therefor pushing real, good theater out of view. Don't take this the wrong way: I'm not saying this show isn't art; it takes a lot of skill and craft to deliver something like this tastefully. I'm just saying it isn't theater. There is a big difference. I feel shows like "Von Macramé" should be advertised as a theater experience or art storytelling.
I agree with Alex that shows designed to highlight special effects and technical extravaganzas rather than the acting belong in a category that is just slightly different from that of a play or musical. However, I'm not sure if "The House of Von Macramé" does belong in that separate box; it seems to me that it is a "traditional" theater piece, and simply demonstrates a high level of finish and expertise in the handling of effects. I loved reading about the mechanism and process behind this cut-throat effect, and I would love to see one such setup play out in person.
It is important when dealing with special effects like blood splatter that it compliments the acting rather than distracts from it, as Camille and Alex talked about. However, when done properly special effects are awesome. They add to the realism of the performance and for people like me its fascinating to try and figure out how the effect was produced, if hopefully its not obvious. But again hopefully the audience is more interested in what is going on in the performance than with the blood splattered on the walls.
Think this is great. I wonder how long the rehearsal process was for this effect. How many times did they spray the actress in the face with blood before she got all the timing down. The idea to have someone else control the blood explosion is a great idea. Special effects are great and it is exciting that it sounds like they have found something that works. Well done spcieal effects can seriously make a show go from ok to WOW in my book. So keep it up and also to do this effect for $3000 to me doesn't sound like alot of money at all. So well done House of von Macrame and keep up the good work.
4 comments:
Oh boy. Shows like this where the main goal is to wow the audience with special effects and distract them from bad acting and performing (any Disney show on Broadway) really get me annoyed. I have no problem with cool effects and gallons of blood; if anything I love that stuff. My problem is when these shows are advertised as theater. This leads general audiences to believe that being blinded by blood is real theater, causing these shows to gain more popularity (and funding), therefor pushing real, good theater out of view. Don't take this the wrong way: I'm not saying this show isn't art; it takes a lot of skill and craft to deliver something like this tastefully. I'm just saying it isn't theater. There is a big difference. I feel shows like "Von Macramé" should be advertised as a theater experience or art storytelling.
I agree with Alex that shows designed to highlight special effects and technical extravaganzas rather than the acting belong in a category that is just slightly different from that of a play or musical. However, I'm not sure if "The House of Von Macramé" does belong in that separate box; it seems to me that it is a "traditional" theater piece, and simply demonstrates a high level of finish and expertise in the handling of effects. I loved reading about the mechanism and process behind this cut-throat effect, and I would love to see one such setup play out in person.
It is important when dealing with special effects like blood splatter that it compliments the acting rather than distracts from it, as Camille and Alex talked about. However, when done properly special effects are awesome. They add to the realism of the performance and for people like me its fascinating to try and figure out how the effect was produced, if hopefully its not obvious. But again hopefully the audience is more interested in what is going on in the performance than with the blood splattered on the walls.
Think this is great. I wonder how long the rehearsal process was for this effect. How many times did they spray the actress in the face with blood before she got all the timing down. The idea to have someone else control the blood explosion is a great idea. Special effects are great and it is exciting that it sounds like they have found something that works. Well done spcieal effects can seriously make a show go from ok to WOW in my book. So keep it up and also to do this effect for $3000 to me doesn't sound like alot of money at all. So well done House of von Macrame and keep up the good work.
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