Thursday, April 25, 2019
James Pearse Connelly Set Design For The Masked Singer
www.livedesignonline.com: With a BFA in theatre design from Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts, James Pearse Connelly developed a taste for design from his art teacher mother and architect father. “I was always around spaces and crafts and crayons,” he says. “Then, in high school, my crowd was the backstage nerd kids, and I did a lot of lighting. I went to drama school to avoid foreign languages or physics, and I was also hoping there were some more gay folks there. I didn’t know what set design was but I got really interested in it.” Today, Connelly heads JP Connelly Production Design, an Emmy Award-winning creative design firm in Los Angeles with TV shows such as The Voice to its credit.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
The design for this show is super weird. I’ve never thought of reality TV as a huge stage for set design, but I also have always separated game shows from that category. I think it’s a clever design that is visually pleasing and sharp, with smooth edges and complicated shapes broken down in more visually digestible pieces (ie. The masks). On a different note, I find Connelly’s story and journey fascinating. Perhaps it was a different era, but it’s crazy to me that he just happened to meet someone who opened a completely new door to an entire career. Not only was he able to build a very successful career in Los Angeles, but his work is recognized around the world. Being able to reach different audiences and designing for other cultures proves that there’s a never ending journey of learning that I think is really unique within the creative world.
I love the Masked Singer! I binged the entire season and the production value of the entire show is really quite incredible. James Pearse Connelly also seems like a really cool human being. Also the fact that his production design is about singing television shows is pretty cool. The fact that he magically landed in reality television just through a conversation with a woman at a wedding is pretty cool. His super-creative reality television singing spaces are just a few of the actual things that Connelly has designed. I also really appreciate that this article talks about how designers have to multitask from production to production. I also think that Connelly’s theatrical background has definitely helped him in the world of reality. He is able to make the world of these reality shows feel dramatic and still relevant. I love how he related The Masked Singer to Opera. Also he was able to adapt the original version of this production and still do it justice which is great.
Post a Comment