2. Unitizing
Aspect Description
Act N/A
Scene Scene Seven
Setting Marie's Room, in the evening around 4pm where it is already dark because
the sun sets faster in winter.
Britain, 1890.
Action Drum-Major shows off, whilst Marie teases him. Drum-Major then forces
himself on Marie. Initially, Marie struggles, however eventually she
succumbs to him.
Character Drum Major and Marie
Costume Marie wears a low cut dress that should be more revealing than usual. Her
dress' colours are dark and pale (to appear a bit dusty) to show that she is
poor and her house is rather dusty. Her dress is the simpler and less colorful
and elegant version
Drum-Major wears a uniform with bright colours and pin stripes and
polished badges to show he is better off and better than Woyzeck.
Set/props • Mace for the Drum-Major. He uses it when he parades in front of
Marie.
• Gold earrings for Marie, she fiddles around with her earrings
unconsciously.
Mood Playful to intense (fear coming from Marie at some point.)
Key words/phrases Tease, struggle, real man and woman, affair
era
The time of my scene would be during the late 18th to19th century. I have only thought about the time after I
have designed my costumes. The place would be in England where customs and culture are really important that
time. Women have to behave appropriately and only the rich are can act with etiquette. The reason I made the
setting in England because of the costume. Once I had a basic idea of the costume design and began to do
research images, I’ve noticed that the style of the dresses and uniforms are all similar. It is only a bit different in
different countries. I think the dresses are more Victorian of Britain than German. And I like the 19th century,
the people were cool and laid back during that time.
3. The Meaning of Colours
Colour can have many meanings depending on culture and other things. Thus, using colours will give various
impressions on different audiences. However, if the set and atmosphere was set right, the audience might be coming
to the same impression with the help of colour.
Red is used to draw attention because it is often where the eyes look first. Red is the colour of energy. It is associated
with movement and excitement. Wearing red clothes will make you appear heavier and certainly more noticeable.
Red is not a good colour to over use. Red is the symbol of life (hence, why brides in China wear red on their
wedding.) I am planning to end my scene with a red-tinted spotlight because, to me, sometimes red is the opposite of
white where is represents sin (For example like in the use of red and white in the musical Chicago to show sin and
innocence.)
Pink is the most calming and soothing of all colours, it is the true colour of love. Fun fact: often our most dangerous
criminals are housed in pink cells as studies have shown that pink drains the energy and calms aggression. Pink is the
colour of romance, love, and gentle feelings, which, I will not use at all in my scene because there is no love at all.
Orange is the most flamboyant colour. It is the colour tied most to fun times, happy and energetic days, warmth and
organic products. It is associated with ambition. There is nothing even remotely calm about the colour. Orange is
associated with a new attitude.
Yellow is a cheerful colour of the sun associated with laughter, happiness and good times. It makes people feel
optimistic however if the colour is intense (brighter), it is the colour of flames and tempers flare more. Yellow can be
quickly overpowering if over used, but used sparingly in the just-the-right-place it can be an effective tool. Some
shades of yellow associated with cowardice; but the more golden shades with the promise of better times.
Green is the colour of growth, nature and money. It is a calming colour pleasing to the senses. Dark green is
associated with terms like conservative, masculine and wealth. Light green is associated with envy, good luck,
generosity and fertility. It is the traditional colour of peace, harmony, comfortable nurturing, support and well paced
energy.
Much of the world is blue and a majority of people like the colour. Seeing the colour blue actually causes the body
to produce chemicals that are calming; but that does not apply to all shades of blue. Some shades or too much blue
can send a cold and uncaring message. The colour is associated with steadfastness, dependability, wisdom and loyalty.
Purple is a royal colour associated with wealth, prosperity, rich sophistication. This color stimulates the brain activity
used in problem solving. However, when overused in a common setting it is associated with putting on airs and being
artificial/ Use purple most carefully to lend an air of mystery, wisdom, and respect. I want to have some purple pieces
on the Drum Major to show his pride and his wealth.
Brown is most associated with reliability, stability, and friendship. It's the color of the earth itself "terra firma" and
what could represent stability better. It too is associated with things being natural or organic. In India, however, it is a
colour of mourning.
Gray is most associated with practical, timeless, middle-of-the-road, solid things in life. Too much grayness leads to
feeling mostly nothing; but a bit of gray will add that rock solid feeling. Some shades of gray are associated with old
age, death, depression or lost sense of direction. A part of Marie’s dress will have gray. I think the skirt underneath
will be gray. Even if it is a dull colour, it can match well with other colours to still make a nice dress.
Silver is an off-shoot of gray and often associated with giving helping hand, strong character (sterling).
For most of the world, white is the colour associated with purity, cleanliness, and the safety of bright light. White
associated with creativity. It is a compression of all the colours in the colour spectrum. Besides the child, no one is
suited to wear white because it only represent what is pure and clearly no character is pure.
Black is the colour of authority and power, stability and strength. It is also the color associated with intelligence.
Black clothes make people appear thinner. It’s a somber colour sometimes associated with evil. Black is a serious
colour that evokes strong emotions; it is easy to overwhelm people with too much black.
4. Costume Research: Marie
I have looked at many types of tight dresses for Marie
because I want to show her physical beauty to the audience. In the
play, she may be known as a poor promiscuous woman for having a
child without marrying the father, however she does not care about
what others say and that is what I like about her. Though I still
think that her decisions in my scene were not the best, but it is
understandable if her husband was talking crazy to her and
ignoring their child. Marie is an average height woman with a
bigger chest and hip size. She is like a plus-size model (a little
bigger than average but still beautiful.)
This is a typical dress during the 18th century. Judging from all
the other dresses on the website, this dress seems like the type of
style women with some money would wear, because the dress is
fairly simple but still looks elegant and well sown. I especially
like how the colours were used. The palette of colour gives this
warm almost motherly feeling.
Why I chose this dress was because it was low cut compared to
the other two. I want Marie to be an attractive lady and show
off her curves but not look like she is a promiscuous woman.
The patterns on this dress are fairly simple and I was thinking
of using similar patterns. The way the long skirt at the bottom
opens up makes the top part look smaller and really nice.
This dress is the more elegant version for richer people. The style of the
dress, taking out the ruffles and fancy designs (which, with a closer look,
resembles curtains), will look good still. I like the way the dress has a
circular low cut in the front to make the chest look fuller. I can have
Marie’s dress be similar to this dress in terms of style and the way it was
cut, however, I will not add ruffles and well sewn designs because in
those times, it would require more money to make such a beautiful dress
5. Costume Research: Drum-Major
The Drum Major is an arrogant and prideful man. Now that I know more about colours, I’ve
noticed that most of the uniforms have red, gold and black and if not black, then blue
(probably because black and blue don’t go together because the colours are too dark). There are
so many types of designs for a military uniform I have no idea what to do and so I am going to
mix a bunch of ideas from the three pictures below. I want to Drum Major to be a handsome,
tall man. I want women to find him irresistible.
I am not sure if this is something close to a British army uniform.
I like the extra accessories and how they go really well on a black
uniform. If the uniform is designed according to the meaning of
the colours, then this uniform is meant for someone with high
authority. Though in this picture, he also looks like a guard. With
the way he stands and stares.
The opposite of the first picture, this
uniform has brighter colours. I think
this is a more loyal and so I think the
higher ups or more important figures
deserve to wear blue. I don’t like his
hat because it makes him look more
girly more than manly. Even though the
Drum Major does not go to war, in
scene seven, he showed power and
authority, which does not work if he
wore a flower hat.
This is a photograph that I took myself
during a party where there was a
gathering of military personnel. As
these soldiers (I don’t know their
positions.) were lining up to get their
pictures, I managed to snag one. I think
their uniform is really awesome. This is
more of a suit rather than a uniform, I
can get ideas of how to design the
Drum Major’s uniform from it.
6. Accessories Research
Because Marie is in a poor family, she does not have money to pamper herself with all the nice jewelry. She
only has the gold earrings that the Drum-Major has given her in the previous scene and a shard of broken
mirror. I’ve looked at different types of gold earrings that are simple because the Drum Major has just met
Marie and he’s not super rich to be able to buy really fancy jewelry.
% A simple pair of gold hoop earrings. I
think they are too modern for my scene.
Although it may look nice, I don’t think the
Drum Major would buy this for Marie because,
to me, hoop earrings do not have real elegance
and is something men shouldn’t buy for women
especially if they are trying to win them over.
I think this pair of earrings are much more effective in
getting a woman to fall for a man. These earrings show a
very elegant and sophisticated look. It looks lovely and
would make any woman beautiful and it would also cost
quite a bit of money in the 1890’s. From my research on
colours, gold means a promise of better times. I am not
sure if that is suppose to foreshadow and help show the
motive of the Drum Major or that gold was just valuable
then.
The Drum Major is the leader of the group. To go through parades, he must have his trusty
brand mace with him to show his power. Through my image researches, I seem to have only
found two types of maces.
These two maces have different designs and head styles.
The one on the left looks the deign on the body is carved
directly onto the stick while the mace on the right looks
more like a rope being tied around a metal stick, which I
don’t find that appealing. The mace on the left looks
much more suited to be the Drum Majors.
7. Stage Research
I have taken pictures of the stage in our auditorium so that I can use them as a reference as to how I am going to
design the stage and where I would want the audience. In a diagram, it would look like this:
Wall
Doors
Lights
Wings Wings
Stairs Stairs
Curtains
Audience Area Doors
Doors
Doors
Sound and Light Control
8. Stage Design
I have decided to use the proscenium arch stage because I want the audience to focus on the two
characters on the stage. The stage will have a smaller thrust stage in the front where Marie and the Drum Major
will stand most of the scene. I will not put a lot of furniture on the set because the scene will focus on the
atmosphere and to create atmosphere, I will use lighting and the voices of the actor and actress. On Google
SketchUp, I have created a 3-dimensional model of what my stage would look like.
The only furniture I am using in this setting is a bed and the window. The reason I chose to place a
window in the scene was because If someone looks through a window, there is a separation between the viewer
and the outside world. The window has glass so the person is left as a spectator, not as someone who actually has
any kind of involvement with the world. This is similar to the poor Marie. She gets called a whore and she does
not have money. She could not fight back because she is in no position to. However, she understands what they
mean when they call her a whore but she still has the dignity to compare herself with any woman.
I placed a bed on the stage because by the end of the scene, the audience will now what will happen.
Audience:
Cast:
The audience will mostly be
placed in the center area because
the actor and actress with nearly
always stand in the center. only in
the front row when the seats go
around the entire stage.
9. Stage: Other Aspects
Lighting: Since the scene would be small with not a lot of movement that covers the entire stage, I only want one
spotlight in the middle of the scene where the characters will be in most of the time. The light is tinted yellow to
look like the room is illuminated by candle light. At the end of the scene. The characters will freeze and the
spotlight turns red to show that these two are committing a sin with Marie cheating on Woyzeck.
Design Concept
The message I want the audience to try and interpret will not be as clear because I am more focused on
how the actor and actress create mood and atmosphere by themselves. A meaning or symbolism in the scene is the
lighting. The end of the scene is show by a red spotlight shown on the pair to show that, what I think, is sin. The
fact that there are only two things on the stage shows that Marie’s room is small and rather empty because she
would only by things that are necessary for living. Plus it is not the main focus of the scene. The main focus is the
relationship between Marie and the Drum Major and how they act. The stage is small and the furniture would
take up a huge amount of space, and so, I extended the stage with a mini thrust stage, so Marie and the Drum
Major would be standing downstage center most of the time. It would also be easier for the audience to see. The
front row audience would get to sit around the curve of the stage, while the people in the back are put into the
center to be able to see properly.
The colours of the costume are according to the meanings I have researched. Marie’s dress shows grey to
show her depression towards her life and her husband. She has red lips to show that she is still a beautiful woman
despite what Margaret says about her. The brown on her dress shows her natural strength and that she is not a
weak woman. The colours I used on the Drum Major’s uniform is meant to represent his authority and power of
the Marie in the scene. He has bold colours like black to show authority and power, stability and strength. Black
also makes him look thinner. He has gold to show that he has gain medals of honor and he has pride. While the
blue means that he is loyal. It does not necessarily mean the the Drum Major himself is loyal, but he should be in
his position.
10. Citation Research Works Cited
"Psychology Of Color." Precision Intermedia a Northern California MultiMedia Marketing Agency . N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.
<http://www.precisionintermedia.com/color.html>.
This website gave me a really good understanding of the meanings of colours. It gave me less choices on colour
because each had different meanings and I didn’t want the colours to contradict each other.
"Symbolism of Doors and Windows in Modern Literature - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com." Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com.
N.p., 8 June 2007. Web. 12 Dec. 2012. <http://voices.yahoo.com/symbolism-doors-windows-modern-
literature-374933.html>.
I added a window in the scene and I didn’t know why. So, I researched the window and what it symbolizes and try to
connect it to Marie. I think the reason was rather weird but it would make at least some sense.
Pictures Works Cited
" Drum Major Mace Stick Stave Embossed Head with Lion and Crown Badge Size 58 60 | eBay." Electronics, Cars, Fashion,
Collectibles, Coupons and More Online Shopping | eBay. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2012. <http://www.ebay.com/itm/
DRUM-MAJOR-MACE-STICK-STAVE-EMBOSSED-HEAD-WITH-LION-AND-CROWN-BADGE-
SIZE-58-60-/261026990765>.
"14K Gold Fashion Dangle Earrings. Gold earrings. discount gold.." K&K Jewelry Fine Gold Diamond Gemstone and Christian
Jewelry. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2012. <http://www.kandkjewelry.com/gofadaea.html>.
"18th Century Gowns." Pinterest. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <pinterest.com/sew18thcentury/18th-century-gowns/ >.
"Drum Major Mace / wenden goud Chrome met Eagle Top." Markt Plaza. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.
<muziek.marktplaza.nl/drumstellen/Drum-Major-Mace-wenden-goud-Chrome-met-Eagle-Top-25426147.htm >.
"FJM Store." FJM. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2012. <http://fjminc.com/store/mase/drum-major-mace-metal/>.
"Gold Medallion Drop Earrings." Bernardine. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2005. <www.bernardine.com/goldjewelry/medallion-
earrings.htm>.
"ToonTotalWar's - Continental, British, Hessian, Spanish, French and Indian Armies for American Revolution." Total War
Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. <www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=244468&page=95 >.
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