Paintin' FOOTLOOSE!
Paintin' FOOTLOOSE!
Paintin'
FOOTLOOSE!
Scenic Charge (summer job between JMU Freshman and Sophomore years)
FOOTLOOSE!
Blake High School Summer Musical Theatre Institute 2017
Michel D. D’Anna, Producer
Matthew J. Bowerman, Director
Scenic Charge (summer job between JMU Freshman and Sophomore years)
FOOTLOOSE!
Blake High School Summer Musical Theatre Institute 2017
Michel D. D’Anna, Producer
Matthew J. Bowerman, Director

So many surfaces, so many possibilities. FOOTLOOSE! turned out to be a small-scale study of building materials vs. time and the elements; rusted tin, several kinds of weathered plank, a massive set of windows and and a train trestle in dire need of primer and paint. Rusted tin and the trestle have their own posts; read on for an overview of how we created the weathered plank and massive windows.
Rusted Tin (See & learn more)

Rehearsal lighting

Show lighting



Without graffiti – Rehearsal lighting

With graffiti – Show lighting
Rough-sawn Lumber

Rehearsal lighting

Show lighting



Mentoring includes not just telling and showing them processes, but letting them try for themselves, and help in the process. This can be challenging when it is a skill that is already difficult to complete. Woodgraining requires light touches with the brush, while keeping the lines parallel to the edge. This technique involves a wet blend base layer, with a middle coat of wood grain, and a finishing coat with a wash of white to tone down the texture. However, on some of the strips, we added some blocking to add an aged texture to the wood.



Mentoring includes not just telling and showing them processes, but letting them try for themselves, and help in the process. This can be challenging when it is a skill that is already difficult to complete. Woodgraining requires light touches with the brush, while keeping the lines parallel to the edge. This technique involves a wet blend base layer, with a middle coat of wood grain, and a finishing coat with a wash of white to tone down the texture. However, on some of the strips, we added some blocking to add an aged texture to the wood.
TIP: Extend your Brush Handles
Bamboo was the greatest invention since the paint brush handle. These bamboo sticks are incredible for not only long reaches, but also saving a painter from having to sit on the floor to paint a low set piece. They allow the artist to see their work as a whole, instead of the concentrated parts that they are working on at that moment.
All it takes is a hollowed out bamboo stick, a brush handle, and a rubber band to complete this artistic tool.
TIP: Extend your Brush Handles
Bamboo was the greatest invention since the paint brush handle. These bamboo sticks are incredible for not only long reaches, but also saving a painter from having to sit on the floor to paint a low set piece. They allow the artist to see their work as a whole, instead of the concentrated parts that they are working on at that moment.
All it takes is a hollowed out bamboo stick, a brush handle, and a rubber band to complete this artistic tool.
Massive Windows

Rehearsal lighting

Show lighting



Teams were a key to tackling these windows. The same treatment as the above wooden texture was applied to the windows. While there was not enough room to use bamboo sticks for the sides of the windows, we painters had to bend down and paint, along with recruiting four other people to flip them on their sides for straight woodgraining.

Q: What does a Scenic Charge do after the set is set?
A: Call Followspots!
Followspot Operator in the 6th grade was my first theatrical job if you leave out skits, singing and dancing with our neighborhood bunch. I volunteered for tech after I wasn’t cast in Beauty and the Beast Jr. To paraphrase a line from the show we did in 8th grade, it really was the start of something new!

Q: What does a Scenic Charge do after the set is set?
A: Call Followspots!
Followspot Operator in the 6th grade was my first theatrical job if you leave out skits, singing and dancing with our neighborhood bunch. I volunteered for tech after I wasn’t cast in Beauty and the Beast Jr. To paraphrase a line from the show we did in 8th grade, it really was the start of something new!
Scenic Charge (summer job between JMU Freshman and Sophomore years)
FOOTLOOSE!
Blake High School Summer Musical Theatre Institute 2017
Michel D. D’Anna, Producer
Matthew J. Bowerman, Director
Scenic Charge (summer job between JMU Freshman and Sophomore years)
FOOTLOOSE!
Blake High School Summer Musical Theatre Institute 2017
Michel D. D’Anna, Producer
Matthew J. Bowerman, Director

So many surfaces, so many possibilities. FOOTLOOSE! turned out to be a small-scale study of building materials vs. time and the elements; rusted tin, several kinds of weathered plank, a massive set of windows and and a train trestle in dire need of primer and paint. Rusted tin and the trestle have their own posts; read on for an overview of how we created the weathered plank and massive windows.
Rusted Tin (See & learn more)

Rehearsal lighting

Show lighting



Without graffiti – Rehearsal lighting

With graffiti – Show lighting
Rough-sawn Lumber

Rehearsal lighting

Show lighting



Mentoring includes not just telling and showing them processes, but letting them try for themselves, and help in the process. This can be challenging when it is a skill that is already difficult to complete. Woodgraining requires light touches with the brush, while keeping the lines parallel to the edge. This technique involves a wet blend base layer, with a middle coat of wood grain, and a finishing coat with a wash of white to tone down the texture. However, on some of the strips, we added some blocking to add an aged texture to the wood.
TIP: Extend your Brush Handles
Bamboo was the greatest invention since the paint brush handle. These bamboo sticks are incredible for not only long reaches, but also saving a painter from having to sit on the floor to paint a low set piece. They allow the artist to see their work as a whole, instead of the concentrated parts that they are working on at that moment.
All it takes is a hollowed out bamboo stick, a brush handle, and a rubber band to complete this artistic tool.
Massive Windows

Rehearsal lighting

Show lighting



Teams were a key to tackling these windows. The same treatment as the above wooden texture was applied to the windows. While there was not enough room to use bamboo sticks for the sides of the windows, we painters had to bend down and paint, along with recruiting four other people to flip them on their sides for straight woodgraining.

Q: What does a Scenic Charge do after the set is set?
A: Call Followspots!
Followspot Operator in the 6th grade was my first theatrical job if you leave out skits, singing and dancing with our neighborhood bunch. I volunteered for tech after I wasn’t cast in Beauty and the Beast Jr. To paraphrase a line from the show we did in 8th grade, it really was the start of something new!