WEBVTT

1
00:00:06.606 --> 00:00:08.074
Welcome back, everyone!

2
00:00:08.074 --> 00:00:10.310 line:0
In this session,
we'll be exploring vision.

3
00:00:10.710 --> 00:00:13.680 line:0
Today, we'll learn all about
how a Director creates

4
00:00:13.680 --> 00:00:17.183 line:0
and communicates her or his vision
for the production of a play.

5
00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:22.422
When we began The Lion King Experience,

6
00:00:22.422 --> 00:00:26.726
we introduced you to Julie Taymor's
production of The Lion King on Broadway.

7
00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:29.963
The production came from her vision
as a Director.

8
00:00:30.630 --> 00:00:35.235 line:0
Vision is the overall idea,
look and feel of a production of a play.

9
00:00:36.136 --> 00:00:38.271 line:0
A Producer provides resources

10
00:00:38.271 --> 00:00:41.274
and support for a Director
to achieve her vision.

11
00:00:41.374 --> 00:00:45.645
Let's hear more about how Julie's vision
transferred to the stage in this interview

12
00:00:45.779 --> 00:00:49.816
with Disney Theatrical Productions
president and Producer, Thomas Schumacher.

13
00:00:50.617 --> 00:00:53.386 line:0
You know, with the thing
that that as a Director

14
00:00:53.386 --> 00:00:57.323 line:0
and sometimes Director/Designer is
you're always looking for the abstraction,

15
00:00:57.323 --> 00:01:00.160 line:0
the ideograph abstraction of what
the whole is.

16
00:01:00.160 --> 00:01:01.261 line:0
And it's very simple

17
00:01:01.261 --> 00:01:03.196 line:0
in The Lion King, it's the circle.

18
00:01:03.196 --> 00:01:07.567 line:0
It's the circle of life, it's the sun,
it's Mufasa's head, it's the circle.

19
00:01:07.634 --> 00:01:10.203
The success of the movie is its humanity.

20
00:01:10.203 --> 00:01:14.140
It's not that they're animals, it's
that they're humans in animal guise.

21
00:01:14.140 --> 00:01:18.144
So the notion of combining the human
and the animal came early.

22
00:01:18.144 --> 00:01:20.413
Then the mask was the solution.

23
00:01:20.413 --> 00:01:24.317
The double event mask,
where you would never hide the performer.

24
00:01:27.720 --> 00:01:30.824
The Director is not only responsible
for thinking of the vision,

25
00:01:31.224 --> 00:01:34.060
the Director is like
the Captain of the ship.

26
00:01:34.060 --> 00:01:38.431
So she also needs to communicate
her vision to the designers, actors,

27
00:01:38.431 --> 00:01:42.635
and the rest of the production team so
that everyone is telling the same story.

28
00:01:43.103 --> 00:01:46.339
Some Directors choose to use images
to communicate their vision.

29
00:01:46.940 --> 00:01:50.210 line:0
A vision board is one way in
which their ideas can be displayed.

30
00:01:50.910 --> 00:01:54.214 line:0
Let's look at what a vision board
may have looked like for Julie Taymor's

31
00:01:54.214 --> 00:01:56.716 line:0
production of The Lion King.

32
00:01:56.716 --> 00:01:59.319
Notice that the board doesn't
contain any sketches

33
00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:02.722
of what the characters and costumes
and sets should look like.

34
00:02:03.423 --> 00:02:06.493
Instead, there are photographs and colors

35
00:02:06.493 --> 00:02:10.897
and other images that reflect
what the production should feel like.

36
00:02:11.431 --> 00:02:13.199
This approach gives the Designers

37
00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:16.769
a place to start
without telling them exactly what to do.

38
00:02:17.137 --> 00:02:20.140
That's where collaboration comes in.

39
00:02:20.206 --> 00:02:23.209
The circle is a big part
of Julie Taymor's vision.

40
00:02:23.376 --> 00:02:26.646
It represents balance and symmetry
in the circle of life.

41
00:02:27.046 --> 00:02:31.084
She wanted that shape to be reflected
somehow in various parts of the design.

42
00:02:31.451 --> 00:02:34.187
Another part of Julie's
vision is what she calls

43
00:02:34.187 --> 00:02:35.421
the double event.

44
00:02:35.421 --> 00:02:37.891 line:0
Rather than using a full body costume,

45
00:02:38.057 --> 00:02:39.359 line:0
she wanted the audience

46
00:02:39.359 --> 00:02:43.363 line:0
to see the animal character
and the human actor at the same time.

47
00:02:43.897 --> 00:02:47.167 line:0
She wanted the audience
to feel the human emotion portrayed

48
00:02:47.167 --> 00:02:49.269
through the animal characters.

49
00:02:49.269 --> 00:02:53.873
Her vision was achieved through
unique costume, mask, and puppet design.

50
00:02:54.741 --> 00:02:58.244
Finally, Julie was inspired by art
from around the world.

51
00:02:58.711 --> 00:03:02.582
These African textiles and Balinese
shadow puppets are examples

52
00:03:02.582 --> 00:03:06.252
of her vision to use diverse
cultural traditions in the show.

53
00:03:06.819 --> 00:03:10.323
Together, all of these images
can give the various Designers

54
00:03:10.323 --> 00:03:14.527
a good sense of the production that
a Director has imagined for the stage.

55
00:03:14.761 --> 00:03:18.531
By putting them all on a vision board,
a Director can easily

56
00:03:18.531 --> 00:03:21.768
communicate her vision
with everyone involved in the show.

57
00:03:22.602 --> 00:03:25.104
Today, we explored a Director's vision and

58
00:03:25.104 --> 00:03:27.607
imagined what Julie Taymor's vision board for

59
00:03:27.607 --> 00:03:29.842
The Lion King on Broadway
might have looked like.

60
00:03:30.109 --> 00:03:30.777
Now,

61
00:03:30.777 --> 00:03:33.112
you'll brainstorm about the primary settings

62
00:03:33.112 --> 00:03:36.849
in The Lion King Kids and make your own
vision board for one of them.