My old space at another website had a blog about it. I'll republish it here. Please forgive my use of passive voice in a few places...I wrote this in March of '05.
"Some people who visit this site are confused by the term 'scenographic model.'
"sceno-graph-ic=scene/draw
"The above word-attack might help you. The purpose of the model is to create a picture of a scene.
"A scenographic model is a wonderful thing! Gary Benson from Brigham Young University-Idaho taught me how to build a scenographic model. These are scale models of the set for any given production. The models are most often built in 1/4", 1/2", and 3/4" scale. They include the sets and properties for the play. Furniture, walls, curtains, rugs--objects of all descriptions that are in the play can be fabricated to scale to be placed in the model.
"Why build a scenographic model? Well, that's easy! To give people an idea of your concept of the set. A scenic designer will present a model to a director and/or producer, and if the model is approved the designer will present it to the group that is to build the set. These models are an amazing and an exciting tool! One may move the objects to see what something would look like rearranged. One may tear it apart and rebuild it. One may use its parts in another model. They are versitile and often inexpensive.
"The models Gary Benson and his students made were fabricated from regular household objects. Some people did buy wood to mount them on, but I mounted mine on illustration board and cardboard. We cut cardboard and wood as well as other materials (foam, paper, foil, etc) to make furniture, but we also used wire, beads, bottle-caps, rubber bands, key rings, marbles, and heads sawed off of plastic animals (for taxedermy on the wall!)--there are infinite possibilities of what to use in a model.
"Then the model is usually painted the colors you designed it to be painted. Yes, it can be repainted, too.
"The characters in the play are also made. I like to draw mine and stand them up, but some people make their characters out of other materials.
"This is my new hobby as well as a tool I use to envision a set I am designing. I love it! If you've ever had anything to scale as a kid (doll houses, toy stages, army men, etc) you'll love this. I wished I had been introduced to it as a kid. It would be easy to teach a perceptive school-aged child (small parts, DO NOT let kids under three play with these things) how to build these and put on their own plays. My uncle had a "showboat" when he was a child and it ran on the same concept: it was a small stage to scale with characters and sets. He often tells me how much fun he had with it. However, you'd better help them if it involves cutting or glueguns. Make it as safe as possible. Simplify it for them.
"An excellent resource on the topic is Theory and Craft of the Scenographic Model by Darwin Reid Payne."
So now you know. Before I couldn't post pictures, but now I can. So I'll include some photos of my models. They aren't perfect, but enjoy!
"Some people who visit this site are confused by the term 'scenographic model.'
"sceno-graph-ic=scene/draw
"The above word-attack might help you. The purpose of the model is to create a picture of a scene.
"A scenographic model is a wonderful thing! Gary Benson from Brigham Young University-Idaho taught me how to build a scenographic model. These are scale models of the set for any given production. The models are most often built in 1/4", 1/2", and 3/4" scale. They include the sets and properties for the play. Furniture, walls, curtains, rugs--objects of all descriptions that are in the play can be fabricated to scale to be placed in the model.
"Why build a scenographic model? Well, that's easy! To give people an idea of your concept of the set. A scenic designer will present a model to a director and/or producer, and if the model is approved the designer will present it to the group that is to build the set. These models are an amazing and an exciting tool! One may move the objects to see what something would look like rearranged. One may tear it apart and rebuild it. One may use its parts in another model. They are versitile and often inexpensive.
"The models Gary Benson and his students made were fabricated from regular household objects. Some people did buy wood to mount them on, but I mounted mine on illustration board and cardboard. We cut cardboard and wood as well as other materials (foam, paper, foil, etc) to make furniture, but we also used wire, beads, bottle-caps, rubber bands, key rings, marbles, and heads sawed off of plastic animals (for taxedermy on the wall!)--there are infinite possibilities of what to use in a model.
"Then the model is usually painted the colors you designed it to be painted. Yes, it can be repainted, too.
"The characters in the play are also made. I like to draw mine and stand them up, but some people make their characters out of other materials.
"This is my new hobby as well as a tool I use to envision a set I am designing. I love it! If you've ever had anything to scale as a kid (doll houses, toy stages, army men, etc) you'll love this. I wished I had been introduced to it as a kid. It would be easy to teach a perceptive school-aged child (small parts, DO NOT let kids under three play with these things) how to build these and put on their own plays. My uncle had a "showboat" when he was a child and it ran on the same concept: it was a small stage to scale with characters and sets. He often tells me how much fun he had with it. However, you'd better help them if it involves cutting or glueguns. Make it as safe as possible. Simplify it for them.
"An excellent resource on the topic is Theory and Craft of the Scenographic Model by Darwin Reid Payne."
So now you know. Before I couldn't post pictures, but now I can. So I'll include some photos of my models. They aren't perfect, but enjoy!
My first model, from Gary Benson's class. It's of Endgame by Beckett, though Beckett is pretty adamant about having minimalistic sets, so I goofed up on that one (on purpose, though).
The bleak courtyard in How I Died.
The street scene in How I Died.
The waiting room in How I Died.
The forest in A Midsummer Night's Dream. My final project in Gary Benson's class.
The indoor scenes in A Midsummer Night's Dream would be here. I designed it for a stage with a turntable, the forest on the other side of this.
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