Celebrated Jumping Frog Play Analysis

The technical aspects of the production such as scenery, properties and costumes also played a keynote in the productions success. The scenery was fabulous it truly made the play. It was very realistic and extremely vibrant. Almost the entire play was performed in one setting, except for the railcar and dance scenes. The house, the main setting, was magnificent with painstakingly placed detail in every corner. All elements in the house matched wonderfully, for example the furniture, the photos on the wall, the telephone and even the trash can. Little bits of detail were everywhere adding to the beautification of the set, for example the lace decorations on the chairs, the etched glass above the front door and even the Christmas tree.

Each element gave the stage a different feel that matched every scene , complementing each brilliantly. The only element that lacked for me was lights, although very bright ; in my opinion the reoccurring blue wasn't the best option. I feel if the lighting designer would have had more warmer colored lights against the already vibrant set pieces, it would have made the stage pop more. But one thing i did particularly fancy, were the costumes the characters wore and how they fit each character. Each character's’ costume showed the dichotomy between the personalities and tastes of each individual. For example Ilona played by Jane Krakowski was dressed in a scarlet / pinkish dress with a high slit up the left side; showing her seductive character type. Meaning when i saw Ilona on stage, I immediately knew who i was looking at . Lastly the sound effects included , like the door jingle sound or The bike bell , added to the whole idea of being inside and outside of a retail building. These effects gave the stage an outdoorsy feel , drawing you in , giving the audience illusions of really being in 1930’s

The set was designed in a way that was very versatile and yet, still convey a serious message. By versatile, I am implying that the open-stage with two ramps crossing each other in the background was plain and simple but served a purpose of several scenes -- such as a bar, church, and even a funeral. A set prop that were a key pieces in the play were the wooden benches, these made it possible for the actors to switch scenes. Some examples on the usage of the benches were when they stacked two benches one on top of another and turned it into a bar, they turned the bench in a vertical position and created a podiums to express different religions, or setting the benches in a close and aligned design to create a church. Other props that influenced the scenes were snow, umbrellas, then using the umbrellas as angel wings, and of course lighting. Instead of building entire sets, or making the audience use their imagination with no props included in the play, the set designers and directors created visuals that were ordinary objects and interacted the audience to use their imagination and "build" the appropriate set for the scene in their minds. I believe by keeping a low budget, the designers of The Laramie Project accomplished a bigger impact on the audience with a simple-low-budget set rather than an expensive-big-fancy set.

Early on, Jones identified what a stage setting is: “A stage setting is not a background; it is an environment” (Jones 20) and that it is there to “remind the audience of where the actors are supposed to be” (Jones 138). In fact, this reminder for the audience was called an “allusion” (Jones 138), which is even more helpful when attempting to define what the role of scenic design should be. An allusion can then be a reference point for time, place, socioeconomic status, etc. to grab a hold of and suspend the audience’s disbelief. Like the author discussed, a setting also doesn’t have to be realistic, especially as that is not

The varying writing techniques of the literary world bring particular elements to stories, giving each their own added meaning. In his story, “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” Mark Twain uses two distinct dialects. Contrasting characters, one named Simon Wheeler and the other remaining unnamed, each speaking in their own fashion. By doing this to his characters, Twain ensures that the reader experiences the writing of the realism era in a way that is more than a plot that is merely stated, and not given much value. The characteristics that the story has from dialect usage- these being distinction between two scenarios, theme, and authenticity-are supplemental to the plot’s overall caliber.

Two productions that I had enjoyed seeing very much were Lend Me a Tenor and One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. Both of these productions were great and had very great storyline and I really enjoyed both of these productions. Each production had great actors and each portrayed their character very well, by using many of the aspects of the six elements of theatre that Aristotle used to explain the aesthetics of theatre. Each of these productions had very interesting characters and also had great plots that kept audiences on the edges of their seats. In each of these productions there were also many recurring themes and important messages that were underlying the whole play. The design and furniture of both plays were also very stunning and visually pleasing. In Lend Me a Tenor, there was a set of a house, which was very neat and very pretty. The house was very great and also had other doors to other rooms that were very neatly and visually set up. In the production, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, the design of the set was very horror filled and it was very dark because the setting was inside an asylum. A lot of the plot production and set and use of characters to reveal the theme was prevalent in both of the plays. Both productions had very great and visually pleasing sets, but also had difference in the mood each set gave off.

The space was a well-constructed thrust stage however, the stage was not raised off the ground and the seats appeared to be mobile which lead to the belief that this is an Environmental Theater. As for the layout of the stage, there was a couch and a table in center stage for the first two acts, a door to the unseen outside front of the house upstage right, there were two large double doors upstage center leading to the backyard garden, and a raised floor upstage left containing a piano, a bookcase and a door

I truly did feel a little panicked between the dim lights, the cannons going off that were filled with cotton and confetti. When it comes to theatre when one person says lights you automatically think of sound. This show, while it did not have many sound effects, it did have a few moments where the music would set the mood during particular scenes. One of the sound effects used were bird whistles. The whistles were extremely accurate to that of a bird’s chirp and helped give the illusion that there were physically birds in the room. Another tool used that was used during this show was the harp. The harp helped give the audience a sense of eeriness whenever the harp was played after the name M’Closky was spoken. All three of these scenic elements would not go very well unless they had a set to focus everything around. The set was very detailed; however, it was simple. There were only two stationary moving pieces which consisted of the dock and the backdrop. I think that the simplicity of the set did the show justice because it did not take away from the meaning the play invoked in the audience. The set had few scenic pieces such as movable vanities, crates, and chairs, which were not all on at the same time.

It will bring laughter to everyone too. The stories on how Red dog by everyone that impacted their lives and the lives in the mining town, and how the town got changed through their red friend was emotional and the film has it quirky characters and comedic situation, being funny without really trying too hard. In the movie everything felt as natural as it can be with Red dog and the town friendship slowly grow on. This film to me very genuinely on how the story go on. You will laugh, you will cry and you will love to watch it

The scenery revealed multiples information about the setting. The opening scene conveyed that the musical is set in the present times. The set looked very rusty and depressing implying that the setting was very poor-like, the set designer did an extraordinary job on creating the tone. In the beginning the tone was very melancholy, but as the musical proceeded it turned into a cheerful comedy. In the beginning the colors of brown and gray dominated the scenery, but the colors frequently change depending on the musical number acts and what the musical numbers wanted to accomplish. The scenery didn’t have many moving parts, but they had many pulleys that change the set. The main setting was this huge background wall that was dominated by many geometric shapes, this was mostly used when the main character reunited to hold their rehearsal for their final performance. Also, there were many lights manipulations to change the setting, the big wall was diminished by black lights and they use simple sets like urinal stall and beds to represent the club’s bathroom and the bedroom respectively. I knew that this musical was realistic because there were not any absurdities in the set. Another aspect to carefully evaluate when you go to the theater is the costumes and lighting. The costumes were very simple and not too literal, the main characters were all middle-aged men. Their wives had a much fancier

Going to watch my first ever play for a studio one act was a different experience that what I had imagined. I was not expecting the theatre to be smaller in size and it be like a big regular theatre. The theatre in this case was a box shaped and the stage was in the middle of the floor instead in front of the audience. The lights I thought would come as a problem as they might be shined into our eyes but they were never on the audience which was surprising to me. Also the actors and actresses has a good amount of space to act.

5. The way I reacted to the characters in the play was that they all

Authors use stylistic techniques to convey meaning and to bring richness and clarity to their pieces of writing. In the short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” a man named Smiley is cheated out of a bet after he was so confident that he was going to be victorious. In the short story “Cannibalism in the Cars,” a train full of political figures is stopped by a severe snowstorm, preventing them from continuing their journey. In “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” and “Cannibalism in the Cars,” Mark Twain uses imagery, characterization, and foreshadowing in order to aid a reader's understanding of the stories.

Although drama is key to any story, short or long, the setting and the props surrounding the drama add a more dynamic element to the story. Raymond Carver is an example of a writer that utilizes day to day settings in all his stories and then adds props surrounding the characters. It is able to give more insight to the narrator’s personality that you wouldn’t learn if the props weren’t a part of the story or through dialogue. He is able to let the narrator speak about the narrator’s surroundings and most specifically the images and props he or she sees that provokes the narrator into vividly describing it to us through the writing of the author.

The setting of the play helped to develop the mood. First of all, the abundance of props brought the story to live successfully. For example, the bed and door created the forgotten, quiet feeling in the old man's room. Next, the floorboards were lifted up so it actually looked like the