Theatre Photography

Tutor:

Josef PTÁČEK

Synopsis:

Objective: Students will be introduced to issues relating to theatre photography, the classification of theatre photography in relation to other genres, and areas of theatre photography: drama, ballet, opera, pantomime, musical, dance, black theatre, puppet theatre, circus, etc.

Prerequisites:

Grading:

Graded credit: granted on the basis of submission of all prescribed assignments and evaluation of submitted photographs. The basic pre-requisites for grading are the student´s participation within at least 60% of the lectures, participation in posted mandatory joint consultations specified in the beginning of the course, as well as the submission of agreed on photographs in digital form - resolution 300 dpi with the length of the longer side of the format being 210mm.

Study Objectives:

Outline and Syllabus:

Course description:

Two introductory lectures with presentations.

Theoretical topics:

-what is theatre photography, as photography of reality that has already been stylized? (selection of motive, angle of view, lenses, selection of location, etc.)

-static or dynamic approach (depending on the nature of the performance)

-dynamic: two ways of depicting movement, following an object, using long exposures and a tripod

-black & white or color (slides or neg.), explanation of differences

-analogue or digital

-live actors or puppets (possible creative approaches)

-authentic vs. staged recording (puppets, musicals, etc.)

-lighting in theatres

-commercial requirements with regards to the final photographs vs. creative work

-how to get space into two dimensional image

-stylized image (Koudelka, Krejčí, Ptáček ? )

-need to be present during rehearsals?

-photographers presence on the stage (real life stories (Henke, Grossman?)

-opera specifics

-communication with actors and artists

-at least one quest speaker (Krejčí, Kronbauer, Holomíček, Prokop, Špelda ?)

Assignments:

Implementation: student negotiates with one theatre, decides for one performance and writes an explanation about what and how will be photographed.

To be submitted: 10 photograhs 30x40 + 5 color slides.

Processing: black & white done by the student. Cropping and framing is up to the student - what matters is the final output.

Credit for the winter semester - for work in progress.

Credit for the summer semester - for submission of the complete work.

Final deadline - middle of June.

Name of the Lecturer: Josef Ptáček

Contact: ptacek.foto@seznam.cz tel. 274818105 , 602461949

Consultation Hours: anytime during the seminars, 10x15 photos or contacts are sufficient

Study materials:

Theatre programs, Exhibitons catalogues, Posters, ....

Dvořák Jan: Divadlo v akci Panorama Praha 1988

Svoboda Jaromír: Národní divadlo zblízka Panorama Praha 1987

Krejčí Jaroslav: Divadelní jarmara Divadelní ústav Praha 2003

Holomíček Bohdan: Národní divadlo 2004

Note:

Schedule for winter semester 2008/2009:

The schedule has not yet been prepared

Schedule for summer semester 2008/2009:

The schedule has not yet been prepared

The subject is a part of the following study plans:

• Fotografie EN - bakalář (qualification subject)