Concept Design: Cleo From 5 to 7

This was an experimental scenic/video design for an adaptation of Agnes Varda’s Cleo From 5 to 7. I embraced the themes of perception and existentialism, and the visual motif of the black and white film and mirrors.

The presence of real reflective surfaces is not only as a scenic tool, but also a projection tool. The large mirror panel allows the characters to be dually presented, and projecting onto mirrors, especially in a dark space, can lead to the projection appearing on the ground while allowing parts of the image to remain on the mirror, which would be effective for Cleo’s moments of terror and attempt to ignore or escape from the world around her.

I think there is also possibility for the use of one-sided mirrors, allowing for reflection and transparency to be used at different points throughout the piece. However, I am inexperienced with the theory associated with them and would have to do some experiments.

I would slowly colorize the set and the videos that accompany the play so that throughout it transitions from grayscale to color. This would mean the difficult task of draining the set and actors of as much color as we could at the beginning of the play, but this would parallel the transformation of Cleo from a scared, objectified beauty to a confident woman. It would provide a strong contrast between the light and dark onstage, thus providing emphasis for the themes of the piece. It would also help guide the audience’s gaze towards the color on the scene. This can be done through makeup, light temperature, and set design, as well as live video effects, with the video projection being completely black and white until moments where change would make sense.

Clearly these aspects would require a strict control of light on the stage, which could also be used to direct the gaze of the audience and transition tonally from Cleo’s doom and gloom at the beginning, to her acceptance of the uncertain and perception of reality at the end. This use of light could also be used in the live and pre-filmed video footage, transitioning from high contrast to soft light.