FTMPD: Performance and Design

Module code: FTMPD

Module provider: Film, Theatre and TV; School of Arts and Comm Design

Credits: 20

Level: Postgraduate Masters

When you'll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Dr Matt McFrederick, email: m.mcfrederick@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 27 June 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The module aims to offer students a critical and practical exploration of theatre and performance design by engaging with historical and contemporary scenographic practices. For decades, designers have been often overlooked in favour of playwrights or directors, but this module will promote the role designers have played in shaping and reimagining the world of theatre and performance. You will engage with the latest scholarship in the thriving field of scenography, where you will become informed researchers and practitioners in terms of topics such as expanded scenography, eco-scenography, and digital scenography, for example. The aim of the module is to advance the ways you read, see and encounter the visual, aural, spatial, material and technological elements of design through these topics and the module will support their understanding and approaches through relevant critical reading and discussions on a diverse range of international designers, methods and performance environments (E.g. from proscenium arch productions to installations). You will have the opportunity to communicate their critical understanding of theatre and performance design through in-class discussions and practical workshops, but you will also articulate their learning through the written component of the module’s assessment. Performance & Design will allow students to situate the module in terms of professional contexts through visits to archives (such as the National Theatre Archive).

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Understand key critical concepts and terminology in relation to the field of theatre and performance design
2. Identify and independently research key designers who have transformed practical, aesthetic and experiential possibilities in theatre, performance and other art forms
3. Evidence advanced practical approaches (in material and virtual model box making, set and costume drawing, sound and projection editing and design, sustainable practice, for example) towards designing for performance through workshops and a portfolio/practical project
4. Examine the practical and critical relationship of design in theatre, performance and other art forms, including for material, digital and ecological scenographies, approaches for analsying scenography and the application of critical ideas in professional practice
5. Use critical written reflection: appropriate deployment of research using printed and electronic resources, critical analysis and coherent argument; presentation of written work using IT; self-evaluation and self-critical analysis
6. Use creative production/practical work: practical planning and time management; successful management of the individuals and resources involved in production, within the constraints and policies of the Department; the development of IT and technical skills appropriate to the given project (e.g. virtual model drawing; projection design)

Module content

Students will work independently or in small groups to develop a collectively designed, critically ambitious portfolio/practical project that responds to a brief and focuses on a topic covered on the module: for example, archives and materiality, digital scenography, expanded scenography or eco-scenography. The project should build on research they have completed and skills they have acquired throughout their degree programme – expanding upon the practical skills and critical frameworks they have explored on the module. The portfolio/practical project should be carefully researched and supported by a critically informed project proposal prior to embarking on the task. The portfolio/practical project should be guided by a series of relevant research questions and students will be able to advance their ideas through technical support and through supervisory meetings with module tutors. Students will be asked to respond to the practical and critical ideas in their workshops through in person discussions and/or  a written component (E.g. Development Blogs) that captures their in-class analysis and experiments, as well as their reflections on the history and contemporary models of practice and emerging research in the field of scenography. 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Students will learn through workshops which will include critical and practical approaches to performance design. The workshops will focus on specific topics across the term, such as expanded scenography, eco-scenography, and digital scenography. Teaching and learning methods will include in-class staff and student lectures/presentations, seminar-style discussion groups, technician-led practical workshops, portfolio/practical project supervision, theatre and archive visits, and visiting talks or masterclasses from designers and/or scholars. Some of these teaching and learning sessions may be delivered through blended learning.  Students will have the chance to reflect on their learning through the module’s written component and they can demonstrate their practical development through the realisation of their final portfolio/practical project.  

Study hours

At least 18 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 50% to pass this module

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Formative feedback will be provided in class.

Reassessment

Additional costs