A Production concept as I understand it is the overarching artistic theme that will tie all the elements together. Usually it's the director's vision but there are times when a design team can conceptualize together. An alternate challenge would be with something like a musical revue with no plot or connective tissue - how could a design team make the different acts seem like a unified performance?
As an example, I did a community theatre piece several years ago that took its script from oral histories of local neighborhood residents in a gritty area of a city. It had a theme of illness/wellness, but there was also a recurring storyline weaving through it that involved the local kids building a scarecrow out of junk in a city park. The design team's concept focused on the idea of a sick scarecrow. Patches, straw, grass, a stage layout like limbs, etc.
Alternate example, albeit somewhat silly - check out some of Lady Gaga's videos, the ones with storylines in them. There are many, but two that strike me as exemplary and very different are "
Alejandro" and "
Judas." Say what you will about the music and the person, but the technical concepts and unity thereof in both are fun to examine. They both deal with concepts based around debased religious imagery but in very different ways. How do the color, lighting, staging and casting work to emphasize the music? How about the cuts and camera angles? (Hint: watch for the times when they choose to use the "god" shot, filming from directly overhead, in both videos.)
Unrelated, welcome to SMNetwork. I'm guessing from your post that you're using this to apply for NTS and not for an assignment from an NTS class. It's totally understandable that someone with an exclusively stage managerial background would not have been introduced to the idea of a production concept - I didn't encounter it until college. Regardless, please do take a moment to review our
policies for students and ensure that you stay within the boundaries.
