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Let's create something brilliant together.

Let's create something brilliant together.

SHREK DESIGN PALETTES

 

SCENIC PAINT COLOR PALETTE : SHREK
Color suggestions provided by Scenic Artist Bridgette Dennett
  • 5354 OB Burnt Umber
  • 5365 OB Chrome Oxide Green
  • 5366 OB Lemon Yellow
  • 5382 OB Paynes Grey
  • 5350 OB White v2
  • 5483 Metallix Burnished Bronze
  • 5373 OB Pthalo Blue
  • 5364 OB Emerald Green

You’re going to need a swamp. Use the Paynes Grey & Burnt Umber to create rich tree trunks and bark texture. Then use the Chrome Oxide Green as a great base color for the greenery. Mix together a brighter highlight green by combining the Chrome Oxide Green with some Lemon Yellow, and then use the Paynes Grey to create swampy shadows and dimension.

 

Paint Fiona’s tower railing with the Burnished Bronze – then blend together some of the Pthalo Blue and the Emerald Green to add a turquoise-colored patina to the bronze that will age the scenery. Learn more about patina effects here.

 

For the city walls of Duloc, mix together three shades of Paynes Grey by mixing in some Off Broadway White so that you have a base color, a darker shadow color, and a lighter color you can use for highlights & grout lines for the stone wall.

PRO TIP

Use the paints inside Rosco's Foliage Scenic Set to practice mixing together the perfect swamp colors for your Shrek set design.

 

rosco_scenic_sets_foliage_web
SCENIC COATINGS PALETTE: OKLAHOMA!
Coating suggestions provided by Scenic Artist Bridgette Dennett
  • v2 Scenic Products Foamcoat copy
  • Scenic Products blank
  • v2 Scenic Products Foamcoat copy
  • Scenic Products Flexcoat
  • v2 Scenic Palette CrystalGel copy

If the trees in your swamp are constructed out of carved foam, you can use Rosco FoamCoat to protect the carving and prime the foam for paint. Learn more about foam foliage here.

For both Duloc and for Fiona’s tower, you’re going to need stone walls. Below, are two ways to create faux stone walls with Rosco FoamCoat.

  • Classic carved foam: carve your stones into some thick, rigid sheet foam, then coat them with FoamCoat for durability.
  • Textured realism: tape out your mortar lines onto a piece of MDF that is painted in your mortar color. Slather the FoamCoat over the mortar lines creating uneven, stonelike texture as you go. Remove mortar tape and paint. Learn more on page 3 of this resource!

In both cases, the FoamCoat can be tinted in the base coat color of your stone – then apply highlight and shadow colors for more dimensionality/realism.

 

Building your own Dragon puppet? A well-constructed foam base can give you scale and drama (just remember proper ventilation and to use a respirator if you’re carving with a hot knife). You can find great step-by-step instructions on how to make a Dragon puppet here.

That technique works well with either rigid foam or soft flexible foam. Whichever you choose, protect your Dragon carving and prepare her for painting with Rosco FoamCoat – best for rigid foam – or Rosco FlexCoat – best for soft, flexible foam. Then use Rosco CrystalGel to glue any foam parts together.

For finishing touches, consider making your lady dragon shimmer. Mix glitter into the CrystalGel and brush it onto her scales for sparkle and dimension.  

EFFECT RECIPE

A Magical Invisible Blue Moon

You’re going to want a spellbinding, glowing moon for Fiona’s transformation. Create an ethereal lunar backdrop that will elevate the moment from sweet to spectacular using Rosco Invisible Blue Fluorescent Paint and a black light like Rosco’s Miro Cube 2 UV365.

Invisible Blue Moon

 

COLOR FILTER PALETTE: SHREK
Color suggestions provided by Lighting Designer Darius Evans
  • G666 palette
  • R3313 palette copy
  • R388 palette copy
  • R3150 palette copy
  • R372 palette copy
  • R3203 palette copy
  • R348 palette copy
  • R37 palette copy
  • R16 palette copy

Use the G666 as Shrek’s followspot color, and for Ogre-Fiona, to make their green skin pop. You can use the R3313 in the followspots for any other non-green character to help negate any green contamination from the green followspot.

For Shrek's nasty cottage in the swamp, wash the stage in pools of R388 and R3150 with some swampy foliage gobos (see below) to make your set feel dirty.

Illuminate the stage with flat washes of R372 & R3203, to depict the “lifeless” sterilized city of Duloc.

You’ll need to create a sunset just before Fiona’s ogre reveal. Wash your Cyc in blended bands of R16 (bottom), R37 (middle), and R348 (top) to “paint” an illuminated sunset behind the actors. Click here for more sunset color ideas.

 

 

GOBO PALETTE: OKLAHOMA!
Gobo suggestions provided by Lighting Designer Darius Evans
  • Palette Gobo 77109 copy
  • Palette Gobo 77564 copy
  • Scenic Products blank
  • Palette Gobo 77527 copy
  • Palette Gobo 77168
  • Palette Gobo 77405

 Project some R77109 & R77564 gobos across the stage to help accentuate Shrek’s swampy shack. Combine the gobos with some of the R388 and/or R3150 to add texture to Shrek's home, add depth on stage, and make the scenery pop.  

 

No time to paint a wall for your Duloc or Fiona’s tower sets? Project a brick wall with a 77527. Explore combining the gobo with some of the orange R16 for Fiona’s tower or some of the steely blue R3203 for your Duloc castle wall. 

 

 

Use R77168 and R77405 gobos in any sunrise/sunset looks. Combine the R77168 gobo with some of the R37 to streak pink clouds across your Cyc. Use R77405 gobos with some of the R16 to dapple areas of warmth across the stage.

 

EFFECT RECIPE

Amber Blowing Fire

Project a blazing inferno onto your Cyc for your Dragon’s lair set using a Rosco X-Effects LED Projector. Watch the video to see the recipe – and then click the button below to see where you can rent the fixture for your production.

 

Resources

Rosco Theatrical Design Palettes Order Form Thumbnail
Rosco Theatrical Design Palettes Shrek Moodboard thumbnail