SPECIAL EFFECTS
In
addition to the material covered in the scripts, another major roll played
in the thrill factor was Paul Ratineau and his team of genius. They were the
developers in almost all of the special effects. Lighting, sound, make-up,
props and blood recipes gave the intimate twenty by twenty foot stage a special
'effect' to the naturalism and horror of the show. "It is testament to
his technical skill and creativity that he was able to develop devises and
propels that were undetectable to audiences in this small and intimate theatre
space" (Hand and Wilson, 9). Ratineau was first and foremost an actor.
He was hired as a stage manager and experimented with the technical aspect
for the needs of the scripts. Because he was an actor he understood the movements
of the performers and how to execute the effect with visual realism. "His
argument is that the horror of the Grand-Guignol lies not in the physical
stage action, but in the way its skilled writing sets up audience's expectations…thus,
the author should strive to create an atmosphere, an ambience, to suggest
to the audience, little by little, that something
dreadful is going to happen (Hand and Wilson). "….terror
incited through the tricks of stage violence. These tricks were basically
simplistic, depending upon illusionism and machinery and especially sleight-of-hand.
To act at the Grand Guignol was to be a magician. But the primary ingredient
of the Grand Guignol was the recipe for the still secret Guignol blood which
changed colors as it cooled, actually coagulated and made scabs, and came
in nine shades. Critics hailed this last effect as the piece de resistance
of the Guignol's stable of terrifying tricks" (Emeljanow, 165). Until
1939, the theatre tightly guarded the recipes of their blood. "A number
of them were even patented" (Gordon 46). They also guarded the secrets
to most of the scenic techniques and bloody stage tricks.
The demand of this technical brilliance and focused performances dealt with
not only the multiple blood recipes, but the performer dependent effects and
the offstage technical effects. "A dark, sticky stage blood signified
old wounds; a lighter, dripping fluid showed new ones. The standard formula
consisted mostly of a heated mixture of carmine and glycerin (Gordon 44).
Daily a concoction was made in a cauldron. The recipe was successful because
the crimson fluid flowed like blood but also with in minutes would coagulate
and form a scab. It is said that spectators would be able to hear backstage
hands whispering "Edmund hurry! Warm up the blood!"
Along side with the multiple gallons of blood were the inventions of stage
props such as the dagger with a retractable blade and it spurted blood when
the handle was squeezed. (click
here for picture) "The most famous tricks
of the Grand Guignol involved the realistic execution of violent actions and
instantaneous sleight of hand transformation" (Gordon 47). Simple tricks
were the essentials to creating effective violence on stage. The scenic atmosphere
was just as important as the performers to the play. There had to be a certain
ambiance and sensation take over the audience. Most of this impart was due
to lighting. Shadowing effects in the overhead lights and hazy illumination
of red and green colors in the corners of the proscenium gave the strangeness
and mystery feel needed. (Gordon, 45). With a partially darkened stage it
unconsciously produced a shock to the spectator. A feeling that something
was about to happen.
(continue with this list, it will take you through)
Click
here for examples of Stage Managers notes for a particular death
scene.
Click here for an
excerpt from Time Magazine in 1962.
Click here
'eyeballs stuffed with anchovies' and make-up tricks
Click here
for more examples of stage tricks
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for economics and resources available