City Of London Sinfonia commissioned us to produce all of their print, across four venues, for their 2001/2 season. Their aim (and subsequent research proved this to be succesful) was to attract new and younger audiences, without alienating their core market of ABC1s aged 40+.

To represent their varied season we analysed the narratives contained within each concert programme. We then sourced props which illustrated these diverse themes. With a props budget of only £200.00 we were forced to be resourceful. The prop list included Magic Trees (bought at car spares shops), ceramic animals (bought from a discount store), fresh trout (from Sainsbury's), crucifixes (borrowed from a catholic bookshop), plastic flowers (from junk shops), cake decorations, model trees (from a model train shop), plastic snakes and other toys (borrowed from our children) and daisies (gathered in a nearby park). We composed each shot in front of the camera, with the props hanging upside down, suspended by fishing wire from a gantry. In some cases we projected gobos through the composition onto a plain background. In others we had a backdrop of Christmas lights.

The example pictured here is for Benjamin Britten's opera 'Albert Herring'. The opera is set in a fictitious rural community in East Anglia and tells the story of how, in the absence of a suitable girl as May Queen, young Albert Herring is crowned May King. In our composition we represent the East Anglian community with plaster houses from 'Poundstretcher', the crown of the May King with a plastic crown embellished with daisies, and central characters from the plot with lead figures bought from junk shops.

See more of our work for City of London Sinfonia