SETTING THESAURUS

CIRCUS



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HELPFUL TIP:

Settings should always be chosen with care. Consider the emotion you want your viewpoint character to feel and how setting choices, weather elements, and symbolism might build a specific mood in the scene, create tension and conflict, or even raise the stakes.
SIGHTS:
Outside:
Colorfully painted train cars or tractor trailers
Striped tents with flags or banners flying
Fenced-off areas where equipment and supplies are housed
Floodlights
A midway with carnival games
Striped tents housing various events
Sideshow acts (the bearded lady, the tattooed man, fire eaters, the human cannonball)
A petting zoo

Under the Big Top: 
A dirt or grass floor
Tiered seating
Vertical poles that maintain the structure of the tent
Dim lighting cut by spotlights that highlight certain areas
A ringmaster addressing the audience
Multiple rings where various acts are performed (trapeze art, acrobatics, gymnastics, animal acts, the wheel of death)
Trainers working with wild and domesticated animals (elephants, tigers, lions, bears, horses, dogs, birds)
Clowns and towering stilt walkers
Gymnasts jumping on trampolines
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SOUNDS:
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SMELLS:
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TASTES:
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TEXTURES AND SENSATIONS:
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POSSIBLE SOURCES OF CONFLICT:
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PEOPLE COMMONLY FOUND IN THIS SETTING:
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SETTING NOTES AND TIPS:
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SETTING DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE:
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TECHNIQUES AND DEVICES USED:
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DESCRIPTIVE EFFECTS:
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