Game show · Canale 5 · Bonolis-Laurenti · 2006

Fattore C.

For Paolo Bonolis and Luca Laurenti's game show on Canale 5 we built the gothic circular arena: pointed arches in faux stone, stage at the centre.

Story

One act

Bonolis's
gothic arena.

Fattore C debuts on Canale 5 on 10 September 2006 in the Sunday prime-time slot, then from 25 September to 2 December 2006 in the early evening slot. Hosted by Paolo Bonolis paired with Luca Laurenti — the same scenographic-narrative formula as Ciao Darwin and Chi ha incastrato Peter Pan: monumental arena, group game, dramatic device at the centre.

The show's name is the Italian wordplay on "culo" as luck — the "C" in the title is the one "you must have to win at the game" in Bonolis's own words. The programme is a variation of the Affari Tuoi format (the broadcast caused a dispute with Endemol Italia over alleged plagiarism), translated into the dramaturgical- classical style typical of the Bonolis-Laurenti duo's programmes.

For the set we are asked for a gothic circular arena: a cathedral-hall rebuilt in studio, walls in double order with pointed arches in grey faux stone, slender columns between the arches, side walls in dark-wood lattice, an open upper dome, light- wood circular stage at the centre. It's the dramatic device that gives the game the solemnity of a rite.

Panoramic view of the gothic circular arena of Fattore C in studio: upper dome with stage lighting, circular wall in double order — pointed arches in grey faux stone above, dark-wood lattice below, central arched entrance, light-wood circular stage at the centre with the final-stage crew, golden service lighting — **Panoramic view.** The gothic circular arena as a whole

Detail of the gothic pointed arches of the Fattore C arena: sequence of arches on slender columns in grey faux stone with classical denticulation, a balustraded loggia above, the audience seating with red seats below, two people standing in the foreground for scale reference, night atmosphere of the final on-site stage — **Gothic arches detail.** Pointed arches on faux-stone columns

Behind the scenes

The cathedral-arena
of prime time.

The scenographic grammar of the Bonolis-Laurenti duo is monumental-dramaturgical: from the Genodrome gate of Ciao Darwin to the robot-machine of Peter Pan, from our Fattore C 2006 onward — every programme has its own central scenographic device that gives the game the shape of a rite.

The pointed arches

The sequence of gothic arches on the upper wall is sculpted in styrofoam + fiberglass with a grey faux-stone finish in earth glazes. Each arch is a quotation of cathedral gothic: slender columns, classical denticulation, slim proportions. It's the medieval architectural vocabulary applied to a prime-time game show.

The dark-wood lattice

The lower wall is in dark-wood latticework: visible treated-wood panels, simulating the sound chamber of a historic theatre. The wood balances the stone: cathedral above, performance hall below. It's the double register the PD wanted for the show — sacred and profane, high and popular.

The circular stage

At the centre of the arena is the circular stage in light wood: a walkable platform for the host and the contestants of the game, calibrated for the overhead shots from the control room. The floor has a radial texture simulating the floors of Romanesque basilicas — another clue to the dramaturgical poetics of the set.

2006

the autumn of Fattore C, between 10 September and 2 December 2006

Bonolis

the Bonolis-Laurenti duo, already authors of Ciao Darwin and many other shows

Gothic

the architectural grammar of the "cathedral-arena"

Second life

Three months of broadcast,
a dismantled cathedral.

Fattore C closes on 2 December 2006 after a little over three months of broadcast. It's one of the shorter parentheses of the Bonolis-Laurenti duo, but the gothic arena scenography stays in the visual memory of Bonolis's programmes as one of his most distinctive and dramaturgically powerful sets.

The techniques of pointed arches in faux stone and dark-wood lattice developed here have entered our repertoire for classical and medieval scenographies. We find them applied to period film sets — our reconstruction of the abbey of The Name of the Rose for Battiato shares the same gothic architectural grammar, applied however with philological care to the Italian fourteenth century.

Tech sheet

All production data

Type: Scenographic set for a TV game show · gothic circular arena in studio
Programme: Fattore C · Canale 5 · autumn 2006
Broadcast: Sunday prime time: 10 and 17 September 2006 · early evening slot: 25 September — 2 December 2006
Hosts: Paolo Bonolis with Luca Laurenti
Title meaning: "Fattore C" as "culo" in the popular Italian saying — the luck needed to win at the game
Production house: Mediaset · Canale 5
Set architecture: Gothic circular arena in studio · double-order wall with pointed arches in grey faux stone above and dark-wood lattice below · open upper dome · light-wood circular stage at the centre
Techniques: Hand-carved expanded styrofoam · fiberglass reinforcement · grey faux stone in earth glazes · real treated wood lattice · polychrome finish in panels for the gothic denticulation
Our role: Full delivery of the scenographic arena — gothic arches, wooden lattice, circular stage, dome
Second life: Set dismantled after the show's closure · gothic-arch and faux-stone techniques applied to later medieval scenography projects