Titus Andronicus shooting schedule

This is the shooting schedule that we produced for our days of filming, this allowed us to organize all of the actors on the two days of filming and also gave us guidance on how much we needed to shoot on each day.

Shakespeare Through A Lens Project Brief

 The Brief

You have been commissioned by the Lambeth City Learning Centre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the BFI and the management at Glenthorne High School to gain a deeper understanding of Titus Andronicus by filming a scene from the play from a range of different perspectives. You will edit the film to produce a high-quality 3-7 minute segment of film to be screened on a 400 seated cinema screen at the BFI for family and other guests. The films will then have an online life on a variety of platforms including RSC, CLC and BFI websites.

Background of the brief

The brief was formal as it stated what we were required to do to fulfill the brief and we had to stick within relatively rigid guidelines. The essential elements of the brief we had to follow were that we produced a film with a duration of roughly 3-7 minutes based upon a scene from Titus Andronicus that was chosen for us by the RSC using the original texts. There were some aspects of the brief that we could negotiate as with these texts we could could cut certain parts however we could not change any of the original texts which meant that we kept the language the same and worked within the layout of the scene provided to us. Also, we will be using the drama academy to perform for the project rather than acting ourselves which is a requirement we must meet. However, the ways in which we interpreted the texts were very flexible, meaning that we have a large amount of control over the props, costumes and locations used within the piece allowing us to give a slightly modern twist to the original story.

My Role

My role within the brief will be the secondary camera man on the first day of filming, I will be filming the majority of shots from alternative angles to the primary camera to produce cutaways within the final piece. I will also film some additional shots of different areas to establish the scene and area that the actors are working within. Also, I will be contributing ideas to the group based upon the brief so that we can decide what we will be doing during the project. My second main role will be the main editor in the post production phase, this means that I will have to select the best possible shots to use to maintain the narrative aspect of the piece while additionally looking for areas to incorporate a more creative flare within the piece while maintaining continuity and fluidity. This will allow the film to fulfill its roll of telling the narrative of the scene we were given but also making it aesthetically pleasing for the audience to watch and giving it a sense of personality.

Some skills I may need to acquire for the project are an extensive knowledge of some filming techniques and technologies such as a DSLR camera. This will allow me to work with the cinematography and consistantly develop through the varied use of camera angles and framing which I had to adapt to fit the scenes. This will also allow me to work efficiently on the day of filming and be able to use all functionalities of the camera to produce footage of the highest standard. I will also need to be proficient in digital editing software such as Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro and Photoshop.Subsequently, I will then be able to incorporate my knowledge of editing techniques and software alongside the footage to create the final product. Additionally, I will need to be hard working and possess excellent communication skills during the pre-production and production stages due to the large group of people who I will be working alongside. It is important that I can clearly present my ideas to both the media and drama groups so that all possibilities can be discussed to achieve the best final product. I will also require an in-depth knowledge of Titus Andronicus and the language used within it, allowing me to have an enhanced judgement on the types of shots and editing styles needed during each individual key moment within the film. This will extend the performance of the actors and emphasise the emotions their characters are portraying through the lense.

Additionally, due to the play itself being very traditional I had to consider the balance between the traditional methods of storytelling through the text and also the more modern special effects in the post production stage. Because of this, I will try to implement a natural blend of the special effects and the raw performance of the drama academy. This will help to emphasize the performance of the cast while remaining subtle to make the whole film easier for the audience to watch and understand. 

Titus Andronicus, Filming Review

 Titus Andronicus, Filming Review

The filming of the drama academy went well, we managed to get the majority of shots filmed and within a reasonable time period. To continue from here we will need to film the additional shots we did not cover and also to re-shoot some of our previous shots. The reason we are doing this is because we believe that including more various angles and shot types will create a more effective film piece.

The main part we will need to re-shoot is the main part between Titus and Tamora. This because we would like to include some more close up shots to show the detailed expressions on the faces of the actors as well as being able to use some eye line matches to help link the different shots together. Another issue was that a vast majority of the actors were coming in and out of the frame and it did not seem very natural. To prevent this we can use a mixture of wider establishing shots showing everyone within  the frame as well as close up shots focusing primarily on a smaller group of characters to prevent additional ones coming in and out of the frames.

Titus Andronicus Evaluation

This is our production of Titus Andronicus

    
 Over the last few weeks we have been working on the production of Titus Andronicus, I was very pleased with the outcome as it worked out as we had planned and we all worked together to develop the final piece. The main thing that i felt went particularly well was the overall composition and flow of the piece as the shots were filmed in different orders on separate locations on different days but all the clips came together to make one fluid piece.

One main thing that I would improve is some of the shots, as we were short of time we could not film enough shots from alternative angles so to improve this I would include better framed shots and maybe more angles to help emphasize the differences in power between the characters. For example, in one shot an actresses head did not fully fit into the frame, to fix this we could just tilt the camera upwards or to film from further away to produce a wider shot which would include the actresses head.

Another aspect we could of worked on was our positioning, from the image below you can see that the light source was behind us and cast a shadow of the boom mic on one of the actors. This is simple enough to fix as we would only have to move the boom to somewhere it is not seen and does not cast shadows.

My roles were the second unit and also an editor, as the second unit my job was to film the additional shots from other angles to act as cutaways from the main shots. This helps keep a nice pace to the film so the shots are not long and boring. What i liked about this role was that I could stray from the storyboard slightly and experiment more with the different shot types which we integrated into the main shots. As an editor my job was to put all of the shots into the correct order to fit the storyline as well as keeping a fast enough pace to stop the shots from dragging on and becoming boring. Another key part of the editing role was to make the soundtrack fit to create the right tone at the different parts of the film. 

Critical Comparison

 

In comparison to other pieces of worked I have copleted in BTEC Media I have found that this project made me considerate of the actions we took when actually producing the film as well as having a larger responsibility within the project. We had to put a lot more thought into the piece which meant that we spent a long time planning out the work, this was important as we were working within a relatively large group so we had to fully know everything we were going to do so that we could all work together efficiently.

Due to the scale of the project we had to take a much more mature approach as we had to work a alongside a large group of drama students as well as a media group, this meant we had to be very professional within our set roles and communicate our thoughts and ideas and fully discuss any decisions we were making so that we could work efficiently on the day of filming with little confusion to ultimately produce a better final piece. Working as a group allowed us to share the workload meaning that as individuals we could pay more attention to the fine details of our roles and then compose each element rather than working alone and having to consider each aspect of the film by yourself. 

Another significant difference to previous work was the level of editing required, because we were working to an actual brief we felt that the overall edit needed to look a lot more professional that our previous pieces of work so we spent a lot longer working on the finer details. Also, the duration of the final piece was considerably longer than anything we had ever edited before so the actual amount of editing required was a lot larger.

Titus Presentation

Titus Presentation

As part of our evaluation we produced presentations based upon our roles and what we were
asked to do, we then evaluated our individual contributions to the group and presented it to the rest of the class.

Evaluation based on the feedback from others

Evaluation based on the feedback from others

We used questionnaires to recieve some feedback on our rendition of Titus Andronicus, some consistent themes from the feedback was that the editing worked very well, with specific examples such as the clean transitions to the cutaways so that you did not miss much action and the shots did not last for too long. Another key aspect was that a lot of people enjoyed the very last shot where there is an overlay of Tamora speaking with her voice slightly echoed. Some commented that there was also an overall smooth flow of the edit.

 Shot of Tamoras face overlayed

Another aspect was the clean camera work consisting of steady shots and a wide range of angles. This is evident more within the first half of the film with the shots of the feet walking past the camera as well as the tracking shot during Tamoras speech. These work well as the different levels and also dynamic camera movements help bring more energy into the film.

 

Shot of feet walking across the frame 

  

Shot with top of head missing

Some also commented on how the soundtrack worked well to create the powerful mood and also distinguished between the two halves of the film because two different songs were used, the second song was much darker which related to the scene as it was purely based upon Tamoras revenge. Within the first soundtrack the footage was edited to the beat which gave the edit very clear cuts and also worked well with creating a powerful tone during the death scene when it cuts to black.

Some criticisms we received were about the costumes, and how they could of been improved to show a clearer contrast between the goths and romans, this would of made the film visually clearer. However this was partially a budget problem, ideally we would of had the cast dressed in traditional costume from the time period however we could not afford this so we decided to make it a modern rendition to compensate for this.

 

Shot showing costumes 

Alongside this the setting of the park was not clear enough to produce the modern interpretation, as the environment was very plain and green. We could of used a much more urban setting such as a car park however this would of been very difficult due to the public needing this space. Because of the costumes and the setting some audience members did find it difficult to understand alongside the original Shakespeare language.

Although comments on the soundtrack were generally positive some did say that the sound quality during certain parts of speeches was low and distorted, this was mainly due to the boom mic being further away during this speech so we had to increase the audio levels so people could hear it but in that process it became distorted.

In some of the shots the framing and headroom was not always fully considered due to a lack of time meaning we could not always properly frame the shots or film enough cutaways to alternatively use during the edit. A clear example of this is when the actress in thrown down onto the floor and the top of her head is not in the frame. Although this is true I do feel that the majority of framing for the shots worked well and was very consistent.




 

Audience Questionnaires

Audience Questionnaires 

We created a questionnaire to receive feedback from a more general audience rather than our client, we then asked a selection of individuals to fill out the questionnaires, this was their response.


1) 18
2)  it was decent (considering i have just watched pulp fiction which minimises anything)
3) 6/7 just because of the quality of what it was recorded on and the sound was faulty (im picky :/) and the acting felt like they were just reciting lines instead of actually feeling it, other than that being picky part the cutaways were aesthetic and the editing did flow quite well (if i remember it correctly).
4) again the cutaways worked well as well as the editing.there were minor things i thought could be improved, such as headroom (even if your trying to minimalise it give a little space, if you want to cut something out zoom in closer or change your angle. and in my own personal preference probably colour grade up a bit as some parts were really dark
5)  for a modern rendition of shakespeare i thought that it worked really well however again in my own opinion even modernised shakespeare is outdated.


1)17
2) Yes
3) 9/10. Good angles and steady camera while moving. Music was very fitting. But in some parts the audio was not very clear, however it was only in one minor instance.
4) ...
5) Yes, but maybe urbanise it a bit more to make it a bit more modern, as although the clothing was modern; I'm pretty sure parks have been around quite a while.


1)17
2) yes
3) 7
4) the beginning scene was really eerie with everyone walking, and also when at the end the queeny lady was talking and it had hear head over the top as like an echo, the scene in the forest when people were talking but not to the camera?
5) yee (although i had no idea what was going on or what the story is or anything but yes i presume so with the hoodies and stuff)


1) 18
2) dont know titus sorry
3) 8 seemed like good acting
4) speeches worked well
5) probably yeah


1) 18
2) I enjoyed it
3) 7 I thought the music was goooooooood
4) I liked the fade between the two shots at the end
5) This is what I would expect but maybe in more urban environments


1) 18
2) Yep!
3) 8/10, because it was well portrayed and all of the characters knew their lines, as well as being captivating - the only problem I found was that some parts seemed a bit forced and the reactions a bit over elaborative.
4) I thought the soundtrack was the best thing actually, as it set the general mood that wouldn't have been created normally. In terms of the acting, I enjoyed the speeches near the beginning because they were passionate and emotion can be seen vividly.
5) It depends on how modern it's meant to be. Some modern adaptations take the old language and change it to make it more understandable, which this did not. Without this it is a bit hard to follow, but in terms of scenery and such it can be considered modern.



1) 17
2)i did indeed
3)7, because i wasnt that sure of the costumes
4) I think the parts where the editing was clean cut (3:25-3:48) worked well because you didnt miss a bit of action but at the same time it wasnt on the screen for too long
5)yes indeedy, you can the shakespeare vibe from the language which is used but the way in which is acted and shot helps bring a more modern twist


1) Age: 18
2) Did you enjoy this extract of titus andronicus? Yes
3) What would you rate it out of 10, and why? 7/10 Good camera angles & editing, good choice of scenary and soundtrack. The acting was quite good.
4) What parts do you think worked well? ....
5) Is this what would expect from a modern rendition of a shakespeare play?
Yes it is.


1)20
2) yes was good
3) 7 it was good story idea but was hard to pick up ay start it was about modren age
4) most of it tbh evryhing rolled well with each other
5) yes


1) 18
2) Yes. It was over all an enjoyable extract to watch.
3) 7/8. The acting and editing was overall impressive. Although the camera work could have been a little better.
4) The ending worked really well with the 50/50 Fade transition.
5) Something along these lines. Could compare it to a movie 'Romeo and Juliet. Which used the same script Shakespeare wrote. Although their was a modern theme.


1) 18
2) Yeeee, was okay
3) 6 / Some shots were good (walking ones at the start), acting is meh, and some of the audio quality isn't very clear (like the overlay bit at the end of Jon's part)
4) The walking shots at the start
5) Yeah 

Proposal to Drama Academy

As our brief involved us working alongside the drama academy we put together a proposal to help put across our ideas for the film. Within the proposal we included a brief overview of the locations we thought were best to use which suited the interpretation of Shakespeare we were trying to create. We also included a basic prop list which followed our modern theme for the production. We then presented our ideas alongside our storyboards to the drama academy and discussed the best possible ideas for the final product, we also briefly went over the outline of the first day filming so everybody would know what was required of them on the day so that we could work quickly and efficiently.  

Location visit

In our initial planning a key part was the location, this was very significant within the brief as the location played a large factor in determining the feel and atmosphere of the entire film. Due to this we did some research and looked at places within the local area that would fit the requirements of our film, we decided that Morden Park was an ideal location and it had many uses. The park gave us lots of open space for establishing shots but the more confined areas could also be used, the entire area was naturally lit and was easily accessible. There was also a large variation of scenery within the park meaning we could use different areas from within it to our advantage as they look like completely different places within the film which was useful when filming the two scenes at different points in time.

Location Visit Sheet

After we came to a definite agreement with the drama academy on where we were going to film we produced a location visit sheet for Morden Park.We used this opportunity to find any last requirements we might need when filming on location such as extra lighting and also any health and safety aspects we may need to consider when filming on location and also when traveling there.

Review of Titus Andronicus Play

In preparation for our project our BTEC Media class went to see Titus Andronicus at Stratford upon Avon. Viewing the professionals interpretation of the play and the way certain characters were portrayed and the use of spacing gave us a new perspective on the play. For instance, as a group we felt sorry for Tamora and that she was a very weak vulnerable character. However, they way she was portrayed in the play was actually as a much stronger evil character. Another aspect of the play I thought was creative was the use of multiple time periods such as some soldiers were dressed as traditional Roman soldiers, and Titus' sons were wearing hoodies and riding BMX bikes around the stage. This was useful to us as we have decided to set the film in a more modern time so seeing the play being successfully performed in the different time periods with it still being understandable means that we should be able to replicate this within the film.

The play itself made me consider multiple aspects of our film production due to my role as the main editor, While watching the play I was gaining a greater understanding of who the important characters were in each scene which I would have to represent by the shots used in our production. Another interesting part was the way the play transitioned between each scene in a creative yet fluent way, I knew that I would have to have some attempt at recreating this in the post production of our film to not only maintain the continuity but to also still have creative and interesting transitions between the shots while maintaining the focus on the key characters. 

Additionaly, as we have been given a specific segment of the original text which had parts cut out to work from. I will need to make sure there is a smooth progression through the film, allowing the audience to be able to understand what is happening at each part of the film and its relation to the play. It will also be important to create some significant contrast in the segments of the text where the build up to the point is not present, the visual differences will hopefully clarify the change in position within the piece itself to prevent the audience from becoming confused. From reading through the final scripts I have gained a greater understanding of the essential messages specific to each part of the texts which will need to be portrayed equally through the performance of the cast, but also through the cinematography and style of editing accompanied by special effects to emphasise the performance and therefore messages and themes within the piece. 

Joint Session

Assessing the joint session with the drama academy

We collaborated with the drama academy to discuss our ideas from both aspects of film and also theater. We first briefly discussed some of our basic concepts and thoughts by presenting our story board, props, costumes and also the location. We received their feedback on what they thought about the individual ideas and they were comfortable with most of them and we built upon some ideas such as the props and costume which we then re-incorporated into our original idea. They then performed what they had worked upon so far from start to finish. As Media students we then briefly discussed amongst ourselves how we can work and integrate with what the drama academy has produced.

We put forward our ideas and they were open to our criticisms, our main concerns were that the piece was heavily theatrical. To overcome this we discussed the spacing and movement of the characters to allow us to work with the shot types, angles and also being able to clearly identify the significant characters in each scene. For example in the first shot which is based upon the return to Rome there is a distinctive separation between the Romans and Goths however they are sitting and unguarded. So we worked on the positioning of some of the characters and mixed some roman guards in with the goths keeping control of them and also have the goths walking along with the Romans.

Another important decision we made was based upon Tamora's speech. The drama academy had produced a piece in which the entire cast spoke the lines with Tamora in the foreground and everybody else behind. From a filming perspective we thought this would confuse the audience and also due to the amount of people talking at once it lacked fluency. We incorporated the idea from our storyboard of Tamora performing the speech directly to Titus with her sons in the background which the drama students improvised and went very well. We are planning to also add some additional Roman guards into the scene to emphasize that the Goths are still prisoners of the Romans and have very little power.

 

In addition to this change for Tamora's speech we will also add some cut-aways to prevent the clip dragging out too much, but the audio of her speech will remain constant throughout the clips. For the cut aways we decided to keep the clips relevant to the speech and cut between characters expressions depending on who she is talking to/about. 

Titus Andronicus StoryBoards

Information on companies involved

The Royal Shakespeare Company and London Connected Learning Center work together alongside 5 secondary and primary schools in Lambeth on various projects. All the students involved have an opportunity to work with practitioners from the RSC and LCLC to gain a deeper understanding of the plays. 

The Royal Shakespeare Company is a registered charity based in Stratford upon Avon that helps teachers and students learn about Shakespeare through the use of its programmes and live shows. It helps connect writers, actors and artists to produce plays based upon Shakespeare’s own work as well as new work from living writers. The Royal Shakespeare Company will be working alongside the drama academy to assist them in their development of acting, working on key aspects of their performance to enhance their abilities as actors and also prepare them for acting in front of a camera. Also, enhancing their understanding of texts such as the work of Shakespeare which will also further develop their performance during the piece. 

The London Connected Learning Center (LCLC), part of the Education Trust, is an organisation committed to helping schools and students harness the potential of new technologies. From better communication and more effective administration, to improved teaching and learning. We will be working alongside a professional film maker Sam Lawler who has produced multiple documentaries. He will be meeting with us throughout the project assisting our film making ability and teaching us the skills required to produce the piece. Some of the skills we will be learning to use are using boom microphones to record audio on the day of filming, and also assisting us with some camera techniques such as focus pulls. He will also aid us in developing our concepts for the piece and putting forward ideas of how we could produce them, and then putting these ideas forward to the drama academy for discussion so that we can make a compromise for what we want to do within the project. 

J.P Morgan has a net worth of 41.5 billion, he was an American financier, banker, philanthropist and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. The role of J.P Morgan was financially supporting the project, providing a budget to each of the groups allowing them to purchase props and costumes, they also provided free tickets to view the play of Titus Andronicus at the Royal Shakespeare Company theater and payed for the workshop sessions provided to both us and the drama academy by members of the RSC and LCLC.

Negotiating a Brief

Negotiating a Brief

Negotiating a Brief

The Different Types of Brief

The different types of brief

 

Titus Andronicus Research

Titus Andronicus is one of Shakespeare's most violent plays, set in the roman era the play is based on the return of Titus a general in the Roman army, who continues on a path of revenge against Tamora, Queen of the goths.

Brief Synopsis

The brothers Saturninus and Bassianus are in contention for the Roman emperorship.
Titus Andronicus, Rome's most honoured general, returns from wars against the Goths with their queen, Tamora, her sons and her lover, Aaron the Moor, as captives. Her eldest son is sacrificed by Titus; she vows revenge.

Titus is nominated emperor by his brother Marcus, one of Rome's tribunes. This Titus declines, instead nominating Saturninus.
To seal the bond of friendship, the new emperor, Saturnius, offers to marry Titus's daughter Lavinia. She, however, is already pledged to Bassianus.
Saturninus, by now infatuated with Tamora, makes her empress instead.

Manipulated by Aaron, Tamora's sons, Chiron and Demetrius, avenge their mother by raping and mutilating Lavinia, and killing Bassianus. Aaron falsely implicates two of Titus's sons in this murder.
In his turn Titus vows revenge and sends his surviving son Lucius to the Goths to raise an army. Titus achieves his revenge by killing Tamora's sons and serving them up to her at a banquet, and then killing her.
He himself is killed by Saturninus and his death avenged by Lucius, who is made emperor.


The main characteristics of the play include:

•  Violence - 10 named characters die within the play, and 21 of Titus' sons die before it even begins.
• The play is very gruesome - the way in which the characters within the play were disturbingly killed and then the acts carried out with their bodies are very gruesome. 
• The play is fictional - The play takes place in a recreation of what was believe to be 16th century Rome. 
• A tale of revenge - The majority of murders and violent acts are all in response to a previous murder, the story is focused on a cycle of revenge between Titus and Tamora. 
• Vast and confusing - There are a large amount of characters and the relations between them which link the murders and revenge can be confusing due to the vast scale of everything happening. 

This segment from the film is the part of the play we will be focusing on. What this scene briefly shows is upon Titus' return he gains revenge upon the death of his 21 sons and he does this by sacrificing the oldest son of Tamora who he has prisoner. As this is about to happen Tamora pleads to Titus and begs him to not harm his son but he does not listen.

Tamora:
Stay, Roman brethren! Gracious conqueror,
Victorious Titus, rue the tears I shed,
A mother's tears in passion for her son:
And if thy sons were ever dear to thee,
O, think my son to be as dear to me! 125
Sufficeth not that we are brought to Rome,
To beautify thy triumphs and return,
Captive to thee and to thy Roman yoke,
But must my sons be slaughter'd in the streets,
For valiant doings in their country's cause? 130
O, if to fight for king and commonweal
Were piety in thine, it is in these.
Andronicus, stain not thy tomb with blood:
Wilt thou draw near the nature of the gods?
Draw near them then in being merciful: 135
Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge:
Thrice noble Titus, spare my first-born son.