Potential props

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 Chains would be needed to emphasise that the goths are slaved and that they have little power or control over the situation they are in. Old style chains to also relate to the time period

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Roman styled swords relates to time period and also shows who are the soldiers within the situation. Swords may be used for the execution of the son etc.

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Torches may be used to add to the ritualistic theme of the execution and also the sons being braught back

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fake blood may be needed for some scenes to help visualise the gory nature of some parts of the scene

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.

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

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.