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.