Context

Today we recorded the moment of choral speaking and some breath. 

Why did we do this?

The choral speaking was recorded in order for the audience it hear

An example of a Greek Chours

the speech clearly. This piece of chorus is being performed in the courtyard while the audience watch from the window high up in the school building. This means that it is going to be difficult for the audience to hear the speech. Hearing the speech is extremely important for plays like Antigone as there story lines can often be very difficult to keep up with as their so complicated. Lots of aspects of the play are interwoven within each other and these things wont be identified if they can't hear the speech probably. Therefore it's more effective to have the speech played by a speaker in the room. The breath was recorded in order to enhance this piece of chorus. Breathing has a calming aspect to it as well as a climactic aspect. Deep breathing is used to become still and quiet in yourself. Fast shallow breathing,however, often connotes a chase or some sort of frantic action where every action is crucial. The breathing that we recorded was steady slow breathing that went to counts of 4. In for 4 and out for 4. This type of breathing would help the audience to connect with the topics raised in this piece of chours as it talks about things like disease and death. Deep breathing would also calm the audience down as the sound of rhythmic breathing enables you to become tranquil. This stillness allows the audience to enter deep thoughts and reflections, enabling them to go on the emotional journey that Antigone will take them on.

How will having the pre-recorded sound support this moment of the performance? The audience will be listening to this whilst you perform on the basketball court. 

Chours

Pre-recorded sound supports this moment as it means that the audience can focus on the movement that happening in the courtyard, while the pre-recorded sound is able just to sink in and flow around them. It adds context to the physical movements that's going on down in the courtyard, this is vital in order for the audience to grasp the themes in the play and have a basic understanding. 

We discussed how the pieces that you are creating are relevant for a contemporary audience.
How is your piece relevant for an audience? 

My scene in Antigone deals with the idea of suicide. It revolves around the idea that Antigone and Heamon have both committed suicide. This is extremely relevant to modern society because suicide is more common than ever.  Teenage suicides or self harming is a big part of this society and is something that isn't always talked about. There's a big question today about how right committing suicide is and the concept of aiding someone in death if they really want to die. Our scene brings attention to two youths who commit suicide of their own free will because they couldn't stand not being without one another. It sheds light on some of the reasons and thought processes that go on behind the scenes when committing suicide. This could help modern audiences reflect on these issues and develop their own views.  

How is the moment of multi-media in your piece relevant for the piece? 

The multi-media used in our piece features two youths committing suicide. This is relevant to our piece as its symbolic of there presence always being over cast over everything even after they have died. In our scene the messenger tells Euridice (Heamons mother) that her son and Antigone have committed suicide. This repeated footage of their suicide will be played over and over again through the scene. It shows how the memory of them will never leave the people that were closest with them. It also shines the light on their death and not on the life that they have lived.  It represents how the moment of their death, something that changed the world around them forever, will always haunt here and be presents where ever she goes. It shows how you remember their death and will never forget one of the most painful and traumatic moments of their lives. While their day to day lives are erased from their memories

Some groups did some filming today. How did it go? How will this support your piece?

The filming for our group took a long while to come together and there were a lot of difficulties and issues. Firstly, on the day where all the other groups filmed our group didn't. This was due to their not being enough cameras to go around. Our filming date was delayed until the following week. However, due to a Spanish exchange trip I wouldn't be there to help film our footage, although lucky I wasn't going to be in any of the footage. This meant they could film everything while I was away. Although, when I came back on the Monday before our performance on the Thursday I found that actually my group hadn't been granted the access to the cameras or been given the time during the lesson, so the filming hadn't taken place. They had filmed it, but on their phones and the quality was extremely bad. Cameron was also in the shot in the background when he wasn't supposed to be, this meant that the footage was unuasable. Therefore we had to take time out of the lesson today to film it. When we finally got around to the filming it went very well, it was just finding the time and getting our act together that was the problam. Once we got to where we were planning on filming, we had to alter our orignal idea so we could manage it in the time. This meant completly cutting Camerons running scene, and instead we had him in the background of the shot witnessing it all. He would then turn and run to tell Euridicie what he had scene. The amount of time we had avalible (which is only two and a bit days until our preformance) also meant that complicated editing couldn't take place. Therefore the idea of having two spearate films, of Antigone and Heamon dying couldn't be done in the time. As it would mean having to find a way of being able to play them one after the other on repeat without anyone presing play or pausing it. This caused us to change it slightly so its all one piece of footage. We adapted it so that Atigone is already hanging when the footage starts and you see Heamon coming in to witness her death. This then causes him to stab himself. We also talked about having the footage in black and white to give it a more sombre feel, yet this  may not be possible in the time frame. This footage supports our piece a lot because not only does it add context to our scene. But its adds an emotional feel and gives our scene some sort of symbolic meaning. I have outlined the connotations and effects this footage has earlier on in this post and through out the blog. 

An example of another groups multimedia

What planning did you have to do before the filming?  Write the script? Rehearse? Think about the best place to film it? Costumes?

The only real preperation we had to do for filming was think about subtible places to film and how we would stage it. This took a while as we need a tree that Antigone can hang of. This tree must be small enough to reach the branches so we can make it look as if Antigones hanigng without actually hanging her. We also had to consider what would be in the background of the shot as it all had to link into context, and something backgrounds just looked plain ugly. After searching around the school we finally found a tree that was low enough for us to reach and the location was in context. Then there was the problem of how to stage someone being hung. We discused using a chair and only filming her upper body, therefore the chair wouldn't be in the shot. But when we changed it to having Heamon in shot as well that wasn't a option. The reason for this was that Heamon falls onto the floor when he dies, therefore the feet must be in shot. After debating idea, we decided that we could use a rock for her to stand on. This rock would be placed behind a stump of grass, hiding it from the cameras view. This meant that if she stood on her tiptoes it would look as if she was suspended in mid air from the nose. We also had to consider costumes as the characters through out all the videos used had to be wearing the same thing, so the audience could identify them. After a class discussion we decided that certain characters would wear certain colours, for example all the Antigone's would wear red.

We then shared your scenes so far. Type up he notes you made on the groups. 

Tara's Group - 

• There was a good use of torch light to enhance their scene. The torch lights meant that the audiences focus was drawn into the centre of the piece and not any where else. The people who held the lights also played the chours, this was a great way tot incorporate them into the scene and not just have them standing there like lemons. However, when the chours spoke their lights dropped to the ground automatically, the scene lost a bit of its power due to this.
• I found the people holding the lights also represented the way women were treated. The light holders, who were all women, stood silently behind Creon and Heamon as they watched the events unfold before them. Yet they were powerless to do anything about it or voice their thoughts on the subject. 

Harmony's Group -

• Jake's character was great physically, you could see he had made some very bold choices in his character in order to define and separate him from the rest of the characters. The choices he made with his voice were also very bold and exaggerated. He was committed to his character through out the performance. 
• I also loved the use of music and physical movement that was coming from Natasha and Harmony. I felt as if they were circling Jake, like a predator circles his prey. It also seemed to represent flames creeping every nearer, linking into the context of this scene. As an audience member, it had a big impact on me because it showed that doom and darkness was looming ahead. 

Lloyd's Group - 

• I really liked how the three girls moved in unison, to me it symbolised how women had no voice or rights in this time period. It links to how in this scene Creon is declaring that no one will be allowed to bury Polynicies, a law that may people, including Antigone, don't agree with yet are forced to accept it because Creon holds all power. There was the fact that Creon and his advisers were standing high up on chairs while the women moved on the ground almost like animals. 

Roseby's Group - 

• Benji's character was very bold and you could see he had made some strong decisions about his character. There was a clear separation of characters between Benji's and the character of Creon. The strong contrast in characters worked well to provide humor for the audience. 
• I also loved how they included a new report. This made it more modern and easier to relate to. Loads of people watch the news daily and thereofre the concpet of this being so important it becomes breaking new is easier to understand because the idea of not being able to bury somebody maybe harder for some people tto understand why its so significant. 
• The news report also represented the barrier between Creons public life and his life behind closed doors. In the news report you can see him as the respectable harded headed man hes suppposed to be. Then behind closed door you see his true colours wheres hes having a fit to one of his guards. 

Nina's Group - 

• I liked how they had made it more modern and relevant to a modern audience by including the idea of having wi-fi in the scene. There was also a large comedy element that came from the way Antonia and Tim interact wiht each other. This worked really well in that scene. 
• I also thought that the way they interacted with the audience was great. This links to the idea of a promand as it feel like you are walking through this drama and not just sitting on a sit watching it. 

Oliver's Group - 

•  I loved how this group Incorporated the chours. The chours was shown as guards who were constantly walking abut as Ismene and Antigone had their discussion about polynicies body. The guards provided a good way to relieve the tension that Danyella and Jamie created through their argument. 
• It also seemed to show how people are always listening and Creons men are always around, therefore there is no privacy in their lives. 
• I also thought the way the two sisters changed their levels of intensity, it provided some dynamics in the way the scene was done and also added to this idea of them being watched as they changed to low levels of intensity to avoid drawing attention to themselves.

In my opinion some of the most successful moment were where groups really pushed their ideas. This often meant their peice had an abstract and symbolic element. An example of this is in Harmony's group. 

What moments are successful and why? 

What meets need to be developed and why? 

How did the pieces become relevant for a contemporary audience?