Effectiveness and Use Of Multimedia

Scenes from Antigone:	Multimedia used and locations	How did the multimedia in each scene enhance the performance?
1. Creon announces that Eteocles will be honoured and Polynices will be shamed and left un-buried.	Video to be shown on screen in reception.	Creon is set up to have ALL power by showing his unquestionable authority through a video. This sets up the play as you can't argue to interact with a video, it demostrates you aren't allowed or even have the power to speak your mind.
2. Antigone goes to Ismene to persuade her to assist the burial of their brother. Ismene refuses.	By the tree - video shown of the thoughts of the characters.	A multimedia form of thought tracking. It represents the difference between what the public really think and what they chose to present as what they think.
3. Antigone goes to bury her brother.	Round of wooden stumps.	The police tape makes the scene seem more relastic and enforces the barrier betweent he audience and the police and polynicies body. The round stumps also divide these two groups of people even further, enforcing how Creon rules with an iron fist.
4. Creon looks for the support of the chorus of Theban Elders in his  decision to leave Polynices unburied.	Creon announces from fire escape door of 415 - chorus round the tree looking up. Audience looking up also.	Creon is given an omnipresent power of being able to evade citizen's minds whenever he wishes. This sets up his character. The megaphone sends Creons message through out the school, creating this idea that Creons thoughts and rules are always with you and in every corner of the city. The fact that Creon is standing high up on the fire escape also adds to his high stautus and authority.
5. A Sentry reports the burial of Polynices. Creon insists that the Sentry finds out who or face death.	Filmed footage of event is shown on screen top of stairs. Sentry talking to Creon.	Creon is given an omnipresent power of being able to evade citizen's minds whenever he wishes. This sets up his character. The looping footage creates the feeling that these thoughts are being replayed over and over again in Creons mind and is constatntly being drilled into your mind over and over again. It shows Creons restlessness and how hes will is all that is ever heard.
6. Chorus sing about honouring gods.	From the yard up to windows of 413 Recorded chorus played.	The chorus is directed high up to the audience. It gives the audience the sense of looking down on the public as if they were the Gods that the chprus talk about. It also makes us, the chorus, seem small and pitiful, exactly how the public would have seem to Creon.
7. Sentry returns with the Culprit: Antigone. Creon confronts her.	Burst into 413 - audience turn to see. Lighting used.	The lightning adds a dramatic effect as if the presence of Antigone signifies a storm that is approhing. This foreshadows the drama and deaths to come.
8. Creon confronts Ismene. Ismene tries to confess but Antigone won't allow it. And in the end, the two sisters are imprisoned.	Still in 413 but Creon live speaks to a projected Ismene. Antigone is walked out the room and joins the real Ismene - escorted off. Lighting used	The projected Ismene gives the idea that she is trapped and isn't showing who she truley is. This links to how she tries to cover for Antigone yet wont stand up to Creon, the project shows how Creon controls her and minipultaes her.
9. Haemon both pledges allegiance to his father, Creon, and asks that Antigone be spared. After the discussion deteriorates, Haemon storms out vowing never to speak to him again.	Traverse in 413 - iphone lights as the two talk. Throughout confrontation, lights go out, one by one.	The lights going out signifys that this pledge of Heamons to his father wont last long, this is followed by Heamon storming and vowing never to speak to his father again, enforcing the feeling of trouble to come.
10. Creon choses to spare Ismene, and to bury Antigone alive. As she is dragged out, the chorus express their Sorrow.	One light left on Creon's face. Sound of s body being dragged...etc.  Projection and video used	The light on Creons face means you cannot see Antigone being carried out. This shows how Creon covers up Antigones death and still commands that the spotlight be on him.
11. Tiresias attempts to advise Creon that what he is doing is wrong and that the Gods are angry. The prophecy of a dead son is mentioned.	Tiresias never moves his mouth but what he says coupled with weird underscore is played through speakers of 415. Projected video played	The speakers show how Tiresiases prophacies are all around Creon and that he cannot escape what is to come.
12. The chorus, terrified, begs him to take Tiresias' advice. Shaken, Creon agrees to release Antigone and bury Polynices.	As many chorus as possible fill cavities of 415 and urge Creon. Three doors and side grated window thing.	To me the chorus seemed to represent the idea of a gaurdian angel or the voies inside your head telling you what to do.
13. Chorus deliver a choral ode to the god Dionysus.		As creon goes it free Antigone then he has chosen to give into her religious beliefs. The ode to the Gods enchances that.
14. Messenger informs Eurydice of Haemon and Antigone's death.	Filmed footage on repeat of Haemon stabbing himself and Antigone hanging, swinging from a branch.	The video represents an image that Eurydice will carry with her forever and it will always be a part of her and never forgotten. This may also be reflected in the audience as the footage may also be imprinted in their minds.
15. Carrying the body of his dead son Haemon, Creon is then met by a 2nd messenger informing him of Eurydice's death.	Audience back outside looking at tree. Creon walking through the courtyard, holding Heamon, confronted by messenger at the tree. Chorus look down from 415.	It ends with Creon on his own yet most of the chorus are scattered around, just not present with him. It shows how now Creon is on his own forever, even though his loved ones are present they will never be with him in the same way.

Preformance Evaluation

The Multimedia we used were:

• Projections/filmed footage 
• Recorded Sound/Speech
• Light and sound from a phone
• Live feed
• Music 

 How did multimedia enhance the overall performance? 

I think the multimedia enhanced the performance by helping the audience to understand the play. The multimedia brought a sense of atmosphere and a more modern take on an ancient play. By making the play visually interesting,the audience could sit back and let their other senses take in the play instead of focusing on the speech, something that can be dull and difficult to get to grips with, especially with a Greek play.

What impact do you think it had on the audience and why?

By engaging with the audiences senses in different way, it effects the way they will view and take in the play. By using multimedia, the audience may relate and reflect in a different and deeper sense as it brings it into their reality. Multimedia such as phones and footage is widely used and recognised thought modern society, by presenting Antigone in this format brings the issues and concepts that feature in the play significant to our society. The play is no longer something of the past that has no relevance and is to be ignored, via multimedia issues such as family relationships, religion and suicide are brought into life and to attention. This would hopefully evoke some reflections and thoughts in the minds of the audience, creating and emotional connection and furthered awareness with Antigone, the issues raised and the world in which we live in.

Would the performance have been as effective without the multimedia? 

I don't think this play would have been as effective without the presence of multimedia within the play. Greek plays are often associated with dry, boring and long winded texts, without the multimedia to bring the text alive and into our modern society a lot of the concepts within the play would have been lost on the audience as there would have beenan overload of speech and infomation. When this happens the watching the play becomes a sort of task rather than an enjoyable enverning, as you are spending a lot of time and energy trying to work out whats going on on stage. Witht the use of multimedia, this isnt needed as the audience can let the information flow around them because it comes in the form of a multimedia, ie a video. This is a lot easier to take in and therefore makes the experience more enjoyable and gives the audience space to think about other things within the play.

Which moment of multimedia was most effective and why?

I think the most effective piece of multimedia was this video -> The fact it was projected onto the whole wall and not just a projection screen gave it 10x more effect. It almost seemed overwhelming and it took the space immediately. The sound of the video was also very loud, having an even larger impact on the audience. The footage was also very dynamic and interesting to look at, it seemed qquite vague and action packed, immedialty making me wonder what its about and how it fits into the play. I also thought that this video represented the dramatic element of the play correctly, the video, combined with the volume of the sound and hight of the video, gave a lot of suspense in the lead up to the end of the play. 

Exploring the text

Antigone and Ismene -
What did we focus on when exploring this scene?
When exploring the scene between Antigone and Ismene, we looked at

their relationship and how they interact with each other. This relationship is crucial throughout the play as these two women represent the submissive role of women in Greek times and how that can be challenged. There realtionship also influences the dynamics between Creon and Antigone. 

How did you explore the characters practically?
We explored the characters by getting up on our feet and playing out this scene with our partner. This gave us a chance to see how the sisters intercat and get a feeling for the dyanmics in their relationship. By doing this we were then able to change the way these characters were played until we felt the relationship was right. 

What did you discover about the relationship between the sisters?
In my pair, we discussed the relationship in depth. We talked about how Antigone is willing to stand up and fight for what she beileves in even in the consequence is death, where as Ismene isn't willing to do that and will 'happily' go along with what ever Creon wishes. We also talked about the contrasting feeling in their relationship, a line such as 'My poor sweet Antigone' shows this. It is clear that they both crae deeply about each other, yet there are moments in the text where it says the complete opposite and it seems as if they don't like each other. Overall, I think Ismene wishes to be as determind and fearless as Antigone yet shes unable due to the fact shes so timid and submissive. 

How did this scene link to some of the information you discovered in the session about the historical context?
This scene links to the historical context of how women were perceived in Greek times. This scene presents a women, Ismene,in the way that their supposed to behave in Greek times, shes submissive and doesn't question the authority of Creon, yet it also shows a female character who is the complete opposite of what women should be like in this time period, shes refuses to accept the rules created by the man in authoiryt and itsn't afriad to speak her mind. The contrast in these two female characters makes a significant point about the treatment and values of women, in my opinion Sophocles was making a stand aginst the submissive role of women. 

Antigone and Creon -

What did we focus on when exploring this scene?

Antigone and Creon in Roy Williams version

In this scene we focused on therelationship between Creon and Antigone. We looked a lot at the authority and power (status) held by both characters due to the fact Antigone poses a threat to Creons power within the city. We also had a look at the family dynamic in this relationship as Antigone is Creon's nicie, however this aspect doen't come through very much in their relationship. 

How did you explore the characters practically? 
The way we explored this scene was similar to the way we explored Antigone and Ismenes scene. It was based around acting it out in pairs, we would change the way we preformed it to fit the relationship we thought the characters had.

What did you discover about the relationship between the characters?
We discovered a lot about Creon's character, in our opinion Creon isn't purposly trying to hurt Antigone he just feels that this is the right thing to do in order to be a good king. This influences the relationship between Antigone and Creon because it means there is no way either of them will back down, therefore they lock in eternal conflict until the very end of the play. Both characters are so stubborn and feel that they have gone to far to be able to back down, meaning that neither character will ever give the other character a chance to argue their point. No civilised communication was present in their relationship.

How did this scene link to some of the information you discovered in the session about the historical context?
This links to the historical context of the sturcture of a greek tragedy. The bad guy within the greek tragedies often isn't setting out to create bad things, Creon genrally believes what he is doing is right. Yet his unwillingness to listen to other peoples opinions results in the tragedy. 

Multimedia - Exploring the Chorus

This lesson was spent rehearsing our chorus scenes. I found it quiet difficult to remember a lot of the choreographed movement, so I mostly relied on looking at what the people in front of me where doing. I also found it difficult to remember the lines, this really held back our rehearsal as the lines are supposed to be said in unison as a body of actors. Yet when half of the group doesn't say their line it immediately loses all effect. After this rehearsal I decided I would have to spend some valuable time going over the cues, lines and movements. The cues were one of the most difficult parts as not everyone was always on the same page with cues or lines. This made it difficult to know when to start your line, creating a few uneasy silences in between lines in rehearsals. Other than that, I really enjoy working as an ensemble for the whole lesson. It was very physical and we had to collaborate as a team in order to make it work. The physical side made me enjoy it even more as I really felt I could get stuck into the task.

Looking At Suitable Areas For Performance and Multimedia - 
These two walls seemed like an ideal place to project a piece of footage onto. They were located inside and in a relatively quiet part of the school. These two Walls were also located inside of this little passage that is shown in the picture below this text. I though this added a good effect as the location seems quiet mysterious and strange. A perfect atmosphere for some of
the scenes in Antigone.

A Glass Roof

While looking around the school we came across this glass panelled roof. After a discussion with the people in my group we came up with the idea to stick silhouetted images on each panel of glass, the rest of the panel would have to be cover in black paper so not to let the light through. The light would then only shine through the holes in the silhouettes creating an effective, maybe even quiet haunting, image relating to Antigone.This white wall is positioned right next to this wall <- We were already thinking about projecting something onto that wall when we saw this wall -> The wall being white meant a projection would work wonderfully and the location was good as described for the other walls. It also seemed like a good idea to have the projections in one place. Lastly, as there is a ledge on this wall we discussed some ideas of placing significant objects there and maybe making slightly interactive.

Lockers

Here we looked at the idea of having little scenes set up in each of the lockers. We could of had small projections into each lockers with a mixture of other multimedia, such as sound. The audience would then go round opening the marked lockers to view the scene inside.

Here we had the idea of using the print room. The printing room is shown in the image below. We had the idea of printing out images relating to Antigone or showing a scene in Antigone at the print when the audience arrived. They could then look at the printed images and carry on to have a better in depth look at that scene.

The Printing Room

This is an image of a persons outline that is some how in the girls bathroom. We weren't exactly sure how we could include it in the show however it looked like it could defiantly be of use and effective within the play. Certiantly when a lot of the characters start committing suicide towards the end of the play.

Here we thought we could preform a scene on one side of the wall while the audience watched from the other side through the mirror. The only problem with this is that the mirror is quiet small and it may be difficult for all of the audience to see the scene. However, we thought the effect of a distorted scene through a mirror would work quiet nicely within the play.

Historical Context - Research

National Theatre - An Introduction To Greek Tradegy

• Greek tradegies looks suffering and misery directly in the face, its truthful and blunt. It transcends cultural and temporal boundaries due to the fact its themes are so universal and widely recognised. This is evident in the fact that most of the themes presented in greek tradegies are still relevant today, because even those culture and language may change these basic themes always stay the same and can be seen in any culture or society. Greek tragedy also enables us to reflect on society and the current issues around the world, because these issues are presented in such a bold and forceful way that you have no choice but to recognise and accept that these problems are a part of society.
• Aristotle came up with a 'formula' for a good tradegy. The hero's of the tradegy would have to be good, but no so good that you can't relate to them or that it seems unrealistic. They would have a good heart and try to do good things but make mistakes along the way like any normal person does.He said that one of the key things that leads greek tragedy is the 'Hamartia'. This is the error of judgement. Most Greek tradegies aren't about wicked people who do things in order to hurt or cause pain, it usually revolves around some one making a bad desicion that leads to terrible things. In that moment that decision seems like the right thing to do and there is no way of knowing what terrible fate will come out of it. The hamartia shows us that we live in a flawed world, yet a lot of this comes out of our actions and decisions and therefore we are responsible for these flaws. 
• Death is a key feature in Greek tradegies. One of the strongest metaphors do with death is around the sun. Characters who know or fear that they're about to die often address the sun. It revolves around the concept of 'leaving the light '(life) and entering the darkness(death).   
• Structure - Greek tradegies always start with a prologue that sets the scene. This is then followed by the chours. This allows for the passing of time after the prolouge, what may be several minutes on stage can be made into several hours by the chours.  
• Greek tradegy has had an enormous impact on the world. The plots and structures that feature in greek tradegies have been replicated in loads of ways over the years. One example is the soap operas that we get on T.V. Nearly all the plots and themes shown in these soap operas have been taken from Greek Tradegies. Arthur Miller is also a well-known writer who takes greek tradegies and the themes within them and
• Aristotle talks about something called Cartharsis (the concept of cleansing and purifying). This is the idea that you watch the end of a tradegy you feel pity and fear, and these emotions get cleansed via watching the play. Its the idea of emotional draining - however traumatic watching these plays may be, by the end you feel a sense of healing/cleansing of all the emotions you've released while watching that play.      

BBC Ancient Greece: The Greatest Show On Earth 

• Trojian Women was a play written by Euripidies. Its about some of the most significant aspects of human life: love, war, sacrifice, fear and death. 
• The Ancient Greeks influenced so many aspects of the modern world. Things like drama, politics, language, philosophy, art and architecture. 
• Greek playwrites revolutionised storytelling. It was more than entertainment. 
• The city was Athens invented democracy and theatre. There was a strong link between the birth of theatre and democracy. 
• Until this point, story's had only ever been narrated and never acted. 
• They believed it was dangerous to act out (become) the part of a God, a slave or a women. So they wore masks to protect them against 'becoming' these characters. 
• Some of the content in Greek Tragedys was so disturbing that the plays were set in a distant land so these things weren't associated with the city that they all lived in. 
• Greek Comedies often poked fun at politicians in Athens. 
• Theatre supposedly evolved out of songs to honour Dionysus, the greek god of theatre and wine. 
• Democracy and Theatre was also linked to religion. These ideas developed over time. 
• Athenians lived in small villages called Dems, these villages were ran by the local people who lived there. 
• Dems would gather to watch theatre. Most Dems had a central theatre where theatre and other things such as politics/democratic activity would take place. Democratic activity in theatres also happened in cities such as Athens.
•  Politicians sponsored theatre plays in the Dionysus festival. The winning plays sponsor's would put up statues to celebrate and flaunt their winnings. 
• When you went to the theatre you sat in the same group of people that you would go to war with, you also acted with the same group of people that you would go to war with.
• Over 1000 plays were written in Greek times, only 32 of the best plays survived.

Antigone and Creon -

• The relationship between Antigone and Creon isn't family one, its a politcal one.
•  The realtionship is complicated as they are related yet that doesn't count for anything. Creon treates her as a criminal and refuses to acknowledge their familly bond. Yet deep down I think that they both feel betratyed that they are family and can't work and support each other.
• Creon puts politics and what people think of him above the duty to care for your family and therefore care for Antigone.
• Creon isn't the 'bad guy' he just thinks differently and takes on a different opinion. 

                          

How Multimedia Was Used To Enhcance Our Preformance

 Multimedia enhanced our performance enormously. This photo on the right -> demonstrates how effective it was. This piece of footage was projected onto the whole wall and not just a small scene in the middle as others were. From seeing this footage live, I know how taken aback you can feel after walking into the room to see a video that's so bold and commanding of the space. For me it drew me and caught my attention immediately as your looking at something that really is pushing the boundaries of what people consider to be 'normal theatre'. Combined with a play that has a reputation for being 'traditional' and is associated with that 'standered way of preforming', this piece of multimedia proved to be extremely effective.

Here we used a stereo to play a pre-recorded tape of us speaking the chorus, while we acted out our choreographed movements down on the courtyard. This enhanced this moment of chorus a lot as it meant the audience could view a chorus from a whole new angle and perspective. Choruses can sometimes be something that everyone just zones out of as they can be considered boring or not very modern and are sometimes quiet hard to understand. However, presenting it in this way takes out that boring aspect and the use of multimedia (sound) gives it a contemporary feel. The physical and aspect and sound combined also means you don't have to fully understand it, you can  just let the sound flow around you as you watch and interprete the movement.

The scene on the right used music to enhance their piece. The music created a lot of suspense and conveyed the emotions of the scene really well. It was played at a moment where there were tow characters on stage that resembled some kind of creature that wasn't quiet human, it was very abstract and sinister. The music enhanced the threatening feel of the piece and I felt it would have enabled th audience to conect and get lost in this scene a lot more. This scene was also towards the end, therefore the music worked perfectly to start to buil up the idea of the final of the play, the part where all the destruction and pain really is visable.

<- This was the scene that followed directly after the one above this text. The multimedia used here was a video showing Antigone and Heamon commiting suicide. I felt, as this was my scene, that this had a really hard hitting and emotional effect on the audience, therefore enhancing the piece. To show the act of commiting suicide so clearly and bluntly in a video must have been quiet shocking for the audience, nevertheless there was no better way to convay the situation. Suicide is often something that isn't quiet dealt with in such a direct way, yet this video showed it as it truley is. Some of the audience member may have had experience with suicide, who knows, but this video certianly would have hit some very deep emotions with the  audience. These emotions potentionally allow audience member to unlock those deep and questioning thoughts that can be avoided so easily, therefore making a huge connection with this scene and the issues raised within it.

Current Events

What was happening when Antigone was created -

Peloponnesian War -  (431–404 bc) (c. 460 to 446 bc)

Antigone was written in 441 b.c. during the first of the wars. The wars were fought between the two leading city's in ancient Greece, Athens and Sparta. The wars ended when Sparta, with financial help from Persia, won the conflict by destroying the Athenian fleet at Aegospotami in 405 bc. The war had a large negative impact on Athens, there were plagues, a large decrease in the population and the financial difficulties. Sopocles was deeply invovled in this war. He was elected as one of the ten strategoi, these were high executive officials who commanded the armed forces and in 413 BCE, he was elected one of the commissioners responding to the catastrophic destruction of the Athenian expeditionary force in Sicily during the Peloponnesian War.

Was its creation influenced by any specific historical events? 

Antigone probably influenced by the Peloponnesian War, as Antigone is about the after math of war and the negative effect it can have on families, relationships and the government. Sopocles own invovment in war would have given him the knowledge to write about the destruction it could cause as he would have seen this with this own eyes. Since he was one of the coffissioners responding to the damage the war caused in Athens he also would have known about the 'behind the scnenes actions' of the government. These events may have spured his on to write a play voicing his concerns.