Music has the ability to make someone smile, cry, laugh or feel every emotion under the sun. It can take a simple movement to a fully orchestrated artwork. It is a vital part of cinema and TV, and when implemented to theatre can act as an emotional underscore to set a mood for the whole production.

When it comes to this production, a lot of what was wanted was asked for by the directors, which I always followed and achieved exactly what they envisioned but I did have a little bit of creative freedom when it came to how certain things sounded.

When designing the sound and music, it was incredibly important for me to remember, “Sound tells an audience what they cannot see. What is invisible to the audience, but near enough to be heard, becomes the domain of the sound designer… The sound we heard lied to us but still managed to create its own perfectly plausible reality.” (Collins, 2011, 29) This was not only applicable to sound effects like crowd sounds, to make it clear to an audience that there is a crowd just out of eyesight in the given scene, or a clock tick to fill the empty monotonous space, but it also applies to that of music that can create a mood or tension that an audience cannot otherwise pick up on. A monologue said to no sound would sound however the actor portrayed it, may that be angry, happy, sad, but with a low hum underneath, for example, adds a tension or uneasiness that an audience would have otherwise missed out on.

This has been demonstrated with this scene from Jaws, where music can add tension and excitement followed by triumphant victory, not seen without the music.

Works Cited
Collins, J. (2011) Performing Sound/Sounding Space. In: Kendrick, L. and Roesner, D. (eds.) Theatre noise: the sound of performance. London: Newcastle Cambridge Scholars.

Although after doing a lot of work for it, I was not allowed to be on the marketing team, but I still went ahead and carried on when it was evident that nothing was being done. I said I would wait to see if anything appeared, and if not, I would carry on doing social media marketing (as this did not step on toes of people who would get angry if I went ahead and printed posters. I had to tread a very thin line with the ‘marketing’ people. Not fun).

Either way, I was proud of what I achieved in this field, and I got to use my skills I learned through after effects to create trailers that eventually circulated Facebook among the drama student community. It’s a shame I wasn’t allowed to just do the marketing for them as I can guarantee I would have got a lot done. I have contacts in the radio stations, knew where to get things printed quickly, and just how to get the word out in interesting ways. But alas, directors and other members of the group did not allow me. So it’s a shame, but here’s what I did.

(My images did however end up in the Lincoln programme and on the website (Seen here!), this is because I was the only one who actually emailed them when the deadline was due.)

Poster!

A lot of the idea for the poster came from a need for a simple and clear design. Something memorable that would carry. I opted for the sniper rifle imagery. We have scenes where people are assassinated, and although it doesn’t say much about the performance, it says enough. All the poster needs to do is tantalise an audience into coming, and I felt my poster did that. The poster they went with in the end that appeared on leaflets (which appeared in circulation the day before the show) was also simple, but I never fully understood it, I also wish it appeared in circulation sooner. Marketing is important to me, I wish it was taken seriously.

Trailers!

Following the creation of the poster, I made a trailer following the similar art style. It featured the voice of John F. Kennedy talking about history in his moon speech. Again this is not giving a lot away, but the audience realise we’re going to be dealing with the past.

After a comment from my father (yup, this is where I usually go for advice) about it not being clear enough and he still has no idea what it was about – I opted for this much clearer and more fun trailer with actual clips from some of the scenes we are doing. It is clear we are dealing with specific moments of history and with the popular song; the trailer attracts an audience, especially those of our age group, which, given that it is a university performance, will be the main body of the audience.

The camera. A piece of technology that is so inherent to the modern way we live our lives day after day. Every person who owns a mobile phone has a camera attached to his or her body at all times of the day. So where is it’s place in theatre? “Theatre is not virtual, it is real. It is exactly this quality that cannot be replaced by any other medium.” (Freiburg, 2010, 79) Which is all well and true but that doesn’t stop it combining with media to create something new. Why can’t theatre become more cinematic?

During this module and during the show we have to adopt a language that is not inherent to theatre, but instead theatre. Close-up, wide angle, post-production and so on… The function of the camera is to pick a part of an image and present it on a screen. Combine with theatre and “the material body and its subjectivity are extended, challenged and reconfigured through technology.” (Causey, 2009, 16) You can see things you otherwise wouldn’t see. A subtle hand move, the shaking of someone’s nerves, a quick eye dash. This was important when creating our show; we wanted to present things in new ways so why not close-up on the moments of history to show the subtle sides of it. We can see the queens nerves before she gets crowned, and we can see the subtle workings of a murderer.

It also called for a different style of acting. Theatre asks for big personalities, big gestures, and big characters so that the people all over the auditorium are able to see and understand what is going on. Bring a camera into the equation, which can be an extra eye for an audience and the acting can become far subtler. No need for big gestures when the audiences get a slight finger twitch blown into a massive projection onto the screen. The choice on how this is done is down to the directors, but a slightly abstract style of performing where people move slowly and precise would lead for a style that meets the theatre and film elements of acting.

Works Cited
Freiburg, J. (eds.) (2010) Gob Squad Reader. London: Gob Squad.
Causey, M. (2009) Theatre and Performance in Digital Culture. London: Routledge.

So what moments of history matter?

Good question, and that’s not even the extent of it. What moments of history matter and we also could have something interesting to say. Two criteria to fill. Many options. When first thinking about the idea I was inspired quite heavily by the phrase “When you cut into the present, the future leaks out.” (Burroughs, undated) The idea that something pre-existing can be cut into, re-arranged or remixed, if you will, into something of the future in a form of divination. However I thought more about spinning it the opposite way. If you cut into the present, does the past leak out? I chopped up pieces of newspaper from today to created the headlines of the past. For example;

But then the interesting thing that could happen. How about you take the newspaper headlines from these big historic moments, cut them up and make a new truth?

“Marilyn found dead in suspected suicide” can become “Marilyn suspected dead”.

Suddenly it is questioned whether or not the fact she is dead at all becomes a conspiracy. Either way we decide to look at it it is important we pick big moments. Moon Landing, 9/11, Watergate, the coronation and so on. Moments that are not only well documented and commented on, but moments that could potentially have other elements otherwise unseen.

Works Cited.
Burroughs, W. (undated) When you cut into the present the future leaks out. [online] Available from http://coilhouse.net/2012/02/when-you-cut-into-the-present-the-future-leaks-out-william-s-burroughs-b-february-5-1914/ [Accessed 23 May, 2015]

It’s kind of funny when old ideas find a way to stick around.

We spent a lot of time looking at surveillance and some big overpowering being that watches everything a person does. Think George Orwell’s 1984 on stage and you pretty much have our original plans. But this new idea that I came up with, about looking at history in a new light… well it sort of harks back to that G.O.D idea. The idea the hidden moments of history plays heavily with the prospects of the “manipulative possibilities of the media.” (Freiburg, 2010, 77) Along with the ‘media’ meaning news channels and the ability for them to tell stories in specific ways, the ‘media’ can also mean how the camera is specific in what it views and how that can choose to see certain things. The whole point of technology and media is observation, may it be through a screen, a camera lens, or a phone – it sees things that happen in the world, but not necessarily the whole image.

This is what comes out in our performance looking at history. Everyone has seen sections of history through the eye of the lens but not necessarily the whole picture. When you combine theatre with the mediated image you have the chance to see more. The extra bits. ‘Reading between the lines’, or the pixels, as it were.

Works Cited.
Freiburg, J. (eds.) (2010) Gob Squad Reader. London: Gob Squad.