"Ashes to Ashes" presented by the "Badac Theatre Company" - review.
Ashes To Ashes - Review "Ashes to Ashes" was presented by the "Badac Theatre Company". A tragic piece of physical theatre telling the story of two Jewish men held in captivity at Auschwitz concentration camp during the Second World War. Although this piece is non-naturalistic it portrays the horrifying truth of the ordeal that thousands of Jews suffered. The play started even before you got to your seat with the three performers reciting a Jewish prayer, their voices strong and in time with each other. This created a feeling of suspense, it's not very often you come into a theatre to see the actors staring blankly out at you repeating over and over the same words. The staging was simple, very minimalist. The only material objects being sheets of metal hanging upstage centre. And a metal rod used for beating them. The main acting happened within three spotlights, stage left and right was the prisoners, with upstage centre being the guard. In only one scene did the performance move out of the spotlights. Not too much variation there, making the performance rather static. The three men introduced their characters standing in the audience, directly addressing them; however, I didn't 'feel' their characters. There was no sense of emotion. They were telling of the happy times they had lived and how they were shattered by them being taken to Auschwitz, yet I felt no desire to
"Discuss how Tim Burton establishes genre and narrative in the opening 5 minutes of Edward Scissorhands and Sleep Hollow"
MEDIA STUDIES COURSEWORK 1 "Discuss how Tim Burton establishes genre and narrative in the opening 5 minutes of Edward Scissorhands and Sleep Hollow" Genre is the French word for 'type'. Type is the kind of text it is. The genre of a film text may be Sci-Fi, Horror, Action, Romantic, Comedy, etc. In most films, the genres are combined, this is known as a 'hybrid genre'. Narrative of a film is the structure or order in which the plot (sequence of event) is presented to an audience. This piece of coursework is going to discuss how Tim Burton establishes genre and narrative in the opening five minutes of two films, 'Edward Scissorhands' and 'Sleepy Hollow'. Timothy William Burton was born in Burbank, California, USA on August 25th in 1958. He was not very good in school but found pleasure in painting, drawing and movies. He loves monster films such as Godzilla, and Vincent Price was one of his heroes. Vincent Price was an actor. He worked with Tim Burton when Tim became a director. Be fore he became a director, he was animator. Vincent Price sadly died in 1993. Tim tends to use dark colours in his films and is also known to be weird. There is always music in a film at least one type. Music creates effect In Edward Scissorhands, the music in the beginning is choral. Choral mean 'to be sung by a choir'. This is informs the audience that it is a Holy time such as Christmas. It is
This essay will attempt to show you the brilliance that is Psycho and how Alfred Hitchcock managed to create a film which even today grabs and retains the interest of any audience.
Psycho, the greatest film of all time? I believe that it is. This essay will attempt to show you the brilliance that is Psycho and how Alfred Hitchcock managed to create a film which even today grabs and retains the interest of any audience. The music in the film Psycho was a brand new idea at its time in the 1960s and acted like magic on audiences, making them sit in horror at the edge of their seats. The music in Psycho is 'non-diagetic' and is performed by an all-strings orchestra. At the time when Psycho was released, using music that was played by an all-strings orchestra in horror movies was a brand new idea and startled film critics and the audience alike. This method of using high-pitched, sharp music was such an effective idea that many other horror films and television series adopted the thought and this style of music is still used to this day (for example, in Nightmare on Elm Street. Using an all-strings orchestra in Psycho was a fantastic way of building tension and it worked very effectively. The reason it worked so well was because the sound was so recognisable. This is because, as the music was played on and on-and-off basis, the audience gradually noticed that when the music played, something bad was probably about to happen. No other music could have been used in Psycho which would have created the same amount of tension in the movie and sounded so shrill
Select around 10 minutes of a film of your choice that is very significant. Explain it's purpose and why you have selected it - Saving Private Ryan.
GCSE Media Coursework Title: Select around 10 minutes of a film of your choice that is very significant. Explain it's purpose and why you have selected it. Analyse thoroughly: (i) the camera shots (ii) characters (iii) action portrayed (iv) lighting (v) soundtrack (vi) music (vii) dialogue Comment on the general editing and overall film product. Saving Private Ryan was created in 1998 and won five Academy Awards including "Best Director" for Steven Spielberg. Saving Private Ryan is a WWII drama; it stars Tom Hanks as Captain John Miller, Edward Burns and Tom Sizemore to name but a few. Saving Private Ryan also won Golden Globes for "Best Picture" and "Best Director". The ten or so minutes that I have selected happen in the very beginning of the movie. The story line is when a squad of American soldiers invade Normandy, known as the D-Day landing. They then move beyond the beaches of Normandy to embark on a treacherous mission to save Private Ryan whose brothers have been killed in combat. I have selected this particular film because I believe that it is an important part of history and that everyone should have the opportunity to learn about it. The film starts with a medium shot of an American flag waving in the wind, which creates a sense of patriotism. You can hear the mellow sound of brass instruments, which makes the audience think of the military or the
Write an essay which describes your involvement in this term’s Drama Activities
Write an essay which describes your involvement in this term's Drama Activities Over the past few weeks, a group of nine drama students have been working on a short pantomime suitable for infant children. In this essay I hope to describe my involvement in this term's work. Due to the fact we had a very short amount of time to produce the pantomime, we focused on the content of the production. However, we did dedicate one lesson to props and costumes. In this lesson, as a group we discussed what would be needed as a minimum to portray our characters well enough so young children would understand the characters. As the villain, I thought it would be best if I wore dark clothing evoking evil. However, being completely dark may have upset some of the young children, so I added my name in metallic sliver to a black leather jacket, to brighten up my costume. As the play was to be performed around Christmas, we had elves in the play and as a group decision, we decided the elves should be in a brightly coloured uniform. We used very little music as we felt there was not enough time to prepare or learn any more routines. Therefore, we only used a few verses of "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" so the children could join in. Our play consisted of 9 separate characters, Santa; who was the brains behind the situation, we decided it was best to do it this way because young children have
Role writing in Ghetto.
The Response Phase In role writing: Look at him he's just a geek sitting there doing his work like teacher's pet with no breaks. "Oi four eyes what are you doing?" "urrgghh... Just doing the work how we're supposed to." "Well carry on, you can do my work afterwards as well." Why can't he stop picking on me he always makes fun of me for no reason. What have I ever done to him? Just because my dad got a new job and we had to move here doesn't justify what he's been doing. No one else in the class gets picked on just me because I'm the new kid, it makes me feel so small and alone. How would he like it if I bullied him? He'd probably be feeling exactly as I am now he's no different from me. I bet the reason why he's making fun of me is because he's lonely, stupid and unable to cope with the work set, maybe if I just ignore him he'll stop. Or will he? What if he doesn't stop? I'll never be able to enjoy school again and If I complain no one will do anything just tell me it'll be alright. "Have you finished my work yet?" Just stand up to him, what's the worst that can happen. "No I'm not going to do it, do it yourself otherwise you won't get anything out of it." "You're even more stupid than I thought, don't you know what happens to people who don't do what I say. You asked for it wait until I get over there." I shouldn't have done that If I've just got myself into deeper
What do we learn about New York and the programmes themselves through the openings of 'The Sopranos' and 'Sex in the City'?
What do we learn about New York and the programmes themselves through the openings of 'The Sopranos' and 'Sex in the City'? This essay will focus on a comparison, contrast and review of the opening sequences of 'Sex and the City' and 'The Sopranos'. I will analyse how each scene depicts and represents the city of New York, and how the actual programme itself is portrayed. I will deconstruct and break down each technique used, and how it is symbolic towards the city and series. 'Sex and the City', the first programme I will be analysing, follows the daily routine and lifestyle of Carrie Bradshaw; a mid-30s single American woman. The television show focuses on Carrie, her friends, and their sexual and personal relationships and experiences in New York. It is aimed primarily at the young female adult demographic, and therefore it is always shown after the watershed. It would appeal to other audiences, but I believe that it has been produced with that one specific demographic in mind. Normally, the show has to be screened late at night, due to regular extreme language and explicit sexual content. 'The Sopranos', the second programme that I studied, follows the exploits of an Italian-American family of gangsters, and their involvement with the criminal underworld of New York. The main character, Tony Soprano, is usually the person that has his life documented by the camera.
How is tension created and sustained in "The Monkey's Paw"
How is tension created and sustained in "The Monkey's Paw" The Monkey's Paw is a short, horror story written by WW Jacobs. It was written and set in the 19th century in a time where there was almost an obsession with the gothic, Victoria genre. Jacobs uses a range of techniques which create and add tension of the audience. The setting, structure, genre, characters, language and atmosphere all contribute to the ascending build up of tension throughout the story. The setting of the story is typical of the time in which it was set. There are many clues given by the author, which help us to distinguish the time period in which the play was set. Items such as 'the china candlestick' and 'the fire' would not be used commonly today because of the introduction of electrical heaters etc. Furthermore, when Mr white says: "A rat. It passed me on the stairs", we find it difficult to comprehend this. This is because we would find a rat scuttling around in our houses today extremely peculiar and probably unbelievable whereas Mr and Mrs White do not seem to make much of a fuss about it because it may have been normal in that time. The rat may have been common then, in a time where plague and diseases were very active. This all contributes towards the spooky/horror theme of the story which creates a feeling amongst the audience that they expect something to happen. The
Review of Live Theatre
Review of live theatre Cambridge students' 'The wonderful world of Dissocia' written by A Neilson January 2008, Anglia Ruskin University Theatre What impressed me most about this performance of Neilson's Dissocia was its ability to present the key theme of mental illness in such a way that it gave me a greater understanding of how sufferers themselves must feel. The actors and actresses did succeed in bringing out the comic elements of the text, so the evening was highly entertaining. Although I felt the theme of mental illness was for the most part handled well, at times, the lack of thorough production values hindered Neilson's intention of creating clear contrast between reality and unreality. Overall the first half was more effective than the second. 'The wonderful world of Dissocia' centres on the main character Lisa, a girl with a mental illness of some sort. I felt this actress's performance was very strong and how she was portrayed as an 'Alice in Wonderland' type character, with long blonde hair and a blue tea dress, was very visually effective and immediately after she entered the stage I as an audience member was aware the production was not of a naturalistic genre. Neilson wants us to find answers for questions we may not have thought about before, such as why do patients with mental illness often refuse to take their medication? This would increase our
How does the opening sequence of Moulin Rouge inform the audiences understanding of the film using the cinematic codes?
How does the opening sequence of Moulin Rouge inform the audiences understanding of the film using the cinematic codes? Moulin Rouge - Lhurman, 2001, US The opening sequence of Moulin Rouge is both informative and dramatic. It tells the story of Christian as he tells the story of the Moulin Rouge. The bright colours and music give the impression of joy throughout the film; this is enhanced through the use of erratic camera movements within the Moulin Rouge. In contrast the woeful voice of Toulouse can be heard singing the story over the top, informing the audience that the film will also include great tragedy and sorrow. It's lavish use of colour and mise-en-scéne work well with the intricate use of cinematography. Every shot is carefully planned to give the audience a preferred reading. The high angle shots of Christian make him seem weak and vulnerable. The slow paced editing also allows the audience to take in the surroundings, to gather thoughts and ask questions such as; why is he crying? From the camera angles used we feel sympathy for Christian when we learn of Satine's death. Consider the 'stage-setting' techniques used: the curtains of the stage are deep red suggesting to the audience themes of love, passion, desire and danger, stage setting for the story that is about to unfold. The curtains are gold trimmed creating a sense of grandeur and decadence.