Context for Vinegar Tom
In the 1960's to the late 1970's the second- wave feminism occurred, which refers to a period where feminist activities began to focus and overturn legal obstacles of equality for women. The women felt that this wave encouraged women to understand more about the psychological implications of the sexist stereotypes that were being made towards women and that women can be more then just a housewife. It was during the Second World War that many women experienced what working life was really like as they worked side by side with other men, and this is when achievements were being recognized. It was not until the 1960's that the women's movements became successful. Caryl Churchill was a feminist writer and she based her play "Vinegar Tom" around the witch hunt which accrued during the 1500's and early 1600's. The witch hunt reached it peak in Europe during the late 1500's and many victims who were mostly women were falsely accused, and were tortured until they confessed. They faced going to prison, banishment or even execution. In the American Colonies, a small number of accused witches were persecuted in New England from the mid-1600's to the early 1700's. Some were banished and others were executed. One of the most famous American witch hunts took place in the town of Salem in 1692. There, the village girls got together and played games to do with witchcraft and that then
Compare the presentation of heroes and villains in 'Shrek' by DreamWorks and other traditional fairytales in Walt Disney stables.
GCSE English Media Coursework Compare the presentation of heroes and villains in 'Shrek' by DreamWorks and other traditional fairytales in Walt Disney stables. DreamWorks's 'Shrek' is the award winning animated film from 2001, known to be the modern day fairytale with its informal language and alternative storyline. Shrek is very much the opposite of what we know to be traditional fairytales, tales that send out heart-felt warmth and feed the imagination. These tales of fantasy have been known throughout many generations and with the experience of Shrek we may be introducing a whole new interpretation of fairytales. This story overrides any of the traditional fairytale boundaries with its heroic princes', beautiful princesses and terrifying beasts. The first scene that we come across is of an imitation fairytale book that is seen in Sleeping Beauty as if to show that this will turn out to be a conventional fairytale. The soft classical music being played in the background shows authenticity of a stereotypical fairytale. Suddenly a large green hand rips out a page and snaps the book shut. Already we notice certain opinions that are being expressed towards fairytales in this story and give us the impression that this will not be just any ordinary fairytale. The moment Shrek steps out of the outhouse, modern upbeat music begins to play and we continue to watch Shrek's
Comparitive essay
Comparative Essay-Devised piece In our devised piece this term we used the play " TWO" written by Jim Cartwright as our stimulus. The play is set in a Northern 'working' town in a pub and all the action and events take place on one night. It's about a bickering landlord and landlady and their eccentric customers whom they serve at the bar. It gives an insight into the different kinds of people present in a pub at different times and a very brief look into their lives. The play is made up of lots of vignettes each focusing in on different characters. The two key characters are the landlord and landlady however these two people play all of the characters and have to change between roles with minimum fuss. The play also has a hidden meaning, which we do not find out about until the end, which in this case then makes some of the arguing clear, as we can understand the reasons behind it all. There is an element of humour and laughter used to cover up a darker and sadder under current in the play. In this case it's about the couples child dieing in a car accident at the young age of seven. We took some elements of 'TWO' and incorporated some of the themes, ideas and elements into our own devised pieces. Our play consisted of a lot of duologues and monologues just as 'TWO' had done and we also chose two pivotal characters. Instead of having a landlord and a landlady we had two shop
Exploration Notes on Medea
Exploration Notes Medea Social, Cultural and Historical Context Medea is an Ancient Greek play, written by Euripides around the time theatre was first being formalised. Theatre developed from festivals dedicated to Dionysus, the god of wine, and the actors were originally priests and worshippers. Theatrical conventions arose quickly, some specific to Greek theatre, such as the use of masks to distance the audience from the action, and some that are still used today, like the proscenium arch. But even in its infancy, drama was used as a way to air the issues of the day and challenge preconceptions. In Greek society, women and foreigners were seen as second-class citizens, incapable of intelligent thought. Medea is both a woman and a foreigner, yet she is not only the hero of the play, but clever and, despite her actions, ultimately no less civilised than the Greek men like Jason and Creon. Structure Unlike most modern plays, Medea is not split into acts or scenes. The action takes place in one day, in one setting. Events that happen in other places, such as the princess' death, are reported by another character. A lot of the story is told to the audience in this way instead of shown: for example, at the start the nurse explains to the audience what has happened to lead up to this point. There are never more than two characters talking to each other at any time, with the
What point was Edward Albee trying to make in
What point was Edward Albee trying to make in "The Zoo Story" "The Zoo story" was written by Edward Albee in 1958, and was first performed in the Schiller Theatre Werkstutt, Berlin, Germany on the 28th of September 1959. The play comprises of one single Scene and is set in a park in central New York on a sunny summer Sunday afternoon. It tells the story of Peter an average, middle of the road man with an average 9 to 5 job at a publishers, a wife and 2 kids and how he reacts to Jerry, the lonely social outsider living in a tiny apartment surrounded by strange people similar to himself, who engages Peter, sitting quietly on a park bench reading a book, in conversation even though he is a complete stranger to Jerry. Jerry talks at Peter for a long time manipulating him into different predicaments. Jerry then talks for a long time about his landladies dog and how it attacked him and how he tried to reach an understanding with it. Jerry then challenges Peter for the park bench that he sits on every Sunday, Peter gallantly defends it up to the point where Jerry draws a knife, then throws it at Peters feet. Peter holds the knife out at arms length defensively and Jerry lunges onto the knife, leaving Peter with the thought that he has just killed a man. This particular play by Edward Albee is not a "normal" play, it is an absurd drama, meaning that it differs from a "normal" play
How is the Guinness advert designed to sell Guinness to the target audience?
How is the Guinness advert designed to sell Guinness to the target audience? This Guinness advert uses a vast range of advertising techniques to sell Guinness to its target audience. The most important and effective technique used to sell Guinness is the role model, Marco, this is because Marco has defied the stereotype of an 'Old Man' e.g. walking sticks and moaning all the time, but instead he is very healthy, attractive for his age and well known in his area. This is every older man's dream, so by giving men the notion that they will be fit, healthy, attractive and well known by drinking Guinness, helps to sell Guinness a lot more to the target audience of 'an older man'. Guinness uses the role model, Marco, as an effective and compelling role model for the target audience of older men. Marco is a very well known person in the village that he lives in. The advertisers show this by giving us images of Marco surrounded by beautiful young women. Also when Marco is swimming for the Guinness, all of the spectators are cheering him on and chanting his name. Another way the role model, Marco, is shown to be well known in his village, is when Marco's brother tells us that, "Marco is the reason I opened the bar", This gives us the notion that, owing to Marco's popularity in the village, Marco's brother opened a bar, knowing that the townsfolk would visit his bar regularly.
Create the opening sequence of a new thriller
Media essay: part 1 I have been assigned is to create the opening sequence of a new thriller approximately two minutes in duration aimed at fifteen to eighteen year olds. Thrillers, what is a thriller? Essentially thrillers are films that primarily are focused on creating tension. Thriller filmmakers create tension through the use of various techniques and placing their characters in peculiar and precarious situations. I.E. the protagonist is pursued by a serial killer, the film will generally be an account of the events which led to the villain becoming the villain, it then proceeds to the hero or heroine discovering the killer and then concludes with the hero or heroine attempting to escape from the villains clutches or trying to bring them to justice. One can argue that this is the definition of a thriller; I was able to locate this information through the use of Internet search engines such as, 'Google' or 'Ask Jeeves'. They were the effective in providing me with the relevant information thus enabling me to contribute relevant and useful information towards this assignment. Now I have established what a thriller is I will discuss what audiences find so captivating about them. Perhaps the element of fear and fantasy attracts the audience towards these films. One of thrillers, which I have utilised in my research, which possesses these elements, is Stanley
How did your role emerge and was it communicated.
After we decided to use Edward Hopper as our stimulus, and to look at the loneliness ever present in his work, we came about shaping our first character an individual who suffered from loneliness. We felt that this person could have an alter ego to act as a defense mechanism to combat the loneliness and isolation he suffered. Then we looked at how influential a persons experience is as a result of he/she's childhood. As a result we created a playground scene in which we saw 'Richard' for the first time at the age of a child. My role from the start emerged to be Richard due to the direction I put forward about the piece, and my enthusiasm I expressed about it. I created a back-story to Richard of which the main pints can be seen below: * He created an imaginary friend portrayed by a doppelganger as a consequence to the bulling, loneliness and isolation he suffered. * He focused on his education * Submissive A member of the group brought in a poem by T.S.Elliot 'Wasteland', which consisted of the social and economic issues around the 1970's. We were able to combined issues from both the poem and Hopper, to develop our story line and for characters to emerge. Through the rehearsal process we were able to dismiss and develop ideas we liked. We tested a variety of different ideas related to costume, delivery of lines and body language. Originally our costume were going to
How does the opening sequence of 'The Mummy Returns' create meaning and atmosphere for the audience?
How does the opening sequence of your chosen film create meaning and atmosphere for the audience? I have chosen The Mummy Returns. Sound The narrator directly addresses the audience. It is used at the beginning to set the scene and describes what has happened up to the present day, so the audience understand what's happening. Parallel sound is used throughout. Sound bridges happen throughout the sequence. For example, when the battles are taking place, and the scene cuts between different shots. This gives continuity to the film. The soundtrack uses many features to involve the audience, and create an atmosphere. For example, in the battle scene at the beginning, the drums and the chanting help to build an atmosphere of excitement, and the importance of the battle and the scorpion king. As the scene moves into the temple, the soundtrack uses eerie noises, and high pitched notes to unsettle the audience adding to a tense atmosphere. The soundtrack is also used to show relationships between characters. When Evelyn and Rick are alone in the temple the music becomes slow and romantic. Diegetic sound is used throughout the sequence to help get the scene. It is used in a lot of different places from swords clashing in battle scenes, to snakes hissing in the tomb, to water rushing through the tunnels. Lighting The film starts in the desert. The light used is a very high
The route to achieving good production sound - pre-production process.
Pre-Production The route to achieving good production sound Good production sound does not happen by accident nor on its own. It requires concerted efforts from all the production executives (producer, director, production manager) as well as from members of the crew. Achieving good Production Sound, as does every aspect of filmmaking, hinges upon decisions made early on during the pre- production process. Location Scouting One of the most critical areas for Sound is the selection of the shooting location. All too often, sites are selected without even remote regard for noise or acoustic conditions. Unlike the camera lens, which can frame out those items which the director does not wish the audience to see, the microphone cannot be particularly selective in what it hears. Unwanted background noise is omnipresent, and will permeate a set irregardless of camera framing or the addition of a few flats & props. For example, imagine the production of an 1860's period western. The camera operator can remove a tall radio tower gridwork from the visual background by either framing it out or blocking it from view with a strategically placed foreground cactus tree. The sound mixer, on the other hand, has no simple method of "framing out" distracting sound such as a busy freeway directly behind the setup. In this situation-a western being shot in an urban location-the odds are