Friday, 15 May 2015
Friday, 8 May 2015
Thursday, 7 May 2015
Evaluation: How we present different social groups
Monday, 27 April 2015
Ireland 1700s
The history for 18th century Ireland was marked by the dominance of the Protestant Ascendancy. They were families of the Anglican Church of Ireland. English had previously settled in Ireland after its conquest by England and colonisation. Many of them identified as Irish. At the time, Ireland had its own parliament but in reality was controlled by the King of Great Britain. Most of its population, Roman Catholics, were excluded from power and land ownership under the Penal laws. Presbyterians owned land and businesses but had no political control.
Culture
Technically, there were two existing cultures in Ireland at the time and they had little contact with each other. The first was Catholic and Gaelic and the second was Anglo-Irish and Protestant. There was Irish language literature and the Aisling genre of Irish poetry existed. They were dream poems featuring a woman that represented Ireland who was pleading with young men to save her from slavery and oppression. Many of these poets clung to a romantic attachment but some wrote in praise of the United Irishmen in the 1790s. Non-political poetry was often sexually explicit. Gaelic poets of this era include Aogán Ó Rathaille and Brian Merriman.
Anglo-Irish writers were also creative in this period for example, Jonathan Swift. John Toland, an Irish speaking Catholic who converted to Protestantism, crossed the cultural divide. He became a leading philosopher in Scotland, England, Germany and Bohemia. A lot of Ireland’s urban architecture stems from this era such as Georgian Dublin and Limerick. The crescent is an architectural masterpiece.
Politics
Most people were Catholic peasants who were poor and inert politically as most leaders converted to Protestantism to avoid penalties. There was still a growing Catholic cultural awakening. There were two Protestant groups; The Presbyterians and the Anglo-Irish. It was a separate kingdom ruled by King George III. In 1720, Ireland was dependent on Britain and there were laws binding Ireland and Britain. The king set the policy by appointing the viceroy who lived in England and affairs in the island were controlled by an elite group of Protestants. They controlled Parliament and became even wealthier than before. A series of reform proposals caused change in 1767. George Townshend served 1767-72 and lived full-time in Dublin Castle. He had the support of the king and dismantled the previous system. His party took charge of the Irish House of Commons. Patriot opposition emerged to challenge this.
The Patriots demanded self-rule. The King and his cabinet made a series of concessions to the Patriot faction. Protestant "Volunteer" units were set up against French invasion.
New laws making Irish Parliament powerful were made and they were independent of the British Parliament but still supervised by the King. Instead of being content, The Irish Patriots intensified their demands which led to violence in 1798 with French support. Britain suppressed it and there was a complete noon between Britain and Ireland in 1801 and the Irish Parliament was abolished.
Legacy
This time period was called “the long peace” and for almost a century, there was little violence in politics. There was however, violence in the 1790s that shattered the hopes of many radicals that the old sectarian divisions could be forgotten.
Culture
Technically, there were two existing cultures in Ireland at the time and they had little contact with each other. The first was Catholic and Gaelic and the second was Anglo-Irish and Protestant. There was Irish language literature and the Aisling genre of Irish poetry existed. They were dream poems featuring a woman that represented Ireland who was pleading with young men to save her from slavery and oppression. Many of these poets clung to a romantic attachment but some wrote in praise of the United Irishmen in the 1790s. Non-political poetry was often sexually explicit. Gaelic poets of this era include Aogán Ó Rathaille and Brian Merriman.
Anglo-Irish writers were also creative in this period for example, Jonathan Swift. John Toland, an Irish speaking Catholic who converted to Protestantism, crossed the cultural divide. He became a leading philosopher in Scotland, England, Germany and Bohemia. A lot of Ireland’s urban architecture stems from this era such as Georgian Dublin and Limerick. The crescent is an architectural masterpiece.
Politics
Most people were Catholic peasants who were poor and inert politically as most leaders converted to Protestantism to avoid penalties. There was still a growing Catholic cultural awakening. There were two Protestant groups; The Presbyterians and the Anglo-Irish. It was a separate kingdom ruled by King George III. In 1720, Ireland was dependent on Britain and there were laws binding Ireland and Britain. The king set the policy by appointing the viceroy who lived in England and affairs in the island were controlled by an elite group of Protestants. They controlled Parliament and became even wealthier than before. A series of reform proposals caused change in 1767. George Townshend served 1767-72 and lived full-time in Dublin Castle. He had the support of the king and dismantled the previous system. His party took charge of the Irish House of Commons. Patriot opposition emerged to challenge this.
The Patriots demanded self-rule. The King and his cabinet made a series of concessions to the Patriot faction. Protestant "Volunteer" units were set up against French invasion.
New laws making Irish Parliament powerful were made and they were independent of the British Parliament but still supervised by the King. Instead of being content, The Irish Patriots intensified their demands which led to violence in 1798 with French support. Britain suppressed it and there was a complete noon between Britain and Ireland in 1801 and the Irish Parliament was abolished.
Legacy
This time period was called “the long peace” and for almost a century, there was little violence in politics. There was however, violence in the 1790s that shattered the hopes of many radicals that the old sectarian divisions could be forgotten.
Filming: day one
When we travelled to the location for our day of filming, it was important that we brought with us everything that was needed. We were assigned roles so that we did not forget anything and so we would be more organised. We all travelled by train to the location together.
Our roles were assigned during the planning of the filming. I had the role of cinematographer along with another teammate in my group. The other pupil took the role of director. Through this we were able to make sure that we did not miss out on anything and that we covered all necessary shot types in the filming of our opening sequence.
We also brought along two cameras in case one went out of charge and would not work at the time. This helped us to be prepared for any problems with the cameras and help to make us feel more confident about our filming. The use of two cameras also meant that if one cinematographer wanted to watch the shot they had filmed back, the other could use their camera to film another shot which therefore would help filming to be completed faster and would make our day more productive.
A crucial part of our planning for filming was making sure that the actress had her costume with her on the day and that she would definitely be available to film on our chosen day. We talked her through our plans for the filming day a few days previous to beginning filming. This ensured that she knew what she was doing before she got there which meant that we would spend less time preparing for filming at the location and we would therefore be able to use our time wisely. As she was sure of what she was doing, the preparation on location did not take very long. We went through a list of shot types that we would need and confirmed how we would want her to act. We walked around to a number of different spots and asked her to rehearse each shot before the take. Once this was done, we were ready to begin our filming.
We set up our cameras and took all the necessary shots. Some shots were taken more than one time to ensure that at least one would be useful. We found the shot of the protagonist falling down the hardest to film as we had to instruct her on how we were expecting her to fall so as to make sure it wasn't over-exaggerated or under-exaggerted. We also brought another friend along to help us in our filming. After filming we asked his opinion on each shot after it was taken so we would be able to get some constructive criticism. This was useful as it helped us to recognise our strengths and weaknesses during the filming. It also encouraged us to film some of the shots twice to make sure we got at least one good take. It also helped us to become more motivated to perfect each shot and we were able to keep focused on our filming.
Our roles were assigned during the planning of the filming. I had the role of cinematographer along with another teammate in my group. The other pupil took the role of director. Through this we were able to make sure that we did not miss out on anything and that we covered all necessary shot types in the filming of our opening sequence.
We also brought along two cameras in case one went out of charge and would not work at the time. This helped us to be prepared for any problems with the cameras and help to make us feel more confident about our filming. The use of two cameras also meant that if one cinematographer wanted to watch the shot they had filmed back, the other could use their camera to film another shot which therefore would help filming to be completed faster and would make our day more productive.
A crucial part of our planning for filming was making sure that the actress had her costume with her on the day and that she would definitely be available to film on our chosen day. We talked her through our plans for the filming day a few days previous to beginning filming. This ensured that she knew what she was doing before she got there which meant that we would spend less time preparing for filming at the location and we would therefore be able to use our time wisely. As she was sure of what she was doing, the preparation on location did not take very long. We went through a list of shot types that we would need and confirmed how we would want her to act. We walked around to a number of different spots and asked her to rehearse each shot before the take. Once this was done, we were ready to begin our filming.
We set up our cameras and took all the necessary shots. Some shots were taken more than one time to ensure that at least one would be useful. We found the shot of the protagonist falling down the hardest to film as we had to instruct her on how we were expecting her to fall so as to make sure it wasn't over-exaggerated or under-exaggerted. We also brought another friend along to help us in our filming. After filming we asked his opinion on each shot after it was taken so we would be able to get some constructive criticism. This was useful as it helped us to recognise our strengths and weaknesses during the filming. It also encouraged us to film some of the shots twice to make sure we got at least one good take. It also helped us to become more motivated to perfect each shot and we were able to keep focused on our filming.
Filming
When we made our plan of shots we felt that we had enough shots to create a two minute opening. When we looked back at our footage we then realised that this was not the case. Our footage was too short even when including the background information. We also thought that due to a lack of development in the scene, it appeared more as if it were a trailer rather than an opening sequence to a film.
One of the shots that we had panned to take we were unsuccessful in filming as we struggled to make it look realistic and without it the scene did not have enough depth to it. Our group all agreed that it looked as if it could have been anyone from the 1700s running across a forest in despair rather than a woman distressed after finding out that she had been convicted of witchcraft. When we realised this we became very worried as we were very limited with time.
We decided to change our location to the Lagan Towpath as we had easier access to it than the forest beside Bangor Abbey. We did not think that it was possible for our whole group to travel all the way to re-film the opening sequence and also believed that there would be more time wasting due to the fact that we would have to spend a total of two hours travelling back and forth, to and from our location. The new location was easier for us to travel to as we all live relatively close to it and there would be a lot less time taken up through travelling. It is also a very suitable location as it appears very similar to our original location and filming there would have the same types of effect. It is all surrounded by trees as well as having a large field which almost gives our protagonist more room for running around before falling. We believe that through this the scene may even appear to look even better than the previously filmed sequence.
A huge problem with the need to re-film was that our actress was unable to act for us again and we therefore had to go to find a new actress that would be suitable for the role, This was very disappointing as she had helped us out a lot and had willingly took up a lot of her spare time travelling and filming with us. The idea of finding a new actress appeared to be incredibly difficult and the limited amount of time that we had made it even more concerning for us to be going to find someone new that would be willing to film for us.
Luckily after asking around, a girl volunteered to play the role. We had found our actress and now were moving on to how else to improve the opening sequence. Our new actress goes to a drama club and enjoys acting. Our group all agreed that she would be suitable for this role based on her knowledge of acting and her enthusiasm to be a part of our opening sequence. We decided to add a new male character who would appear mysterious to add depth to the scene and cause the audience to become more curious. We then had to go around and ask who would be willing to help us out and luckily we found our actor without taking up too much time. Our group feel very relieved that we have sorted everything out.
Below are some photos of the Lagan Towpath:
When we made our plan of shots we felt that we had enough shots to create a two minute opening. When we looked back at our footage we then realised that this was not the case. Our footage was too short even when including the background information. We also thought that due to a lack of development in the scene, it appeared more as if it were a trailer rather than an opening sequence to a film.
One of the shots that we had panned to take we were unsuccessful in filming as we struggled to make it look realistic and without it the scene did not have enough depth to it. Our group all agreed that it looked as if it could have been anyone from the 1700s running across a forest in despair rather than a woman distressed after finding out that she had been convicted of witchcraft. When we realised this we became very worried as we were very limited with time.
We decided to change our location to the Lagan Towpath as we had easier access to it than the forest beside Bangor Abbey. We did not think that it was possible for our whole group to travel all the way to re-film the opening sequence and also believed that there would be more time wasting due to the fact that we would have to spend a total of two hours travelling back and forth, to and from our location. The new location was easier for us to travel to as we all live relatively close to it and there would be a lot less time taken up through travelling. It is also a very suitable location as it appears very similar to our original location and filming there would have the same types of effect. It is all surrounded by trees as well as having a large field which almost gives our protagonist more room for running around before falling. We believe that through this the scene may even appear to look even better than the previously filmed sequence.
A huge problem with the need to re-film was that our actress was unable to act for us again and we therefore had to go to find a new actress that would be suitable for the role, This was very disappointing as she had helped us out a lot and had willingly took up a lot of her spare time travelling and filming with us. The idea of finding a new actress appeared to be incredibly difficult and the limited amount of time that we had made it even more concerning for us to be going to find someone new that would be willing to film for us.
Luckily after asking around, a girl volunteered to play the role. We had found our actress and now were moving on to how else to improve the opening sequence. Our new actress goes to a drama club and enjoys acting. Our group all agreed that she would be suitable for this role based on her knowledge of acting and her enthusiasm to be a part of our opening sequence. We decided to add a new male character who would appear mysterious to add depth to the scene and cause the audience to become more curious. We then had to go around and ask who would be willing to help us out and luckily we found our actor without taking up too much time. Our group feel very relieved that we have sorted everything out.
Below are some photos of the Lagan Towpath:
One of the shots that we had panned to take we were unsuccessful in filming as we struggled to make it look realistic and without it the scene did not have enough depth to it. Our group all agreed that it looked as if it could have been anyone from the 1700s running across a forest in despair rather than a woman distressed after finding out that she had been convicted of witchcraft. When we realised this we became very worried as we were very limited with time.
We decided to change our location to the Lagan Towpath as we had easier access to it than the forest beside Bangor Abbey. We did not think that it was possible for our whole group to travel all the way to re-film the opening sequence and also believed that there would be more time wasting due to the fact that we would have to spend a total of two hours travelling back and forth, to and from our location. The new location was easier for us to travel to as we all live relatively close to it and there would be a lot less time taken up through travelling. It is also a very suitable location as it appears very similar to our original location and filming there would have the same types of effect. It is all surrounded by trees as well as having a large field which almost gives our protagonist more room for running around before falling. We believe that through this the scene may even appear to look even better than the previously filmed sequence.
A huge problem with the need to re-film was that our actress was unable to act for us again and we therefore had to go to find a new actress that would be suitable for the role, This was very disappointing as she had helped us out a lot and had willingly took up a lot of her spare time travelling and filming with us. The idea of finding a new actress appeared to be incredibly difficult and the limited amount of time that we had made it even more concerning for us to be going to find someone new that would be willing to film for us.
Luckily after asking around, a girl volunteered to play the role. We had found our actress and now were moving on to how else to improve the opening sequence. Our new actress goes to a drama club and enjoys acting. Our group all agreed that she would be suitable for this role based on her knowledge of acting and her enthusiasm to be a part of our opening sequence. We decided to add a new male character who would appear mysterious to add depth to the scene and cause the audience to become more curious. We then had to go around and ask who would be willing to help us out and luckily we found our actor without taking up too much time. Our group feel very relieved that we have sorted everything out.
Below are some photos of the Lagan Towpath:
When we made our plan of shots we felt that we had enough shots to create a two minute opening. When we looked back at our footage we then realised that this was not the case. Our footage was too short even when including the background information. We also thought that due to a lack of development in the scene, it appeared more as if it were a trailer rather than an opening sequence to a film.
One of the shots that we had panned to take we were unsuccessful in filming as we struggled to make it look realistic and without it the scene did not have enough depth to it. Our group all agreed that it looked as if it could have been anyone from the 1700s running across a forest in despair rather than a woman distressed after finding out that she had been convicted of witchcraft. When we realised this we became very worried as we were very limited with time.
We decided to change our location to the Lagan Towpath as we had easier access to it than the forest beside Bangor Abbey. We did not think that it was possible for our whole group to travel all the way to re-film the opening sequence and also believed that there would be more time wasting due to the fact that we would have to spend a total of two hours travelling back and forth, to and from our location. The new location was easier for us to travel to as we all live relatively close to it and there would be a lot less time taken up through travelling. It is also a very suitable location as it appears very similar to our original location and filming there would have the same types of effect. It is all surrounded by trees as well as having a large field which almost gives our protagonist more room for running around before falling. We believe that through this the scene may even appear to look even better than the previously filmed sequence.
A huge problem with the need to re-film was that our actress was unable to act for us again and we therefore had to go to find a new actress that would be suitable for the role, This was very disappointing as she had helped us out a lot and had willingly took up a lot of her spare time travelling and filming with us. The idea of finding a new actress appeared to be incredibly difficult and the limited amount of time that we had made it even more concerning for us to be going to find someone new that would be willing to film for us.
Luckily after asking around, a girl volunteered to play the role. We had found our actress and now were moving on to how else to improve the opening sequence. Our new actress goes to a drama club and enjoys acting. Our group all agreed that she would be suitable for this role based on her knowledge of acting and her enthusiasm to be a part of our opening sequence. We decided to add a new male character who would appear mysterious to add depth to the scene and cause the audience to become more curious. We then had to go around and ask who would be willing to help us out and luckily we found our actor without taking up too much time. Our group feel very relieved that we have sorted everything out.
Below are some photos of the Lagan Towpath:
Examples of Fire
Above is a music video in which flames are used. These flames are similar to the ones we would hope to create in our opening scene. As shown in the video, the flames are burning from wooden sticks. Watching this video helped to give us a better idea of the look that we are trying to create. It also helped to let us know how to set the fire safely. Our group also learnt that if we used wooden sticks similar to this music video, then we would be able to create an ideal effect for our opening sequence.
Given that the plot of this music video has a sinister feel to it, it also helped our group to have a better idea on how to create a similar sinister effect with our actor when the flames are produced. Our group decided that the aim of this use of flames was to show an intense scene that would cause the audience to have a better understanding of the danger that the main protagonist was in.
Adding Sound
We decided to add a number of sounds to our opening sequence. This was done in a way that conveyed a sinister feel as well as the urgency of the main protagonist. We gathered leaves from outside and recorded ourselves scrunching them up, making the sound of our main protagonist running around in the forest. This helped to make our opening sequence feel more realistic. It also emphasised the sense of panic and how afraid she was of her fate. The sound fitted perfectly into our scene.
We also created and added our own soundtrack. This helped to show the sinister feeling of the opening sequence. It showed that our main protagonist's life may possibly be coming to an end. Our soundtrack was recorded on Garageband which, as a result, caused the soundtrack to sound very professional. Our group did the best we could to make it sound original and make the music fit the opening sequence. The kick drum helped to emphasise the urgency and state of panic as well as the violence that could potentially occur. It helped to make the clips with the fire seem truly terrifying and the audience would therefore feel fear for our main protagonist and her safety.
We added in sounds of crackling fire in the shots with the burning stick. This made the shot seem more authentic as the audience could not only see but also hear the danger that our main protagonist was in. It is a typical sound that would represent fire and danger in shots so we felt that it was the best way to create a tense shot with the fire.
Our group also added some sounds typically heard in forest such as birds chirping. The aim in this was to show that the nature around our main protagonist had been unaffected by this event. Other creatures were safe. This emphasised her loneliness and isolation in the opening sequence. It also helped to add life to the scene and, as a result, created realism.
We also created and added our own soundtrack. This helped to show the sinister feeling of the opening sequence. It showed that our main protagonist's life may possibly be coming to an end. Our soundtrack was recorded on Garageband which, as a result, caused the soundtrack to sound very professional. Our group did the best we could to make it sound original and make the music fit the opening sequence. The kick drum helped to emphasise the urgency and state of panic as well as the violence that could potentially occur. It helped to make the clips with the fire seem truly terrifying and the audience would therefore feel fear for our main protagonist and her safety.
We added in sounds of crackling fire in the shots with the burning stick. This made the shot seem more authentic as the audience could not only see but also hear the danger that our main protagonist was in. It is a typical sound that would represent fire and danger in shots so we felt that it was the best way to create a tense shot with the fire.
Our group also added some sounds typically heard in forest such as birds chirping. The aim in this was to show that the nature around our main protagonist had been unaffected by this event. Other creatures were safe. This emphasised her loneliness and isolation in the opening sequence. It also helped to add life to the scene and, as a result, created realism.
Props for Filming
Letter of Conviction
The letter of conviction is an extremely important prop and was necessary for filming. Without it, our opening scene would not have worked. It is most likely the most important prop that we used. It is the letter of conviction that this young woman had received. It was crucial in explaining why she was so heartbroken by what was occurring. Our main protagonist was holding her fate in her own hands but she still had no control. The event was occurring as it was a reaction to her opening the letter. If she had not received the letter yet, she would be unaware that she and seven other women have been convicted with witchcraft. It was so important because it caused her to become helpless and hopeless. There could be a public execution or maybe life imprisonment. She had no idea what the future held but had a good idea that it would not be positive. The letter caused her great emotional stress as she lapsed into a state of despair. We filmed her kneeling down, sobbing, fearing for her life. This letter helped the audience to have a better understanding as to what was going on and how the young woman came to be aware of the incident and hence became so terribly upset.
Burning Stick and Paper
Our main aim in adding a new character was to add more tension into the scene as well as to create a sense of danger. These props were crucial in achieving this. Our actor was to start a fire with he stick to create a sense of urgency and trauma. Our group decided to show the fire being prepared and then, a few shots later, there was a shot of the flames as the stick was burning. This new character together with this new prop helped to add depth to our opening sequence as well as making it longer. It was effective as it gave people a better understanding of how women who didn't fit into the social norm at the time were treated and the extreme lengths the males in society went to in order to keep these so-called witches under control. These props also helped the audience to empathise with the main protagonist more easily as they could understand that her life was in danger despite her innocence. We decided to watch a music video that involved burning sticks to give us a good idea of what to use when filming. The sinister effect that our group created was similar to the music video as a result of our better knowledge from watching it. The purpose was to citrate danger and warn the audience of how truly terrifying and heartbreaking this news was.
The letter of conviction is an extremely important prop and was necessary for filming. Without it, our opening scene would not have worked. It is most likely the most important prop that we used. It is the letter of conviction that this young woman had received. It was crucial in explaining why she was so heartbroken by what was occurring. Our main protagonist was holding her fate in her own hands but she still had no control. The event was occurring as it was a reaction to her opening the letter. If she had not received the letter yet, she would be unaware that she and seven other women have been convicted with witchcraft. It was so important because it caused her to become helpless and hopeless. There could be a public execution or maybe life imprisonment. She had no idea what the future held but had a good idea that it would not be positive. The letter caused her great emotional stress as she lapsed into a state of despair. We filmed her kneeling down, sobbing, fearing for her life. This letter helped the audience to have a better understanding as to what was going on and how the young woman came to be aware of the incident and hence became so terribly upset.
Burning Stick and Paper
Our main aim in adding a new character was to add more tension into the scene as well as to create a sense of danger. These props were crucial in achieving this. Our actor was to start a fire with he stick to create a sense of urgency and trauma. Our group decided to show the fire being prepared and then, a few shots later, there was a shot of the flames as the stick was burning. This new character together with this new prop helped to add depth to our opening sequence as well as making it longer. It was effective as it gave people a better understanding of how women who didn't fit into the social norm at the time were treated and the extreme lengths the males in society went to in order to keep these so-called witches under control. These props also helped the audience to empathise with the main protagonist more easily as they could understand that her life was in danger despite her innocence. We decided to watch a music video that involved burning sticks to give us a good idea of what to use when filming. The sinister effect that our group created was similar to the music video as a result of our better knowledge from watching it. The purpose was to citrate danger and warn the audience of how truly terrifying and heartbreaking this news was.
Filming day: 2
After the problems with our first time filming we knew that we had to be a lot more prepared when we were filming the opening sequence for the last time. After a lot of discussion we decided on how to make the shots better and also how to make the scene longer as well as help it to flow better. We also went through all of the different changes that we have to made to our opening sequence based on our change of location.
Due to the addition of a new character, there were a number of new shots that we had to add in. We took a number of close up shots of the fire being prepared and then of the fire burning. We were adding a new male character which would help to emphasise the mistreatment of women at the time. They were no shown very clearly which age a sense of mystery to the scene. It appears as though he is coming after the woman and the other other women that have been convicted of witchcraft. This would clearly show the danger that they were in and would help to explain the risk to their lives and some of the extreme forms that their punishment could take.
We came prepared with all of our equipment and arranged to meet up with the actors ahead of time to talk them through what they would have to do. We explained what each of them would be trying to convey in their shots and how we expected the opening sequence to appear after filming and editing. This was beneficial as it helped the actors to have a better understanding of what they were doing and why they were doing it.
After this the actors got changed into their costumes and we then walked them through each shot that would be taken and told them where they would have to be at the beginning of each shot and where they would have moved to by the end of the shot.
We then took a number of practice shots to make sure the actors definitely knew what they were doing. Once this was done we watched the practice shots with the actors and told them about any necessary changes to make. When we had finished all of the preparation our actors then waited while we set up all the necessary filming equipment.
Then, it was time to film and the protagonist did as they were directed to do during each of the shots. Then, we filmed some shots, without the actors, of the surroundings. To finish off, we filmed our last few shots with our other actor. We had to take safety precautions as we were using fire to help create the intense scene.
We feel, as a group, that this second day of filming was productive and an improvement on our first opening sequence. This was something that needed to be done and we are relieved that it all worked out.
Due to the addition of a new character, there were a number of new shots that we had to add in. We took a number of close up shots of the fire being prepared and then of the fire burning. We were adding a new male character which would help to emphasise the mistreatment of women at the time. They were no shown very clearly which age a sense of mystery to the scene. It appears as though he is coming after the woman and the other other women that have been convicted of witchcraft. This would clearly show the danger that they were in and would help to explain the risk to their lives and some of the extreme forms that their punishment could take.
We came prepared with all of our equipment and arranged to meet up with the actors ahead of time to talk them through what they would have to do. We explained what each of them would be trying to convey in their shots and how we expected the opening sequence to appear after filming and editing. This was beneficial as it helped the actors to have a better understanding of what they were doing and why they were doing it.
After this the actors got changed into their costumes and we then walked them through each shot that would be taken and told them where they would have to be at the beginning of each shot and where they would have moved to by the end of the shot.
We then took a number of practice shots to make sure the actors definitely knew what they were doing. Once this was done we watched the practice shots with the actors and told them about any necessary changes to make. When we had finished all of the preparation our actors then waited while we set up all the necessary filming equipment.
Then, it was time to film and the protagonist did as they were directed to do during each of the shots. Then, we filmed some shots, without the actors, of the surroundings. To finish off, we filmed our last few shots with our other actor. We had to take safety precautions as we were using fire to help create the intense scene.
We feel, as a group, that this second day of filming was productive and an improvement on our first opening sequence. This was something that needed to be done and we are relieved that it all worked out.
Changes in Location
During our first time filming, we were faced with a number of problems. Our group acknowledged that we had to be a lot more prepared for the second time filming the opening sequence. After a lot of discussion, we decided on how to make the shots better and also how to make the scene longer as well as help it flow better. We also went through all of the different changes that we had to make to our opening sequence based on our change of location. We also understood that the addition of a new character would also play a huge part in this.
The choosing of a new location was quite a difficult process for us. Our previous location ideas were too far away for the time that we had so instead we had to think of new ideas. This process was made easier through the knowledge that there were many forests nearby that we could use.
We decided to change our location to the Lagan Towpath as we had easier access to it than the forest beside Bangor Abbey. We did not think that it was possible for our whole group to travel all the way back to re-film the opening sequence and also believed that there would be more time wasting due to the fact that we would have to spend a total of two hours travelling back and forth, to and from our location. The new location was easier for us to travel to as we all live relatively close to it and there would be a lot less time taken up through travelling. It is also a very suitable location as it appears very similar to our original location and filming there would have the same type of effect. It is all surrounded by tress as well as having a large field which almost gives our protagonist more room for running around before falling. We believe that through this the scene may even appear to look even better than the previously filmed sequence.
A huge problem with the need to re-film was that our actress was unable to act for us again and we therefore had to go to find a new actress that would be suitable for the role. This was very disappointing as she had helped us out a lot and had willingly took up a lot of her spare time travelling and filming with us. The idea of finding a new actress appeared to be incredibly difficult and the limited amount of time that we had made it even more concerning for us to be going to find someone new that would be willing to film for us.
Luckily after asking around, a girl volunteered to play the role. We had found our actress and now were moving on to how else to improve the opening sequence. Our new actress goes to a drama club and enjoys acting. Our group all agreed that she would be suitable for this role based on her knowledge of acting and her enthusiasm to be a part of our mysterious to add depth to the scene and cause the audience to become more curious. We then had to go around and ask who would be willing to help us out and luckily we found our actor without taking up too much time.
The choosing of a new location was quite a difficult process for us. Our previous location ideas were too far away for the time that we had so instead we had to think of new ideas. This process was made easier through the knowledge that there were many forests nearby that we could use.
We decided to change our location to the Lagan Towpath as we had easier access to it than the forest beside Bangor Abbey. We did not think that it was possible for our whole group to travel all the way back to re-film the opening sequence and also believed that there would be more time wasting due to the fact that we would have to spend a total of two hours travelling back and forth, to and from our location. The new location was easier for us to travel to as we all live relatively close to it and there would be a lot less time taken up through travelling. It is also a very suitable location as it appears very similar to our original location and filming there would have the same type of effect. It is all surrounded by tress as well as having a large field which almost gives our protagonist more room for running around before falling. We believe that through this the scene may even appear to look even better than the previously filmed sequence.
A huge problem with the need to re-film was that our actress was unable to act for us again and we therefore had to go to find a new actress that would be suitable for the role. This was very disappointing as she had helped us out a lot and had willingly took up a lot of her spare time travelling and filming with us. The idea of finding a new actress appeared to be incredibly difficult and the limited amount of time that we had made it even more concerning for us to be going to find someone new that would be willing to film for us.
Luckily after asking around, a girl volunteered to play the role. We had found our actress and now were moving on to how else to improve the opening sequence. Our new actress goes to a drama club and enjoys acting. Our group all agreed that she would be suitable for this role based on her knowledge of acting and her enthusiasm to be a part of our mysterious to add depth to the scene and cause the audience to become more curious. We then had to go around and ask who would be willing to help us out and luckily we found our actor without taking up too much time.
Friday, 24 April 2015
Composition and soundtracking
After listening to multiple examples of different soundtracks, we decided on having a minimalist minor soundtrack with synth strings.
We decided to record on Garage Band using a midi keyboard.
We started off recording lower strings, playing within the scale of D minor our track is in 4/4 and we basically played semibreve notes through out.
We then started recording the higher strings playing mostly D Db and C. These chromaticism's help to build tension in our track so we started the higher strings around 15 seconds after the lower strings started in order to build the texture of our soundtrack.
The tracks sounded slightly bare so I dropped the midi keyboard by an octave and added a drone from the start to the end of the track, I added a D drone in order to bulk out the track a bit more and to create the atmosphere that we wanted the film to have.
Finally I decided to add a kick drum every 4 beats in order to build the tension of the witch hunt and I really like the stereotypical 'kill the witch' type soundtrack so I really liked the drums.
A similar sound track to this is Jane Eyre (2011) so we worked off of inspiration from this soundtrack.
We decided to record on Garage Band using a midi keyboard.
We started off recording lower strings, playing within the scale of D minor our track is in 4/4 and we basically played semibreve notes through out.
We then started recording the higher strings playing mostly D Db and C. These chromaticism's help to build tension in our track so we started the higher strings around 15 seconds after the lower strings started in order to build the texture of our soundtrack.
The tracks sounded slightly bare so I dropped the midi keyboard by an octave and added a drone from the start to the end of the track, I added a D drone in order to bulk out the track a bit more and to create the atmosphere that we wanted the film to have.
Finally I decided to add a kick drum every 4 beats in order to build the tension of the witch hunt and I really like the stereotypical 'kill the witch' type soundtrack so I really liked the drums.
A similar sound track to this is Jane Eyre (2011) so we worked off of inspiration from this soundtrack.
Thursday, 23 April 2015
Sound design- Foley
As our protagonist is running throughout most of our film, we needed to record foley in order to make it actually sound like she is running through leaves and sticks.
To record this we went to our schools recording studio and gathered a tray full of sticks, leaves and a plastic bag as this created the most effective running through a forest sound.
To record the audio we used cubase, we plugged our mic lead into the recording desk and connected the desk to our software, boosting the gain slightly to pick up more of the sound.
The mic we used was an AKG C1000S condenser microphone, we used a condenser as we wanted to obtain the clearest and most controlled sound possible from the materials we were using.
We placed the tray on the work surface and pointed the mic into the tray about 30 cm away from the materials we tested making the footstep sounds with our hands in the tray as we felt this was easier to control than actually running.
To sync up our foley perfectly with the actual footage, we played the video and recorded simultaneously, after two attempts we got the perfect recording. After recording, we listened back and realised that the bass tones in our recording were very very muffled, giving the recording a manufactured and unnatural sound. To remedy this we looked at the EQ of our recording and we took down the bass tones slightly and boosted the middle tones slightly, this fixed our issue and made our recording sound a lot more natural.
We then exported our recording into a stereo file and place it over our video and it fitted perfectly.
To record this we went to our schools recording studio and gathered a tray full of sticks, leaves and a plastic bag as this created the most effective running through a forest sound.
To record the audio we used cubase, we plugged our mic lead into the recording desk and connected the desk to our software, boosting the gain slightly to pick up more of the sound.
The mic we used was an AKG C1000S condenser microphone, we used a condenser as we wanted to obtain the clearest and most controlled sound possible from the materials we were using.
We placed the tray on the work surface and pointed the mic into the tray about 30 cm away from the materials we tested making the footstep sounds with our hands in the tray as we felt this was easier to control than actually running.
To sync up our foley perfectly with the actual footage, we played the video and recorded simultaneously, after two attempts we got the perfect recording. After recording, we listened back and realised that the bass tones in our recording were very very muffled, giving the recording a manufactured and unnatural sound. To remedy this we looked at the EQ of our recording and we took down the bass tones slightly and boosted the middle tones slightly, this fixed our issue and made our recording sound a lot more natural.
We then exported our recording into a stereo file and place it over our video and it fitted perfectly.
Sunday, 12 April 2015
“Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices.” Research
I agree that “Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices.” I feel that no matter how good the film, if it wasn't marketed well, with tv advertisements and youtube trailers, I would have no idea that the films even existed.
Music is usually marketed from months before the release date, with sneak peaks and music videos and free tracks that by the time it actually comes to the release date the music has been hyped up so much that you have the urge to buy it.
Target audience is very important in the marketing of films, for example, a film directed at teenagers may have advertising on social media platforms such as facebook, twitter and youtube, witch brings the media directly to the source of audience.
Films marketed towards older people may be marketed on tv or billboards.
frozen
- shown in almost every cinema in the world.
- marketed word wide
- trailer was released on june 18th 2013 and film was released 10th November 2013
- six months between trailer and release which builds tension and anticipation for the film
- as it it marketed at young children it was advertised predominately on disney channel, direct access to children
- distributed using horizontal and vertical integration
- rated pg which means it has a wide audience that means an increase in box office profits
Kill List
- failure in distribution and marketing
-distribution companies not household names
- one company could not afford to distribute the films alone so multiple companies worked together to try to distribute he film world wide
- the film rating was 18 meaning it could not be advertised during the day in case a young child saw it
- it was distributed independently without vertical or horizontal integration so the companies had to pay for other companies to help distribute it
- rated 18 limits audience, decrease in box office profits
Music is usually marketed from months before the release date, with sneak peaks and music videos and free tracks that by the time it actually comes to the release date the music has been hyped up so much that you have the urge to buy it.
Target audience is very important in the marketing of films, for example, a film directed at teenagers may have advertising on social media platforms such as facebook, twitter and youtube, witch brings the media directly to the source of audience.
Films marketed towards older people may be marketed on tv or billboards.
frozen
- shown in almost every cinema in the world.
- marketed word wide
- trailer was released on june 18th 2013 and film was released 10th November 2013
- six months between trailer and release which builds tension and anticipation for the film
- as it it marketed at young children it was advertised predominately on disney channel, direct access to children
- distributed using horizontal and vertical integration
- rated pg which means it has a wide audience that means an increase in box office profits
Kill List
- failure in distribution and marketing
-distribution companies not household names
- one company could not afford to distribute the films alone so multiple companies worked together to try to distribute he film world wide
- the film rating was 18 meaning it could not be advertised during the day in case a young child saw it
- it was distributed independently without vertical or horizontal integration so the companies had to pay for other companies to help distribute it
- rated 18 limits audience, decrease in box office profits
“Cross-media convergence and synergy are vital processes in the successful marketing of media products to audiences.” Research
Convergence definition-
Media convergence is the merging of mass communication outlets – print, television, radio, the Internet along with portable and interactive technologies through various digital media platforms
Synergy definition-
the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects, for example, the synergy between the artist and the record company.
Cross-Media Convergence and synergy are arguably the most important aspect of successfully marketing films.
Cross-Media Convergence and synergy are very important especially now when platforms such as twitter, facebook, youtube and google plus paying a vital part in the marketing of films.
Companies such as the company that created the film and youtube converge because youtube shows almost every trailer to every film being released and therefore youtube accidentally promotes other companies.
In the music industry this happens through film soundtracks as well as products from well-known artists being released. for example clothing, perfumes, posters, books, cups and advertisements. Merchandise is a huge part of the music industry. Many well-known artists will have a Merch Store on their website where fans of the music can go and purchase products online. It can also be sold at concerts, at a higher price as people feel more obliged to buy merch at concerts. Shops such as HMV will also stock merchandise from these artists.
An example of synergy is Tv advertisements, Internet advertisements and trailers in cinemas as this promotes not just the company but also the media product.
cross media convergence are things like-
DVDs
Games
Apps
Trailers
Soundtracks
Synergy is the simultaneous release of two different products to boost both sales.
What impact does media ownership have upon the range of products available to audiences in the the music industry? Research
a major company, such as Sony owns side companies such as Columbia/Epic, RCA, Sony Music Nashville, Sony Masterworks, Syco (joint ownership)-
these are all horizontally integrated. Horizontal integration is when companies create side companies that are alike, which is either complimentary or creates competition.
Sony owns recording studios, distribution companies and retail stores, these are all vertically integrated. Vertical integration is when a company expands its business into areas that are at different points on the same production paths, it helps to increase efficiently and decreases transportation costs and turn around time.
An independent company will usually not have vertical integration whens means more cost in production, distribution and sales, and it takes longer for the music to be made as it takes more than one company
there is an independent record label such as 4AD records, an independent artist, an independent distributor such as kudos and usually an independent online store such as rise music.
successful indie artists include- Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (only have distribution company)
Mac Miller and arctic monkeys
a major company will:
1 sign an artist
2 write an album and record it
3 give a free track
4 set up a social media profile to get to the first Google search
5 set up facebook
6 set up website
7 get radio air time
8 release on itunes
9 release in stores
an independent company will;
1 find artists through events and gigs
2 make deals between label and artist
3 write and record tracks
4 social media promtion
5 play gigs for free
6 start distribution, shops and itunes
7 have a launch party
8 offer free tracks and continue promotion
Independent media is generally cheaper and means that concerts for the artists are usually cheaper.
Huge companies such as sony are quicker in distributions one company cn basically do everything that is needed as opposed to independent labels that rely on many other companies to finish and distribute their content.
Companies content-
Album
Free Track
Social media
Online release
Independent content-
Events and gigs (free and frequent)
free tracks and promotions
distribution in shops and itunes at the same time
resources for esssay
these are all horizontally integrated. Horizontal integration is when companies create side companies that are alike, which is either complimentary or creates competition.
Sony owns recording studios, distribution companies and retail stores, these are all vertically integrated. Vertical integration is when a company expands its business into areas that are at different points on the same production paths, it helps to increase efficiently and decreases transportation costs and turn around time.
An independent company will usually not have vertical integration whens means more cost in production, distribution and sales, and it takes longer for the music to be made as it takes more than one company
there is an independent record label such as 4AD records, an independent artist, an independent distributor such as kudos and usually an independent online store such as rise music.
successful indie artists include- Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (only have distribution company)
Mac Miller and arctic monkeys
a major company will:
1 sign an artist
2 write an album and record it
3 give a free track
4 set up a social media profile to get to the first Google search
5 set up facebook
6 set up website
7 get radio air time
8 release on itunes
9 release in stores
an independent company will;
1 find artists through events and gigs
2 make deals between label and artist
3 write and record tracks
4 social media promtion
5 play gigs for free
6 start distribution, shops and itunes
7 have a launch party
8 offer free tracks and continue promotion
Independent media is generally cheaper and means that concerts for the artists are usually cheaper.
Huge companies such as sony are quicker in distributions one company cn basically do everything that is needed as opposed to independent labels that rely on many other companies to finish and distribute their content.
Companies content-
Album
Free Track
Social media
Online release
Independent content-
Events and gigs (free and frequent)
free tracks and promotions
distribution in shops and itunes at the same time
resources for esssay
Research in to Makeup in the 18th Century
Makeup in the 18th century consisted mostly of a white powder. Having a white face was synonymous with being pure and trustworthy.
This is the general look of portraits of upper class women in the 18th century. They all are unnaturally white and this look would have been created by the painter as at the time it represented being well off and pure.
Our character however, is lower class and would not have worn the typical white powder of the era.
Our character however, is lower class and would not have worn the typical white powder of the era.
Monday, 30 March 2015
Hair and Makeup
In order to achieve an authentic 17th Century look, we have opted for our actress to wear no makeup as it reflects her status and at that time the use of makeup would be limited to the upper classes and even then it would have been very rare.
For our actress' hair we have opted for a braided style, to show this, Ellie, a member of my group has created a youtube video as a tutorial for the hairstyle we are going to use for our actress:
Friday, 27 March 2015
Filming Day 2 schedule
On day 2 we filmed our indoor shots which involved fire and other dangerous things, although we only needed a few minutes of footage, it took us around an hour to film our shots as the use of the lighter fluid meant that we had to take regular breaks to ensure that our room was well ventilated to ensure the safety of ourselves and our actor.
Day Schedule for Saturday 21st March
This is the timetable that we used to keep on track on our first filming day:
On this day we filmed our outdoor shots with our actress Emer, over all it took around two and a half hours to get the footage that we needed.
On this day we filmed our outdoor shots with our actress Emer, over all it took around two and a half hours to get the footage that we needed.
Risk assessment for Filming day 2
On day 2 of filming were filming dark scenes in a room that involves fire, this is our risk assessment for that day.
Re-thinking our filming location
Initially we filmed our scenes in Bangor behind Bangor abbey, but after three trips that resulted in not enough usable footage, we decided to look elsewhere for a more convenient location to film.
We eventually decided on filming at Shaws Bridge.
These are some photos of our location:
The terrain of our new location was much more suitable than the last, our location in bangor was mostly flat ground, the new location however is much more uneven and makes it easier to vary shot types and make our scenes much more interesting.
We eventually decided on filming at Shaws Bridge.
These are some photos of our location:
We made arrangement to get to shaw's bridge from Finaghy
It only took us around five minutes to get there which is much more convenient than bangor, which took around 45 minutes by train.
(original filming location)
(new location)
Friday, 20 March 2015
Our Ideas in relation to the Island Magee Witch Trails
We were intrigued by the story of the final witch trails in ireland and decided that we would like to make something based around the struggle of the 8 women arrest.
We have decided to make something that focus' on one woman, who is being persecuted for witch craft.
The woman has received a letter announcing the trail and has to decide whether to run and try to escape her captors or to stay and defend her innocence.
We are also introducing a faceless character who will feature only as someone in the shadows, preparing for the witch hunt against our protagonist, doing things such as preparing weapons and setting fire to torches. This creates the sense of mystery and tension that we need to draw in our audience.
From the feedback we were given from the group that filled in our survey, we have discovered that, to appeal to all audiences, we need to strike a balance between the mystery and action of our antagonist and the drama of our protagonist.
We have decided to make something that focus' on one woman, who is being persecuted for witch craft.
The woman has received a letter announcing the trail and has to decide whether to run and try to escape her captors or to stay and defend her innocence.
We are also introducing a faceless character who will feature only as someone in the shadows, preparing for the witch hunt against our protagonist, doing things such as preparing weapons and setting fire to torches. This creates the sense of mystery and tension that we need to draw in our audience.
From the feedback we were given from the group that filled in our survey, we have discovered that, to appeal to all audiences, we need to strike a balance between the mystery and action of our antagonist and the drama of our protagonist.
Background to Island Magee Witch Trails
The topic we want to base our film in is the Island Magee Witch Trails, which took place between 1710 and 1711 on Island Magee in which is now known as Northern Ireland. This trial is throughout to be the last witch trial to take place in Northern Ireland.
Some background trials:
It all started when Mrs Haltridge, an Island Magee local, reported phenomenons of poltergeists and potion in the house of Mrs Haltridge. She had been unable to sleep and clothes had been thrown around the house, and a boy appeared to her. She was then heard screaming one night and was found dead, having been stabbed.
Another woman, Mary Dunbar claimed to also being attacked by a woman in her, she named the woman and subsequently 8 women were arrested and put on trail for with craft.
Some background trials:
It all started when Mrs Haltridge, an Island Magee local, reported phenomenons of poltergeists and potion in the house of Mrs Haltridge. She had been unable to sleep and clothes had been thrown around the house, and a boy appeared to her. She was then heard screaming one night and was found dead, having been stabbed.
Another woman, Mary Dunbar claimed to also being attacked by a woman in her, she named the woman and subsequently 8 women were arrested and put on trail for with craft.
Wednesday, 4 March 2015
Sound in period dramas
After watching a number of period dramas, I have gathered a list of the most commonly used diegetic and non diegetic sounds used in period dramas:
Horses neighing (usually diegetic) example
Horses galloping (both diegetic and nondiegetic)
People running on gravel paths, footsteps as someone runs (diegetic) example
Birds tweeting in outside shots (nondiegetic) example
Rivers running (diegetic) example
China Clinking (diegetic) example
The sounds that would be of use for our period drama would be the person running on what sounds like gravel, also a sound for the person falling down. in this case I don't really think that the birds tweeting a river noises would necessarily suit the tone of our film as we are trying to create a quite sad and serious tone.
Some examples of period dramas that use the aforementioned sounds would be Pride and Prejudice (2005) Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) and Jane Eyre (any year)
Horses neighing (usually diegetic) example
Horses galloping (both diegetic and nondiegetic)
People running on gravel paths, footsteps as someone runs (diegetic) example
Birds tweeting in outside shots (nondiegetic) example
Rivers running (diegetic) example
China Clinking (diegetic) example
The sounds that would be of use for our period drama would be the person running on what sounds like gravel, also a sound for the person falling down. in this case I don't really think that the birds tweeting a river noises would necessarily suit the tone of our film as we are trying to create a quite sad and serious tone.
Some examples of period dramas that use the aforementioned sounds would be Pride and Prejudice (2005) Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) and Jane Eyre (any year)
Plot Description
Plot:
Our film is a period drama, or more particularly, a docudrama meaning that we are targeting real events that have happened. We want to tell the story of the Islandmagee witch trials and of the hardships experienced by the eight women who were involved. We want to challenge the treatment of these women by developing emotional drama.We plan on opening our film with the appropriate indents, followed by some historical information on the witch trials. We need to be careful that our opening to a movie doesn't look like a trailer though.
We will have our protagonist running through the woods, towards some old irish ruins. She is holding a letter, the letter of her conviction. She is clearly distraught and is crying because of her given circumstances. She may never see her family again or worse!
We definitely want to establish an enigma over whether or not the women are guilty and have been practicing witch craft or wether they are totally innocent. In saying this, we also want to open on a powerful note, provoking pathos and sympathy from the audience and therefore, establishing an emotional character/audience link from very early on.
Brief:
We recently attended a cinemagic lecture on pitching a brief and on how to summarise a movie into one sentence, taking the above into consideration, I believe the best way to do this is by the following:
'A tragic tale about the misconceptions of witch craft in Ireland in the early 1700s, coupled with the questionable treatment of females throughout history.'
Timetable
Above are our timetables which are well needed for organisation during the academic year, from the view of a producer or director, organisation is key to success. We have mapped in every possible outcome, from rehersals to editing and we have tried to be as realistic as possible with timing. The next stage is to give my team a copy of this so that they show up on time in order to produce a good final outcome.
Costume
How did working class women dress in the 1700's?
At this time the whole of Ireland was under British rule. The British did not have the ragged poor of Europe. It had not had a peasant class since medieval times and this was reflected in the appearance of its people. You could tell a person’s social class by the clothes that they wore. The richer you were; the better-fitted, brighter-coloured clothes you had. Some servants received clothes as presents. They would have been cast off clothes from a master or mistress, to be worn or sold on. The poorer in society wore second hand clothing.
Clothes tended to be very well looked after. The were patched and darned until they could no longer be repaired and then it was taken apart for a new use. The clothing of the poor is difficult to trace as there are currently no surviving garments and few artists recorded what these people wore. However, some artists had painted lower-class individuals. The only thing to consider is that the artist may lie to flatter or make the painting more aesthetically pleasing. Stitching may not be painted in, colour may have been added and also oils used in the painting may have caused the painting to become worn over time.
Some garments from the 17th century exist today and they would have been expensive or valuable to the people that owned them. Original garments give construction details. The clothes of the working class are expected to have been made in similar manner of cut and tailors would have used less expensive fabric.
Fabrics: Linen was always worn next to the skin. The working class women would more than likely been unable to keep their linen white and would have dressed in cream, grey or beige. Wool and wool mixtures were the typical material for skirts, stays and bodices. Lace was expensive and so although it was made by the poor, it was worn by the rich so we are avoiding using it in our costume.
Colours: Only natural dyes were available but they would have been able to produce a wide range of strong colours. However, the working class would have been limited in the colours that they could buy as they would not have had enough money to by clothes of a variety of colours. The dyes faded more easily then chemical dyes. Washed out muted colurs look better than harsh, strong, bright colours. People working outdoors and sleeping rough would have caused their clothes to wear faster.
Headgear: Women tended to cover their heads unless they had enough money to have their hair dressed in a fashionable style. Many rich women wore coifs when they did not have time to fix their hair. Covering one’s head was a social convention. No hat and no hairstyle was not seen as indicating an immoral individual however, it did indicate pure laziness.
Here is a photo of a young women who is dressed in the typical clothing of a working class women in the 1700's. We can see that she is wearing clothes with noticeable colour however they are still very dull. She is also wearing hat that was typical of working class women at the time. She is carrying a bag over her shoulder that would have been used by the working class women to carry their belongings.
At this time the whole of Ireland was under British rule. The British did not have the ragged poor of Europe. It had not had a peasant class since medieval times and this was reflected in the appearance of its people. You could tell a person’s social class by the clothes that they wore. The richer you were; the better-fitted, brighter-coloured clothes you had. Some servants received clothes as presents. They would have been cast off clothes from a master or mistress, to be worn or sold on. The poorer in society wore second hand clothing.Clothes tended to be very well looked after. The were patched and darned until they could no longer be repaired and then it was taken apart for a new use. The clothing of the poor is difficult to trace as there are currently no surviving garments and few artists recorded what these people wore. However, some artists had painted lower-class individuals. The only thing to consider is that the artist may lie to flatter or make the painting more aesthetically pleasing. Stitching may not be painted in, colour may have been added and also oils used in the painting may have caused the painting to become worn over time.
Some garments from the 17th century exist today and they would have been expensive or valuable to the people that owned them. Original garments give construction details. The clothes of the working class are expected to have been made in similar manner of cut and tailors would have used less expensive fabric.
Fabrics: Linen was always worn next to the skin. The working class women would more than likely been unable to keep their linen white and would have dressed in cream, grey or beige. Wool and wool mixtures were the typical material for skirts, stays and bodices. Lace was expensive and so although it was made by the poor, it was worn by the rich so we are avoiding using it in our costume.Colours: Only natural dyes were available but they would have been able to produce a wide range of strong colours. However, the working class would have been limited in the colours that they could buy as they would not have had enough money to by clothes of a variety of colours. The dyes faded more easily then chemical dyes. Washed out muted colurs look better than harsh, strong, bright colours. People working outdoors and sleeping rough would have caused their clothes to wear faster.
Headgear: Women tended to cover their heads unless they had enough money to have their hair dressed in a fashionable style. Many rich women wore coifs when they did not have time to fix their hair. Covering one’s head was a social convention. No hat and no hairstyle was not seen as indicating an immoral individual however, it did indicate pure laziness.Here is a photo of a young women who is dressed in the typical clothing of a working class women in the 1700's. We can see that she is wearing clothes with noticeable colour however they are still very dull. She is also wearing hat that was typical of working class women at the time. She is carrying a bag over her shoulder that would have been used by the working class women to carry their belongings.
Shooting Schedule Saturday March 7th
On the day of shooting, it can be expected that things will be somewhat hectic. therefore, we need things to be as planned out as possible. We are pretty much compressing a weeks worth of shooting into one day and hence we need to be on time and efficient.
Audience Feedback
Below is a blank copy of the questionnaire that we gave out to people to find out what their expectations for the period drama opening sequence was and their opinions of period dramas and the sub-genres within historical period dramas. This helped us to understand what people were expecting to see compared to what we were planning to film. It also helped us to understand how different audiences will look for different elements in period dramas and will be attracted to different characters, story lines and setting. We also looked to see which of the films that we ourselves had analysed had been viewed by the people answering the questionnaire.
By doing this, we were able to have an insight into what makes a good historical period drama stand out from other historical period dramas and which sub-genres are the most popular.
Period Drama Questionnaire
Please circle your answer.
1. What is your gender?
Male Female
2. How old are you?
12- 15 16- 19 20- 25 26- 34 35+
3. What is your favourite Historical Period genre?
Comedy Horror Romance Thriller Mystery
War Fiction Drama Musical Fantasy Documentary
Other:………………………
4. What draws you to a Historical Period Drama?
Acting Plots Characters Storyline The Title Hero Vs. Villain
Setting Education about specific period Depends which film it is
5. Write in order from most to least important, the importance of these elements in a Historical Period Drama.
Setting Props Costume Make-up Lighting Sound
1:………… 2:………… 3:………… 4:………… 5:………… 6:…………
6. How do you expect to feel from watching the opening sequence of our Period Drama?
To be informed To be interested To be excited To be intrigued
To want to find out more To be unresponsive To be confused
7. What is your favourite Period Drama and why? If you don’t have one, why not?
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
8. What qualities make a good Historical Period Drama?
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
9. Which of the following films that we have analysed have you watched?
Witchfinder General Jane Eyre Pride and Prejudice
Pearl Habor Narnia The Duchess Mother Joan of the Angels
The New World The King’s Speech
By doing this, we were able to have an insight into what makes a good historical period drama stand out from other historical period dramas and which sub-genres are the most popular.
Period Drama Questionnaire
Please circle your answer.
1. What is your gender?
Male Female
2. How old are you?
12- 15 16- 19 20- 25 26- 34 35+
3. What is your favourite Historical Period genre?
Comedy Horror Romance Thriller Mystery
War Fiction Drama Musical Fantasy Documentary
Other:………………………
4. What draws you to a Historical Period Drama?
Acting Plots Characters Storyline The Title Hero Vs. Villain
Setting Education about specific period Depends which film it is
5. Write in order from most to least important, the importance of these elements in a Historical Period Drama.
Setting Props Costume Make-up Lighting Sound
1:………… 2:………… 3:………… 4:………… 5:………… 6:…………
6. How do you expect to feel from watching the opening sequence of our Period Drama?
To be informed To be interested To be excited To be intrigued
To want to find out more To be unresponsive To be confused
7. What is your favourite Period Drama and why? If you don’t have one, why not?
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
8. What qualities make a good Historical Period Drama?
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
9. Which of the following films that we have analysed have you watched?
Witchfinder General Jane Eyre Pride and Prejudice
Pearl Habor Narnia The Duchess Mother Joan of the Angels
The New World The King’s Speech
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