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Katie Mitchell, Sources - Coggle Diagram
Katie Mitchell
Live Cinema
A blend of theatre making with film making where live cameras filming a scene with
actors and simultaneously project it on a screen
The text focuses on the female experience and can be taken from any written material
be a play, a novel or a poem.
The action takes place in one or many locations and sometimes in a moving location
like a train, aeroplane or car.
The story is carried more by visual elements than textual elements. Most of the text is voice over and not dialogue in order to show what the characters are thinking inside their heads.
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Video. There are usually between 3 and 5 cameras. The live feed from the cameras goes into a media server which grades the images and then fires the graded images to the projector and then onto the screen. A video designer will programme the video content and also source any pre-recorded stock footage required. A Director of Photography is responsible for working out how the cameras will be used to film the action on stage.
The design comprises a series of small film sets, that can include real train carriages,
cars and rooms. The modes of transport will not actually move as the engines have
Stanislavski
Realism
Everyday conversations and style of speaking. A realistic play would use prose rather than poetry and would use ordinary language, rather than a heightened emotional vocabulary.
The fourth wall. The set of a realistic production will be solid, three dimensional, and most often in a proscenium theatre that enhances the sense of that fourth wall. The performers present the action realistically, without using techniques such as addressing the audience or a tableau, which immediately shatter any illusion of real life being played out.
Ordinary people. Generally, the stories are about people who are more readily defined as middle or working class. For Stanislavski, it was substantially the middle class or bourgeois, to use the right term in the Russia of his day, that he put on stage.
A carefully rehearsed acting style that creates or confirms the impression of reality. This is true whatever approach is adopted.
Real settings. These plays are set in realistic contexts. They won’t have fairy tale or fantasy settings and are likely to be contemporary. There’ll come a time when such a play, one by Chekhov, for instance, is no longer contemporary. It then becomes a directorial decision as to what to do. But most productions of Chekhov are set in their original period with as much realistic integrity in the production as can be created.
Techniques 'The System'
Emotional Memory
Emotional memory is when the actor finds a real past experience where they felt a similar emotion to that demanded by the role they are playing. They then ‘borrow’ those feelings to bring the role to life.
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Subtext
The script of a play could be called the text. The subtext is the actual meaning and motivation behind the lines that are spoken and the actions taken. For example, the heroine might say to the hero, “I love you” and we might assume that it is the happy ending fairy tale moment. But the delivery would be very different if she was worried that he was about to walk out on her.
Given Circumstances
The given circumstances are the information about the character that you start off with and the play as a whole.
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Are there any notes provided about the play and its characters? Such notes and stage directions may not tell you everything you need to build a character but they are the starting point from which you’ll work to examine the other questions.
'If'
Stanislavski said that the character should answer the question, 'What would I do if I was in this situation?' Also known as the ‘magic if’, this technique means that the actor puts themselves into the character’s situation. This then stimulates the motivation to enable the actor to play the role.
Objective
Super Objective
The super-objective is an over-reaching objective, probably linked to the overall outcome in the play. We use the word super-objective to characterise the essential idea, the core, which provided the impetus for the writing of the play. A character’s objectives are likely to be stages in the journey towards the super-objective. If that journey is perceived as a clear path to the super objective, then you have your through line.
Through line
In Keith Waterhouse’s famous play, Billy Liar, Billy yearns to escape from his provincial life and his family in a Yorkshire town. So this is his super-objective. Billy is faced with many barriers throughout the play, often of his own making. His objectives change during the play according to a new barrier or circumstance, eg 'I wish to retrieve the engagement ring from Barbara'. But ultimately all his objectives throughout the play are working toward the single super-objective, 'I wish to escape' so there is a through line. Sometimes Billy does this through fantasy and sometimes by constructing mini dramas to liven up his dull existence. This through line of action galvanises all the smaller units and objectives and directs them toward the super-objective. From then on they all serve the common purpose.
An objective is the reason for our actions. What are we trying to achieve? Life, people and circumstances constantly put up barriers in our way. Each of these barriers presents us with the objective of getting through them. You shouldn't try to express the meaning of your objective in terms of a noun, always use a verb, eg 'I wish to...'
The Text
The texts selected focus on female characters and experience and the action of the
plays take place in one indoor location.
The Actors
The Actors move and talk in a life-like way with no added theatrical gestures.
Similarly, they speak in a life-like normal way with minimal vocal projection.
The Music
Music is used for scene changes, dance sequences and also works alongside the abstract sound design to underscore the scenes. More recently, Actors will wear radio mics to balance the sound of spoken word and music / underscoring.
Lights
The lighting is very naturalistic, representing a balance of natural light via windows or doors plus lighting from practical lights (for example, pendant ceiling lights, standard lamps or desk lights). The lighting designer will hide the use of the overhead theatre lights as much as possible. The light levels are very low and life like and not bright and theatrical.
Sound
The sound is used in a naturalistic way to describe location and time (e.g. sound of dog barking). It is also very influenced by film, especially the use of abstract subliminal sound to underscore the scenes. Sometimes there is already an abstract sound effect running as the audience enter the room. This effectively subverts audience emotion when watching the performance.
Costume
The costumes are very life-like and lived in, giving the impression they are real
clothes and not theatrical costumes. Very little make-up is used
Movement /Choreography :
The Movement is very life-like and life-sized and detailed. Sometimes, slo-motion is used to emphasise a specific moment in the action. At other times dance sequences are used, mainly using the sort of ballroom dancing you’d see on STRICTLY.
Pina Bausch
Dancers Costumes
They present the dancers primarily as normal people – in dresses, suits, high heels and everyday shoes – as opposed to performers in traditional leotards and ballet shoes.
For Bausch, the clothes her dancers wore served a far more symbolic role than simply fabric on bodies: they spoke to and embodied human desire, deeply embedded gender norms, and the mysteries of our subconscious minds.
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Set Design
The set design is very detailed and life like – often decayed industrial building or
19th Century domestic rooms with large windows and electric ceiling lights
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