My Drama Blog

After hearing a story by Andy Jordan about the castle, we realsied we’d have to film there. We walked up yesterday to ask if it was allowable, and they said they needed to see documents from the university and a risk assessment.n I’ve filled out the risk assessment but it was difficult to try and foresee any and every accident possible. Here’s what I came up with.

 

Identify Hazard	Who might be harmed?	Risk	List any controls
Slips, trips and falls	Students, staff	Broken bones	Be aware of loose fixtures, wet floors and stray objects.
Being unaware of each other, the space, the cameras, the public	Students, staff, public	Breaking of bones and equipment	Exhibit special awareness, particularly around the public.
Breakage of historical artifacts/ structures	Students	Priceless damage to the castle or its belongings	Be particularly careful and acknowledge that without treating anything delicately it may cause damage.
Bumps on low ceilings, low hanging objects in castle	Students, staff	Head injuries	Make sure we bring sufficient light for dark areas and be aware of surroundings.

I will fully admit that upon first hearing about site Specific, I simply viewed it as just another performance, a perfunctory task in order to get a mark and nothing more. My opinion is quickly changing though. I realise this isn’t the same for everyone and maybe it’s only specifically to the group that I’m in but as Casey Wright- another member of my group- put it, we are “breaking out of our student bubble”.

This performance is forcing me to view Lincoln in layers. The first layer being that of what you can see immediately. The university, the town, the cathedral. The second layer being beyond that- beyond steep hill, down all the road that don’t lead anywhere, outside of the confinements of necessity. The third layer is the history, and this is the one I’m really enjoying.

I’m learning history doesn’t have to mean the stories of kings and castles, hundreds of years ago. It doesn’t mean wars and it doesn’t mean masses. The history of Lincoln is evolving in my mind with every story told because it adds another perspective to the places I wasn’t properly looking at before. The stories of normal people, of things you wouldn’t find written in books, of things that still make you think and still teach you that everything is a version of something else. I’m learning that Lincoln grows and changes, like every other place. However unlike every other place, I’m starting to learn to love and know what it was, and what it’s going to be.

As with any project, recently it’s felt a bit like a deflated balloon. After losing hope, losing steam and a fair bit of enthusiasm for this performance, I found it all renewed today whilst talking to one of the drama tutors, Andy Jordan. He not only gave us the kind of story we’d been hoping for all along; one that really sounded enchanting and interesting and spurred us to reevaluate Lincoln (which I feel was one of the points of this performance, not only to get across to the audience but also for us group members to achieve along the way), but he managed to give us the exact imagery that we could translate to film. I do have slight fears that if it takes up a lot of the performance that people will think that;s because we’ve been lazy with collecting more stories but it’s not true, it’s more of a star piece, the right amount of depth that I wanted to convey in our pieces.

Speaking of the film, it took a (very) long time but we finally got to grips with the editing software today. After hearing from a lot of people that iMovie on a Mac computer was the best software to create a semi-professional looking film, we tried it out. Macs are difficult to get used to. But I’m glad we set aside a lot today with the idea of nothing more to achieve than just to get our heads round iMovie, and with a lot of help from my good friend Google it worked. I know this isn’t an effort that’s going to show in the final film which is a shame but I’m glad I’ve got the skills now, especially as doing Drama I’m fairly certain that this won’t be the last film I have to make!

Our performance has evolved even further, as we knew it would. We’re now reaching the stages of filming, which is difficult because we don’t want the films integrity to be compromised by poor equipment or lack of professional skill. However I suppose the performance being titled “You Have Not Been Here Before” gives us artistic license and the ability and allowance to try new things.

Name: Cassie Watson

Email: 10183568@lincoln.ac.uk

Contact Phone No. 07940583199

Title of your Project:“You Have Not Been Here Before”

Please describe your proposed work in no more than 50 words  A site specific performance located in different areas ofLincoln, with the city ofLincolnitself and those residing in it as the theme of our piece. We will record stories and then film where they take place.

Tell us what you plan to do and provide a sketch of the ideas behind the work(250 words)  We plan to interview members of the public of different ages, cultures and backgrounds to discover whatLincolnmeans to them, asking them to reference a specific place. We will record their stories with their permission. We will then film one of ourselves standing outside wherever the story takes place, in order to create a short film, whereby their story will be the audio. This information will be gathered by spreading across various areas ofLincolnfor diversity including the high street and cathedral quarters.   We plan to show our work at a public place such as Tower Bar or The Shed for a communal feel, on one of their large screens. Encouraging the audience to join in with idea of presenting their stories. If neither of these places are available we will present the film in the LPAC.   We are also considering filming more footage on the day of the screening but that idea is a work in progress.   This has changed from the idea of using postcards on a canvas to relay their stories.

Tell us about your target audience, and how your work will interact with them(150 words)  Our target audience is a whole variety of the Lincoln Community, including an assortment of different ages, cultures, backgrounds and occupations. Our audience for the filming will range from locals to students and all the stories  will contain data of their age, occupation and where they are from. We feel this data will help us to get a wide range of material for our film and that their differences will make the film interesting.   Our audience for the screening will mostly be students and some lecturers but also other members of the public partaking in the tower bar/shed for food or refreshments.   As for interaction with the filmed public we will be talking to them, gathering their ideas and filming and photographing them where applicable. Interaction with the viewers of the screening will involve collecting their thoughts and perhaps including them in further filming.

When and where do you propose to present your work (location, date and time)A public place that is accessible to students, such as Tower Bar or The Shed, or the LPAC. No specific date and time as we are unaware of our groups allocated day/time

Provide a project timetable detailing key targets and actions between now and the presentation of your work. Include Permissions, Materials, Health and Safety checks where applicable (250 words)Every Monday we plan to do Site Specific work for the entire day and wherever else we need to add in more rehearsal time. We need some footage to show by Monday ( 5th) We want all our filming to be completed before the Easter holidays. When we return all editing will be completed in time for the performance. All materials and equipment we need have already been bought. We will require permission from Tower Bar/The Shed and are unaware of other permissions needed. As for health and safety generally taking care while moving around the city centre. Carefully choosing physical theatre movement so that it does not surpass our skills or strength.

List the equipment and materials you will need to deliver your project (and how you will source them).  Recorder- Casey owns one Tape-bought Camera-sourced from media building, we also have Casey’s digital camera as a back-up if needed Camcorder stabiliser- loaned from media building Mac computer (for editing purposes)- available in library

Give details of your project budget (though be aware that there is no Module budget so any expenses will, unfortunately, have to be borne by you alone).We don’t have a specific budget and have already equally divided the cost of what we bought previously.

Audience suitability: is there anything in your work we may need to make audiences aware of (eg. Swearing, nudity, flashing lights etc)?We may have to warn the audience of swearing depending on the footage we capture of the public.

Include a brief artist’s statement that describes you and your work (100 words).Our work is all about seeingLincolnthrough the eyes of a diverse public and what it means to them. It is about looking atLincolnwith fresh eyes and exploring the great parts of the city. The public are a central piece of our performance and our direction to follow in terms of the physical theatre. The physical theatre is to highlight these thoughts and feelings and to add some excitement to the film. Our work is multi-disciplinary providing a combination of film, photography, physical theatre and documentary. We hope the viewing audience will question whatLincolnmeans to them.

Provide any images, plans, maps or other materials that support your proposal.