Merlin's Enclosure

After trying and failing to advance the Shakespeare project I've decided that it was in my best interest to change topics. Still remaining with the inspiration of literature I've gone down a different route and I've chosen a particular character (or archetype in this case): Merlin. 

Merlin as a Old Man, his most recognisable appearance in media.

I'm a huge fan of arthurian legends and I find them very interesting so that's what I'm going to spend my time researching. The downside to this project is right now there is an outcome idea but it's a very vague one and it won't become apparent until I have that moment of 'clarity' - I guess is what you could call it. At the moment the idea of Merlins Enclosure is in reference to how Britain (and British influenced media) have represented the idea of Merlin throughout history. At one point Britain was actually nicknamed Merlins Enclosure. I want to explore what that means, why was it called that? Why Britain and not Italy? Why's Merlin so special? 

When I imagine the project I think of 'something' representing the magic and knowledge that make the archetype what it is, a camera moving through this sea of particles - almost like a galactic adventure. The particles are coming of of 'something' and with each new colour or shape you get a new representation of Merlin so anything from a popular character like Gandalf (very much an incarnation of Merlin) to a mention of him in Medieval literature (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight). The camera travels through this space but never get's close enough to see the object producing the magic because we don't have a solid idea of who or what Merlin the 'person' was. So instead of satisfying the audience with the knowledge of who this person is they get the essence of incarnations instead. Before eventually zooming back through the galaxy to show that it's all neatly kept within a box (note: for now anyway I need to do so further research into iconography) hence - Merlins Enclosure.

Painting by Tracie Cheng. 

I want the magic/knowledge to be abstract, as demonstrated by Tracie Cheng's painting, when I look at this painting I see something that is solid but also free, whimsical but structured and ethereal yet present. These are the qualities I want for the animation. The idea of magic being real is crazy yet for some reason when you mention Merlin to anyone in Britain the have an image in their head of a wizard, they all have a different image in their head depending on their generation or sheer interest in mythology but they will never question the structure in which this character is placed. I want to explore that structure and divulge the essence of this archetype, have the audience captivated in something new but at the same time nostalgic. 

As per the title I'm narrowing my search area by keeping the research within a British context simply due to time, the amount of research need and because the idea came from the discovery of 'Merlins Enclosure' being a name for Britain in academic texts. 

Researching Merlin is a bit like a rabbit hole - you never know what you're going to find.

A theory I like is one in which they say that Merlin represented the morning star whilst his sister Ganieda represented the evening star. Reaffirming my idea of the galaxy but also giving him a status however this does bring in more characters something that other theories do but they don't give as much leverage to them as they do Merlin. 

Then you have stories of the sword and the stone, lady of the lake, the wild man, Glastonbury tor ..... there's so much I've just got the tip of the iceberg. 

So for now I'm going to read and research. Learn a bit of Maya and come back with a wider understanding of what this crazy idea actually is and what I'm getting myself in for. But right now I'm truly interested and invested in learning more which can only mean good things. 

The New Globe

When I was approached to work with Seeper I was at a complete loss for ideas then I remembered that the Shakespeare festival is still happening. So following on from my last installation I went with that idea - mainly because I didn't have any other ideas at the time. 

However I'm still holding onto The Tempest because it's my favourite Shakespeare play. The RSC have been working on this new adaptation for a few years and the fact that I can't see it kills me. So I'm going to play around with technology and create something as well. So I went on the RSC company website searching for ideas. I originally had a plan to create a large elaborate stage production of Richard III but as a video game, complete with kinect cameras, holograms and live actors. But then I realised that I actually wanted to work on multiple projects this year and as seen within Intel and Imaginarium, you need all the time you can get to make Shakespeare go digital.

As I was looking through Seepers website and I saw a project called Geosphere and wondered if it was possible to project 3D images onto a sphere - turns out it is. So I instantly made the connection.

Sphere = Globe = Shakespeare's Globe. 

My original idea was to ask members of the public what they're favourite Shakespeare quote was, record it and place it in a soundscape. Then whenever a line from The Tempest played out water would appear in time to the speech, projected onto the globe. It would then build up until the words would be practically inaudible, as if everyone was speaking at once, followed by a projected globe layering plays and sonnets. During the 450th anniversary the literary community have focused on re-creating the legacy he left behind when he died. However they haven't really paid much attention to the legacy that currently exists. By creating this piece it will be populating the globe in Shakespeare's new audience.

But how do I make that 'fun' or 'new'? How do I bring the embodiment of his work into the 21st century? To be honest. I don't really have to do anything. We quote Shakespeare every other day.

Psssst if you haven't noticed, the bits in black are Shakespearian quotes.
Image: Royal Shakespeare Company

Why not populate this new globe with the things we actually say in modern day society and pair it with the eras it's transcending. One animation to represent the original production. One animation to represent the play now. To add to the soundscape there will also be two juxtaposing soundtracks, as well as the voice over. One set in modern day London other set in 16 century London. Once again the idea remains the same, members of the public speak the line, then one by one they build up. However this time the 16th Century track will slowly die out leaving only the modern day perception of his work left to view.

I consider this a fairly big move in the right direction. Whilst the project is still very much in development/ experimental phase. I think it could be good.

Also Seeper recommended taking it to the National Theatre or the RSC themselves.

Originally sent to Seeper Arts for an Internship 

The original proposal document for 'Shakespeare's New Globe'

Below is a video I found when researching Shakespeare based art/experiments, there is an entire science study around how Shakespearian language effects our lives. This video shows how the heart rate changes when hearing some of the quotes.

Living Shakespeare (art installation) from Peter Hofmann on Vimeo.

Cut with purpose

I see editing is a huge aspect of my future, it's something I enjoy doing and it's one of the things that came most naturally to me when I started University. It's also something that recently became part of my professional life - like a proper paying job, so I can't be that bad at it. For Year 3 I'll be editing Megan's film 'Wallpaper' as well as being the 1st AD on set, but before we get to Monday I need to do some research which is what this post will be about.

'The film editor is responsible for what you see, and how long you see it, for what you hear, and how long you hear it. We are orchestrators of picture and sound. That's pretty overwhelming, but infact that is what we do and it starts to give you an idea of the significance of the contribution' - Craig McKay (Editor of Silence of the Lambs)

Case Study 1 | Fargo.

Reccomened by Megan as an inspiration for the split screen aspect of the script. Having watched the first two episodes of season 2 all the way through I can see the appeal, whilst I was a bit confused (probably due to missing a season) I do like the use of split screen throughout the show. 

Fargo Season 2 Episode 2

In this particular scene you see two characters who have just committed the same crime yet one of them is a bit better at cover up their guilt than the other. The split screen gives the audience different perspectives on the situation whilst still driving the story at the same pace it would have gone had their only been one character in this situation.  

Within Wallpaper I want the split screen to appear within reason,  for instance I feel that currently most of scene 4 could be in split screen. Within the scene Logan set's up her investigation through a montage yet I imagine it as a montage within a split screen. One side showing the actual 'evidence' and papers whilst the other side shows her body language, her eyes, her face something showing the person behind the madness. Yet when she picks up the play papers (script) she picks it up in the left frame as a close up yet it turns into a long/medium shot showing her and the script, with the right frame going black until her phone rings when her father calls her and appears in frame.  When the phone call ends the left (with Logan in shot) goes black as she abruptly hangs up with her father remaining in the right frame as he sighs before having up and going to a full frame black-out. 

Case Study 2 | The Fall

First airing on BBC in 2013 The Fall see's crime drama favourite Gillian Anderson return to her iconic role of police detective and just ingulf you in this mind-blowing physiological mystery in which you start relating to the bad guy. That's exactly what they want you do because 'he's far too human' which is what makes him terrifying. 

I've been waiting for Season 3 of The Fall for 2 years and now it's here I can barely contain my excitement so if I talk about it too much - I'm not even sorry. The storyline is impeccable and the editing is amazing. I say the editing amazing because crime dramas tend to be very dialogue heavy, as this show is, but you never get bored. A lot of the time dialogue has this tendency to tell and not show however that's not the case here, they tell the audience enough for them to make their own educated opinion on the visuals they are about to see. Which as I mentioned earlier makes it scary. Human minds have this ability to jump to the worst possible conclusion when coerced into it, the editing of this show puts you in the mindset of a serial killer driven by the compulsion to feel god-like, when given that power your brain can make scarily accurate connections to motivation and even show empathy towards the guy. All signs of which are shown through Anderson's character wether she likes to admit it or not.

There is also a strong use of metaphorical imagery (for a BBC primetime slot) some obvious ones, between life and death and imagining the light at the end of a tunnel, but also some interesting ones as seen above. This episode hasn't aired yet but knowing the character I can imagine this is her stress release but also her drowning under pressure. Visuals of evidence are used a lot within the show but in Season 3 Episode 1 the is a prolonged montage of an empty hospital room that (SPOILER) the killer had just been in. It lingers a bit too long and in that moment you just see the brutality of attempted murder seemingly forgetting that the guy almost killed is a serial murderer himself.

The Fall Season 3 Episode 1

I speak of empathy a lot because I think it's key to telling a good story, if you get the audience in the mind of your protagonist then you're set. Empathy and observation can get you far in life, especially as a storyteller. Here the shot of the empty room looks in itself like a crime scene which is why it lingers so long - Steve Singleton (Editor) always shows you close-ups of evidence. At this point the audience has forgotten why he was injured in the first place because they've become caught up in the fast pace 'gotta-save-his-life' montage. They need this moment of reflection to come to terms with the fact they're sympathising with the man that get's a kick out of strangling women to death.

Also this TV show came out with my favourite quote, when a detective suggests that Stella is sexually attracted to the killer her response is;

"A woman, I forget who, once asked a male friend why men felt threatened by women. He replied that they were afraid that women might laugh at them. When she asked a group of women why women felt threatened by men, they said, 'We're afraid they might kill us.' He might fascinate you. I despise him with every fiber of my being."

But that's a different conversation, this article 'Woman, Subject: The Fall Is The Feminist Crime Show We've Been Wanting' may be of interest however.

On being an editor

Reading interviews with editors is always a nice thing to do, especially when you're in the limbo I'm in currently where I know there's an idea but there's no material for me to physically work with. So I'm preparing for it instead. 

I think something that a filmmaker can get caught up in is the production itself and because of this we  (as a production team) don't really give editors the recognition they deserve or the power they have earned. So the realisation that post-production is where I felt most comfortable came with a whole new set of rules and a new way to communicate with directors/producers. As an editor you feel a certain ownership of a film and that can be taken away from you very quickly if you gloat about it to the wrong person. Something I want to be sure of this year is making my opinion heard at the same volume of the director/producer/talent, obviously I know that people are higher than me in the grand scale of things but this is my thing. I don't have an extortionate amount of talent but I can tell a story.

And that is essentially what an editor is a story teller, someone who takes pieces film and brings out the narrative. So right now I'm annotating the script, I'm watching films and TV shows, passing ideas to different people and all in all preparing for the day I get the rushes in my hand. Until then it's back to AVID and lynda.com to prepare for the madness that ensues after filming wraps. 

Listening begins with being silent

For two of my projects this year I'll be working within sound design, one being a film the other being a sound installation. Sound is something I always seem to gravitate back too and the idea of being able to immerse myself in it this year is very interesting but at the same time a bit frightening because - sound is just so important.


Shakespeare's New Globe

Shakespeare's Globe from an audience POV

For this project (as it currently stands, it will probably change in the near future) I will have to go out and speak with members of the public. Since it would just be me I'd have to use a zoom with a rather small microphone attached to it. Whilst the voices of the public are very important to the project it only makes up around 1/3 of the sound design I have in mind.

1/3
Voices of the public telling me their favourite/ most memorable shakespeare quotes.

2/3
Soundscapes encapsulate the individual pieces (so The Tempest will have water, Henry V will have war/battle sounds etc)

3/3
Sounds of the entire world, bringing the piece together by bridging the gap between Shakespeare's London and modern day London.

Science on Sphere (SOS) an installation method used in galleries, tourist attractions and Universities created by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) 

This will then trigger projections on a globe - but that's for another blog post.

Mirella's Film (Playing Cards)

The current synopsis is surrounding Syrian refugee and a caribbean girl born and raised in London, this story will surround them meeting whilst playing a game of cards and the cards played with trigger different flashbacks surrounding their lives. Whilst when first hearing this idea I wanted to keep music to a minimum Mirella let me listen to arabic hip-hop, which at first sounded very strange to my ears but it's grown on me. Although I still think that the nature of the film doesn't need a lot of music it did make me realise that I have a lot to learn. 

As written in David Sonnenschein's book Sound Design;

'Hearing is passive and listening is active. While hearing involves receiving auditory information through the ears, listening relies on the capacity to filter, selectively focus, remember, and respond to sound. Out two ears together allow us stereophonic reception, helping us perceive distance, spatial relationships, and our place in the world.' 

A huge proportion of this film is going to rely on sensory empathy something that sound design plays a huge role in and it's very important I get that atmosphere correct. Creating this soundscape will rely heavily on being able to listen. Listening to people's stories and interviews. Watching films immersed in that culture already. Most importantly it involves remaining silent. As a creative person it's very easy to run off with ideas and make them your own. However at this stage in development that would be the worst thing for this film because these characters don't reflect my life; I'm not the first generation of my family to be born in England, I'm not bi-lingual, I rarely leave the country to see other cultures close up and the horrors I've seen are no where near the same as the horrors the characters know.  Yet strangely enough I believe this makes me the perfect candidate for the job.

All of the decisions I make as a sound designer will be made through research and sheer gut instinct, the same instinct the audience will be using to immerse themselves in the final piece. If I don't connect with the character neither will the audience, if I feel a certain way about a scene the audience may have a similar reaction. 

OK so the obvious issue here is I don't speak arabic and I'm certainly not going to learn within the next year so a lot of this research is going to be trusting the opinions of those who do. But at the same time I'm not a huge fan of using music with lyrics during films, I think it distracts people from the actual action on screen (unless that song has been composed for that film in particular). Instrumentals will be fun to work with though especially considering the severity of the subject matter, juxtaposing them during certain scenes will be very interesting. 

For now I'm going to go back to my research and follow closely the steps within this book (this book was a life saver last year so I trust it's judgement, along with some others) it takes me through the first script reading, to visual maps, sound maps, to experimenting and the final master. 

I think it's going to be a lot of fun. 

Nothing to show.

I feel like this summer has been my most productive ever. Yet right now I don't have anything to show for it.

After speaking about my goals for the year in todays seminar I realised that I have done a lot of thinking this summer, a lot of planning and networking alongside building up my skill base however the amount of projects currently I have to show for it is very small. 

For instance the idea for 'Shakespeare's New Globe' came about because I was panicking about approaching a company on the understanding that an internship is a job based thing - as in they give me odd jobs to do around the office and I occasionally help out but mostly I learn by watching. Then I had the email for Seeper saying to send a project over and they'll have a look but here's the thing. I didn't have a project. I didn't even have an idea. I went through ideas surrounding the Olympics/Paralympics and even an interactive Shakespeare 'game' that took you through London to discover certain areas of London that the bard had significance too. But I really wanted to do a sound piece.

So I put together a proposal (with some help from UCA Careers - thanks for that!), I had a conversation about it with Anne because I ran into her on campus whilst at work and I sent it off. I also had a look around the actual Globe and it cemented the idea in my head. I have to make this thing.

Then Seeper decided it wasn't for them.

Completely understandable as this is a more art/film based piece and what they normally make is more technology based work which is something that right now I just can't do. Maybe one day in the future I will have an idea more suited to them but for now they have recommended taking the idea elsewhere because even though they don't want it, they still think it's good. They've recommended the National Theatre and the RSC/Shakespeare's Globe - so I'll see what happens there.

A SeeperArt project that was a jumping off point for the original idea

I feel like my future lies within post-production simply because having tried everything else post-filming is always the thing I look forward too. Now obviously project wise I need to have something to work on during semester 1 and if I leave Uni with a showreel of approximately 2 films with nothing much else it wouldn't look too good. 

So I'm working on 2 films both in editing (Avid and Sound Design), also 1st AD for one of said films, and working on my own project alongside. The Shakespeare project a sound and visual installation. 

To read the project proposal as it stands click here.

This idea was originally proposed as a week long project, so the proposal reflects that.

Something that really hit home recently is I actually already have a big collection work that I've overlooked for the past 2 years - my vlogs. It wasn't until marketing used me as part of their 'reinvention' of the ambassador scheme that I realised how big of a deal interacting with students through video was and how building a recurring audience was a rare thing, no matter how small. 

So I approached a company set up by ex-UCA students and asked for some work, they've given me a test video and I've been editing that for the past week or so. The fact that people can see my skills (+confidence) growing through my vlogs is a big deal and people are drawn to it, so I must have done something right.

Screenshot of rachelbramley.com showcasing my vlogs in a new section on my site

And that's what I've done. 

Like I said not much to show for summer but it's changed my perception of my work drastically.

It's called a play for a reason.

So I had a little bit of a break through in regards to my final year project. 

I've been saying that I'll happily crew for people on their films/projects but I want to have my own theatre based project running along side. Then I got distracted by work and internship brainstorming along side dissertation writing that it kind of got left behind. 

Yesterday however I was sat doing some admin for work and decided to make it double productive and found a podcast with Robert Lepage. Robert Lepage is a key person for dissertation and whilst I've been reading a lot about him it's nice to get an overview of his work from the man himself. You can listen to the podcast here (interesting from around 25 min).  It's around 25 minutes in when he starts talking about his film work. He describes that whilst working in film he felt like a beggar, he was begging companies to look at his work and take a chance on his work because he couldn't prove he had a large audience. That it no longer felt like an art form but a business.

However his theatrical work is know for being filmic, it contains everything from projections of digital work to 35mm, robotics, interactivity, some of his work is even 9 hours long! But a french reporter once described him as a theatrical revolutionary because he works like a frustrated filmmaker. He break down walls because he understands that 'the audience today is radically different than it was 20/25 years ago. And that has to do with narrative vocab.' He draws on the education his audiences get from the internet, TV, Movies and adverts and treats them on that intelligence level rather than treating them like idiots.

Then he said something quiet fascinating. Theatre is a sport.

There's not actors in theatre, there's players. It's called a play for a reason.

Even the greatest tragedies are a game. Richard III is a game.

And suddenly I was flooded with ideas and visuals of what a stage production could look like, once again modernising shakespeare but treating it as a computer game. Only the lead character wouldn't be part of the game, they'd just be witnessing it through passers by as they get knocked off course, a bit like an RPG game where you meet people along the way to further the story. Only this time the story would come to them in the inner workings of the computer.

Then because I cant draw I wrote this very fast idea into some kind of script form, detailing the visual I have in my mind for the opening scene.

[Show opens to actor already onstage, actor is playing a video game. Stage floor is covered in coding. Other three walls act as giant displays for the 3 monitors the actor is ‘playing on’. As action starts within the game, it starts speeding up until the player dies. ‘Game Over. Continue? 9’ would count down and the house lights would go down in time with it. The actor would not be able to click continue, getting agitated when his mouse/keyboard doesn’t work.]

[Countdown reaches 2]

Actor: Nononono! [Frantically clicking everything]

[Countdown reaches 0]

[Gaming set-up drops under the stage. Actor screams as he falls with it. The 3 walls now turn to code, matching the stage floor.]

[Actor, still screaming drops from the ceiling onto the floor now trapped inside the coding, trapped inside the game (Possible Hologram)]

Actor: Where am I? Who did this? Show yourself.

[Actor punches walls shouting profanities, the walls just refact him back. He is stuck in the computer]

I imagine the stage to be something of a hybrid of the work of Finn Ross in Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.

And possibly the backdrop design of Robert Lepage's Blue Dragon.

I've also been doing some research into making the 'walls' interactive with the use of a Kinect camera and having actors appear to phase through walls.

It's all crazy talk for now but it seems interesting - I just didn't want to do more Shakespeare but if it works then I don't see why not. 

Hello from UCA

So this summer I'm doing a variety of projects that I feel I should document somewhere online so everyone doesn't think I've fallen of the face of the earth - right now I'm currently sat in my old house on campus, not going to lie it's very strange. 

For the most part I'm working closely with marketing helping deliver some of the Summer school actives here in Farnham, making some videos along side my Vlogs for the UCA website, helping out with photography for some new marketing campaigns and helping shape the new ambassador scheme/team for the next academic year. 

I've also been talking to marketing about possibly running some events in local feeder schools to give the students an idea of what filmmaking and arts education is like at degree level - which is all very exciting and actually quite interesting. My current thought is running a workshop surrounding video poetry, giving the students a poem or a piece of music they have to think about whilst working. Then giving them a quick overview of camera work (probably using a DSLR as these students will be around 14-16 years) and sending them off onto campus to get footage they believe represents the work that's been given to them. Then in the afternoon giving them a quick tour of Premiere and seeing what they come up with. But any other ideas I'd love to hear because the quicker this event forms the easier it will be to execute.

Whilst all of this was happening I also got put forward for a filming job via marketing for a youth centre here in Farnham. They are hosting their summer festival in the coming weeks and needed a one-person-film crew to come along and conduct some interviews for a case study to use as feedback/marketing for their trustees and anyone they approach to help fund their cause. This all takes me back to first year documentary but I'm surprisingly calm about it all. I've managed to get some very nice equipment from stores to help make it as marketable and presentable as possible as this is a very charity that not only need the money but they deserve it too.

But UCA aside for a second I've also been working on a project for a company called Seeper Arts an organisation, that I feel personally, sums up the DFSA ethos. I tweeted them out of the blue after discovering their website asking if they had any internships available and they replied saying they don't really offer them but to send my CV, website etc over to them and they'll take a look. Later that week I got an email back explaining that they are willing to offer me an internship in which I can pitch multiple ideas at them, they pick their favourite and then they'll facilitate me making said project. On the condition it produces an interesting behind the scenes video for their website. Which I'm all for.

I'm trying to keep it relevant to this summer in particular as I believe that will be the best marketing technique for the company (and maybe improve my chances of them liking the idea). So I'm back working on Shakespeare as it's currently the 400th anniversary and the Olympics/Paralympics as soon that will be all over our TV screens.

Medium wise I do want to branch out a bit and venture into some territory I'm planning on using for a final year project, so using this opportunity as a way to experiment before term starts up again. But that seems terrifying so I may tone it back a bit from holograms (I'm not crazy I just sound it) and venture more towards projection mapping something I know Seeper work with often. Seeper Arts as a company thrive on interactivity within their work and I'm afraid that as of now I'm not that well versed in it which is something I hope to pick up on. You know, if they accept any of my pitches.

For now I'm going to go back to work for a week or so, working on these projects whenever I have some free time, then hopefully dive straight back into them once Summer School season is over.

Also made a website a few weeks ago www.rachelbramley.com - thought I'd put that out there too. 

OK. Bye.