Hamlet - Claudius and Green screen

Experimenting with the Camera...

I haven't use a HD camera in a good three years, I know there are a few problems in the video such as hands and feet not being in the camera. So note to self... place camera further back to account for that, as well as the placement of the wooden blocks, which should not be visible in the shot as they were only being used to note where to stop walking and to stay in the scene. 

As a group we had originally thought about using this video on a loop. To continue round as fluidly as possible. However, after viewing the footage, we thought of splitting the emotions up and placing them into different containers such as Animalia Chordata's work with projections and glass jars...

We believe that isolating each different emotion would make the feeling of our installation stronger. The emotions and actions in the green screen video above portray the feelings that Claudius would/ should have been going through for the murder of his brother, and later the desire to kill Hamlet to keep his secret.

Bonington Gallery 10/04/13

8 April - 10 May 2013

This touring exhibition created by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, in collaboration with the Society of British Theatre Designers celebrates the work of over 30 of the most pioneering British theatre designers, architects and artists

Yesterday I visited the Bonington Gallery and viewed the exhibition which displayed the works from numerous Theatre Designers working on ways to transform the stage. It exhibits costumes and their original drawings from Marie-Jeanne Lecca and Rae Smith's digital projection work from the National Theatre's West End production War Horse (2007).

I enjoyed seeing all of the work from the Railway Children, to War Horse and to other productions I have not seen. Being able to look at Designers work and how they work was really interesting and helpful to see the level that these professionals work to!

Sense the exhibition has opened I've been back at least 4 times just to look at the inspirational work on show!

Experimenting in the green room.

Today we thought we'd use our time effectively  the green room wasn't in use and so we decided to try out some different actions for Laura to try...

Experimenting with our suitcase

Things inside .... 

• Coins
• Gold
• Material
• Glass jar
• Containers

Outside

• Padlocks
• Keys 
• Material travelling out of the suitcase

            

Ideas about Claudius

As a small group we came up with these few key pieces about the character Claudius.. Some are controversial to others peoples opinions and feelings about him, however with further readings, we thought that he was not all that evil and gave some hint to a soul in the scene where Hamlet see's him praying.

Hamlet day one.

First impressions ...

Claudius - villain - perhaps a small sense of a burden

Ghost - first spotted by guards - Hamlets friends.

Hamlet - His mother's remarriage - mistrust/ thinks it's too soon / resentful of his uncle and incest. Inner battle with himself / morals.

Horatio - Balanced / voice of reason

Gertrude - a passive figure / little or no power / unaware of who killed her previous husband / unaware / oblivious

Polomius - Dule to revenge Hamlet / council to the king / manipulative / protective of his family

Ophelia - Daughter / goes mad after her fathers death / drowns herself in sorrow

Shakespeare's Hamlet

Third term, the final term left of my first year, the second to last project to do before leaving to go home for summer.

For this final term we are working with the script of Hamlet by William Shakespeare. The first part of this term we are working on an installation piece, exploring alternative forms of performance practices, environments and approaches to text and audience. Working in small groups we will come up with an angle to explore to make a small installation of one of the characters from Hamlet. 

Our group was given Claudius, the uncle who kills Hamlets father, his brother to take the thrown and become king. The central theme is the problem of revenge, because of the time in which it would have been written, the influence of the culture of England as well as Denmark would have helped shaped the plot of the play. 



From reading the book Hamlet and listening to an audio version, it allows us to understand the feelings behind the style of writing and helps by giving the words in the book 'embodied', giving them a stronger sense and purpose.

'The origin of the story  of Hamlet is quite ancient. It first appears in a book called Historiae Danicae, a collection of stories about the history if Denmark, written in Latin by the Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus. He wrote at the end of the twelfth century, and his book was first published in 1514.'    
        Hamlet, William Shakespeare, ISBN 0-333-5135-9