Task 3 - Pre-Production Play Recording: Testing & Research.
- Mylo Sayles
- Oct 2, 2023
- 6 min read
Updated: Nov 3, 2023
UNIT 9/10
Primary & Secondary Research.
For this part of the project we were tasked to record the performance itself that the acting department are putting on.
Before we started this however, we decided to come together in our groups and do some research. We decided to create a mind map together to get all of our thoughts down quickly about why and how theatre recordings are useful.
Examples.
Below is some research I did based on examples of already existing play recordings. I looked at some iconic scenes and parts of some full plays that were recorded live and looked at things such as the use of camera angles, lighting, editing and more, anything really that I felt could help me with the production process when we eventually began to record.
Hamilton.
Above, is a clip of a significant part from famous musical 'Hamilton' by Lin-Manuel Miranda. It is clear that this video has been recorded and cut/edited in a professional and effective manner that keeps the audience watching interested.
Something key I noticed they have done for this recording, and still do for most play recordings, is they have set up many different cameras from different angles so that in the editing process you can easily cut between them - this is so that the cameras are moving less and there is less chance of poor quality or shaky filming due to excessive camera movement and more chance of capturing each moment correctly and in an effective way that conveys the right atmosphere. and emotion with things such as facial expressions, surroundings, set design, costume design and lighting.
Overall, doing this gives the editors much more creative freedom after the production is over. This kind of freedom is very necessary when it comes to play recordings as they are recording a live performance and therefore have to capture the whole thing in one take, this is not like when people record movies and have the freedom to re-record, to an extent, until they get it right.
Rent.
Another thing I started to notice upon watching more play recording edits, including the one above which is 'Rent' by Johnathan Larson, was that the shots change very often. The cuts increase depending on things such as the energy, intensity and pace of a scene/part. I also noticed that shots tend to focus on the faces/body language of the character speaking/singing and if there are dancers sometimes they are focused on too. From watching this recording above, I knew that it would be a great idea to edit my recording the same or to use similar techniques if I can.
Further Research.
After doing this, I decided to go away and look more into the basic elements such as the importance of design aspects, lighting, sound, script, camera angles etc. as these things can all make or break a production. To gather some more knowledge I decided to watch some examples of play recordings on YouTube to look into how they are recorded and how we can make the best quality recording with what we have between departments.
Lighting.
Lighting is extremely important for a multitude of reasons and obviously, visibility is one of the most important reasons. The audience, meaning people both there physically and/or watching the recording, need to see what is going on on the stage properly and clearly in order to enjoy their experience.
Lighting can also be used to set the focus and draw the eyes to certain spaces. Using a spotlight, for example, can be a really effective way to do this as it shines above and follows the subject and immediately forces the audience to look in the direction it is shining.
Another thing good and well thought out lighting can provide is mood and atmosphere. different lighting can convey various emotions by altering things such as colour, brightness, intensity and direction. Changing these things could also tell us things such as what time of day it is or help to show where and what type of setting the characters are in.
Lighting can also be used for things such as symbolism, special effects and more.
In summary, lighting can represent and show us certain feelings and focuses and enhance storytelling to improve audience engagement. Because of all of this, it is important that in our recordings, when it comes to it, we capture the lighting elements well and make sure the lights are positioned and operating correctly at the correct times.
When it came to using lighting in our project, something we did was test how the lighting we placed looked both to the eye and on the cameras when we recorded a rehearsal. To do this, we got the students to sit in their main places on the stage to check if everything could be seen well enough. We also had to test if all of the lights worked. Below is a photo of this.
Script.
Even though 'Our Day Out' is already a production and the Drama Department didn't need to create a script as they are doing a re-enactment of an existing script, we still had meetings and some conversations with the client, for primary research, to discuss if there were any slight modifications we could make to the script to make it more engaging and relatable to the audience as it is extremely important that the audience's maximum attention is captured.
What we eventually decided was that it would be best to change the overall location and setting where the children go to school/live and also where they go on their trips just to make it more engaging, as I said above, and to make things more understandable and close to home for both the audience and the actors as all of the actors are from around this area and most of the audience will be too. The play is originally set in Wales and it is unlikely that any of the audience coming to see the play are from/have ever been to Wales before so they may not recognise or understand the locations mentioned in the original. We decided to change the location from Wales (Conway Castle) to Scarborough as it is a more recognisable and common place where many people from around here have been.
Something else we changed about the original script and play was that we made some of the roles genderless. We did this because there weren't enough of the correct genders of people from the real script.
Below you can find both the original script and the edited script.
Original Our Day Out Script.
NLC Edited Script.
Camera Angles.
In order to simulate the physical audience's experience, camera angles are obviously extremely important when recording theatre productions. They help to convey the narrative and the emotions of the characters and more. Different camera angles also do things such as enhance the visual aesthetics of the play and showcase the lighting from all angles.
Different camera angles also can give the audience watching the recording access to parts/perspectives of the stage that may not be visible to all theatregoers. Therefore, in a way the people watching the recording get to experience a bit more of the play in detail and there is therefore a reason to purchase or watch/re-watch a play recording.
After speaking to the client and asking them exactly what they want from their recording we decided together originally that the best ways to film would be to set up three different cameras, each at different angles and then when editing we can cut all of the best and most suitable shots together.
For primary research on camera angles, we decided to do some test shots on a rehearsal before recording the actual thing. Below are some photos I took of us while setting up and using the cameras for testing.
Sound.
Before jumping into recording the performance, we decided to look into which possible microphones we could use for best picking up the sound. The options available to us were the overhead, handheld boom mics, the lavalier mics or the camera mics.
We decided pre-production that the best microphone types to use would be the lavalier mics because both us and the acting department agreed that these would be easiest to manage for all parties.
Below is a photo of the type of microphones we ended up giving the drama students. We made sure that each of them had a microphone and were set up properly before recording. We then tested them just like how we did test shots we did with the cameras and tested out the lighting to see if they were on and working.
Roles.
Lastly, I have decided to include the list of roles we decided on for our group before starting production. Here it is below.
MYLO - Testing Sound, Positioning & Testing Video Cameras.
BEN - Positioning Video Cameras, Filming.
BILLIE - Filming.
JESS - Filming.
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