Attempts On Her Life

Scenario’s – 1, 5, 9 and 11

ContentsAbout the PlayIntentions – What I Want to ExploreScenario 1 – All Messages Deleted.Scenario 5 – The Camera Loves YouScenario 9 – Threat of an International TerroristScenario 11 – Untitled (100 words)Areas to ResearchTest: Lighting and Shots

About The PlayThe play was written by Martin Crimp in 1997

The play represents on of the high points of experimental theatre.

As the play’s subtitle – Seventeen Scenarios For Theatre – Attempts On Her Life is not a linear narrative.

The scenario’s take various forms, from monologues, adverts and pop lyrics through to negotiations between unnamed speakers in unspecified locations, all trying to pin down the nature of an unseen central character: ‘Anne’.

This character appears to be a suicidal singles-holiday hostess, an international terrorist, a porn actress, a suicidal modern artist, a refugee and a make of car, among other things.

The play is partly an exercise in examining the way words on a page create the ‘reality’ on stage and the way that directors and actors assign meaning to dialogue.

There are no allocated lines to a particular speaker, and the script indicates no number for a cast. Which means free rain with casting, directing and acting.

The writing is witty, perceptive, cynical, beautiful and cruel.Source -

http://www.culturewars.org.uk/2007-03/attempts.htm

Intentions – What I Want to Explore

Academic: • transferring a play written for

stage onto screen.• exploring a range of different

genre’s through the scenario’s; music video and thriller being my two main genres, along with a walk-through tour, news, gallery and flashbacks.

• Looking at practitioners such as Bertolt Brecht and Antonin Artaud who’s ideas compliment the play and content.

• using a range of media through out the film, such as voice over, projection, acting and writing in order to gain the desired effect on the audience.

Personal:• I want to explore my

editing capabilities, I intend the piece to be heavily edited. This will show my skills in editing and create challenges for me to gain the desired effects.

• exploring media outputs that I haven’t used in film before – such as projection.

• show my key skills – editing, camera work, singing and acting.

Scenario 1 – All Messages Deleted.

Shots – long, medium and close upMise En Scene – phone, bottles of alcohol empty and full, pills, pill boxes, sofa, homely feel, body on floor.

Lighting – key lighting in areas of interest – phone, bottles and handCamera movement – snaking on floor

Sound – voice over of answer machine messages, all overlapping.

I want this scene to feel as the opening of a thriller movie. The answer machine messages are all going to be overlapped so you can only hear key parts of the speech.I want it lit as though it could be associated with a police crime scene. Signalling that something isn’t right, this will reflect the camera movement, the mise-en-scene and the way the scene is set up. I want the camera to snake around the floor, and as this scene is cut up into 3 (the other scenario’s are cut into the scene) I want the camera to land on the character’s eyes before transitioning into the next scene.

Scenario 5 – The Camera Loves You

I feel that singing is one of my talents, so although Madonna is not usually the style I would choose I feel that her music suites the scenario well. I am getting a friend of mine to write some original music for the scene and filming it in the style of a Madonna music video, with a lot of photography involved. These are videos that have inspired me for this scene:

Madonna style music videoPhotographs Filmed photo shootBright lights, flashesGreyscale – filmAdverts on blog – use as similar inspiration (roxie, adverts)Fast and filmic

Madonna - Vogue

The Camera Loves You – National Theatre

The Camera Loves You – College ProjectD&G Sunglasses Advert

D&G perfume

Scenario 9 – Threat of an International

TerroristTrapped FeelingProjection ThroughoutWords on ScreenWords MimedLittle Camera movement

I want this scene to display a sense of entrapment and surrealism. The suggestion of the projection in the scene displays to the audience what images she is seeing, and her “internal” monologue. There are a range of flashbacks and montage sequences throughout the scene to connote the dialogue in the script. I think that with this scene I am going to take the camera and do a few minutes handheld POV footage and use this as the basis of the scene, following life, with flashbacks and images popping into mind when something is seen. This notion for the scene will show a personal side to the character, as well as touch on the possible sick mind and mental illnesses the character could have.

Scenario 11 – Untitled (100 words)

3 personas: 1 – on stage, 2 – on stage (When persona 3 speaks – look into camera.) 3 - audioWords on screenMise En Scene = Gallery setting, minimalistic, one projection on a back wall playing footage of swinging feet, on TV playing footage sourced from YouTube, podiums of the objects listed throughout the script. Studio lighting.Source images of degenerate art etc to have pop up on screen and place around set.

This scene I want to show the extent of my capabilities, as an editor, actress and film maker. I feel that by showing this in a “Gallery” set-up, I can frame and shoot it to work to my advantage as I feel that I am a strong and confident presenter and by staging it as a tour around a gallery I can play to that. This scene to me is the hardest one to do in the whole script, it’s a challenge to film and to edit because timing has to be precise in order for the scene to work. I want the scene to have 3 persona’s as I feel 3 points of view are shown in this scenario, all contrasting to one another. It also links the other scenario’s in together nicely. The image to the left is what I will be using for the 100 words that is in the script, there was an exercise I once used to do in school, and that’s on IQ tests where you say the color not the word. This is what I want to do with this, so the words appear in a certain order on screen another word will be said during the voice over. This could confuse the audience or make them work to concentrate on what is going on. This could change in the edit.

Degenerate art

Areas to ResearchSurrealismThrillerPsychological ThrillerMusic VideoMadonnaHallucinogensSchizophreniaHouse M.D (TV Series)

Effects and Emotions

Bertolt Brecht – Political Theatre Antonin Artaud - Surrealism

Test: Lighting and Shots

Test shot for Scene 1 –

Camera movementsEffects

Test shot for Scene 9 –

Reflection on glasses + colours on face.

Questions?