Work after our second tutorial

After our tutorial we decided to research into how we could portray a wooded scene, whilst capturing the essence of an eerie atmosphere created by lighting and props. We were thinking of having low lighting from candles etc and having several torches behind the set, which we thought we could possibly cut out holes with quick movement in order to create distortion.

To begin our search, some members of the group looked at films such as the horror genre, as this gained much inspiration in representing the woods as our main set build. We wanted to create a sense of isolation for this character, highlighting the importance of abandonment, completely alone without her sheep. We wanted the illusion of overhanging trees, to give the impression of boxing the character, being claustrophobic not able to escape, the only life would be the dead flowers, moss and mushrooms growing up the tress.

In all of these examples, the woods have been used to signify somewhere isolated from society, somewhere eerie and dangerous. This is signified through tall trees, low lying fog and dark lit lighting. As a group we were really interested in creating this atmosphere in our own shoot, creating the idea of the psychological and the struggle this character faces between society and the role within herself; perhaps the struggle between a child and a woman.

This led us on to look at the societies representation of female characters in literature and how they portray the protocol of society and the behaviour in which all characters are represented as? This idea came from looking at the illustrations of Bo Peep and in some ways the idealised imagery of her.

Members of the group looked at :

> Looked at the novels Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Wuthering Heights, Emma and Pride and Prejudice. In all of these cases these women have been shunned from society either because of class or events. They all want to be something inferior to their standing already yet this is the very thing that holds them back. > This idea of a split personality, the character in the shoot is split in the woods. She can't go back yet she is not fully accepted in the now to be able move forward. > This can be said for the representation of Bo Peep, she is idealised for being young and innocent by society yet this is a false ideal.

Initial ideas for set design

In our discussion, we talked about how, in the films the wooded scenes are recognised by the trees either bent in awkward designs creating interesting shapes, OR they were used in straight lines to create perspectives to the horizon. Something to think about when asking theatre design to make these props.

Apart from the fog, sets usually have snow, moss, leaves etc to give another layer of texture to the design. Plants and flowers give a sense of death and create a sense of a place that is forgotten and mysterious.

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