Vision reflection

Research and development phase

When I first read Tristan and Iseult I was really confused because some of it was in another language
and it didn’t have an obvious storyline so I read back the script and watched summary in my own
time. I then found a stage direction which stated that the boat was going to be built around Tristan
and Iseult on stage. I really liked this idea and thought I could use it in my own production. As a
group we then all collectively decided that we wanted to start our production with the boat being
built around the main characters and the ensemble shouting orders at the audience. This could
include barrels, crates etc. being brought onto the stage. This then included audience participation
and would be visually interesting to watch. The scene we chose for our pitch was scene 6. This scene
is when Tristan and Iseult accidently take the love potion on the voyage back to Cornwall. We chose
this scene because it gave us a lot of creative freedom and wasn’t restrictive. This meant we could
design our set, costume, lighting and sound how we wanted. Through scene 6 we wanted to show
the romance of Tristan and Iseult and the passion they hold when they are together. We also wanted
to show that although a person may be forced to marry another the love they have for someone else
will always be deeper.

When we established that we were setting it on a 1600s boat I knew immediately that I wanted to
have Sailor like costumes for most of the characters. I chose this because in the script it states that
Tristan is a sailor so I thought it would be quite significant if I highlighted that in the costumes. For
the general ensemble I chose to dress them as very low class crew members who are just there to do
their job. They then don’t take away the focus of the main characters but can also help with audience
interaction and make the show more immersive. For Iseult I decided to dress her in a plain white
nightdress because this was very fitting for the time and it highlights her purity which is something
they really treasured. For Branigan I decided to dress her in a black long sleeve maids dress with a
white bonnet and apron. The black dress and the white apron is contrasting due to the choices she
makes later on in the play. This highlights how she’s not pure on the inside but tries to show it on the
outside. When designing the costumes I didn’t find anything that surprised me. A problem that I
encountered is not knowing the fashion of the time period. Therefore3 I didn’t know what the
clothing items were called and struggled to find the right pictures for what I was trying to say. I
overcame this problem by asking the other people in my group to see if they knew the names of the
clothing or the type of thing I should be searching for. Luckily they did and it was then a lot easier to
create the moods boards that I wanted. I learned that I should of probably done some extra research
in advance but I also gained more knowledge about the 1600s that I could possibly use in future
projects. In my opinion I think I succeeded at conveying and explaining my ideas to the audience and
panel when explaining my costumes. My areas of development would be being more prepared for
the presentation as I didn’t leave myself enough time and therefore I don’t think I presented as =well
as I could of done.

Presentation

From my point of view I believe that thew Panel had some sort of understanding of our pitch even
though some moments may have been unclear. However I feel like as a group we explained those
moments more when questions were asked at the end. During our presentation the Panel seemed
deeply interested in our take on the play and we delivered it reasonably well. Although it was clear I
was nervous I managed to pull through and deliver the costume in the way I wanted to even though I
missed out a few things. Luckily 2 of these thing were important and the rest were minor details. As a
group we wanted to create a realistic image of what it would be like it experience this scene which I
think we could of presented better. I felt like we were all stressed and the stress increased as we got
closer to our time slot. Because of this we definitely missed out some key areas that should have
been mentioned. When I was speaking I felt that my diction wasn’t clear and I was mumbling quite a
lot due to nerves. This is a lesson learnt for future presentations to speak clearly and louder.
However, having a PowerPoint behind us with prompts really helped when explaining our idea
because if I wasn’t sure how to describe something I could easily point to the image and the panel
would understand what I meant. This also meant that I didn’t need to use flashcards which stopped
me from fidgeting and helped the panel create the image in their head. I believe that my costume
collages was a successful addition to the PowerPoint because its more visually engaging and also
provided some sort of colour pallet as well. One thing that didn’t go to plan is that we had a member
freak out and miss most of their section. However as a team I feel that we picked it up quite quickly
and bounced off of each other, explaining loads of different ideas to fix the problem. In the future we
now know to at least know a few things about each person’s choices for their designs so if this
happened again we have more detail to go into. If I’m being completely honest I didn’t know any
intentions of this persons designs so I had to make something up on the spot and luckily it fitted with
the piece. As a group we definitely should of prepared as if we were it could have been covered a lot
more smoothly.

Peer evaluation

The first group that really caught my eye was ceces group. This group did the same scene as my
group. I really liked how they made two model boxes – one for a west end stage and one for burdalls
yard. On the west end stage they made an extended stage which was an inward v. this made the set
look more like a pirate ship which I found interesting. The first thing that captured my eye was the
steering wheel that could be lifted up to the ceiling and turned into a chandelier with lights on the
wheel spikes. I thought that this a successful way of multi using a pop and a good design idea. In my
opinion this group had a clear vision of their production which was engaging and interesting. If I was
directing and designing this show I would definitely use their ideas. Personally I think the
communication was good but could have been better. For example when one of the group members
was explaining a piece of set their wasn’t clear justifications for each choice. I also found that a
certain group member did most of the talking which eventually dragged and become somewhat
boring. Going forward I would love to know why this members made those choices and why they are
relevant to this play. I would also like the talking to be evenly spread out so each member gets to say
their thoughts. For overall improvements I would time yourself so one person doesn’t speak for too
long and explain your ideas in greater detail. The second group that I found interesting was mias
group. This group also did the same scene was mine. For this group I really liked how one of the
members made a spotlight with different coloured lights that you could swap out. This was made out
of cardboard and coloured sheets and was projected onto the wall. I found this really interesting
because there was a clear and visual image which helped me imagine the bigger picture. I also
thought their model box was successful because it was very detailed and included may features like
textures and colours. I think that this was very useful in their presentation because when they were
talking about the bumpy floor I could easily gauge what it would be like to walk on said floor. I also
think that the communication was clear and concise. This group spoke didn’t speak for as long but
the points that were made were relevant to their presentation. For overall improvements I think that
there wasn’t much that they could of done to make it better. The only thing I could think of is going
into more detail in the costumes as I think that it was a bit brief.
Progression

Throughout the process I enjoyed making the mood boards for the costume and seeing the set come
together. Within my group I thought the model box was really cool to watch being made especially
when we were brain storming ideas and improving it further. It was really fun working together and
making something that we are proud of. I really enjoyed the making the model boxes so I would like
to do more of them in the future hopefully. It was also interesting to see how accurate we could
make the model boxes to look like the actual space and from that we could see what we could do
with that space. The key areas I need to improve on is being a little bit more prepared because I had
some justification but not loads that I could talk about. However I did miss out some points because I
got a bit stressed so if I was more relaxed I probably would of mentioned them during the
presentation. To ensure my progress in these areas of development I could do some research before
hand about the time period. I would therefore have a greater understanding about clothing choices
and could then justify my own choices further