Today we were introduced to the play Dracula, which will be our piece for our next performance. We watched the 1931 film interpretation directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi as the title character. This version was one of the first original film interpretations of the stage play written in 1924 by Hamilton Dean and John Baldeston, which in turn was based on the novel of the same name, written by Bram Stoker in the 1890's. We were told to look for certain features, including:
- What's their take on the style/look?
- What's the style of acting?
We were also told to think about how we could use this in our own interpretation of another stage play of Dracula, written by Liz Lochhead.
What's their take on the style/look?
The costumes in the film hinted to a setting in the 1920's/30's, which would have been current day at the time the film was made, as opposed to the original book setting of around 1893, and all of the characters were dressed in blacks and whites - or at least largely contrasting colours from what we could make out of the grainy black and white picture. All of the ladies were in pure, lovely white dresses which led to an idea of mine to have colours represent people's character through black and white, then Sophie raised the idea of having "Marked" people splashed with something red, like a scarf or something.
The lighting in the film was also really cool, it often shadowed all of the actor's face except from their eyes which the group was really inspired by. Ideas were tossed around such as using face paint to do the same thing, also using really washed out lighting with little colour. Max picked up on the sound, noting on how there was constant noise due to the age of the film, and he was inspired by this to have possibly have constant noise in our piece with it cutting out when something bad is about to happen, since silence is often far more "creepy" when it's contrasted with noise.
Another thing that I thought was really effective was the use of silhouettes, things like lighting, smoke machines and dark clothing meant that seeing the shadow and silhouette of a sinister character gave a really creepy look. I love the idea of playing around with shadows and silhouettes since they're such an iconic part of the old style of horror film.
I noticed that the more evil/sinister characters had these huge facial expressions. Of course it may just be dated acting but I definitely noticed it more in Dracula and Renfield than in Harker or Van Helsing or Mina. I think that it made them seem more unnatural and weird, unknown and therefor dangerous and creepy. It was really cool to see the contrast between these really absurd, abnormal characters and expressions when placed in contrast with relatively natural/realistic characters.
The group also had an idea to help draw the audience in and make them feel genuinely creeped out which was to make use of Front Of House and have them be part of the world. They could either village folk, warning the audience not to enter the theatre and blessing them or have them actually act like members of Dracula's house, properly creeped out in full character and making the audience feel really uncomfortable as they entered. I think that makes it so much more real and scary and I love the idea of theatre not just being someone sitting down and watching a play then going for a cuppa in the college cafe, but actually transporting them to a world where they really experience the happenings and feeling part of it.
The novel Dracula is set in Transylvania, so my first task was to find out where the country actually is. "Sylvania" is derived from Latin "To do with forests" , and the area is situated in the mountainous, wooded area of central Romania. This is probably the extent of Stoker's knowledge of the country, as what would be a few hours plane journey today was several weeks journey for him. The world was far bigger and geographical accuracy was not high on Stoker's list of priorities. However, he got much of the description of the land fairly accurate.
The novel Dracula was written in 1897 and had a British audience, the same audience that would have read Sherlock Holmes, Dickens etc. Now at the time the levels of literally were at their highest, although today we would consider them appalling. This was largely in the middle to upper classes however, the lower classes were still working away in the factories, so Stoker's audience would have been these readers. The true upper classes would have been reading the classics such as Homer and the like, and Stoker was simply writing to entertain and make a living. His real audience would have been the middle classes, much like the one in J. B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls; financially secure but with no heritage or true wealth, social climbers.
The lighting in the film was also really cool, it often shadowed all of the actor's face except from their eyes which the group was really inspired by. Ideas were tossed around such as using face paint to do the same thing, also using really washed out lighting with little colour. Max picked up on the sound, noting on how there was constant noise due to the age of the film, and he was inspired by this to have possibly have constant noise in our piece with it cutting out when something bad is about to happen, since silence is often far more "creepy" when it's contrasted with noise.
Style of acting
One thing that I really picked up on was hands. Whenever a vampire was about to creep out of a coffin, these deathly pale and sinister hands would always appear first and I personally found it absolutely terrifying. I thought that so much more could be made of that idea, for example at the beginning of the piece we could just have hands appearing first as everyone comes on stage. Perhaps people emerging from underneath the trapdoor next to the stage, having hands wriggling about and twisting and crawling, with people following, I thought it had such a chilling effect and gave me so many inspirations!
Another thing that I thought was really effective was the use of silhouettes, things like lighting, smoke machines and dark clothing meant that seeing the shadow and silhouette of a sinister character gave a really creepy look. I love the idea of playing around with shadows and silhouettes since they're such an iconic part of the old style of horror film.
I noticed that the more evil/sinister characters had these huge facial expressions. Of course it may just be dated acting but I definitely noticed it more in Dracula and Renfield than in Harker or Van Helsing or Mina. I think that it made them seem more unnatural and weird, unknown and therefor dangerous and creepy. It was really cool to see the contrast between these really absurd, abnormal characters and expressions when placed in contrast with relatively natural/realistic characters.
The group also had an idea to help draw the audience in and make them feel genuinely creeped out which was to make use of Front Of House and have them be part of the world. They could either village folk, warning the audience not to enter the theatre and blessing them or have them actually act like members of Dracula's house, properly creeped out in full character and making the audience feel really uncomfortable as they entered. I think that makes it so much more real and scary and I love the idea of theatre not just being someone sitting down and watching a play then going for a cuppa in the college cafe, but actually transporting them to a world where they really experience the happenings and feeling part of it.
Research on Dracula by Bram Stoker
The novel Dracula was written in 1897 and had a British audience, the same audience that would have read Sherlock Holmes, Dickens etc. Now at the time the levels of literally were at their highest, although today we would consider them appalling. This was largely in the middle to upper classes however, the lower classes were still working away in the factories, so Stoker's audience would have been these readers. The true upper classes would have been reading the classics such as Homer and the like, and Stoker was simply writing to entertain and make a living. His real audience would have been the middle classes, much like the one in J. B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls; financially secure but with no heritage or true wealth, social climbers.
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