In order to give the actors an insight into the energy, commitment and characterization needed in particular scenes i decided to show them clips from the film Kidulthood. This film shows much resemblance to our script, with similar themes and scenes throughout. I thought showing the cast examples would help them really understand the needed relationships and tension which needed to be built in various scenes.

I picked this scene to help the character of Emile and Dwayne:

Although not all of this scene is relevant, i felt that the points which could be taken from this scene were the following:
– The volume of the actors in the scene, they really are able to project their voices in order to give off tension and almost compete with each other. At some points the volume dropped in order to add tension between the characters when they are in close proximity which i thought could work well on stage.
– The attitude of the characters are something which is worth noting in this scene, also the relationship between the characters could be used in all scenes through 130,000. In particular the relationship between the couple in this scene could be used to help the relationship between Emile and Shanice. You can see in this scene, as in our play, that the characters care very much about their appearance and how they look in the eyes of one another (gang culture). This is a very significant theme in our play and something which should be noted.
– When the character pulls out a knife on ‘Sam’ in this scene you can feel the tension between the two characters, the way the character holds the knife out from his body with a straight arm shows that he has the power in this scene, whereas the character ‘Sam’ stands up right, clearly nervous to see the knife. I really like this imagery between the two characters.

Another scene i thought would be helpful was any scene which had clear representations of teenagers and gang culture which i thought would help with the dynamics of scenes where many characters are on stage. Many scenes in Kidulthood demonstrate tension which can arise at any point between the gang members.

 

Channel 4 – Fallout

Channel 4 have made a version of the film fallout which our play is based on, this was very helpful to show the cast characterization and group dynamics. Although, i did not want to show the cast too much of the play as our style of theatre would present the play in a very different way. There were some scenes, however, which i felt could be useful to show.

 

Works Cited :

Eaton, George 2013. Kidulthood – Ending Scene [Video online] Avalible at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EqUY65nOIQ [Accessed 13/05/2013]