Things have been stirring lately that haven't been documented as our diligent and devoted blogger, Jana Stambaugh, has been off gallivanting through the UK. I think it's OK to admit that we're all a little jealous of her for it but she is also sorely missed. That said, our newly produced and soon to be released Promotional Trailer for 'The Tempest' deserves some blog attention so I'm stepping up to the plate.
Following our June 2nd performance at the Players Theatre we have been meeting with a potential booking agent which is very exciting. In our first meeting, along with a series of other suggestions, she recommended that we film a promotional trailer of our show as soon as we could get our hands on a camera. The obvious reason being for those who haven't seen our show to get an accurate sense of who we are, what we do and what is unique about our version of this sacred text. We attempted to film our June 2nd performances and even with two cameras and two shows we failed to capture what we had set out to. Luckily, a close friend and the creative director of R/GA, Can Misirlioglu, saw our show, witnessed the epic fail with the footage and offered to film our promotional trailer at the R/GA studios for us. R/GA is a well known advertising agency and to be able to shoot there is an enormous honor. We had no choice but to say, "Yes."
Then the reality of creating a film and all the steps involved in producing a film sunk in. The date of the shoot needed to be confirmed; the space needed to be rented out; the time frame needed to be solidified. All six actresses, the director of photography and the editor needed to know the schedule far in advance so as to clear each of their chaotic schedules. Then came the realization that we didn't have an editor, that one of those actually needed to be found in order for the footage to be assembled in some coherent fashion. Cem Misirlioglu, who composed and performed all of the music for The Tempest Teaser, suggested a friend of his from Parsons, Tomas Pichardo. Within one e-mail exchange and one glance at his website http://tomatico.net/ it was very clear that he was perfect for the job.
The next step was to create the storyboard to give to the creative director and the editor. We had an eight hour time limit in the space and it was inconceivable to film the entire show. For the purposes of this film specifically we needed to focus on capturing the elements that a) tell the story but b) more importantly, set our show apart. We needed to portray the qualities that would "sell" us to those in the market to "buy" Shakespeare. The process was surprisingly challenging. We went through the entire show, moment by moment, and discovered that there are quite a number of moments that are rare and special to our show. (That was an exciting discovery!) But we also didn't want to give away all the secrets at once. Therefore, we began with the main characters and plot points then quickly transitioned into examining the common thread between our physical phrases. We realized a significant portion of our movement has a whirlwind, circular, swirling quality to it and thus the storyboard was constructed using this imagery and pattern. The music was inspired from these themes as well.
Storyboard done, all we could do was wait for the day. On July 31st, we arrived thirty minutes earlier than 10:00 to get coffee (with a fly drowned in it,) and put our costumes and man-faces on. After the stage set-up came the lighting and mic set-up; all seamlessly done by Can, Tomas and Cem who were all there for the entire duration of the shoot. After that came the sound check. A few sound level trials later we were finally ready to begin. We began with the storm. We filmed it once through without stopping and it was shaky. We were off center in the frame, some of us hit our heads on metal things that weren't generally on the stage with us, the thunder sound completely drowned out the text and as it had been a month and a half since any of us acted through the storm- we were out of breath immediately. Four takes later, one immediately after the other, I personally was beat and my voice was coarse. BUT! It was exhilarating! Everyone working on the project was so focused and committed that we were able to film everything we had set out to film in exactly the amount of time we were allotted. Can informed us at the end of the day that others rarely succeed in finishing everything on time.
Next came the technical stuff. We converted all of the files onto the desktop, saved them onto external hard drives and began the editing process. Tomas and I sat together on this first day and walked through the storyboards for both the teaser and the trailer. We had decided at the beginning to create a teaser version from the footage to release prior to the full length trailer. We wanted to build up every one's anticipation and hunger for the full deal. The teaser took only a day to complete with only a few slight adjustments to the first draft. It looks fantastic and is currently streaming at: http://vimeo.com/27402258. The trailer took an additional five days to complete. Our wonderful, patient and talented editor Tomas worked harder than I could have ever dreamed, lost lots of sleep and created something to be truly proud of. The trailer is also finished and will be out live tomorrow evening, 8/18/2011!
Meanwhile, we were constantly sending footage and e-mails back and forth to our composer who was working during the entire editing process. Cem came up with a few samples and themes with the material he had to work with and then once he had the final versions, was able to record the official tracks. The music is hauntingly mesmerizing. He managed to create music that is simultaneously harmonious with the action but also eerily contradictory to it. The final product heightened the videos to a truly remarkable level.
Last but not least, the final edits and final tracks for both the teaser and the trailer were sent back to Can for color-correction. We choose a treatment that kept all the colors but made them more vibrant and yet have more contrast. The end product is sensational and exactly what we had envisioned.
Most recently, the booking agent has seen the teaser and the trailer and is thoroughly impressed. Our intention and goal now is to use this work to enable us to book shows both nationally and internationally. Our next international goal is to bring 'The Tempest' to Istanbul, Turkey for the 2012 IKSV theater festival. We are working very hard on this and will keep you posted as it develops!
On a parting note, We felt this was a journey and a process that should be shared with all of you. The Tempest Ladies couldn't be more fortunate to have such a talented group of friends nor can they be more fortunate to have such wonderful supporters and followers as you all. We are blessed and eternally indebted to all of you.
So much love,
The Tempest Ladies
Following our June 2nd performance at the Players Theatre we have been meeting with a potential booking agent which is very exciting. In our first meeting, along with a series of other suggestions, she recommended that we film a promotional trailer of our show as soon as we could get our hands on a camera. The obvious reason being for those who haven't seen our show to get an accurate sense of who we are, what we do and what is unique about our version of this sacred text. We attempted to film our June 2nd performances and even with two cameras and two shows we failed to capture what we had set out to. Luckily, a close friend and the creative director of R/GA, Can Misirlioglu, saw our show, witnessed the epic fail with the footage and offered to film our promotional trailer at the R/GA studios for us. R/GA is a well known advertising agency and to be able to shoot there is an enormous honor. We had no choice but to say, "Yes."
Then the reality of creating a film and all the steps involved in producing a film sunk in. The date of the shoot needed to be confirmed; the space needed to be rented out; the time frame needed to be solidified. All six actresses, the director of photography and the editor needed to know the schedule far in advance so as to clear each of their chaotic schedules. Then came the realization that we didn't have an editor, that one of those actually needed to be found in order for the footage to be assembled in some coherent fashion. Cem Misirlioglu, who composed and performed all of the music for The Tempest Teaser, suggested a friend of his from Parsons, Tomas Pichardo. Within one e-mail exchange and one glance at his website http://tomatico.net/ it was very clear that he was perfect for the job.
The next step was to create the storyboard to give to the creative director and the editor. We had an eight hour time limit in the space and it was inconceivable to film the entire show. For the purposes of this film specifically we needed to focus on capturing the elements that a) tell the story but b) more importantly, set our show apart. We needed to portray the qualities that would "sell" us to those in the market to "buy" Shakespeare. The process was surprisingly challenging. We went through the entire show, moment by moment, and discovered that there are quite a number of moments that are rare and special to our show. (That was an exciting discovery!) But we also didn't want to give away all the secrets at once. Therefore, we began with the main characters and plot points then quickly transitioned into examining the common thread between our physical phrases. We realized a significant portion of our movement has a whirlwind, circular, swirling quality to it and thus the storyboard was constructed using this imagery and pattern. The music was inspired from these themes as well.
Storyboard done, all we could do was wait for the day. On July 31st, we arrived thirty minutes earlier than 10:00 to get coffee (with a fly drowned in it,) and put our costumes and man-faces on. After the stage set-up came the lighting and mic set-up; all seamlessly done by Can, Tomas and Cem who were all there for the entire duration of the shoot. After that came the sound check. A few sound level trials later we were finally ready to begin. We began with the storm. We filmed it once through without stopping and it was shaky. We were off center in the frame, some of us hit our heads on metal things that weren't generally on the stage with us, the thunder sound completely drowned out the text and as it had been a month and a half since any of us acted through the storm- we were out of breath immediately. Four takes later, one immediately after the other, I personally was beat and my voice was coarse. BUT! It was exhilarating! Everyone working on the project was so focused and committed that we were able to film everything we had set out to film in exactly the amount of time we were allotted. Can informed us at the end of the day that others rarely succeed in finishing everything on time.
Next came the technical stuff. We converted all of the files onto the desktop, saved them onto external hard drives and began the editing process. Tomas and I sat together on this first day and walked through the storyboards for both the teaser and the trailer. We had decided at the beginning to create a teaser version from the footage to release prior to the full length trailer. We wanted to build up every one's anticipation and hunger for the full deal. The teaser took only a day to complete with only a few slight adjustments to the first draft. It looks fantastic and is currently streaming at: http://vimeo.com/27402258. The trailer took an additional five days to complete. Our wonderful, patient and talented editor Tomas worked harder than I could have ever dreamed, lost lots of sleep and created something to be truly proud of. The trailer is also finished and will be out live tomorrow evening, 8/18/2011!
Meanwhile, we were constantly sending footage and e-mails back and forth to our composer who was working during the entire editing process. Cem came up with a few samples and themes with the material he had to work with and then once he had the final versions, was able to record the official tracks. The music is hauntingly mesmerizing. He managed to create music that is simultaneously harmonious with the action but also eerily contradictory to it. The final product heightened the videos to a truly remarkable level.
Last but not least, the final edits and final tracks for both the teaser and the trailer were sent back to Can for color-correction. We choose a treatment that kept all the colors but made them more vibrant and yet have more contrast. The end product is sensational and exactly what we had envisioned.
Most recently, the booking agent has seen the teaser and the trailer and is thoroughly impressed. Our intention and goal now is to use this work to enable us to book shows both nationally and internationally. Our next international goal is to bring 'The Tempest' to Istanbul, Turkey for the 2012 IKSV theater festival. We are working very hard on this and will keep you posted as it develops!
On a parting note, We felt this was a journey and a process that should be shared with all of you. The Tempest Ladies couldn't be more fortunate to have such a talented group of friends nor can they be more fortunate to have such wonderful supporters and followers as you all. We are blessed and eternally indebted to all of you.
So much love,
The Tempest Ladies
