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Drama 16th century Drama 17th century Motion pictures Appreciation Motion pictures Production and direction Vocational guidance United States Popular culture History and criticism Shakespeare, William 1564-1616 Drama Theater History 16th century Theater History 17th century Theater Production and direction Theaters Stage-setting and scenerySummary: In this program, Channel 4 commissioning editor John Richmond, producer Rachel Gesua, director Tim Supple, screenwriter Andrew Bannerman, and members of the cast and crew talk about the business of making a modest TV adaptation of Twelfth Night. Step by step, they walk viewers through scripting; budgeting for talent, crew, cameras, sound, sets, blue screen, lighting, and costuming; casting...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: When Tim Supple directed the filming of Twelfth Night, he was a stickler for sticking to the words as the Bard penned them. Everything else, though, was up for grabs as he and screenwriter Andrew Bannerman shifted and intercut scenes and in general translated the play into the all-encompassing language of film. In this program, members of the cast and crew use snippets of the screenplay to...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: The theater familiar to most modern viewers had a lowly medieval birth-in churches, on festival platforms, and in the great halls of the European nobility. Hosted by Professor Richard Beacham of King's College London, this program weaves together elaborate visual tours and the latest scholarly research, surveying the evolution of Elizabethan and Renaissance stage formations and the conventions...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Although most actors dream of celebrity, many find satisfaction in modest film and television roles, commercials, and regional theater. This program shows students that side of the profession, interviewing several accomplished performers who—although they are far from being household names—have found steady work on the stage and in Hollywood. Kevin Conway (Invincible, Gettysburg), Melissa Leo...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program covers the purpose, design, and uses of the ekkyklema for showing the victims and perpetrators of off-stage violence; the deus ex machina, a crane mechanism to suspend gods above the stage; Charonian steps, for ghosts from the underworld; and other means of entrance and exit. It also explains the reasons for New Comedy, its audience, and its physical requirements.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: A tale of deception, misplaced love, and supernatural vengeance, Giselle reaches into the heart of European folklore and the ancient connections between dance and spirituality. This exquisite production by the Royal Ballet features the original choreography of Marius Petipa - perhaps the most influential ballet master and choreographer in the history of Western performance, whose Giselle...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: This program looks at educational theater through the theater program at Hamden (CT) High School, interspersing production segments in rehearsal and performance with teacher, student, and audience interviews. Recommended by the NEA, the program demonstrates the value of educational theater and how this value can be maximized.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: An intimate look inside a living time capsule, this program explores the planning and reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, presenting a day in the working life of the unique artistic institution. The video guides viewers through the facility, painstakingly designed and built to resemble the original Elizabethan playhouse, and offers commentary from the actors, artisans, and educators...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Over the course of a single year at the RSC, 150 actors play 500 different roles, each requiring authentic period costuming and makeup. In this remarkable program, master costumers and makeup artists demonstrate their crafts as expressed in productions of The Tempest, Measure for Measure, and Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy. How does cleverly designed clothing help make Pompey more arrogant...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: It can take more than 100 specialists working 8,000 hours to create the set for a single stage production. How is it done? In this extraordinary program, the dynamic process of set design for RSC productions of Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, and Measure for Measure is described by the people who make it all happen. From creating a full-size tree for Benedick to climb that can be removed...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Viewed by many as the preeminent dramatist of our time, Nobel laureate Harold Pinter was also an accomplished actor, steeped in the relationship between text and performance. In this program, produced two years prior to his death, he advises a group of actors as they conduct staged readings of scenes from his plays. In addition, Pinter grants a candid and detailed interview, accompanied by his...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Staging a successful play takes time, energy, and wisely used resources-whether the production is on Broadway or at a high school. This program shows how to select an appropriate script for a student theater group and produce the play in an organized, efficient manner. Viewers receive information on casting, planning and conducting rehearsals, and how to utilize the strengths and limitations of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Once regarded as a "lost" opera because of early censorship and controversy, Stiffelio has now established its rightful place in the Verdi canon. In this cherished recording from the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, José Carreras delivers a stirring performance as the Protestant minister whose faith is shattered when he discovers his wife's adulterous liaison with a family friend. Carreras...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1993
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Summary: Tragedy upholds traditional values and comedy attacks them-which explain much of the change from Aristophanes to Plautus, from Old Comedy to New, reflecting as it does the change from Athenian democracy to Roman totalitarianism. Wary of creating permanent spaces that might be used for mass meetings, the Romans constructed temporary wooden structures to house their theatrical productions. Since...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: From the Greeks to the present, this program explores the evolution of play structure, staging techniques, and acting styles. Viewers learn about the following innovations, movements, and artistic figures: the open air amphitheater and its central role in the work of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides; the use of the chorus and masks; the role of theater in ancient Roman society; morality and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: When a play is performed, all eyes are on the actors-which means the costume department can make or break a production. This program introduces skills and responsibilities essential to theatrical costume design, technology, and management. After outlining the history of stage costuming, the video shows how an actor's attire reveals his or her character, how a designer researches and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: The "magic" of theater is the result of rigorous planning, hard work, and the finely honed skills of artisans and designers. This program takes viewers inside the technical process of mounting a stage play. Focusing on a theater company's major production departments-set, prop, costume, makeup, lighting, and sound-the video shows how the knowledge and labor of theater technicians comes to life....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: The story of Joe Chaikin's professional life is also the story of experimental theater in America. In this intimate program, footage of Chaikin in action as well as interviews with playwrights Edward Albee, Sam Shepard, Jean-Claude van Itallie, and John Belluso; writer Susan Sontag; and many others reveal Chaiken's devotion to the stage-a love that even severe aphasia, the result of a stroke,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: The Negro Ensemble Company was founded in 1967 by actor/playwright Douglas Turner Ward, actor Robert Hooks, and theater manager Gerald Krone, with the stated goal of creating "a Theater of Excellence concentrating primarily on themes of black life. By producing consistently imaginative and challenging plays, the NEC has nurtured some of the finest theatrical talent in America and has created an...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program studies the art that underlies the craft of filmmaking-a painstaking process that culminates in the take, that shared moment of concentration when everything comes together. Twelfth Night director Tim Supple and his first assistant director, production designer, director of photography, costume designer, stunt coordinator, and others offer their insights into set design, the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Computers are changing everything, including filmmaking. This program illustrates the digital postproduction process through numerous editing examples taken from Twelfth Night. Key crew members-a film editor, sound designer, sound recording engineer, digital effects artist, and others-share their expertise with setting the film's pace and rhythm, constructing sequences with different types of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Geared specifically to educators and produced by a working drama teacher, this program offers practical, hands-on guidance for creating an original high school musical. Viewers learn six essential components and ten key steps to writing and staging a production that entertains, engages, and boosts ticket sales! Designed for step-by-step viewing, the video is divided into two main...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Born in Osaka some 300 years ago, Japanese puppet theater-Bunraku-is a stunning yet refined spectacle. This program presents the story of Bunraku through two of its greatest masters, puppeteer Tamao Yoshida and chanter Sumitayu Takemoto. Brought together for the last performance of the 20th century, these two "Living National Treasures" transform ancient tales of old Japan into vibrant human...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Journeying back to the dawn of Italian theater, this program unmasks the intriguing and often underappreciated tradition known as commedia dell' arte. Viewers will discover the history of Italian masked theater, the origins of commedia dell' arte and its various iterations, and the nature of its performers' improvised style. The program explains how the tradition's inspired...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007