Red Angel Chinese Opera

I initially planned for my piece to be showing in one of the white rooms of the studios. My mind was quickly changed when I found that the image came up very clear in one of the dark rooms. The projector and speakers were then set up in here for people to view. I originally wanted to display the masks along with the video, however I felt that I could not find an appropriate space for this, and the audience can capture the meaning and beauty in the film.
Editing the video was very quick as the interpretive actions were done in time to the speech. This allowed me to understand the use of getting it right first time during filming, rather than pieces many parts together.
I decided on the name Red Angel as these are some of the most common words in the opera. It is also because red defines bravery, loyalty, positivity and prosperity in a character. The angel part is because they are divine creatures, much like the female character within the story.
Overall, I was happy to research Chinese opera, and I have found it very interesting, and that I would consider other ‘non-Western’ routes for my artwork. However, I also felt as though I did not enjoy this as much as I did with the other films I have done, and also found it very awkward at all points of editing and producing.
Below is the final edit of Red Angel, which can also be found on YouTube.

When showing this to the studio group, many of them enjoyed the speech, especially as this was only myself doing both parts. There were also many comments about how it was clear which character was speaking, even though it was only one voice. Someone did find this too long, and I would agree with this and I feel as though 6 minutes would be long enough. To improve upon this, I have been given the idea of making, or finding more traditional costumes, finding other people to perform (as I didn’t like the project primarily because of this factor), and making it shorter. Another way to present it would be to have it on a larger screen, like in the cinema, while having it on the loop with seats all around, allowing people to come in and out. A last way to present this is having a live performance – having two or three people do live acting while I speak into a microphone.I found these ideas really constructive and hope to get others involved in this project, which would be very fun.

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