My Dracula Spectacular

The Monster is finished

It took me 3 weeks to put it together but It's finally finished. The subject as you might have guessed was Bram Stokers' Dracula. The process heading up to this particular closure was interesting one which I will now guide you through. Though of course like any story I must start from the beginning...

5 weeks ago...

This is where the idea was first conceived, upon noticing a modern take on the novel set in the present day and the many inaccuracies and unforgivable artistic licence the creators took with Bram Stokers'

The unfortunate inspiration for my comic feature, upon seeing the film and the many liberties it took with both the original story and the vampiric legend it claimed to represent I realised a statement had to be made about the hideous lack of originality, creativity, or even basic respect to the original novelist. 

classic story. 

Upon seeing this atrocious film my observation of artistic licence with the vampire legend began to snowball, I began to notice it everywhere from Sesame Street, to Twilight and Mel Brooks (though the last one I'm a very big fan). What I noticed was in effect a consequence of the present day and its ridiculous need to contemporise everything. I realised that my opinion on the matter would be useless unless I could turn it into something tangible. So I set upon channeling every one of my opinions on the matter into the script that would become Bram Man's Dra Cool. 

4 weeks ago...

Well on track to creating what I think could be my comic masterpiece I continued to hone my comic material. During this period I was researching many different sources of vampiric legend.

The Original Novel

I read through the original novel noting down key plot elements and characters to ascertain the key elements of the story and any dramatic conventions that I could parody.

The Dracula Films 

This really goes without saying, it would be criminal to make a Dracula parody and not take reference from the dozens of excellent Dracula films not only for their reputation but for their iconic portrayal of the character. I watched every cinematic portrayal of the Count to date from Nosferatu (1922) to the Hugh Jackman financial disaster Van Helsing (2004). Through each of them I did as I had done with the novel and I noted every possible source of humour and character in order not to repeat modern interpretations and be absolutely certain that my portrayal would be an accurate and justifiable work that would not in any way slander the original.

The Dracula parodies

 When in Rome do as the Roman's do, I noted every source of parody and cross-referenced them to be certain that I wasn't missing a single comedic device or convention. Many of these parodies themselves I noted had very wide disparities in quality and faith to the novel, needless to say that very few of them conveyed Bram Stoker's gothic period drama or even retained the themes and names of the original novel. The most peculiar if most useless in terms of transferable narrative and comic devices was the Andy Warhol produced Blood for Dracula (1974). Allegedly a black comedy the film was obscene and took many artistic licenses with Bram Stoker's vision, to the point that the film was technically useless to my cause and was quickly abandoned from reference.

In most cases the parodies' lacking was of greater advantage than the parodies' substance as I quickly realised the lacking areas had the greatest potential for comic effect and substance. This would prove my most rewarding endeavour as it gave me a firm base on which to build my artistic vision and form a complete erudite and precise parody that would satisfy needs befitting a great work of literature.

Modern vampirism

I watched every available documentary on vampirism and the legend s surrounding Wallachian prince Vlad Dracul. Now that I had amassed a profound understanding of contemporary opinion on the character and the book I could leave no stone unturned in my search for the perfect parody. I began to research the contemporary vampiric culture (yes that includes twilight lord have mercy on me), I poured  over immaculate records of fan art from Vampiric tribute societies (yes they exist) and the character that the vampire has taken in modern society. I was both intrigued and disgusted by my findings as I found that the legend had grown beyond conventional practice to become a full blown alternative lifestyle and subculture. Where once we could readily recognise a vampire through bloodlust and weakness to sunlight we are now confused by an almost indistinguishable host of vampiric sub-groups. 

The only thing stopping me from burrowing further into this phenomena besides my immediate disgust and inability to comprehend was the fact such bizarre and unsettling information would not aid my parody but instead would change the tone and purpose completely. And so I moved away from contemporary treatment of the character toward the origins of the legend and its unprecedented persistence to the present day. 

Vampiric Folklore

A profound insight into Vampiric culture was exactly what I needed to be absolutely certain I was doing the legend and the monster justice. I gained a profound insight into the mythological practices that gave these creatures life and the real life figures who perpetuated the satanic practices expected of these monsters. 

I was especially intrigued by the satanic practices of Miss Elizabeth Bathory and the man whom the legend of Dracula is based upon Prince Vlad Dracul. 

We'll start with the vain lustful and above all else evil Hungarian queen Elizabeth Bathory and her diabolical practice of devouring young women. No she was not a cannibal it was much more barbaric and evil than that. Elizabeth Bathory was convinced that the natural process of ageing and atrophy could be negated by drinking and bathing in the blood of young virgins. This was a practice that she extended to her chambermaids, all 600 of them! Each one she brought to her chamber she tortured and humiliated before murdering them and bathing in their blood. Due to her station she could not be penalised by the law, she was placed under house arrest before her accomplices were brought to trial. With newfound confidence witnesses poured in to testify against her (sometimes 35 at a time). Bathory was never brought to trial (being of royal lineage) but was instead imprisoned for life. 

This was one of the most hideous stomach churning acts I have ever heard of, which paradoxically gave me subconscious motivation to ridicule such a hideous monstrosity and rob it of its power. I treated the deplorable yet mutually admirable legacy of Vlad the Impaler with this same willingness to tone down the evil. 

Vlad the Impaler was Bram Stoker's original source of inspiration for the Dracula character so it seemed only natural that I should research this mysterious medieval mastermind. He was a brilliant leader and military strategist who in present day Romania is reveered as a national hero. Yet his reputation as a sadistic and cruel warlord does not grant this opinion much grace or even justification. He won many great victories that kept the Ottoman Empire out of the kingdom of Wallachia, but in revenge for his years of captivity under them he left no prisoners, and those he did leave he watched impaled on wooden spikes as he ate his meals. 

The total number of his victims has been estimated in the region of 40-100,000 equal to over four centuries of European witch hunts. Before he met a grisly end in 1476 when he was assassinated. 

In summission the man was an unstoppable cold and calculating killing machine. I realised all of this very quickly and again I saw it as my unconditional duty to rob these evil myths of their power. 

My Interpretation

Once I had all of my quantifiable information it was time to convert it into a tangible product. I decided to create characters and situations that were the complete antithesis of the novel the differences of which I will mark in the following paragraphs: 

In the novel the characters are upper class members of the gentry in respectable professions (Jonathan Harker is the count's solicitor), the count is a Hungarian nobleman who buys an estate in England for the purpose of claiming new brides and expanding his estate. Renfield is a delusional psychopath who eats flies and collects various animals in even numbers so that they logically eliminate one another. Abraham Van Helsing is a Dutch Physician and a close colleague of Dr Seward and an expert on vampiric legend. And finally Dracula is a blood sucking agent of satan that is killed using only holy crosses and a stake to the heart. 

If I was to have any comedic Impact or resonance with my audience there was never any question that my interpretation would have to be a complete antithesis to the novel: 

I turned the upper class British characters into wiggers (white men who act as though they are black gangster rappers) and had them engaging in various unscrupulous activities. I turned the count from a Hungarian Nobleman to a Romanian night club owner. I completely defaced the vampiric legends of old that made the legend so powerful and turned the count into a "funkpire. 

Funkpire Funkology   

The mythology I created with this brainwave was one of a monster that was given eternal life through the draining of rhythm. In basic terms I will now guide you through the mythology of funkpireism. 

Vlad the Inhaler (the name I created for the funkpire Vlad Dracul) was a partygoer who smoked many a shisha and gave many a great party banquet for his victories over the Ottoman Empire, until one night of extreme Alcohol poisioning threatened to kill him. In his desperation he turned to a local witch doctor who perform the Super sexy funkpire Vraja which condemned him upon death to become a funkpire. 

The funkpire is a supernatural creature terrorising nightclub scenes across the globe, it feeds on the rhythm of partygoers to feed its insatiable lust for thoughtless debauchery and modern dance music. It can only be repelled with highculture, if you have the misfortune of facing one you must play every operatic recording you can find and ward it away with paintings from the renaissance and high-brow literature. 

There is only one way to kill a funkpire and that is to overwhelm his hard bass heart with high culture.

Armand Van Helsing

The iconic character of the vampire slaying physician was turned into Armand Van Helsing (parodying international house DJ Armand Van Helden) a DJ master of the macabre who specialises in funkpire funkology and deals in matters of international deck spinning. 

   

       
3 weeks ago...

Now it was time to record all of the voices and create my Dracula Spectacular. The first step on the road to comic perfection was to record the various voices and pieces for the show. This was a more time consuming process than I originally hoped it would be and would consume my entire week before I had every recording. 

2 week ago...  

Now began the monumental task of editing my Dracula spectacular. It was a haphazard process that seemed to take an age. The soundtracks and all other materials were uploads from various online websites and were instrumental in bringing my vision to life. It was a supreme exercise in creative vision, persistence and patience. But even with my firm work ethic and creative vision I was not capable of making my vision complete, the reason was very ironic and I was forced to leave it after the piece exceeded 40 minutes in length. 


  In Memoriam...
The final result was a parody that I think was written and edited extremely well. Yet I can't help but think that I could've made it funnier if I'd had just a little more time and I didn't cause the programme to exceed capacity.          

The Influence of Brian Tracy and Napoleon Hill upon my future plans

These two men I have mentioned in the title are highly successful businessmen and motivational speakers with philosophies on perseverance hard work and success that completely revitalised my drive for success over the half-term period.

Brian Tracy:

A man who failed to graduate from High School in the U.S. and went on to amass a net worth of over $20 million dollars through his chain of motivational seminars and his position as CEO of Brian Tracy International. His remarkable stories and philosophies on personal success have provided me with something that was severely lacking in my work up to this point "personal vision".

Napoleon Hill:

The first man to ever examine and write and about personal success in individuals, Napoleon Hill compiled his writings with the aid of 500 of the most successful entrepreneurs of the time including but not limited to Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, Alexander Graham Bell, and Thomas Edison. His inspirational first book Think and Grow Rich was a tantalising and highly inspirational read that alongside my Brian Tracy materials has given me fresh insight into how I can succeed and apply these techniques to my life.

Why am I telling you this?

There are many principles that I have adapted from these men that have considerably enhanced my quality of life and allowed me to focus on my career goals and objectives. But there are many factors within my control that I have yet to work to my advantage. One of these is our very own Foundation department. A tremendous hotbed of creative talent that I've noticed is not being utilised to its full potential. My own ambition is to create every type of actors' medium through my own efforts and to in effect become my own producer, but I can't do it alone.


This course has the potential to produce outstanding work and to give everyone on it a boundless horizon in which to discover personal ambition and to utilise the natural talents of everyone on board. But if this is to happen reforms will be needed. My goal is to achieve my ambitions and to lift the spirits quantity and quality of the people on this course and the work they produce from the philosophies I've learnt from these highly successful and respected men and I have every confidence I can do it If I stay true to my integrity and personal vision. This I believe is my first great challenge on the long road to personal success that will see me ascend and go on to live a happy and contented life living and doing the things that I love and cherish. I guarantee if allowed to institute reform and share these radical ideas with my colleagues in Media and throughout the whole of foundation it will improve every area of work and encourage boundless creativity, an unfledging strong work ethic, efficiency and productivity, self belief, personal ambition, mutual co-operation and networking, and who knows perhaps it will even improve the quality of all of our lives.  

Film a Month: January

The first in what will hopefully be a succession of monthly dramas has so far proved to be an unprecedented success. Our drama has so far reached production stage meaning that my role within the group has already contributed significantly. My feelings about the project were initially mixed as I did not understand what the purpose of the initial concept was and I questioned its source material. Though I persevered and concentrated my efforts on the narrative until it was developed into something that I felt extremely proud of.

My Role within the group: 

I was one of the groups' 3 script writers and oversaw all the narrative aspects of the film, It was refreshing to be able to work on a drama this time round as my previous screenplay vodka trees was a satirical comedy. My first task was to sit down with the scriptwriters and bring the characters and narrative meaning and life. My background in theatre served me very well here as I was readily able to invent dramatic situation and to create character in lines where there previously was none. The initial script though providing solid foundations for development did not initially seem to reflect character or situation. I and my narrative colleague miss Miranda Myles thusly set about going over the screenplay and hiding the "invention" that created story and character and giving the characters a life beyond the page so to speak.

The results of our efforts were startling, my partners' profound understanding of human nature and my own sensibilities created a proud piece of storytelling that I and the production team simply can't wait to see brought to life.

Current progress of the Drama:

As of today the drama is in the filming stage of production, I regularly receive updates surrounding progress and current initiatives and objectives, and when I say regular I mean REGULAR. The advent of facebook means that the group is in contact 24/7 at all hours of the day (on many occasions I've been on walks and had my playlist continually interrupted by progress). Over the weekend we had a test shoot of the drama at the location and the results were very promising indeed:



      This was the first of our test shoot photographs, as you can see aesthetic qualities of the film (though primitive and simple at this stage) have been given firm foundations for continued development.  The following shots bellow should give an impression of the shot composition and aesthetic qualities the production team would like to bring to the film. 

Having worked on the narrative of the film I feel it is my responsibility to oversee the creation of the story and to insure the integrity of the writers' vision is upheld. Overall I am very optimistic about this production and up to this point I am delighted to say that this project has thus far been an unprecedented success and has given me a firm blueprint for my proposed reforms to foundation. 

Kathleen Ferrier

The Bio:

The story is an interesting one, having been brought back to media I was forced to think on my feet and to create a new museum piece. I thought back to all the exhibits I had seen and I remembered the exhibit on the singer miss Kathleen Ferrier, upon revisiting the museum It soon became apparent that she was a very big fish in the music world as an internationally acclaimed contralto opera singer. As I continued my research into this woman I began to feel quite passionate about the work as I could feel myself making a connection to the story of the eponymous singer. I decided to create what I though would be a short audio biography. I approached this a television biography, I recorded commentary narrated by myself, I gathered several of Kathleen Ferrier's recordings and then compiled them into a suitable order or so I thought. 

What happened over the course of this period was an exercise in continuous creativity. All throughout the period of creating the documentary I was continuously reinventing my approach to the piece. the soundtracks involved in the process also altered considerably, originally the piece was going to consist of commentary interspersed with the music of Kathleen. Though as I intensified my research and realised that the song would take longer to produce than I originally expected it became apparent that more music was required. And so I intercut the commentary with several pieces of delicate piano music (as is the convention of oh so many biographical documentaries) and in the section of her death I included a particularly ominous and innovative soundtrack from the video game Devil May Cry.   

The resulting soundtrack was included with non-diegetic sound relevant to the moments that they occur in the film. 

The piece I make bold to say was a triumph. I was pleased with the overarching theme of it aswell as the many and varied aesthetic qualities it possessed, form overlapping dialogue to appropriate diegetic and non-diegetic sounds paced adeqautely to allow for easy and inquisitive listening.




            

Vodka Trees

The Concept

As you may have guessed the idea involves trees that produce alcohol, those this is only the tip of the iceberg in my idea. I intend the entire piece to be a comedic satire in the vein of Monty Python or Mitchell and Webb. The aim of the film is to poke fun at the criminal inefficiencies that communism creates and the direct contradiction of human nature it represents. Even in the supposedly ideal conditions that a small tightly knit community would present to such an ideology as you will soon see.

The Plot

The plot concerns a journalist travelling in central Siberia collecting research for a wildlife column before he's ambushed by a local woodsman, before long he befriends the young journalist before rendering him unconscious. By the time our journalist protagonist wakes up he is inside a community of rustic woodsman clinging to communism. 

Over the course of the next few hours he will come to realise the weird and wonderful world of a great controversial ideology typified by hammers and sickles, egalitarian meetings, criminally efficient bureaucracy and posters of leaders long since deceased. 

Communist symbolism

Communist imagery is an intrinsic part of the short and will be featured to emphasise the ideology of the characters as opposed to dialogue. The vast array of Soviet propaganda readily available will be strewn about trees and all around the camp.   

This is a prominent example of left-wing Soviet Propaganda emphasising the greatness of the "Leader". Posters like these will emphasise the brainwashed nature of the rustic individuals strewn throughout trees as a constant reminder to the loyal marxists of the cause they feel must be fought for.

Though posters are only one piece of the pie all objects that evoke communism will be featured to full effect on costumes and throughout the camp (for added comical effect I may be tempted to replace knives and forks with hammers and sickles). 

Medals such as these will be a staple of the Russian characters' costumes and dependant on quantity will be placed in a comical ridiculously large supply on the characters' chest similar to Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev's Legendary love of them below.  

Though my aim is not to mock the values that communism presents it is only to portray the aspects of it that to westerners seem ridiculous. A prominent part of the objectivism in the short will be devoted to the achievements of communism such as a photograph of the worker and the peasant girl. 

In highlighting the triumphs of the ideology I want to highlight the concept of it not as an ideology to be strived for but an ideal created out of human optimism and the will to create an egalitarian united and prosperous world. 

Satire of Communism

No doubt the aims of my short have become abundantly clear to you though I do not simply want to make a statement of communism being a cheap and ridiculous thing to look down on and ridicule. I want to maintain an impartial view on it and to promote a fresh and impartial view in the minds of my audience. 

This is the intention of my short film.   

Dolphinholme

The Trip

Dolphinholme if nothing else was intended as an exercise in concept creation and artistic inspiration. The concept that I and the colleagues I share my particular yurt with was one that evolved several times during the course of our day. Originally it was intended as a promo, then gradually it evolved into a mini adventure until it later became the resulting film. 

The standard procedures of production dominated the day as we storyboarded the piece and refined our ideas. The final piece though was a far cry from the initial idea of a simple guide to the Dolphinholme camp...      

Pathways: The results

Textiles

The various dye and paint techniques resulted in creation purely for the sake of creation with no artistic motives behind my "work". The simple excercises yielded "as is to be expected" standard results that were not striking in the slightest. I failed to take much away from the process and quite frankly couldn't find much inspiration in applying dyes and bleaches etc.

My first experience of print based art admittedly not the the best example of my work within the field but work nontheless. I found the concept of creating art through colour printing though quite artistic in nature was wasted on me as I could formulate no artitic uses for this no doubt multi-faceted technique.

A Myriad of thoughtless rubbish, the only way I can describe this monstrosity I effortlessly pieced together from the various paint sand and bleach techniques being taught in the classroom. Yet from this I could ascertain one simple lesson that you cannot be frivolous when creating meaning, you must create with only essential items otherwise it becomes plagued by shortcomings and unscertainties.

  

  

Fine Art

Although fascinated by the process of applying paint to images in order to give them new meaning I took no real inspiration from the process and found it to be quite challenging in regards to applying the paint and how to go about doing it. The repercussions of this work were "interesting" to say the least my final images are a myriad of created meaning and unmitigated disaster. Though these Images are unavailable to me at this moment in time I assure you, you are not missing out on much. The Images in question convey little meaning as a result of my own inability to artfully grasp the medium which I was made to understand.

Photography   

I spent much longer in this pathway than I originally intended to. After being persuaded by my tutor to spend time in this pathway whilst the new recruits learned the practical skills we who had progressed from the BTEC had already acquired during the course of our previous studies. I embraced the opportunity, as the prospect of acquiring skills in the superficial arts that I could then transfer to my chosen pathway seemed both an exciting and informed prospect and I immersed myself in this unfamiliary territory.

The various pieces of lighting equipment wide and varied, in them I saw the creative possibilities that the tutor was trying to get across. These particular images projected a concentrated light source due to their lightweight and  

The softbox light suited best to portrait photo's, the effects of the various lighting were explained and demonstrated to us in this fashion exemplifying both the various lights and various techniques that can be applied. A prime example of this is featured below:

The softbox lighting effect on a low setting and with little background, notice the soft shadow emanating from the subject, the effect accomplished by nothing more than faint lighting. 

This continued to be a staple of the next few weeks as our various photographic experiments in creating meaning with high abstract concepts. The exercise in question was one of museum pieces. We were to select an image from the local Museum and choose a piece to re-imagine as a concept. I chose a painting of the picturesque Lucarno Switzerland, though I was not entirely certain as to how I would go about it. Yet ever willing to persevere I chose objects that related to mountain scenery and picturesque greenery. Among the Images I took were leaves, a thermos and a rams' skull all photographed using the various lighting and colouring techniques in varying combinations. This was a staple of the next few weeks until I decided to transfer back to the pathway of my choice and rejoined the Media department. 

Media:

Len Lye's colour box, a scratch film highlighting the creative possibilities of the medium. This clip was more than anything else an illustration of the 

The pathway of my original choice was dealing in a very unconventional method of creating meaning in this particular roundabout. "Scratch film" was the key term of the day, what followed was a series of delightfully bizarre films highlighting the potential of this particular medium. Following this demonstration and introduction to the medium we created our own scratch films that are to be compiled together and turned into one continuous stream of colour and creativity. This exercise though simple in nature was one that I took great pleasure in creating as It was such a simplistic form of meaning creation that I could od it almost instantaneously. 

Brand new Museum Piece

Having left the photography department I set about creating a brand new museum piece from a new source, the previously highlighted Kathleen Ferrier exhibition. Seeing the possibility of both training my voice for drama school and creating a fine piece of work in the process I seized the opportunity with both hands and set about creating a mini biography. 

3D Imaging: 

Without doubt the most "hands on" of all the pathway activities this centred around the creation of sculptures from Steel and copper wire. Although initially taken aback by the practical construction nature of this pathway I soon immersed myself in the process. Again I created leaves based on the painting of Lucarno from the museum. The reason being that this particular exercise was intended as a continuation of the museum pieces we made in the pathways. My leaves were basic to say the least though I did learn during the process that this medium again can be used to create meaning in the same way that a photograph or painting can.   

     

Printmaking:

The last of the great roundabouts was yet another exercise in printmaking though this time we were called upon to select images specifically ones of contrast. My image choice was one of a large tree in a field. This was an exercise in applying print to various materials to produce aesthetic quality. It pleases me to say that I was moderately successful in producing  aesthetically pleasing work. In particular I was impressed by applying the tree to a wooden slab, although seemingly minute in importance it produced a stunning effect.