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BillySundae
Member
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Posted: Sat May 23rd, 2009 05:07 pm |
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Would you like to see your award winning play televised? 517 Playwrights have discussed the possibility of broadcasting a few of the contest's winning plays.
Before we began the contest in February we assumed that we'd select a dozen or fewer plays and then either give them staged readings or stage them.
However, a little difficulty in finding a venue and someone asked about televising the scripts instead. Well, a little research has revealed that that is not as expensive as we'd thought. Though, frankly we'd have to select fewer scripts.
We're just in the THINKING stages about this. And no doubt there are considerations other than money involved. So we need your input.
We will be selecting finalists in the next month or so. SO, we need to decide how we want to produce them as that will impact how many plays are selected.
You may of course respond here. Please do. But also go to the 517 Playwrights blog and respond there as well; all of our members read the blog. I'm not sure that all of the members belong here.
Thanks for your thoughts about this.
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Proboscisbunny
Member
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Posted: Sat May 23rd, 2009 06:24 pm |
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While I understand wanting to share the plays with a larger audience, IMO plays on video are generally pretty crappy. It's different medium, different acting style...they just don't read well on the small screen.
If you're videotaping little Johnny's summer musical for posterity that's one thing. And even videotaping the plays for archival purposes (or even for the playwright to share with friends and family) may also work. But I think anything beyond that would, unfortunately, misrepresent the work as it was intended. It's theatre - you can't capture that on tape.
Just my opinion...
Vanessa
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timmy
Member
| Joined: | Fri Jun 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | Oz, Minnesota USA |
| Posts: | 614 |
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Posted: Sat May 23rd, 2009 07:12 pm |
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Billy:
While I agree with PB about quality control and nuance of stage vs screen, the DVD's that festivals make for writers who cannot attend are always appreciated. Can't see much difference here.
Something different might get your festival off to a long tradition. Who knows where it might lead.
timmy
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shirleyk
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| Joined: | Fri Jun 30th, 2006 |
| Location: | Benicia, USA |
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Posted: Sat May 23rd, 2009 10:42 pm |
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I seldom see productions of my plays, since they're usually done where I'm not.
I've seen some excellent videos of them and have no objection at all to having my plays televised.
In fact, I would appreciate it.
Shirley
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HarveyRabbit
Member
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Posted: Sun May 24th, 2009 03:28 pm |
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I have to say that I’m inclined to agree with PB on this. If you’re taping the plays as an ADJUNCT to a live performance, that’s all well and good. I, too, have seen some video/CD recordings of productions of mine I was unable to attend, and some gave me a nice ‘sense’ of what the production may have been like (I’ve also seen some horrible ones, too). But if the idea is to commit them to video only, the likelihood (without a team of professional filmmakers behind you and a pretty decent budget) is that the results will be less than satisfying.
Theatre and film are completely different mediums and attempting to straddle the divide on a shoestring is a tall order indeed. That said, if you go ahead with it I wish you every success. I just hope it’s worth the trouble.
Take a picture of a firework display. It’s a nice keepsake, but you know…you really had to be there.
H.
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Proboscisbunny
Member
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Posted: Sun May 24th, 2009 04:32 pm |
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| Well said, Harvey. Great bunnies think alike :)
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itzmoi
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Posted: Tue May 26th, 2009 02:54 am |
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What started out to be a good idea is now turning into a rabbit trail resulting in something quite different than a contest playwrights entered. Don't lose sight of the original vision or you lose credibility. I'm interested in my plays being staged, not filmed, whether I see them or not.
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castlecat7
Member
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Posted: Tue May 26th, 2009 07:14 am |
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I agree with the Bunnies!
TV / Film / Theatre are all such different mediums.
I have a TV sit-com that is totally different in its construction to that of any of my plays.
Depends what you are trying to achieve.
Who says white mice rule the universe?
Hitch Hikers guide obviously missed the Bunnies.
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