Scene by Scene

I. The Tower
The story begins with the execution of King Henry VI, the last king of the House of Lancaster. With Henry's death, Edward of the House of York becomes King.

When scouting location for the film versions of the story the first place I headed off to was the Old Liverpool Courthouse, which was also the old police station. The theory was that if it was old police station, they might have some antique lock-up cells that might be available to sub for the tower. Though they had a nice mock courthouse, the cells were converted into storage areas with no possibility of restoration. Luckily, though, an idle enquiry yielded gold. I casually asked the nice lady who showed be around if she knew of any dungeons in Liverpool. Quite a reach, question-wise, given that this was South West Sydney and not Shrek III. But do you know what the answer was?

Of course, there were dungeons in Liverpool, under the TAFE (nee Asylum).

And what fab dungeons they were: low vaulted ceilings, rusty steel doors with peep holes and thick layers of peeling green pain, and a Coke machine. Would have to frame that out (part of the area was an erstwhile student common room).

We took the cast down there and they immediately got it into their heads that it was haunted. This made it tough shooting the assassination of Henry VI and the lights had to be out.

Got a great effect for that sequence, though, later in the editing. iMovie slow-mo also slows down the sound but without frame blending, so it becomes almost musical with a tension-building staccato. Marry this to the vision - a couple of strong Macbeth portaflood lamps and copious amount of baby-powder (brought to make Henry look grey) and there are wonderful motes and beams in the cell as Richard opens the door.

II. The Station
Edward arrives to the cheers of the awaiting crowd announcing that he has claimed the throne once more. With him are his younger brothers Clarence and Richard. The youngest brother Richard, a deformed, lame hunchback, has already set about gaining the crown for himself. At the station, Tyrell, Richard's trusted henchman, informs the King that Clarence is plotting to take the crown. The King has Clarence arrested and taken to the tower.

We were able to give the film an epic feel through the use of the Thirlmere Railway Museum. A luxury carriage became Edward's Royal Train, and a less salubrious one became a military train used later in the movie (but shot that day, or course).

The day also became a reunion of sorts, with members of the original GSC lending a hand as reporters. They ad-libbed their dialogue very effective, with Troy and Julia, for example, putting their High-School drama to good use.

Steve Paul, who ably led us into the bowels of Sydney for the Macbeth scenes shot in the Tank Stream, once again plunged into grimy darkness for a special effect. I envisaged the trains smoking and hissing and therefore prepared some smoke jets using a technique taught to me by a guy I went to school with (Clifford Day). Steve seemed happy to crawl under a train to help out. While the jets worked, they didn't prove smoky enough to make an impact on the cavernous train shed.

III. On the way to the Tower
Richard catches up with Clarence and pretends to be totally confused by his brother's arrest, blaming the Queen, Elizabeth, for the deed. Richard promises to speak to the King and to have Clarence released. When Clarence is finally taken away, Richard tells his best friend - that's you in the audience! - of his true plan: to kill Clarence!

The first of the live-action scenes staged at the Casula Powerhouse, with the video version of the live scenes shot in a marathon session on October 25, our traditional performance day.

The sets were constructed by Marlene Filippi and her team, with decoration by me. There were four pillars of open wood, then covered with assorted mesh, wire, moulded plastic and other materials and painted over in rust. The idea was to symbolically represent the decaying regime. At the top of each pillar was a newspaper marquee proclaiming an apropos headline. These also served at potted plot summaries while also doing the office of a Chorus. They were mounted on wheels and were rotated for each scene, included the video sequences.

Glenn Paul helped out on the premiere night, running the video projection. The stage was from Casula High and the projector from the council. Extraordinarily, the council wanted it back during a matinee schools performance. They didn't get it.

Student teacher Cain McCleary ran the stage lights from his own equipment, and was given rare permission to set up his grid in the “upstairs” of the performance studio. To give you an idea, have you ever seen those cartoon where a door opens to a sheer drop? This was kind-of what that upstairs room was like.

IV. The Cathedral
Richard enters the Cathedral and watches Lady Anne, who is praying for her dead husband. Richard tells us that since it was he who killed her husband, he will now marry her. Richard's plan is to strengthen his claim to the crown by marrying the widow of the man who would have been the next king. Meanwhile the distraught Lady Anne curses Richard and any one he will marry. Richard approaches Lady Anne and tells he how he killed her husband because he want to marry her himself. Lady Anne spits at his, but Richard falls to his knees and offers to kill himself if Lady Anne will not forgive him. Lady Anne hesitates, shocked and confused to see Richard become so sorry. She agrees to wear his ring. Richard is delighted. Later, he tells us how amazing it is that she finds him to be so marvellous. He even promises to go out and buy a mirror to look at his reflection!

“I will not be your executioner”

The Liverpool Cathedral - as I call it due to its scale - was an excellent location for the funeral of the (unseen) husband of Lady Anne. There was even talk of a cardboard coffin, but it didn't happen.

The church is lined with 60s style abstract stained glass, plus strips of glass just tined orange, and this made for a wonderful interior light. I'd been involved with a short film called “Down Time” starring Rhett Giles and Rose Byrne. The film was never completed, but I did get some good tips out of the process. The director of photography of that film used a sheet of polystyrene as a reflector - white for when it was sunny and yellow for cloudy. I use similar device to this day, and employed it first on Richard III. By the way, I gave Rhett my old fridge and washing machine. He promised that when he made it Big he'd get me a new fridge with “an ice maker”, so Hollywood producers, please hire him.

The choir loft also made for some very cinematic angles, and the faux widescreen of the camera enhanced this impression.

V. The Palace
Edward is sick, still recovering from the shock of Clarence betraying him (or so he thinks). Elizabeth the Queen is very unhappy. Richard enters and angrily accuses Elizabeth of telling the King to have Clarence arrested. Elizabeth denies knowing anything about it, and after an argument where insults are thrown back and forth, she storms out.
“You poisonous hunchback toad!”

VI. The Tower
Clarence sits in a cell in the Tower. He tells us of a dream he had in which he had escaped from the Tower and was sailing to Burgundy with Richard. In his dream, Richard stumbles and pushes Clarence overboard where he drowns, and is taken by demons to Hell. The two murderers appear. Clarence pleads with them to go to Richard, who will pay them a lot of money if they will spare his life. The murderers tell Clarence the awful truth: it was Richard who sent them!

“O I have passed a miserable night...”

This was a part of the dungeon shoot. Inspired by the Henry VI motes, I tried for a similar effect for poor Clarence, but the powder was unsuitable as it would mess with Clarence's look (it made no difference for Henry). I discovered that a steam kettle just doesn't have the requisite oomph (I have since bought a smoke machine).

This scene was wonderfully played by Kelly who worked extremely hard on it in the rehearsal process.

A trip to the Sydney Aquarium added measurably to the effect. As Clarence describes his briny nightmare, I cut in some shots from the big tanks, plus one angle underneath an old boat. A little camera action conveyed the impression on sinking into the deep, and was asked several times how I got the shot.

VII. The Palace
Edward has recovered, and has made peace between all the old enemies of the civil war. Richard enters and joins in the happy mood. He makes peace with Elizabeth, and Edward is delighted to have everyone happy at last. Elizabeth takes advantage the King's good mood and asks Edward to release Clarence from the Tower. Richard, pretending shock that she does no know, tells her that Clarence is dead. Edward is shattered by the news. He had ordered the execution but then sent another order stopping it- an order that did not get there until it was too late (in fact, Richard made sure his murderers got to Clarence first). Edward is taken to his sick bed where he dies. The young Prince of Wales is sent for, and Buckingham and Richard quickly make plans to lock the prince and his brother in the Tower before there can be a new King.

VIII. An Airfield
The Prince of Wales arrives by helicopter and is met by his mother, Elizabeth, his younger brother, Prince James, as well as Richard, Buckingham and the Prime Minister, Lord Hastings. The Prince demands to know where his other Uncles are. Richard tells him that they were dangerous, which the Prince does not believe. While the Prince and Hastings are talking, Richard and Buckingham talk about Hastings- can they get him on their side? Richard proposes a plan whereby Buckingham will ask Hastings his thought about Richard being the next King. If Hastings does not take to the idea, they will get rid of him. Meanwhile, young Prince James wants a piggyback!

“Since I am little like an ape, I think that you should carry me on your back!”

It really all came together in this production. I'd thought of hiring a helicopter for this scene, or arranging as part of a joy flight, but astoundingly was able to have one loaned to us courtesy of Eurocopter. The chopper belonged to a tennis ace and had gold dust mixed into its paint work.

The down thrust of the chopper vortex was so intense that it was with tremendous effort that I kep to camera halfway steady - even on a tripod.

The worst bit - though I didn't realise this until it was happening - was shooting the Prince's POV in the helicopter. The clear bubble under me to the red-roofed suburbs of Sydney below was unexpectedly unnerving, and I was glad to have to distraction of shooting.

This has one of my favourite scenes, and it one of the best illustrations of the marriage of music and image. Glen had pre-written the score, as at the time we hand no way of properly synch-scoring the movie, and had written a wonderful section of music that was too long for the shot. It is the moment when the excited young prince jumps on Richard's back for a ride “like an ape”. The score was so inspiring, though, that an idea for a “silent movie” sequence kicked its way into my head quite unbidden, and I was able to expand the sequence in a highly entertaining way - which directly lead to the inspiration for Webs. That bit of music also became the Darghan Street Theme (Mr Watt's Time Machine and hopefully more to follow) and is now also my phone ring - complete with Richard's scream as the young prince jumps on his back).

Though both princes appear in the scene, they did their shots two weeks apart. Through the magic of editing (and the sheer luck that both shooting days were overcast in exactly the same way), they even have a short conversation together.

IX. Number 10 Downing Street
The Prime Minister Lord Hastings tinkles away on a piano in the early hours, listening to Richmond, a young naval officer. Richard's uncle, Lord Stanley, has had a nightmare about Richard. Lord Hastings dismisses the dream as foolishness. Buckingham arrives and suggests that England will better off with Richard rather than the prince as the new King. Hastings is horrified at the thought. Buckingham knows what must come next.
“I'll have this crown cut from my shoulders before I see the crown so foul misplaced!”

X. The Palace
Lord Stanley is waiting is the meeting room. Hastings and Buckingham arrive, followed by the Archbishop. Buckingham tricks Hastings into speaking for Richard, who arrives at that exact moment. Richard shows the meeting his withered arm, accusing Queen Elizabeth of witchcraft against him. Hastings speaks, and Richard explodes is fury, accusing Hastings of being a traitor and orders his execution.

“No man might be bolder. He knows me well and loves me well”

A very well acted scene, especially on the utterly magical Wednesday performance, when all stops were out and the kids personified the “whole is greater than the sum” expression.

David got to apply his burgeoning piano skills in the scene, and Kelly slapped the Velcro captain's boards on her Clarence costume to become Richmond. Sarah threw on a peaked cap (with the top of one of my father's darts trophies as the emblem) and a white scarf to become Lord Stanley (Only to doff them again in the next scene) and the dead Edward rose again as the Archbishop, as personified by Danielle (who's played the archbishop the year before in Henry V).

XI. Elizabeth's Chamber
Elizabeth reads a letter from the increasingly depressed Lady Anne, who tells her how she hated Richard, how she cursed him and any future wife of his to misery - only to become his wife herself.

XII. The Palace
Richard's ally, Buckingham, has been out trying to drum up support for Richard to take the crown. He has met with little success, even after spreading the rumor that the King's sons were born before his marriage, making them illegitimate and unable to inherit the crown. However, Buckingham is able to get the support of the Lord Mayor of London and with that, Richard is able to accept the crown. Richard appears before a large “rent-a-crowd” and triumphantly salutes.

“I am not made of stone...”

Glen's wonderful rumba score really moved this scene along. Once again, the Wednesday version of brilliance!

Lady Anne's letter was presented as scrolling text against a dramatic reddened sunset. The actually sunset looked pretty ordinary, until I gave the 20x zoom a spin - and wow! A hue shift in iMovie and it was hell-fire!

XIII. Outside the Tower
Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth despairs over the fate of her children. locked away by Richard in the tower.

This scene in the video was augmented by the “wave” effect in iMovie. It worked well enough, but because the “widescreen” is really just a matte across the top and bottom, the edge of the screen turned into a wave as well..

This scene was beautifully and flawlessly realised by Rachel, who was a dynamic performer who poured tremendous effort and professionalism into her realisation of Elizabeth.

XIV. The Palace
Richard is King at last, and has a celebratory drink with Buckingham. Now Richard want to make sure he stays King by executing the Princes in the Tower. Buckingham hesitates at this, and Richard presses him for his support. Buckingham first want the lands promised to him by Richard, but Richard wants the Princes dead first. They argue, and Buckingham decides that Richard is a danger even to him, and he flees England. Meanwhile, Richard arranges for Tyrell to take care of the Princes, and of a “friend” of his. Finally, Richard has Tyrell begin a rumor that Lady Anne is terminally ill. Richard has to get rid of Anne so that he can marry Edward's daughter, Princess Elizabeth. With this marriage, his Kingdom will be secure. Without it, it stands on “brittle glass”.

XV. The Station/Richard's Carriage/Richmond's Submarine
War has been declared. Richmond approaches England by sea with a force bent on getting rid of Richard. London is evacuated, and Richard moves his headquarters to Bosworth Field. At the station, a furious Elizabeth confronts Richard, demanding to know what has become of her children. Richard now tells her that he loves her daughter and wants to marry her. Elizabeth is aghast. She cannot believe what she's heard and fears for her daughter's life when she is no longer useful to Richard. Richard now uses threats. Unless Princess Elizabeth agrees to marry him, there follows war and destruction for all. Queen Elizabeth promises to tell Richard her daughter's answer and leaves. News then reaches Richard of Buckingham's capture, and Richard send Tyrell to bring him. Lord Stanley now enters, informing Richard of Richmond's impending arrival. Richard tells Stanley to prepare his forces for battle, and takes Stanley's son George hostage to ensure his loyalty. On board Richmond's submarine, Richmond tells the Archbishop his good news; the Queen has agreed that he - and not Richard - shall marry Princess Elizabeth. Richmond is in radio contact with Lord Stanley, who tells Richmond to prepare for his attack.

Intercut between Thirlmere and the HMAS Onslow, which the National Maritime Museum let us borrow! Like I said, it just all came together. As I write this that commercial is brought to mind with the rock star who says, “I'd like an orang-utan, I'd like a mini-me” and get it. All the ideas I'd whimsically typed into the script just all came about. I must say here that it was Penny who arranged most of these exotic locations. She's like that character in one episode of Seinfeld - Jerry's girlfriend who “has a way” of just getting what she asks for. The Museum let us in to film there from about 7 am until opening time. I got some animation out of the CIC/Control room by bringing along a torch that had a “flashing red lamp: facility, which I shone on Kelly as she appeared to look into a radar or sonar screen.

If I had my time over I would make one slight change to the shot - have Kelly walk into scene after having scanned above with the periscope.

XVIII. Richard's Headquarters
Richard is in his headquarters deep underground. Bombs are heard falling about above. Richard awakes from a nightmare, and looks about for murderers when he awakes. But the only murderer there is himself. He is fearful that his ally's will turn against him. Tyrell comforts him. A loud explosion is heard. Richard springs to his feet. He orders Lord Stanley to bring on his force for the attack, but Lord Stanley refuses! Richard orders the execution of Stanley's son, but before the order can be carried out, there is a huge explosion. Tyrell is killed, but Richard staggers away into the tunnels, just as Richmond and his force arrive. Richmond pursues Richard into the tunnels. Richard staggers, falls, ties to crawl away, but he cannot move. Richmond approaches, only to find Richard standing, on his feet, with two swords! They duel, Richard apparently winning. We then see that the sword fight and victory have all been in Richard's mind. He has taken poison. Richmond stands over the body, and then takes the crown from Richard's head, holding above his own.

Katherine's bravura moment as the lonely Richard, with lots of energy and a sword fight played across the video sequences and live action scenes. This was choreographed by Wayne Sharratt, who has had professional stunt and swordplay training.

I used a device from “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” to provide a twist ending - Richard wins! Except that the winning is all a fantasy played out in his head as he lays dying - from taking poison.

Back to Top

The Audio Visual Sequences
The various wars both civil and international which shook England for hundreds of years are the subject of Shakespeare's histories, from Richard II through to Richard III.

The Audio Visual material presents some of this history through the eyes of three participants: Thomas Beaufort, the Duke of Exeter and King Henry V's uncle, Pistol, follower of Falstaff and a camp follower during the wars with France, and Montjoy, the French Herald, one of the few French survivors of the battle of Agincourt.

Through their testimonies, we get a picture of the period in England from Henry IV's time though to that of King Henry VI, which bridges the gap between last year's performance and Richard III. We hear about fun times will Hal, Prince of Wales and Falstaff, the jolly fat knight with a love of sack, Hal's transformation into the great King, Henry V, the wars with France, the death of King Henry, and the beginnings of the troubles between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, leading to the rise of Richard.