Tableau

In the beginning morning, we were asked to set up the tableau that we have made in our groups representing our novels. My group and I have chosen to build a hut from leaves , surrounded by objects that represent the boys in the novel. On one side of the table, we had a white cap and a white uniform blouse representing their innocence, which has yet to be tainted, in the beginning on the book. On the opposite end of the table, we placed ripped black fabric, sprayed with paint and laid sticks on top of it. This was also to represent how the boys morphed into feral beings by the end of the book.

We decided to place a mirror in the hut for people to be able to see their reflection upon looking into the hut and have a recording of pig noises playing in the background. We wanted people to be able to see their reflections in the hut as William Golding's main idea was about human nature, something all of us have. We wanted to conceal the mirror and therefore when people look into the hut, be surprised by their own reflection. Furthermore, by placing a recording of pig sounds in there, loud yet not enough to be heard outside the hut, the noises would create a rather unsettling feel inside.

We were then given a chance to see other people's work which was really interesting as it allowed us to see how other groups have chosen to portray their ideas. For example, a group next to ours used miniature people to represent the characters in the book. We found this very interesting as our book, much likes theirs were told from the third person, so by using miniature models for the characters, the viewers now feel like they are looking into the story rather than being a part of it.

This then led me on to thinking about how I could apply this theory to my tableau. Because William Golding wrote Lord of the Flies in third person, it would be very effective if my group could somehow find a way to allow viewers to be able to see all of the characters and how each character gradually changes throughout the story.

We then saw a group that was doing a tableau on a story about London when it has turned into a sunken city, taken over by the jungle. I was also really inspired by the way the group incorporated real plants within the display, giving the display a very realistic feel, rather than just fantasy.

This idea combined with the previous idea has now inspired my to work with terrariums. Terrariums are glass containers that usually contain succulents and other relatively small plants and what was interesting about terrariums is that people have been know to put miniature figures in the terrariums, creating a sort if diorama- a small world if you will. I think that this could lend itself really well to our final display as the boys are stuck on an island, void of any human contact therefore it would be fitting to put them in the terrarium where they are then separated from the viewers in their own little world. Lord of the Flies also proposed the idea of nature against mankind and how mother nature always wins so therefore by surrounding the miniature figures with plants and succulents, we can bring this idea forward.

After having a look around, we then experimented with different lighting and shadows to see how lighting can enhance or effect our tableau. We first wanted to have our main source of lighting coming from the side with the white objects therefore casting shadows on the other end. Even though this worked really well, I felt that it was giving out too much information to the viewers and therefore preventing them from interpreting the display in their own way.

This then led us into thinking about other ways in which we could imply an overall feeling to the viewers without directly addressing it. So, we decided to use our feedback sheets as a film against the studio light in order to create a red light.

We absolutely loved the way this turned out and the way every surface appeared more jagged, sharp when lighting is shone upon it, and shadows are then created and it was really interesting to see all these shadows and highlights create shapes that weren't there before.