Reflection Of Learning and Knowledge Skills

In doing this critical research assessment, I have used learning and knowledge skills that I have used in the past but I have also learned some new knowledge skills in terms of pre-production process in historical films mainly.

In terms of costume design, I have learned that the best places to look for historical clothing are through old photographs (or paintings if I decided to make a medieval film), archive footage, clothes from that era and also books about costume design and also about that era. I have also learned to try to make the costumes as accurate as possible including buttons and fabric, and, to only use zips and Velcro in period dramas for quick and easy access during scenes that would require taking costumes on and off.

For hair and make-up, I have learned that research into how make-up and hair was styled in the era being portrayed, using photographs, books and financial documents from that time which may have expenses for make-up and hair on it to help you to determine how the make-up and hair are supposed to look like to get an authentic feel.

For setting and location, I have learned that you don’t have to be in the country your film is set to make it look like the place, like with the White Queen being filmed in Bruges but based in medieval England. It’s about set styling and camera angles that will help to convey the time and place that which the film is placed because most locations will have materials which were not invented yet in your film and using various camera angles such as close-ups and mid-shots, it helps to cover it up.

In terms of accuracy with real life, I have learned to keep as close to the truth but that most people use fiction to create needed drama in their film and that so long as I don’t use too much fiction in the film, it won’t create unneeded controversy.

My blog has helped to enhance my pre-production skills in research into films that I will do in the future so that I am able to get the desired film through how the characters are dressed, how they act when it comes to morals, society and culture because that helps with my learning skills in directing to learn about the attitudes in certain eras in time, so that I can direct the actors on how to act and react to various lines and scenes. Also looking into locations has helped me to open my mind creatively to other locations when going onto recces in future.

Overall I have learned to use different platforms and research materials to find sufficient evidence to back up my research in videos, podcasts, websites, books, interviews, surveys and photographs. This will give me an accurate guideline to go by to secure the authenticity of the film and to be able to give an accurate account of events.

Critical Reflection/Evaluation Of Research Methodology

For my research methodology, I decided to keep all my information in the form of a blog as I felt I could bring more information to my research rather than in the form of an essay, where I would feel more constricted to a word count. I constructed my research into each section I wanted to study, which were costume design, hair and makeup, setting/location, culture, morals and society, and, accuracy with real events. I then broke them down into the three case studies I had chosen, which were Hitchcock (film 2012), Pan Am (TV Series 2011/12) and The White Queen (TV Series 2013). I chose these case studies because I was very familiar with all of them, and, I also wanted to research films and TV shows in eras which I am interested in how they were made and where they were made, and I felt that 1960’s America and the 15^th Century England were very familiar to me as I have studied them in the past and very much enjoyed learning about them eras.

For costume design and hair and makeup, I had learned from online interviews with each of the costume designers on my case study film and TV shows, that they had used archives, books and clothing from them eras to help create accurate replicas of clothing. In Pan Am, they paid very close attention to the uniforms to create an exact replica of a Pan Am uniform, which showed the accuracy and authenticity that went into the design. In Hitchcock, most of the clothing that would need to be historically accurate and authentic would be the costumes from Psycho, and Julie Weiss used archive footage, photos, clothing and books to make sure it was as authentic as possible but she had margin for error and freedom with the colour as most people know Psycho as black and white film. In The White Queen, it is shown that the costume designers did make the costumes as authentic and accurate as possible, but there was controversy with zips and certain designs that are not historically correct but have been justified for the timing in the show and also the sex appeal of the male characters as the costumes for the men are not correct as they are wearing long tunics and boots. So in terms of costume, it is historically correct barring devices which would make scenes where clothes would need to be taken off easier to film, colour of clothes and style of male clothes for sex appeal and attracting audiences for it.

For setting/location, I learned from pictures online that locations were used in different countries to give a feel of historical accuracy due to the development of the countries intended. So in The White Queen, places in and around Bruges were used to look like medieval England and Wales, which give the show an authentic feel of being in the 15^th Century. For Pan Am, all filming was done in New York, primarily in the Brooklyn Navy Yard which showed hardly any authenticity of the foreign countries shown in the series. In Hitchcock, most of the filming was in California, where some of the locations were not accurate and other houses, streets, restaurants and cinemas were used to be portrayed as somewhere else. In order to show the accuracy of location I used photographs to show my research into the location.

Some of the most important posts in my blog were the last three about the accuracy with real-life events, because it shows what parts of the film and TV shows are true and what are fiction to help bring drama and jeopardy to the scenario. In Hitchcock, most of the film is historically correct barring Alma and Alfred’s relationship being strained and also that Hitchcock did not scare Janet Leigh in the shower scene and had violent impulses. In The White Queen, there is disagreement over the Princes in the Tower so I have not been able to get a definitive answer on that, but the show did use one of the scenarios that could have happened, so I was able to get a good answer that The White Queen is very much historically correct. In Pan Am, the show is based on true stories about trips stewardesses had and also about Pan Am stewardesses being CIA operatives during the Cold War.

Overall, I feel as though my research methodology showed substantial evidence about whether or not Hitchcock, Pan Am and The White Queen are historically correct based on costume, setting, morals, hair and makeup and accuracy with real events.

Accuracy With Real Events: Pan Am (2011/12)

Pan Am (2011/12)

TV Fact-Checker on Pan Am: http://www.wired.com/2011/09/tv-fact-checker-pan-am/

For Pan Am's historical accuracy, I looked at this interview with Nancy Hult Ganis, a former Pan Am stewardess turned Hollywood producer, to see about the historical accuracy in the TV show.

According to Ganis, most of the stories are stories mixed together but all based on truth that did happen to Pan Am stewardesses but in terms of characters, they are all made up of a bunch of different stewardesses from back then. One of the main story lines in the show is that one of the stewardesses was in fact a CIA operative, which is true as Ganis explains, 'For example, the whole spy thing was very true, and most people don’t know about that. They don’t know about Pan Am’s secret missions and their kind of extension of the State Department. The airline had people in Pan Am who were actually connected to the CIA. It was so logical at that time. I think it probably started during World War II, or just before. There were places where the United States couldn’t get involved, but certainly Pan Am was flying there.'

What is not true is the number of stewardesses onboard 707 planes, there would usually be six stewardesses, but they cut it down to four people has having six would be too much for filming. Also, Ganis points out that in real life Pan Am stewardesses wouldn't work the same flights together all the time like they do on the show, they would 'out with a crew for 14 days and then never see each other again'. 

Accuracy With Real Events: The White Queen (2013)

The White Queen (2013)

BBC History: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/0/22840690
Emma Frost Interview: http://www.indiewire.com/article/television/emma-frost-interview-the-white-queen
Lady Eleanor Talbot: https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Lady_Eleanor_Talbot.html

For The White Queen, I looked on the BBC History website for the real story on Elizabeth Woodville, 'The White Queen'.

It is true that Elizabeth Woodville and Edward IV had their first official meeting because Elizabeth appealed to the king for help after her late husband's lands were confiscated from her as she was considered an enemy to the Yorkists and their king. It has also been said that Edward IV was '"enamoured" of her and described "much wooing and many great promises."', according to Thomas More. Also what was true was that Elizabeth Woodville didnt want to be just another one of the king's conquests, so he proposed to her because of his passion for her.

It is also fact that their marriage was conducted in secret, and, Edward had in fact delayed the announcement of their marriage for about five months. It is also true that the nobility were not happy with the arrangement and thought that they were no match.

In the series we see Elizabeth give birth to Edward V in Westminster Abbey whilst Edward IV was forced into exile abroad, and while this may look as though it is fiction, it was in fact true as she was not able to stay at the palace as civil war had broken out again and the Lancastrians had regained the throne.

Even though they married for love, Edward still had affairs whilst married to Elizabeth. Their marriage in the series was rife with rumours of their marriage not being legal and that was true as there were rumours of that Edward IV had a pre-contract of marriage with Lady Eleanor Talbot, which helped pave the way for Titulus Regius to be passed, allowing Richard III to become king.

For the Princes in the Tower, historians still disagree on what happened so there is not sure way of knowing if both boys were killed in the tower, or if Richard of York was swapped for another boy and sent away for protection like in The White Queen. 

Accuracy With Real Events : Hitchcock (2012)

Hitchcock (2012)

Fact Checking 'Hitchcock': The Man, The Movie and The Myth: http://www.npr.org/2012/12/24/167539437/fact-checking-hitchcock-the-man-the-movie-and-the-myth

I felt for my research I needed to see what parts of the film and television programmes I have researched are historically accurate and what isn't, so I am able to see why writers tend to exaggerate or bend history into moments of drama for the screen.

For Hitchcock, I looked at an interview with Patrick McGilligan, author of Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light, to see the truth in the film and what was fabricated for more suspense and drama to the film.

In terms of the making of Psycho, it is confirmed that there was trouble getting Psycho made because Paramount, who he was under contract with, were 'horrified at the possibility of this lurid film being made'. It was also true that Alfred Hitchcock did pay for Psycho to be made out of his own pocket and forwent his usual salary which he would have gotten if he were to have made a film for Paramount. But what is not true is that he took out a mortgage on his house in Hollywood and had to watch his spending, because Hitchcock in fact had two houses and a lot of savings along with that so he was more than able to fund Psycho to be made.

Further on in the interview, it comes onto the strained relationship between Alfred Hitchcock and Alma Reville on-screen, but real-life this was not the case at all, in fact, McGilligan thought that 'it's one of the few happy marriages I know of in Hollywood that lasted for 50-plus years'. But, McGilligan also says that the part in the film where Alma comes to the studio when Alfred is ill is 'complete fiction', and that also the film exaggerates on Alma being the 'person who bails Hitchcock out of every crisis that he's supposedly undergoing'.

McGilligan finally denies any truth behind Hitchcock scaring Janet Leigh during the shower scene to get a more real performance because the film was linked to 'this idea that behind this guy who makes films about serial murderers is a guy who has violent impulses, which was not the case'.

Culture, Morals and Society: The White Queen (2012)

The White Queen (2013)

Horrox, Rosemary, Fifteenth-Century Attitudes: Perceptions of society in late medieval England, Cambridge, Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1994.

In terms of morals, culture and society, I decided to focus mainly on chapter 7, 'Women', in Fifteenth Century Attitudes because The White Queen is very much dominated by women and their roles during the Wars of the Roses. I also wanted to focus on marriage (Chapter 3, 'Aristocracy') as it is a key theme in The White Queen due to Edward IV's and Elizabeth Woodville's secret marriage.

In the book, P.J.P. Goldberg wrote, 'Custom, law and scripture tended to limit the opportunities open to women far more than was true of men. The dominant culture was indeed an essentially patriarchal culture. The political, demographic and economic vicissitudes of the time tended only to reinforce these patriarchal values as the century wore on'. This shows how women were not respected like the men were and also shows how The White Queen has portrayed the hatred for Margaret of Anjou as she ruled through her husband Henry VI, overstepping her territory and what was considered 'right' in the 15th Century. It also shows how women in society changed, especially in powerful positions such as Elizabeth Woodville, who had a lot more say in the way the kingdom was run, examples being the guardian of her first-born son, Edward V, was chosen by her to be her brother, Anthony, positions for her family in the nobility, and, arranged marriages for her sisters to honourable men in the nobility.

In terms of marriage, Kate Mertes wrote, 'Marriage and family were sources of emotional satisfaction, but they were also calculated battlegrounds for the winning of influence and the victorious accumulation of estates'. This helps us to understand why members of the nobility, such as Warwick the Kingmaker, were upset with the secret marriage between Edward IV and Elizabeth because of how fragile the throne was at the time as Edward IV had a lot of enemies on the Lancastrian side of England, so his throne would have been stronger if he had married Bona of Savoy and secured foreign alliances, as oppose to marrying a widowed Lancastrian.

Setting/Location: Pan Am (2011/12)

Pan Am (2011/12)

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_(TV_series)#Production

For the locations in Pan Am, all filming took place at Brooklyn Navy Yard and other places around New York City. This does not make the locations accurate as the use these places for different countries they go like Germany and Burma. In the pilot episode, it was partly filmed at the Gold Coast Studios in Bethpage on Long Island.