Read the extract carefully before answering this question.
As a director, how would you stage a scene set in a busy hospital to create tension? [15]
Award marks using a best-fit approach (max 15):
Level 4 (13-15 marks): Accomplished directorial vision demonstrating thorough understanding of how design and performance elements combine to create tension. Detailed, specific, and imaginative.
Level 3 (9-12 marks): Detailed directorial approach with clear understanding of how to create tension through multiple elements.
Level 2 (5-8 marks): Sound ideas but may not fully integrate all required elements.
Level 1 (1-4 marks): Basic response with limited reference to the production elements specified.
Indicative content:
Lighting:
- Dim, clinical blue-white wash to establish the sterile hospital environment.
- Pools of warm light around the family group to contrast with the harsh surroundings.
- Gradual reduction of overall lighting as the waiting intensifies.
- A sudden change when the doctor enters.
Sound:
- Distant, regular beeps of a heart monitor to establish the medical setting.
- Ticking of a clock to emphasise the passage of time.
- Long passages of silence punctuated only by ambient sounds.
- Approaching footsteps before the doctor enters.
Space:
- Family in a tight cluster, centre stage, surrounded by empty chairs.
- Empty space around them to emphasise isolation.
- The doctor entering from upstage, requiring a long slow approach.
- Family seated at low level, the doctor standing.
Performance:
- Each family member showing a different coping mechanism: pacing, praying, sitting rigidly.
- Physical contact such as hand-holding to show family bonds.
- Actors avoiding eye contact when the doctor enters.
- A shared intake of breath as the doctor begins to speak.