THE GLYNDEBOURNE PROJECT
IN THIS PROJECT WE WERE GIVEN THE OPTION OF THREE DIFFERENT BRIEFS;
1. EXPLORE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF OPERA TODAY AND TO DEVELOP CONCEPTS AND IDEAS TO COMMUNICATE ITS IMPORTANCE TO A NEW, DIVERSE AUDIENCE.
2.LOOK AT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF DRESS CODE IN OPERA TODAY, THEN DEVELOP AN ALTERNATIVE STYLE GUIDE INFORMED BY CONTEMPORARY AND HISTORIC REFERENCES.
3.MAKE NEW WORK INSPIRED BY THE GLYNDEBOURNE ARCHIVE THAT WILL REFRESH THE CURRENT COLLECTION.
GLYNDEBOURNE OPERA HOUSE GROUNDS.
When entering Glyndebourne you are greeted by the lush lawn opening up into meadows. The buildings red and white bricks drawing your attention instantly, peaking over is the giant metal structure which is the opera hall itself. The lobby which was the first area we explored which was a very light modern area, struck me personally as a very good mix between contemporary design and the classical building itself. Giving the impression Glyndebourne pushes classical opera into a more contemporary space.
INITIAL NOTES
After learning more about opera at Glyndebourne. I was surprised by how much collaboration not only between the composers and singers, but between artists, opera and production. Seeing David Hockney's interpretation of a classical opera such as A Rake's Progress have me a lot of inspiration for this project. The reason being Hockney's artistic flair in the 1975 production of A Rake's Progress is a constant theme. The bright colours and geometric patterns carry on from the programme cover, to the outfits worn during the opera by the singers.
THE ARCHIVE
THE GLYNDEBOURNE PHOTO-BOOK
When looking at the photo-book it gave me a lot more insight into the opera house and the experience they have to offer. Pictures of people relaxing on the lawn with their picnics and conversing made opera feel more like a day out, rather than a musical performance. This aspect interested me as a younger person because the social aspect of opera is as much as part of the experience as the music. Before doing this project my pre-conception of opera was very dull; dress posh, pay massive amounts for a ticket, watch the opera and leave. Personally speaking, many of opera's story's are outdated and many younger generations find it very hard to have a positive perspective of opera. Therefore if younger people knew it was more than just a production, but a whole experience. I feel opera's audience would be much more diverse.
PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE GLYNDEBOURNE VISIT
(INSPIRED BY THE PHOTO-BOOK)
CURRENT OPERA AUDIENCE
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/arts/music/classical-music-opera-older-audiences.html
INITIAL PROJECT IDEAS
DIGITAL PROGRAMME COVER
INSPIRED BY THE GLYNDEBOURNE PHOTO-BOOK
These are two specific pages which captured my interest as I felt they made opera look fun and interesting through the movement within the photographs. Reinterpreting through my own eyes and turning them into animations was my initial idea for the project. As I felt this would attract a younger audience through a digital animation which would be posted on social-media, specifically; Instagram and Tik-Tok, as they have a younger demographic. But also it's reacting to an image from the Glyndebourne archive which I felt was also important, in order to mix the contemporary with classical.
Using Adobe Illustrator image trace to scan the drawings and edit them into photographs I had taken of Glyndebourne. The idea was to animate the drawings so that they dance around the grounds, turning this into a gif. This could then be a digital programme which Glyndebourne post on their social-media pages.
After creating a final version of the drawings on illustrator, I still wasn't happy with the over-all outcome. The animating process was much more difficult than I had imagined. Also I felt the project didn't have enough of a sense of direction as it wasn't targeting a specific enough. A new younger audience is hard to bring into the opera setting as the culture is very exclusive therefore younger generations instantly switch off to this. I felt an animation on social-media would't make me go to an opera, therefore why would it make anyone else my age want to visit.
COULD RAP BE A PART OF OPERA?
George Bizet's Carmen
After deciding to change direction within the project. Looking back at my initial notes, the question "Could Rap be a part of opera?" excited me, as I felt it could be a very interesting contemporary concept which could attract a new younger audience.
The classic tale of Carmen is an Opera based in 1820 in Seville, Spain. A remote town where the soldiers spend their time drinking in a local nightclub. The story is four acts long. The main character, 'Carmen', is very powerful. All of the soldiers are obsessed with her, a-part from 'Don Jose' who has a partner, soon to become wife. Carmen captivates Don Jose and attempts to persuade him to run away with her. But as jealousy rises over Carmen, Don Jose attacks his senior officer, and has no choice but to run away with Carmen. The story is exciting with main themes of; Love, Good vs Evil and Revenge. Themes in story's which captivate every audience.
When researching into the question "Can rap be a part of Opera?", I discovered a form of opera called "Hip Hopera" on Youtube from a channel called "Hip Hopera Guy". Within the video he covered rapper, Kendrick Lamar's song "Humble". This video has gained over a million views on the platform, clearly demonstrating that this mix of cultures is intriguing many people.
https://youtu.be/F07VAXKXGWE
Upon further researching into hip hopera, finding that in 200, MTV created a production of Carmen. Featuring huge pop/hip/hop artists such as; Beyonce (Carmen), Mekhi Phiffer (Don Jose) and Mos Def (senior officer). Using these kind of power houses within pop-culture in 2022 would be massively successful in my eyes at connecting opera to a younger audience. The reason being, this audience has grown up being engulfed within this culture, therefore find this time period very nostalgic. Therefore making the classic tale of Carmen far more relatable to a younger audience.
Looking into Glyndebourne's productions, I found that they have previously shown Carmen. But in their version it is set in historic times. Unlike the MTV version, in my opinion younger audiences find this dull, as they cannot relate to the imagery whatsoever.
But in 2006 Glyndebourne did attempt to create a hip hopera. The production called "School4Lovers" is a contemporary adaption pf Mozart's, 'Così fan tutte'. After watching clips of the production, I found it was trying so hard to attract a younger audience that it was cringey. Also when they do attempt to attract a younger audience. The focus is purely on the opera production, and not the overall experience of visiting Glyndebourne.
Urban Classics in 2012 was a meeting of musical cultures, bringing together the BBC Symphony Orchestra with Ms Dynamite, N-Dubz producer Fazer, Essex, Devlin and MC Skepta. The performance was held in the Barbican centre and was a sold out show. Through the first decade of the new millennium the British rap scene has grown massively. In 2022 grime has become a part of popular culture, connecting to the younger generations of Britain. This collaboration between contemporary and classical music in my opinion is very effective as it appeals to both older and younger generations. The specific younger generations which this resonates with are; Gen Z, Millenials and some of Gen X. These generations grew up watching British rap evolve into popular culture.
When researching into early Grime and the culture it had derived from, I discovered the early 2000's Garage scene. This is a very iconic British look which has evolved over the last two decades. Many younger British people can relate to this time period and find it extremely nostalgic. Another reason this is such an iconic British look is it derived from the working class. Unlike opera, the UK garage scene was extremely inclusive, whoever you are, no matter your wealth, you could be involved within the culture. Therefore in my opinion opera standards should be more relaxed in order to diversify their audience for younger generations.
Project Idea: Carmen the British Hip-Hopera
Below is a mockup poster for the production. The characters are Ms Banks (Carmen), Skepta (Don Jose) and Devlin (Senior Officer) amongst others. The idea I had was to use the classic grime Mc's within a modernised version of Carmen as it would be nostalgic for Gen Z and Millenials. I used Adobe illustrator for making the posters.
Below is the final version of the Carmen poster. After feedback I started questioning wether using older music artists was the right choice in order to attract a new audience into opera. The imagery of the poster was what I had in mind, with Ms Banks (Carmen) being the main attraction. Again developing my skills using Illustrator creating this poster.
Reflecting upon the poster, it doesn't give any information to the viewer, therefore cannot intrigue them enough to want to visit the production.
After feedback, I decided to change the stars of the modernised Carmen to music artists who are currently popular within British hip hop. In order to do this, I researched the singing roles of each character in Carmen and chose based from the type of singer (seen in notes below). Doing this, Little Simz, a female hip-hop artist who is very popular within UK pop-culture at the moment. Another reason she seemed the perfect role to play Carmen is because she plays a powerful female role in Netflix drama, TopBoy. Which again is also popular in UK culture. Two other roles which I thought were important is Don Jose and Micaela, as they feature in the more in first acts of Carmen. Therefore I chose other artists who are likely to have the same fan base as Little Simz. British rapper, Kojay Radical would play Don Jose, and Mereba would play Micaela.
Below is a poster created by Swedish Artist, Albert Engostroem. It gave me more of a sense of direction with the poster layout. The bold orange lettering caught my eye instantly. Also choosing a specific colour palette for the poster in my opinion works really well as it makes the text stand out.
When thinking of the actual performance of the opera, and thinking how the audience currently interacts within the opera, which is currently very boring. The reason being the current opera hall only allows the audience to sit. As a younger person, I dislike sitting down for extended periods of time. As music is one of the main aspects of opera, it confused me why the audience wasn't able to dance. Therefore I decided that changing the layout of the opera would be a very good way of enticing a new audience. Below are my sketches from the initial idea.
Below is the finished version of how the dance floor in Glyndebourne could be played out. I used the floor plans on the website and edited using image trace on Illustrator.
Another inspiration behind the look of the poster is Kendrick Lamar's, 'DAMN.' album cover, designed by Vlad Sepetov. Again the limited colour palette really works well with drawing attention to the text.
First draft of the Little Simz poster. I was unhappy with the placement of text. Also the poster seemed too bland with black, white and red colour palette. But the overall imagery of the poster was what I imagined.
FINAL POSTER OUTCOME
I was very happy with the final outcome of the poster. In my opinion the positioning of the text works much better, also adding gold into the colour palette draws more attention to the poster. Also making it look more visually pleasing. Also the pop in colour on the jewellery is meant to symbolise Carmen as a powerful role.
Carmen Event / Promotion notes
After creating the poster, I thought that creating more promotional material for the event would make it seem far more authentic and would be more effective for attracting a younger audience. Therefore creating a promotional video teasing the event would create intrigue. Watching other video teasers for events would make it easier to visualise how I want my video to look. Also thinking how the event around the Carmen production would look again gave the project more authenticity in my eyes, also this is an important factor to attract a younger audience. Making it more sensory therefore making them want to have this experience.
Mockup of street food tents on the lawn using Illustrator image trace.
The video below gave me a lot of inspiration for my promotional video. The use of Helvetica as a font communicates a message clearly. But also looks modern. The use of effects which transition throughout the video makes it feel youthful in my opinion. Another factor which was important in the length of video. This teaser is only 22 seconds long, leaving the viewer intrigued.
https://youtu.be/0Zx2d8XwGQw
For the video I gathered clips from an old video shot within a 2000's garage night. Focusing on the dancing aspect in order to attract a new audience.
https://youtu.be/yh_UW6bPYmA
FINAL PROMOTIONAL VIDEO OUTCOME