DRAMA PORTFOLIO

PLAYMAKING TECHNIQUES

Research:
We split each of the 5 main categories of information up and gave one
to each person. We each researched our allocated category and pooled
the information in a google doc. The research is found below.
- Court date was the 19th November 1996
- Bryant stopped at a property that his father had wanted to buy, but was
ultimately bought by David and Noelene Martin.
- Bryant fired several shots and allegedly killed David and Noelene
- At 1:10pm, Bryant entered a historic site, where he sat in his car until he
eventually moved near a café
- He entered the café carrying a sports bag and purchased a meal.
- He attempted to make conversation with other customers.
- 35 people were killed, and 23 others wounded
- The café and pond where the event took place has a memorial site for the
event
- The Madeline and Alannah Foundation was created shortly after the events
took place, named after the two youngest victims of the attack. Aims to
help children who are victims of violence and abuse
- The shootings took place over two days, between the 28th and 29th of April
1996
- It is the deadliest shooting in Australia’s history
- Martin Bryant serves 35 life sentences, as well as an additional 1035 years
on top of that, with no possibility of parole.
- After the attack, all Australian states and territories began gun control
regulations from 1921-1931
- Some states permitted the possession of rifles and shotguns, but must only
allowed registered handguns.
- In a survey taken in 1996, 90% supported a national ban on all automatic
and semi-automatic firearms, 88% supported firearm registration, 73%
 supported an annual registration fee and 69% supported the mandatory
storage of guns at an Armory or with the police

Copycat Event:
- Las Vegas shooting 2017 – 59 dead, 851 injured (deadliest shooting in
America’s history)
- Occurred at the annual route 91 country music festival
- The perp committed suicide after the attack
- The perp had been preparing for the attack for a week by taking suitcases
filled with firearms to his two hotel rooms
- The perp used hammers to break the windows of his hotel rooms to shoot
at the 21000 people who were attending the festival
- Civilians thought the shots were fireworks until the perp opened rapid fire
- The attack promoted discussions about gun control, but not significant
changes have been made in America

Brainstorming:
General Ideas:
- Speak in iambic pentameter (Rhythm, Heightened use of language)
- When not the focus of a scene, keep a basic rhythm in the background
(Rhythm, tension, sound)
- Use of metaphor throughout (Heightened use of language)
- Using the flowers (prop) symbolically as a metaphor for life and death with
colour and shape (Application of symbol)
- Write our own song for memorial scenes (Heightened use of language, use
of song, sound)
- Having different parts of Martin’s mind stepping forward or backwards
depending on their importance in the scene (Use of space)
- Breaking the fourth wall to address the audience (Epic theatre)
- Treating the audience as lawyers, questioning their moral compass (Epic
theatre, Actor-audience relationship)

Scene Ideas:
- “Boy scene” feeding into a montage that takes place inside the head of
Martin Bryan before the shootings
 - Interrogation room scene
- Shooting scene as the climax, particular emphasis on the killings of the two
children who were involved
- Scene inside Martin’s head, Martin in the middle, everyone else
representing different parts of him (Insanity, sanity, emotion, conscience)
- Each part of Martin’s mind interrogating the audience
- Vegas shooting - America’s biggest shooting - comparing the two shootings
and linking them together - two scenes side by side listing facts between
the two shootings
- Closing with Martin in jail, and the part of his mind that is sanity having a
conversation with him
- Tour guide with no mention of Martin Bryan (didnt want him to become
famous)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PHKv092HNU Daredevil Clip Idea

Character Ideas:
- Caricature of John Howard and their and contrasting that with the good
decisions that he makes after the shooting
- Sharing the role of Martin Bryan throughout scenes (Five parts, Martin as a
person, and then his four key emotions each with a different rose)
- Insanity is self aware, compared to the other parts of his mind
- Conscience
- Passion
- Regret

Improvising:

Scripting:

Editing:

Rehearsing:

Refining: