A GREAT GATSBY PRODUCTION

Prompt Books

The prompt book, also called promptbook,transcript, the bible or sometimes simply "the book," is the copy of a production script that contains the information necessary to create a theatrical production from the ground up. It is a compilation of all blocking, business, light, speech and sound cues, lists of properties, drawings of the set, contact information for the cast and crew, and any other relevant information that might be necessary to help the production run smoothly and nicely.

AS A GROUP: YOU WILL CREATE A SUPER PROMPT BOOK!

You will need:

  1. Theme/Title/Style40
  2. Cast20
  3. Script25
  4. Costumes25
  5. Setting20
  6. Soundtrack30
  7. FILMED40

/200

THIS IS A BIG PROJECT—TREAT IT THAT WAY.

Your group will be responsible for bringing The Great Gatsby to the big screen. You are going to recreate a Great Gatsby film, either as a strict adaptation of the novel OR as a more creative interpretation (e.g. G). You will be assigned a chapter in the book. You will need to think about a particular sequence within the chapter, and that will be the focus of your production. E.g. If given Chapter 3, you may decide to create the Gatsby Party scene, that would be from pages 42 – 55. You should choose the scene that is the main focus or essential to the book/chapter.

This project is equal to TWO exams. This project will require that everyone participate. IF there are any students that don’t put in their fair share of work (everyone should have nearly balanced input), THEN the rest of the group members that are struggling as a result SHOULD talk to me.

In theatre, there’s something called a prompt book. The prompt book is what the stage manager has, usually a loose-leaf book with all the lighting cues. I make a prompt book out of the novel. In other words, I break the novel, and I glue the pages in a loose-leaf, usually with the square cutout so I can see both sides.

I have that big book with the notes I took, and then I go and I put lots more observations and notes. Then I begin to go through that and summarize the part that I thought was useful. And quite naturally you’ll see that the parts fall away, or that you have too many characters, so you know that you have to eliminate some or combine some. Working on it this way, from the outside in, being more specific as to what you think… then when you finish that, you are qualified perhaps to try to write a draft based on that notebook.”

--Francis Ford Coppola

Theme/Title/Style Explanations

  1. Try to stretch your imaginations: The Great CATsby; The GRATE Gatsby (everyone dwells in the sewers); The Great WEASLEY (Hermione married Krum after high school and Ron went on to become a wealthy star to win her back—Harry as Nick?); etc.
  2. This introduction to your piece should explain the theme(s) that you believe is(are) most important to convey and how you will do so.
  3. You will need to find evidence in the text to support your ideas.
  4. The motifs in your movie (interpretation or adaptation) must have meaning and must be justified.

2.Cast and Explanation (Descriptions and Pictures (drawn or found))

  1. Cast all of the major roles (Nick, Tom, Daisy, Jordan, Gatsby, Myrtle)
  2. You will need to cast other characters as well (George Wilson, Meyer Wolfsheim, Mr. Mckee, the dog, etc.) depending on your chapter and scene.
  3. Using quotations and analyses, you must justify your casting choices:
    (e.g. Lou Ferrigno would make an excellent Tom Buchanan because Tom is a “hulking physical specimen.” NeitherFerrigno, nor Tom is not known for emotional depth.)
  4. IF you choose to exclude a vital character (e.g. Jordan) you must explain why.

3.Script (in the one scene you have chosen from your chapter)

  1. Lines are pulled from the text
  2. You add/subtract lines but the script ismostly and clearly from the book.
  3. You may also alter some lines into more modern slang.
  4. Explanations for your decisions.

4.Costumes (Descriptions and Pictures (drawn or found))

  1. This should be relevant to your decisions on theme and tone.
  2. (e.g. Jordan Baker is played by a calico in The Great Catsby because she seems to wear many colors and fits into many roles.)
  3. All decisions should be justified through the text. Even when interpreting.

5.Setting(Descriptions and Pictures (drawn or found))

  1. Quotations pulled from the text
  2. Even if different time and place, there should still be evidence from the original text (Fitzgerald’s Gatsby) to justify it.

6.Soundtrack

  1. To better set the mood, choose two – three songs to play during the scene as either diegetic or non-diegetic sound.
  2. Explain the musical choices and how they relate to the story
  3. Through quotations, justify your musical/mood choices in relation to the text.
  4. In addition to the songs for your scene, you will need to prepare an entire soundtrack for your movie (10 – 15 songs).
  5. Brief justifications for each song will be necessary (2 – 3 sentences)
  6. You may want to associate a song with a character, or motif.
  7. You may want to just think of songs that are fitting for the book.
  8. YOU MAY NOT USE A SOUNDTRACK THAT ALREADY EXISTS…

...even if the 2013 Soundtrack is A-MAY-ZZZZING.

7.FILMED

  1. This is your group presenting a film as close to your imagined project as possible.
  2. Think: costumes, setting, music, etc.
  3. It is not going to be perfect—but have fun with it.
  4. You may choose to act or animate or any other form of bringing your scene to life.
  5. E.g. If you made The Great Catsby, then you could film cats “performing” angry.