THE SEVEN RAVENS
A GRIMM BROTHERS TALE REIMAGINED

Challenging green screen of theatrical video play filmed during a pandemic.

Since the space for filming was limited by the space of the actors’ private rooms, the task was to bring the proportions of the actors as close as possible to their organic image with each other and align their color in relation to each other, to create three-dimensional images so that each actor had his own viewing angle and there was a feeling that the characters were in a single space but had their own personal background.

This is a musical play being the reimagined Grimm’s tale written and executed in the style of abstract symbolism with elements of realism and surrealism, with many kinds of music and dance parts, and this production was the premiere of this play.
The original plot of the tale is moved forward in time and takes place in the United States in the 1950s and late 1960s.
In the main plot of the play, we are shown the story of a young woman who goes in search of her seven brothers, after learning that her father turned them into ravens because he was angry with them. And also, the story of a family that, after its loss, is trying to change its life and find the right path and solution. Their changes are taking place against the backdrop of changes taking place in the United States from the 1950s to the 1960s, which were quite radical. They join protest movements and change the life of a prosperous broker’s family for a life in a hippie commune. At the end of the play, they find answers to their questions, and the family reunited together.
The play is filled with fantastical, otherworldly creatures that help bring the fairy tale aspects to life. These include angels, spirits, stars, kings of the sun and moon, gurus, and crows.
For the design of this play, I have chosen Edward Hopper’s American realism style and the smooth transition to Salvador Dalí’s surrealism as a guide. Thus, illustrating the abrupt transition and the rapid important changes in these decades, reflected in the conservative 50s to new, more open views and changes in the 60s.
A realistic style in a design reminiscent of Edward Hopper’s paintings can be seen in the first part of the play, which illustrates the action taking place in the 50s and
And for the second part of the play, which takes place in the 60s, the design turns into psychedelic and abstract images reminiscent of Salvador Dalí’s surreal paintings. Video projection design allows them to play with iconic movements of those two decades and follows a family as they undergo major changes that reflect the world, they are living in.
These transformations begin with a search for the main characters of change. In the beginning, it is a nightclub with elements of surrealism reminiscent of “Studio 54”, later it is an abstract music video for the song “If you’re going to San Francisco”, where the family comes to San Francisco’s and joins hippie commune during “The Summer of Love”.
This music video recreates the original locations of these years, and with the help of archival recordings, the actors appear alongside the original images of the people of these events. In this video, the main characters mix with the ghostly images of the past.
Elements of symbolism in the design are more clearly manifested in the second part of the play, where the main character travels through parallel surreal worlds in search of his brothers.
Places such as the planet of stars have an image reminiscent of the “Taj Mahal”, the sun god lives in a universe reminiscent of the Middle East, the moon god lives in a universe reminiscent of Russia.
In the finale of the show, all the heroes unite in the final song “Get Together”, where the image of a free spirit, along with all the characters, flies over the whole earth.