Problems and Further Research

I have encountered a huge problem, which now looks to threaten my project. My contact at the Royal Armouries has unfortunately told me that filming will not be possible over the Easter holidays due to it being such a busy period. Due to the nature of the project, this may prove to be quite a damaging bump in the road. I would've really loved to get some good independent footage of men in armour and some re-enactments of that period; however it now looks unlikely that that will be possible.

I now have a few options, the most likely of which, is to use the same theme but to use a more abstract form of footage. The only problem is that I wouldn't be able to use props and artifacts that are synonymous with that historical period, such as medieval weaponry. There is however plenty of room for symbolism and representation. One of the most prominent symbols of that era are the two roses, red and white, each symbolising the two houses; York and Lancaster, Plantagenet and Tudor. Whilst researching into the historical background of Richard III it has become more apparent that the way in which King Richard is commonly interpreted, as being evil, sinister and even physically deformed, is the direct result of a biased monarchy (Lancaster/Tudor) following the War of the Roses. Anyone who knows the name 'Tudor' knows that these weren't the kind of people you wanted to get on the wrong side of and there is lot of historical evidence, which proves the manipulative and jingoist way in which the Tudors forced their ways on the English people. One of the most famous portrayals of Richard was in Shakespeare's Richard III, which of course was written in the Elizabethan age, whilst Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII (Tudor) and Anne Boleyn, was the Queen of England. Most Yorkists were probably interpreted as villains in this era, much like the bad guys being Russians in a lot of American films during the Cold War.