Proof of Innocence

Kaelah has written an in-depth report on our shoot together the other week, called "My First Day At School - On Camera!" It's quite amazing realising how many 'firsts' were involved in the day for her - one of those watershed experiences where you plunge feet-first into a whole pile of new things at once. I'm full of admiration for her courage. Any Klingon would be proud.

She's posted a synopsis and a couple of images from the second clip we filmed, so now it's public I may as well do the same. It's called "Proof of Innocence", and although she wasn't playing a Klingon warrior, her schoolgirl character was based strongly on principles of bravery and honour.



Kaelah designed a storyline drawing heavily on her personal experiences, which made it not only very powerful, but much easier for her to act convincingly in a second language. (She did great in both clips, despite her nerves! Her English is bloody good, and she's a fantastic roleplayer.) She played Adelheid, the bookish Head Girl, a teacher's pet and "goody two shoes" who gets top grades, but isn't very popular with her fellow pupils. Reports from other students, combined with evidence found in her locker and an apparent motive, all point to Adelheid as the culprit who vandalised the art school. The cumulative evidence is so convincing, in fact, that the Headmaster, Mr Clarke (played by Ludwig) insists that Adelheid must face the music. She must be punished to set an example to the other students - and so that no-one can accuse him of favourable treatment. Her form tutor, however, Mr Purvis (played by Tom) believes her claim that she is innocent, and sympathises with her plight. When Adelheid suggests a rather unusual method to clear her good name, Mr Purvis accepts her idea, and becomes her ally in presenting it to the Head.



Adelheid's plan succeeds - through her courage, fortitude and quick thinking she manages to demonstrates her good faith to the teachers. But this means that the student who reported that Adelheid was guilty must have been lying. Enter Rosemary (moi!), who is immediately summoned to account for herself ... and ends up having to face the same music as Adelheid. But it turns out that the chain doesn't end there. The teachers uncover a web of deceit, and are determined to get to the bottom of it...

Kaelah has already written some interesting analysis of Adelheid and what she got out of the role - I recommend you read her post. I can't really improve on what she's already said, but I can add a little about Rosemary. I wouldn't normally cast myself in the role of someone like Rosemary, but I had great fun with it. Her excuse for framing Adelheid was that she was put up to it by the class bully - but perhaps her resentment of the cleverer, more successful student made her easier to persuade. So, okay, Rosemary isn't actually evil - but she's perhaps a troubled teen with a tendency to get into trouble, not very applied as a student, unsure how to stand up for herself or anyone else, trying to fit in. Good at heart, perhaps, but weak-willed.



So I played her a bit sulky and provocative, the classic "I don't care" adolescent attitude - but not so bitter and broken that she lacks all compassion. When she sees what Adelheid has gone through to prove her innocence, she is shocked. And when she looks in her eyes, she starts to believe her.

Suddenly she feels ashamed of giving in to those bullies, and sorry for Adelheid. She starts to soften towards the Head Girl, seeing beneath the strict, straight-A exterior to the vulnerable girl who doesn't understand why the other students don't like her. But she's afraid, still, of the social consequences if she grasses on the bullies.



By the end of the clip, I wanted Adelheid and Rosemary to have been brought together by their tangled predicament, and by being witnesses to each other's suffering. I'm always a fan of sympathy between victims, especially when it comes out of some sort of conflict resolution. Kaelah was great to work with in this respect, giving me all the emotional feedback I was looking for and more.



And the gents were brilliant - Tom playing a gentler top than his usual on-screen persona in the kindly Mr Purvis, but still wielding the cane with a precise ferocity. I very much enjoyed receiving my first twelve strokes from Ludwig (sorry, Rosemary) and he made a solemn and imposing Headmaster in the mortarboard and gown I lent him. Although he didn't half make me blink when I saw him behind the camera out of the corner of my eye...