Tuesday 30th November
Today the montage was re-looked at and a spider scene with Zee was put in. As I observed this I could sense the group was tired of things being changed all over again. I'm, just wondering whether we are moving too slow and not moving on. Then a scene was created for Nuria’s character and Nuria, Ayla, Dan and Amy Lane discussed about the culture of being a Muslim. A bus stop scene was devised for Natalie. As I felt withdrawn I continued on with my essay and started to write some news reports for FTW News (which involved Jay and I). Today was just a blur, and i don't know whether it will get better or not but we had some great contributions from Rozana and Ayla (who have Muslim backgrounds) which created a seed for Nuria’s character.(Which I saw as a blessing because finally we were making a sort of structure for the piece)
Friday 28 January 2011
Wednesday 26 January 2011
I know I have to change
I know the last 4 months have not been the best, but that's mainly because the devil snuck in and took over me. I have only come to realise it since the 16th January this year through reading Joyce Myer's "The Love Revolution". I know I made a ton of mistakes I can't go back and change, But I'm sorry. The devil has affected my work Academically and Practically, affecting my grades. But I have the promise that I will change this around and work really hard. Just don't quit on me yet. I have a lot to offer. Thanks for reading if anyone read it.
Evaluation for Creating, Developing, and Devising Drama
Evaluation on 17th and 18th January 2011.
I know that it appears that I have made a lot of negative comments on this project and I can sense some of you who read my blog will dislike me for it, but should I stay silent or stand up for myself?? On the whole this process has been a struggle for me and knowing who’s behind all the anger, pressure, and every other emotion I have been feeling (and it’s not Amy B or Lloyd so no need to sue me). I can’t believe it took me this long to realise what he has done to me. I felt that both nights were good, but could be improved just by having faith in people and trusting people, as well as communicating with people especially Sammy and Aaron (our technicians). Then again we all make mistakes. On both days I got a grip of what jobs a producer ends up doing if there isn’t an assistant about to do them. What I did was fetch coffee, fetch last minute props (negotiated with Katrice of course as she is our prop and costume mistress), and general assistant like duties. I didn’t mind doing that because it helped me get into more of a grip with my character but I draw the line at not paying me back.
Aside from that, the play ended up being well structured (especially the ensemble work); the media side of the play was well constructed by Sammy and Aaron. I felt the scenes between Jay and I was great but could have been longer. Throughout the performance days, our friendships with Amy B and Lloyd and our friendships with our tutors became strained and we all fell apart in some way. Good show though. I know we have worked tremendously hard through every step of the process (with some not so good bits in the middle). It was just a pain to have around. As soon as both performances were done I thought “Thank goodness that is a load off my mind”.
At this time I would like to apologise to Michael and Nick for not speaking up more in regards to the amount of work I was doing, or doing any work as such in the middle of the process. And to my friends, I hope that we can get back to being a family and being self-less and not selfish. If this evaluation seems short, it means I have just been a little traumatized with this whole process that I have the same opinions and feelings I did from the middle of the process.
I know that it appears that I have made a lot of negative comments on this project and I can sense some of you who read my blog will dislike me for it, but should I stay silent or stand up for myself?? On the whole this process has been a struggle for me and knowing who’s behind all the anger, pressure, and every other emotion I have been feeling (and it’s not Amy B or Lloyd so no need to sue me). I can’t believe it took me this long to realise what he has done to me. I felt that both nights were good, but could be improved just by having faith in people and trusting people, as well as communicating with people especially Sammy and Aaron (our technicians). Then again we all make mistakes. On both days I got a grip of what jobs a producer ends up doing if there isn’t an assistant about to do them. What I did was fetch coffee, fetch last minute props (negotiated with Katrice of course as she is our prop and costume mistress), and general assistant like duties. I didn’t mind doing that because it helped me get into more of a grip with my character but I draw the line at not paying me back.
Aside from that, the play ended up being well structured (especially the ensemble work); the media side of the play was well constructed by Sammy and Aaron. I felt the scenes between Jay and I was great but could have been longer. Throughout the performance days, our friendships with Amy B and Lloyd and our friendships with our tutors became strained and we all fell apart in some way. Good show though. I know we have worked tremendously hard through every step of the process (with some not so good bits in the middle). It was just a pain to have around. As soon as both performances were done I thought “Thank goodness that is a load off my mind”.
At this time I would like to apologise to Michael and Nick for not speaking up more in regards to the amount of work I was doing, or doing any work as such in the middle of the process. And to my friends, I hope that we can get back to being a family and being self-less and not selfish. If this evaluation seems short, it means I have just been a little traumatized with this whole process that I have the same opinions and feelings I did from the middle of the process.
The last few rehearsals before show days.....
Monday 13th December till 17th January 2011 - the rehearsal process
In the rehearsal process we mostly went over the work we had already created, and just basically improved dialogue. We also tried doing consecutive runs of the show. Ayla, Rozana, Dan, and Amy B created a scene that Natalie and Nuria's could show how Natalie's character Karisha hated Nuria so much that she would kill her. This was done by using a big blanket that Katrice made for this scene. the sheet was played around with and a spiritual physical theate affect was created. I thought this was well thought of and it showd that we can do a variety of styles in this piece instead of just doing naturalism. It just looked like a surrealistic racism/killing scene. It was decided today that Jay and I would be doing more scenes together. When Jay and I came up with some solid material I was amazed to have some of it accepted for once. However I was surprised to find that all the news reports I spent ages getting research on and writing with my bare hands had been cut and written totally differently by Amy B. I’m just going to be quiet and go with the flow, just because it's Amy B and Lloyd's piece and I just can't bear to argue with them. Aside from that Jay and I also continued to rehearse our scenes together but only with limited time due to his commitment to the ensemble and his naturalistic scene with Jo. It's not great but I understand that Jay cannot be in 3 places at once. I’m just hoping (like I've said before) that Amy B and Lloyd realise that we are their friends first and foremost and their actors second. I hope they can learn from this also.
In the rehearsal process we mostly went over the work we had already created, and just basically improved dialogue. We also tried doing consecutive runs of the show. Ayla, Rozana, Dan, and Amy B created a scene that Natalie and Nuria's could show how Natalie's character Karisha hated Nuria so much that she would kill her. This was done by using a big blanket that Katrice made for this scene. the sheet was played around with and a spiritual physical theate affect was created. I thought this was well thought of and it showd that we can do a variety of styles in this piece instead of just doing naturalism. It just looked like a surrealistic racism/killing scene. It was decided today that Jay and I would be doing more scenes together. When Jay and I came up with some solid material I was amazed to have some of it accepted for once. However I was surprised to find that all the news reports I spent ages getting research on and writing with my bare hands had been cut and written totally differently by Amy B. I’m just going to be quiet and go with the flow, just because it's Amy B and Lloyd's piece and I just can't bear to argue with them. Aside from that Jay and I also continued to rehearse our scenes together but only with limited time due to his commitment to the ensemble and his naturalistic scene with Jo. It's not great but I understand that Jay cannot be in 3 places at once. I’m just hoping (like I've said before) that Amy B and Lloyd realise that we are their friends first and foremost and their actors second. I hope they can learn from this also.
More of this process for Creating, Developing, and Devising Drama..... Take 1
Wednesday 1st December 2010
Things to do on Monday that are very important (which was said at the production meeting):
To have solid connections between the montage, and Zee placing Jay to his anchor seat, along with Jay and Joanne’s nauralistic scene, my dialogue with Jay (for FTW News), and a scene where Nuria plays the non-religion type, makes a mistake and a sense of changing spiritually to become a proper muslim woman.
We also said (after Siobhan told us we need more stage presense)that we should have some scenes that fill the gaps of the piece. This included having more FTW News scenes between Jay and I, a game of Simon Says with the ensemble etc.
Monday 6th December
It seemed to me that today wasn't getting any better or helping drive the process along. I could tell by some of the faces people in the group were making that they were not happy. I knew that there wasn't much I could do (to save myself from getting into trouble), but I felt bad for everyone. To them it seemed like the ensemble work was being forever stopped and started too many times. To me it appeared to be like we only have a little amount of time left before we perform and we need to get cracking on with it. I can't turn around and say that you guys are horrible and bad directors or a bad ensemble it would crush those who I would have said it to. I'm not that bad. In the end I realised that the directors would sometimes listen to us but mainly listen to our tutors. I've always said this sentence in my head when the tension builds up more and more "I wish they would understand that they should see us as their friends first and not their "actors". I wish they would be more selfless and a little less selfish (because they were not too selfish" All I can do is just be supportive of the group and the process, and just be a listener. Or in other words, be quiet and go with the flow.
At the end of today I was put in charge of writing some news reports and I’m ok with this although, I have hated sitting down in classes doing nothing because knowing our directors if I was doing my essay or writing a blog submission I’d get told off. And I don't want to get on the wrong side of anyone. I would really like to get on with something that can be linked to Jen (my character) Maybe think of another scene that could fill a gap in the piece???
Things to bring:
A headset with a microphone, A script and additional paperwork on a clipboard,and something to write with. (note to self might get a "dummy" laptop to show I am working when the audience comes in. Double check with directors and Michael/Nick if they have a Barnet College one I can borrow)
Tuesday 7th December
Today I felt I did more work and got more involved. I took a backseat and looked at the montage/ensemble work to get an idea of some more scenes for the gaps in the play. I knew that if I got to doing something, I wouldn't feel like my time was wasted or like I'm being a couch potato. So after the monatage was looked at, Amy B and I went out with Jay and Jo into the hallway and worked on the crossover between Jen and Simons first FTW News into the naturalistic perfect home, perfect marriage scene between Suzanne and Simon. I gave a little direction in this as in the first instance of this project, Amy B and Lloyd said that we could make some desicions (after all we are devising on this project). This made a difference into the scene as it began to unfold. I finally felt like I was being put to good use. And those of you who read this (who know me)know that I can't sit still for 10 minutes without moving. :)
Things to do on Monday that are very important (which was said at the production meeting):
To have solid connections between the montage, and Zee placing Jay to his anchor seat, along with Jay and Joanne’s nauralistic scene, my dialogue with Jay (for FTW News), and a scene where Nuria plays the non-religion type, makes a mistake and a sense of changing spiritually to become a proper muslim woman.
We also said (after Siobhan told us we need more stage presense)that we should have some scenes that fill the gaps of the piece. This included having more FTW News scenes between Jay and I, a game of Simon Says with the ensemble etc.
Monday 6th December
It seemed to me that today wasn't getting any better or helping drive the process along. I could tell by some of the faces people in the group were making that they were not happy. I knew that there wasn't much I could do (to save myself from getting into trouble), but I felt bad for everyone. To them it seemed like the ensemble work was being forever stopped and started too many times. To me it appeared to be like we only have a little amount of time left before we perform and we need to get cracking on with it. I can't turn around and say that you guys are horrible and bad directors or a bad ensemble it would crush those who I would have said it to. I'm not that bad. In the end I realised that the directors would sometimes listen to us but mainly listen to our tutors. I've always said this sentence in my head when the tension builds up more and more "I wish they would understand that they should see us as their friends first and not their "actors". I wish they would be more selfless and a little less selfish (because they were not too selfish" All I can do is just be supportive of the group and the process, and just be a listener. Or in other words, be quiet and go with the flow.
At the end of today I was put in charge of writing some news reports and I’m ok with this although, I have hated sitting down in classes doing nothing because knowing our directors if I was doing my essay or writing a blog submission I’d get told off. And I don't want to get on the wrong side of anyone. I would really like to get on with something that can be linked to Jen (my character) Maybe think of another scene that could fill a gap in the piece???
Things to bring:
A headset with a microphone, A script and additional paperwork on a clipboard,and something to write with. (note to self might get a "dummy" laptop to show I am working when the audience comes in. Double check with directors and Michael/Nick if they have a Barnet College one I can borrow)
Tuesday 7th December
Today I felt I did more work and got more involved. I took a backseat and looked at the montage/ensemble work to get an idea of some more scenes for the gaps in the play. I knew that if I got to doing something, I wouldn't feel like my time was wasted or like I'm being a couch potato. So after the monatage was looked at, Amy B and I went out with Jay and Jo into the hallway and worked on the crossover between Jen and Simons first FTW News into the naturalistic perfect home, perfect marriage scene between Suzanne and Simon. I gave a little direction in this as in the first instance of this project, Amy B and Lloyd said that we could make some desicions (after all we are devising on this project). This made a difference into the scene as it began to unfold. I finally felt like I was being put to good use. And those of you who read this (who know me)know that I can't sit still for 10 minutes without moving. :)
More of the process as it unfolds...
12th October 2010
Morning Session
We spoke about the form Vignette that introduced the world. There was also talk of:
- Social issues and disrepair
- Jonny’s observance of a polish family and a tramp
- Ignorance vs. Empathy e.g. Bystander
Do as your told
Forum- when the audience takes control
Important audience feels safe
- Audience learn rules/know to contribute
- Commented on our blameless society
“Can you say that I can?”- Deceiving
Bystander effect
- Choosing our own forms
After reading the Milgrim studies, taking the notion of showing to an audience. In an obvious yet convincing way. The psychology of “The Mob” and how inevitable our actions are even if we don’t like the sound/look of it (human choices)
- Burning building/smoking
- Dangerously drunk person
- How long does it get before we report
Silence
- Cultural Peer Pressure
- Conforming
- Everyone likes the affect of silent performance
- Dramatic and simple and self-explanatory
- Naturalistic- intense
1. Dance floor-
- Not in theatre
- Pre-show! Concept everyone likes!
- Opening of show, halving the audience.
- Organising wireless and live feed to show audience actions= explore this..
2. Queue-
- Involving us in the debate!
- Why and who do we go against?
- Concept worked so where to put it?
- Audience reaction
- Stealing a grape in a supermarket is NO different from stealing a TV.
- Shocking and Power had more affect when the audience realised the pun. How people behave as a mass… How far can we take the audience??
3. Tableaux and through bubble.
- Questioning theatre
- Flashbacks- effective
- Naturalistic acting with episodic form (we liked this and decided to explore it further)
Afternoon discussion
- Status
Are we taken seriously, as young creators with what we are trying to say? How can we make maximum impact?
- Reporting
How far does it go before we do? How do we feel when we don’t? What is the difference between noticing or not? How do we (humans) perceive danger collectively?
“We need to start stepping over responsibility”
- Forms
Vignette
Silence
Episodic
Naturalistic
18th October 2010
“The Inevitable Brick Wall”
Leaves and live feed:
Rules of Nabirit: it is never our problem, don’t waste a smile on strangers, don’t look me in the eye, and don’t pay attention to a queue, just get where you need to be.
Stimulus for Nabirit: female stomach parasite: A STD in which a tiny creature grows inside the woman’s belly for 9 months, the soothers out and eats all your money- avoid at all times.
Take the language and re-create for other British traits/human traits e.g. strikes, blackberries and technology, heavy bags, anti-social behaviour.
1. Nature Show
- Humour
- No eye contact
- Documentary
- Dramatise rules
2. Newsflash
- Ending was great!
- Room to explore
- Huge subject very relative
- “Life Berries”
3. False Forces
- Cover-ups/ Disguise
- Body VS Face
- Make-up and media
- Mocking
- Character, no expressions
Images from improvisation:
- Technology
- Wired up
- Communicating through technology
- ID cards on for heads
- Narrator (Zee)
19th October 2010
First day in public
What we found in 1 hr:
- Stationary argument
- Heavy bags dropped
- Illness
Not a lot of people were in today so our process came falling down and I felt like I was floating on a cloud not doing anything.
1st November 2010
Morning session
“Obedience Grid” (physical theatre)
How it works: Mix and change levels of speed, levels, repetition, mirror images, stillness, finding movements to freeze facial expressions, whispering, change in dynamics, formations (3), (4), (1) for example, visually pleasing, interactions.
How it doesn’t work: loosing focus, not being aware of the ensemble- contributing.
Afternoon session
We came up with a primary school scene where Jay was the teacher; Dan was the head teacher, and Natalie, Nuria, Jonnie, Rozana, Jo, Amy L, Zee, Katrice and I were school children. We wanted to show how we start off as misbehaved students who then get conformed into good students who follow every order they are told.
We also (for this scene) looked at:
- Socialised into society
- Conditioned
- Explore- Build Legs
- More Disciplined
- Questions- Picking nose, stripping off, Sucking thumb etc.
- Girls and Boys school effect (the difference between same sex and mixed school)
2nd November 2010
Split into groups- focus and ownership
Group 1- Establish your ritual. Use actors instead of general public for actual footage.
Group 2- 1st argument= Mild too fast
2nd argument= Entertained more than agitated
Why? What? Where are the variables?
Add to Pre Show! Definitely!
Group 3- Feedback overtime- keep an eye on progress.
Group 4- War- “My dad’s better than your dad”. This was a solid idea and very convincing.
Tasks to do before next session:
- To neaten up.
- Have puppet like opinions.
- Talk about the last scene.
- All groups to get scripting by 9th November
3rd November 2010
Today we had a critical theory recap to help us define what we wanted to do for the essay and to help us kick start our essays.
6th November 2010
I went to see “The Thrill of it all” by Forced Entertainment. This was to help me with my essay and to take my mind off the process as I have become very frustrated.
8th November 2010
Development
We were asked to bring in an object to use in this workshop. Amy L sat in the middle of the room and we used the objects to warm up and to give us a sense of Annihilation as children (thus bringing conformity). We then took this and created 3 devised scenes.
Group 1- Adults to Kids
- Language Change (war)
- Posture change
- Shorter but concise
- TV footage to validate propaganda.
For next session: Full Script (Amy L in charge) for 9th November.
Further scenes: Puppetry, Expand! Game consol.
2 minutes of final product.
Group 2. 2D to 3D
- Discussed 3D clowns
- Produced some initial imagery
- 2D need to fix it in relation to scene changes – so come back to before Christmas
Group 3. Experiments
- Established experiment, preparation for 9th November.
After we showed some new improvised ideas, we took the idea of an experiment as well as what we read in the milgrim studies in regards to the experiment based on conformity into account and decided to conduct our own experiment. Amy B and Lloyd then worked on a questionnaire for actors and students to complete for the experiment.
Things we were concerned about to do with the pending experiment:
1. Actor’s not being focused/ losing focus.
2. Students arriving early for experiment.
3. Students walking out half way through the experiment.
4. Noise from the outside.
5. Staff or general public getting involved.
9th November 2010
Two experiments were conducted today. One with the questionnaires and one with two people arguing loudly enough that the public could hear. The argument started outside in the corridor, but due to protocol with the Arts Depot we got told off. So we brought the argument into the exam room and see if the students would react. The actor’s job in this was to get frustrated over the exam, and breathe heavily. The student who sat next to the actor did look at him and didn’t know what to do until the exam finished as we did the exam realistically and with proper exam conditions.
Preparations for next Monday at Graseby House:
1. A repeat of the experiment in a different environment, with different clients.
2. To place the argument situation back into the piece as we won’t be in a public place.
In the last few hours of the session, we played Simon says. We were given a number and were told that Dan would be Simon. We were asked to walk on stage one by one and draw something innopropiate on the white board. We all started drawing breasts, penis’ among other things. This was then considered to be a part of the ensemble work.
Wednesday 10th November 2010
We had a production meeting today with Siobhan and after looking at the rough structure, she said we had too much tech work and not enough live work/ on stage scenes. We only had about 20 minutes work so we needed to step up. Along with 3 other students I felt singled out because some students got more favour than we did. I also find our directors too much work as well. It’s like they are taking too much and not giving enough. And 1 person in the group feels just like I do. If we try and mention something, our voice doesn’t get heard, and we get shoved aside. This isn’t fair. Something has to change…..
Tuesday 16th November 2010
Today we looked at the ensemble being children in the playground/classroom. We each wrote our own monologues, tested our obedience with Zee as our teacher on stilts and with Jo becoming a tramp child. However with all this in mind the directors forgot to tell us that all we worked on so far had been scrapped, so we all think well what are we going to do now? We started the whole things from scratch with the monologues. Some of the monologues were creative, and you really thought out of the box.
In the afternoon we were all divided into same sex groups. The boys had the task of becoming more feminine and the girls had the task of becoming more masculine. And then we were to test this on each other. Through this Lloyd and Amy B handpicked roles with a clear intent they had already done so before this workshop.
Monday 29th November 2010.
Today we focussed on the montage/ensemble part of the piece. Going from Children to Teenagers to doing the “Go Compare” advert to the Simples advert (Compare the market) to the Christmas coco cola advert (Holidays are coming). We then hot seated Natalie/Karisha. As soon as that was completed Natalie and Ayla showed their devised Facebook scene.
Later that day we looked at ways of being Zee’s puppets and dancing around him. We then focused on the naturalistic scene between Jo and Jay. We also looked at the possibility of having a rave scene for Natalie’s character Karisha. The montage was good as it reflected how we all grow up and whether we conform to the expectations of our parents, tutors, and friends or whether we don’t conform. However I could only observe as being the producer had last place in the list of considerations. I took a back seat and observed and I could tell that some people in the group wasn’t happy with the progress of the piece. Amy B and Lloyd had so many different ideas but they continued to be very vague with us about them. I tried to say something, but because (and I might be jumping to conclusions here) I have a weakness in my brain for letting people put me straight when then can’t be bothered to hear what I have to say. We as a group don’t have a chance to speak. It’s a full on dictatorship, and I’ve always said that if your friends are acting for you then you need to put your relationship with them first. You have to be self-less and not selfish. I think Amy B and Lloyd haven’t grasped this and just wanted to show us whose boss. Either they step up and realise this or something bad is going to happen. Then again I don’t want to get into a heated discussion, and ruin my chances of getting a good grade.
Morning Session
We spoke about the form Vignette that introduced the world. There was also talk of:
- Social issues and disrepair
- Jonny’s observance of a polish family and a tramp
- Ignorance vs. Empathy e.g. Bystander
Do as your told
Forum- when the audience takes control
Important audience feels safe
- Audience learn rules/know to contribute
- Commented on our blameless society
“Can you say that I can?”- Deceiving
Bystander effect
- Choosing our own forms
After reading the Milgrim studies, taking the notion of showing to an audience. In an obvious yet convincing way. The psychology of “The Mob” and how inevitable our actions are even if we don’t like the sound/look of it (human choices)
- Burning building/smoking
- Dangerously drunk person
- How long does it get before we report
Silence
- Cultural Peer Pressure
- Conforming
- Everyone likes the affect of silent performance
- Dramatic and simple and self-explanatory
- Naturalistic- intense
1. Dance floor-
- Not in theatre
- Pre-show! Concept everyone likes!
- Opening of show, halving the audience.
- Organising wireless and live feed to show audience actions= explore this..
2. Queue-
- Involving us in the debate!
- Why and who do we go against?
- Concept worked so where to put it?
- Audience reaction
- Stealing a grape in a supermarket is NO different from stealing a TV.
- Shocking and Power had more affect when the audience realised the pun. How people behave as a mass… How far can we take the audience??
3. Tableaux and through bubble.
- Questioning theatre
- Flashbacks- effective
- Naturalistic acting with episodic form (we liked this and decided to explore it further)
Afternoon discussion
- Status
Are we taken seriously, as young creators with what we are trying to say? How can we make maximum impact?
- Reporting
How far does it go before we do? How do we feel when we don’t? What is the difference between noticing or not? How do we (humans) perceive danger collectively?
“We need to start stepping over responsibility”
- Forms
Vignette
Silence
Episodic
Naturalistic
18th October 2010
“The Inevitable Brick Wall”
Leaves and live feed:
Rules of Nabirit: it is never our problem, don’t waste a smile on strangers, don’t look me in the eye, and don’t pay attention to a queue, just get where you need to be.
Stimulus for Nabirit: female stomach parasite: A STD in which a tiny creature grows inside the woman’s belly for 9 months, the soothers out and eats all your money- avoid at all times.
Take the language and re-create for other British traits/human traits e.g. strikes, blackberries and technology, heavy bags, anti-social behaviour.
1. Nature Show
- Humour
- No eye contact
- Documentary
- Dramatise rules
2. Newsflash
- Ending was great!
- Room to explore
- Huge subject very relative
- “Life Berries”
3. False Forces
- Cover-ups/ Disguise
- Body VS Face
- Make-up and media
- Mocking
- Character, no expressions
Images from improvisation:
- Technology
- Wired up
- Communicating through technology
- ID cards on for heads
- Narrator (Zee)
19th October 2010
First day in public
What we found in 1 hr:
- Stationary argument
- Heavy bags dropped
- Illness
Not a lot of people were in today so our process came falling down and I felt like I was floating on a cloud not doing anything.
1st November 2010
Morning session
“Obedience Grid” (physical theatre)
How it works: Mix and change levels of speed, levels, repetition, mirror images, stillness, finding movements to freeze facial expressions, whispering, change in dynamics, formations (3), (4), (1) for example, visually pleasing, interactions.
How it doesn’t work: loosing focus, not being aware of the ensemble- contributing.
Afternoon session
We came up with a primary school scene where Jay was the teacher; Dan was the head teacher, and Natalie, Nuria, Jonnie, Rozana, Jo, Amy L, Zee, Katrice and I were school children. We wanted to show how we start off as misbehaved students who then get conformed into good students who follow every order they are told.
We also (for this scene) looked at:
- Socialised into society
- Conditioned
- Explore- Build Legs
- More Disciplined
- Questions- Picking nose, stripping off, Sucking thumb etc.
- Girls and Boys school effect (the difference between same sex and mixed school)
2nd November 2010
Split into groups- focus and ownership
Group 1- Establish your ritual. Use actors instead of general public for actual footage.
Group 2- 1st argument= Mild too fast
2nd argument= Entertained more than agitated
Why? What? Where are the variables?
Add to Pre Show! Definitely!
Group 3- Feedback overtime- keep an eye on progress.
Group 4- War- “My dad’s better than your dad”. This was a solid idea and very convincing.
Tasks to do before next session:
- To neaten up.
- Have puppet like opinions.
- Talk about the last scene.
- All groups to get scripting by 9th November
3rd November 2010
Today we had a critical theory recap to help us define what we wanted to do for the essay and to help us kick start our essays.
6th November 2010
I went to see “The Thrill of it all” by Forced Entertainment. This was to help me with my essay and to take my mind off the process as I have become very frustrated.
8th November 2010
Development
We were asked to bring in an object to use in this workshop. Amy L sat in the middle of the room and we used the objects to warm up and to give us a sense of Annihilation as children (thus bringing conformity). We then took this and created 3 devised scenes.
Group 1- Adults to Kids
- Language Change (war)
- Posture change
- Shorter but concise
- TV footage to validate propaganda.
For next session: Full Script (Amy L in charge) for 9th November.
Further scenes: Puppetry, Expand! Game consol.
2 minutes of final product.
Group 2. 2D to 3D
- Discussed 3D clowns
- Produced some initial imagery
- 2D need to fix it in relation to scene changes – so come back to before Christmas
Group 3. Experiments
- Established experiment, preparation for 9th November.
After we showed some new improvised ideas, we took the idea of an experiment as well as what we read in the milgrim studies in regards to the experiment based on conformity into account and decided to conduct our own experiment. Amy B and Lloyd then worked on a questionnaire for actors and students to complete for the experiment.
Things we were concerned about to do with the pending experiment:
1. Actor’s not being focused/ losing focus.
2. Students arriving early for experiment.
3. Students walking out half way through the experiment.
4. Noise from the outside.
5. Staff or general public getting involved.
9th November 2010
Two experiments were conducted today. One with the questionnaires and one with two people arguing loudly enough that the public could hear. The argument started outside in the corridor, but due to protocol with the Arts Depot we got told off. So we brought the argument into the exam room and see if the students would react. The actor’s job in this was to get frustrated over the exam, and breathe heavily. The student who sat next to the actor did look at him and didn’t know what to do until the exam finished as we did the exam realistically and with proper exam conditions.
Preparations for next Monday at Graseby House:
1. A repeat of the experiment in a different environment, with different clients.
2. To place the argument situation back into the piece as we won’t be in a public place.
In the last few hours of the session, we played Simon says. We were given a number and were told that Dan would be Simon. We were asked to walk on stage one by one and draw something innopropiate on the white board. We all started drawing breasts, penis’ among other things. This was then considered to be a part of the ensemble work.
Wednesday 10th November 2010
We had a production meeting today with Siobhan and after looking at the rough structure, she said we had too much tech work and not enough live work/ on stage scenes. We only had about 20 minutes work so we needed to step up. Along with 3 other students I felt singled out because some students got more favour than we did. I also find our directors too much work as well. It’s like they are taking too much and not giving enough. And 1 person in the group feels just like I do. If we try and mention something, our voice doesn’t get heard, and we get shoved aside. This isn’t fair. Something has to change…..
Tuesday 16th November 2010
Today we looked at the ensemble being children in the playground/classroom. We each wrote our own monologues, tested our obedience with Zee as our teacher on stilts and with Jo becoming a tramp child. However with all this in mind the directors forgot to tell us that all we worked on so far had been scrapped, so we all think well what are we going to do now? We started the whole things from scratch with the monologues. Some of the monologues were creative, and you really thought out of the box.
In the afternoon we were all divided into same sex groups. The boys had the task of becoming more feminine and the girls had the task of becoming more masculine. And then we were to test this on each other. Through this Lloyd and Amy B handpicked roles with a clear intent they had already done so before this workshop.
Monday 29th November 2010.
Today we focussed on the montage/ensemble part of the piece. Going from Children to Teenagers to doing the “Go Compare” advert to the Simples advert (Compare the market) to the Christmas coco cola advert (Holidays are coming). We then hot seated Natalie/Karisha. As soon as that was completed Natalie and Ayla showed their devised Facebook scene.
Later that day we looked at ways of being Zee’s puppets and dancing around him. We then focused on the naturalistic scene between Jo and Jay. We also looked at the possibility of having a rave scene for Natalie’s character Karisha. The montage was good as it reflected how we all grow up and whether we conform to the expectations of our parents, tutors, and friends or whether we don’t conform. However I could only observe as being the producer had last place in the list of considerations. I took a back seat and observed and I could tell that some people in the group wasn’t happy with the progress of the piece. Amy B and Lloyd had so many different ideas but they continued to be very vague with us about them. I tried to say something, but because (and I might be jumping to conclusions here) I have a weakness in my brain for letting people put me straight when then can’t be bothered to hear what I have to say. We as a group don’t have a chance to speak. It’s a full on dictatorship, and I’ve always said that if your friends are acting for you then you need to put your relationship with them first. You have to be self-less and not selfish. I think Amy B and Lloyd haven’t grasped this and just wanted to show us whose boss. Either they step up and realise this or something bad is going to happen. Then again I don’t want to get into a heated discussion, and ruin my chances of getting a good grade.
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