Academy Time 24th October

 In Academy time today, I carried on helping make the trees but also decided to make some flowers for different scenes!

 To make my flowers, I used a yoghurt pot, tissue paper, thin netting, glue, tape and a green straw. First of all, you tape the green straw to the inside of the yoghurt pot. Next you cover the yoghurt pot in a coloured piece of tissue paper and tie with netting.  Then you get a different coloured tissue paper and secure the tissue paper around the yoghurt pot and straw. You then tape the different colour tissue paper around the yoghurt pot to make it look like a flower. However, after a few attempts using tape, I decided to use the glue gun to secure this last bit of tissue paper. At first, I struggled to use the glue gun but eventually found that it was quite easy to use. I found out that this last process of attaching the different coloured tissue paper is made easier if you use a glue gun and looks a lot better aesthetically.

Singing Workshop with Stefan

 Today we took part in a Singing Workshop with Stefan. We did several activities all of which were focused around improving our singing abilities.

 First of all, we were told to lay down with our knees bent and to place our hands on our stomachs. We were told to breathe into our diaphragms as this is the correct way to breathe whilst singing. We then had to make a 'Zzzz' sound for as long as we possibly could with one breath. We then did the same but with a hissing noise. We then made quick powerful noises like 'Sha sha' and 'Pa pa' to see the difference between the two different types of sounds. We then got up into a crouch position, then into an 'ape' position and then into standing up straight. It was obvious that it got harder to control your breathing as you got closer to standing up as you can't feel your diaphragm as much.

 We then took part in a humming activity as a group. Stefan was playing the piano and we had to hum back what he was playing. Doing this in a big group made us feel more relaxed but we then split into three groups to hum the tune in those individual groups. We then learnt how to hum the Sweeney Todd song. This activity enhanced our musical memory as we had to learn the tune and later on learn the actual words....

 We then learnt the actual Sweeney Todd song. We sang this as a whole group and then in smaller groups. We discovered that some notes were too high/slow for certain people so we were told to sing in the minor or major- whichever one we could hit. After learning the song, Stefan wanted us to characterise our voices more. He told us to emphasise the consonants of the words and sing softly to make us sound more victorian- as Sweeney Todd is set in Victorian times. This leads on to the final thing we did in the workshop- characterising your singing voice.

 Stefan then taught us the importance of characterisation of the voice. He asked for volunteers to stand in front of everyone and sing 'Kumbaya'. He gave the volunteers are scenario and they had to sing the song as if they were that character by using voice only. The rest of the class had to shut their eyes. Stefan gave them scenarios which included apologising and falling out with a friend who had just got with her boyfriend. This activity was important and very helpful as it emphasised that we are studying Musical Theatre which means that when we sing we need to learn how to portray a character. For example, it's all very well if you can sing 'Mama Mia' very well but if you can't portray your character through your voice, your not going to be successful. No matter how great a singer you are, you won't ever make it in theatre if you can't characterise your voice.

Kim- Production Arts 18th October

Today we read through the whole of the Snow Queen and were told which set scenes we were in charge of creating. We found that we were in charge of creating the forest scene and the Royal Castle!

PLAN for the Forest scene- two tall trees, campfire, cage and the board at the back is painted green and brown (trees). We decided that the two trees should be really tall and we needed to include a campfire as this is where the robbers assemble. 

Here is me and Sarah starting to make a tree for the forest scene: We made this with a long tube and wrapped newspaper round it to give it the shape of a tree! We used tape to stick it on as this was the easiest and most effective way of doing so. We also began starting to attach branches (wooden bamboo sticks) with duck tape as this was stronger then normal tape and held the branches in position better.

Rachel- 16th October 2012

Today was our first lesson of assessment week and to start the lesson we did an hours research to help us with our written task which we did today also! After the written task we decided who would play who our performance of the Snow Queen (I'm playing Kai) and we also started putting together final scenes- The robber scene! This was important as the Snow Queen is only a month and a half a way! We decided that in the robber scene there should be a link to the Snow Queen and Kai on the sleigh. Kai is sent by the Snow Queen to inform the robbers that Gerda is on her way through the forest so they should rob her. We also decided that Gerda picks up different items throughout her journey that she needs in order to free Kai at the palace- a key that opens any door, a sack of 'embers' to melt the snow and a magical flower that puts others to sleep.

Me and Lizzy (the snow queen) decided that the Snow Queen has total power over Kai. We decided to make it so he only speaks when he's told to and other than that he simply stares into open space and talks monotone. this was effective as it made it look as if Kai was in a trance and being controlled. We did this to make Kai seem powerless and what made this even more effective is that it made the Snow Queen look even more powerful.  This is suitable as we want the snow queen to look as powerful and evil as possible! 

Here is a plan of the scenes and characters/actors in our performance of The Snow Queen:

Sam- Class Dance 9th October 2012

Kim- Production Arts 11th October 2012

 In todays lesson we did presentations, wrote mind maps about ideas for Snow Queen and came upstairs to the computer room to find set ideas and make up/costume ideas for our performance of Snow Queen.

 First of all, we did our presentations of the chosen part of theatre we had researched- I did lighting. I spoke about all the different qualifications you can get in Theatre Lighting, what abilities you need in order to be a lighting engineer and also how much lighting engineers earn over the course of a year. I now need to research a particular job and find out what their day to day jobs are.

 When we came upstairs to find set, costume and make up ideas for the Snow Queen, I went on my pinterest account with Abbey and we found lots of cool stuff.

Here is an idea for Snow Queen make up:

Here is an idea for the Snow Queen's crown, its made of chicken wire and beads:

Here is a costume idea for the crow: 

Here is balloons we could use for the set and a mask idea for Snow Queen: 

The rest of my Snow Queen ideas: https://pinterest.com/josephgibbs/

Rachel- 9th October 2012 (and Farm Boy)

 In todays lesson we experimented with Frantic Assembly's chair duet techniques and filmed a sequence which included elements of the technique.

 First of all, we were in TDCA and spoke about Farm Boy- the performance we went to watch last night at the Connaught Theatre. What was interesting about Farm Boy was that it was a duologue- only 2 actors: The Boy and his Grandad. The boy played 5 characters- younger version of himself, grandad as a boy, grandma, farmer and Harry. Grandad played just 2- himself at various ages and his dad.

 It had a very minimal set which was actually very effective. There was simply 5 props/set: tractor, tool box, photo, chair and a pillow/cushion. Each piece was used simply yet effectively. For example the tractor didn't come alive until the end although it was used  throughout, the tool box was simply used to sit on and it was also used to take the photo out. The photo was of  the boy's grandma- his granddad used the photo to explain stories about his wife; the boys grandma. The pillow/cushion was used to take on a different character and the chair was used to sit on but also to depict a horse and a plough! 

 The sound used in Farm boy was minimal. It had a recorded piano accordiament every now then to support the acting. I felt as if the music wasn't particularly important as the acting was strong enough to tell the story on it's own. The acting built it's atmosphere on it's own. The use of the tractor sound at the end was particularly effective as the tractor had sat on stage throughout the whole performance but it hadn't done anything. At the end when it started working- the tractor sound signified that it was working and it gave the tractor life. 

 The lighting was simple but effective. They used blue gels (up to 6) to help create atmosphere. There was also a single light bulb hanging in the middle of the stage to show the only light in the barn. There were lights above the front of the audience and then just infront of the stage and then above the actual stage. What I liked about the lighting was that every time the scene changed, so did the lighting. Much like the sound used in Farm Boy, I feel like the lighting was simply there to support the acting- the lighting wasn't especially important as the acting and storyline was great- the actors would've been able to tell the story without lighting or sound!

 The actors used voice and movement very effectively- particularly voice. When the play starts the boy has a Leeds accent (we learn that he grew up in Leeds because his father didn't like the countryside) and the grandad has a west country accent (he's lived on a farm his entire life). The boy used giggling and a higher pitch to show himself as younger and used fidgeting and a craning neck (staring up at grandad) to show the younger version of himself to be immature and young. He also used a higher pitch and faster pace when he was showing his Grandad's Mother. This was effective as it was completely different to any other voice he had used in the rest of the play and his 'small flappy hands' and feminine body language emphasised the fact that he was now playing a woman.

 The Storytelling in the play was effective despite the fact is was non-linear. Despite having lots of different 'scenes' and telling the story in a jumbled up order, it was easy to follow and clear to understand.

 The play was clearly aimed at an older audience as it used old fashioned humour and made references to war, sherlock holmes and tin tin. However, I feel that through the boy going to Australia and University, it was clear that they also wanted the younger audience to be interested too. I think this was effective as it broadened the audience. 

 Overall, I thought the Farm Boy was a very nice play. I liked the fact that it had just 2 actors and that they told the story through movement, voice and using props. I liked the simple approach used to perform the play- particularly the lighting and sound! I'm very glad I went to watch!

 After an hour in the TDCA discussing Farm Boy, we went back to the drama studio where we were shown Frantic Assembly's chair duet techniques. These techniques involve two or more actors sitting on chairs next to each other and incorporates human manipulation. The technique works in counts of 3- so each part of the piece had to incorporate 3 movements which needed to include manipulation! In pairs, we put together a 24 count movement sequence. The moves that me and my partner Emily included standing up and walking round the chair, arm movements/manipulations, leg movements/manipulation, floor work, hand movements/manipulations AND we even included manipulation by using my leg. We then put all of the different pair's work together and added transitions to make it look professional. For example, mine and Emily's transition onto the stage involved pushing the pair behind us off stage sideways and then putting one leg on the chair and then twisting onto the chair. Our leaving transition was Max and Beth grabbing our arms and pushing us off stage in a way that made us twirl round- so we left the stage spinning. We had one run through in the group and then it was filmed. Learning the Frantic Assembly's chair duet technique was effective as it made us realise that we could involve this in our piece. We watched videos of this technique being used/performed professionally and it looked great! It gave us ideas which helped us when we split into groups to put the technique into scenes that we had already put together.....

 My group of me, sarah, max, matt, abbey and lizzie had already put together The Finn lady scene in another lesson but we now had to put Frantic Assembly's technique into it! We did put our own twist on the technique as it wouldn't had fit in with our piece otherwise. The first time we used this technique is when Max enters the finn lady's house. They sat next to each other on the chairs and portrayed her force feeding of him. Lizzie (who plays Finn lady) used quick fast manipulation and puppetry to emphasise her nature. We used the technique to show the Finn lady's aggression and and anger at the fact Max wont eat her stew as it tied in with the background story we had created- that she gets incredibly angry- sometimes kills you, if you refuse to eat her stew. Me, Matt, Sarah and Abbey also used the technique, although it was more of a movement sequence- I feel like we could have done it more effectively. To start with, we decided that we should stay in a grid shape to make sure that we don't move too far away from the chair duet technique's 'stationary' element. However this didn't go completely to plan although it did at the beginning. We used the technique to show how no one wanted to go into the Finn lady's house as they were scared. They pushed each other in front and twisted them to make it look more effective. We also used cannon as well as the manipulation. If we were to do it next time, I believe we could come up with a way of incorporating actual chairs into mine, sarah, matt and abbey's part as I feel like we strayed too far away from the original concept of Frantic Assembly's chair duet technique!

Kim- Production Arts- 4th October 2012

 Today was our first lesson on Production Arts with Kim.

 First of all we drew self portraits of ourselves. Then, in groups, we drew a huge picture of a theatre with everything you would expect in a theatre- a stage, front of house, lighting and sound block,  dressing rooms, seating, a bar, refreshments, ticket sellers and also where the Deputy Stage Manager would be standing. We were then told to put our self portraits on the area that you were most interested in- I put mine on the dressing rooms as I am interested in costume. This gave us an idea of everything that is in a theatre and the amount of people that are involved and have jobs there.

 We then went on the National Theatre website and viewed videos from the 'Discover More' pages. We watched an interview with the lighting designer at the national theatre who talked about moving lights and we also watched a video on flying- we watched a scene where actors were on harnesses and were floating as if they were underwater- moving lights were also used to give the effect of being under water. There was a big screen which enabled the lights to make it look like they were under water.

Research on Lighting, Costume and Directing Jobs in Theatre:

 LIGHTING: lighting jobs in theatre may sound very simple but in fact they are VERY complexed! If a lighting engineer makes a mistake EVERYONE in the theatre will notice.  You can get qualifications in lighting too- BTEC National Award (NA) in Stage Lighting, Rigging and Operation, BA in Theatre Practice in Lighting Design, BA in Theatre Practice in Production Lighting OR BSc in Lighting Design and Technology.

Lighting Engineers need to have: 
- ability to work as part of a team
- creative vision
- ability to follow instructions closely
- good at manual work
- good mathematical ability
- comfortable with heights
- good level of personal fitness and endurance
- great communication skills

Full time Lighting engineers can earn up £30,000 a year!!

Puppetry, masks and other props

In this post I will out on pictures of the different things we have made in our academy time for our performances:



This was a prototype of the robber's mask! We first made the initial shape with newspaper and then went over with black masking tape- for the real thing we are going to use black felt (hopefully!).











This was made by Beth. She attached pieces of plastic together to make the shape of a bird. She painted over black and attached ribbon to make it look like feathers. She then stuck it to a piece of bamboo and VWALA- you have a puppet!!












These are the reindeer antlers and ears- the antlers are made from chicken wire covered in newspaper and glitter! The ears are cut out pieces of foam and painted grey with glitter! BEAUTIFUL!

Rachel- 2nd October 2012

 Today was an extremely important lesson! We read through the snow queen, decided which parts we wanted to put in our piece, made a synopsis and tried our different ideas out!

 To start with we read through the Snow Queen for the first time! It wasn't the ENTIRE snow queen play as Rachel had written the main parts of the story as we are performing to nursery children which means we don't want the piece to be too long. The play tells the story of a girl called Gerda and her travel to find her friend Kai who has been stabbed by the Snow Queen- his heart turned to ice and everything he sees that is good turns to evil! She travels through many different places (including Lapland!) and meets many people which include a Flower Witch, a Prince and Princess, a Crow, a Finn Woman and of course- the Snow Queen! We listed all the characters in the play and all the different settings and eventually decided what parts of the play we were going to put into our piece. We also put in transitions of movement between each scene! We thought that this movement sequence could be portrayed by puppets! Gerda will be shown travelling from each 'world' in different ways! Below I'll write which way she will travel. We decided that we should have 6 scenes:

Scene 1) Grandma telling story to Gerda and Kai/ Goblins break mirror/ Snow Queen stabs Kai

(Transition- Gerda walking up the river.)

Scene 2) Gerda meets the Flower Witch

(Transition- Gerda is walking)

Scene 3) Gerda meets the Prince and Princess and befriends a helpful Crow!

(Transition-  Gerda is flying on the crow)

Scene 4) Gerda is robbed but befriends the Robber Girl and meets the Reindeer

(Transition- Gerda rides Reindeer)

Scene 5) Gerda visits the Finn Woman

(Transition- Gerda climbs up the ice)

Scene 6) Gerda saves Kai

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 After this, we got into little groups and put together our own ideas for a certain scene. Me, emily and Sarah put together a short piece which could be used as the Flower Witch. Emily was the Flower Witch, Sarah was Gerda and I was the Flower Witch's young son. We created a background story for the Flower Witch and her son which helped shape the scene and help the audience understand the Flower Witch and what she does! Basically, The Flower Witch has one son called Joey (obviously). Their husband was eaten by an evil flower (they live in flower land- there are flowers EVERYWHERE and there are thousands of species. The Flower Witch is very lonely and she's desperate to make her family bigger. I think that our use of the background was effective and I think she would definitely incorporate this into our piece. For example, her son says to her 'Are you lonely. I mean you've tried to kidnap so many girls' and the flower witch snaps! It's clear that this is a sensiive spot for the witch and that she's tried to take girls before- not just Gerda. She puts a spell on Gerda but the scent of Roses reminds Gerda of Kai and she snaps out of the charm! The Flower Witch is devastated but her son is relieved. I also liked the idea of the Flower Witch having a son- it allows us to put in the background story  and I genuinely think that the ideas we created should be used in our actual piece. We also added music to the piece to enhance the mood. We used a serious piano piece to emphasise Gerda's realisation that she was looking for Kai (when The Flower Witch and her son are in bed). It was effective in giving the scene a sense of hope and relief! However, next time i think we should look into music more in depth to make sure the music choice is perfect and more slow and serious than the one we used!

 After this the class split into two groups and we had to do a different scene- my group of myself, max, matt, sarah, lizzie and abbey. We chose to do Finn Woman's scene. We decided to use 'gossip' and 'rumours' to create suspense surrounding the Finn woman. We (max, me and abbey) used this at the beginning of the scene and spoke about how we had heard that she had 'killed 10 men because they refused to eat her stew' which was supposedly 'made out of her dead husband'! It gave background information which was important (we found today that background information is in fact extremely important to create an interesting and believable story) because it set up the story and allowed us to create tension in anticipation of what the Finn Woman was REALLY like. I also liked the cheeky characters of the villagers who encouraged Gerda to go and see the Finn woman- the way they looked at each other as if to say 'Let's trick her'. I think it made the piece seem more realistic....which in a way is good as it will allow the audience of young kids to relate to the cheekiness of the characters. I also liked the way we presented the Finn Woman herself- Lizzie used a sophisticated and evil-sounding voice which was very effective. She sounded intellectual for example when she said 'There is no power I can grant you that will make you more powerful'!! I feel that our ideas for the characters in this scene were really good and should be used in our main performance.