We performed the Snow Queen on two different occasions- one to the pre-school children from the College's nursery and also to
I believe that our set worked really well in the Snow Queen. The forest and the palace were my favourite pieces of set as they worked really well. I liked the colour schemes that we used in our set of silver and white BUT I do feel as though we could've made this colour scheme stronger by using it in the Flower Garden scene. This would make it clearer that the entire 'land' is under the power of the Snow Queen. I also believe that our costumes worked well- particularly the Snow Queen. Her dress was perfect for the part and so was her cape as they were both elegant and fit with the colour scheme of the Snow Queen- blue,white and silver. I believe all of our costumes made sense and suited the characters which they were used for. For example- the flower witch and her children each wore flower print dresses, the royal family wore 'smart' looking dresses and clothes, the robbers wore all black and the Snow Queen, of course, looked amazing. The only characters I feel like we could've improved were Kai, Gerda and Grandma's. They just looked like everyday clothes and although, kai and Gerda were just normal children, I believe we should have researched the context of the Snow queen more thoroughly to ensure we had the right period of costume- which, of course, we didn't. The Grandma's scarf looked good and so did her woolly clothes but I believe she should have been wearing a pair of glasses to make her look even more of a stereotypical Grandmother. Apart from acting, I believe that overall our costume, make up and set were our stand out areas and I believe this was important as it allowed our young audience to identify the setting and characters easily.
There were a few things that didn't go to plan on the day but there was nothing major. On our first performance, in front of the young nursery children, Beth (Gerda) slipped over on stage. However, she managed to stay in role and didn't let it faze her which looked very good. There was also a few problems with lighting when Gerda and the Crow are travelling- the lights came up on the Snow palace instead of coming up in a wash. However, we carried on as normal and all turned out fine. On our second performance, we performed in front of the year 13s and Rachel's children. In the very first scene, Polly's mind went blank when she is telling the story but me and Gerda helped her out by asking her questions to help her remember her lines. They helped slightly but Polly's mind was blank so we skipped past the story and finished the scene. I believe this was the right thing to do to ensure the performance still looked slick and to ensure it didn't look as though Polly had forgotten her lines. During this performance, Rachel's son got up and got very involved in the piece which was very challenging but it was good as it tested us on our knowledge and understanding of our target audience- young children. He stood up and confronted the Snow Queen (Lizzy). Lizzy was PERFECT. She gave him perfect answers and in the end persuaded him to go and sit back down. I think I could have been better at dealing with young audience as I lost concentration and was close to coming out of character. I was too scared to interact too much with the audience in case I lost concentration totally.
We had to adapt certain parts of the performance to tailor it to the audience. For example, we had to ensure that we didn't use the words 'stab', 'death' or 'kill' as these words are all very violent and emotional and wouldn't be suitable to use in front of children as young as 18 months old. For each performance, we had to change aspects of the performance as the two audiences were very different. Our first performance to the nursery children didn't involve as much direct address to the audience as the children were very young and we knew that they might not be able to respond. However, on the 2nd performance, with the year 13s we knew that they would be very vocal and it was going to involve them as much as possible. For example, Beth gave Rachel's little girl the teddy bear to look after at the beginning of the journey and the robbers went right up to audience during their scene- using direct address and eye contact. I believe that next time we could ask the audience even more questions- even if they are young because the more you ask, the better the reaction you will get. For example, the more questions you ask them, the more confident they will get in reacting to questions and therefore they will enjoy it more. We didn't really have any last minute changes other than the decision to not use the sleigh. The Snow Queen (Lizzy)'s costume involved a very long 'cape' and it just wasn't suitable for her to travel round in the sleigh as it would've looked clumsy and chances are, her cape would've fallen off! This was a wise decision but if I were to do the performance again, I would make the sleigh bigger or with a 'door' so that getting into it wouldn't have been such an issue.
Wednesday 19 December 2012
Sunday 16 December 2012
Frantic Assembly's 'Beautiful Burnout'
On Thursday 22nd November we went to watch Frantic Assembly's 'Beautiful Burnout' at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton. It was BRILLIANT!
Beautiful Burnout told the story of a boy who's dreams of becoming a Professional Boxer came true but at a huge price. The story was told through dialogue and movement sequences.
What I loved about this performance was the use of movement. Frantic Assembly are well known for their brilliant physical theatre and it didn't disappoint. My favourite movement sequences in the performance were the ones which showed training. The music they used had a very heavy bass and was very energetic and quick. This was effective as it created an energetic atmosphere which set the tone for the boxing theme.
What I loved about this performance was the use of movement. Frantic Assembly are well known for their brilliant physical theatre and it didn't disappoint. My favourite movement sequences in the performance were the ones which showed training. The music they used had a very heavy bass and was very energetic and quick. This was effective as it created an energetic atmosphere which set the tone for the boxing theme.
Saturday 8 December 2012
Production Evaluation for The Snow Queen
The Production behind the Snow Queen was generally very fun and I believe our final piece was to a very high standard.
I learnt many important things through the Production side of doing the Snow Queen. What became very clear to me is that you don't need a big budget to make a good set. You simply need imagination and hard work. With the exception of the paint, our trees were made completely out of used items which would've been thrown out had it not been for our performance. Newspaper, cardboard tubes and bamboo sticks is all we needed to make two huge trees. Our overall budget was probably around £70 and what we got out of that was absolutely incredible. The Snow Queen's palace, the Royal Palace and the Forest looked incredible. The Flower garden could've been better but I'll go into more detail on how we could have improved that later. Next time, I feel that it would have been sensible to have put on more 'evening' sessions. We only had one evening session- the day before the performance. It's here that the set took shape and the scenes came together. In this session alone, we made the entire set for the Royal Castle. This included making the Balloon Archway and decorating the chair and table with 'Royal Garments'. We also put the Snow Palace scene together during this evening scene and also ensured that the trees in the forest stood up voluntarily. All of this emphasises just how important this session was. Only one member of the group failed to turn up and I think this makes it clear that teamwork is important when it comes to Production as the more people there are on hand, the quicker and easier the job is. This leads me onto my next point that I believe everyone should have come to every Academy session each Wednesday to get set done more efficiently and quickly. Having more people at Academy would have got the set and props done quicker and we would have had more time to prepare for the actual performance.
There were several sessions and parts of sessions that I found interesting in the lead up to The Snow Queen. I loved making props and set in general because I enjoy practical work and making the set and props gave me an insight into what the performance was going to look like. Making the trees, in particular, were a lot of fun as we had to work in small groups when making the trees. I also loved the very first lesson of all when we drew a theatre and labelled all the different parts and jobs that you would find in a theatre. This taught us all the different things that go on in a theatre and also gave us ideas of what areas we would like to work/concentrate on. I also enjoyed making mood boards although I think next time we should have made them before we started making set as it would have kick started our ideas and given us a clear understanding of what we wanted to do. We had already started the set; in fact we had most of the set done, so the Mood Boards were based around what we had already done- not our ideas.
I would like to pursue and explore the role of Costume, Hair and Make up as a result of working on The Snow Queen this term. I think costume is the most interesting part of the production and it's one of the most important too. Costume and Make up have the power to create a character in their own right and the transformation that is has on people is so interesting. Just take a look at Lizzy who played the snow queen. She was completely and utterly transformed with her blue dress, white cape and blue/silver make up. Costume and Make Up help you stay in role as they make you feel as though you ARE that character and is if you are living that character. Costume and Make up in theatre is always over the top and exaggerated and this interests me as you have the opportunity to make make up and costume completely OVER the top.
I believe my contribution to the production process was very effective. I made a wide range of props and set which included flowers, trees, sleigh, balloon archway and the forest floor. I put a lot of time into the production side of the Snow Queen and I actually enjoyed it. I made sure that I attended every Academy time that I could and I believe this shows just how much of a team player I am. In Musical Theatre everyone needs to pull together to ensure that everything is made/done to the highest possible standard. The more people who work together on a job, the quicker and more efficient the job is done. All the set and props I made stayed together and were sturdy even if it took me a few attempts to ensure so. My attendance and punctuality is 100% which definitely helped the production as I was always there to help and chip in. I was very resourceful- making flowers out of yoghurt pots and tissue paper, trees out of cardboard tubes, bamboo sticks and newspaper, a cardboard sleigh, balloon archway and collected fallen leaves to paint/put underneath the trees in the forest. Next time we could improve our contribution by doing certain weeks where everyone focuses on one scene or piece of set. We did whatever set we felt like during production process and I feel that it would've been a lot more organised and effective if we had different weeks for different allocated scenes and this way we would have got it all completed a lot quicker.
The only parts of the production process that I found frustrating was when people didn't turn up to rehearsals or sessions. It really does affect the group even if one person is missing as it means there is one less person to help with set and props which does make a big difference. I also got frustrated and found it difficult to make the flowers by using the glue gun at first. But I eventually grasped the idea and I believe this is the case for everything that I found frustrating or difficult. No matter what the problem was, I managed to sort it out and accomplish what I needed to do eventually.
I loved the production process of the Snow Queen.....I can't wait until our next Production!!!
I learnt many important things through the Production side of doing the Snow Queen. What became very clear to me is that you don't need a big budget to make a good set. You simply need imagination and hard work. With the exception of the paint, our trees were made completely out of used items which would've been thrown out had it not been for our performance. Newspaper, cardboard tubes and bamboo sticks is all we needed to make two huge trees. Our overall budget was probably around £70 and what we got out of that was absolutely incredible. The Snow Queen's palace, the Royal Palace and the Forest looked incredible. The Flower garden could've been better but I'll go into more detail on how we could have improved that later. Next time, I feel that it would have been sensible to have put on more 'evening' sessions. We only had one evening session- the day before the performance. It's here that the set took shape and the scenes came together. In this session alone, we made the entire set for the Royal Castle. This included making the Balloon Archway and decorating the chair and table with 'Royal Garments'. We also put the Snow Palace scene together during this evening scene and also ensured that the trees in the forest stood up voluntarily. All of this emphasises just how important this session was. Only one member of the group failed to turn up and I think this makes it clear that teamwork is important when it comes to Production as the more people there are on hand, the quicker and easier the job is. This leads me onto my next point that I believe everyone should have come to every Academy session each Wednesday to get set done more efficiently and quickly. Having more people at Academy would have got the set and props done quicker and we would have had more time to prepare for the actual performance.
There were several sessions and parts of sessions that I found interesting in the lead up to The Snow Queen. I loved making props and set in general because I enjoy practical work and making the set and props gave me an insight into what the performance was going to look like. Making the trees, in particular, were a lot of fun as we had to work in small groups when making the trees. I also loved the very first lesson of all when we drew a theatre and labelled all the different parts and jobs that you would find in a theatre. This taught us all the different things that go on in a theatre and also gave us ideas of what areas we would like to work/concentrate on. I also enjoyed making mood boards although I think next time we should have made them before we started making set as it would have kick started our ideas and given us a clear understanding of what we wanted to do. We had already started the set; in fact we had most of the set done, so the Mood Boards were based around what we had already done- not our ideas.
I would like to pursue and explore the role of Costume, Hair and Make up as a result of working on The Snow Queen this term. I think costume is the most interesting part of the production and it's one of the most important too. Costume and Make up have the power to create a character in their own right and the transformation that is has on people is so interesting. Just take a look at Lizzy who played the snow queen. She was completely and utterly transformed with her blue dress, white cape and blue/silver make up. Costume and Make Up help you stay in role as they make you feel as though you ARE that character and is if you are living that character. Costume and Make up in theatre is always over the top and exaggerated and this interests me as you have the opportunity to make make up and costume completely OVER the top.
I believe my contribution to the production process was very effective. I made a wide range of props and set which included flowers, trees, sleigh, balloon archway and the forest floor. I put a lot of time into the production side of the Snow Queen and I actually enjoyed it. I made sure that I attended every Academy time that I could and I believe this shows just how much of a team player I am. In Musical Theatre everyone needs to pull together to ensure that everything is made/done to the highest possible standard. The more people who work together on a job, the quicker and more efficient the job is done. All the set and props I made stayed together and were sturdy even if it took me a few attempts to ensure so. My attendance and punctuality is 100% which definitely helped the production as I was always there to help and chip in. I was very resourceful- making flowers out of yoghurt pots and tissue paper, trees out of cardboard tubes, bamboo sticks and newspaper, a cardboard sleigh, balloon archway and collected fallen leaves to paint/put underneath the trees in the forest. Next time we could improve our contribution by doing certain weeks where everyone focuses on one scene or piece of set. We did whatever set we felt like during production process and I feel that it would've been a lot more organised and effective if we had different weeks for different allocated scenes and this way we would have got it all completed a lot quicker.
The only parts of the production process that I found frustrating was when people didn't turn up to rehearsals or sessions. It really does affect the group even if one person is missing as it means there is one less person to help with set and props which does make a big difference. I also got frustrated and found it difficult to make the flowers by using the glue gun at first. But I eventually grasped the idea and I believe this is the case for everything that I found frustrating or difficult. No matter what the problem was, I managed to sort it out and accomplish what I needed to do eventually.
I loved the production process of the Snow Queen.....I can't wait until our next Production!!!
Thursday 6 December 2012
Peer Assesment of year 13's TiE
Today we watched the year 13's TiE performances....here is what I thought well and what could be improved!
Group 1: The Feather
The Feather told the story of a boy who won a feather and was asked to find the bird that the feather had to come from by his Step Mother. To be quite honest, the story was incredibly confusing and unclear but there were certain aspects of the piece that I thought was good. I liked the movement sequence used when the boy went to the 'Crazy Lady' and was being controlled by her and the use of eerie music in the background emphasised the seriousness of the situation. The characters were clear although I feel that it should be made clearer who the 'Crazy Lady' is and her motives for controlling/hurting the boy. There is also a part where his Step Mother is on the phone to someone saying that the deal was off. We had no idea who she was on the phone to until after the performance when we were informed that she was on the phone to the crazy lady of whom she had told to 'get rid' of her step-son. This needs to be made clearer and the Step Mother's plans need to be clear from the start of the piece to avoid the audience being confused. They should do this by getting the Step Mum to directly address the audience about her relationship with her step son and here she can make her plans clear. They could even bring in a narrator, like the other groups, to ensure the storyline is understandable. What I liked about this piece was the 'signs' which they held up whenever the boy got a text message
Group 2: The son of Liam
This group was a lot clearer with their storyline than the first group. It told the story of a boy, his dad and his 'evil' Step Mum who happens to be a witch and turns him into a swan! The characters were clear and this was partly to do with the fact that they had a narrator who introduced each character and also put 'tags' on each character so the audience could see who was who. This group also used Frantic Assembly's Chair technique which added another dynamic to the piece. In order to improve this piece I think they should make it clearer that Josh has been turned into a swan and they could also use movement better because apart from their use of Frantic Assembly's Chair Duet, it wasn't used particularly well- even FA's technique could be used to better accord by involving everyone in it to show each character's feelings.
Group 3: Selky Woman
I loved this piece! The Selky Woman is a modernised version of an Irish Folk Tale in which a Seal hits her head and forgets about her old life and marries a man and has two children with him. In this version, the Seal was a real life woman. I liked the fact that they changed the genre of the piece as it will allow their audience of year 10's to relate to the story as it's more realistic. This group also had a narrator which made it easier to understand. The group also used a eukalale very effectively! The piece began with the eukalale being played very happily and merrily- however, as we learnt that his parents died, it got quieter. It was played again at the end of the piece to show to once again show the mood of the piece. The characters in this were very very clear and the storyline was very easy to follow as it was made clear with a narrator and their narrative was just generally a lot more cleaner and clearer than the other groups' storylines. I loved how the piece was both humourous at times yet still very serious and sad- the characters were so well portrayed that I actually felt sorry for Neil when his wife walks out on him! I believe this piece was really appeal to the year 10 audience as i'm sure a lot of them will be able to relate to the children in the piece when neil splits up with his wife (their parents). I also loved the movement sequence that showed the couple going from marriage to honeymoon to family to children. This group used Frantic Assembly's Chair technique VERY effectively. They used it to show the 'awkwardness' and 'argument' between the family when the Seal/Wife decides that she's no longer happy in the marriage- she walks out.
Group 4: The Legend of Finn McCall
The Legend of Finn McCall was my favourite group of the day. I loved their originality and humour. Their piece was based around 'The Legend of Finn McCall' but they put it together as if it was them telling the stories- they didn't have 'proper' characters. A lot of the humour in the piece was quite adult and a lot of it would only be found funny by those who actually know the group themselves which could be a problem when performing to a year 10 audience. However, there was a lot of humour in there which I'm sure the year 10s will enjoy- like when Emily pretends to be a fish (very badly....on purpose!) or when Grace shows off her muscles at the end of the piece. The story was also very clear and I believe this is because 80% of the piece was direct address to the audience. The fact that they were addressing the audience directly made me feel more involved in the piece and I believe this will work extremely well when they go into a school next week.
Group 1: The Feather
The Feather told the story of a boy who won a feather and was asked to find the bird that the feather had to come from by his Step Mother. To be quite honest, the story was incredibly confusing and unclear but there were certain aspects of the piece that I thought was good. I liked the movement sequence used when the boy went to the 'Crazy Lady' and was being controlled by her and the use of eerie music in the background emphasised the seriousness of the situation. The characters were clear although I feel that it should be made clearer who the 'Crazy Lady' is and her motives for controlling/hurting the boy. There is also a part where his Step Mother is on the phone to someone saying that the deal was off. We had no idea who she was on the phone to until after the performance when we were informed that she was on the phone to the crazy lady of whom she had told to 'get rid' of her step-son. This needs to be made clearer and the Step Mother's plans need to be clear from the start of the piece to avoid the audience being confused. They should do this by getting the Step Mum to directly address the audience about her relationship with her step son and here she can make her plans clear. They could even bring in a narrator, like the other groups, to ensure the storyline is understandable. What I liked about this piece was the 'signs' which they held up whenever the boy got a text message
Group 2: The son of Liam
This group was a lot clearer with their storyline than the first group. It told the story of a boy, his dad and his 'evil' Step Mum who happens to be a witch and turns him into a swan! The characters were clear and this was partly to do with the fact that they had a narrator who introduced each character and also put 'tags' on each character so the audience could see who was who. This group also used Frantic Assembly's Chair technique which added another dynamic to the piece. In order to improve this piece I think they should make it clearer that Josh has been turned into a swan and they could also use movement better because apart from their use of Frantic Assembly's Chair Duet, it wasn't used particularly well- even FA's technique could be used to better accord by involving everyone in it to show each character's feelings.
Group 3: Selky Woman
I loved this piece! The Selky Woman is a modernised version of an Irish Folk Tale in which a Seal hits her head and forgets about her old life and marries a man and has two children with him. In this version, the Seal was a real life woman. I liked the fact that they changed the genre of the piece as it will allow their audience of year 10's to relate to the story as it's more realistic. This group also had a narrator which made it easier to understand. The group also used a eukalale very effectively! The piece began with the eukalale being played very happily and merrily- however, as we learnt that his parents died, it got quieter. It was played again at the end of the piece to show to once again show the mood of the piece. The characters in this were very very clear and the storyline was very easy to follow as it was made clear with a narrator and their narrative was just generally a lot more cleaner and clearer than the other groups' storylines. I loved how the piece was both humourous at times yet still very serious and sad- the characters were so well portrayed that I actually felt sorry for Neil when his wife walks out on him! I believe this piece was really appeal to the year 10 audience as i'm sure a lot of them will be able to relate to the children in the piece when neil splits up with his wife (their parents). I also loved the movement sequence that showed the couple going from marriage to honeymoon to family to children. This group used Frantic Assembly's Chair technique VERY effectively. They used it to show the 'awkwardness' and 'argument' between the family when the Seal/Wife decides that she's no longer happy in the marriage- she walks out.
Group 4: The Legend of Finn McCall
The Legend of Finn McCall was my favourite group of the day. I loved their originality and humour. Their piece was based around 'The Legend of Finn McCall' but they put it together as if it was them telling the stories- they didn't have 'proper' characters. A lot of the humour in the piece was quite adult and a lot of it would only be found funny by those who actually know the group themselves which could be a problem when performing to a year 10 audience. However, there was a lot of humour in there which I'm sure the year 10s will enjoy- like when Emily pretends to be a fish (very badly....on purpose!) or when Grace shows off her muscles at the end of the piece. The story was also very clear and I believe this is because 80% of the piece was direct address to the audience. The fact that they were addressing the audience directly made me feel more involved in the piece and I believe this will work extremely well when they go into a school next week.
Monday 3 December 2012
Sunday 2 December 2012
Kim- Production- 29th November 2012
In Today's lesson I focused on making flowers and the Snow Queen's sleigh.
At the start of the lesson, It was clear that the sleigh really needed to be made as it was still just cardboard- it wasn't even in the shape of a sleigh. However, by the end of the lesson, we ended up with a brilliant looking sleigh! We spray painted it silver and stuck tinsel to the sides to make it look very snowy like. All we need to do now is add bamboo sticks through the sides so the Snow Queen (lizzy) can pick it up and walk around stage as if she's actually in a sleigh!
I also spent a lot of time making flowers as we were in desperate need of more flowers for the flower garden!
At the start of the lesson, It was clear that the sleigh really needed to be made as it was still just cardboard- it wasn't even in the shape of a sleigh. However, by the end of the lesson, we ended up with a brilliant looking sleigh! We spray painted it silver and stuck tinsel to the sides to make it look very snowy like. All we need to do now is add bamboo sticks through the sides so the Snow Queen (lizzy) can pick it up and walk around stage as if she's actually in a sleigh!
I also spent a lot of time making flowers as we were in desperate need of more flowers for the flower garden!
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