Double Performing Arts Lesson (15th February)

In today's lesson after our physical and character warm ups we began working on out new scene that we planned in our last lesson. Our scene began with James (Zanni) picking up a bottle he found thinking it was hair gel, however it turned out to be super glue. He spotted Rhiannon (Colombina) and started rubbing the gel through his hair in an attempt to impress her, however he found his hands got stuck to his head.
We decided to have a comedic phrase where Colombina turns away from Zanni and he begins struggling yanking his hands trying to un-stick them from his head, however every time Colombina turned to look at him, he would be flexing or doing sit up, as if he was working out.
Eventually Colombina spots the pot of glue and realises what Zanni has done, therefore she goes over to help him and in the process gets her hand stuck to Zanni's head.
At this point in the scene, the Doctor is introduced. He begins to go on about the chemicals in the glue and why it sticks until Colombina interrupts him and asks him to help her get un-stuck, by doing this the doctor helps Colombina but gets himself stuck to her. Then Zanni decides to grab hold of Colombian's leg (in order to thank her for helping him).
After this comes the introduction of The Captain (me). The Captain enters to The Doctor bending Colombiana over trying to pull his hand off her shoulder.
However this was meant to be perceived as a more funny/sexual act, therefore The Captain reacts to this act by challenging The Doctor to a duel.

This was the furthest we had done through the scene so far. During this lesson we went back over this scene to see what we could add. We began by refreshing everyone's minds on the scene to see what we could add. We decided we wanted to add more comedy into the scene at the introduction to The Doctor therefore we decided to have him going off on a rant about glue and what chemicals are in the glue (why they are stuck) before he is stopped by Colombina and brought back to the subject of the script.
We also added more pause between The Captain's entrance and the realisation of Colombina, The Captain and Zanni to make it more hysterical for the audience.

Single Performing Arts Lesson (11th February)

In today's lesson we sat down as a group and discussed what other scenes we wanted to add or needed in our performance. We agreed that the game show would be the centre of our performance everything leading up to game show affect what happens after the game show. Therefore we decided to work on a scene that would lead us into the game show. A 'behind the scenes' based scene.
The picture shows the script we created for this scene.

This scene was created with the intention to pre- shock the audience, hoping the actual game show will be an ever bigger shock for them as they think the 'behind the scene's' scene is bad enough and it wont get any worse. Then when the 'game show. is the real shock it will hit the audience harder.
We also wanted to show a contrast between all of our characters off and on stage. For example- Ollie and Lorna are brutal to the contestants behind the scenes and they don't care about how anyone else feels, however when they are on stage they become all smiles as if nothing is going wrong and the whole situation is normal.

Double Performing Arts Lesson (10th February 2016)

In today's lesson we began working on the 5th section to our story 'The Snow Queen', section 5 was Rhiannon's scene.

Rhiannon decided she wanted her scene to be spoken rather than recorded. Her chosen technique was movement, she also liked the idea Charlie had to have people people copy specific words in the script. However instead of just picking random words out, Rhiannon decided to nominate a character to each person-
                       Lorna- Little Robber Maiden
                       Lewis- Gerda
                       Rob (me)- Gerda
                       Ollie K- Gerda
                       James Reindeer
                       Charlie- Pigeon

These characters we chosen because they had to most dialogue in the story, therefore Rhiannon decided she wanted us to read out the words from the script that we would, to make it more understandable for the audience to know who each character was.
We then decided to have a run through of the script reading out parts out as they come along in the script. We deiced instead of just reading it through it would be better to begin performing our scene along side the dialogue.
To incorporate the movement into the piece Rhiannon decided she wanted us to make movements on specific key words she says during the script (for example on the verb "dazzled", we all cover our eyes as if we became exposed to something dazzling.) We also included constant movement as well as gestures (for example when Rhiannon talks about 'the carriage' we clump together and sway side to side as a group as if we were in a carriage).
This is a good way to keep the audiences attention because it gives them a visual representation of the story as well as a verbal one.  

Double Performing Arts Lessons (5th February and 8th February 2016)

5th January

In today's lesson I continued with my mask. I began painting my mask. I researched different 'Il Capitano' masks for colour ideas. I finally found a picture I wanted to base my mask off. This mask has symmetrical (black and red) diamond shaped eyes with a gold nose and forehead. After analysing the picture I began drawing out on my mask where I wanted each colour of paint to go. I considered different shapes and decided I wanted to create half a diamond shape past the eyes and the nose joining the corner of the eyebrows to make it look symmetrical and have the entire cheek in the designated colour (red and black) to make it stand out more. I also decided I wanted to paint the eyebrows the opposite colour (E.G- black cheek with a red eyebrow and a Red cheek with a black eyebrow) to make them stand out more.

I began by putting masking tape over the lines I drew to make sure it is flush and in a straight line. I covered the eyebrows with masking tape to ensure they don't get paint on them.

For the remainder of the lesson I decided to begin painting the sides of the masks with the red and black paint I had previously decided to use. (The picture shows the progress I had made by the end of the lesson).

8th January

In today's lesson I finished off painting my mask, I began with the eyebrows. I added more masking tape in an attempt to keep the two colours separate to give it the most affect. I tried to blend the fore head in with the eyebrows a bit to add a bit of contrast to my mask, however the black paint overpowered the gold colour of the eyebrows making it look untidy.

I was able to wipe the majority of the black off and re-colour however there was still an overpowering feel of black in the left side of the forehead.

 Apart from that I was very happy with the way my mask came out and next lesson I will finish off with detail using pens to show a clearer separation between the two colours.

Single Performing Arts Lessons (4th February and 5th February 2016)

4th February
In today's lesson (as we were missing Ollie) we decided to begin creating our boxes for our Game Show Scene 'Keep or No Keep' ( the abortion Deal or No Deal) I attempted to get hold of 3 boxes and begin painting them red to look like those from Deal or No Deal, however we were unable to get some at this time, therefore Lorna began sketching out the numbers we would stick on the front of our boxes.
I was able to find a picture of each of the numbers (3,6 and 21) from the TV show so Lorna would be able to replicate the exact way they are on the boxes. Therefore As Lorna and I began to paint the box numbers, Katya continued to expand our script for our game show.



5th February
We started this lesson by continuing with our Game Show, we decided to begin performing the scene begging to stage it. However we thought it would be a good idea before staging to become more into our characters therefore we did a character swap. This was very helpful because it showed us how other people believed our character is portrayed.
I struggled with grasping my character because in the script I had to completely flip out and scream at everyone else on stage, and even after watching Lorna play the line how she believed it was portrayed I was still unable to completely flip out for no reason. The louder I got with it and the more I tried to sound angry the more over the top and unrealistic it sounded. Therefore we discussed what i could do to flip out and make it sound realistic. Kat suggested I take  a few minutes to think about things that make me angry and use all that anger on my script. to make the anger real.
This idea worked, it was the best run I had of the script, I was realistically angry, by raising my voice but not too much that it becomes too made up. In my opinion I think the tone of voice makes it work well with the topic we have chosen.
Overall I think we are happy with the characters and the scripts we just need to work a little more on the staging of the game show.

Double Performing Arts Lesson (3rd February 2016)

In today's lesson we began on Charlie's section of the story, he decided he wanted his narration to be recorded rather than spoken making it easier for him to be part of the scene.
In this scene Gerda is on her way to Finland when she comes across a house and meets a lady who gives her advice to help her on her way to Finland. A reindeer took her there and abandoned her in the middle of "dreadful icy Finland", without her boots or gloves (which she had forgotten to take with her).
Charlie decided he wanted to use a completely different techniques in his story, so he chose 'choral speaking'. We sat down with our scripts and pens and worked out when would be best for us to use this chosen technique.
We decided that every time the 'Finland woman' or 'Snow Queen' came up in the script, we would all say it at the same time, as these two women are used most frequently in this scene.

As the picture shows we also decided to highlight 'miserable', 'creep', 'diminutive', 'dirty' and 'barefooted'. We also included the phrases 'she knew it by heart', 'splinter of glass' and 'large bright tears'. 

At the end of the script it says "Little Gerda repeated the 'Lords Prayer'. At this point Olly and I quietly echo the beginning of the lords prayer ("Our Farther who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven") until Charlie says the last word in the script (shattering). 

After this we decided we would begin staging this scene. We decided we wanted to have the audience along the wall facing us from the front, however we decided to separate the audience so that each of us (in the performance) can stand behind a member of the audience.This worked well because we each have separate lines to speak therefore the audience will be unaware when each of us speak keeping them on their toes as we say our lines right behind them. 

Single Performing Arts Lesson (2nd February 2016)

We began today's lesson by looking back over the scenes we had and what new scene we wanted to work on.
So far our scenes include:
                                        Intercourse scene
                                        Party scene
                                        Pregnancy Confession scene
                                        Game Show scene
                                        Abortion Clinic scene
                                        Future scene (what would have happened if the child was/wasn't aborted)

So far for our scene we have completed our 'Intercourse scene' and our 'Pregnancy Confession scene'. We have started but haven't completed our 'Game Show scene' and our 'Abortion Clinic scene', and we are yet to begin devising our 'Party scene' and our 'Future scene'.

We began discussing staging. Lorna suggested a few, such as proscenium arch and thrust. However we decided we wanted to be different, therefore we decided to go for our own type of staging. We decided we wanted the audience positioned as if they were in a clinic waiting room. We decided against proscenium arch as we wanted a more unusual and more complicated type of staging, as the topics in our performance are complicated and challenging. However we also discussed using a traverse style of staging as well. However we decided against it, as it wouldn't work for our dance scenes (Love Making) as we would like people to see it from mainly the front.

Single Performing Arts Lesson (28th January 2016)

In this lesson we started by going through our scenes we had previously planned. We discussed techniques that we wanted to add and techniques we had already included. 

We realised we had used movement a lot more than any of the other techniques we had previously suggested. Therefore we decided to create a breakdown diagram of our scenes so far to see what techniques we could add to the scenes we have already. 

So far our piece includes movement, dialogue and soundscapes; however, we don't want our piece to be too movement based so we have decided to create a more scripted scenes to explore characters in more depth to enable us to explore and include different ideas and techniques into our performance.

Kat and Olly came up with an idea to include more dialogue into our performance. They created an idea for an abortion game show. We began by discussing different game show ideas to fit the theme of our piece. We decided on three ideas. They were The Weakest Link, Who wants to be a millionaire and Deal or No Deal. We began by discussing 'Who wants to be a Millionaire' but realised there weren't enough characters in the game to involve everyone. Therefore we began looking into The Weakest Link, we used it as a template and brainstormed ideas for the outcome of the game. Therefore the winner of the game would choose if the baby would be aborted or not. However we realised that we wouldn't have enough people to make the game effective.

The last game we had was Deal or No Deal, we began by discussing what characters we would need in the game and decided we would need a Banker, a Host and 2 contestants. 

Miss Cordell suggested we research other plays or films that include a similar theme of a horrific way to show people off to the public, therefore Ollie suggested we had a look at a piece he had performed before called 'Ten Tiny Fingers, Nine Tiny Toes'. The scene Ollie was thinking of was about two pregnant women (Dot and Lucinda) who were both being forced to have an abortion (Dot because she is from the bottom class and Lucinda because her baby was missing a toe). The nurse in this scene is called Orderly. Orderly has no morals nor any understanding of how the women must be feeling. 

Orderly is completely heartless and doesn't see anything wrong with abortions at all. Orderly moans at the women for crying, stating that they were making an awful noise. Conveniently, Ollie performed this role when we did this scene so already knows how to characterise this type of role, so Ollie would work very well as "the  Banker". 

In addition to making the audience feel uncomfortable about the topic being discussed we want to "glam up" the topic in a completely inappropriate way (without offending anyone though). We got inspiration for this idea from the film "Hunger Games", in which each contestant is introduced in an over-the-top way despite knowing that only one of them shall survive. We want the audience to be shocked at how such a topic is presented. 

Double Performing Arts Lessons (29th January and 1st February 2016)

29th January

In today's lesson we continued to build up our Commedia De'll Arte mask. Previously we had began to mold the 'Plaster Paris' to our faces to get the shape (so they fitted to our faces only) and layered them with 3 layers to help them keep their shape. 

Therefore the next for us was to draw on our masks where we wanted our eye holes to go, so we could cut them out before we make the mask thicker and stronger.

After this we were given the option of designing our masks (noses and eye brows) or to add more 'Plaster Paris' to bulk up our makes and make them stronger. 

I decided that for this lesson I would make my mask stronger, to lower the risk of it breaking, therefore next lesson I will begin to add features to my mask, based on the research (pictures) I found on my character. 

1st February

In today's Lesson I worked on the facial features on my mask, I decided to start with my eyebrows. I had previously researched about my character and I found out that he pretends to be mighty and strong but the minute someone challenges him he gets scared and runs away. I also found out that he thinks he is far up in the pecking order however this is delusional  as he is stupid and he is nearer the bottom. 

Therefore I bared this in mind whist designing my eyebrows. Eventually I decided to place my eyes slightly higher up on my forehead to show the fear in my character. I also decided to place one eyebrow at a slightly different angle to the other to show the stupid characteristics my character possesses. 

After choosing where my eyebrows would go, I began to layer them up on my head in the appropriate places making sure they are big and thick. Having them thick is important because if i turn my head to face another actor I still need the audience to be able to see my facial expressions. 

Once I had layered on my eyebrows thick enough, I layered them with 'Plaster Paris' to ensure they stay in place. 

I then began to work on the nose, as I had previous found out that my character is stupid and scared, the rule in Commedia De'll Arte is the more stupid the character is, the longer the nose. Therefore I decided to model my nose of the one in the picture (above) by shaping a piece of paper into the shape of a cone (roughly) and layer it in 'Plaster Paris' to keep it in place. 

(The picture shows the results)  

Double Performing Arts Lesson (27th January 2016)

Last lesson we we asked to research a famous narrator. We started this lesson by discussing the narrator we chose to research and why we liked the way they narrate. I decided to research Brian Blessed as my narrator. I chose him because he is very unorthodox. His voice is boomy and recognisable. Other members of the group (like James) chose to take the more obvious approach with Morgan Freeman.

We discussed using our chosen narrators, what makes a good narrator, so Miss Cordell suggested we watch the 'Reduced Shakespeare Company'. This company tells the entire works of Shakespeare in an easy to understand and more engaging way. As a group we agreed that we liked the way the narrator sat on the stage with a literal book but had other actors to help him tell the story. The other actors were key to the performance because they added movement to the piece and make it more interesting to watch.

(The video we watched)                                

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XR1qWLaagU

After this we moved back onto 'The Snow Queen'. We read through Ollie's scene and discussed what techniques he wanted to use. As Ollie's script  is spoken rather than recorded, he decided he wanted to use  the same techniques used in the video we watched and read his script out of a book aswell. He thought as his scene was the last one in our story he would end the entire production with him closing his book, as if it was a story inside a story. 

We were given jobs to do for the next lesson, I volunteered to create the 'Mise en Scene' for the performance to go towards my film studies work, so I agreed to go home and create a layout for how and where I believed the lights should be placed.  

Single Performing Arts Lesson (26th January 2016)

In this lesson we decided we wanted to run our dance phrase and our scripted scene. We started by running through the scene again a couple of times to refresh everyone's memories and make sure we are all on the same page. We worked through the dance slowly at first to make sure we had the timings right before performing it at the right speed.

Once we had performed then both enough times that we were happy with them we decided to perform them both together. We were happy with the two scenes and agreed to start something new. We discussed different techniques and what one we believed would go well with our performance and the ones we had already included. 

We agreed on a soundscape as we had used it in a previous scene and it worked really well. We then discussed what sort of scene we thought it would work well in an abortion clinic scene. Therefore we brain stormed the sorts of noises you would hear in a hospital (abortion clinic), we came up with a heart monitor beeping, a clock ticking, footsteps, a heartbeat, and a baby crying. We then made these noises and quickly realised that we were going to need a sound effect of a baby crying as none of us could make this noise sound convincing.

We then decided to put some movement to it to make it look more interesting. We decided to stand in a straight line and move in a square shape, swapping positions with the person next to us.

I suggested that we should include some different acting techniques because our entire performance so far is based on movement and we should include some acting as well. Therefore we stopped with the soundscape for now, However we didn't have enough time to start on a new scene idea so we decided to go over the  dance into the scene and film it so we can see what its like ourselves and see how we can improve it.

After watching the video, we then realised that we forgot to stage it how we did before (with both pairs in different corners). However, we have decided to change the staging to fit the performance. We decided to make sure that Ollie and Lorna do their first dance behind Kat and I therefore we are visible as they are on a higher level than us because we are sitting and they are standing.

Double Performing Arts Lesson (25th January 2016)

We started this lesson by running the opening scene we devised last lesson. However we believed it lacked energy and it wasn't exciting enough for a Commedia De'll Arte piece. We realised quite quickly (after running it again) it wasn't exciting enough because none of us were in character, therefore we continued with a couple of character warm ups. The first exercise we did was sit in pairs and tell each other about our stock characters (their characteristics, their relationships with other characters and how they move).

For our second exercise we started to study Lazzi (comedic movements). We went off in groups (Lorna and James) (Olly, Rhiannon and I) and (Lewis and Charlie). 

My group decided to go down the idea of a sword fight (as Il Capitano is know for having a sword), We began with Il Capitano trying to show off in front of Colombina to show up The Doctor. However when the Doctor challenged Il Capitano to a sword fight he cowered away,at that moment Colombina took the sword off Il Capitano and dueled with The Doctor because she didn't want him to feel like he'd won.

We then performed out scenes in front of the rest of the class and got feedback. Miss McSherry advised me to use my body expressions more and not my face because when we have our masks they wont be seen. She also advised me to keep my face to the audience and not the other people I'm performing with. She told me I can glance over at them when I'm interacting with them but keep the majority of my focus on the audience as they will want to see the front of  my mask not the side or the back. 

Double Performing Arts Lesson (22nd January 2016)

We began today's lesson with a warm up and a focus exercise to get us all motivated for the lesson. After we completed our warm ups we performed our scenes we had worked on previously. Olly and Lewis's was my favourite scene. It was about The Doctor and Pantalone planning to kill Harlequin. This was my favourite scene because I believe they understood their characters better than the other groups and it was a funny and believe scene that quite easily be used in a real Commedia De'll Arte performance.

Although I believe Lorna, Charlie and My scene was also good because it was funny and well directed. However we still need work on our characters. Our scene was also about killing harlequin but it was accidental. I attempted to boss Brighella around but she was having none of it and she challenged me to a duel. As my character is scared of everything I was trying to escape and Brighella attempted to stab me but i moved out the way and accidentally killed Harlequin (who was innocently walking behind.)

The other groups (James and Rhiannon) piece was clever as they used no speech and only movement. There piece was about love as they threw their loves hearts to each other.

After watching the three scenes and getting notes/feedback, we decided to begin working on our first scene. We agreed that we wanted to begin the show with harlequin lying dead on the floor and the plot of the performance would be the flash backs of each character to find out who killed Harlequin. 

Our opening scene is staged as: 

-   Harlequin center stage - dead. Zanni SL is asleep.

-   Brighella walks in and finds Harlequin. Thinks he's asleep then realises he's dead.
-   Brighella calls Doctor on. Doctor does diagnosis.
-   Pantalone walks on and blames Brighella.
-   Brighella blames Il Capitano, who enters then blames Columbina.
-   Columbina enters and blames Zanni.
-   Zanni enters and prods Harlequin. Brig is angry. Zanni blames Columbina.
-   Everyone points at different people. The pointing swaps.
-   Il Capitano is certain that it is Doctor and Pantalone.