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)