PMD1/2/4 Generating scene transitions

Whilst Bella, Charlotte and Megan rehearsed their dance scene, myself , Matthew and Courtney worked on devising and developing transitions between all of our scenes. The purpose of this was to work on refining the performance and ensuring the movement and scenes flowed seamlessly.

I drew up the scenes in order and then discussed convergent and divergent ways to move from the last blocked movement /position to the starting position of the following scene. Props, lighting and movement were also considered in the discussion.

 

 

Once we created the transitions we shared them with the rest of the company and then practically explored them all to ensure they were suitable and appropriate.

 

One decision we made was to try and keep everyone on stage as long as possible in order for everyone to have enough time on stage to perform with the opportunity to show success and ability in maintaining character.

 

After exploration we found the Masquerade to Dance scene transition should be changed. Instead we had Iyla exit the stage, however myself, Hannah ,Courtney and Matthew held our courtesy position. We would later be incorporated into the Dance scene. This enabled us to maintain our characterisation and stay on stage for longer.

 

Additionally after the Wall scene, we decided to have Iyla, Matthew and Courtney remain on stage instead of exiting. We chose to have them follow Iyla, a(s they're under her control) to the back of stage where the tea party setting remains to observe her "puppets" torment. During this dance they will have a reprisal of the final tea party in mime.

 

For the last transition to the End scene, we decided to have Death's puppet (Courtney) collect the masks, followed by the Doctor (Matthew) who will perform steps of the embalming process on the dead bodies, as Courtney collects the masks.

 

Finally we also decided to give Courtney a monologue in the last scene before death takes her final victim, as Courtney was yet to have any dialogue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PMD1/2/4 Generating Material , Dance scene VDU

http://youtu.be/qDub9LaXaII


This video above looks at a dance scene that Charlotte, Megan and Bella have created for the performance.
This scene incorporates grotesque like movement and
elements from the masquerade scene for instance the curtseying. This video also shows us discussing how we would develop the material ourselves.

One development I suggested to add in was to make the performance more grotesque. In order to achieve this we said to add in a soundscape during the performance to emphasis the concept of disease and contagion. The dancers would add in coughs, gags, sneezes and other symptoms of illness.

Other developments made by the rest of the cast were to incorporate more marking the moment more to emphasis certain movements.

Additionally Bella wanted to add in more movement in unison so that the piece flows more and moments in which the group come together would be effective and less disjointed.

http://youtu.be/-B_daDeVrRk

This video shows the development of our dance scene. The scene involves Bella, Charlotte and Megan. In the video you can see the concept of contagion more evident through a symptom structure created shown below.

The theme of disease is shown through each movement representing a different concept:

• Scratching
• Dropping (stomach cramp)
• Vomiting
• Coughing

The ending of the scene

PMD1/2/4 Creating character monolgues VDU

This lesson there was only 4 of us in the lesson. This was a setback as we didn't have the full cast to futher develop our masquerade scene being the 'next step' in last weeks schedule.

In order to generate more material myself and Hannah decided to create 6 monologues to ensure everyone had a speaking role during the performance.

At random we chose 3 random storylines of the characters...

• " A Pirate, who is about to take over a ship"
• " A Doctor, a patient comes to life on his autopsy table"
• " A Time traveller, who just invented a time machine"
• " A gluttonous Chef, who never finishes making a dish"
• " A mistress of the King, trying not to get caught by the Queen"
• "A Nurse, who delivers conjoined twins" 

I chose the Pirate, Doctor and Time traveller titles whilst Hannah did the other three. We decided to style the monologues in the unique style of Beckett, using repetition, emotive less expression , gasping and soundscape e.g. coughing.

We had 10 minutes for each monologue to ensure we didn't waste time. In addition these monologues are to be recited in a timely fashion and therefore do not need to be long.

Below are the three monologue I wrote...

Below is a copy of the monologues Hannah created with annotations of changes/developments I would make.

PMD1/2/4 Masquerade Scene CKR

During this lesson Bella , Courtney and Megan devised a dance motif by collating their individual movement responses tour stimuli. This was the foundation of our Masquerade dance that was then taught to the rest of the group.

The 3 with direction from the rest of the company developed their individual movement into one piece.

http://youtu.be/KZB5VnoyONY

This video shows us suggesting performance possibilities for the scene and you can see the material created from the three individual motifs has been combined into movement to be taught to everyone in after school rehearsal sessions.



Development of the Masquerade scene:

This lesson consisted of the company developing the masquerade ball scene to link to our ideas of hidden identity and contagion. Refining needed to also be added to ensure the piece is detailed and fluid enough.

http://youtu.be/JJ6Rjep1pf0

Above is Courtney and Bella's development of the corridor suction of the scene. We decided that Courtney's puppet character should have some devised movement for moving through the "corridor of death". In the clip you can see suggestions were made to take a few small steps then into a crab. Contortion of the body was suggested and effective as it emphasised the fact she has no control.

Iyla and Megan worked on creating a more appropriate monologue for the corridor section also, in the style of Brecht, with the context focusing more on death and disease.

Matthew worked solo and researched and devised a monologue for his "Doctor" role to recite later in the scene. Below is a collection of the steps, I also added images so for development that we can learn and add as gestures whilst Matthew explains the procedure.

Lastly myself, Hannah and Charlotte. Discussed ideas about the "ring a ring a rosies" section whilst Matthews Doc. character delivers his hand washing monologue. We decided reciting the song was irrelevant and too much time was wasted on the timings of the song. Additionally the last verse "we all fall down" in the writers original intention signifies the death. As this is a middle section scene it didn't make sense to have the participants of the ball die at this moment. We removed the song entirely and moved Matthews monologue to come afterwards during when we courtesy and death travels around us leading us to feel uncomfortable and dirty, hence the need for a thorough hand scrub. We decided to build the intensity and speed as Iylas "Death" character moved closer to her "Puppet" Courtney.

After sharing this with the group we found it to be a successful development. From this discussion we decided Iyla to portray death and Courtney her puppet, being a friend by utter force. This links more effectively to our idea of "hidden identities" as it shows deaths evil, cunning and ruthless nature however her choice of companion shows infact she is alone, isolated and unloved by anyone and has to force a friendship for company in a world of isolation.  

Below is a completed rehearsal schedule for this session.

PMD1/2 Structuring developed pieces

 

 This image shows our initial structure we created as a group for our performance last week. The purpose of this was to ensure each scene has a seamless transition. Additionally we needed to ensure the order of the scenes made sense and didn't confuse the audience as this could hinder their ability to understand and see our message of "death is eminent".

This week we created another structure outlining the scenes involved. After further developing the work its evident this structure is most appropriate. The purpose of us structuring the scenes is to ensure to time is wasted decided what to develop/ devise next as we have a plan set out.

PMD1/2 Exploring Stimuli: Grand Stoke of Twelve VDU

Warming up:

Our starting warm up was based upon our sense of time. Our first activity involved us sitting in a space, eyes closed, we were to raise our hands when we sensed a minute had passed. We did this each time and personally got closer each time at got 1 minute exactly on the third go.

The next activity we did was called "24". As a group we had to count to 24. The rules prohibited more than one person to speak at once and only one number could be called at a time. This proved challenging as a group to complete trying to sense when to speak or not to speak.

These two activities proved useful later on in the lesson, the minute countdown made us aware of time helping us with pace. The "24" activity was helpful as we were more spatially aware as a group and it helped our groups sense of urgency as there was a lot of hesitation at first.

Main activity:

The group watched a video based upon the concept of time and mechanics of a clock. I used the monkey talk technique to list all the ideas I thought of in response to the video. These were then shared to the group.

One key idea from my work that we included into our final generated motif was the idea of varied speed and levels of the mechanism.

The mixture of paces (Fast and slow) represented time passing, the faster paces created a sense of urgency.

PMD1/2 Exploring stimuli: Quest for Atmosphere VDU

Gothic Architecture & Literature

The reason why we were focusing on gothic literature and the below image is because it links back to our chosen stimulus, "The Mask of Red Death".

 

Research & Performance ideas:

 

-Gothic literature zooms in on themes of violence, supernatural ideas e.g. vampires and werewolves.

-From the Mask of Red Death, it focuses on the last huge epidemic in England being the black death/ plague killing a large portion of London's population.

-An ideal practitioner for our style of performance would be Artuad as he is the king of horror and violent theatre, being the creator of "theatre for cruelty". His techniques and methods would be most suitable and adaptable to make a lasting impression/impact on the audience. To fit the genre his style of uncomfortable movement and sound will in turn create an uneasy feeling amongst the audience keeping them engaged throughout. Overall linking to gothic literatures dark, horror side.

 

 

This lesson we were looking at Gothic Literature. Of which is writing that employs dark and picturesque scenery, startling and melodramatic narrative devices.

The image above features gothic architecture as it contains features such as pointed arches, pillars and large scale designs. Once shown the image we had to pick two adjectives out of a list and then add two of our own.

Here are the four adjectives I chose...

Creepy , Eerie , Grand , Intriguing.

I came up with my own adjectives "Grand" "Intriguing". Firstly I chose the word grand as it describes the intricate and bold architecture of the building embodying sophistication and royalty suggesting it could of been an old ballroom or royal court.

Secondly I chose the word intriguing because the dark tones and elongated corridors suggest a vast eerie space of which has numerous possibilities creating a sense of mystery being intriguing to any witnesses.

Afterwards we drew a hand mark and focused on 3/5 senses, that we thought we would receive from being in the space shown in the stimuli. Above is my ideas for sight, sound and touch.

 

After the lesson I continued on with responding and came up with afew ideas for the other two senses smell and taste. (blue arrows are initial response and red arrows are development and link)

 

Next we got into groups of four. Each person had to use the silent sculpture technique to create a still image representing each adjective we chose. Other key adjectives chosen were: Regal, Towering, Structured, Intimidating. Below are some of the still images we created.

 This is another one of the still images I created. It symbolises "eerie". I sculpted myself, Hannah and Charlotte into strange positions, directions and levels. Therefore in that aspect the still image is successful in portraying the unique element of "eerie" however to further develop this image I would make Hannah's body language/position more abstract, possibly turning her onto her back but maintaining the hands and legs in the air.

This was another still image of mine this time representing "Intriguing". From my mind map particularly the smell branch, I came up with a rotten odour, emulating decay possibly of a dead corpse, this idea sprung from the vast amount of rooms and mystery that lay behind them. From that I rather literally created a death and reaction of those around being a loved one (represented by Charlotte, her low level indicated shock "dropping to her knees") whilst Iyla was less attached to the deceased but non the less still shocked. For development I would consider taking a more divergent approach and created a more obscure image to my stimuli response instead.

This is the third still image I created with silent sculpture. It represents my adjective "Grand". I created a tall, leaning, symmetrical image to symbolise the gothic architecture from the original stimulus, of the tall pillars, beams and curving arches. All of which led me to choose the word "Grand" as to me it conveys sophistication and extravagant, everything including the structure in the stimulus is large and therefore our stance , position and length were elongated also.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After creating a variety of still images we had to use our hand mind maps to add soundscape to our still images. Each of us chose a key idea to include, those chosen were : Loud footsteps, Owl toot, Wind/ whispers and blowing.

Our final task was to link our most successful still images together combines with seamless transitions inspired by gothic architecture and to include the sound scape shown below.

 

                                    

 

The video above demonstrated our groups still images with soundscape added to create an atmosphere. Our teacher Mrs Dugid, walks throughout the space to observe the atmosphere. What worked well in our piece was the unique spaces, shapes and levels we created with our images allowing her to travel in the nooks and crannies observing the piece from multiple angles and perspectives which an audience may find interesting making it suitable for performance. The transitions were unique and abstract fitting the theme of Gothic literature, and helped the still images flow together more seamlessly.

 

 

 

PMD1/2 Exploring stimuli: "Plague" CKR

Further exploration of stimuli...(PMD1/2)

The clip above was a piece generated from the word "Plague", taken from the "Mask of Red Death".

My group and I generated a mind map of ideas including practitioners to create a piece.

As a group we drew many ideas from Brecht's work and practices particularly his idea of "Epic Theatre" and to avoid the naturalistic theatre. This coined effectively well with our idea of a pandemic affecting the whole world. Our performance shows how the "plague" began with one minor host and developed on further.

I believe this work and stimuli to be suitable for performance as we were effectively able to communicate our story to the audience through body language, facial expressions and sound only without any dialogue. This style also links well to Artuad's theatre of cruelty due to the themes of death, violence, apocalypse. Combined with our own screams as sound effects create a taunting performance sure to leave an impact on our audience, being 18+ due to the horror theme.

PMD1 Exploring stimuli: Lyrics CKR

From the text stimuli I came up with the following ideas...


- " a world so hateful" , can explore the idea of a nightmare world, being trapped in a negative environment full of greed, anger, anguish and hate.


-"with the veil over our eyes", 

-Artuad animal face and behaviour Behind ordinary person-Stanislavski outer face is naturalistic and ordinary- Beckett monologue on duality of humanity-Brecht multi…. Breaking the fourth wall

-suitable for performance aimed at 18+ due to the horror genre consisting of gore, mystery and thriller aspects to emphasize he different mental and psychical state of each person shown by using the 4 practitioners for each showing the progression and deterioration.

Stanislavski (naturalistic theatre)
Beckett (repetitive monologue to show deterioration)
Brecht (technique break 4h wall to involve the audience through direct address)
Artuad (theatre for cruelty style is suitable for the style and genre and allows us to interact with the audience physically and overall leave a lasting impression on the audience).

However this stimulus is not suitable as not all adults will be interested in our genre. Additionally the use of the 4 chosen practitioners can confuse the audience as well as limit the cast as only 4/8 members can participate to create the full effect we devised.

PMD1 Exploring stimuli: Images CKR

From this image we came up with the following ideas...          



- Scorpions on a skewer, shown by the spiked wire wrapped around a longer stick, could be sold on a market stall. Can link with Artuad and his theatre for cruelty, using unusual props to evoke a uncomfortable response from the audience.

.... This idea is not suitable however as being a school budgeted company we wont be able to require scorpions also due to a member of the company having an allergy, due to health and safety and budget this idea had little room for development as it not suitable for performance.

- "Boy in the striped pyjamas" ( WW2 film) shown by hand gestures suggests a struggle and trying to break free possibly from a concentration camp. Performance can be to educate and be in the genre of a documentary focusing on the World War. To be more unique we can show the documentary from the soldiers perspective instead of a survivor. Our audience for this would be GCSE history students as well as adults interested in the war and history. Therefore the educational elements can prove suitable. Stanislavski's naturalistic technique is most appropriate for re-creating a true story to inform and educate. This style would be easiest in creating a realistic and raw performance.

... However there is little evidence on soldier perspectives many had limited valuables so there is little to create a script and performance from. Additionally many documentary's and performances already exists based upon the war and with our use of Stanislavski methods this performance stimuli wouldn't be suitable as it is limiting in being able to create a more unique and engaging piece.

- Another idea we came up with was also from the hand gesture and positioning, one fist is clenched whilst the other is free, this could signify trying to let go/ move on however there is still attachment or something holding them back. By the barbed wire it has connotations of pain so possibly someone is still inflicting pain on the persons life by continuing to hold on.
It can suggest trying to climb a hierarchical ladder of a chain of being. Whereby they are defying/ manipulating conventions for example within society and its standards or humanitarian issues. Beckett's style by getting rid of the conventional plot and the ideas of time and place in order to focus on the essential components of the human experience.

... However although Beckett is an appropriate practioners for this idea would need to take a severely pessimistic route to embody Beckett. This makes it difficult to make our performance suitable for the audience, as so many aspects of the performance and ideas can negatively trigger trauma amongst members of the audience and as a company we don't want to evoke a personal and negative response as an aim.

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty”

From our final stimuli this is the ideas I came up with..

- The black patterns on the butterflies wings look like pathways. This idea can link to the work of Beckett and the meaning of life. A performance can be based about one character and how different life choices has different consequences. We can create a parallel universe as such to show different pathways this one character could've taken.


...However after evaluation I decided this idea wouldn't be suitable as we wouldn't be able to showcase different paths of life with the different practitioners as it would become too confusing for the audience of teenagers 15-18 and therefore their attention wont be focused on the message.

PMD1 Initial Ideas

Initial Ideas & Responding

Above is a copy of a group mind map we contributed to of which showcases our initial ideas regarding different topics and themes for our performance. Note, that this was created before depth analysis of brief as we didn't want to limit our initial responses.

PMD1 Theatre company research and analysis

Company research


Our next task was to research a variety of theatre companies and analyse...

- Their devising techniques
-Their aims

And then to state anything we would steal and potentially use in our performance.

The company I researched was "Tangled Feet"

Afterwards the company gave samples of their research of which I analysed below...

After analysis below are some factors I would steal from the companies and incorporate into our devising methods and performance are...

1) Use Tangled Feet's , "experimental movement" technique, as a result we will have plenty of generated movement of which we can polish and refine after. As a key area of weakness for our group is spending too long on responding to stimuli and talking opposed to trialling out and exploring ideas practically which limits our time scale.

2) Forced Entertainment, suggests using more improvisation as a devising technique. This allows us to explore a larger variety of ideas without restricting any performance potential

3) Red Ladder Theatres, idea of "forum theatre", this can be interesting to add to our performance as we want to have an impact on the audience, by using forum theatre the audience have a physical involvement in the piece and can add and change aspects depending on what they interpreted from the performance.

4) Paper Birds & Red Ladder use modern societal issues as a stimuli to educate the audience on. Using this method can help our company choose a suitable moral for the performance and the societal issue for instance racism can help target specific target audience and therefore will help us to better understand how to create a suitable piece.