MONDAY-
We were the first group to perform out of the whole class so we were incredibly nervous. We set up quickly as we had very little time after the 2 dance pieces had finished and did a few focus warm up to make sure everyone was in the right frame of mind and ready for the performance. We also did a vocal warm up to make sure our voices were okay for the song. Overall the performance was not the best we had done. For some reason it just didnt give us the buzz. Perhaps it was nerves, perhaps it was becuase we knew it was funny. There were also a few accidents that threw our performances a bit. I tripped over a girls crutches in the canteen scene which completely threw me off focus and then in the second bedroom scene we knocked the lighting desk whilst getting dressed which made the lighting go wrong and rose had to step in an help. However the audience seemed to really enjoy it and it was so reassuring to hear laughter. Everyone was willing to go along with the story and get involved and we got really good feedback from everyone at the end. We learnt a lot from this performance including things like slowing it down a huge percent, make actions bigger so they can be seen and to have fun with it because we learnt if we have fun, then the audience will have fun too.
WEDNESDAY-
Wednesday was, in my opinion, the best performance of our piece we have ever done. There were NO hiccupps (this was mainly because we had learnt from last time and therefore took the neccessary steps to ensure nothing happens like that again-I taped up the lighting desk and put it on a chair so it couldnt be knocked or changed) and there was a fantastic feel about it. I think this was because we all knew that it was going to be our last ever performance and therefore really had fun with it. We slowed it down a lot and this helped us really get into it and savour the experience which also allowed the audience to surround themselves in our world too. Again we did focus warm ups and then we all did a little pep talk to get us going. We had a really enthusiastic reaction to the piece and again, people played along and were laughing in all the right places. I feel so happy about in fact that i dont have any criticisms about it! (though i know other people will).
Tuesday, 27 May 2014
Saturday, 17 May 2014
LOG BOOK CATCH UP!! - week beginning 12th may
This is the final week before the show is on.
On monday we knew jessy would be back as she wasnt here friday. We knew we would have to catch her up with the plan we made of what we were doing when we are not on.
Throughout the first half of the week we have been trying to do as many runs as possible. As the piece wasnt finished when we showed it the other day, we tried to get the final end scene finished as soon as possible so that rose or someone could give feedback or help us develop it further. We came up with a really good idea that everyone helped create and it mirrors the opening scene really well so the audience should know exactly whats going on.
We ran it for everyone again on wednesday (with most of the costumes this time!) and unfortunately, it was nowhere near as good as it was the first time. Jonathans main piece of feedback was that we shouldnt play for laughs just because we know its funny. he said that it had lost some of its detailing and i will admit that everyone was pretty lathargic that day and we were all trying to rush the whole performance just so we could get it over and done with. Rose said that we needed to alter my crying scene and i worked on this with beth in the week. I wasnt happy with this run and i think its because i felt like an idiot whereas I really didnt the first time we did it. I think its because we kept trying to push it too far and it got too forced and the comedy wasnt natural anymore.
For the second half of the week, we have been going over and over lines because a few people just want reassurance which is fair enough. We also managed to sort out all the costume and props issues by thurday and on friday, rose worked with us to make the suicide scene more creative. Beth now jumps over the railing (which potentially was a safety hazard but the whole group dealt with it in a safe and secure way and we have the whole sequence fully under control) and we catch her. In the second suicide scen, george jumps on his own (this is way more of a hazard but george is a big boy and knows how to land correctly so that he doesnt hurt his legs).
Saturday is our tech rehearsal and we intend to do 2 runs with full tech (lighting and sound) and everyone is going to have to be very focused to get through the day smoothly.
On monday we knew jessy would be back as she wasnt here friday. We knew we would have to catch her up with the plan we made of what we were doing when we are not on.
Throughout the first half of the week we have been trying to do as many runs as possible. As the piece wasnt finished when we showed it the other day, we tried to get the final end scene finished as soon as possible so that rose or someone could give feedback or help us develop it further. We came up with a really good idea that everyone helped create and it mirrors the opening scene really well so the audience should know exactly whats going on.
We ran it for everyone again on wednesday (with most of the costumes this time!) and unfortunately, it was nowhere near as good as it was the first time. Jonathans main piece of feedback was that we shouldnt play for laughs just because we know its funny. he said that it had lost some of its detailing and i will admit that everyone was pretty lathargic that day and we were all trying to rush the whole performance just so we could get it over and done with. Rose said that we needed to alter my crying scene and i worked on this with beth in the week. I wasnt happy with this run and i think its because i felt like an idiot whereas I really didnt the first time we did it. I think its because we kept trying to push it too far and it got too forced and the comedy wasnt natural anymore.
For the second half of the week, we have been going over and over lines because a few people just want reassurance which is fair enough. We also managed to sort out all the costume and props issues by thurday and on friday, rose worked with us to make the suicide scene more creative. Beth now jumps over the railing (which potentially was a safety hazard but the whole group dealt with it in a safe and secure way and we have the whole sequence fully under control) and we catch her. In the second suicide scen, george jumps on his own (this is way more of a hazard but george is a big boy and knows how to land correctly so that he doesnt hurt his legs).
Saturday is our tech rehearsal and we intend to do 2 runs with full tech (lighting and sound) and everyone is going to have to be very focused to get through the day smoothly.
Salsa research
I have watched a number of videos on youtube in order to get some moves for my salsa teacher character. here are some links to the videos i watched. I found these very helpful as i have no first hand experience with salsa and so these videos really helped me learn just a few basic steps so that it looked like i actually knew what i was doing. Im still not very good at salsa dancing even after watching these videos but at least i know what its SUPPOSED to look like and i will keep practicing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfDVnX4j3-w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVtWSZOttC0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-5wHu5Tjuk
Here is a ueseful website that i found that explains salsa terminology and shows you the moves in a really simple way.
http://www.salsalust.com/moves.php?category=level&value=1&order=name&way=asc&page=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfDVnX4j3-w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVtWSZOttC0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-5wHu5Tjuk
Here is a ueseful website that i found that explains salsa terminology and shows you the moves in a really simple way.
http://www.salsalust.com/moves.php?category=level&value=1&order=name&way=asc&page=1
Thursday 8th and friday 9th
During thursdays double lesson we did our first run for jonathan and the rest of the class. It was the first time any of them had seen it so we knew that we would get really constructive criticism from them. The run went really well because we had a lot of fun doing it and it was reassuring to hear people laughing at our piece. None of us really knew how funny it was going to be and to hear jonny laugh at it was a real moral boost for all of us, especially jessy. Although it wasnt finished and we didnt have any costumes, everyone said that it made sense (which was the most important thing to us) and everyone seemed to really get into the spirit and connect with the emoitions we were trying to make them feel.
In feedback, everyone said that it was really funny, imaginative and easy to understand. They said, however, that the one thing that they found a little bit confusing was who was hero when we were all dancing with george. Jonathan said that it was effective because we had the audience laughing one minute and then nearly crying the next and that we had achieved emersive theatre but still needed to polish it. Everyone loved the flamboyant characters.
On friday, I personally really wanted to clear up where we all were meant to be when we are not on, which props are getting moved, when are we changing costumes and where etc. Although we had run it smoothly the day before, it wasnt finished and we still sort of stayed with the audience all the way through and just sort of said "we will be changing at this time" etc. So we made a map on the whiteboard of all the spaces we use and we also made little counters that represented each of us. By the end of the lesson, i now had a detailed step-by-step set of instructions so now i know exactly what i should be doing at all times.
Thursday, 8 May 2014
Wednesday 7th May
Today we had most of the day to rehearse as most of us finished our lessons by 10:40.
We made a plan to rehearse the additional bit that I created to pad out the canteen scene and also to recap the bingo scene so that we are clear with it and ready show to everyone.
We knew that we had to show our pieces (what we have of them so far) even if they weren't perfect or polished. It was supposed to be just a rough preview to the group so that they could give constructive feedback to help us perfect and develop. We also wanted to make sure that the audience actually knew whats going on. However, We had a slight huccup during our rehearsal that got sorted straight away (I wont go into details) but it caused us to have a creative block. It didn't really matter though because we were set to perform at 5:00 but as everything over-ran, there wasn't time to show ours so we intend to show it at about 2 ish tomorrow.
For tomorrows lesson, we just need to clear up any scenes or bits that people are unsure about and to try and do a smooth run with what we have got. I realised whilst watching the other groups that our main problem is going to be figuring out where individual people are during transitions and where people are if they are not in certain scenes.
We made a plan to rehearse the additional bit that I created to pad out the canteen scene and also to recap the bingo scene so that we are clear with it and ready show to everyone.
We knew that we had to show our pieces (what we have of them so far) even if they weren't perfect or polished. It was supposed to be just a rough preview to the group so that they could give constructive feedback to help us perfect and develop. We also wanted to make sure that the audience actually knew whats going on. However, We had a slight huccup during our rehearsal that got sorted straight away (I wont go into details) but it caused us to have a creative block. It didn't really matter though because we were set to perform at 5:00 but as everything over-ran, there wasn't time to show ours so we intend to show it at about 2 ish tomorrow.
For tomorrows lesson, we just need to clear up any scenes or bits that people are unsure about and to try and do a smooth run with what we have got. I realised whilst watching the other groups that our main problem is going to be figuring out where individual people are during transitions and where people are if they are not in certain scenes.
Tuesday, 6 May 2014
tuesday 6th may
So yesterday was a bank holiday so we missed 2 hours worth of rehearsals.
Today wasnt much better as we were still missing becca and also (due to level 2 scripted pieces) didnt have a space to rehearse in. We eventually used ff12 but this seriously limited what we could do.
Nevertheless, we still managed to do a partial run through even without becca and sufficient space. As you can probably tell it wasnt as thorough as we would have liked but at least it meant we could run through the new lines meg wrote for the bingo scene (which by the way is hilarious, brilliantly written and gives the scene a lot more depth and structure, good one meg).
Tomorrow, we are going ti show jonathan and rose what we have so far (even in rough form and even without becca if it comes to it).
Today wasnt much better as we were still missing becca and also (due to level 2 scripted pieces) didnt have a space to rehearse in. We eventually used ff12 but this seriously limited what we could do.
Nevertheless, we still managed to do a partial run through even without becca and sufficient space. As you can probably tell it wasnt as thorough as we would have liked but at least it meant we could run through the new lines meg wrote for the bingo scene (which by the way is hilarious, brilliantly written and gives the scene a lot more depth and structure, good one meg).
Tomorrow, we are going ti show jonathan and rose what we have so far (even in rough form and even without becca if it comes to it).
Monday, 5 May 2014
rehearsal log catch up IMPORTANT
Sorry I havent posted my rehearsal log entries for this past week but my internet at home crashed and today we got it fixed so here it is. :)
Monday: Jess was back today and our schedule said that it was jess' turn to direct her scene. She is doing the 2 suicide scenes (one at the beginning, the other at the end) and we were all looking forward to what she had produced. She told us when we all arrived that she had been planning what she wanted to do the whole time she had been away. I think that this clearly shows that jess really does want to get a good grade and tries really hard to help the group and to make our work professional and effective, even f she does sometimes get distracted, she always makes up for it and i hope people can see that. So jess showed us some sources that she had found including some poems that were about suicide and she thought they would work well in the first suicide scene with beth saying them. We went through these poems with her and adapted them so they would fit with our piece. She then walked us through how she wanted the scene to play out (we had a bit of trouble regarding using chairs on the staircase but that will be dealt with) and we tried the scene (without the talking because we had only got the lines today) with beth and george and it worked very well and is effective, dramatic and interesting. Jessy did a really good job directing everyone and she obviously worked very hard while she was off.
Tuesday: We went over my canteen scene because we had everyone there. Those who missed the first rehearsal of it (meg, jess and becca) really liked it and had lots of creative ideas i can work with and include. Having a full cast made me realize that the scene needs padding out. Therefore i shall write a script for the next rehearsal with more dialogue. I would like to give the maid some dialogue with bernadette and beatrice because i think it would be interesting to see more of their characters and how they interact.
After this (because that only took like 30 mins), we had another go at one of nicoles transitions. We showed it to Jonathan and he liked it but re-shaped it because he reminded us that there are going to be about 30 audience members and they would not be able to see the scene how we were playing it. after we heard his advice and worked with him for a while we came up with a really creative and imaginative idea that we all really liked and nicole can now work from that for the other transitions and also to develop that one more.
Wednesday: Today we worked in pod 2 (with a spongy bed :) ) for beths angry bedroom scene (bedroom scene #2). We recapped what we did last time (we were missing becca because she was having her tonsils out and she wont be back til monday) so we left a gap for becca. This was the first time jess had seen this scene so we choreographed a short dance for her. She didnt want to make it too difficult so we based it as more of a contact piece and based it lying on the bed with george. we also padded out megans bit because we realised how short it was. We also did the whole thing to the music and even managed to finish it. (it still needs work but we have the skeleton, we mainly just need to work on how the dynamics of it are going to work like our entrances from under the bed etc.) I think beth is a very good director because she was VERY well prepared. She had found a suitable sonnet and had the idea that george could say it before the dance starts. She also instructed us clearly and effectively and took criticism and ideas well too and always tried to incorporate any ideas people had, even if they didnt work. Beth just needs to learn to be tougher and not be afraid to tell someone to get their arse in gear or ask them to shut up, she is too nice for her own good sometimes and she is good enough and clever and creative enough to lead us all, she just needs more confidence in herself.
Thursday: Last week, George and I collaborated to write a monologue for claudio to say in the first bedroom scene. It is to be said to hero and we wanted it to convey how incredibly changeable claudio is and how fickle he is deep down. This scene is also the first time the audience really sees hero. We showed it to the rest of the grouo and they really liked it. However, because we had run it in the space we are defo going to use, we realised that it wasnt very visually interesting and so we experimented with using the weird swively devide doors in pod 1 and 1b. We decided that the scene should take place in 1 a and between the doors and the audience would be sat in 1b looking in as if through a mirror or a window. This just gives the scene a whole new dynamic and it suddenly became so interesting. We also swapped me for beth because it makes way more sense using her because she is the main hero and the audience will understand easier if it was her.
Friday: Today we taught jess the bingo scene because she hadnt done it yet. We talked her through it in detail and instructed her on what she was going to do in the scene. We looked up some bingo terms on the internet fir her to randomly blurt out during the scene to make it more surreal and interesting. Luckily we all remembered the dance moves and the harmonies because the other group was watching but i thought it actually went really well. Then we were so confident that we even tried the scene with the little intro and outro at the start and end of the scene, these were almost completely improvised and the went so well, this is pleasing because we have never been very good at improvisation and it just goes to show that when we are in the right frame of mind we can come up with something really creative and funny.
Monday: Jess was back today and our schedule said that it was jess' turn to direct her scene. She is doing the 2 suicide scenes (one at the beginning, the other at the end) and we were all looking forward to what she had produced. She told us when we all arrived that she had been planning what she wanted to do the whole time she had been away. I think that this clearly shows that jess really does want to get a good grade and tries really hard to help the group and to make our work professional and effective, even f she does sometimes get distracted, she always makes up for it and i hope people can see that. So jess showed us some sources that she had found including some poems that were about suicide and she thought they would work well in the first suicide scene with beth saying them. We went through these poems with her and adapted them so they would fit with our piece. She then walked us through how she wanted the scene to play out (we had a bit of trouble regarding using chairs on the staircase but that will be dealt with) and we tried the scene (without the talking because we had only got the lines today) with beth and george and it worked very well and is effective, dramatic and interesting. Jessy did a really good job directing everyone and she obviously worked very hard while she was off.
Tuesday: We went over my canteen scene because we had everyone there. Those who missed the first rehearsal of it (meg, jess and becca) really liked it and had lots of creative ideas i can work with and include. Having a full cast made me realize that the scene needs padding out. Therefore i shall write a script for the next rehearsal with more dialogue. I would like to give the maid some dialogue with bernadette and beatrice because i think it would be interesting to see more of their characters and how they interact.
After this (because that only took like 30 mins), we had another go at one of nicoles transitions. We showed it to Jonathan and he liked it but re-shaped it because he reminded us that there are going to be about 30 audience members and they would not be able to see the scene how we were playing it. after we heard his advice and worked with him for a while we came up with a really creative and imaginative idea that we all really liked and nicole can now work from that for the other transitions and also to develop that one more.
Wednesday: Today we worked in pod 2 (with a spongy bed :) ) for beths angry bedroom scene (bedroom scene #2). We recapped what we did last time (we were missing becca because she was having her tonsils out and she wont be back til monday) so we left a gap for becca. This was the first time jess had seen this scene so we choreographed a short dance for her. She didnt want to make it too difficult so we based it as more of a contact piece and based it lying on the bed with george. we also padded out megans bit because we realised how short it was. We also did the whole thing to the music and even managed to finish it. (it still needs work but we have the skeleton, we mainly just need to work on how the dynamics of it are going to work like our entrances from under the bed etc.) I think beth is a very good director because she was VERY well prepared. She had found a suitable sonnet and had the idea that george could say it before the dance starts. She also instructed us clearly and effectively and took criticism and ideas well too and always tried to incorporate any ideas people had, even if they didnt work. Beth just needs to learn to be tougher and not be afraid to tell someone to get their arse in gear or ask them to shut up, she is too nice for her own good sometimes and she is good enough and clever and creative enough to lead us all, she just needs more confidence in herself.
Thursday: Last week, George and I collaborated to write a monologue for claudio to say in the first bedroom scene. It is to be said to hero and we wanted it to convey how incredibly changeable claudio is and how fickle he is deep down. This scene is also the first time the audience really sees hero. We showed it to the rest of the grouo and they really liked it. However, because we had run it in the space we are defo going to use, we realised that it wasnt very visually interesting and so we experimented with using the weird swively devide doors in pod 1 and 1b. We decided that the scene should take place in 1 a and between the doors and the audience would be sat in 1b looking in as if through a mirror or a window. This just gives the scene a whole new dynamic and it suddenly became so interesting. We also swapped me for beth because it makes way more sense using her because she is the main hero and the audience will understand easier if it was her.
Friday: Today we taught jess the bingo scene because she hadnt done it yet. We talked her through it in detail and instructed her on what she was going to do in the scene. We looked up some bingo terms on the internet fir her to randomly blurt out during the scene to make it more surreal and interesting. Luckily we all remembered the dance moves and the harmonies because the other group was watching but i thought it actually went really well. Then we were so confident that we even tried the scene with the little intro and outro at the start and end of the scene, these were almost completely improvised and the went so well, this is pleasing because we have never been very good at improvisation and it just goes to show that when we are in the right frame of mind we can come up with something really creative and funny.
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