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Today we showed a draft performance to our teacher, including our tech.

We found that the light cue sheet that we created was not clear enough. A lot of the lighting went awry due to misplaced or non-included lighting programmes.

Looking back at a recording of the play, I also noticed some moments in the play that can be polished and changed for the sake of clarity and improved aesthetics.

As an example, the scene where I am being pushed between the two sides of the scene as a means of representing the individual being torn between the family and his new friend group. I considered a new plan in which the friend group would be seen on stage at first, wearing their masks and doing their movements in sync. Then, the lights would black out, and then be brought on again to show the parents standing on the two blocks, moving their hands in scolding against the individual. This would aesthetically look better on stage, and also clarify the point of conflict to the audience.

I was also considering revisiting the opening scene, the second scene with the parents on the blocks and the final scene when I am copying the group outside of the screened-in box. I may also confer with the group to change the main idea behind the second to last scene with the multi-colored lights to clarify what our message is.

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Today we programmed the lights for our performance. We went scene-by-scene, placing the set and actors on stage in accordance with what we had planned earlier, and then tried different lights.

I led most of the light designing, asking the rest of the cast to step in and indicate the placement of the actors on stage while I experimented with the lights from the computer set-up.

The introduction of lights also caused us to change some of our set designs. For example, in Scene 4 we originally planned to have the screens  facing the front in a disjointed line in the centre of the stage. However, after we realised the powerful effect snapping on a light to each screen would have on the "it's so much fun" sequence, we decided to move the screens around the stage so that they would more effectively capture the light of the stage lights. Spreading the screens around the stage also amplified the eerie effect of each person saying "It's so much fun", as it would seem as if they suddenly "appear" out of nowhere on the stage when the lights illuminate them.

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Designed by myself

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Designed by me

Originally, we planned on using a slower strobe that would serve as a form of pulse that go through the scene in synchrony with the actors' movement and the clock ticking sounds in the background. However, after trying this live on stage, we found that a faster, flickering strobe that would create an effect similar to that of TV-static would fit the scene better. This was for three main reasons:

1. It always kept the actors in stage lit, while creating a surreal effect in which it seemed as if the actors where moving in a "flicker book"

2. It had an almost hypnotic effect on us as we watched, similarly to how the individual in the scene is hypnotised by the synchrony and unity of this new group that he has discovered.

3. It made the transition to the single, red light shining on the individual's masked face more dramatic and clearly highlighted how he was being influenced by the group as they were drawing on his mask.

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Designed by me

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Designed by me

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Designed by me

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Designed by me

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Today we focused on finding suitable music for every scene in the play. We approached it with a step-by-step approach, finding a piece of music and then playing it in the background as we where doing the scene to see whether it would fit.

For some scenes we cycled through quite a lot of different sound pieces before finding something that fitted. This was especially true of Scene 6, where we reached the conclusion that ambience sounds would fit better than a piece of music.

We also found that, in some scenes, ambience sounds suited the events on scene better than musical pieces. This was usually because certain key ideas where more effectively conveyed with symbolic sounds. For example, in the scene where I am being torn between two groups, namely my family and my friends, we decided to include atmospheric sounds of wind and water. The wind sound effect symbolised how the individual had become subject to the opinions of others, forces beyond his own will, which where moving him along in directions he himself did not want. It also conveyed the movement he constantly does between the groups, his old in his family and his new one with his friends, and how this is a constant shift which is typical of young people in this stage of their life.

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Music: Eerie horror sounds

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Music: Walking, talking ambience sounds

We tried at first to play an Irish-themed, solemn violin piece over the scene, but we agreed that this did not fit. Instead, we decided to use the ambient sounds of a busy hall, with talking and walking, to indicate the confusion the main character feels as they are torn between different group identities, constantly focusing on what others think of him and expect of him.

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Music: Clock sounds

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We changed the ending scene slightly based on Damon's added scene at the beginning. The new ending scene of the play is one where, after I have stood up as a sign of frustration in choosing between the different masks, the rest of the cast moves the screens in to replicate the "box" I was entrapped in at the beginning of the play. Once I take of the mask, the screens are taken away, the box breaks, and my character has symbolically learned to be himself.

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Today we learnt how to use the lighting system. We experimented both with the lighting used for a previous show on our set, and also practiced using the sound system by experimenting with our lighting designs.

In turn, this will help us experiment with and create our own lighting design for the final performance.

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Today we recorded a run-through of all the scenes we have created so far. It helped us understand the overall narrative, and also gave us an idea of how much content we have under our belt.

We started thinking about props, lights and music. We tested masks we had available to see whether they would work, and saw that they would fit due their neutral expression and the ease with which we could draw and erase on them with markers. We also decided to always keep at least two white screens in the background of our play in order to frame us, since I was planning for all of us to be dressed in black. We also put down a potential idea to use a projector to display images on the white screen in the background. We briefly listened to some music pieces, but we have yet to decide exactly what we want.

We then also worked on adding on more content to our piece. In total, it is currently about 7 minutes long, so optimally one or two scenes would bring us more securely within the 7 to 10 minutes range for the length of the piece.

I motivated one of our ensemble members who had previously not directed any scenes to lead a piece. At first, he was quite unsure of what to do and the scene did not really take off. However, after I suggested that he should take a more stylised approach and explained how he ought to approach a stylised form as opposed to a realistic one, he became more certain of his vision and led a genuinely interesting movement piece. Another member of the group got another idea which elaborated on this first one, and we will explore her vision during our next session.

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Edited by myself based on Damon's added scene at the beginning of the play.

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We now felt more confident with where our piece was going. Thus, we created a digital diagram for how our piece would progress, including what would happen in each scene and for how long the scene would last.

Based on feedback from Ms. Nic, we tried a more stylised approach to our given topic. We experimented with a more stylised staging method in the first scene of the performance, where the individual is told off by his parents for defying them.

I then took charge and led the directing of a second scene, in which the individual discovers a friend group they feel they identify with. Important elements of this scene included: levels, synchrony, space and contrast.

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Individual finding group which they identify with, work to fit into

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Individual finding group which they identify with, work to fit into

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- Directed by me

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After doing all the past physical explorations we felt that we know had a clearer idea of where we wanted to go with our piece. As such, we wrote the first draft of our Theatre Maker's Intention. We split each of the sections up, and now I will read over the whole piece and edit it to make the text more succinct, comprehensive and accurate.

After finishing the intention we explored a movement scene in which an individual is pressured by a new friend group to do something he would not normally condone. We staged and recorded two versions of this scene, the first one being directed by myself.

Next steps would be to choose one of the versions to continue with, refining it to perform the scene for feedback to our teacher. I will also make sure to improve the Theatre Maker's Intention until next class.

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Second version of scene on individual being influenced

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Second version of scene on individual being influenced

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- Directed by Sarah

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Scene on individual being drawn along into bad habits by a group

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Scene on individual being drawn along into bad habits by a group

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- Directed by me

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Today we started creating actual scenes for our performance. These were based mainly on the scenes Sarah and I directed during the last session. I took charge of directing most of these scenes, as I felt that I understood more clearly now where we were going with the piece.

The next step would be to work on the Theatre Maker's Intention. This should be due by the end of our next session

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Scene on wanting to become an individual, away from parents

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Scene on wanting to become an individual, away from parents

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- Directed by me

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Scene on being drawn into doing something stupid

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Scene on being drawn into doing something stupid

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- Directed by Aarzoo

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Scene on mask being drawn on - increasing external influence, dilution of self

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Scene on mask being drawn on - increasing external influence, dilution of self

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- Directed by me

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Scene on being introduced to the "thing"

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Scene on being introduced to the "thing"

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- Directed by me

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- Directed by me

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Scene about individual meeting group of friends and learning about the "thing"

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Scene about individual meeting group of friends and learning about the "thing"

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- Directed by me

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Today we tried a technique employed by the People Show called "Fascist for the Day". In this exercise, one leader is chosen to direct the rest the group on what to do. This method forces the group to break free from their discussions and thinking, and gets things on their feet. This was good for us, as we were stuck at the point where we were just exploring different ideas and constantly changing and tweaking what the others were saying.

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Continued the narrative from here

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Idea of mirroring implemented in future scenes

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- Refined the previous theme on loneliness and freedom
- Started working on Theater maker's intention
- Discussed staging
- More physical explorations
- Movement, tableaus
- Door as the center piece of most explorations

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- Chose the starting of the play
- Brainstormed how to explore the starting point
- Created tableaus to explore the ideas brought up in the mind maps

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Mind map about freedom and loneliness, in regards to collectivistic and individualistic cultures

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Mind map about freedom and loneliness, in regards to collectivistic and individualistic cultures

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Being pulled between conforming to the group and staying alone

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Being pulled between conforming to the group and staying alone

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Holding him back from advancement tableau

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Holding him back from advancement tableau

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Shaking hands tableau - and being isolated

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Shaking hands tableau - and being isolated

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Reaching out but missing each other tableau

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Reaching out but missing each other tableau

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The duality of man - how people treat others on the basis of money

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The duality of man - how people treat others on the basis of money

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Nature drawing person back away from life

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Nature drawing person back away from life