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Interview with Devon:
M: so Devon after watching that, what was your first thoughts?
D: well it was a very unusual, to say the least.
M: okay now what did you think about the story
D: I didn't understand the story, I know it was about someone suffering with anorexia/bulimia but that's all I got
M: and what was your opinion on the editing during the performance?
D: I thought it was very well done, I especially enjoyed the colour reversal scene...
M: the takeover scene?
D: yes the takeover scene, the use of shadows and camera angles make this scene interesting to watch
M: what did you think about the use of the POV camera in this performance?
D: again this is very interesting to watch, the POV adds an element of realism
M: you expressed a lack of understanding regarding the story, why was this and how could it be improved?
D: firstly I didn't understand the story because I was given so little during the performance, there wasn't really enough of a story to follow or to make any assumptions on what was happening. Secondly there were scenes that were very long and dragged out, that it made me lose interest in watching. So to improve the story for next time I would add more of a back story to the characters and what is going on, or even write out a back story for the audience to read before the performance. And as for the long scenes, cut them down to two minutes maximum
M: Thank you and one final question, any final thoughts about the whole process and performance?
D: Yes I have to say I found the context very enjoyable and I love the dedication you put into your method acting, still like to see some story but overall I throughly enjoyed the performance.

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This evaluation will be discussing the experimental theatre project. It will be analysing the performance, the pros and cons of POV use in the project, personal performance of playing both actor and the director and what could of been done to improve the project.

Firstly the performance was to an acceptable standard, not being of bad quality but not necessarily great quality either. This is because this type of video project was quite a new experience and there is much to learn about acting for camera, especially point of view (POV) camera, however with training, the newness was reduced and didn’t translate as much on the final performance video. A few of the better parts about this performance were based on the acting in scenes the cake scene and POV takeover scene. The cake scene in this project was by far the most disgusting scene in the performance, it entails the actor engorging himself on cake until he vomits. During the process of writing the scene, it had to be given the most focus because of the scene entailed and the message it was trying to give. In order to give the scene the In Yer Face theatre style feel that was needed it had to show a level of horror and disgust, it had to show what someone suffering with anorexia or bulimia truly went through and to do this it was necessary to draw upon personal experiences to portray such visual images, thankfully this was able to be done and with the input from Lee Strasberg’s theatre style, it was given a touch more of realism to the scene. This was also a very difficult scene for the actor as it required level of emotional and physical commitment that could have resulted in a slight bodily harm, this is because of the number of times the scene was filmed, as when acting for camera there can be many mistakes or variables to make the final outcome not as envisioned by the director. The audience found this scene very difficult to watch because of the nature of the scene, vomiting is a bad experience that everyone can relate to, so when the audience witnessed the scene being done purposely they can’t help but not watch as they can relate to the pain of vomiting. Despite the successfulness of the scene, it could’ve been improved by adding the different camera angles that were filmed for, for example the POV shot would’ve made the scene even more uncomfortable for the audience as they would of got a first-hand view of what the actor is seeing and doing.
The POV takeover scene was another of the better areas in this project, for writing, acting and editing. When writing this scene that was already a strong idea about it, the very first scene and the POV take of us in all linked together, this is done by making the both scenes as the same scene from different perspectives. While the very first scene was filmed from a full shot and Voice was seen alone throughout the scene, the POV takeover scene does the same thing with the exception of seeing Teen and it’s filmed from a POV shot. This is meant to be the symbolisation of Voice winning and are the controlling Teen’s mind nearly killing him, which can be backtracked to the first dream where it can be heard someone saying, “you almost died”. The acting for this scene, however simplistic, was very thought provoking. As the said before this is closely linked to the very first scene, so when acting for this scene it had to give a sense of familiarity for the audience to be able to make an assumption that those scenes are closely related or even linked together. Being a video project, this allowed for anything to be done to the filming. In this scene the editing is the most affective than in any other scene in this performance, through the use of ‘find edges’ features the editing software, it was able to show the familiarity between the very first scene and the POV takeover scene. ‘Find edges’ is a feature that inverts the colour of the original to a black and white effect, so the link between the two scenes is seen through this effect. As the POV takeover seen was originally recorded with Teen, the ‘find edges’ inverts the skin to make it seen as the black morphsuit is worn. Towards the end of the scene, just before Teen wakes up, Voice loses control of Teen and the ‘find edges’ effect is removed to show Teen normally, this symbolises the that Teen still has some power left. Despite the scenes effectiveness, the acting could’ve been improved. During the filming, due to the explosive nature of the movement the act or had to be very self aware of his movements because of the camera attached to the head, this was very easy to pick up as a shadow. Thankfully only one instance could of been seen but it was removed with a video transition called zoom fade, this allowed to cut out the camera being seen in shadow form and also was used to enhance the symbolism of Teen’s power to show through more effectively by having a good time to cut out the ‘find edges’ effect.
The use of a POV camera has been very interesting throughout this project. It has opened up and allowed a new perspective of acting, for example the actor needs to be very aware of movement when filming with a single light source. This could have been seen many times throughout the performance, however thanks to video editing this was minimalised. Some of the pros of using POV camera are it can create a more terrifying and real experience for the audience, it is easier to understand the emotions the actor is going through and there is a clear narrative for the audience. The point of view camera helps create that terrifying and real experience for the audience because the audience are witnessing the action from the actors point of view, this cannot be achieved through any other type of shops as most shots are seen in a third person, this has a similar effect to some books which portray a third person affects for example “he approached the killer”, this is a much for real experience for the reader if it read, “I approached the killer”. This takes the bystander effect away in places the audience in the action, henceforth providing a more terrifying and real experience. POV camera also allows for the audience to understand the emotions of the actor, this is done by placing the audience in the perspective of the actor, the audience sees what the actor sees, feels what the actor feels, hears what the actor hears and experiences what the actor experiences. This can be seen throughout the performance for example, waking up, sleeping, eating, checking phone. Finally the PV camera is essential for creating a clear narrative for the audience. This could’ve been done through many different shots however the POV shot is far more effective at progressing the story. With the accompaniment  of inner monologues the audience can properly understand what is happening with the story and how the character is feeling. The cons of using a POV camera are as follows; there is far too much explanation going on, the character must be very interesting, There’s only so much points of view the audience can take. With points of view cameras there is always far too much explaining, for example during scenes where there is an inner monologue to accompany the point of view, It gets tiring very fast, it almost makes a mockery of the audience insulting their intellect, do they really need to see and hear to understand what’s going on in the scene. This was a big fear in using POV camera too much but I believe that was an even balance of all different shots. Another column is the character must be very interesting for the audience will not pay attention and will lose interest. During these POV shots there has to be a sufficient amount of interesting or attention grabbing action to keep the audience focused, the In Yer Face style of acting is interesting enough but however there was far too much use of POV and In Yer Face theatre in the same scene, This became repetitive for the audience to watch and that was where the audience stopped caring. The final con of POV shots is There can’t be too much before the audience lose interest, during this performance I had to be very mindful of the range of shots are used. Being a POV shot project, it had to feature more POV than any other type of shot but this is where the performance fell short and the audience didn’t keep focus throughout the entire performance.

As this was a solo project, I’ve had to play both actor and director. This has been a very interesting experience especially with this type of project, where I’ve had to act and direct for camera. I very much enjoyed The directing aspect of this project, mostly because it allowed for the most creative outcome possible. While playing just an actor is fun and challenging in its own aspect, playing both actor and director opened up a whole new variety of challenges for me. Such challenges included creating a storyboard, choosing costumes, choosing music, location and editing. This was the first time I’ve had the opportunity to personally edit the work I’ve done however this was a very difficult part of the project, due to my newness with editing software, I did overcome this but unfortunately it was not the best work I could’ve done and the final performance outcome suffered because of this.
In conclusion, I have gained valuable experience in playing actor and director, how to use video editing software and further knowledge on acting for camera.

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Practitioner that have been used to develop this project are Lee Strasberg and Sarah Kane.
Lee Strasberg's method acting is very useful for the project as it forces the actor to completely commit to the role physically and emotionally. This can further enhance the In Yer Face aspect of the piece, an example of this is the cake scene or the heart scene, requiring the actor to forcibly vomit by eating cake or eat a raw pig heart, this makes it more unwatchable experience for the audience.
Sarah Kane's style of theatre helps this project as it opens up possibility of creating disgusting and shocking scenes that can match and even surpass the horrors of having anorexia/bulimia, for example, the cake scene and the heart scene could only be created in a In Yer Face theatre.
This mix of In Yer Face theatre and Method Acting is a very volatile mix of theatre styles, as they both fall down to how far the actor can commit himself to the style, they both work very well. With the power to create hard to watch performances from In Yer Face theatre and the level of commitment needed to participate in Method Acting effectively, the interesting balance of theatre styles produces an actor that must understand and portray the emotions and physicality of what is asked of them, an actor that must embody the character they are playing, an actor that replaces his own life with character he is playing. A prime example of this was Christian Bale's portrayal of Trevor Reznik. Christian Bale is an example of an extreme method actor, "In The Machinist (2004), Christian Bale plays the role of Trevor Reznik, a machinist with severe insomnia. The lack of sleep leads to severe weight loss, so Trevor Reznik becomes extremely thin. To be fit for Trevor Reznik character, Christian Bale needed to look drastically thin, so he had to lose a lot of weight, from 173 pounds to 110 pounds.
To lose these 63 pounds, the actor followed a draconic diet: for almost four months he ate only one can of tuna fish and/or one apple per day." Filip, (2018). This is the type of extreme method acting that I wanted to demonstrate in the final performance. Another example of extreme method actor is Heath Ledger. At the time of filming for Dark Knight, this level of commitment to a role was not common to say the least, "To play Batman's arch-nemesis The Joker, Ledger locked himself in a hotel room for a month and barely slept. He created a diary filled with images of clippings from Batman comics, pictures from Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, playing cards, pictures of clowns and more." Nati, (2014).

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This project is a short film about final few days of a teen suffering with Anorexia and Bulimia. During these days Teen lives through his experiences and falls deeper under control of Voice, eventually meeting his end.

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Teen- This character is suffering anorexia and bulimia. The main purpose of him is to act as a catalyst for Voice.
Voice- This character is designed to be a representation of the voices in Teen's head. Voice controls and tortures Teen with terrible nightmares and thoughts

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For this kind of project there have been a lot of red flags for health and safety. Many of these ideas can cause bodily injury for example the cake scene, this scene involves the actor eating cake until he vomits, the main health and safety concerns for this is the repetition of the scene, as it is for film different camera angles need to taken, however vomiting too many times in a short amount of time can cause pain in the throat and tooth decay, this is from excess of stomach acid traveling as vomiting is induced, "When you throw up after eating massive amounts of food, a large amount of stomach acid comes up along with all that food. Over a long period of time chronic puking, that stomach acid will continually eat away at your teeth enamel and other tissues in your mouth." FoodChallenges, (2009).

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In order to showcase my final product I would need to present it as a video presentation, my first idea on how to do this would of been to create a video wall with 5-6 different TVs, however in regards to health and safety, practicality and expenses, this would of been very difficult to pull off. However through careful planning, development was made to change this idea to a more realistic outcome, by replacing the TVs with white sheets sewn together and using a projector, this was able to create a better visual effect and become more practical.
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Another idea was about eating a bloody pig heart for one of my scenes, the idea of this was to demonstrate how bulimic people see their fear foods and how they react to them. Unfortunately due to the dangerous nature of this scene. I was unable to perform this for a few reasons; one is it was far too dangerous as the amount of bacteria and viruses in raw meat would of been a risk to my health , "From salmonella and parasitic E. coli to worms, flukes, and the virus hepatitis E", Heid, (2015). Another reason is the butcher knew what was happening with the pig heart and had to refuse the sale due to the intention of misusing of product.
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Being a solo project I had to make use of dual roles, the two characters, Teen and Voice were told apart by using different costumes. The costumes for Teen and Voice are very simplistic and symbolic. The reason for Teen's grey boxers costume is Teen has to show a certain façade of weakness and vulnerability, as a boy with lots of skin on show and exposed this presents what was needed, this theory comes from the stereotypically thought that sex is intimate act that usually requires wearing little to no clothes, which requires a certain level of vulnerability to show oneself to a partner, "The important thing is to remember that men have had to learn to be emotionally vulnerable in a society that has taught them not to be and often sexual intimacy is when that vulnerability often happens." Byer, (2016).
The reason for Voice's black morphsuit costume was to portray a voice in your head presence. As not much is known about Voice, the black morphsuit helps create that negative, non-exist shroud of mystery that surrounds the character of Voice, "The black color is the absence of color. Black is a mysterious color that is typically associated with the unknown or the negative." Bourn, (2010).

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-Body dysmorphia
-Body image problems
-Anorexia/bulimia story
-I have a very strong image around the idea of being mentally unstable regarding the body
-Teen is in a pair of grey boxers and Voice is in a black morphsuit
-Using an editing software
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I intend to show the mindset and a day in a life of someone who struggles with anorexia/bulimia through the use of video/short film

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Experimental theatre is a theatre form started in the late 19th century when Alfred Jarry wrote his play Ubu, during which he refused to follow any tradition sense within the areas of writing or producing a play. These ways are still practiced in todays experimental theatre, however as times changed so did peoples views on the way experimental theatre was created. An example being in the 19th century, experimental theatre was seen as very radical and unpredictable but the more it was done it was further accepted and normalised, eventually it fell out of the spotlight and was replaced by newer forms of art. "But by the end of the '90s the ICA obviously felt that theatre had lost its relevance, and turned its attention to digital art and other media" Hadingue, (2007).

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Amanda Hadingue (Feb 2007)
http://www.stanscafe.co.uk/helpfulthings/experimantaltheatreessay.html
Mark Heid (March 2015)
http://time.com/3731226/you-asked-why-cant-i-eat-raw-meat/
FoodChallenges (May 2009)
https://www.foodchallenges.com/after-the-challenge/dangers-risks-self-induced-vomiting/
Matthew Byer (June 2016)
http://secretsofagoodgirl.com/advice/male-perspective-intimacy-vulnerability/
Jennifer Bourn (December 2010)
https://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-black/
Maria Filip (November 2018)
https://diethics.com/christians-bale-diet-apple-and-tuna-diet/
Michelle Nati (July 2014)
https://www.oddee.com/item_99013.aspx