https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e en-us 2017-04-25 09:01:31 UTC 2023-07-08 15:47:50 UTC hello@padlet.com 30213520 https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/173324788 . We began work on the first scene in which I welcome the audience. While blocking this scene we focused on my characterisation and the positioning of the rest of the group to increase our understanding of the asylum so we could create new characters once the atmosphere had been set.
We used this method for each scene.
Midway through creating our performance we were each assigned role each requiring different skills that we wanted to develop an understanding of; I was the lighting technician. As a group we discussed the lighting capabilities that the college has regarding spot-lights and colours available. Despite it not being my role I also worked on my group's music and sound design, I used Audacity to create music for a torture scene however unfortunately this went unused. 


]]> 2017-05-23 08:22:40 UTC https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/173324788 30213520 https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/176102558 The role of a lighting technician requires extensive knowledge of lighting equipment and visual effects in theatre. Their job is to design rigs and scripts for the for the lighting to accompany the action on stage along side the sound design. They must work closely with the director and the music technician ensure their work complements each others' for the best viewing experience.
The skills a lighting technician must have that I have used are:

Attention to detail.
When planning our lighting I've always thought about how we could position our selves to allow for the best lighting possibilities.

Take a logical approach to problem solving.
I sometimes I would come up with an idea that Cat would say would be impossible with the lights we have available, so I would change it slightly to accommodate the college's lighting rig

Creativity.
Throughout our rehearsals I've contributed creative ideas regarding lighting an staging; I'm usually the one to point out when someone's back to to the audience and come up with ways around it.

Communication and team working skills.
Whenever I have an idea I tell my group it and ask for input on it, if they say it doesn't work I try and find a way of helping them with the ideas they have.
   


]]> 2017-06-12 13:55:58 UTC https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/176102558 30213520 https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/176591560 The ideas from the first sessions were focused on creating an asylum setting and characters to accompany it. The main character was discussed to be a scientist who experimented on people he'd kidnapped.
The main story element would have been the progression of Stockholm syndrome the prisoners would experience, however this was removed from all prisoners experiencing it to Alicia's and Sophia's characters.]]> 2017-06-15 18:51:33 UTC https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/176591560 30213520 https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/176592916 We researched films under the genre 'Thriller' for inspiration regarding the music and story progression to help us create a starting point. We've been roughly blocking each scene as we've been focusing on story structure. I've been told by my group I have to practise my voice for my character as I'm finding my role both difficult and awkward to act, I've spent most my time during these lessons practising my characterisation and looking up music for our performance to set the right tone.
The scene we've spent the most time on is the first one in which I, as a scientist, welcome the audience and display my test subjects and my fondness of them. I decided this because talking to people beyond the forth wall both gives information to the audience and shows him aware of the audience's existence; knowledge none of the other roles have.
 
Strengths :
I've found some fitting creepy music which we might consider using. This would add suspense to our scenes.

We've worked fast in creating all but the last scene.

Weaknesses:
I find my role difficult to keep up as I've never played a creepy character. 

]]> 2017-06-15 19:05:33 UTC https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/176592916 30213520 https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/176593916 In these lessons we practised one scene at a time until they were completely polished, we started with the first scene where we decided Alicia and Sophia should come out from the audience when shout their names.
We decided this would be a good idea because it's effective for me to aim my shouting at the audience; having the people I'm shouting for within the audience would make the most scene staging-wise.
This scene took about 2 lessons to fully stage and have it in a position where we could act it through without stopping to add a new feature. Our second scene was finished much faster; in this scene I drag Dory past Katie, Alicia, and Sophia who are in separate cells. This showcases the madness of the characters in the asylum and how they're being mistreated. I came up with the idea of using lighting to more effectively perform this scene by turning on the lights on each side of the stage individually as I walk past the cells before throwing Dory into the middle cell where the lights will all abruptly turn off once I shut the door.
The final scene we have finished is a psychological torture scene in which I torture Dory with the help of Alicia and Sophia as my assistants. We focused on props for this scene: requiring a knife and rope, unfortunately we were unable to obtain them as of yet so were unable to practise using them. We will have to come back to this scene another day once we have the props. For this scene I created a music track on audacity to create a more sinister tone as I couldn't find what I was looking for on YouTube.

Strengths:
We understand more what we're doing now and can perform a majority of our performance to a better quality

We have all the music we need to these scenes

Weaknesses:
We haven't implemented props yet. ]]> 2017-06-15 19:18:50 UTC https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/176593916 30213520 https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/176597167 In these lessons we finished completely our performance for PPP&Devising.
We started off with staging the final scene in which the prisoners attack the scientist and kill him.
For this scene we used the song 'Tiptoe Through The Tulips' to juxtapose the tone of the story, we decided this would be a good fit because it appeared the scientist's test subjects rebelling was apart of one of his experiments so wasn't scared of being killed. We spent most of our time learning this scene planning effective ways of acting to kill someone without hurting them, which we found surprisingly easy and finished fairly quickly.

Strengths:
We've finished our performance and don't need any extra rehearsals

I'm confident for the showcase

Weaknesses:
We've still not been able to acquire props so we'll have to simplify the ways in which we use them for the performance.]]> 2017-06-15 20:08:07 UTC https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/176597167 30213520 https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/176860562 Ideally I would use a smoke machine to highlight the spotlights throughout the whole performance.
I would also have a larger stage to allow for more intricate lighting effects.
During intense scenes I would use strobe lights which would fade after a few seconds into darkness accompanied by a drum hit on the last flash.
Most scenes would be barely lit, the lighting would constantly flicker as if the stage was lit by a candle from each side of the stage. ]]> 2017-06-19 13:25:23 UTC https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/176860562 30213520 https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/177013820 2017-06-20 17:51:27 UTC https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/177013820 30213520 https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/177013939 2017-06-20 17:52:40 UTC https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/177013939 30213520 https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/177021279 Overall I would say this piece was a success; no body forgot their lines, scenes went as smoothly as they ever had before and we were able to work through technical issues. If I were to improve anything about our performance it would be to prioritise characterisation over all else in rehearsals as that's what I found the most difficult to maintain throughout the performance because I'd never acted as a mad scientist character before.
I believe my posture as the character was decent but could have been exaggerated to make a more compelling character.
To improve the performance I would have to schedule more rehearsals to allow all of us to refine our characters as I believe all of us could have benefited from it. ]]> 2017-06-20 19:21:54 UTC https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/177021279 30213520 https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/177023053 The size of stage with similar lighting rig I desire]]> 2017-06-20 19:48:37 UTC https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/177023053 30213520 https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/177023101 A more detailed backdrop to use along side the lighting]]> 2017-06-20 19:49:37 UTC https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/177023101 30213520 https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/177023183 We didn't spend much time on the lighting set up because we were occupied with practising the other aspects of the performance. So once we started focusing on the lighting we didn't have much time to prepare. If we were to do this again, I would put a priority on the lighting and creating more detailed lighting cues.
To do this we would have to use our own time to discuss our ideas and translate them to a word document.]]> 2017-06-20 19:50:49 UTC https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/177023183 30213520 https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/177083273 2017-06-21 10:03:54 UTC https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/177083273 30213520 https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/177083667 24th April:
Start coming up with ideas, block first scene
27th April:
Polish first scene, block second scene
2nd May:
Block third scene, polish all scene so far
4th May:
Block fourth scene, start to do costumes and makeup
9th May:
 Polish all scenes, think about props and set
11th May: 
Full run though]]> 2017-06-21 10:09:27 UTC https://padlet.com/30213520/2u4v6v0hei2e/wish/177083667