Lighting Technicalities

18th Novemeber 2014

Tech Lighting Session With Paul

I really enjoyed testing out the different lighting effects, the possibilities are simply endless! It was also really good to know the different technical attributes of each studio. I learnt a lot about lighting and how it can wash out an actors face ect. Seeing light coming from each side of the stage was also another interesting method of lighting, however this would take lots of practice as the actor has to be stood in exactly the right place, which is interesting to know as if an actor is not in that space it could have a completely different effect. As I was saying in a previous post lighting can make different emotions, when seeing all red your brain instantly feels danger or love perhaps, together with the actions of the actor this can duplicate the effect creating strong feelings for the audience. Looking at a complete red wash really hurt my eyes which could be good to look at if I wanted to create something uncomfortable. 


  

Being a Crab

11th November 2014

Becoming objects and animals helped me realise how much I DON'T use my body physically as well as I could. Becoming a crab and a toilet ect. wasn't as easy as it sounds, moving your body to the shape that it needs to be is not that easy, it takes control and stamina, something that as a performer I need to improve. 

I discovered the objects I could make with my body just by moving in different ways. Physical theatre is very interesting, and you can create an object, which is good if you do not have a prop you can simply just make it. It can also be a way to make an object slightly different, or to give it a personality. Whilst thinking about giving a object a personality it seems crazy but in actual fact it could be a vital way of creating a mood within your piece, and an easy way also! From thinking about moods and emotions within an object it then got me thinking about different ways to create moods and emotions. Which can be lighting, acting, set, music, and physical movement, it is important to create emotions and moods in different ways in order for the audience to understand and feel the same. 

Evaluating Ones Self

Personal Performance Evaluation 

5th November 2014

Myself - I have learned from the process so far that I like to work with physical objects. Having an object helps me create scenarios in my mind that can link me to other ideas. I have been finding it difficult to come up with ideas for my piece as feel I can't just sit down and come up with material. So having a physical object makes my brain picture this object in a different way. I want to be able to find some sort of strait narrative or storyline, which I do not feel I have, I feel that everyone around me has solid ideas and I do not, I feel like I should have these ideas and this is stressing me out slightly. In order to come up with material I feel like I should watch certain things that I can relate or find inspiration for other peoples projects, but I don't know where to look for this!

I feel as if I need a structure and clear ideas so I must evaluate what to do next in order for me to feel comfortable about where my project is at. 
I feel I should

• Write stories for bullet points 
• Watch technology related programmes
• Draft ideas for characters
• Think about relaty TV, technology and mind control to find material. 

I hope that if I spend time generating ideas that I will start to have a clear structure to my work. 

Objects = Inspiration

28th October 2014 

For this lesson we had to bring in 2 objects that we thought could be useful for our piece, so I took an xBox controller and a pair of glasses. Everybody brought their own objects in and here is a picture of these objects.

Objects that were bought in.

 It was interesting to see the vast range of objects as they were all different and I could see some that could work for my piece.

We all went around and wrote some words by the objects that sprang to mind when people saw them. This was helpful but I did not feel like the words that were written really related to the feel I was going for. Knowing what sprang to peoples mind when they saw them was pretty useful however, because I then could see what they thought when they saw them.

The Controller Words/Phrases

The Glasses Words/Phrases

We then created our own scenarios using the objects, some peoples scenarios were really helpful to me as they were very relative to what I wanted to do, such as the 'technology killer' where the cord of the controller was put around someone's neck, a sort of 'death by games' theme. I liked this because my whole piece is about technology and it's disadvantages. It helped me see how just objects can tell a powerful story. The other one that was useful to me was the fox playing the games machine, the fox had some sort of connotation about trickery, someone who is cunning, or has magic powers this made me think of the controlling aspect of my plan, the main character who can control peoples minds links to a fox in many ways so therefore I could play around with this idea, maybe this character could take on some characteristics of a fox. Rhys also chose a scenario that I liked, he stood watching people with his glasses on and taking notes, this gave the idea that he was watching people, I want to explore with the idea of watching people and how this can be shown. 

 For my scenario I chose my objects, when my glasses were on I was then able to control minds, this gave the glasses a 'personality' like feature and they were then something completely different to just a pair of glasses. I had originally chosen a completely different idea but decided to change it as it did not relate to my ideas.

We then took some objects in groups and made a scenario out of them. In my group we had a necklace, a book and a notepad. We create a scenario from the story within the book. Books are a great way of thinking of ideas as you make images up in your mind from the words, I think I could find one about the disadvantages of technology and that would help me!

 

Scenario Building

23rd October 2014

Thinking up 3 scenarios with my character. The first scenario was about the character crying in the road, and screaming about being watched/chased, you can see people filming her to the side, later on in the film we see this footage. 

This idea slightly came from other peoples, it is useful to hear other peoples ideas because you get a different angle to what you are thinking and this can give your work some extra textures. Most work is influenced from previous work anyway, so it helps to get opinions and ideas to refresh your mind. 

I also created another scenario which was about the main character rather than the character I had created before, therefore I started creating another character in my mind as I was writing this scenario. 

This lesson was helpful because I then had created scenes in my mind.   

Character Creating

21st October 2014

In this lesson we started to work on creating some characters and the ways in which we could create those characters. Splitting the page into 3 columns, first narrative, second detail, and third background/context, we had just write and not stop what we were doing, I found this very helpful as I was able to just write nonsense down on paper but when reading it actually made sense. I created a character called Kayla, she is the person who is being followed and later on begins to be controlled by another character. In order to do this task I created an image of a person in my head and just wrote down attributes that I thought this character would have, for example Kayla had some problems in her life so I made the character look older than she should look. I am unsure if I will actually use this character in my film but the method of creating the character really helped me think up a character. Not being able to stop writing makes you write exactly what is in your mind, you do not have time to change what you think because instantly this is already written. I should take some time to do this in my own time. My understanding of making work has improved because I slowing learning many more methods. 

Stick to What You Know

14th October 2014

STICK TO WHAT YOU KNOW!

Watching other peoples 'experimental' project made me realise that final project is not a time to experiment with your skills! It is a time to show what your skills and talents are, to show off and prove yourself. Evaluate what you are good at and draw upon that. 
Thinking about this made me realise that maybe it would be better for me to do a performance rather than a film. Simply because I am not overly talented in making films - however I feel its ok to make a film that does not stick to the rules of film, as long as this is a stylised feature and is done well.   

The Point of Performance

9th October 2014

What is the point of a performance? This question was a interesting question that made me think. The first thing that came to my mind was to entertain. I then thought about as a performer what do I get out of performing? I enjoy performing because I want to have fun, it is something I enjoy and sharing this enjoyment makes it all the better.

Here is a list of the points of performance 

• To share ideas
• Inform/pass on information
• Humanity - Way of life - Religion 
• To entertain 
• To express emotion

When evaluating this I was thinking about how I feel after a performance, but it depends on what type of performance I had seen. After leaving a pantomime I always feel excited and happy, but I remembered how I felt after watching a contemporary autobiographical performance I remember feeling confused and drained from it's content. This was useful because this then made me think about how I wanted my audience to feel after my film/performance.

Turning ideas internal - what is inside of me? what do I want to express and explore? These are difficult questions to ask myself, as I have to explore my feelings and my past. 
Relating my past to my performance would give it an personal edge.

No, I'm washing my hair tonight...

7th October 2014

• 'Yes... And...' I found this game quite difficult as I could not think any excuses that did not sound nasty! Using excuses such as 'I'm going to wash my hair' was quite humorous so I decided to think of more humorous excuses so I did not feel so mean! I think it felt nasty as it was all rejection, and rejection is not a particularly nice feeling! It defiantly puts you on the spot and makes you think as the excuses I usually use are, I'm busy or I don't feel like it. 
• Be a fairy! I love floating around like a fairy myself so the name of the task excited me before I even knew what it was about! I loved how this is a really easy way to generate ideas and work, making an action on a whim was pretty easy as you think of something and just do it, it would be good to do and then to build on it. A simple action can equal plenty of scenarios, as we saw when Megan and I were kangaroos! By watching our scenario the audience could build their own perception of what we were doing, because the piece did not have speech and we were not saying 'this is what we are doing and that is that'. Basically, an action can be perceived as many different things, and I like that!

A Mind Map of Inspiration

Own Research 

In-between lessons I decided to create a mind map of my own ideas. 

I watched some films on conspiracy theories and 9/11, some of it felt like general nonsense but it made me realise that something must be seriously wrong with the world if people are questioning these types of things. 

Why are the public so suspicious? What really happened? What do I really believe in? Are we really being sheltered from these scenarios?

These were questions that I began to ask myself! I started to think about how this linked to my project and my ideas, I decided that conspiracy is at some level about control, who is controlling the media, who is controlling what we believe, who is controlling the government, who is controlling religious groups. It really made me think about the world we live in and the way everything in our lives is controlled in some kind of way, there is always environmental and social factors that are stopping the way we actually want to live our lives. 

How Space SHOULD NOT be used

2nd October 2014

• We looked at work from previous students. Seeing some of this work was shocking as it was not up to the standard that I felt it should have been. This was because I felt that it lacked depth and quality of organisation. Learning previously how much time was needed to create the module I felt that this had clearly not been completed with that amount of time spent on it. 
• After watching a stage performance I realised how space should be used, and how it SHOULD NOT be used. The particular piece we watched the actor was just stood in one place, this is not visually stimulated or creative in any kind of way. Yes, this could work if you were to make a running theme and have a reason for it but otherwise, BE CREATIVE, use the space wisely! Its visually appealing and stimulating.
• It made me feel slightly scared about my project, but also it made me more willing to make a great piece of work!
• Hilary then set a task for me to watch two films that were suggested to me  in the previous lesson  

Concentrating with some sticks

30th September 2014

• Reading through the module handbook defiantly helped me realise exactly what was expected to complete the module
• Hearing other peoples ideas and voicing my own idea helped me to gather my ideas in my brain and I started to think of my influences such as Reality TV and Simulation Games. Hearing other peoples ideas made me realise how versatile and different everybody is, there were so many different creative ideas that it made me realise that a lot of different scenarios would be possible. This helped me to realise that I did not have to panic about coming up with a 'good' idea as all ideas can be developed into something spectacular.
•  The amount of study hours for the module made me think about how much hard work I was going to need to put into this project - not that I ever thought it would be easy, in a million years. It makes me excited about the work I am going to have to do, because planning a major project such as this can be a lot of fun, so long as you are organised!
• We then pointed at objects around the room and called them different names was more difficult that I first thought it would be. This was because it was making my brain work in different ways than it normally would. I often found myself recycling words again and again because I was finding it difficult to think up new words that had not been said before.
• After this we did a similar exercise but called those objects random words that we were making up, this was even more difficult as my brain is not used to just plucking words out of nowhere so therefore I decided to make up a 'system' and say the words of the object backwards. It was interesting to think about how your brain works, it was clear to me that making a system was easier as my brain knew exactly what it was doing, so therefore it was easier than just making anything up. 
• We then used sticks to communicate with a partner. When I was working with people that I was friends with I found it easier, I think because I knew them, so therefore I aware of what they were about to do. Whilst holding eye contact I found I actually had less control on the sticks than if I would looking at the stick. I am unaware why this was happening. I think the main trick of the exercise was the pressure you held on the stick.  

Introduction

Major Project in Performance and Media!

The brief for our final major project is make a live performance or film, this is for me to develop specialist skills, and show my knowledge of creating live and/or mediated performance through a combination of critical study and practical workshops. 

During the summer I had a think about the types and styles of the work I was going to do. I thought that I wanted to make a film as I am interested in this more than I am for making a performance. However I decided not to limit myself and to choose the medium when I was happy the storyline, as a performance may work better depending on the narrative. I had an original idea of basing my performance on the subject of mind control. I chose the initial idea from my love of the video game Sims.