Thursday, 8 May 2014
Timeline for each room
The reason that everyone had to know what the timeline for each others room was because in order to fit the play together in a perfect puzzle, we needed to know where each and every actor was at all time. Then we were able to link each room together and interlock different performances so that the play ran smoothly.
My character
My name is Beatrice Thompson and I am 32 years old. I work as a cleaner and cook in the ministry food hall. I have no children because I don't want to bring new life into the society that we currently live in. I am a rebel and when I can I try to promote the revolution by handing out leaflets and going to secret rebel meetings. I met Trevor at a rebel meeting. We fell in love, but we live in constant fear of being caught. The head cook in the food hall has seen me and Trevor holding hands and has threatened to tell the ministry of love.
Wednesday, 7 May 2014
EVALUATION
The multi media elements used in our version of '1984' weren't just to support the play, like in a ordinary theatre performance, the multi media was the performance. The lights, sounds and videos were performances in themselves.
Our first multi media element was our costume. The costume performed in itself, it gave different vibes in different spaces. For example, the indoor performing areas were dark and oppressive, but when you looked out the window you saw brightly dressed young troops in yellow coats and trousers. It took the audience into a different part of the 2050 world, without actually going anywhere and the bright clothes gave the outside area a completely different atmosphere.
In the lecture theatre the lights where used to create tension. When the audience first streamed in the lights were turned off, for only about five seconds, but it gave the audience a chance to leave the real world and enter the world of 2050 and it made the audience focus so they became very present to what was going on around them. This meant that the lighting was a very effective device. A prezi was also used in the lecture theatre. The prezi was presented to the audience in bleak and regimented way. The prezi had little colour and contained various rules and warnings. It was effective because the way the prezi was created and presented was hostile and scared the audience which was the desired effect.
As the audience entered the space, which was where the anti sex league worked, there were bright flashing lights. This was to create a disorientating and unfamiliar atmosphere where the audience felt uncomfortable and slightly harassed by the anti sex league. There were marked 'x's on the floor , which was where individual audience members were told to stand. This was effective because it gave the feeling that the audience were lower ranked than the anti sex league, because when you are told where to stand and what to do it makes you feel insignificant and lower than the people ordering you about.
In O'Brien 's office there were computers that had relevant information on them that was to do with the world of 2050. If an audience member came over they could look at the computer screen and see data that would relate to the world. This was effective because it meant that the computer wasn't just a prop in a show, but it was a performance in itself. In O'Brien's dressing room there was a rack of O'Brien's clothes which made the room feel very real because you were able to see all of his clothes which brings O'Brien's character to life. However I think the audience should have been encouraged to come in and look through his clothes and search the pockets and maybe find some thing as simple as a shopping list, but it would have made the character even more real and it would have made the world more believable. That would have improved the use of multi media in that space.
When you came into Stanley's room there was a song playing on a loop which continued over the whole hour. It was an upbeat, classical song which was very contrasting to the rest of the spaces which were very bleak. But the rest of the room had the same atmosphere as the other spaces. The strip lights in the room were very effective because instead of having stage lights, which would have made the audience feel like they were watching a show, they made the audience feel like they were really standing in a man's bedroom with bright exposing lights.
In room 101 there were torture tools laid out on a table. This was particularly effective because the actors didn't actually use them but when the audience walked in and saw them, it was frightening to see. Imagination is often much more effective that actually seeing something, because your imagination can run wild and if we let the audience create those haunting images for themselves it becomes much more scary for them. There was a constant sound of a babies cry in the background, which is a very distressing sound, especially among screaming and people getting tortured. It created a particularly haunting atmosphere which made the audience feel uncomfortable and frightened. The windows in the room were completely blacked out so there was only one light in the corner of the room, which also gave off heat making the room even more uncomfortable. Because the room was very dark it made the audience very on edge and nervous. I think that room 101 was the most effective room because there was so much effort and thought put into the multi media elements in there. Every element used was very effective and had huge effect on the audience and other cast members.
In the food hall there was a large shelving unit which was full of food products, lists of stocks and rebel leaflets. The audience were able to look at the products on the shelves and look through the book of stocks. This was effective because it made the world feel believable and the detail added to the reality of the piece. There was also a voice repeating 'war is peace etc...' which was ominous and gave the impression that the audience were being slightly brain washed.
We used the building as a piece of performance in itself. It fitted the piece because we were able to make the building into the world of 2050. It was a site specific piece.
We gave the audience masks as the play was beginning. We got this idea from the theatre company 'Punch Drunk', because in their immersive theatre shows they put masks on their audience members. By giving someone a mask you are allowing them to perform and become part of the play and leave behind their real lives.
Our first multi media element was our costume. The costume performed in itself, it gave different vibes in different spaces. For example, the indoor performing areas were dark and oppressive, but when you looked out the window you saw brightly dressed young troops in yellow coats and trousers. It took the audience into a different part of the 2050 world, without actually going anywhere and the bright clothes gave the outside area a completely different atmosphere.
In the lecture theatre the lights where used to create tension. When the audience first streamed in the lights were turned off, for only about five seconds, but it gave the audience a chance to leave the real world and enter the world of 2050 and it made the audience focus so they became very present to what was going on around them. This meant that the lighting was a very effective device. A prezi was also used in the lecture theatre. The prezi was presented to the audience in bleak and regimented way. The prezi had little colour and contained various rules and warnings. It was effective because the way the prezi was created and presented was hostile and scared the audience which was the desired effect.
As the audience entered the space, which was where the anti sex league worked, there were bright flashing lights. This was to create a disorientating and unfamiliar atmosphere where the audience felt uncomfortable and slightly harassed by the anti sex league. There were marked 'x's on the floor , which was where individual audience members were told to stand. This was effective because it gave the feeling that the audience were lower ranked than the anti sex league, because when you are told where to stand and what to do it makes you feel insignificant and lower than the people ordering you about.
In O'Brien 's office there were computers that had relevant information on them that was to do with the world of 2050. If an audience member came over they could look at the computer screen and see data that would relate to the world. This was effective because it meant that the computer wasn't just a prop in a show, but it was a performance in itself. In O'Brien's dressing room there was a rack of O'Brien's clothes which made the room feel very real because you were able to see all of his clothes which brings O'Brien's character to life. However I think the audience should have been encouraged to come in and look through his clothes and search the pockets and maybe find some thing as simple as a shopping list, but it would have made the character even more real and it would have made the world more believable. That would have improved the use of multi media in that space.
When you came into Stanley's room there was a song playing on a loop which continued over the whole hour. It was an upbeat, classical song which was very contrasting to the rest of the spaces which were very bleak. But the rest of the room had the same atmosphere as the other spaces. The strip lights in the room were very effective because instead of having stage lights, which would have made the audience feel like they were watching a show, they made the audience feel like they were really standing in a man's bedroom with bright exposing lights.
In room 101 there were torture tools laid out on a table. This was particularly effective because the actors didn't actually use them but when the audience walked in and saw them, it was frightening to see. Imagination is often much more effective that actually seeing something, because your imagination can run wild and if we let the audience create those haunting images for themselves it becomes much more scary for them. There was a constant sound of a babies cry in the background, which is a very distressing sound, especially among screaming and people getting tortured. It created a particularly haunting atmosphere which made the audience feel uncomfortable and frightened. The windows in the room were completely blacked out so there was only one light in the corner of the room, which also gave off heat making the room even more uncomfortable. Because the room was very dark it made the audience very on edge and nervous. I think that room 101 was the most effective room because there was so much effort and thought put into the multi media elements in there. Every element used was very effective and had huge effect on the audience and other cast members.
In the food hall there was a large shelving unit which was full of food products, lists of stocks and rebel leaflets. The audience were able to look at the products on the shelves and look through the book of stocks. This was effective because it made the world feel believable and the detail added to the reality of the piece. There was also a voice repeating 'war is peace etc...' which was ominous and gave the impression that the audience were being slightly brain washed.
We used the building as a piece of performance in itself. It fitted the piece because we were able to make the building into the world of 2050. It was a site specific piece.
We gave the audience masks as the play was beginning. We got this idea from the theatre company 'Punch Drunk', because in their immersive theatre shows they put masks on their audience members. By giving someone a mask you are allowing them to perform and become part of the play and leave behind their real lives.
Tuesday, 6 May 2014
costume
Our costume was part of our multi media elements.
The costume we had for the canteen staff was bleak and grey, but smart. The boots made the costume more regimented and army like. Everyone in the canteen had the same outfit so that the actors could be separated from the audience, but more importantly it creates a very formal, unpleasant atmosphere.
my video
This is my video that I made for the canteen. It is a silent video because I thought that it is more scary for the audience to use their imagination of what is being said. It was on a loop and continued over the whole hour. I made it black and white because the colour scheme was dark and bleak, so having a video in colour would have ruined the atmosphere of the play. The video was projected onto a wall at the end of the room. There was nothing else on that wall to look at, so that the audience would be able to focus on the projection.
Tuesday, 22 April 2014
Evaluation so far...
I think that our immersive theatre topic is a more challenging topic then our pervious ones. This work involves us devising our own scripts, sets and characters. Although we are basing our work on 1984, we are devising a completely new, fresh piece of theatre. During this unit of work not only are we the actors, we are also the producers and directors.
I am finding that creating immersive theatre is very challenging and involves much more detail then a non immersive piece. Each and every detail needs to be thought about and worked on because the audience will be coming into our world and they will need to feel like they are in a completely different place to the one they are actually in. If there is a detail missing that wouldn't be missing in real life, the illusion of the play will be lost.
We also need to factor in, when devising our performance, that we have no idea what the audience will do when we interact with them. There will have to be an element of improvisation and as actors we will have to stay in character no matter what the audience do. This will be a new challenge because it is something I have never done before. To make sure that this doesn't effect my performance I will make sure I am clear on everything thing that I am going to say to the audience members. This will help me to give a stronger performance, because I will be able to predict the reactions from the audience, which I can then use to think about what I will say next.
I am finding that creating immersive theatre is very challenging and involves much more detail then a non immersive piece. Each and every detail needs to be thought about and worked on because the audience will be coming into our world and they will need to feel like they are in a completely different place to the one they are actually in. If there is a detail missing that wouldn't be missing in real life, the illusion of the play will be lost.
We also need to factor in, when devising our performance, that we have no idea what the audience will do when we interact with them. There will have to be an element of improvisation and as actors we will have to stay in character no matter what the audience do. This will be a new challenge because it is something I have never done before. To make sure that this doesn't effect my performance I will make sure I am clear on everything thing that I am going to say to the audience members. This will help me to give a stronger performance, because I will be able to predict the reactions from the audience, which I can then use to think about what I will say next.
Tuesday, 15 April 2014
1948
George Orwell wrote 1984 in 1948. This is what was happening in 1984...
-London Olympics took place.
-the national health service was introduced
-Berlin Wall was put up
-first remotely controlled airplane took off (technology developing)
-gandy died (he achieved independence for India)
-Burma gained independence from Britain
-all the railways were connected in Britain. You were able to go from one end of the country to another
-Ashcaba earth quake erupted
-colour TV was beginning to be introduced
-women's fashion was becoming more daring (bikinis)
In 1948 the war had just finished and you can see that technology was developing. Lots of countries had gained independence from Britian. The world was beginning to move on from World War Two.
-London Olympics took place.
-the national health service was introduced
-Berlin Wall was put up
-first remotely controlled airplane took off (technology developing)
-gandy died (he achieved independence for India)
-Burma gained independence from Britain
-all the railways were connected in Britain. You were able to go from one end of the country to another
-Ashcaba earth quake erupted
-colour TV was beginning to be introduced
-women's fashion was becoming more daring (bikinis)
In 1948 the war had just finished and you can see that technology was developing. Lots of countries had gained independence from Britian. The world was beginning to move on from World War Two.
Timeline
In our lesson we devised a timeline for what will happen over our 1 hour period.
Timeline
6:45- heating soup and cutting bread. Making sure the live feed is set and properly
7:00- cutting bread, sweeping floor, serving soup
7:10- meal time ( an alarm rings, everyone rushes into the food hall to get a meal. Two people follow in after the rush, whispering and acting suspicious)
7:20/25- stealing food
7:35- cleaners and cooks talking to audience
7:45- rebellion leaflet
7:50- soup spills
There are nine hours of material because there are 9 spaces. The show is going to be massive and no one person will see the same performance.
Timeline
6:45- heating soup and cutting bread. Making sure the live feed is set and properly
7:00- cutting bread, sweeping floor, serving soup
7:10- meal time ( an alarm rings, everyone rushes into the food hall to get a meal. Two people follow in after the rush, whispering and acting suspicious)
7:20/25- stealing food
7:35- cleaners and cooks talking to audience
7:45- rebellion leaflet
7:50- soup spills
There are nine hours of material because there are 9 spaces. The show is going to be massive and no one person will see the same performance.
Response to film
We watched the film of 1984 last lesson. I took some ideas away from the film, here are my notes...
Themes of 1984
Hope
Oppression
Control
Poverty
Freedom
Privacy
War
Setting
Bleak
Grey
Dark
Dirty
Bare
No personal belongings
Screens everywhere
Everything is very uniform
Key moments
-when winston and Julia meet for the first time
-Julia gives wins ton the note, 'I love you'
-Julia and Winston have sex
-Julia brings food for Winston that they're normally not allowed, (coffee, tea, sugar, chocolate etc...)
-when Winston meet O'Brien. O'Brien offers to show Winston the 10th edition of the new speak dictionary
-Winston realises O'Brien is against him
This quote stood out to me in the film. It shows how people living in the world of 1984 are brain washed and have strange views.
'Its a beautiful thing, the destruction of words'
Themes of 1984
Hope
Oppression
Control
Poverty
Freedom
Privacy
War
Setting
Bleak
Grey
Dark
Dirty
Bare
No personal belongings
Screens everywhere
Everything is very uniform
Key moments
-when winston and Julia meet for the first time
-Julia gives wins ton the note, 'I love you'
-Julia and Winston have sex
-Julia brings food for Winston that they're normally not allowed, (coffee, tea, sugar, chocolate etc...)
-when Winston meet O'Brien. O'Brien offers to show Winston the 10th edition of the new speak dictionary
-Winston realises O'Brien is against him
This quote stood out to me in the film. It shows how people living in the world of 1984 are brain washed and have strange views.
'Its a beautiful thing, the destruction of words'
Wednesday, 9 April 2014
Immersive theatre companies
Our performance will be an immersive piece of theatre. I have researched some immersive theartre companies to gain inspiration and understanding of what immersive theatre involves.
Punchdrunk
Punch drunk are an immersive theatre company. They first started up in 2000 and they were founded by its artistic director Felix Barrett. Punchdrunk works on creating unforgettable pieces of theatre that break the boundaries of typical theatre performances. the audience are able to walk through the world of their productions, being bought into that world by the actors. it is left up to the individual audience member as to where they want to go or what the choose to watch. The set is always incredibly detailed, so that the audience can be totally immersed in the world of the show. The boundaries between space, performer and spectator are constantly shifting.
Quote from the Punchdrunk website- 'Punchdrunk works with producing and commissioning partners to create the unforgettable theatrical experiences of the future'
YouMeBumBumTrain
You Me Bum Bum Train is an interactive performance , which was created by Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd in 2004. the audience is advisd not to research the play before you go to see it, because it is better to know as little as possible about the play before you go and see it. the play gained various awards, but has also caused controversy as none of its performers get paid.
I really like the idea of not knowing much about the performance before you go and see it. I think that we should take this idea for our own play. it will have more shock and impact for the audience if they don't know what to what to expect.
Punchdrunk
Punch drunk are an immersive theatre company. They first started up in 2000 and they were founded by its artistic director Felix Barrett. Punchdrunk works on creating unforgettable pieces of theatre that break the boundaries of typical theatre performances. the audience are able to walk through the world of their productions, being bought into that world by the actors. it is left up to the individual audience member as to where they want to go or what the choose to watch. The set is always incredibly detailed, so that the audience can be totally immersed in the world of the show. The boundaries between space, performer and spectator are constantly shifting. Quote from the Punchdrunk website- 'Punchdrunk works with producing and commissioning partners to create the unforgettable theatrical experiences of the future'YouMeBumBumTrain
You Me Bum Bum Train is an interactive performance , which was created by Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd in 2004. the audience is advisd not to research the play before you go to see it, because it is better to know as little as possible about the play before you go and see it. the play gained various awards, but has also caused controversy as none of its performers get paid. I really like the idea of not knowing much about the performance before you go and see it. I think that we should take this idea for our own play. it will have more shock and impact for the audience if they don't know what to what to expect.
Sunday, 6 April 2014
Dramatic moments
In our groups we had to think about what would happen in our space. There needs to be dramatic moments in our 1 hour period of performing. The characters need to have interactions with the audience and each other. There always needs to be something to look at or something interesting happening in the space at all times. Each audience member will have their own individual experience of the play, which means as the actors we need to always being doing something different and interesting over the 1 hour period.
We came up with some dramatics moments :
- a cleaner will hand a leaflet to an audience member promoting the revolution, a waitress will see her and take the cleaner and audience member out of the room and start shouting at them.
The idea behind this is that the waitress is a strong party supporter and is very against the revolution. She will be threatening to tell the thought police about the cleaner and audience member.
-a cook will spill some soup as she walks over to a table with it. This will mean that she finds herself in trouble with another worker.
She is another rebel and lives in constant fear of the thought police finding her. Therefore is very nervous when she does something as insignificant as spilling soup.
-the cleaner will be putting more posters up on the wall. At one point she will go over and look at one particular poster which is promoting children to join recruitment, army like camps.
This will bring back a lot of hidden emotion for the cleaner as her children went away to one of those camps and have never returned.
-the same cook who spilt the soup, will be caught stealing food. When she is caught she will tell the others that the government don't give here enough food to provide for her family.
This will get her in trouble with the thought police.
We came up with some dramatics moments :
- a cleaner will hand a leaflet to an audience member promoting the revolution, a waitress will see her and take the cleaner and audience member out of the room and start shouting at them.
The idea behind this is that the waitress is a strong party supporter and is very against the revolution. She will be threatening to tell the thought police about the cleaner and audience member.
-a cook will spill some soup as she walks over to a table with it. This will mean that she finds herself in trouble with another worker.
She is another rebel and lives in constant fear of the thought police finding her. Therefore is very nervous when she does something as insignificant as spilling soup.
-the cleaner will be putting more posters up on the wall. At one point she will go over and look at one particular poster which is promoting children to join recruitment, army like camps.
This will bring back a lot of hidden emotion for the cleaner as her children went away to one of those camps and have never returned.
-the same cook who spilt the soup, will be caught stealing food. When she is caught she will tell the others that the government don't give here enough food to provide for her family.
This will get her in trouble with the thought police.
Props list
In our group we also worked out which props we would need for the food hall:
-tables
-chairs
-soup pot
-electric hot plate
-utensils
-bowls
-metal water jug
-posters
-camera (live feed)
-leaflets
-serving table/counter
-costumes
-broom
-cloth
-gun (for the guard)
-food
-TV screen
-tables
-chairs
-soup pot
-electric hot plate
-utensils
-bowls
-metal water jug
-posters
-camera (live feed)
-leaflets
-serving table/counter
-costumes
-broom
-cloth
-gun (for the guard)
-food
-TV screen
Ideas for the food hall
In our lesson on Thursday we got into groups and our teacher asked us to begin to devise the setting and performance for one of the rooms that will be in our play. My group were given the food hall. First we discussed what technical elements we should use, we decided to have dim flickering lights, to have a live feed of the food hall going into a different space and have a screen with various notices and warnings showing in the corner of the room. We then thought about the staging of the space, so we thought that at one end of the room we would have the perpetration table and serving counter, then have rows of tables or benches filling the rest of the space. We want the room to be very bare, apart from on wall covered with posters that the audience can look at as part if the performance.
I found this exercise to be very productive because when the whole group came together we came up with really creative and exciting ideas. It was also a development of the three experiments we came up with. We decided to use the live feed in the food hall, which was one of my experiments.
I found this exercise to be very productive because when the whole group came together we came up with really creative and exciting ideas. It was also a development of the three experiments we came up with. We decided to use the live feed in the food hall, which was one of my experiments.
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
3 experiments
In our lesson on Thursday we got into groups and tried out some ideas, experimenting for how we would like to use multi media in our final performance.
Experiment 1
In our group we thought that we could project a documentary onto a black wall. The documentary would provoke reactions , for example there might be a funny line in it or something that would shock an audience member. Then one of the cast members would be watching and pick out an audience member who had a reaction and take them out of the audience. We thought that this would be effective because in 1984 everyone is told to think and act the same, therefor it would be seen as wrong to express any emotion towards something, in a world where big brother is always watching you.
Experiment 2
My second experiment was projecting onto audience members when they first come in. I think it would be really effective to project the words 'thought criminal' onto selected audience members. Some of the actors would then play the thought police and bring them out from the crowd. I think this is a good representation of 1984 because all the thought criminals that were caught would be singled out and humiliated.
Experiment 3
finally I thought that there could be a live feed of one area, being shown in another area. The play will be spaced around different rooms, but if there is a holding cell or police room, audience members should be able to walk in and see the thought police watching people in their homes or in their work places. I really like this idea because it is a good representation of how no one has any privacy or freedom in this controlling world of 1984.
I really enjoyed the exercise we did and found it very useful. Being able to use and see the equipment that will be available (projectors, cameras etc) helps you to visualise your ideas more clearly. I can now see how using multi media in performance is very effective.
Experiment 1
In our group we thought that we could project a documentary onto a black wall. The documentary would provoke reactions , for example there might be a funny line in it or something that would shock an audience member. Then one of the cast members would be watching and pick out an audience member who had a reaction and take them out of the audience. We thought that this would be effective because in 1984 everyone is told to think and act the same, therefor it would be seen as wrong to express any emotion towards something, in a world where big brother is always watching you.
My second experiment was projecting onto audience members when they first come in. I think it would be really effective to project the words 'thought criminal' onto selected audience members. Some of the actors would then play the thought police and bring them out from the crowd. I think this is a good representation of 1984 because all the thought criminals that were caught would be singled out and humiliated.
finally I thought that there could be a live feed of one area, being shown in another area. The play will be spaced around different rooms, but if there is a holding cell or police room, audience members should be able to walk in and see the thought police watching people in their homes or in their work places. I really like this idea because it is a good representation of how no one has any privacy or freedom in this controlling world of 1984.
I really enjoyed the exercise we did and found it very useful. Being able to use and see the equipment that will be available (projectors, cameras etc) helps you to visualise your ideas more clearly. I can now see how using multi media in performance is very effective.
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