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.
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