MISS MAGGIES
When we started HNC we got given a task, and only got told a couple of things to start us off, the only things we got told were that, it was a performance we had to create that was asked off us by Gloucester welcomes refugees, it was a fund raiser, and it had to be themed, so we got to work straight away we didn't know anything all we had was a stimuli of a Halloween performance, we decided that that was a good idea as the FNAF movie was coming out in the same time that we were planning to perform, we knew we wanted to make it somewhat like an escape room but at first we just werent sure how to go about it, so we got together and starting brainstorming ideas and making an initial rough plan, at first we thought that we willl use three different actual rooms for the different "rooms" in the performence but as we thought more about it we came to the realisation that the very back room wasnt a good idea for us to use it since first of all it would be hard to block out all the lights since the whole room is surrounded by windows, and it was very important to us that it was dark as it was a haloween performence and darkness sets the mood and works in our favour to help the audience feel scared, aother reason we decided not to use that room was that there was alot of people walking past at all times since it was right by the enterence, therefore it was impossible for us to block out the noise, and backround noise could ruin the whole performence since it would distract the audience from whats going on in the performence and cause them to possibly miss a crutial part of it.we then decided that the best thing for us to do is ony use two rooms, this worked well since the mannequin room, which we decided will be the last room, was too big anyway so we decided that we will just split the theatre into two rooms, we were also meant to use the reception as the first place the audience enters but we decided to put it in the theatre aswell and they were instead greeted by sonia and lead inside the theatre where it was dark and they were played a video that was introducing the backstory of miss maggies to the audience so they understand how it became what it is and how it became how it is now , we then had to pickup "backstage roles" for my backstage role i decided to pick up the hair design role, but as we got further into the backstage roles me and the classmate that did makeup design came together and worked together on our backstage roles, i came up with the idea to print out templates for each character and lable them with how we want each characters hair and makeup to look along with the names of the products used so that whoever picks up each persons clipboard will be able to know exactly how they are meant to look and what makeup should be used on them, to take it an extra step further i decided to put together a portfolio of inspo picutres for each person to also add to their clipboard to make sure that even if someone doesnt know what we had invisioned with out writing on the template they get a clear picture of how we wanted it to look, the next thing we had to focus on was patch testing, patch testing is a very significant part of of the makeup backstage role as you are responsible for taking into consideration everyone different needs and wants, for example we had to take each person one at a time and then in order from one to however many products their character required patch tested them making sure to be very exact with the names and shades to avoid confusion if someone was to be allergic, after doing all the patch tests and having all the information written down on a form that i created for each person to avoid any misscommunication we then took pictures of everyones patch tests and told everyone to keep a close eye on their areas that they were patch tested to look out for any signs of allergic reactions or redness, another thing we had to take into consideration was everyones wants and what they were comfortable with, so for example when we got told by a class mate that they were uncomfortable with fake blood being used on them we had to come up with an alternative that would work as well as the blood but would accomidate their needs, when it came to checking up on everyone after their patch testing period we pulled up everyones forms and went around asking if anyone had any reacions, and if they did we had to come up with alternatives for example i was allergic to the white face paint therefore i used very light foundation instead.
commissioner meeting
https://youtu.be/tZYUy0i003o?si=4K9VOgWtZfxHXV3Z
In the commissioner meeting we disscussed a lot of crutial stuff, such as deadlines and timelimes for the show, we decided that the last week of term before halloween would be the best since it is a haloween performence, we did however run into some problems, one of them being that we wasnt able to fit as many shows as would have wished in on a friday since the college is closing earier on a friday than any other day, therefore we came to the conclusion that we would make thursday a longer day to make up for the missing time on friday in hopes to even it out, next thing we had to consider were tickets, we decided that tickets were going to be sold for groups of 5 instead of one each because that would mean more people would have the chance to come to the performence but would also allow groups that wanted to come together have that guarantee that they will be able to.
Eds workshop
https://youtu.be/Bvo4VDP7guo?si=-_eF7NAiUjZ2c8jx
We got to have a workshop from not only an ex student but also an actor from frightmare, he came in to teach us how to make yourself be not human, this was useful to us since we were doing a halloween performence so being as little human as possible was the overall goal, he also taught us us to scare poeple without actually touching them since you are not allowed and avoiding words such as "boo" or "ahh" since they are very basic, this workshop really helped me since its the first thing we did that really boosted my confidence and allowed me to really open up and focus on what i was doing and achieving and what i wanted to do and achieve, i personally went to frightmare where he was performing which was an amazing experienece and knowledge to have but also allowed me to really understand what he was talking about and relate.
Inital script for miss maggies
One of our classmates that was in charge of scipt made a rough guideline of a script that would guide us in making sure we include all the important in our speeches, as if we forgot to mention certain parts during a performence it could completely ruin the storyline and the whole performence as the audience would not know exactly what they need to know, the script was a very good and important baseline to the show however alot of the actors still improvised some of what they said based on the audience and how they were reacting, for example one group that walked through requested that we begentle with one of the participants, as she was pregnant therefore we had to adjust someone of our responces to their needs.
First read through of the script
After doing the first read through it helped me get a better idea of how i want my character to be and speak, it also open up a lot of space for improvision and development of the characters.
First full walk through
After doing a whole run through for the first time, I realised that I had to change how i called poeple over when they enter my room since i noticed after watching the videos back that it doesnt give the effect i wanted, i wanted it to give an effect of a tired "child" who hasnt seen actual poeple in years and years and the only people that i socialise with are the children my "dad" killed for me so i dont have to be all alone. We also decided that when Ryan finishes his speech when they first enter the room he will hit his walking stick on the wall which will give me a cue to start talking instead of sitting there and trying to guess when he is done since there is a chance that he might improvise some of his speech so i cant rely on the words at all times.
Run thoughs of the performence with an audience
After doing the first run throughs with an actual audience i realised how important it is to adjust to everyones needs, and how different each group is,
Trailer for Miss Maggies
https://youtu.be/tz9b-68pX9M?si=3zG2f360kxClUMCY
This was the trailer that was used in the performence, i feel like it is a very good start to the performence since it gave the audience a very good insight into the backstory and the truth about miss maggies and it leaves them wondering and full of questions when they go through the "escape rooms", it also made our jobs as actors a little easier since the audience was already a little aware and able to understand what was happening and who each character was so we could have a bigger impact on them since they might look at it with the backstory in mind.
Viva
https://youtu.be/_p8uoq7VIxc?si=7KsyOHkCVgww5QVm
In this viva we covered all the topics that might have been accidentally left out and covered important information as well as sharing thoughts and opinions
Devising
Devising is a process in which a group of individuals comes together as a team to create a show, it involves creating a whole performence from scratch, which could be either better or worse as you have no script or storyline to rely on which would mean that you have to find your own stimuli and create everything from scratc which could also be a positive thing as it allows you to have the creative freedom of not ony what your piece will be about but also the charactarisation of your own character, you cn be the one to decide everything about them and essentally build your character from scratch.
Practicioners
Frantic Assembly
"The Frantic Method is approaching devising as a series of tasks, each broken down into building blocks. This is designed to establish progress from the simplest discoveries. Performers are encouraged to take a moment back to its simplest truth and build from there."
Basia and Ryan Laban
The Laban technique is a profound kinaesthetic and emotional tool to get inside different characters' energies and processes, so that the actor can truthfully feel, from the inside, how they tick. It also helps the actor become aware of their own energetic habits, on and off stage or set, and when interpreting script.
History of divising
Touday i will talk about the history and development of devised theatre as well as the important practitioners' influences. I will also discuss the many media and styles used in created theatre. Devised theatre is a form of collaborative art in which artists produce a performance without the use of scripts or established ideas about what they want to do. Devised theatre typically centres on a stimulus, or an item, around which the performance is constructed. The history of devised theatre begins in 16th-century Italy with the rise in popularity of Commedia dellarte, a new genre of touring theatre that featured actors, acrobats, and street performers. A performance that is spontaneous or improvised is referred to as commedia dellarte, or comedy of art or comedy of the professional. This new type of theatre placed more focus on the performers' performances than the plays' content. This performance did not have writers, directors, choreographers, or regular scripts because their goal was to be known as professional performers. In one of his plays called "Il Teatro Comico," Carlo Goldoni was the first to refer to this new art form as "professional theatre" (the comic theatre). History says that Goldoni's views were misunderstood as sarcastic irony since, in reality, he was a strong opponent of improvisational theatre and preferred carefully planned literary productions. Some claim that this type of performance dates back to the Roman era. Five men would play out stories using harsh humour and strange physical comedy. The men would perform these stories at random, each with their own unique persona. The idea that women were acknowledged and treated equally in the theatre back when it first began all those years ago is one of the things about this kind of theatre that truly interests me. That is up until the late 16th and early 17th centuries, when Puritans believed that theatre was just another worthless branch of the liberal arts. They even had the power to close some theatres in Europe at the time. However, we use the internet for a variety of reasons these days, one of which is to give people a voice when they feel as though the government and media have failed them.
My skills audit and movement workshop
skills audit
My strengths:
I believe my strengths are that I am a very fast learner, this is a strength because as an actor you are required to remember and learn a lot of things such as, skills that you will need to use or scripts that you will want to use on an audition or when you are in a playing in a theatre show or on tv, it’s also good to be a fast learner because for example you get cast as a role that’s completely different to what you are used to and they expect you to do something you are not familiar with, you can easily catch onto what you are meant to be doing and it will create a great impression of you as a professional to them.
My other strength that I believe I have is that I am bilingual, I believe this is a strength as a lot of times there are producers who are casting a show that does include a foreign language, and since I already know two languages and am able to understand many more I feel like it would be easier for me to learn whatever I am required to.
My weaknesses:
One of my weaknesses that I have is that I tend to be quite shy and closed off at first, and this is not a very good trait to have when you want to be an actor as you will be expected to speak and perform in front of hundreds if not thousands of people or you will have to audition in front of people you have never seen before as well as being put in groups with people you probably don’t even know and be expected to work together as a team with them, to try to overcome this I am pushing myself out of my comfort zone and reminding myself that this is what I love doing and am passionate about I am working hard to remember that its only the start is scary but once I’m used to it it’s okay.
My second weakness is that I am not the most flexible, this is a weakness as if I wanted to do musical theatre there would be dancing involved, and if I would have to do a move that required a lot of flexibility then I could struggle to do it properly, to try and get more flexible I do stretches and exercises that could help me get more flexible.
My movement workshop planning
For my movement workshop I am going to start with a game that I will use a confidence builder and it will also help with concentrating, it will be a game where everyone will stand in a circle and one person will start by saying their name and adding a move to go along with it, then the next person will have to copy that move then introduce themselves and add their own move, I feel like this is a great game to not only get comfortable around each other but also to get the body warmed up and stretched, the second part of my workshop is going to include my group having to pick out a character at random out of the cards I have prepared, they will include roles such as: a person running away from the police or a person who is late to work, then once everyone has picked out their card they will have to start walking around the room and essentially build their character on the spot as they go on, so they will start at a 1 which will be barely their character and finish at 10 which will be their full built and characterized characters to their max potential, I feel like this will be a really good exercise to do as not only is it physical as they will be constantly walking around building their character which would use a lot of energy as for example if you are the someone that is running away from the police at 10 you would be running around the room panicking, but it’s also really good to create a strong character building on the spot skill, which will be very useful for everyone’s future in the acting career. Then once they get to 10 and their characters are ready to be put to the test, they will get into pairs, in those pairs they will then pick out a random scenario which they will have to work together to make come to life, for example, the person running away from the police and the person that’s late to work might have to play out the scenario of the bus being late, it will be very interesting to see what the pairs come up with as there will be many different scenarios that could happened and there will be many different ways that they could be played out.
Events and characters
Characters
1. Someone running away from police.
2. Someone who is late for work.
3. Someone who has a really bad toothache.
4. Karen calling a manager.
5. Someone whose cat just died.
6. Someone who just got fired.
7. Someone who is very drunk.
8. Someone who is an influencer (e.g. yt or TikTok)
9. Someone who just won the lottery.
Events
1. Waiting at the bus stop and the bus is late.
2. Waiting in the queue at the shop to buy one thing and the person in front of you has a full basket but wont let you go in front
3. Both wanting the same item at a shop but it’s the last one (what the item is, is up to u)
4. Walking home and it starts raining really bad so both of you hide under a roof to keep dry.
5. One of you is rushing and bumps into the other (out come up to you)
My workshop part 1
https://youtu.be/fA51FbaHcH8?si=vVxhzYlNCVPCW07Q
My workshop part 2
Whilst performing my workshop i had to change, improvise and add quite a few things,
the first problem i run into that i was unfortunetly ill and i was losing my voice so i wasnt able to project and a part of my workshop which was the task of building a character from 1 to 10 therefore i had to improvise and i asked a classmate, Hollyann to help me with the parts of my workshop where i had to speak louder which was my way of overcoming the difficulties i faced, also whilst doing my workshop i decided to add a few things, the first one was that before i did the characterising game where you had to build a random character that was given to you, i decided to do the exact same game but with characters that we played in Miss Maggies, i decided to do this because i felt like it would be a great way to warm everyone up and get them thinking, i then also decided to add an improvision game before splitting everyone into pairs so that everyone can get familiar with each others characters.
Ryans workshop
https://youtu.be/hu_jluENCQ8?si=sPCvRXfe0MQOOM73
Ryans workshop helped me with my movement because the stretches that we did when we were on the mats, helped me feel ready for the next exercises that were about to come up, all parts of my body were warmed up and i wasnt worries about injuring myself since not being properly warmed up, i use Rayns exercises before i am about to do a physical task and i have noticed myself getting more and more flexible the more i do them.
Hollyanns workshop
During Hollyanns workshop i really enjoyed the warm up that she did with tongue twisters, i found this very helpful since english is not my first lanugage and it can be hard for me sometimes to make sure i am pronuncing words correctly, i use Hollyanns exercise of tongue twisters when i am feeling worried of stressed about performing or saying something out loud to an audience and im not sure if i can do it properly.