I now realise that this was incredibly hard challenging task and I wasn't sure how you made something site specific but when doing the actual performace I would be performing a bit and thinking, you couldn't do this anywhere else, or, that's so site specific. I also felt like this while watching other group performances.
Especially Jasmines, what really caught my attention is the way she was dragging the wring along the metal rungs making an eerie noise.
Overall I think our performace actually went quite well as we didn't miss anything out or mess up the sounscape timings and successfully used our props. In the last week especially we worked really hard on it, staying for a few hours after school so I think we were quite prepared for it. I felt nervous but the tension eased away the more i got into it.
Although I feel as if we may have rushed it a bit due to the nerves, as it felt like it went really quickly. Also if I were to do it again I would use a torch to guide the audience round to make it even more authentic like we were trapped in a tunnel.
But I am proud or our group and in the end I think The Shizzle did very well.
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
Background on scene.
Characters & Costumes-
Two friends- Very happy and giggling to begin with until one has a panic attack which foreshadows the worser bits to come when the bomb comes off. Not very disruptive or rude. Contemporary clothing.
One drunk- Very disruptive dirty and unhelpful. Asks for money and pesters women on the train, doesn't give up. Dull clothing, quite lose, carrying a empty(?) can of fosters.
One rude adult- Listens to his music too loud and annoys other passengers, into old music. Contemporary clothing.
One successful business woman- Highly bothered by noise or younger people, quite rude to people she doesn't like. Smart attire with a newspaper.
Narrative-
One of our found objects was a tube map for the nearby station which can be seen from looking out of our site. Also the cramped claustrophobic nature of the site reminded me especially of trains; which is why we included a panic attack scene. Although the scene was very dark we played 'Tragedy' to contrast with this. The piece itself shows the last few moments a group of strangers lives.
Image-
We added a long bench and 3 chairs to extend our site and give the feel of an actual train carriage. And in the blackout we took the audience into a dark room and led them through a narrow line in the dark, like they were making their way through a tunnel.
Two friends- Very happy and giggling to begin with until one has a panic attack which foreshadows the worser bits to come when the bomb comes off. Not very disruptive or rude. Contemporary clothing.
One drunk- Very disruptive dirty and unhelpful. Asks for money and pesters women on the train, doesn't give up. Dull clothing, quite lose, carrying a empty(?) can of fosters.
One rude adult- Listens to his music too loud and annoys other passengers, into old music. Contemporary clothing.
One successful business woman- Highly bothered by noise or younger people, quite rude to people she doesn't like. Smart attire with a newspaper.
Narrative-
One of our found objects was a tube map for the nearby station which can be seen from looking out of our site. Also the cramped claustrophobic nature of the site reminded me especially of trains; which is why we included a panic attack scene. Although the scene was very dark we played 'Tragedy' to contrast with this. The piece itself shows the last few moments a group of strangers lives.
Image-
We added a long bench and 3 chairs to extend our site and give the feel of an actual train carriage. And in the blackout we took the audience into a dark room and led them through a narrow line in the dark, like they were making their way through a tunnel.
Sound.
Sound was a large part of our piece and began and started it.
We began by hitting the lockers in pattern which helped recreate the noise of a train, as the train sped up, we added more people banging until it eventually faded out. We also had a few soundscapes to help capture the noises of the scene.
The first was a series of whooses like a train going on tracks and at different pitches and different levels of volume was created quite successfully. The second one was a 'heaven' soundscape for after the bomb goes off. This was mde from the noises of birds tweeting, happy sighs, happy humming, dripping water and a light breeze. We hoped this would put the audience into a confusion as they would be unsure whether the characters died or not- as they were sitting normally, it was almost eerie.
We used the song 'Tragedy' to contrast the effect of a huge tragedy happening, but the lightheartedness people make of it. Dancing to the song we used very angular movements, like a train jerking down a platform, the music continued but it was unsure as we were all very staccato.
We began by hitting the lockers in pattern which helped recreate the noise of a train, as the train sped up, we added more people banging until it eventually faded out. We also had a few soundscapes to help capture the noises of the scene.
The first was a series of whooses like a train going on tracks and at different pitches and different levels of volume was created quite successfully. The second one was a 'heaven' soundscape for after the bomb goes off. This was mde from the noises of birds tweeting, happy sighs, happy humming, dripping water and a light breeze. We hoped this would put the audience into a confusion as they would be unsure whether the characters died or not- as they were sitting normally, it was almost eerie.
We used the song 'Tragedy' to contrast the effect of a huge tragedy happening, but the lightheartedness people make of it. Dancing to the song we used very angular movements, like a train jerking down a platform, the music continued but it was unsure as we were all very staccato.
Devising.
In the beginning the process of devising was very difficult as we all had very different ideas and we couldn't effectivley get them across, so we began to disagree a lot and work was sidetracked a lot. I found it was particularly difficult to keep focus when working with your friends but in the end we managed to pull together a decent performance we agreed on with all our different ideas in them.
We would start by discussing the basics of a scene, who's there? Why? What's going to happen? Before improvising around that stimulus, stopping, evaluating then fixing until we had produced a full ten minute piece.
However we wouldn't have got to the final stages if we hadn't made two people in our group (Ella and Sophia) directors. Through this all of ideas were heard in a more efficient way and the scenes began to come along quicker. We still had a few disagreements but everyone was pulling their weight.
In the beginning we had a mismatch of ideas about things that could happen/ relate to a train. For example
- slave train
- a train for jews in the war
- a train bombing
- an everyday train
However this became too complicated and we found it hard to link all the scenes together, so we picked one idea - the train bombing. We picked this because as we asked our site teacher questions he actually revealed that the room joining onto our space had actually been bombed. Which directly related to our site (as it was heavily effected) and fit in to our train story.
We would start by discussing the basics of a scene, who's there? Why? What's going to happen? Before improvising around that stimulus, stopping, evaluating then fixing until we had produced a full ten minute piece.
However we wouldn't have got to the final stages if we hadn't made two people in our group (Ella and Sophia) directors. Through this all of ideas were heard in a more efficient way and the scenes began to come along quicker. We still had a few disagreements but everyone was pulling their weight.
In the beginning we had a mismatch of ideas about things that could happen/ relate to a train. For example
- slave train
- a train for jews in the war
- a train bombing
- an everyday train
However this became too complicated and we found it hard to link all the scenes together, so we picked one idea - the train bombing. We picked this because as we asked our site teacher questions he actually revealed that the room joining onto our space had actually been bombed. Which directly related to our site (as it was heavily effected) and fit in to our train story.
Our group and our site.
Our group, named the shizzle, was formed very early on. We were all quite good things so I thought I would really enjoy this project and began out rather optimistic and hopeful for it.
We chose the small black space outside 415 and jotted down some of the things that came to mind when we firsat saw it.
- train leaflet
- plugs
- chewing gum on floor
- all black cupboard with adjoining cupboards
- light switch which can flicker
- claustrophobia - panic attacks
- enclosed
- rough carpet
- dark
- lockers
A front view and a birds eye view of the site.
We all discussed the site in detail during the lesson and what it made us feel when we did some quick improvistations in their. The main feeling that came up was claustrophobia, darkness, which made us think of trains as the site over looks a train station and we all have experiences with trains.
We chose the small black space outside 415 and jotted down some of the things that came to mind when we firsat saw it.
- plugs
- chewing gum on floor
- all black cupboard with adjoining cupboards
- light switch which can flicker
- claustrophobia - panic attacks
- enclosed
- rough carpet
- dark
- lockers
We all discussed the site in detail during the lesson and what it made us feel when we did some quick improvistations in their. The main feeling that came up was claustrophobia, darkness, which made us think of trains as the site over looks a train station and we all have experiences with trains.
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