What is my contribution?
My main focus when working on the tempest was working with others in the cast, who i had stage contact with, to look into and work on the scenes to give them more than just a surface performance and find meaning for each scene. For an example my self and two others put some extra time into our character entrances in our first scene as we knew that we were going to be performing this scene as the Shakespeare festival in Shoreham. We looked into each line and thought about why we were doing it. For example i helped a girl with her lines and breaking her speech down into units to determine where the mood changes. This helped her to give context to the lines in order for an audience to understand what was going on. One thing that i found really worked from the Shoreham Shakespeare Festival this year was ourselves introducing the acts and speeches that were going to happen. This gave the audience a brief understanding to what was happening, as they were not a seated audience, giving them a brief overview of the scene that was about to happen, gave them a chance to catch up with the scene and gave us as actors help to understand the scenes.
When it came to the BOAT performance of the tempest i feel that i took on a big role when it came to organisation of set, costumes and props. I did this right from our last rehearsal at the studios, i made a list of everything that was needed in the show, including set and what we needed to make it and what we would need in the case of a repair. This meant that when we got to the theatre as we unpacked all of the set we could check off everything that came out of the van, and make sure that we had brought everything before it was put into the playing area.
How did i help with the content of the Tempest?
For this production i was 100% independent when it came to the construction of my costume, after a introductory meeting with the director, finding out the colour scheme and any ideas that she had in terms of my costume i went on to look into some inspiration pictures.I started off with plain colours of black, white and red. But i went on the top of all of my elements and added details, with extra stitching and embellishments such as sequins. I also felt that i played a big part within the other company members costumes and how they were constructing them. As one of the only members of the cast with sewing and textiles experience I started to give advise and help on the best ways to do things and the easiest ways to do it for someone that doesn't know sewing skills. For example one of the costumes incorporated a bustle under a floor length dress,i started to work with her giving some techniques on where to start and how to get the best look at the end.
At the start of the rehearsal process i took part in music rehearsals, were we looked into some of the different songs in the show, the one i looked into one of my songs in the show, where we came up with some basic choreography and then found all of the different harmonies in the song. Coming up with four harmony lines to teach to the rest of the cast.
When it came to my own work outside of rehearsals i put a lot of effort into making my character a well rounded person, thinking about how and why he would do things. This all started off my researching other actors playing this role, and then also looking into how drunken characters are portrayed in theatre and film and real life, then looking into what parts of these characters i wanted to take forward to my role.
How did you make the most of the creative and artistic possibilities fully?
When it comes to site specific and performing in a theatre that you haven't rehearsed in there are always changes that need to be made to help the show fit around the space used. One of the big changes made to all of my scenes was the spacing, and having to bring everything down stage towards the front of the thrust stage, to bring the action closer to the audience, as once you past half way point a lot of the sound was lost as we were not helped with the wind blowing through the stage,
Finally i had planned to make some of my entrances through the audience, from the back of the performance space. This was a part of the show that i would have to play guess work with until the performance as i couldn't predict where the audience were going to sit.
Wednesday, 24 May 2017
Unit 102 - Site Specific Performance (GC2/3)
Legal and Practical demands
Conditions and restrictions
When we applied to perform at the Brighton Open Air Theatre, we were sent some rules and conditions on terms of the contract that was drew up, in partnership with Worthing College and BOAT.
The first is that the college department of performing arts would have to draw up a risk assessment form, evaulating all of the possible problems that our show might have, including set, costume, special effects. This includes risks that would effect the actors and company, but also taking into account the audience and staff at the theatre. This would also need to include a copy of proof of our public liability insurance, that would cover the public attending our show.
The second term of condition would be that BOAT would have some sort of credit in any advertisement or marketing that we made our self, stating that this is where the show would be held, and also that they were in partnership with us.
The final condition would be that any changes made in the contract were to be agreed by both companies and would need to be said in writing to confirm that we would be doing it.
Details of the event
VENUE:Brighton Open Air Theatre
DATE:8/05/2017
TIME:Doors- 6:00pm Start - 7:00pm
GET IN:9:00am 8/05/2017
GET OUT:10:00pm 8/5/2017
NATURE OF SHOW:Education
NUMBER OF SETS:Aprox -425
The other factor stated by BOAT was the services and what they would give us for our show day. The first was their own front of house staff, and a duty manager and stewards on the ratio of 1 to 100 audience members. They would also provide use with lighting and sound accessibility, for us to use our own equipment on.
Tickets and Availability
I feel that boat has offered a very fair and suffice contract that covered all of the different sections that as a company we would want to know. What i really liked was the break down and layout of the contract, it was very easy to understand and the different sections made it clear what was needed and expected from us as a company. It didnt read as like they were trying to confuse us and trick us into things that werent made clear. When it came to the break down of tickets it was a fair split as we still had handle of the majority of the ticket sales. After we had finished the show the venue was very fair and gave us some space while packing up our set and costumes, offering help where needed.
When we first arrived at the theatre, the only access by car is to drive through the park adjacent to the theatre, this is a public park so there were people walking around with dogs and children, to make sure we were applying with the safe conduct we made sure we drove very slowly through the park, giving any member of the public right of way when passing us, and making sure they were completly gone before carrying on. Once we got to the theatre we found a hedgehog sleeping next to one of the power supplies that we would be using to power our sound and band. To make sure the hedgehog was 100% safe we got one of the park rangers to remove him to make sure we didn't disrupt him.
For this production we didn't have to pay for any licensing to do the play,as the playwright (shakespeare) is dead. Additionally to the licensing to the play we had adapted the play far away from the original script. First of all condensing the script to half the size and also exploring gender roles to make character relationships clearer.
When we first performed at BOAT last year we were lucky enough to have fantastic weather, being one of the hottest days of last year, we took the time of year into account this year, thinking about what we were going to wear to make sure we were as cool as possible and not to over heat. However this year we were not as lucky with the weather, as it was very windy and over cast, this meant that the set up of the stage and the rehearsals throughout the day were painful as we were standing around in the cold for longer. To prevent this we made it clear to the cast to not get into costumes until the last minute as we wanted to keep as warm as possible. In terms of the audience keeping warm we began with suggesting them to bring coats and blankets, but we also kept our clear up time quick giving everyone jobs to get it done as soon as possible to prevent the audience standing around in the cold waiting for their family and friends in the cast.
I also have some copies of the conversation between our production manager and the venue manager.
Conditions and restrictions
When we applied to perform at the Brighton Open Air Theatre, we were sent some rules and conditions on terms of the contract that was drew up, in partnership with Worthing College and BOAT.
The first is that the college department of performing arts would have to draw up a risk assessment form, evaulating all of the possible problems that our show might have, including set, costume, special effects. This includes risks that would effect the actors and company, but also taking into account the audience and staff at the theatre. This would also need to include a copy of proof of our public liability insurance, that would cover the public attending our show.
The second term of condition would be that BOAT would have some sort of credit in any advertisement or marketing that we made our self, stating that this is where the show would be held, and also that they were in partnership with us.
The final condition would be that any changes made in the contract were to be agreed by both companies and would need to be said in writing to confirm that we would be doing it.
Details of the event
VENUE:Brighton Open Air Theatre
DATE:8/05/2017
TIME:Doors- 6:00pm Start - 7:00pm
GET IN:9:00am 8/05/2017
GET OUT:10:00pm 8/5/2017
NATURE OF SHOW:Education
NUMBER OF SETS:Aprox -425
The other factor stated by BOAT was the services and what they would give us for our show day. The first was their own front of house staff, and a duty manager and stewards on the ratio of 1 to 100 audience members. They would also provide use with lighting and sound accessibility, for us to use our own equipment on.
Tickets and Availability
- Tickets given to BOAT - 10
- Company and Crew - 40
- Tickets for promotor - 10
- Tickets on sale through Worthing College and Brighton Fringe - 425
- Total Tickets - 485 (BOAT Capacity)
I feel that boat has offered a very fair and suffice contract that covered all of the different sections that as a company we would want to know. What i really liked was the break down and layout of the contract, it was very easy to understand and the different sections made it clear what was needed and expected from us as a company. It didnt read as like they were trying to confuse us and trick us into things that werent made clear. When it came to the break down of tickets it was a fair split as we still had handle of the majority of the ticket sales. After we had finished the show the venue was very fair and gave us some space while packing up our set and costumes, offering help where needed.
When we first arrived at the theatre, the only access by car is to drive through the park adjacent to the theatre, this is a public park so there were people walking around with dogs and children, to make sure we were applying with the safe conduct we made sure we drove very slowly through the park, giving any member of the public right of way when passing us, and making sure they were completly gone before carrying on. Once we got to the theatre we found a hedgehog sleeping next to one of the power supplies that we would be using to power our sound and band. To make sure the hedgehog was 100% safe we got one of the park rangers to remove him to make sure we didn't disrupt him.
For this production we didn't have to pay for any licensing to do the play,as the playwright (shakespeare) is dead. Additionally to the licensing to the play we had adapted the play far away from the original script. First of all condensing the script to half the size and also exploring gender roles to make character relationships clearer.
When we first performed at BOAT last year we were lucky enough to have fantastic weather, being one of the hottest days of last year, we took the time of year into account this year, thinking about what we were going to wear to make sure we were as cool as possible and not to over heat. However this year we were not as lucky with the weather, as it was very windy and over cast, this meant that the set up of the stage and the rehearsals throughout the day were painful as we were standing around in the cold for longer. To prevent this we made it clear to the cast to not get into costumes until the last minute as we wanted to keep as warm as possible. In terms of the audience keeping warm we began with suggesting them to bring coats and blankets, but we also kept our clear up time quick giving everyone jobs to get it done as soon as possible to prevent the audience standing around in the cold waiting for their family and friends in the cast.
I also have some copies of the conversation between our production manager and the venue manager.
7/5/17
Hi Kim
I’m really looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow morning up at BOAT at 9am.
I just have a few quick questions for you:
Please could you send me through a copy of your PLI.
Please could you also send me a risk assessment covering the show.
and finally do you have any idea of ticket numbers / likely audience. I can see the tickets sold through the Fringe Office but wonder if you have sold more through the college / directly.
If you could let me know so I can set up the theatre appropriately that would be a huge help!
Best Wishes
Anne-Marie Williams
BOAT Manager
07802 299 267
16/1/17
Hi All
I have just been to a Brighton Fringe Venue Managers meeting and wanted to pass on some updated information to you all! Apologies for this list but if you would like more details on any of the items then drop me a line … here goes!
Dates: Fringe goes on sale for ‘fringe friends scheme’ on Wednesday 22nd Feb then on to general sale on 3rd March … PLEASE go on to their website and copy the link to your own events and email them out to your friends / followers … lets get the shows sold out!
They are now taking applications for Fringe City so if you haven’t already applied please do if you think this would be good exposure for you … remember if you do Fringe City to have a person with you who can ‘leaflet’ whilst you are performing. Remember if your flyer has the Brighton Fringe Logo on it then you can flyer without a permit in the centre of town. If it doesn’t you will have to pick up a special permit from the Fringe office … (something to bear in mind if you haven’t completed your design yet!)
If you applied to be a ‘Window' event you should have heard by now … if you were successful please let me know. (Fingers crossed)
FEU - If you are coming from overseas you will need to register on the FEU form (for Tax purposes) in advance of you coming (this means it will not hold up your settlement) more info on this when they send the link through in a couple of weeks.
BOAT will be attending a ‘Meet the Press’ event on your behalf on 27th February… If you have any posters / flyers / images / copy / sample CD's you would like me to take with you or turn into a press pack ready for then … please either pop something in the post to me at
81 Dudley Road, Brighton, BN1 7GL or email something over….
Please check out the Fringe Website for a section about ‘Awards’ … there are about 18 different awards that have different criteria … please take a look at them and see if your show is a ‘fit’ and nominate yourself … it’s good exposure and there are a variety of prizes you could win including the Gemini Award for best artwork which comes with Free entry for next year plus £500 worth of print!!
Take a look around the Fringe site for other useful sections like Fringe Academy .. I think in March they will have sessions on Health and Safety (ooh!) and Insurance (ahhhh) and even Tax (yay!!!)
Do let me know if you have any more questions / comments etc.
Really looking forward to this year kicking off in style!
Best Wishes
Anne-Marie Williams
BOAT Manager
07802 299 267
Tuesday, 23 May 2017
Tuesday, 4 April 2017
Presentation Notes
What is Site
Specific Performance?
Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works
that often are site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a
space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior
interventions are often called public art, land art or intervention art;
however, the boundaries between these terms overlap.
Using the company you have been designated as an example, focus on the type of work best suited to site specific work?
Using the company you have been designated as an example, focus on the type of work best suited to site specific work?
Emergency Exit Arts (EEA) creates unforgettable events and participatory
experiences using visual performance, processions, puppetry, music and
pyrotechnics.
The have a big team of industry creatives giving us the ability to deliver
on every aspect of a project; artistic direction, design, construction,
performance, facilitation, community engagement, production and event
management.
Founded in 1980, (EEA) is an influential arts organization that has founded
many new and upcoming arts in the outdoor arts bringing culturally diverse,
collaborative work to outdoor arts festivals.
What is unique about the company and their approach? (Scale, Location, Concepts, Political Content etc)
festivals. They are known for exploring and combining lots of different cultures, where exploring traditional British culture to exploring the other cultures in England, other than our own, like British Asian cultures and as well as Indian traditions
A lot of their performance and installations are breath taking due to their
size and structures, as you can see in the picture, this was from one of their
productions called ‘the hungry turkey’, where the big bird would patrol the
streets, performing slapstick comedy with the audiences and members of the
team.
As you can see from the other picture this was another piece that the
company created, which raised awareness about your planet and recycling. This 4
meter tall structure was made completely out of old bins and recycled waste.
Their art is always a focal point of
each event that they take part in, whether it be due to the scale of the piece
or the amount of audience interaction that they get.
Site Specific Presentations
Myself (Luke)
Link to my presentation - HERE
My presentation notes - Here
London Bubble
This company started as a very small company which started out in 1927 in London. There main focus is on site specific performance were they make small scale productions that they would take to schools, nursery's and community centres around the London area. They are very much a hands on company and are all about looking into the community and how they can help. For example they once ran a work shop for young adults to teach them all about theatre making.
Willi Dorner
Willi Dorner is an Austrian dancer and choreographer, he was born in 1959. He is known for his creations of using dance in new and interesting ways, bringing it to the streets and other site specific venues, one example would be 'Bodies in urban spaces' this shows 20 dancers flowing through the streets, and fitting into man made structures.
Artichoke
This company is a UK based company and are still fairly new as they were first established in 2005, they are very much a colabritive company, working with new artists to make theatre, They mainly focus on invasive theatre where they would enter public places with their art. There aim is to make audiences appreciate English landscapes and countrysides.
What do these companies have in common?
The first thing that i notices about all of these companies is that they all use unconventional spaces for theatre, either public spaces or festivals where there are big crowds of unsuspecting audiences. Once a piece of theatre leaves a conventional space like a theatre, the audience are automatically in contact with the work, so there is a new type of art form made, for example with the company Artichoke they let their audience have contact with the work, and even in past works such as the giant elephant walking through the town the audience would even be able to climb onto it as it walks past.
What is different?
The main difference that i found with these companies was the Willi Dorner company,as his is from a dance background, so it seemed more of a performance than the others as the others were either art installations or festival floats.
Which company am i drawn to and why?
I am most drawn to the company Artichoke's work, i found that this was the most thought about piece of work and it seemed to involve all members of the audience and public. However i also found that the Willi Dorner piece was really interesting as his was the most contrasting to all of the other companies. Particularity his work of 'Bodies in Urban Spaces'. Where the performers would cram themselves into small and confine spaces. Which was a new look into incorporating theatre into every day life.
What is most surprising about the work you have discovered through research?
The main thing that i have discovered is the wide array of different types of performance, ranging from theatre shows, carnival floats (of all sizes), firework displays and street performers. When i first thought about the term 'Site Specific' before doing my research the only thing that i thought of was plays and written scripts performed in unconventional theatre spaces, but after my research i now realise that Site Specific performance can be anything arts related.
Link to my presentation - HERE
My presentation notes - Here
London Bubble
This company started as a very small company which started out in 1927 in London. There main focus is on site specific performance were they make small scale productions that they would take to schools, nursery's and community centres around the London area. They are very much a hands on company and are all about looking into the community and how they can help. For example they once ran a work shop for young adults to teach them all about theatre making.
Willi Dorner
Willi Dorner is an Austrian dancer and choreographer, he was born in 1959. He is known for his creations of using dance in new and interesting ways, bringing it to the streets and other site specific venues, one example would be 'Bodies in urban spaces' this shows 20 dancers flowing through the streets, and fitting into man made structures.
Artichoke
This company is a UK based company and are still fairly new as they were first established in 2005, they are very much a colabritive company, working with new artists to make theatre, They mainly focus on invasive theatre where they would enter public places with their art. There aim is to make audiences appreciate English landscapes and countrysides.
What do these companies have in common?
The first thing that i notices about all of these companies is that they all use unconventional spaces for theatre, either public spaces or festivals where there are big crowds of unsuspecting audiences. Once a piece of theatre leaves a conventional space like a theatre, the audience are automatically in contact with the work, so there is a new type of art form made, for example with the company Artichoke they let their audience have contact with the work, and even in past works such as the giant elephant walking through the town the audience would even be able to climb onto it as it walks past.
What is different?
The main difference that i found with these companies was the Willi Dorner company,as his is from a dance background, so it seemed more of a performance than the others as the others were either art installations or festival floats.
Which company am i drawn to and why?
I am most drawn to the company Artichoke's work, i found that this was the most thought about piece of work and it seemed to involve all members of the audience and public. However i also found that the Willi Dorner piece was really interesting as his was the most contrasting to all of the other companies. Particularity his work of 'Bodies in Urban Spaces'. Where the performers would cram themselves into small and confine spaces. Which was a new look into incorporating theatre into every day life.
What is most surprising about the work you have discovered through research?
The main thing that i have discovered is the wide array of different types of performance, ranging from theatre shows, carnival floats (of all sizes), firework displays and street performers. When i first thought about the term 'Site Specific' before doing my research the only thing that i thought of was plays and written scripts performed in unconventional theatre spaces, but after my research i now realise that Site Specific performance can be anything arts related.
Friday, 3 March 2017
Developing Contempoary Dance
This is a Duet that I have been developing for my ASlevel Dance, which is based off of Rambert's dance Rooster.
I am featured from 13mins.
I am featured from 13mins.
Developing Contempoary Dance
Developing my AS level solo, inspired by Daniel Wurtzel's sculptures where I have focused on a sculpture about a flag.
Developing Contempoary Dance 17-2-17
third Lesson 17-2-17 I am wearing green bottoms and a black top.
Cunningham Technique
Cunningham Technique
Limon Technique
Developing Contempoary Dance Evidence 10-2-17
Second Lesson 10-2-17 I am wearing a black tshirt and green bottoms
Developing Contempoary Dance Evidence 3-2-17
First Lesson 3-2-17 I am the dancer in the green bottoms and the grey jumper with the design on it.
Tuesday, 28 February 2017
The Elements of a successful Musical Ensemble (GC1)
In our first lesson for this unit we explore what we already thought made up a good musical ensemble. We all added different elements of this onto the board and discussed them. Everything that was put onto the board is really important to help make a musical ensemble work well and efficiently. For an example if one of these elements was missing, like lets say respect, the members of the ensemble wouldn't have the same connection and chemistry on stage like they would if everyone respected each other, and if they were all respected all performers would feel open and able to explore different things in rehearsal without feeling judged or under pressure.
Another thing that came up in this discussion that i thought was really important was diversity and variety. Especially in a college environment like we are in and also other situations like professional theaters and working companies. If a cast and creative team were all made up of the same sort of people, with people lacking in certain disciplines, the creative process such as devising and choreographing would take longer to develop, for us as an ensemble i feel that it is important that we are filled with lots of people that have different strengths, so people an input in different parts of the productions or performances. For my self i know that one of my strongest areas is in blocking and the over all look of something, where as for others in the company it could be vocals and musical arrangements and others choreography.
The final element that i would say was really key in making a successful musical ensemble is being positive! this is with the cast during rehearsals and during performances. Having done shows with big casts in the past, i feel that having a positive attitude to the rehearsal area is so important as soon as one person starts to be negative or giving off negative vibes it brings down the whole area and everyone's work ethic. If everyone is positive and supportive of what is going on it makes everyone want to work and help each other even more, therefore creating a tighter cast and allowing people to show their flair and dedication on the stage.
Even though there are some really stand out elements to making a successful ensemble such as the few mentioned above, it is really key that everyone understands everything that goes into it, and respects that everyone has to be on the ball and put all of their positive attributes into what they are doing. Being an ensemble is a bit like baking a cakes, that if something is missing from the mix, in this case something that we listed on the board, the end result wont work, and it will just be a lot harder to make in the end.
Out of all of the attributes that are listed into how to make a successful ensemble i think for these assignments and performances i want to work on my support and patience. I firstly want to work on my support as i feel that over my years at college and my experiences in other performances and shows, i have been really good at being respectful, and have always shown enthusiasm when in rehearsals and performance, and have always strafed to get involved. However i feel that i could put out some more time to supporting others in the casts, that do not always find the things that i find easy first time. For example in the upcoming production of we will rock you,i would like to put my self out there to help others, for instance i feel really confident in performing straight to an audience and knowing how to sell a song or scene to an audience and getting them involved. The second thing that i want to work on is my patience when it comes to others in the cast and also the director. As i feel that i need to realise that not everyone will get everything first time, where in some situations, where i might. As i would hope that everyone would have patience with me if i don't get something first time, for an example with vocal performance, as it may take me some time to get my notes right or harmonies, and i would hope that everyone would respect me and be patient while i work on it to get it right.
We Will Rock You Performance (GC2,3,4)
When it came to rehearsing for our production of We Will Rock You, where i played the part of Galileo, during our rehearsal period i spent most of my time with my on stage partner Holly, where we would explore different scenes and look into our scene and how we could work well together, the only scene that i was in when i was on cast that was really ensemble based was the heartbreak hotel scene, where my character meets all of the bohemians for the first time. In this scene there is a lot of ensemble reactions, where we all reply as a group and do responses as a group, this we worked on quite a lot to get the timing really tight to make it seem seamless. Another scene like this was one that i was in when i was off cast, this was as a Yuppy, where we are in a killer queen scene, in the scene there are stage directions to tell the cast what the Yuppies are doing, we interpreted this to be really robotic, so from this we did everything in perfect unison to give a robotic feeling.
When it came to the rehearsal period i tried to be as proactive with my time as possible, this involved going over my solo songs as much as i could in my own time, and then when it came to rehearsals with other people i could spend my time going over scenes with other people and songs that involved the whole ensemble so we could make that really tight, while we had the chance to all be together. For my own work that i put towards my progress up to rehearsals, i put a lot of work into what i was saying, as for a lot of shows myself and others have just learnt the lines but not known what we were saying, this i think really changed the style of my acting and helped me add more character for this part, as i would say the lines, and give them more meaning, giving the other people in the scene something to work from.
When it comes to preparation for a musical show i think it is important to treat all of the trait really equally, as with a show that incorporates all three disciplines, you have to split your time across all three. For myself i would find myself focusing on just the verbal side of it, as i'm not as confident with the musicality side of performing, but when i was given the part of Galileo i knew that it was going to be the hardest singing role i have ever done, so i knew that i was going to have to spend a lot of my rehearsal time on the songs, inside and outside of rehearsals. As the rehearsals went on i really could see i big improvment on how well i was working with the band and really listening to the music.
As a whole for this show i was really happy with my performance in the show, i felt that i worked well as an ensemble member, while supporting and helping everyone when on stage and off. I also showed off my own flair and performance skills throughout the show, while incorporating the rest of cast and the audience. Parts of the show that really stood out for me where i showed my performance skills and my flair for performing were my first song 'i want to break free', where i went round and incorporated every section of the audience into the song, while i worked the whole space. Another moment is during the finale, where i ad-libed my lines to get the audience involved in the last songs, getting them to sing along and clap, as i told them to put their hands up.
So Sing Performance (GC2,3,4)
As a part of our musical ensemble unit another performance opportunity that we have to be apart of our own music show called 'so sing'. This is an event where lots of different schools and theatre companies come together to perform, we were given the chance to put together a musical medley of old and new songs. In order to get ready for this show we have had some rehearsal as a full ensemble and some individually and in smaller groups, this gave us the chance to learn the lines first before coming together to work on how we sing it and adding in different elements.
We began the start of the first rehearsal by splitting off into smaller groups and looking into the songs that we were less familiar with and then we could go over the lines and the different phrases. i picked a group that were mainly working on the song 'Keeping your head up' by Birdy. i think that this song was my weakest at this point. in this group we went over the song once and then went back over it and took it slower, and went over each line and worked on the rhythm and the phrasing of it. When it came to coming back together as a group we went through our set and started to decide which parts would work well as ensemble sections and others as solos, i put myself forward for a solo in the song 'Human' as i felt that was the song that i was most confident with and also it sat really well in my range, compared to others where they had much more of a higher range, like the girls in the group.
During the rehearsals for this event i made a lot of effort in trying to be really forward with my ideas and make myself seem really intrigued. i did this by coming to every rehearsal for this show, knowing all of my lines in the songs and having gone over my harmony lines in my own time, to make sure that i can pick them up first time. To seem really invested in the rehearsal and the show i tried to put forward some ideas when it came to the choreography for the singers, this involved simple gestures and rhythmic movements that fit to the songs, i feel that being proactive and putting forward my ideas it made me seem like a good team leader and an ensemble member. For this performance the demands for an ensemble performance are different to others that we have done in the past as the need for musicality was higher as it is a singing show, however as a performer and an ensemble we still had to think about your physicality, with the dancing and also our verbal, with the pronunciation of our words.
I feel that for my solo section in this performance i showed a great deal of mastery as i didn't just stand their and sing my lines, i tried to put emphasis on different words to bring more meaning, as well as thinking about how i held me self to show confidence, i tried to keep my body open as well as keeping it moving as well as showing the edginess behind the song. When it came to performing as a group i think it is really important to blend when singing in a group so you don't stand out. I mainly did this by sticking strickly to the notes and not sliding or riffing any of the notes at this can make you stand out, as a male in a mainly female group, it is hard to fully blend as a low pitched voice cuts through everyone more than a middle pitched voice.
Durrington High School Performance (GC2,3,4)
Tuesday Rehearsal
We started off by planning what we were going to do for this performance, as we knew we would only have a few rehearsals for this performance we would pick the songs that we were most confident with, we chose to do the songs that we were mainly working on at the time, these included two songs that really utilized everyone as an ensemble, which were 'We are the champions' and 'Radio Ga Ga'. and then the next three songs in the set were songs that showed off all of the characters and helped show a ruff story-line of the show, yet still had the potential to involve others of the cast. In this first rehearsal we split off into groups that we were performing songs in. I was in a group with the other Galileo in the show and the two Scaramouche. I made the suggestion that we should perform the song 'Under Pressure', we choose to do this as we had already worked on it vocally in the past, so for the demands of this performance all we would have to do is adapt it to fit in with the ensemble feel of this performance. We planned out that we would have to split it evenly in the middle of the song, so Megan and Amber would take the first half and then myself and Holly would take the second half of the song and then we would come together at the end of the show.
When it came to rehearsing to number we began by just running it a couple of times with just a simple backing track off of YouTube, this worked really well where we decided to split the song in half, as it fell on a softer part of the song. However we began to develop the number more we looked into parts of the song where we could incorporate the other couple into the other sections, one part that we found would work was the underlying bass line to the song, as for this performance we wouldn't have a full band, and just a piano, it worked really well when having the other performer singing the bass line under the song as it kept the rhythm going throughout the song, this also made this song that is traditionally just sang as a duet, more of a fitting ensemble number. This then developed to having the whole cast singing this bass line under the duet and bring the song to life by utilizing the whole ensemble. Me and my partner Holly explored different things to do during the song, this came into two different actions that we would be doing, one would be aiming the song at each other and really bringing the focus in on the two characters and then others making the intense sections of the song out into the audience to make them feel really involved in the song.
Thursday
This was our last rehearsal of this workshop piece before we were to perform it to the high school audience. We were in before our scheduled lesson to work on sections that we felt were weaker. On that we felt really wasn't at the same level as the other songs in our set was the song 'Radio Ga Ga' the vocals for this song were strong yet the over all performance didn't match our vocal performance. In this morning short rehearsal we also spent some time working on how we were going to run the workshop section of this performance. We all worked out who would be doing what part of it, when explaining it and also who would be working with who. When in a normal rehearsal we would often work with our double cast or our partner in the show,so mine would be Megan or Scaramouche. for this i suggested that i thought that it would work better if we were all mixed up a bit more as we always tend to work with the same people, as it works well with the flow of the show. For this workshop exercise i thought that it would be good for me to work with one of the Killer Queens as my character never has any interactions with them in the show, so both of us would have a different look at the show.
When it came to rehearsing the song 'Radio Ga Ga' two of our cast members took a lead on this song as they had came up with most of the choreography for this number before. We began by going through the dance and making sure that everyone in the song was happy with what they were doing. We felt that it was valuable that everyone was at the same level, as if some people in the performance was less confident and that came across to an audience, this would drag down the quality of the performance as that would be all the audience could focus on. This didn't take too much time out of our rehearsal, as we were all working together and everyone was paying attention so we could work really quickly through the song and get it done. Also in this morning rehearsal we got the opportunity to sing through all of the songs in our set, i was really happy to do this as this was my first chance to sing my song with all of the ensemble support, of them singing the bass line, this really helped me as i could then use my peers to work on my timing and really hit the marks in the song that were in direct correlation to the music. We also got the chance to add some harmony lines into the song 'we are the champions' this really showed off our vocal skills, which i felt for this performance was key,as for this song there wasn't much going on physically as it was just basic blocking, of walking around the space. So with the technique of harmony it just added something else to our technical performance.
Over all for the performance at Durrington High School went really well, we all worked really well as an ensemble, this really showed in the opening and closing songs, where it was really clear that we were all working together, when on stage we had great communication on stage, for example something went wrong when someone was in the wrong space during a dance number, but where we had communication and when everyone was on the ball, so we could work our way around it. Where everyone was really paying attention to what everyone was doing, people were less likely to go wrong, whereas if i was only focusing on myself i could have been out of time with everyone as i would have been in a world of my own, but where i was really on the ball i could keep in time and make everyone's performance seem really slick and professional. Personally i feel that i performed with flair and professionalism, i really made the effort to give it my all, this i felt gave a lot of people in the cast an extra boost as they tried to meet my energy.
We started off by planning what we were going to do for this performance, as we knew we would only have a few rehearsals for this performance we would pick the songs that we were most confident with, we chose to do the songs that we were mainly working on at the time, these included two songs that really utilized everyone as an ensemble, which were 'We are the champions' and 'Radio Ga Ga'. and then the next three songs in the set were songs that showed off all of the characters and helped show a ruff story-line of the show, yet still had the potential to involve others of the cast. In this first rehearsal we split off into groups that we were performing songs in. I was in a group with the other Galileo in the show and the two Scaramouche. I made the suggestion that we should perform the song 'Under Pressure', we choose to do this as we had already worked on it vocally in the past, so for the demands of this performance all we would have to do is adapt it to fit in with the ensemble feel of this performance. We planned out that we would have to split it evenly in the middle of the song, so Megan and Amber would take the first half and then myself and Holly would take the second half of the song and then we would come together at the end of the show.
When it came to rehearsing to number we began by just running it a couple of times with just a simple backing track off of YouTube, this worked really well where we decided to split the song in half, as it fell on a softer part of the song. However we began to develop the number more we looked into parts of the song where we could incorporate the other couple into the other sections, one part that we found would work was the underlying bass line to the song, as for this performance we wouldn't have a full band, and just a piano, it worked really well when having the other performer singing the bass line under the song as it kept the rhythm going throughout the song, this also made this song that is traditionally just sang as a duet, more of a fitting ensemble number. This then developed to having the whole cast singing this bass line under the duet and bring the song to life by utilizing the whole ensemble. Me and my partner Holly explored different things to do during the song, this came into two different actions that we would be doing, one would be aiming the song at each other and really bringing the focus in on the two characters and then others making the intense sections of the song out into the audience to make them feel really involved in the song.
Thursday
This was our last rehearsal of this workshop piece before we were to perform it to the high school audience. We were in before our scheduled lesson to work on sections that we felt were weaker. On that we felt really wasn't at the same level as the other songs in our set was the song 'Radio Ga Ga' the vocals for this song were strong yet the over all performance didn't match our vocal performance. In this morning short rehearsal we also spent some time working on how we were going to run the workshop section of this performance. We all worked out who would be doing what part of it, when explaining it and also who would be working with who. When in a normal rehearsal we would often work with our double cast or our partner in the show,so mine would be Megan or Scaramouche. for this i suggested that i thought that it would work better if we were all mixed up a bit more as we always tend to work with the same people, as it works well with the flow of the show. For this workshop exercise i thought that it would be good for me to work with one of the Killer Queens as my character never has any interactions with them in the show, so both of us would have a different look at the show.
When it came to rehearsing the song 'Radio Ga Ga' two of our cast members took a lead on this song as they had came up with most of the choreography for this number before. We began by going through the dance and making sure that everyone in the song was happy with what they were doing. We felt that it was valuable that everyone was at the same level, as if some people in the performance was less confident and that came across to an audience, this would drag down the quality of the performance as that would be all the audience could focus on. This didn't take too much time out of our rehearsal, as we were all working together and everyone was paying attention so we could work really quickly through the song and get it done. Also in this morning rehearsal we got the opportunity to sing through all of the songs in our set, i was really happy to do this as this was my first chance to sing my song with all of the ensemble support, of them singing the bass line, this really helped me as i could then use my peers to work on my timing and really hit the marks in the song that were in direct correlation to the music. We also got the chance to add some harmony lines into the song 'we are the champions' this really showed off our vocal skills, which i felt for this performance was key,as for this song there wasn't much going on physically as it was just basic blocking, of walking around the space. So with the technique of harmony it just added something else to our technical performance.
Over all for the performance at Durrington High School went really well, we all worked really well as an ensemble, this really showed in the opening and closing songs, where it was really clear that we were all working together, when on stage we had great communication on stage, for example something went wrong when someone was in the wrong space during a dance number, but where we had communication and when everyone was on the ball, so we could work our way around it. Where everyone was really paying attention to what everyone was doing, people were less likely to go wrong, whereas if i was only focusing on myself i could have been out of time with everyone as i would have been in a world of my own, but where i was really on the ball i could keep in time and make everyone's performance seem really slick and professional. Personally i feel that i performed with flair and professionalism, i really made the effort to give it my all, this i felt gave a lot of people in the cast an extra boost as they tried to meet my energy.
Thursday, 16 February 2017
Tuesday, 7 February 2017
Freelance Presentations
Public Liability Insurance
Public liability insurance is about a place having insurance to cover yourself and members of the public that came to the place. For example if you were at a theatre that were doing a show, and there set was in close proxemics to the audience, an example would be in an immersive show where the audience are right in on the action. If a it of set or anything hanging may hit or hurt a member of the public, the public liability insurance would cover the company to pay out for it, say the member of the public sued the company, their insurance would cover it.
Contract Law
Agents
Most budding actors success is down to their agents work, In the first period of working with an agent, its is often hard to get a profit from acting, as most agents take at least 10% of your working takings, some maybe even more.
When looking for a good acting agency it is important to look around as agents should offer you more than just work opportunities, for example
Tax Returns
When working as a freelance actor it is really vital that you keep on top of your tax's as at the end of the tax year, as all off you earnings that you have made, you can lose some of your profit if you dont claim. For example if you were working as a free lance singer and you were travelling around from gig to gig, you would have to pay out for exspences such as: travel, food and drink, clothing for the shows etc. if you kept on top of how much you had spent for this, by keep reciepts, you could then claim all of this back through how much tax you would pay at the end of the tax year. so if you declare what you have spent you can get more profit at the end of your work.
Casting Directors
When being a casting director or an assistant, you are not always entitled work, which means money. If there are no castings going on at the time you will not get any work. Most Casting directors are freelance workers, so they have to find the work themselves. Anyone is available to become a casting director, and its advised that you work your way from a performance career, but its always advised to only go into the trade if you are 100% sure. One piece of advise that is given for anyone in casting, is to buy the contacts book, which is available from waterstones or spotlight.
Unions
They are there to give you support and and advice Tax and Welfare, legal, ply, accident and backstage insurance. workshops and training. Also being part of a union like Equity you also ave a pension set up with them, like a state job, where you pay in a part of you wages into the company and then when you leave you get a pay out pension. With equity you get some money out to their members.
Book Keeping
Public liability insurance is about a place having insurance to cover yourself and members of the public that came to the place. For example if you were at a theatre that were doing a show, and there set was in close proxemics to the audience, an example would be in an immersive show where the audience are right in on the action. If a it of set or anything hanging may hit or hurt a member of the public, the public liability insurance would cover the company to pay out for it, say the member of the public sued the company, their insurance would cover it.
Contract Law
Agents
Most budding actors success is down to their agents work, In the first period of working with an agent, its is often hard to get a profit from acting, as most agents take at least 10% of your working takings, some maybe even more.
When looking for a good acting agency it is important to look around as agents should offer you more than just work opportunities, for example
- Providing tips on the best acting classes
- inviting you to networking events
- helping you map out your acting career
- making introductions to useful contacts
- advise on good roles, if they really suit your style or if they think it would be an experience that you could benefit from.
- briefing you on directors, and how they work, for example if they like you to just get on with work or if they prefer to work on a more creative level.
Tax Returns
When working as a freelance actor it is really vital that you keep on top of your tax's as at the end of the tax year, as all off you earnings that you have made, you can lose some of your profit if you dont claim. For example if you were working as a free lance singer and you were travelling around from gig to gig, you would have to pay out for exspences such as: travel, food and drink, clothing for the shows etc. if you kept on top of how much you had spent for this, by keep reciepts, you could then claim all of this back through how much tax you would pay at the end of the tax year. so if you declare what you have spent you can get more profit at the end of your work.
Casting Directors
When being a casting director or an assistant, you are not always entitled work, which means money. If there are no castings going on at the time you will not get any work. Most Casting directors are freelance workers, so they have to find the work themselves. Anyone is available to become a casting director, and its advised that you work your way from a performance career, but its always advised to only go into the trade if you are 100% sure. One piece of advise that is given for anyone in casting, is to buy the contacts book, which is available from waterstones or spotlight.
Unions
They are there to give you support and and advice Tax and Welfare, legal, ply, accident and backstage insurance. workshops and training. Also being part of a union like Equity you also ave a pension set up with them, like a state job, where you pay in a part of you wages into the company and then when you leave you get a pay out pension. With equity you get some money out to their members.
Book Keeping
Acting and Musical Theatre Showreel examples
Peter Cliff - Acting Showreel - Tall - Male - Actor - Northern
- Has intence music to open up the clips, this is reaslly distracting from what is happening in the scene, and sometimes loses the begining of the scene.
- Although the showreel only contains two characters they are really thought out to be contrasting and they are both polar opposites.
- During the park scene he is very relaxed and natural, this wouold be good to casting directors targeted to TV parts, however the other scene the characterisation was very intence and seemed very different from the actors himself, thsi would be good for big budget films or big characters, that are darker.
Amber Kennedy - Musical Theatre Showreel 2016
- This showreel shows an ary of talents, Singing, acting, dance and gym, monologues.
- In different clips in this showreel, the actress has made the choice to change her hairstyle in different scenes, for an actress that has a very statement hairstyle like an afro, in one of the scenes she had her hair in tight platts, this changed her look so much that it made her look more diverse, and shows the different looks that you can play.
- In one of the clips of her dancing as an ensemble she gets cut off the screen in the dance as she travels across the stage right. With a thing like a showreel
- I found this one over edited as the artist or the editor played around with lots of different effects, for example the opening to the video has a massive effect of colour and things going across the screen
- There are lots of different clips of him in shows, yet the roles are all repeated over the showreel but there are not on screen for long enough, so you couldnt see mnuch ofit.
- The artist used a good song to play over the top of the video as it showed a good contrast in his style, and showed his range well.
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