15th March - Song Writing

Tuesday 15^th March

Song writing:

First of all we split off into our TIE groups to rehearse our pieces, then we came back as a whole and performed our pieces to the class.

Seb, Tom and Francesca’s song was about Children in Divorce. I liked how it set the mood and scene. It was quite heart wrenching. They had chosen to use a Cornet, a piano and a tambourine to create the effect they desired. The cornet sounded really good with the piano and I had wished to hear more (for Francesca to play for longer) and for Tom’s bit (the tambourine) to be softer and played more in time with Seb and Francesca.

Abi, Frankie, Olly and Jack’s song was about Gender Equality. I liked how they used different styles of singing, for example Frankie and Olly would sing normally and then Jack would come in with a rap and then Abi sings normally. I liked how they did this as it made it more controversial. They had decided to use a piano, a guitar, a tambourine and drums. The melody was really good and apt for the piece but unfortunately I couldn’t hear the lyrics because of the dynamics of their singing and the instruments. All in all it was great though.

Then it was our groups turn to perform but within our group we had decided only Imogen would sing and play the guitar. This is because out of all of us Imogen has the best voice which is not only the best but sounds absolutely superb and stunning. We also only chose a guitar for our melody as our piece is quite a lonely, minor piece and the acoustics alone sounded perfect and I could imagine our piece straight away. We decided it would be best for Imogen to also use a microphone as she sang rather quitetly. Imogen chose the chords from a Kate Nash song she likes and played on it a bit to create her own chords from an inspiration of Kate Nash. I think the lonely sort of sound it has makes the piece sond good and fit with our Eating Disorder Theme. To start the project we experimented with telephone melodies and 12 bar patterns to create sufficient chords. We didn't use this method to create our chords this time but I do like the idea of these methods for future references. We use the verses to tell a story of The Skeleton In My Closet which is an eating disorder. The chorus repeats the message many times to conver the metaphore of the skeleton. We are trying to educate people of the strugglt the Mother went through during her high school years and how traumatic her past actually was.

Afterwards we gave and received feedback for each group and lots of constructive criticism was given. Our feedback was for Imogen’s diction to improve so that the lyrics were heard clearer  as you couldn't really tell what she was singing and to explain our motives for only having Imogen playing and singing. Also we were advised to bring it to a better close as it stops quite abruptly. The feedback helped me a lot and as a result helped my group a lot and our whole TIE piece. Other groups liked our song and said it had power and meaning. I think our song will fit best at the sart and end of our performance.

The Process of song writing:

First we tried to gather inspiration by researching other eating disorder songs. We went on YouTube and several lyric websites by Googling Anorexic based songs. There are lots of anorexic based songs but none of them quite apt for our TIE piece as they don’t approach the issue quite as well as I had thought. Instead we chose to create the chords and come back to the lyrics. Imogen, being the most musically tuned in, wrote the chords which she thought appropriate.

Reading our story and script gave us a great idea to include the lines from our script and make them song lyrics.

I am really happy with our song and really like how we have “Powerful Lyrics” as quoted by Seb :)

8th March - Lesson Write-Up

8^th March

Lesson write up

In today’s lesson we gathered round and handed in our homework. We had a discussion about meeting Gail (The Artistic Director for the TIE Schools Company at the West Yorkshire Playhouse) and the types of questions we are going to ask her. We then were given our assignment brief for this project. Here it is:

After discussing the brief we went into the drama studio to decide on what else we needed to work on in our groups for our performance. We decided it was best that we write the script together in the time left that we had. Here is our script so far:

Beth, Imogen, Emily and Courtneys first scene : The Skeleton in my closet

8th March - 10 Questions for Artistic Director

8th March

10 Questions,

In today’s lesson we were told at some point we were going to meet the artistic director of the TIE Company at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Here we then had to devise 10 questions we are going to ask her when we meet her. Two of our questions had to be a certain topic: The first about how they are funded, the second about the staff structure. Here are my 10 questions:

  1.     What styles of theatre do you use in your productions?

  2.     Who decides on the themes you explore?

  3.     How are your projects funded?

  4.     Do you perform your own work or work that is written by other companies or playwrights?

  5.     What is your company staff structure?

  6.     Is there a hierarchy for the roles/ responsibilities within the company?

  7.     What are your responsibilities as an Artistic Director?

  8.     What is your most highly praised performance? What issue is it based on?

  9.     How long does it take you to produce a TIE piece of high quality and standard?

10.  Do you find it hard to decide on a target audience to relate to your issue/ production?

15th February

My group evaluation Table:

15th February- Drama PLTS

15^th February

PLTS

Self Manager:                    

Be Organised,

Manage Emotions,

Go For It, Finish It,

Manage Risks.

Creative Thinker:

Imagine,

Question Assumptions,

Take Creative Risks,

Make Links.

Effective Participator:

Persuade Others,

Identify Issues,

Find Solutions,

Get Involved.

Reflective Learner:

Set Yourself Challenges,

Plan – Do – Review,

Invite Feedback,

Share Learning.

Team Worker:

Take Responsibility,

Evaluate The Team,

Build Team Strength,

Manage The Team.

Independent Enquirer:

Reach Conclusions,

Evaluate the Evidence,

Explore a Question,

Stay Objective.

Job Application

I think I am a very skilled and talented employee and think I would fit in well with your theatre company. I have lots of experience of working with other directors or companies and lots of experience of working within different roles of a theatre team. I can act, dance, direction work, sing, playwright, make costume, build set, be a member of the crew and I reckon I will be the perfect person for you.
Elaborating on the skills I have just said, I have played in several melodrama performances, extra improvisation workshops, played the White queen in Alice in wonderland, Played Mary Warren in the crucible and other self written work. I can dance and started dance when I was 6. I danced for 7 years and really enjoyed it but stopped because I was far too busy. I have taken on the directors role in my drama group (Masquerade Theatre) several times and really found it productive and enjoyable. I have sung in the Roman Amphitheatre In Italy as part of a choir I have been with for 2 years who I went on tour to Italy with. I had a solo in my school show in primary and high school.
My playwright skills are not as strong as my others but when I sit down and think about it, ideas flow into my head and I can create a amateur piece of work. I have had some experience playwright at the West Yorkshire Playhouse on a school trip for an Offstage choices workshop.
During my acting with the The Masquerade theatre I did have some experiences making costume and building set but not a lot. We had to make our costumes for a tribal performance we did and had to create the set and props ourselves. We then had to perform it at a carnival which was weird performing in your own made costumes.
Sadly I was ill and missed an audition for the school show 2011 of Cloud Busting. Although I couldn't be part of the cast I got involved in the crew and became a member of the crew, helped front of house and helped create some set. Even though I wasn't really doing what I most wanted to do, I still really enjoyed what I did as it was something different and something I never knew I could do.
I really am extremely versatile and will be involved in any role within the theatre as you need me to be because at the end of the day I am involved and that's all that matters. Once I am in I can then work to get into higher positions or different roles which may suite me better.
Above all my skills I have spoken about above, I can also add my personality to your company. I have a constant bubbly personality and believe that my people skills are incredible. I can relate to several social and political issues and think I will connect with our audiences.
I know lots of drama conventions that are useful if you do not already do them and believe that my new mind can bring new, fresh ideas to this already outstanding company and add my sparkle to your other employees.
Please do not hesitate to contact me about further questions you have. I really hope I have impressed you and hope you consider me a perfect applicant for this job.
I anticipate your response.
Thank you,
Yours Sincerely,
Bethany Kaye

8th February- Hot seating and Role on the wall

8^th February

What is hot seating?

What is good hot seating?

Why is it useful during rehearsals?

How could it be used in a TIE workshop?

What is role on the wall?

Why is it useful in drama rehearsals?

How could it be used in TIE workshops?

Hot seating is a drama convention where an Actor/ teacher or participant is interviewed using spontaneous improvisation in character.

It is used to find out more about the actors character in a performance. To do this you have to be good at improvisation and not come out of character.

Good hot seating is where the actor manages to stay in role for the required amount of time and answer the questions appropriately to their character. Good hot seating uses body language and facial expression to show the characters person. Using props and costume is really helpful as it helps you relate better and more efficiently to the character. Good hot seating should always be intense to watch and use a variety of drama techniques. Because it uses spontaneous improvisation it’s hard to know when the actor is going to answer, not to talk over somebody or if you have pushed it too far. If the actor makes you feel like this then he/ she is hot seating well making the scene believable and intense. During a hot seating task, if you do not know what to say pause and think in character as it makes it look so much more professional and makes it look like you are your character.

In rehearsals hot seating it effective to help students understand more about a/ their character. Leaving the room/ scene and re entering and then leaving again helps you come in and out of character easier and more professionally.

Used in TIE workshops can be helpful because it can really help a student understand the story, meaning and character of this production. If a student knows somebody that’s going through this issue or is going through it themselves then if we approach it right, we will be able to help that student come to terms with the issue or get through it easier. Hot Seating can also be a part of why an issue is dealt with differently as we may give advice or information that a student didn’t know before.

Hot seating rules:

Find a similarity to relate to you character or scenario because it makes the task seem so much more believable.

Don’t be worried about not asking a question just make sure you are involved in what is happening.

Don’t worry about speaking over people or your question sounding stupid; say it anyway because you may be surprised.

Ask a mixture of open and closed questions so the actor can have a variety of different answers.

Don’t worry about going down a different route just ask it anyway.

Hot Seating Tom: James’ father,

                          Mr Matthews,

His feeling whilst being hot seated...

He felt stuck with what to say,

He tried to think of past scenarios and personal experiences and used this to make a new character,

Weird. He said it felt weird being somebody else and having to think spontaneously as somebody else,

“As the questions grow you feel like you are becoming more like your character... It’s like you have a performance/ energy bubble around you in the world of your character... You have to allow your actors/ spect actors to commit... The set up is really important... Everybody in the hot seating activity has to commit to the performance world.”  Tom Willshaw

Reviews from everybody:

Imogen- It’s difficult to play an 8 year old.

Olly- Builds a lot of tension. I was worried I might run out of things to say.

Abi- It’s really difficult to convince your audience/ spect actors.

Frankie- My audience were laughing and it was really misleading for me as the actor.

Emily- I found it hard to stay in character and it was hard to be spontaneous.

Tom- I enjoyed this task and it was nice to be able to improvise.

Me- I found it challenging because my character has very little to say so I couldn’t think of many questions or answers about my character.

Francesca- I found it easy to stay in character but the questions were really provocative and I had to force a lot of reactions.

Role on the wall:

Role on the wall is a drama convention used to help an understanding or to get to know a character better. It is where a body outline is drawn and around the outside of the body you have to write words or phrases about what others think of your character. In the middle of your drawing you have to write words or phrases about your character from that characters point of view. For example:

 

An example of role on the wall from Miss Woffinden



It is useful in drama to help an understanding of a character and to help focus students and get them to think more widely about this character.

In TIE workshops it can be used to, again develop the student’s interest and understanding of a play and character and help their social/ political issues like I mentioned for Hot Seating.