Today was very eye opening and extremely good fun!
The first thing I was told was to make sure I used the right vocabulary such as:
Angle
Intensity
Hard edge
Spotlight
Warm
Cool
Bright
Dim
Less shadow
The workshop was very helpful especially with the use of examples of lighting and when and where to use them in the performance.
The lights used were:
Birdies
LED lights
Floor lights
Floodlights
Profile
Spotlight
The lights I was most interested in were Birdies and LED lights.
The Birdies:
These gave great shadows and reminded me of the saying ‘rabbit in headlights’. They had that dramatic look as though the character was up to no good, untrustworthy, or has been tainted in some way or other. Birdies can cancel the shadows out with the help of a rigged light above to show the character for example to be pure, honest and with nothing on them as though they have something to say; the room becomes focussed just on the character which gives the piece more dimension.
LED Lights:
Very versatile lights as they change colour typically from red, blue and green or they can change or morph colours to make a certain colour. A versatile light that can create an atmosphere and capture the audience’s attention or can help them relate to something specific like a memory by giving it its own colour which will always remind the audience of that memory or a particular scenario. It reminds the performer of that memory and they can use the colour again to get that atmospheric look or give the audience a clear understanding of what is coming up next.
After exploring the lights and what you can do with them we were put into 2 groups and each group had a studio. My group had studio 2.
These are some photos that we created:
This is called a corridor where a spotlight is refocused by hand in to a style of a square and then elongated.
The corridor does what to the performance?
A great entrance to the space which brings the whole space to focus on what is coming down that corridor.
When watching an example of the corridor I just thought that there is going to be a confession because the actor is appearing from the dark with a secret.
Dramatic way for exits as though you are passing on to another life or to heavean for example.
Gives a presence to the actor of “I am here” and gave it a dramatic dimension.
We based our lighting as a daily routine with a twist as though something is going to happen or the character is going to confess something to the audience.
Side lighting on each side of Laura’s face gave a dramatic effect and was eye catching as we gradually lit up the rest of her body giving the impression that it was getting discovered or waking up.
Using LED in the space modelled by Alice as we sort out the colouring of blue, white and pink; they are softened and submerged into the floor to show our character was going to end up as though ‘the day has started and something has to happen eventually’.
The video will show the whole piece in one but will also show the end as the lights physically show that time is passing by. The use of LED lights changes by flashing slowly in different areas of the floor in a distinct rhythm to represent the passage of time.
I have tried and tried to get a script done for this piece and here is an example:
Characters: Young Adult (Y.A.) and Subconscious
Starts with Blackout
Voice-over
Ramble of voices starts and the voices fade in the dominant one.
Fade in for the dominant one and a fade out for the soundscape of other thoughts.
Lights fade up and Young Adult looks around and sees they are trapped and struggles to be set free. They are not successful.
Y.A. (moaning) What am I doing? I have nowhere to go; no potential future prospects, no balance in my life.
Nooothing, nothing…..
Exhales with disbelief
What am I doing? Where is the trust in my life and in other young adults like me?
Silence
Anguish sets in with a slight feeling of regret.
What am I doing?! I keep moaning and moaning about not doing anything when I should be looking for something!
Urghhhhhhh!
I feel I am in some sort of paradox or in limbo.
So many people say to me don’t worry you’re fine, you’re not dead, and nothing scary has happened it’s all in your own mind.
It’s not…. others like me are thinking the same…
Cue in reports on young millennials’ thoughts and feelings which get louder in the mind, so uncomfortably louder that the young adult has to breathe in heavily to stop their anxiety.
Exhales
Just be calm, calm (breathes out) just contemplate your thoughts and do some tidying up.
Coughs, goes back to tranquillity mode.
Closes their eyes and breathes in….
Sound of the ocean starts to fade in
When they breathe out they open their eyes quickly and say…
Let’s do it…
They start to cut and, with every cut there is a specific news report or thought which causes a muffled background noise.
They talk their feelings.
I just want to sort myself out; my anxiety levels have risen because of this specific reason. There are no views for someone like me, no one to give me a chance to learn and experience so I can make my future bright and those people like me and people who will follow after me! Everything will be fine after this… all I need is some TLC; tender loving care for my own sanity.
Y.A. looks around in disbelief and struggles yet again to break free but unsuccessfully.
Silence
Looks around, uncertain that they maybe in that scenario
They get themselves out of the chair, look around in disbelief as the muffled sound continues to get stronger until it is unbearable!
The young adult cannot stand it anymore! (Voice over is done, time for their voice to be heard.
Y.A: SSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!
Rambles carry on for about 2 seconds then the young adult shakes it off and then concentrates. Fades out
Mind state fragmented thoughts carry on but they start to snip the string a voice carries on.
I am going to this my way no other fuckers are going to help me!
People say to me you’ll get there you always will.
Yes, maybe, but others like me won’t; they will be suppressed until they fit in to some stupid, fucking cubical working in a dead end office job just so they can survive!
SURVIVE! No experience of life and actually living life, just surviving, that’s not what life is about.
The government have been playing with us ‘young people’ for far too long; it all started in 2012!
This was when the cost of degrees went up, sky rocketed up past the moon and through the stars into the arse hole of David Cameron with his accomplice George Osbourne.
A reporter in the Guardian newspaper wrote “George Osborne’s budgets have left young Britons with mounting student debt, depleted housing benefits, and cuts to youth employment and wage support”.
This was from a man who made us believe there were no strings attached because he wanted to make a stronger, secure and safer Britain; bull shit!!.
There is no balance whatsoever in this world, and I know it’s not just my age group that feels it but for every living thing on this planet.
It all started from around the time I was 11; this is when you start to grow up and become more aware of the news and understand what the world is all about for the first time. This is when you come out of that childhood bubble that was so abruptly burst that you couldn’t manage to take it all in!
There is no balance.
No balance
Balance no
Balance no
No balance
The sound comes back of new reports etc. they push it away through physical theatre.
So this mind is a palace, so why is it corrupted?
It needs to get stronger, more efficient and capable to survive
Because us millennials need to have a better understanding of the worked and the world needs to better understand us.
So the first thing I need to do it is, to cut the strings that have surreptitiously attached themselves to me.
The young adult starts to cut the prison of string and rope and tries to untangle themselves
Whilst this happens, the music and the reports slowly go away.
‘Mind over matter’ which means the use of will power to overcome physical problems.
For me this just didn’t fit into what I wanted to do. I felt like I was putting words into the audience’s mouth and like I said in my Non-narrative blog, I want people to interpret it with as much freedom as possible and let them have a unique time when watching the performance.
So, I thought how can I keep the piece immersive and interesting for the audience and that’s when I thought of my time in the studio when I rabbled on about my feelings about the way young adults are being treated by the government etc. I viewed a number of news clips on the topics on YouTube and just spoke in the space. That’s when my emotional pathway came through the most and as I felt more into the whole situation, I became immersed in it all and re-experienced the news clips again for a second time. That was very raw for me and I wanted my audience to have the same experience.
Once my final decision was made, I started working on my soundscape which was going to run for the entire performance; I worked on it for two weeks straight.
and here it is:
Whilst going through this process I looked at the Creating Solo Performance book again and found a section called ‘Approaching Technology’ and I found some of the introduction very useful before I started working on my soundscape.
There was a section in the introduction that caught my eye and I feel as though it speaks for itself:
“These… performers, designers and artisans who, through a blend of technical ingenuity, skill, story and stagecraft, created shows that brought the audience into a world where the ordinary became extraordinary”
(Bruno and Dixon, 2015, 149)
This is what I want to get a sense of in my performance when all the bits and pieces such as the set and soundscape all come together. This is the goal.
I want the audience to be overwhelmed by the way in which my piece expresses the negative feelings of the topic; this negativity will bounce off and cancel itself out if the audience feel they can change and fight the situation. This will show how “the performer’s role was to deny the illusion was taking place, to present the illusion a reality” (Bruno and Dixon, 2015, 149). so the audience can empathise with our predicament and treatment by the government as well as the financial millstone we have round our necks as we enter the employment arena. Another thing I found interesting was that, as a performer, I have the freedom to “bring the audience into the world of your story, amplify the mood or even deliver exposition” (Bruno and Dixon, 2015, 150); this excited me so I can be as dramatic as possible in order to get the audience to face facts about our current situation .
I carried on reading the book and stumbled on a section on soundscapes.
This section is basically telling you to engross the audience and capture their imaginations as well as in my case, their memories of the past and its issues such as youth employment, recession, student loans etc. This was great as the first line I read was “use sound to provide your audience with specific details of story, character or their world” (Bruno and Dixon, 2015, 153). This is my aim.
My main encouraging quote from this section is:
“Radio news broadcasts, commercials, public address announcements…provide the audience with information that might help them better understand the world of your performance” (Bruno and Dixon, 2015, 153)
Keeping this quote in mind I answered the question from the section:
When do the audience begin to experience the sound scape?
Straight away and then for the whole duration of the piece as the sound scape is the main focus and, with the help of the set’s imagery, I hope the audience will interpret it for themselves.
What does your soundscape reveal to the audience about your performance, the world of your performance and your character?
Honesty, truth, stress relief, pin pointing out the obvious, highlighting the troubling areas and trust, safe place to feel angry with the scenarios. Hopefully after watching it, the spectator starts to feel good as if it were stress therapy to see the same frustrations and anger performed for them.
Work cited: Bruno, S. and Dixon, L. (2015) Creating Solo Performance. London: Routledge.
I have had this design in my head after meeting up in April with my tutor and with Darren but I felt it needed improving before introducing it to you in my blog but something has convinced me to keep it.
This is my final set design:
It got me thinking how I could portray young adults and the problems we are facing which create a constant battle in our minds as well as the rest of the world. Using the alcove will hopefully make the work immersive with the limited space used and having the audience close up to the alcove will make it intimate. I designed the set to be a representation of a mind whereby the entanglement of string and rope represents the idea of being trapped and restricted in many ways such as job prospects, debt, trust etc. The use of scattered paper will represent the media, contracts (student loans), laws and government documents. The vertical rope on the outside symbolises bars which should make the audience think of being restricted and confined and forced into having to struggle forever as an adult.
What sprung to mind when I drew this out was that the rope reminded me of the connection between the neurons and electros in the brain (the only thing I found interesting in science) for example:
This reminded me of my first initial design:
The connection of the rope reminds me of the picture above and this links perfectly into my idea of the brain. I have researched into how the brain works on developing and portraying emotion which will work in my piece well.
I just searched Google for ‘brain nerve endings’ and this is what I came up with…
“Those are called emotions. The brain does not have sensory nerve endings, because it has to process the feelings in your body. Emotions are cognitive responses to sensory stimuli after they have been processed.”
(Qoura.com, 2016)
I knew from this that I was on the right track and took from it the sentences marked in bold. It has given me an idea on how to portray my own acting in the piece and the way to perform using body movement. I am considering using the works of Lecoq in my piece to show the connections of the emotions triggering in the brain as it stores it by physicalizing it in the use of lights and body movement.
I started to research a little further into ‘how emotions work in the brain?’ as this will help with the development of the style of movement, sound and lighting.
I found 2 websites that were useful to portray my non-narrative piece.
howstuffworks.com
sciencemuseum.org.uk
The first one I went to was the science museum to get a basic idea of the brain and all its glory.
This next section will be quotes and then short clear notes at end of the section, so as the creator I want to keep it simple in description to help with the process of the piece.
Science museum
The Senses:
“You use your senses together information about the outside world.”
(Science Museum, 2016)
“All these sensations are changed in electrical signals and carried to your brain which them puts all the information together to produce the whole picture.”
(Science Museum, 2016)
What is consciousness?
“Consciousness has been described as ‘awareness of oneself embedded in the world.”
(Science Museum, 2016)
“Your self-reflective awareness defines you in the context of society, culture and history”
(Science Museum, 2016)
“Many neuroscientists think consciousness emerges from the activities of our tangled network of neurons”
(Science Museum, 2016)
Which are of your brain controls emotions?
“The neurons in your hippocampus play a role in emotions”
(Science Museum, 2016)
Science.howstuffworks.com
5 ways your brain influences your emotions
“A lot is going on inside your hand, and your brain and its complex processes are even manipulating your emotions”
(Uttley, 2016)
“Much is involved in interpreting emotional circumstances and crating your responses to them, and how you feel and how you respond to these feelings in ways you’re probably not even aware of.”
(Uttley, 2016)
“Part of the brains information- processing network includes neurons or cells that transmit signals throughout the brain.”
(Uttley, 2016)
What I learned from all this information is that the emotions in the brain bundle up and form links with certain memories; this then becomes a continuation of when you experience a certain memory, the memory you experienced with it will be there when you use that emotion with a new experience in life.
Taking the idea that the bundle of memories causes the reaction emotions that are the “awareness of oneself embedded in the world” (Science Museum, 2016) will help with my attitude and style on how to present my performance.
I decided the best way to do my performance is not to do it in a narrative way because the topic is not a box standard one; it’s potentially affecting many young adults who want to help make the world a better place but can’t because they are burdened with so much debt. I returned to the book Creating Solo Performance and found a section where it helps with the foundation of the piece. This is what it said, “If you are not doing a narrative piece, and it can be a useful task to set goals for yourself as a performer.” (Bruno and Dixon, 2015, 97) So that’s what I’m going to do; by answering the questions given on the page, to set goals and set a promise of what I will approach within my piece:
What are you trying to do?
To explore the situation of what young adults are going through when saddled with debt as they embark on their financial future by making people aware of it and acting upon it.
Why?
Because this issue affects many young people who are trying to improve their lives but are thwarted because of a lack of trust, the possibility of a corrupt future and debt up to our ears. Although this is the problem, students and some people have been affected in one way or another however, it can be different for anyone.
So I am trying to let my performance be open to interpretation as I want it to be a piece which is relatable to every experience that the audience have had, find areas/ parts of the performance where they connect and feel a sense of release by watching it being performed and be made aware that every young adult feels the same.
How are you going to do this?
As a piece that is very visual with a simple acting and a non-linear narrative so it acts like a thought of the mind rather than a performance.
What do you hope to achieve by doing this?
By using a soundscape of news reports that impact on me and other students/ young adults and a set that is sufficiently artistic, I hope to fire the audience’s imagination so they can work with the piece and tap into their feelings, memories and thoughts on the matter to support it and highlight it.
Now I have set my goals and achievements I must be sure it is clear to the reader and easy to interpret for each individual in the audience.
Work cited:
Bruno, S. and Dixon, L. (2015) Creating Solo Performance. London: Routledge.
I had Bob Dylan, the the self-righteous voice of his generation playing in the background during the session to inspire some ‘beat the system’ vibes.
What did I have with me?
Rope: To show entrapment, restraints, ‘no strings attached’ and obstacles.
String: Tedious, hard to work with, represents the little niggles in life, the things you don’t look for and more obstacles.
Chair: used daily for rest, support, working, schooling, leisure
Table: to eat at, place items on, dinner time,
Scissors: represents a way to release oneself from the situations of today, rewriting the saying ‘one step at a time’ to ‘one snip at a time’.
Paper: represents constant debt, bills and loans in the mail, media becoming overwhelming and getting everywhere.
What did I do with the space?
I just played around with the rope and let it go where it fell on the chair and it turned out to look like a spider’s web.
So I thought what a spider’s web means to me:
Strong
Attachment
Resourceful
Entrapment
Silky
Invisible
Beautiful
Entangling
Stuck
Versatile
Delicate
Sustainability
These words relate to the good and the bad of what a young adult can be and do if given the chance.
The piece shows there is a problem to be solved and when you accidentally walk into a spider’s web your instinctive response is to get the heck out of it! So that’s what I felt when performing in the space with the entangled rope and string around me. I felt very pressured to get out especially as initially I went a little crazy with the string whilst wrapping it around me and the chair; this caused me to panic and feel a little claustrophobic with the mess I had got myself into. This was in fact, a blessing in disguise as it became the development of the beginning of my piece. I remember the feeling of anxiety and being trapped when the news of the increased rate of student loans came out in 2010. By remembering this reaction, I had an intuitive response to help the audience and myself understand that feeling of anxiety by transforming it into a physical representation and, to make the message clear, I will produce a new report soundscape.
By the way,with the chairs and tables, my first thoughts were that it resembled a ‘mind palace’ ; this term is used in the popular BBC drama Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. The origins of the ‘mind palace’ came from Cicero who called it the “Method of Loci” (Sachs, 2016) this is “the journey method” (Sachs, 2016) through the memory by training it.
This method “was invented more than 2000 years ago” (Sachs, 2016) and was used by the Greeks as well as the Romans “to memorize and give speeches that could last for hours” (Sachs, 2016). It worked because the speaker “mentally placed the key points of their speech in locations along a familiar route through their city or palace” (Sachs, 2016) so they can visualise the particular place and remember the relationship to the point that they travelled to. They went through their mind palace as though it is a treasure hunt of sorts, “and in each location retrieved the item representing the next key point they wanted to talk about” (Sachs, 2016).
My piece will represent a very messed up, disorganised and confused mind that needs a good tidy up so it can have a fresh start on everything that is happening. By applying the ‘Method of Loci’ my piece will have this sort of ‘treasure hunt’ idea by exploring the news and events that have changed the lives of young adults in the UK.
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