Throughout these past few weeks, we have been each in small groups been leading warm ups, these warm ups have changed each week as we are given one area to focus on, i.e breathing or stretches. In this blog I will be talking you through some of the exercises I chose for my group and why. However the difference to our normal warm ups is this was to prepare us for restoration.
Intercostal Muscles
First week we were given intercostal muscles, the exercises I used were. Picking apples and pears, this helps to stretch out the intercostals as you are reaching up down and side to side opening out these areas that are necessary for breath intake. I also did arm over head leaning stretches which help to stretch you sides, if you do this and you cant feel the stretch you can always release the arm you aren't using dropping it down, which causes you to pull on your side more.
Face
Stretching the face was important for restoration, the words used within it had do be pronounced with excellent diction and so the exercises I chose helped us to use our mouths appropriately to pronounce these words. I first started with Raisin Face Pumpkin face which aloud use to tighten areas of our face, so that once released they would be fully relaxed. This was followed by massaging areas of the face for full relaxation. Now the face was warmed up the jaw needed to be relaxed and so we did an exercise called gorm face where you let your jaw drop, you can also hold both you hands and shake whilst doing this for more effect.
Neck and Tongue
First we began with the neck, yawing and swallowing allowed us to warm up the very back of the neck inside, which can be hard to reach when exercising the neck. We then went to the tongue where we circled it clockwise for 60 seconds then anti clockwise. After this we pretended to lick a lolly that was far away from us stretching the very back of the tongue. Finally we finished up with some tongue twisters so we could see the effect of the exercises as well as training our tongues to move quickly whilst pronouncing words. All of the exercises allow you to have good diction if practised often.
Full Body
With the full body I worked from the very bottom to the top, this was very important in my opinion to the guys, as the stances we had to hold during Restoration can cause the guys a lot of pain if they don't stretch fully. I started with the feet massaging them because I found myself getting cramp there a lot when standing in position, then I moved to the carves and thighs kneeing them like dough and then wobbling them to realise tension. Then I moved onto the hips pretending my hips were a knife and we were trying to scrape jam out of the very corners of the jar, this gave us more control over our hips, which for most guys can be a struggle. Then to the torso stretching the back and sides with arm lunges and over the head arm stretches. Finally I finished with a full body roll down to release all tension.
Breathing
For breathing began with inhaling for a count holding for a count then realising over a count, then repeating this, but for longer counts, which allows us to extend our breath control. I then moved onto blowing up a rubber ring with a straw focusing on the diaphragm and controlling it. My final exercise was laying down on the floor putting on hand on my stomach and concentration on only breathing from my stomach once that had been achieved id try to do it standing up, this allows us to focus on breathing from the diaphragm.
Vocal Warm up
We first started with waking up the articulators, tapping the areas such as the chest, the nasal area and the head. After this we began to hum and do it in the style of a waterfall ie high pitch hum to low tone hum hitting each area of resonation on the way, once this was achieved we took the hum to a ahhh sound.
Thursday, 11 June 2015
Contextual Studies 4 (The Double Dealer)
Within this entry I shall be looking at both the staging of the play how we have done it, and also how it may have been done during the time period it was written, looking at set, lighting, music ect.
During the 17th century theatre had separate audiences, and what I mean by this is that more lavish productions were not open to the public, these were called "Masques", which featured music, dancing, extravagant set designs, beautiful costumes and also special effects. These were only open to the nobility. Our performances in this era however, are open to all who wish to attend. For instance our play that we are performing is open to anyone. Back then the parts of Gods and Heroes were given to nobility also, where as now we all audition for parts that we would like and we are all given an equal chance. A man names Inigo Jones introduced the proscenium arch to theatre as well as moveable set. Our show may not be performed and a stage such as this, but we have incorporated the idea of movable set, for instance we have to places that the play is set in and the back slats rotate and switch between scenes. Restoration era was about being flamboyant, sets were carefully designed to fit this but were also simplistic, they would have one back drop that would have been painted to fit the play, as well as extra props and furniture of course. And we have tried to follow this idea, our set is very simplistic it is three slats that are on wheels so that it is easier to change the scenes around, the slats were painted with bright yellows and pinks, to fit with the flamboyancy of the era, and we have various bits of furniture such as a 17th century looking chair, a Chaise Lounge, a smoking table, with classes a small smoking tin, which changes to be a table in which a candle sits on, but these just fill the stage so it doesn't feel bare, whilst giving it the look of the period.
 |
| Our Set |
 |
| Our set |
During the 17th century theatre had separate audiences, and what I mean by this is that more lavish productions were not open to the public, these were called "Masques", which featured music, dancing, extravagant set designs, beautiful costumes and also special effects. These were only open to the nobility. Our performances in this era however, are open to all who wish to attend. For instance our play that we are performing is open to anyone. Back then the parts of Gods and Heroes were given to nobility also, where as now we all audition for parts that we would like and we are all given an equal chance. A man names Inigo Jones introduced the proscenium arch to theatre as well as moveable set. Our show may not be performed and a stage such as this, but we have incorporated the idea of movable set, for instance we have to places that the play is set in and the back slats rotate and switch between scenes. Restoration era was about being flamboyant, sets were carefully designed to fit this but were also simplistic, they would have one back drop that would have been painted to fit the play, as well as extra props and furniture of course. And we have tried to follow this idea, our set is very simplistic it is three slats that are on wheels so that it is easier to change the scenes around, the slats were painted with bright yellows and pinks, to fit with the flamboyancy of the era, and we have various bits of furniture such as a 17th century looking chair, a Chaise Lounge, a smoking table, with classes a small smoking tin, which changes to be a table in which a candle sits on, but these just fill the stage so it doesn't feel bare, whilst giving it the look of the period.
Script Annotations (The Double Dealer)
Here are a couple of pages of annotations that were taken from my script, they are a few notes I had written myself. They have been taken from my first scene within the play.
Thursday, 21 May 2015
Contextual Studies 3 (The Double Dealer)
England in the early 17th century (1)
1603- King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England. He ended the war with the Spanish in 1604, and in 1611 had published his on translation of the bible "The King James Version". He also survived an assassination attempt "The Gunpowder Plot" in 1605.
1625- King James dies,and his son Charles I becomes king. From the beginning of his ruling, he had many a disagreements with parliament,due to his beliefs that he shared with his father, which was known as "The Divine Rights Of Kings". Charles was married to French Roman Catholic, Henrietta Maria, but this was a wrong move in the eyes of the Puritans. Due to the unsuccessful wars Charles led, his parliament refused to raise taxes to pay for the Spanish war, in return Charles was angered by this and dissolved the parliament, then raised money by levying loans, if you didn't pay he would have you imprisoned without a trial. However by 1628 Charles was in desperate need of money , due to the costs of war, he regathered his parliament, and this time MPs drew up a petition that meant he could not levy taxes without the parliaments consent. Later The King and his parliament fell out over Religion, which was a concern back then as religion was a large part of day to day life in the 17th century. 1629 William Laud was the Bishop of London, and him and Charles shared the same opposing views when it came to the Puritans, this did not bode well with the parliament and so they refused to grant the King his taxes for a year, which ended in the parliament once again being dissolved.
1633- William Laud was made the Archbishop of Canterbury, and made it his mission to repress the Puritans, sending commissioners into parish's to make sure the churches were in line. He also tried to put a stop on the Puritan Preaches, also known as Lectures, however he only made a small dent on the Puritan's, and after he emphasized ceremony's and decoration within churches, the Puritans did worry that Catholicism would soon take over completely in England.
Meanwhile Charles was still ruling without a Parliament for 11 years, which was know as 11 years of tyranny. Charles had many ways to raise money such as, making men who owned property that was worth a large sum knights. However in 1637, when The King started levying ship money, he was able to have ships made whenever he needed to due the the traditional tax system used in coastal towns. Eventually Charles started levying ship money in inland areas, and a squire from Buckinghamshire refused to pay this, which resulted in him being taken to court in 1637. Later that year Charles and Laud proposed religious changes on the Scots, this ended in Scotland becoming furious, a new pray book was introduced, and riots began in Edinburgh. Charles had to try and stop the Scots, and the ended in two humiliating attempts.
(1) http://www.localhistories.org/17thcent.html
Monday, 18 May 2015
Rehearsal Blog 3 (The Double Dealer)
This week we finished blocking, apart from a few scenes due to absences, however we than ran the show as far as we could, overall I think the show is looking good, but still needs improvement, for instance some of the scenes are lacking the pace needed to add to the comedic value, this is either down to the lacking in line learning or lack of emphasis when throwing ourselves into character, this would probably be down for the amount of hard work and determination it takes to stand, walk and talk in character, so overall this play and genre has been by far the most difficult in my opinion to understand and get to grips with.
We have also been looking at characterisation during other lessons, looking at techniques such as object interviews, where you show an object that relates to you character and tell the story behind it, hot seating and 4 truth's 2 lies, for this you tell the audience the lies and the what is true to your character, but the audience then later guesses which was which. Overall these techniques have really helped my character to progress, for instance the voice I use for Lord Froth is very difficult to keep throughout, and so learning to fluently use this voice during improvisation workshops has strengthened this. Also we have been singling out the stances and walks of characters helping them to know what they've done well and what needs improvement, I've been told that I need to what my shoulders and make sure that I am not tensing them when puffing my chest out, and so Laura said to me to roll my shoulders back and this has effectively made this easier. Abbi has also told me during rehearsals that my characterisation is really coming along, I think this is because with Lord Forth I am changing the way I perform in general and so I'm experimenting with my voice and the way I use my body, and one thing I've really enjoyed is concentrating on what the lines mean, Lord Froth doesn't use facial expressions to convey an emotion he is very straight faced so I have been looking at the lines where u can change my voice to suit the emotion.
We have also been looking at characterisation during other lessons, looking at techniques such as object interviews, where you show an object that relates to you character and tell the story behind it, hot seating and 4 truth's 2 lies, for this you tell the audience the lies and the what is true to your character, but the audience then later guesses which was which. Overall these techniques have really helped my character to progress, for instance the voice I use for Lord Froth is very difficult to keep throughout, and so learning to fluently use this voice during improvisation workshops has strengthened this. Also we have been singling out the stances and walks of characters helping them to know what they've done well and what needs improvement, I've been told that I need to what my shoulders and make sure that I am not tensing them when puffing my chest out, and so Laura said to me to roll my shoulders back and this has effectively made this easier. Abbi has also told me during rehearsals that my characterisation is really coming along, I think this is because with Lord Forth I am changing the way I perform in general and so I'm experimenting with my voice and the way I use my body, and one thing I've really enjoyed is concentrating on what the lines mean, Lord Froth doesn't use facial expressions to convey an emotion he is very straight faced so I have been looking at the lines where u can change my voice to suit the emotion.
Monday, 11 May 2015
Character Study (The Double Dealer)
Name: Lord Froth.
Age: 32, I have chosen this because he act's like an elderly gentleman, and after researching I found that the average age of death was around 40. I say he acts like an elderly gentleman, purely for the fact he is very dull, and the way he talks to or see's people in his eyes to me seems very similar to our modern day elderly etiquette.
Family: Lord Froth has a wife, Lady Froth, and a daughter, Sapho. In front of company he acts like he is totally in love with his wife, however the way he does this comes across as quite blunt, on the other hand when they are alone together they don't seem to care for one another. His daughter Sapho, he feels is spoilt by his wife, and he hasn't taken to her because he wanted a son.
Age: 32, I have chosen this because he act's like an elderly gentleman, and after researching I found that the average age of death was around 40. I say he acts like an elderly gentleman, purely for the fact he is very dull, and the way he talks to or see's people in his eyes to me seems very similar to our modern day elderly etiquette.
Hobbies: Lord Froth enjoys the company of his friends he spends a lot of his time drinking and having conversations with them, he is also a fan of making people feel generally uncomfortable and you can find him some of the time attending comedies, but never laughing at what is said, as he finds that it is a vulgar expression, and it is funnier not to laugh and embarrass the poets. He also enjoys travelling by sea like he use to when he was a child, as his father was a tradesman.
Personality: A straight face man, who tends to judge others, but not behind their backs, he says it to them in a way they don't understand it to be an insult. He's a very dull character, who walks with the thought that he has power over others, when in fact he doesn't at all. It comes across that he's in love with his wife, by the way he addresses her in front of company, however you can always tell there is something between them, aka Brisk.
Job: Lord Froth's father was once a tradesman, who use to take him out on trips to Europe, this was until he had sailed away never to return. However Froth took from this a liking for travelling and so once he was of age he set up his own small trading business selling odds and ends that he could get hold of, such as buckles, fruits, vegetable and trinkets.
1650 - 1700's Century Male Fashion (1):
After the thirty years war, fashion had rapidly change as the Restoration period came in, men's clothing went from having been influenced by military clothing, and was exchanged for coats, waistcoats and breeches. The breeches became very baggy and Samuel Pepsy wrote in his diary in April of 1661 "And among other things, met with Mr Townsend, who told of his mistake the other day to put both his legs through one of the knees of his breeches, and so went all day" (2).
Coasts and Waistcoats:
Sleeves of the waistcoats varied from being above to below the elbow, and the fitting of the coat became a lot looser, the sleeves were either slashed, unlashed or dividing into two parts and were closed via buttons. Coats were of the length that reached the waist but soon by the early 1660's shortened as far as below the rib cage. By the late 1660's the upturned sleeve became very popular, and by 1670 waistcoats were worn, or a vest and these would have been worn under a coat.
Shirt's and Collars:
Although the simple ruffled shirt remained constant throughout this period, eventually less of it was seen as time went on. However the small collar that was worn after 1650, gradually grew larger, and men were wearing collars that reached to the shoulders.
Breeches and Stockings:
During the decade that had just past men were wearing Spanish Breeches as they were widely popular, but by the mid 1650's looser, less collected breeches were worn by men, these gradually came to fit with the largely flamboyant time period and became even larger and baggier as time went on. They were commonly decorated with ribbon around the waist and knees. Close fitted breeches were worn with stockings, and were also decorated with ribbon, this allowed an effective look that made them men seem to have longer legs.
Footwear and Accessories:
Shoes became popular in the 1650's, although these had replaced boots, people still wore boots for riding and outdoor activities. Boothose were worn over silk stockings to protect them, these were laced cuffs. Shoes were decorated as well with ribbon, and the heels on the shoes got higher as the period went on.
Hairstyles:
Men had their hair long, and curled towards the shoulders. Before the period wigs, and periwigs were worn to cover men's baldness, but during this period became increasingly popular to have.
Research list:
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1650%E2%80%931700_in_Western_European_fashion
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1650%E2%80%931700_in_Western_European_fashion
(3) https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=17th+century+coats+and+waistcoats&biw=1188&bih=559&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=zwlaVYLrE4i1Ub7hgMAL&ved=0CCAQsAQ#imgrc=_Twwc0TBokIqzM%253A%3BxizYlNJnNRn4xM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fupload.wikimedia.org%252Fwikipedia%252Fcommons%252Fd%252Fde%252FBLW_Man's_Court_Coat_and_Waistcoat.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fen.wikipedia.org%252Fwiki%252FCourt_uniform_and_dress_in_the_United_Kingdom%3B2448%3B3264
(4) https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=17th+century+coats+and+waistcoats&biw=1188&bih=559&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=zwlaVYLrE4i1Ub7hgMAL&ved=0CCAQsAQ#tbm=isch&q=17th+century+breeches+and+stockings&imgrc=fEw1PUJyRV9PXM%253A%3BbdYQ4omDiSJ8lM%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fclassconnection.s3.amazonaws.com%252F1251%252Fflashcards%252F863186%252Fjpg%252Frich_mytens_40.jpg%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.studyblue.com%252Fnotes%252Fnote%252Fn%252Fch-8%252Fdeck%252F4751878%3B384%3B600
Personality: A straight face man, who tends to judge others, but not behind their backs, he says it to them in a way they don't understand it to be an insult. He's a very dull character, who walks with the thought that he has power over others, when in fact he doesn't at all. It comes across that he's in love with his wife, by the way he addresses her in front of company, however you can always tell there is something between them, aka Brisk.Job: Lord Froth's father was once a tradesman, who use to take him out on trips to Europe, this was until he had sailed away never to return. However Froth took from this a liking for travelling and so once he was of age he set up his own small trading business selling odds and ends that he could get hold of, such as buckles, fruits, vegetable and trinkets.
1650 - 1700's Century Male Fashion (1):
After the thirty years war, fashion had rapidly change as the Restoration period came in, men's clothing went from having been influenced by military clothing, and was exchanged for coats, waistcoats and breeches. The breeches became very baggy and Samuel Pepsy wrote in his diary in April of 1661 "And among other things, met with Mr Townsend, who told of his mistake the other day to put both his legs through one of the knees of his breeches, and so went all day" (2).
Coasts and Waistcoats:
 |
| (3) |
Shirt's and Collars:
Although the simple ruffled shirt remained constant throughout this period, eventually less of it was seen as time went on. However the small collar that was worn after 1650, gradually grew larger, and men were wearing collars that reached to the shoulders.
 |
| (4) |
During the decade that had just past men were wearing Spanish Breeches as they were widely popular, but by the mid 1650's looser, less collected breeches were worn by men, these gradually came to fit with the largely flamboyant time period and became even larger and baggier as time went on. They were commonly decorated with ribbon around the waist and knees. Close fitted breeches were worn with stockings, and were also decorated with ribbon, this allowed an effective look that made them men seem to have longer legs.
Footwear and Accessories:
Shoes became popular in the 1650's, although these had replaced boots, people still wore boots for riding and outdoor activities. Boothose were worn over silk stockings to protect them, these were laced cuffs. Shoes were decorated as well with ribbon, and the heels on the shoes got higher as the period went on.
Hairstyles:
Men had their hair long, and curled towards the shoulders. Before the period wigs, and periwigs were worn to cover men's baldness, but during this period became increasingly popular to have.
Research list:
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1650%E2%80%931700_in_Western_European_fashion
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1650%E2%80%931700_in_Western_European_fashion
(3) https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=17th+century+coats+and+waistcoats&biw=1188&bih=559&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=zwlaVYLrE4i1Ub7hgMAL&ved=0CCAQsAQ#imgrc=_Twwc0TBokIqzM%253A%3BxizYlNJnNRn4xM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fupload.wikimedia.org%252Fwikipedia%252Fcommons%252Fd%252Fde%252FBLW_Man's_Court_Coat_and_Waistcoat.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fen.wikipedia.org%252Fwiki%252FCourt_uniform_and_dress_in_the_United_Kingdom%3B2448%3B3264
(4) https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=17th+century+coats+and+waistcoats&biw=1188&bih=559&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=zwlaVYLrE4i1Ub7hgMAL&ved=0CCAQsAQ#tbm=isch&q=17th+century+breeches+and+stockings&imgrc=fEw1PUJyRV9PXM%253A%3BbdYQ4omDiSJ8lM%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fclassconnection.s3.amazonaws.com%252F1251%252Fflashcards%252F863186%252Fjpg%252Frich_mytens_40.jpg%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.studyblue.com%252Fnotes%252Fnote%252Fn%252Fch-8%252Fdeck%252F4751878%3B384%3B600
Monday, 4 May 2015
Rehersal Blog 2 (The Double Dealer)
During this week we looked into the historical background of the play, looking at the themes and what may have influenced William Congreve to have written this play, this gave us better knowledge of who was the main character and surprisingly it was Maskwell who many of the themes and a certain historical moment are based after which can be found in my contextual blog for this week.
We also continued blocking the play up to act 4 and with one act left I'm starting to get to grips with my character the experimental side with my character is becoming easier, due to the fact I have began understanding the text more, as well as knowing how to say or perform my lines with comical affect whilst sticking to the style Lord Froth has.
On top of this we watched a film that was set in the Restoration period, about the first female actor aloud on stage, this allowed us to see what the etiquette of the people of this time was like, and helped us to see how they walk and stand. After watching the film we looked at our walks, and though at the moment I'm finding it a little uncomfortable I'm sure with practise it shall come easier towards the performance.
We also continued blocking the play up to act 4 and with one act left I'm starting to get to grips with my character the experimental side with my character is becoming easier, due to the fact I have began understanding the text more, as well as knowing how to say or perform my lines with comical affect whilst sticking to the style Lord Froth has.
On top of this we watched a film that was set in the Restoration period, about the first female actor aloud on stage, this allowed us to see what the etiquette of the people of this time was like, and helped us to see how they walk and stand. After watching the film we looked at our walks, and though at the moment I'm finding it a little uncomfortable I'm sure with practise it shall come easier towards the performance.
Contextual Studies 2 (The Double Dealer)
William Congreve's play was first produced in 1693, to which Henry Purcell set it to music.
Major events during 1693 are as follows:
February 8 - The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, is granted a Royal Charter from King William III and Queen Mary II of England.
March - William Congreve's first play "The Old Bachelor", is performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
17th June (27th June New Style) - Nine Years' War: The French fleet defeats the joint Dutch and English fleet in the Battle of Lagos off Portugal.
19th June (29th July New Style) - Nine Year's War: The Dutch-English army led personally by King William III of England is defeated by the French (with Irish Jacobite Mercenaries) at the Battle of Landen near Neerwinden in Flemish Brabant.
October - Congreves Comedy "The Double Dealer" is first performed in Drury Lane. (1)
Another event ties in with the theme of justice 'poetic justice' to be more specific, the character Maskwell is a great portrayal of this within the play 'the double dealer', as he takes advantage of other characters bending them to his own will, before he is found out at the end. The historical event was way before the time of this play being written in fact it was when Congreve was a student, the event its self was Robert Young who at the time was a forger being put on trial for forging a document in Marlborough's hand, and for this was convicted to the tower. Although you may think that the story is based around Mellephant this is a small misconception, it actually concentrates more on Maskwell and this character is based on Robert young, the fact that ties this person to the character is the fact they so easily deceive the people surrounding them to their own benefits. (2)
Themes of the Play:
- Deceit
- Love
- Lust
- War of the sexes
- Manners and behaviours of class it addresses anti puritanical
- Sexual life by large numbers of courtiers
- Trickery
- Comedy
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1693
(2) http://ardhendude.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-double-dealer-congreves-art-of-plot.html
Thursday, 23 April 2015
Contextual Studies 1 ( The Double Dealer )
Restoration was a time of parties and lots of them, after
King Charles the second came into power, but before him King Charles the First
who had be known to have conflict with his own parliament about how he thought
he had the right to govern according to his own conscience. Know his political
and Religious believes where the main cause of reformed groups such as the
puritans and Calvinists and these groups thought his views were too Catholic.
Charles the First forged an alliance with Scotland, however by the end of 1648
Oliver Cromwell had taken control of England with his New Model Army, The
Roundheads, this was the result of a civil war as the parliament didn’t agree
with Charles’s views, but there were men who stood by Charles that were known
as the Cavaliers an army of royalists, eventually Charles the First was tried,
convicted and executed for high treason, which took an executioner two hacks
with his sword to complete the execution.
(1) + (2) - Both videos shown to us in class by Laura, and can be found on YouTube.
Oliver Cromwell after then continued to dominate the Common
Wealth, which was short lived in all fairness, and was also a member of the
Rump Parliament at one point, however Cromwell was forced to leave Ireland in
1650 in order to invade the scots as a result of them proclaiming Charles the
Second, Charles the First’s Son, as their King, however in 1651 Charles II was
defeated and was forced to fled to Europe, and Oliver Cromwell then became
Virtual Dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland, whilst Charles II lived in
the next 9 years in exile in France, The Dutch Republic and The Spanish
Netherlands. In 1658 Oliver Cromwell’s death which then followed a Political
Crisis, and eventually the restoration of a Monarchy, and so Charles the second
was invited back to Britain, And so the restoration period began.
Rehearsal Blog 1 (The Double Dealer)
So far throughout rehearsal we have completed a read through of the script and made cuts to it as well, as it is a very long play, the cuts we made we had to think whether they made sense to the story before we cut the language.
We then got our parts, I will be playing the part of Lord Froth, he is a very straight faced character, that when played with complete serious whilst delivering the lines can be a very funny character at times. His wife Lady Froth is having an affair with Mr Brisk the Fop of the play, the relationship between Lord and Lady Froth is one of difference to your average, when they are alone together they seem distant and argue, however when they are in public they come across as madly in love.
When looking for characters that would help me develop Lord Froth I looked into various characters such as Sam the Eagle, and also Professor Snape:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB-wmOYelnM (1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5qloszXpJw (1)
Both these characters have allowed me to create a voice, it is a deep straight tone with a slight grumble to the throat, I deliver my lines slowly for effect. As for my stance I always have one hand behind my back my chest pumped out and when I look at other characters I sneer down my nose. Many of his lines he laughs at others, to add to the straight cut style of this character I never laugh with my mouth.
We later worked through act one and two, a lot of my notes that I have written in my script are little pieces that I had experimented with during rehearsals and have worked for humour. Every time we block a scene we have always double checked that we understand not only what is happening in the scene but also the language, this has proved helpful to say the least as it gives you a more in depth insight into your character and the role they are playing in the scene.
In other lessons we have been looking at the contextual side of Restoration i.e. the social political and historical background to the time, this week we played a few exercises so that we could work out how much we knew about the time period, and after we looked at a brief Skelton in chronological order of what had happened through 1660 to the 1800s.
(1) + (2) Found on You Tube by me when researching.
We then got our parts, I will be playing the part of Lord Froth, he is a very straight faced character, that when played with complete serious whilst delivering the lines can be a very funny character at times. His wife Lady Froth is having an affair with Mr Brisk the Fop of the play, the relationship between Lord and Lady Froth is one of difference to your average, when they are alone together they seem distant and argue, however when they are in public they come across as madly in love.
When looking for characters that would help me develop Lord Froth I looked into various characters such as Sam the Eagle, and also Professor Snape:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB-wmOYelnM (1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5qloszXpJw (1)
Both these characters have allowed me to create a voice, it is a deep straight tone with a slight grumble to the throat, I deliver my lines slowly for effect. As for my stance I always have one hand behind my back my chest pumped out and when I look at other characters I sneer down my nose. Many of his lines he laughs at others, to add to the straight cut style of this character I never laugh with my mouth.
We later worked through act one and two, a lot of my notes that I have written in my script are little pieces that I had experimented with during rehearsals and have worked for humour. Every time we block a scene we have always double checked that we understand not only what is happening in the scene but also the language, this has proved helpful to say the least as it gives you a more in depth insight into your character and the role they are playing in the scene.
In other lessons we have been looking at the contextual side of Restoration i.e. the social political and historical background to the time, this week we played a few exercises so that we could work out how much we knew about the time period, and after we looked at a brief Skelton in chronological order of what had happened through 1660 to the 1800s.
(1) + (2) Found on You Tube by me when researching.
Thursday, 2 April 2015
Recording Group and Solo Performances
Artistic Interpretation:
The solo pieces I have chosen are as follows David Attenborough's "The Blue Butterfly", Dr Zeus's "Cat In The Hat" and a 7-11 advert. The reason I grouped these pieces together was because vocally they were significantly different from one another, for instance "The Blue Butterfly" I had to perform with a soft tone, with good diction because this extract was meant to calm audiences as well as have an intellectual edge to it, however "The Cat In The Hat" had several characters, and is also a children's book, so my tone and pitch had a lot of variation and the pace to the extract has quick with a bouncy rhythm because I had to excite my target audience. And finally the 7-11 advert was meant to be relate able to the listeners, and so I read through the piece and decided who the piece was aimed at, so I came to the conclusion I had to be laid back in the way I performed it. All of my pieces had to be adapted to suit radio, as none of them were a radio genre when I picked them, with my David Attenborough I had to focus on helping the listeners to visualise what I was talking about, and so I performed it in a descriptive manner. On the other hand "The Cat In The Hat" I had to bring to life, and I adapted it to suit a mixture of both an audio book and a radio drama type of genre.Throughout the rehearsal period I struggled with having a clear variation between all the pieces vocally, "The Cat In The Hat" was one that I had the most difficulty with, because the piece was so fast paced I often found myself sinking in and out of different voices, I did however finally come up with an idea having listen to the constructive comments given by my peers, that if I made the characters very wacky and that their voices were clearly different than I wouldn't have any trouble, so I played around a lot with vocal techniques such as, pitch, tone, vocal inflections, pace of each character and even the diction.
The group piece we decided to do was "Seeing Beyond", which was originally a staged performance, which we adapted to a radio drama by using sound effects, microphone techniques, such as positioning ourselves closer or further away from the mic, as well as vocal techniques, like vocal inflections when whispering. We chose this piece because the script it's self interested us and we though it would be a challenge to adapt into a radio drama, also it had a variation of characters within the piece so we enjoyed looking at how we could make a distinctive difference between them so audience members could understand the piece with ease.
After we as a group had chosen the piece we spent a lot of time working out the sound effects that would fit well within the piece, our draft script was full of ideas for this, but we eventually cut a lot of sounds, however we did keep most of the ideas for vocal techniques and mic techniques within the script. We had to make the audience understand that Felicity and Maya were in separate parts of the theatre from Tom and Becky, to make this obvious we had Felicity and Maya stand together next to a mic, and the same for Tom and Becky, we also played used whispering within the piece so it sounded like Tom and Becky were actually in the audience and not on stage, this meant that we had to lean closer to the mic so we could be picked up, Felicity had to yell out to Tom and so she took a few steps away from the mic before yelling, this was so the sound didn't distorted.
Vocational Effectiveness:
After listening back to my solo pieces I found I lacked intention to some of the lines in the David Attenborough piece, even though at points I did feel I had the objective of calm and exciting the audience at the same time, I did find my tone sometimes bordering on being bored, to change this for the future I would add more pace giving it a clearer rhythm to the piece, which hopefully would take the bored tone away from the piece. With "The Cat In The Hat" I found myself mixing up the voices of The Cat and The Narrator, this was probably because I had gotten carried away and the lines from The Cat were close to The Narrators, what I should have done was taken a breath before continuing the piece. The overall performance my diction was clear, and I was happy with the variation in my tone through out each piece, this made it easier to tell it was a completely different extract. The performance itself was good, but there was still room to improve it.Our group piece went well, each character was clear to listeners, and our characters intentions and emotions came across within the pieces. When listening to it the class agreed it was easy to tell the relationships between the characters. I felt though that we could have taken it further for instance Maya could have elongated her words to make it sound more mysterious, and Tom could have put more meaning on the lines for instance "Oh my god" sounded very flat I should have put more emphasis on the fact that he was freaked out. The piece itself had an intense atmosphere and I felt that was because of the sound effects that we had chosen, as well as how well our mic techniques worked, as it did sound as if Becky and Tom were in a separate of theatre because of how we grouped ourselves by the mic and how effectively we use being close or distant from the microphone. I think we also thought carefully about the pace of the piece, it started quite slow so listeners could understand who was who, and then as it intensified we picked up the pace.
Professional Effectiveness:
As a team I felt we all shared an equal part in the creation of the piece, we all contributed our own ideas. However it did take us a while to get working on this script, we did spend too much time looking for a script that suited us, but as soon as we got into it we were fine. We worked roughly on editing the script together and shared our thoughts of what we should put in and where it should go, and then in our own separate time,after Alicia had given us the draft SFX script, we personalised our own scripts to suit us which I thought worked well it gave us a chance to primarily focus on us and our characters within the work. We were very enthusiastic during rehearsals and read through the script whenever we could all together, and after spoke about what worked and what didn't, for instance the group pointed out we could emphasise the whispering for Tom and Becky more.
I felt I progressed my role within the piece well after being given constructive comments, and this was because I would always take the ideas on bored trying them out, for instance our lecture felt I could be more of a push over as the lines suggested Tom was in the script and I was also asked by one of my peers if I could feel more warmth to the fact my sister who had past way and come back to see me, both of these comments made sense to me and so the next week I went back and performed it taking those ideas on board and it worked very well. Through out the process I decided I needed to challenge my vocals more, which at first was difficult considering how bland the script was for vocal techniques, but I felt I acted on that by actioning my lines within my script, therefore giving the lines I was saying more meaning.
This piece itself did interest my class, they were intrigued about what had happened to Felicity and after noticing that I felt this would be good as mini series, that could be played on BBC Radio Seven, also known as 4 extra, because it caters to ideas like this, they put recordings of comedy and drama in the form of radio, and I think that it would suit audiences of 18+ its a simple series idea which could entertain audiences of this age, I wouldn't go any lower in age because I don't feel like a radio series would interested audiences that were younger. I think the best time to play it would be rush hour, as many people are sat in their cars waiting in traffic, and this could be a way of interesting them whilst they wait.
Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Ensemble Group Radio Project (Seeing Beyond)
The play we have decided to perform for our radio project is called "Seeing Beyond" it was a piece taken from a staged play, in which we have adapted to suit the radio genre Radio Drama. The piece looks at a psychic, Maya, who hasn't been able to see the dead for 10 years, but all of a sudden Felicity, the sister of Tom who is attending the seminar, appears wanting to make contact with her little brother, however Tom's Wife, Becky, who is sceptical of the whole situation is constantly intervening, little does Tom know Felicity has come to tell Tom a dark secret about Becky, which involves Felicity's death.........Mediums, Psychics, and calling the dead from beyond dates back to early human history, however popularity grew noticeably within the 19th century. This popular entertainment, or also bring peace to family's, was soon started to be investigated, with many cases finding that the "Mediums" were in fact frauds, who weren't contacting the dead, they were just using cheap parlour tricks to make audiences believe they were, a very famous medium investigator was Harry Houdini, who after losing his mother set out to find a way of contacting her, but instead actually became persistently irritated with people being frauds that he perused as many as he could uncovering whether they were the real deal. Situations such as this still continue to this very day.
The time period of this play however is set in the present time, and so with television's in every household anyone can watch this "phenomenon" on shows such as "Psychic Sally" or "Colin Fry", the shows tend to now have less to do with moving objects, creepy voices and gushes of wind, and more to do with "talking" to the dead, this is also another widespread debate that these "psychics" actually have a team backstage researching audience members, this point is brought up within the play when Becky says "she got them of our reservations" after Maya mentions their names, "ill bet she has a whole team of researchers who look into people before they come to the show", these two quotes are in my opinion the reason for this play's creation it's looking into the controversy of these shows, this does come through mainly with the character Becky, but also at one point Maya says she hasn't seen a ghost or spirit in 10 years, which means for 10 years she has been faking her shows.
The relationship between him and his sister was very close, considering they had grown up together alone, his sister was the parent of the siblings, as Tom is a bit of a push over, he tends to follow the lead instead of taking control of the situation himself.
His relationship with Becky isn't something he is in control of, Becky likes things done her way and so Tom would be found following after her every command, Becky did not like the way Tom looked up to his sister and the bond that they had, so we came to the conclusion she killed Felicity off, and that's what Felicity has come back to tell Tom.
The reason I think that Tom is a push over, and caring of other people, is because of lines such as "Lets go" Becky says, immediately Tom says "Yeah I'm getting really creeped out" the only time Tom doesn't do what his wife says is when Felicity is mentioned, in fact he practically begs Becky saying "Please do this for me", this is the attitude that I don't think Becky liked when Felicity was alive, because he stood up for himself and wanted to do something for himself.
Monday, 23 March 2015
Solo Radio Project (7-11)
7-11 Advert
Who? This is targeted piece of text I believe to be targeted at people my age, maybe starting university, or settling into a new house, I think this because of the lines "It's 2:00 in the morning" people my age tend to be up this early in the morning, "you think about cooking, then you remember the 3' alarm fire you started last time you tried using the stove", older generations would be able to cook.
What? It's an advert for a shop that sells food 24hr's a day.
Where? There is no setting to this advert, so the sound effects I've used are to entertain the audience, as well as make them remember the advert, as that's what adverts are about making your audience remember them, so that they buy your product.
Why? I chose this piece because it differs from the other texts, its short sweet and has a different outcome to the piece, the target audience is very different from the other pieces and the piece itself relies on sound effects to amuse the audience.
Voice:
Normal
tone and pitch, to make it relatable to audience members. I want to create a
voice that audience members would remember something catchy.
So it’s 2:00 in
the morning...
*Alarm clock beeping*
and you’re
starving.
Nothin’ in the fridge, and nothin’ in the
cupboards.
*Cricket insect noises*
You don’t even
have dog biscuits hangin’ around.
*Barks*
You think about
cooking, but then you remember the 3-alarm fire you started last time you tried
using the stove.
*Fire alarm, followed by fire truck noises*
Well, check out
7-11. There’s gotta be one right near ya’. They have everything from burgers to
tacos...24 hours a day...7 days a week. 7-11. Think of it as your own personal
walk-in kitchen.
Solo Radio Project (The Cat In The Hat)
Transcript Key:
The Cat in The Hat
Who? The target audience of this piece was obvious from the start, this piece is aimed at young audiences, so the energy of this piece needs to match theirs, which is why this piece challenges my vocal techniques of all three, purely for the fact that if the piece isn't fun and silly, then the young audience will not be engaged.
What? The piece is taken from the famous children's book "The Cat In The Hat", by Dr Zeus, the extract I have taken is from the first chapter, and its a lot of setting the scene, and introducing characters.
Where? This piece is set in the young boys house.
Why? I chose this piece as the variation of vocal techniques I need to use are challenging, but this also makes it differ from the other piece, which is why it fits perfectly in my transcript alongside the other texts.
The Narrator:
The Boy: Higher pitch, his diction will be average and the will be a tone of boredom to his lines.
The Cat: The Cat has a deep tone to his voice, that frequently spirals out of control into higher pitches, its slightly psychedelic.
The Fish: Raspy high pitch tone, with a fast paced moaning noise.
SPEECH:
*Rain can be faintly heard in the background* (28 Seconds)
The sun did not shine. it was too wet to play. so we sat in the house all that cold, cold, wet day.
*The Sound of a ball bouncing* (2 Seconds)
so we sat in the house. we did nothing at all.
*The Sound of a bump* (One Bump)
how that bump made us jump! we looked! then we saw him step in on the mat! we looked! and we saw him! the cat in the hat!
And he said to us, 'why do you sit there like that?' 'i know it is wet and the sun is not sunny. but we can have lots of good fun that is funny!' 'i know some good games we could play,' said the cat. 'i know some new tricks,' said the cat in the hat. 'a lot of good tricks. i will show them to you. your mother will not mind at all if i do.' then sally and i did not know what to say. our mother was out of the house for the day.
*Swishing of water is heard* (3 Seconds)
'now! now! have no fear. have no fear!' said the cat. 'my tricks are not bad,' said the cat in the hat. 'why, we can have lots of good fun, if you wish, with a game that i call up-up-up with a fish!'
*Swishing of water* (3 Seconds)
The Narrator: I had chosen these aspects because it distinguishes the characters from the narrator easily, which is important because the switches between them a quick and pacey, the diction is important as the narrator as he is describing the action. I wanted him to have a dramatic edge to his voice because, all the characters are meant to be drastically different from one another, to make it quite quirky and bouncy.
The Boy: The boy's tone it's self is pretty self explanatory, it had to be high so that listeners could tell who he was just by the sound of his voice, now his energy has to be high because he is a child but his diction is interfered with boredom, so the things he'll say will be a little whinny and so strong diction isn't a must for this character.
The Cat: The Cat In The Hat, needed to have the weirdest and wackiest voice, it's got to be something the target audience can remember, as he is after all the main character, so what I have done is played with the pitch and tone and instead of constantly being at one level, I use my vocal folds to create different levels.
The Fish: In my opinion the fish has to have a funny voice, because it will make the audience laugh as they wouldn't expect a normal household gold fish to sound like that, so I've gone for a high pitch voice as they are small animals, with a quick pace to his lines, because it is almost like he is telling of the kids and the cat all the time.
*SFX*
Voice Techniques
(Vocal
Prompts)
The Cat in The Hat
Who? The target audience of this piece was obvious from the start, this piece is aimed at young audiences, so the energy of this piece needs to match theirs, which is why this piece challenges my vocal techniques of all three, purely for the fact that if the piece isn't fun and silly, then the young audience will not be engaged.
What? The piece is taken from the famous children's book "The Cat In The Hat", by Dr Zeus, the extract I have taken is from the first chapter, and its a lot of setting the scene, and introducing characters.
Where? This piece is set in the young boys house.
Why? I chose this piece as the variation of vocal techniques I need to use are challenging, but this also makes it differ from the other piece, which is why it fits perfectly in my transcript alongside the other texts.
Voices:
The Narrator:
Deep tone with clear diction. I want it to sound as
if he could describe every detail, he should have a raspy tone to his voice
kind of like the dramatic trailer voice over. But light, kind of like the
narrator from the new version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
The Boy: Higher pitch, his diction will be average and the will be a tone of boredom to his lines.
The Cat: The Cat has a deep tone to his voice, that frequently spirals out of control into higher pitches, its slightly psychedelic.
The Fish: Raspy high pitch tone, with a fast paced moaning noise.
SPEECH:
*Rain can be faintly heard in the background* (28 Seconds)
The sun did not shine. it was too wet to play. so we sat in the house all that cold, cold, wet day.
I sat there with sally. we sat there, we two. and i said, 'how i wish we had something to do!'
too wet to go out and too cold to play ball.
(Bored Tone, slowing the words, like whining)
*The Sound of a ball bouncing* (2 Seconds)
so we sat in the house. we did nothing at all.
so all we could do was to sit! sit! sit! sit! and we did not like it. not
one little bit. and then something went BUMP!
*The Sound of a bump* (One Bump)
how that bump made us jump! we looked! then we saw him step in on the mat! we looked! and we saw him! the cat in the hat!
(Excited, Pace quickens, pitch high, lines
sharp)
And he said to us, 'why do you sit there like that?' 'i know it is wet and the sun is not sunny. but we can have lots of good fun that is funny!' 'i know some good games we could play,' said the cat. 'i know some new tricks,' said the cat in the hat. 'a lot of good tricks. i will show them to you. your mother will not mind at all if i do.' then sally and i did not know what to say. our mother was out of the house for the day.
But our fish said, 'no!
no! make that cat go away! tell that cat in the hat you do NOT want to play. he
should not be here. he should not be about. he should not be here when your
mother is out!'
(Telling of the character, Loud, high pitch
tone.)
*Swishing of water is heard* (3 Seconds)
'now! now! have no fear. have no fear!' said the cat. 'my tricks are not bad,' said the cat in the hat. 'why, we can have lots of good fun, if you wish, with a game that i call up-up-up with a fish!'
(pitch gets higher on each up)
*Swishing of water* (3 Seconds)
The Narrator: I had chosen these aspects because it distinguishes the characters from the narrator easily, which is important because the switches between them a quick and pacey, the diction is important as the narrator as he is describing the action. I wanted him to have a dramatic edge to his voice because, all the characters are meant to be drastically different from one another, to make it quite quirky and bouncy.
The Boy: The boy's tone it's self is pretty self explanatory, it had to be high so that listeners could tell who he was just by the sound of his voice, now his energy has to be high because he is a child but his diction is interfered with boredom, so the things he'll say will be a little whinny and so strong diction isn't a must for this character.
The Cat: The Cat In The Hat, needed to have the weirdest and wackiest voice, it's got to be something the target audience can remember, as he is after all the main character, so what I have done is played with the pitch and tone and instead of constantly being at one level, I use my vocal folds to create different levels.
The Fish: In my opinion the fish has to have a funny voice, because it will make the audience laugh as they wouldn't expect a normal household gold fish to sound like that, so I've gone for a high pitch voice as they are small animals, with a quick pace to his lines, because it is almost like he is telling of the kids and the cat all the time.
Tuesday, 17 March 2015
Solo Radio Project (David Attenborough)
In the next three blogs I will be talking you through the three extracts I have complied together to create a 3 minute radio piece. I will be explaining why ive picked them and how each one contrasts from the other, I will also be talking you through the vocal techniques and sound-effects I am planning on using and showing you why I am doing this.
Transcript Key:
*SFX*
Voice Techniques
The first extract I have chosen is a piece from one of David Attenborough's documentaries.
Who? Who is the target audience for this piece, well the age range itself could vary due to the content being an informative documentary about nature, this means the audience member could be any age, all they need to do is show an interest in the subject matter. So the fact that I have picture nature enthusiasts as my target audience, means that I have to excite them, because at the end of the day you don't want something you enjoy to sound dull, especially a very informative text, as it will bore listeners.
When? The piece itself is a modern factual documentary, however through the use of sounds I do try to make the audience feel as if they are in the 19th century.
What? This piece is taken from a documentary about nature, more specifically the Large Blue Butterfly, documentaries are intended to inform the audience with a grouping of facts.
Where? This piece isn't set anywhere, but because of the texts descriptive take on a documentary, and the target audience needing to be engaged, I have chosen to take what is being said such as "sneaked turf of hills and heaths", "During the 19th Century", "Clergyman Wrote in Triumph" I have chosen appropriate music and sound effects, such as peaceful nature sounds and 19th century sounds so that audience members can imagine the setting themselves.
Why? I chose this text because the subject it's self doesn't interest me, so I found that it would be interesting on how I could create my own version of it, via the use of my voice and creativity with the piece, to interest other listeners.
David Attenborough.
Voice:
Slow paced for clarity to the listener.
Clear voice with a clear soft tone.
Diction slowed down so that all the letters are pronounced.
Pauses are key so that the listeners can follow the information with ease.
I want the voice to sound informative, but delicate given the nature of the text.
*Peaceful background music, with bird tweets and insects buzzing faintly heard.*
The large blue butterfly is actually quite small.
Those two qualities, the rarest and the biggest, are of course an almost lethal combination for any animal. "PAUSE"
Collectors find the coupling irresistible and during the 19th century.
*Current background music stops and changes to 19th century street sounds*
When Butterfly collection was a passion possessed not just school boys, but almost every kind of Victorian Gentleman who had the time to spare, the Large Blue became one of the most sought after of all the British Butterfly's. "PAUSE"
The zeal with which these collectors perused their prizes was extraordinary. "PAUSE"
*Music Fades out, and is replaced by scribbling on paper, this is heard faintly in the background.*
One Clergyman wrote in triumph to fellow enthusiasts saying that he had found a large blue colony and had taken 100 specimens from it in a single day. "PAUSE"
Not Surprisingly the large blue became rarer and rarer, by the middle of the last century it was clear that species was approaching extinction.
*Any music stops, this is the end of this piece.*
The reasons for choosing the vocal attributes I have are as follows:
Slow Paced: I've decided that the pace of the piece needs to be slow because the text its self is very informative, which means the listeners don't want to miss out on the vital information. A slower pace allows the audience to follow the text easily, I've also placed pauses within the text so that they can follow with ease, and this also gives me breathing space between lines, so that I don't trip over words in lines because I am out of breath.
Clear Voice and Soft Tone: Given the nature of the text, I've pictured the delivery to be soft and gentle considering it is about butterfly's, this once again benefits the listener as they can relax to audio. However if id chosen a sharper tone not only would it not make sense with the text, it would be uncomfortable for the audience to listen to.
Diction: Diction within this piece is very important, as ive already said the text is informing the listener with facts, so if the audience cannot hear what I am saying clearly, then they may get confused by the rest of the text.
The voice overall that I have chosen, is very formal and informative, this is so it fits with the text, if I was to use slang and poor diction with a lower tone than it would not fit with what I am saying, but if I was trying to make my audience laugh, for instance a mockumentary this polar opposite of what I have chosen would work.
I've chosen the sound effects within the script, because I want it to set the scene for what I am talking about, the peaceful outdoor music is to relax the audience and help them picture the lush outdoors, the Victorian street music is because I change where I am talking about, and finally the scribbling on a piece of paper, is to symbolise the clergyman writing down his find.
Overall the piece I've chosen is modern and quite recent, however down to the target audience I have chosen, elderly people or people interested in nature, means that I have adapted my voice and the sound effects to suit the audience themselves.
Transcript Key:
*SFX*
Voice Techniques
The first extract I have chosen is a piece from one of David Attenborough's documentaries.
Who? Who is the target audience for this piece, well the age range itself could vary due to the content being an informative documentary about nature, this means the audience member could be any age, all they need to do is show an interest in the subject matter. So the fact that I have picture nature enthusiasts as my target audience, means that I have to excite them, because at the end of the day you don't want something you enjoy to sound dull, especially a very informative text, as it will bore listeners.
When? The piece itself is a modern factual documentary, however through the use of sounds I do try to make the audience feel as if they are in the 19th century.
What? This piece is taken from a documentary about nature, more specifically the Large Blue Butterfly, documentaries are intended to inform the audience with a grouping of facts.
Where? This piece isn't set anywhere, but because of the texts descriptive take on a documentary, and the target audience needing to be engaged, I have chosen to take what is being said such as "sneaked turf of hills and heaths", "During the 19th Century", "Clergyman Wrote in Triumph" I have chosen appropriate music and sound effects, such as peaceful nature sounds and 19th century sounds so that audience members can imagine the setting themselves.
Why? I chose this text because the subject it's self doesn't interest me, so I found that it would be interesting on how I could create my own version of it, via the use of my voice and creativity with the piece, to interest other listeners.
David Attenborough.
Voice:
Slow paced for clarity to the listener.
Clear voice with a clear soft tone.
Diction slowed down so that all the letters are pronounced.
Pauses are key so that the listeners can follow the information with ease.
I want the voice to sound informative, but delicate given the nature of the text.
Speech:
*Peaceful background music, with bird tweets and insects buzzing faintly heard.*
The large blue butterfly is actually quite small.
About an inch and
a half across, it is however bigger, just, than the common Blue or any other
species of blue butterfly, that you might see fluttering over the sneaked turf
of hills and heaths of southern England. "PAUSE"
(Soft
Tone, make the audience feel at ease)
Those two qualities, the rarest and the biggest, are of course an almost lethal combination for any animal. "PAUSE"
Collectors find the coupling irresistible and during the 19th century.
*Current background music stops and changes to 19th century street sounds*
When Butterfly collection was a passion possessed not just school boys, but almost every kind of Victorian Gentleman who had the time to spare, the Large Blue became one of the most sought after of all the British Butterfly's. "PAUSE"
The zeal with which these collectors perused their prizes was extraordinary. "PAUSE"
(Excitement
on this line)
*Music Fades out, and is replaced by scribbling on paper, this is heard faintly in the background.*
One Clergyman wrote in triumph to fellow enthusiasts saying that he had found a large blue colony and had taken 100 specimens from it in a single day. "PAUSE"
Not Surprisingly the large blue became rarer and rarer, by the middle of the last century it was clear that species was approaching extinction.
*Any music stops, this is the end of this piece.*
The reasons for choosing the vocal attributes I have are as follows:
Slow Paced: I've decided that the pace of the piece needs to be slow because the text its self is very informative, which means the listeners don't want to miss out on the vital information. A slower pace allows the audience to follow the text easily, I've also placed pauses within the text so that they can follow with ease, and this also gives me breathing space between lines, so that I don't trip over words in lines because I am out of breath.
Clear Voice and Soft Tone: Given the nature of the text, I've pictured the delivery to be soft and gentle considering it is about butterfly's, this once again benefits the listener as they can relax to audio. However if id chosen a sharper tone not only would it not make sense with the text, it would be uncomfortable for the audience to listen to.
Diction: Diction within this piece is very important, as ive already said the text is informing the listener with facts, so if the audience cannot hear what I am saying clearly, then they may get confused by the rest of the text.
The voice overall that I have chosen, is very formal and informative, this is so it fits with the text, if I was to use slang and poor diction with a lower tone than it would not fit with what I am saying, but if I was trying to make my audience laugh, for instance a mockumentary this polar opposite of what I have chosen would work.
I've chosen the sound effects within the script, because I want it to set the scene for what I am talking about, the peaceful outdoor music is to relax the audience and help them picture the lush outdoors, the Victorian street music is because I change where I am talking about, and finally the scribbling on a piece of paper, is to symbolise the clergyman writing down his find.
Overall the piece I've chosen is modern and quite recent, however down to the target audience I have chosen, elderly people or people interested in nature, means that I have adapted my voice and the sound effects to suit the audience themselves.
Tuesday, 6 January 2015
Julius Caesar (Character Study)
In the class we were split into groups of two's or three's, then each group was given a scene or extract from Julius Caesar. I was partnered with Dan and we were given a scene where I played Brutus and he played Cassius.
The first thing we needed to do was depict the text to gain a greater understanding of the scene, and we did this because the language that Shakespeare was harder to understand the thoughts and feelings of the characters. After reading it through a couple of times me and Dan came to the conclusion that the scene was an argument between both characters because Brutus asked for money to pay for his army, they were in the middle of a civil war with Rome after the murder of Caesar, and Cassius did not send these certain sums of gold, so Brutus ignored Cassius, he didn't reply to his letters. But the argument gets heated as they bring up problems that have nothing to do with the main problem at hand.
The scene begins with Cassius storming in aggravated, and this then embarrasses Brutus as he is in front of his commanders, so Brutus diffuses the situation by calming Cassius down explaining that this is not the place for such a talk, he says "then in my tent Cassius, enlarge your griefs and I will give audience." Although the play doesn't say that Brutus is embarrassed by this, I believe that Brutus would react this way as it shows weakness to his commanders, and that he cannot handle the situation, which equally will become a dent in moral for his army.
The way I play the argument is that Brutus doesn't explode, until matters are made personal, for him it's a show of power and he hopes that it will make Cassius, who at this point is mad with anger, understand what he has done and why he did it. The video that inspired me to do this was a clip from Coriolanus where Caius and Tullus are arguing about Caius's traitors act, Ralph Fiennes, the actor who played Caius, plays the argument in a internal sort of way, he is totally calm and the anger only comes from the way he says the lines, sometimes spitting the line at Tullus.
Coriolanus Scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJL6nmdSLmk
My posture for the character I based on a manager I work for, he walks with a very proud tone to his walk, stood straight, chin up looking down on others, his arms are either behind his back or straight by his sides, when he speaks his right arm is used to explain what he is saying. When he is angered or annoyed he doesn't show it with his whole body, but instead grips his fist by his side and you can tell because it that side of his body is tense.
His voice for me wasn't based on a person, I played around with pitch and tone. I was looking for a voice of a leader and a friend at the same time because Brutus is a humble man, he only does what he believes is right and will never jump to a situation. The voice I came up with had a deep tone to it, which sounded dull when the lines were said internally, but when he projected it had a strong leadership feel to it, at the same time as having a soft calm tone, the type that if your parents used, you would know that your in more trouble than when they were yelling at you.
For me music is key for getting me into character, for each character I find a song that suits them, which eventually allows me to get into character before a performance. For Brutus I wanted something that was calm, but had a fiery element to it. I finally found that Joy Division "Love will tear us apart" worked well for me, the reasoning for me choosing this absurdly fitting song was because I thought of the scene in modern times as a night out with two lads that were drunk and one of them said something that spiralled out of control. All so the lyric of "Love will tear us apart" fits perfectly with the previous events, as Brutus loved, in a more appreciative way, Caesar and the problems that they are facing at this point were the backfire of murdering Caesar.
Joy Division "Love Will Tear us Apart"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuuObGsB0No
The character image I saw in my head was a 32 year old man, who's life experiences had aged his face more. He has a sort of overgrown hair look about him. We did an exercise in class where Adam led us through a scenario where we came across situations that we as our characters had to decide what happened. I came to the conclusion that Brutus is a man who is very humble, he looks after the people around him and only does bad things with a just cause, he thinks very fondly of his wife and his friend Brutus.
The first thing we needed to do was depict the text to gain a greater understanding of the scene, and we did this because the language that Shakespeare was harder to understand the thoughts and feelings of the characters. After reading it through a couple of times me and Dan came to the conclusion that the scene was an argument between both characters because Brutus asked for money to pay for his army, they were in the middle of a civil war with Rome after the murder of Caesar, and Cassius did not send these certain sums of gold, so Brutus ignored Cassius, he didn't reply to his letters. But the argument gets heated as they bring up problems that have nothing to do with the main problem at hand.
The scene begins with Cassius storming in aggravated, and this then embarrasses Brutus as he is in front of his commanders, so Brutus diffuses the situation by calming Cassius down explaining that this is not the place for such a talk, he says "then in my tent Cassius, enlarge your griefs and I will give audience." Although the play doesn't say that Brutus is embarrassed by this, I believe that Brutus would react this way as it shows weakness to his commanders, and that he cannot handle the situation, which equally will become a dent in moral for his army.
The way I play the argument is that Brutus doesn't explode, until matters are made personal, for him it's a show of power and he hopes that it will make Cassius, who at this point is mad with anger, understand what he has done and why he did it. The video that inspired me to do this was a clip from Coriolanus where Caius and Tullus are arguing about Caius's traitors act, Ralph Fiennes, the actor who played Caius, plays the argument in a internal sort of way, he is totally calm and the anger only comes from the way he says the lines, sometimes spitting the line at Tullus.
Coriolanus Scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJL6nmdSLmk
My posture for the character I based on a manager I work for, he walks with a very proud tone to his walk, stood straight, chin up looking down on others, his arms are either behind his back or straight by his sides, when he speaks his right arm is used to explain what he is saying. When he is angered or annoyed he doesn't show it with his whole body, but instead grips his fist by his side and you can tell because it that side of his body is tense.
His voice for me wasn't based on a person, I played around with pitch and tone. I was looking for a voice of a leader and a friend at the same time because Brutus is a humble man, he only does what he believes is right and will never jump to a situation. The voice I came up with had a deep tone to it, which sounded dull when the lines were said internally, but when he projected it had a strong leadership feel to it, at the same time as having a soft calm tone, the type that if your parents used, you would know that your in more trouble than when they were yelling at you.
For me music is key for getting me into character, for each character I find a song that suits them, which eventually allows me to get into character before a performance. For Brutus I wanted something that was calm, but had a fiery element to it. I finally found that Joy Division "Love will tear us apart" worked well for me, the reasoning for me choosing this absurdly fitting song was because I thought of the scene in modern times as a night out with two lads that were drunk and one of them said something that spiralled out of control. All so the lyric of "Love will tear us apart" fits perfectly with the previous events, as Brutus loved, in a more appreciative way, Caesar and the problems that they are facing at this point were the backfire of murdering Caesar.
Joy Division "Love Will Tear us Apart"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuuObGsB0No
The character image I saw in my head was a 32 year old man, who's life experiences had aged his face more. He has a sort of overgrown hair look about him. We did an exercise in class where Adam led us through a scenario where we came across situations that we as our characters had to decide what happened. I came to the conclusion that Brutus is a man who is very humble, he looks after the people around him and only does bad things with a just cause, he thinks very fondly of his wife and his friend Brutus.
 |
| A brief image of how I see Brutus. |
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