New Blog

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http://aleveldramapractitionersc.blogspot.co.uk/

Work over Christmas break

This was the work that we as a group set each other to to over the Xmas Break, The following is my work:

News Reports

Good evening and this is 8 o'clock news. It is the end of June 16th, the anniversary of the day we took back control of our country. The day Jamie claimed power over us. Today we remembered the Dark Decade ... our government betrayed us, every company shut down, the power went out across the country, the prisons emptied, the police did nothing. Suddenly it was in the streets, a riot that lasted weeks. Then there was nothing ... just nothing ... no government, no jobs, no security. We lived like animals. For ten years we lived in that hell, then he came and restored order and peace, no more survival just living. We are happy now, Jamie. We have no problems, Jamie. Our lives are yours, Jamie. We do what you want, Jamie. You control us, Jamie. and with Jamie's love and kindness we only have five rules to follow:

1. No individuality

2. No feelings

3. No freedom

4. No love

5. Do as Jamie says

Goodnight, and remember, Jamie is always watching.

In other news, on the outskirts of sector B a local civilian by the name Lewis Faith was brutally murdered by a notorious rebel gang. We believe he was a witness to their crimes and so they took him out.

Breaking news, at midnight last night, sector A was bombed by the same group that killed civilian Lewis Faith. These terrorists are extremely dangerous and must be reported immediately if seen. Stay safe and remain in your homes and remember Jamie is always watching.

Today we join together to celebrate the anniversary of Ruby taking over after Jamie’s mysterious disappearance. It has been a year and there is no update on where he has gone and so is still one of our greatest mysteries. In other news the terrorist group that murdered Lewis Faith on the outskirts of the old sector B have vanished and not been seen since.

Goodnight and remember Ruby’s one rule:

Live your life to the fullest because you never know how much time you have left.

Techniques-Training Scene

We need more techniques in our performance so we created a bit and just developed it until we ended up with a piece which starts with another news scene being played that explains that the section we rescued at the start has been bombed ant the news are blaming us. At the same time this is being played we have split screen going on with Sam telling Jeremy that he is on his last warning and will be kicked out if he does anything bad and the rest of us watching the news reel and yelling at the screen and talk to each other about it. After that we have Meg and I doing a practice fight session where we have repetition in our movement and start a conversation that discusses James and if we trust him, then one by one everyone else comes in and it turns into an argument between Toby and Meg then Toby and Kai which is when Freya enters and kicks Toby out. Then we arranged that while we are all angry that is when we go into the scene where we beat up and kill James.

I am really proud of what we created, I like it. All we need to do is rehears it and work out what exactly we are going to say and film the News scenes.

Techniques - Revisit to the induction

This lesson we looked at techniques, we were shown a video (Link here) and I liked the use of dialogue starting in the middle of the conversation and I want to apply that to our piece. I liked the different screens showing different things and I really want to use that in our piece, have about three/four projections on the walls of the stage and have them show the 'perfect' world that Jamie has created and use images and stuff to help create the world we live in. I also think that instead of a voice over monologue to open the performance, we could have a local news video where we are sitting there and explain how Jamie came to power in an indoctrinating way of like "We are repressed and we like it" type thing. This could be projected on the back wall.

We also re-visited the induction scene with James and I feel we have created a really good looking movement piece (link here to video of piece) I think Dom needs to look more assertive with his moment, and Meg spin faster so her gun fire just takes one beat. I think I need to spend more time adjusting Ashley's posture and maybe circle him, sizing him up then put my hand on his shoulder. I also need to look more tough when moving around and kicking him.

Style + Beat up Scene

This lesson we looked at the style of our performance. As a group we decided that our style will be naturalistic and dark, our characters are realistic (to an extent) and we have been through a lot. We wanted our piece to be emotional so we can show the lives our characters have lived.

From this style we wanted to create our beat up scene, where the group has reached tipping point with James and beats him up because they think he is Jamie. With our style of dark we created a whipping scene (Link here to the scene) I like our scene as we can light up Ashley's face with a red light to really show the pain and as the scene will be low lit it will create the dark atmosphere that goes well with our style. But we do need to plan lighting because if it is too dark the audience wont see anything that is going on.

Character Description

Name: Craig Harris

Age: 41

Occupation: Ex-Officer in the Marines Now: Rebel

Life: During childhood Craig’s father abused him whenever he went out drinking, Craig was terrified to tell anyone this was happening even his mother. When he was nine, his mother came home pregnant but the baby wasn't her husbands. That night Craig was awoken by his mother screaming so he ran to find out what was happening. He saw his mother crying on the floor with his father standing over her with a knife. Craig jumped on his father, who swung the knife and hit Craig in the head with it, leaving a scar on his forehead but Craig was quicker and he grabbed the knife and killed his father. From that day on Craig protected his mother and little brother. When Craig was sixteen he joined the marines to protect his country, like he protected his family and he worked his way up to be an officer; that was when Jamie took over. Jamie turned on his own country and used the army to control the public. Jamie told Craig to gun down a group of civilians because they wouldn't comply with his ideas. Craig refused to harm civilians but Jamie threatened the life of his mother and brother, so Craig agreed. However in the heat of the moment Craig didn't realize when he charged into the civilian home and blindly slaughtered the two people in there, he actually killed his family. Filled with distress he went into hiding until he found a small rebel group trying to take Jamie down. Craig was more than happy to assist them on the promise that he gets to see Jamie killed.

This image has a scar that I think Craig would have except only the part on his forehead that goes to the corner of his eye, not the parts under or the second on that starts in the middle of the forehead.

This image shows the type of clothing I think my character would wear and the body type I think my character would have, I obviously won't look like that for the performance but that is what I think I should look like. Also the hair style in the middle is the kind of hair I thing Craig would have.

Improved Romance Scene

We looked at the love triangle today and thankfully the dance we created last year was forgotten so it forced us to create something new that actually looked good. We first have Jeremy take Sam up on a roof where he has a picnic for her and they sit and talk and look at the stars with romantic music being played quietly in the back. The next day Spencer asks if Sam wants help training with a firearms weapon and they have a romantic time where Spencer helps Sam out the when she hurts herself he is there for her and eventually he gets out a guitar and plays her a song.

I much prefer these date scenes than the dance thing we were trying to create last year because they are more intimate moments for Freya, Toby and Kai to perform and are better to watch than the dance.