Before my group gets killed for the Movement part of the piece..
Characters & character styles:
1. Melvyn (Father):
· EFFORT: DAB – PUNCH: change WEIGHT from LIGHT to STRONG
· PATH: STRAIGHT
· EXTENSION: BIG/FAR
2. Stephanie (Sibling):
EFFORT: FLOAT – WRING: change WEIGHT from LIGHT to STRONG
PATH: CURVED
EXTENSION: NEAR/SMALL AND BIG/FAR
3. Hamid (Friend #1):
EFFORT: GLIDE – FLOAT: change SPACE from DIRECT to INDIRECT
PATH: ANGULAR
EXTENSION: SMALL/NEAR
4. Chen Xing (Friend #2):
EFFORT: FLOAT – GLIDE: change SPACE from INDIRECT to DIRECT
PATH: CURVED
EXTENSION: BIG/FAR
5. Rui Shan (Child):
EFFORT: FLOAT – GLIDE: change SPACE from INDIRECT to DIRECT
PATH: CURVED
EXTENSION: BIG/FAR
Everyone becomes WRING at the end
Finally, some work done on trying to apply Laban to our movements.
We tried to apply mostly the effort level into all scenes for each character in the last rehearsal. In order for each member to have more space to show their character more, I had to made them experience transitions of effort level (Time, Direction and Weight), so that theres equal distribution.
Also, I realised I've emphasized more on weight in the movements throughout the piece and weight and direction of the actors is normally what I've used to show the change in mood of the play.
Among the 8 categories in Effort (Float, Slash, Glide, Wring, Dab, Thrust, Flick, Press), Float is used by most of the children in the piece (meaning child sibling and friend 1, not friend 2 because he's a nerd). Contrast between friend 1 and 2 is the direction. Both are light because they're children but because 1 is more playful than 2, 1's direction is more flexible and 2's direction is more direct.
Transition of Sibling from Float to Wring after father's verbal abuse because weight increases and father keeps pushing her down to the ground. Then when with child, change in power is shown when Sibling transits from Wring to Thrust, whereby level is used alongside, and the direction changes from flexible to direct i.e. sibling crawling quickly towards child.
Image of an adult compared to a child - the space/direction on stage. Father's direction is more direct compared to child and sibling, hence uses Dab. Mood is still happy, so therefore has light weight. And when he starts to get confused over what kind of father he should be, he alternates between Dab and Punch/Thrust, whereby weight changes from light to heavy.
Child alternates between float and glide. Weight is always light but direction changes to direct from indirect in response to the abuse the receives.
In the end, where everyone walks out of their frames (frames representing their individual identity), it's like leaving their identity and understanding how all of us are controlling one another. The weight and mood is heavy and sustained throughout.
p/s:
J3s came to watch our showcase and their comments were:
1. good physicality! :D but no emotional journey, movements looks memorized
2. Music can be overpowering sometimes
3. Nice human web
4. Synchro movements more (timing prob - due to lack of practise)
5. Faces sometimes cannot catch the lights (cannot see expression)
6. Lights Red VS Blue (good idea to show the contrast between sibling and child)
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Blog Entry 6
After the showcase for humanities week, our group were given feedback on how to further improve the piece.
1. The change in the father is too abrupt. Must have gradual build up to violence, rather than just turning violent immediately.
2. The movements are fine, just that alot of timing and synchronization needs to be done to polish up the piece.
3. We are not using multimedia as our second skill because multimedia is not used for every scene and is not significant enough.
4. Our props were not well prepared!
5. Not evenly spreaded out among characters (I have majority parts, hamid and chenxing very little!)
We made a few changes according to those feedback, hence..
1. Scene one is extended by about a minute more to show the gradual change in the father. There is a moment for the father to make a choice of what kind of father he wants to be.
2. Our second skill is now lights and sounds because much effort has been put into these aspects and it plays a large part in this performance (the mood, time etc.)
3. Costumes have been bought and we're left with the daisies (to show innocence of the child and silbling)
4. Scene 2 and 3 is combined to show how child is forced to choose friend 2 instead of 1, more interaction and involvement between characters (Hamid and chen xing can have their moments)
Am working on the last scene on tuesday (the most impt scene of the piece)!!!
1. The change in the father is too abrupt. Must have gradual build up to violence, rather than just turning violent immediately.
2. The movements are fine, just that alot of timing and synchronization needs to be done to polish up the piece.
3. We are not using multimedia as our second skill because multimedia is not used for every scene and is not significant enough.
4. Our props were not well prepared!
5. Not evenly spreaded out among characters (I have majority parts, hamid and chenxing very little!)
We made a few changes according to those feedback, hence..
1. Scene one is extended by about a minute more to show the gradual change in the father. There is a moment for the father to make a choice of what kind of father he wants to be.
2. Our second skill is now lights and sounds because much effort has been put into these aspects and it plays a large part in this performance (the mood, time etc.)
3. Costumes have been bought and we're left with the daisies (to show innocence of the child and silbling)
4. Scene 2 and 3 is combined to show how child is forced to choose friend 2 instead of 1, more interaction and involvement between characters (Hamid and chen xing can have their moments)
Am working on the last scene on tuesday (the most impt scene of the piece)!!!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Blog Entry 5
I've tried using weight transfers and floor patterns to make the changes in the scenes. I realised that the balance, flow, effort all helps to make the movements have a purpose.
In scene 4, in order to show the verbal abuse, I've decided to use violence in an indirect manner whereby the father tortures the doll that belongs to the sibling, and when he does that, the sibling will in turn get tortured as well. This shows the connection between people as well and how we affect one another. Also I suggested that we could take a video of father/melvyn mouthing some words, scolding sibling/steph to show the verbal abuse (e.g. you are not my daughter..). As Father indirectly abuses sibling and the video plays at the same time, I think the audience will get a clearer sense of what it means. Maybe just by repeating one line in increasing intensity will help to build the climax and also the audience can focus on the movements while this sound+video repeats itself, adding on to amplify the movements.
I've yet to take a video of the scenes...
Showcase is on wednesday! will try to finish up scene 5 by then.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Blog Entry 4
Our group has complete scenes 1-3 already!
We actually wanted to complete the entire piece by 30th July but I don't think that is possible :p We still have 3 more scenes to go! But currently I think the group is progressing very well and they're all putting in effort!
Scene 1 (Parent and Child)
I've already made changes according to the feedback other groups gave during the showcase.
Now we have less words and more freezes when the words appear. Makes it more clean and it's easier for the audience to balance their attention on both movement + multimedia.
The movement is still not sharp and well synchronized yet and I think I will only do that after I've finished choreographing all 6 scenes.
Also, steph suggested that in order to make it less-dance-like, we should change some moves. Rather than keeping to the beat consistently, using the sound effects to emphasize the movements seem to work better.
(okay it's difficult for me to describe the movements here. Will take vids next week for Entry 5)
Scene 2 (Child and Friend 1)
I've changed quite alot of movements in this scene as well, after realising that it's really very dance-like. So we have more of child and friend 1 playing games, rather than dancing their way through happily. After the changes, Hamid commented that it's better but still didnt really show how friend 1 make the child forget about her problems she has with her father. So I think I should work on that!
(yes I think comments like this really helps me to improve the movements!!!)
Scene 3 (Child and Friend 2)
Friend 2 walks in straight lines, very angular, to show his "follow the rules" character. I feel that this way of moving around the space makes him look robotic. And that is what I feel it should be like, since friend 2 is like a tool for parent to take control and pressurize the child. This scene is a very strong statement I feel, to show how the child is being controlled and pushed to the edge. So I decided to make the child more emotional in this scene, also showing how friend 2 cannot make her happy like how friend 1 did.
(this scene was completed really fast because the entire group was there to help me and provide me with many ideas! I guess more brains help to get things done alot faster)
Other changes were the multimedia, set, lights and sounds. (okay basically everything)
Actually I feel that it's good to have changes every now and then, because this shows that we're progressing and thinking even harder each time on how to make this piece a better one. This is the golden period to further improve this performance! (after learning from the J2s)
Because Hamid suggested that we should have the words projected on an eye to show that this situation of the butterfly effect is seen through the child's eye, we decided to use paint an eye on the black cloth. However, we found out that black absords light -.- so we may have to other materials/colours or even forget about this idea and use the screen. But I feel that this idea really helps to link the multimedia and movements together so I wouldn't mind trying it out even if it fails in the end!
Also, Steph suggested a really good idea of putting the words in fish eye effect to show the eye dimension thing. However, WMM does not have that effect and it is quite taxing to edit each picture one by one then putting it into the video. That problem.. I guess we'll have to sort it out the next meeting!
We tried out the lightings with the movements during the last rehearsal and tried out new effects. It's quite a challenge for the person who will be doing the tech for us!!! :p hmm it's not confirmed though, but from what I see it seems quite complicating. I'm a lighting idiot.
Alright and thanks to Hamid for constantly reminding to READ READ READ... I read up on Laban Movement Analysis..................
Okay my apologies for really not taking this theory aspect seriously and it's not good because I realised that it helps the piece to be less-dance!!!
The Body Level, Effort Level, Space Level, Shape Level is the big fat key. I find it difficult to teach them because I'm not very sure of it myself :( Will try the strong weight and light weight thing for Scene 4, let's see if it turns out good! :D
I will take a video/pictures of scene 1-3 (and maybe 4, if we've completed it by next rehearsal)! :D
We actually wanted to complete the entire piece by 30th July but I don't think that is possible :p We still have 3 more scenes to go! But currently I think the group is progressing very well and they're all putting in effort!
Scene 1 (Parent and Child)
I've already made changes according to the feedback other groups gave during the showcase.
Now we have less words and more freezes when the words appear. Makes it more clean and it's easier for the audience to balance their attention on both movement + multimedia.
The movement is still not sharp and well synchronized yet and I think I will only do that after I've finished choreographing all 6 scenes.
Also, steph suggested that in order to make it less-dance-like, we should change some moves. Rather than keeping to the beat consistently, using the sound effects to emphasize the movements seem to work better.
(okay it's difficult for me to describe the movements here. Will take vids next week for Entry 5)
Scene 2 (Child and Friend 1)
I've changed quite alot of movements in this scene as well, after realising that it's really very dance-like. So we have more of child and friend 1 playing games, rather than dancing their way through happily. After the changes, Hamid commented that it's better but still didnt really show how friend 1 make the child forget about her problems she has with her father. So I think I should work on that!
(yes I think comments like this really helps me to improve the movements!!!)
Scene 3 (Child and Friend 2)
Friend 2 walks in straight lines, very angular, to show his "follow the rules" character. I feel that this way of moving around the space makes him look robotic. And that is what I feel it should be like, since friend 2 is like a tool for parent to take control and pressurize the child. This scene is a very strong statement I feel, to show how the child is being controlled and pushed to the edge. So I decided to make the child more emotional in this scene, also showing how friend 2 cannot make her happy like how friend 1 did.
(this scene was completed really fast because the entire group was there to help me and provide me with many ideas! I guess more brains help to get things done alot faster)
Other changes were the multimedia, set, lights and sounds. (okay basically everything)
Actually I feel that it's good to have changes every now and then, because this shows that we're progressing and thinking even harder each time on how to make this piece a better one. This is the golden period to further improve this performance! (after learning from the J2s)
Because Hamid suggested that we should have the words projected on an eye to show that this situation of the butterfly effect is seen through the child's eye, we decided to use paint an eye on the black cloth. However, we found out that black absords light -.- so we may have to other materials/colours or even forget about this idea and use the screen. But I feel that this idea really helps to link the multimedia and movements together so I wouldn't mind trying it out even if it fails in the end!
Also, Steph suggested a really good idea of putting the words in fish eye effect to show the eye dimension thing. However, WMM does not have that effect and it is quite taxing to edit each picture one by one then putting it into the video. That problem.. I guess we'll have to sort it out the next meeting!
We tried out the lightings with the movements during the last rehearsal and tried out new effects. It's quite a challenge for the person who will be doing the tech for us!!! :p hmm it's not confirmed though, but from what I see it seems quite complicating. I'm a lighting idiot.
Alright and thanks to Hamid for constantly reminding to READ READ READ... I read up on Laban Movement Analysis..................
Okay my apologies for really not taking this theory aspect seriously and it's not good because I realised that it helps the piece to be less-dance!!!
The Body Level, Effort Level, Space Level, Shape Level is the big fat key. I find it difficult to teach them because I'm not very sure of it myself :( Will try the strong weight and light weight thing for Scene 4, let's see if it turns out good! :D
I will take a video/pictures of scene 1-3 (and maybe 4, if we've completed it by next rehearsal)! :D
Friday, July 17, 2009
Blog Entry 3
We showcased our first scene on Thursday.
Things we had to improve on:
1. Multimedia
- There should not be any movements while the words are appearing because audience can only focus on either one
- Projection must be more creative and have its meaning, not just projection on the screen
- Words can be replaced by pictures. Audience can grasp the meaning of the picture faster, rather than reading word for word
2. Movement
- There should be freezes when words/pictures coming out to allow audience to focus
- Movements may not have to be consistently following to the beat because this makes it more like a dance piece rather than a theatre piece
- Good energy level
- Expressions and intensity (muscle control) needs to be improved
- Sound should be able to help amplify the movements
Currently researching alot more on Rudolf Laban - Laban Movement Analysis (LMA)
to be continued...
Things we had to improve on:
1. Multimedia
- There should not be any movements while the words are appearing because audience can only focus on either one
- Projection must be more creative and have its meaning, not just projection on the screen
- Words can be replaced by pictures. Audience can grasp the meaning of the picture faster, rather than reading word for word
2. Movement
- There should be freezes when words/pictures coming out to allow audience to focus
- Movements may not have to be consistently following to the beat because this makes it more like a dance piece rather than a theatre piece
- Good energy level
- Expressions and intensity (muscle control) needs to be improved
- Sound should be able to help amplify the movements
Currently researching alot more on Rudolf Laban - Laban Movement Analysis (LMA)
to be continued...
Monday, July 6, 2009
Blog Entry 2
This is the video of half of Scene 1. Will still be editing the movements and working on the synchronization. Have not included expressions and synchro, so looks rather horrible. Choreo should be fine, has good angling and contrasts and in levels to show status of father and daughter. Also, I've yet to include steph into some parts of the choreo in that video.
Hamid has just published the deadlines and schedules on our group blog and I realised I have alot to work on and it has to be really done quickly and of high standard. Other group members are helping alot as well, working on the schedules, set, costumes, lightings, multimedia. Hamid and Steph have been researching alot on Expressionism and we realised we're on the right track, so yes, good job guys! :)
Theres still the first half of scene 1 (the happy father+daughters scene)!!! It'll be more of acting rather than movement. Less tension and fast movements to show carefree and happy family scene, and can contrast well with the abusing scene, where the change in the father can be seen gradually.
More videos will be up!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Blog Entry 1.1
Some research done in the Esplanade Library..
I've read up on leveling/positioning/angling etc..
Saw this picture and I thought that the use of the elastic cloth (have yet to find out the material name) would be useful in our group piece in the last scene (struggling scene). Shapes out body movements more.
These are the videos which I found useful for me to teach my group and have inspired me!
I have already started on the movement for Scene 1 and am trying to meet the deadline of showcasing the scene in week 3. I've been trying to watch more videos for more ideas and exposure. Recently found some information about Hawkins Technique which is used by the performers in the first video above and am trying to learn and research more on it.
I've read up on leveling/positioning/angling etc..
Saw this picture and I thought that the use of the elastic cloth (have yet to find out the material name) would be useful in our group piece in the last scene (struggling scene). Shapes out body movements more.
These are the videos which I found useful for me to teach my group and have inspired me!I have already started on the movement for Scene 1 and am trying to meet the deadline of showcasing the scene in week 3. I've been trying to watch more videos for more ideas and exposure. Recently found some information about Hawkins Technique which is used by the performers in the first video above and am trying to learn and research more on it.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)