unit 9 logs

Wednesday 12th September 

performance project
We started the lesson by saying our names around the class so we all know who each other were because it was out first time working with the actors. We then played a game where we were in pairs and we had to do exactly what out partner was doing while they were explaining a story. i found the activity fun because it was nice to work with the actors and see how creative they were with their stories. we then spent the rest of the lesson watching the film A Christmas Carol it was an old black and white one, i found it a little bit slow but other then that it was good to watch and write down notes so that we could start thinking about we wanted to set it. Whilst watching the film i was thinking about who i wanted to be and i really wanted to be the ghost of Christmas past i think the character is really excitable and i like the idea of being a ghost i just needed to think of a song that would go with the character which i found hard because there is not many songs out there about ghosts or about the past that would link to the story.

Friday 14th September

performance project
At the beginning of the lesson we all sat down in the drama room and did a group reading of the script we all randomly read different characters i found it hard because reading a text is not something i do very well i often stumble on words and i find it very embarrassing. I also found it very intimidating that the actors could just read and add character so easily. The lesson ended with our teachers telling us that we had to come prepared for next week to audition for the person we wanted to be and have a song ready. I found it a little nerve racking but i had a few ideas for songs that i might want to sing.

Monday 17th September 

acting
In today's acting lesson we spent it sitting down and talking about who we wanted to be in the play and if we had any songs i had two main ideas

1) my first idea was for the character i want to be (ghost of Christmas past) to sing the song once upon a December. the song is originally from the musical Anastasia and the song is about how a girl has forgotten the memory of her past and i was thinking i could do that song but change it.

i like it because the song has a bit where all the dancing ghost come in and there is a dance party in the past so it kind of links 

original song

Dancing bears,
Painted wings,
Things you almost remember,
And a song someone sings,
Once upon a December.
Someone holds you safe and warm,
Horses prance through a silver storm,
Figures dancing gracefully across your memory

Someone holds you safe and warm,
Horses prance through a silver storm,
Figures dancing gracefully across your memory.

Far away,
Long ago,
Glowing dim as an ember,
Things your heart used to know,
Things it yearns to remember
And a song someone sings

Once upon a December

     my version

i just simply changed the word I with the word you and my with your. My teacher thought the song was a great choice for someone who has forgotten what it was like to be happy on Christmas.

2) my second idea was for the person playing Belle she could sing how will i know by Whitney Huston as the song is about a girl who doesn't know how to tell if the boy she loves, loves her back. but the glee version is slow and would suit the time.

 


Wednesday 19th September 

performance project
we started the lesson by walking around the room and then stopping getting in groups and we had to make a still image then walk around again and repeat it. we then got split into groups and we had to think of a main theme of the play and me and my group thought it was self reflection so we made our freeze frame two people looking into a mirror and between them was the past present and future. i found this exercise fun and easy to do, it was very good to see all the other groups freeze frames because we all see the story in different ways. we then worked on a dance piece based on the dance in the present at Fred's house which was fun but not many of the actors wanted ti dance so it looked a bit bare.

Friday 21st September

performance project
today we did not do very much we had our auditions then left. the song i sang was once upon a December and i think it went well i think over the year i have been doing musical theatre i think i have become very good at characterisation so it helped when i was singing and when i was script reading i think it went well i tried to make the ghost assertive yet friendly. over all i think it went well and i really hope i get the role i wanted 

Monday 24th September

acting
today in acting we worked on a basic dance to once upon a December i wanted the dance to be like how it is on the Broadway musical (flowey and loose but still structured) i also worked through my scene and tried to add characterisation but people have played the ghost of Christmas past in different ways; child, gloomy, scary, sad, excited. because there is no clear structured way to play the character i found it hard to work out how to play it. at the end of the class we showed out acting teacher the dance that goes in the song that sing. 
  

Wednesday 26th September

performance project
in today's lesson we went through the script from start to finish blocking through all we needed to do. i found this a good thing to do but when we started to block it took ages to get through the first scene because people did not remember their ques
Wednesday 26th September

performance project
in today's lesson we went through the script from start to finish blocking through all we needed to do. i found this a good thing to do but when we started to block it took ages to get through the first scene because people did not remember their ques so we had to keep going back and then coming in at the right time. i then wrote down in my script where we needed to come in and where we needed to leave from.

Friday 28th September

performance project
today there wasn't a lot of us so we watched the dancers perform there dance and it was really good i then had an idea for the backdrop to have a gif of snow falling, we then showed the actors what we had been working on so i sang my song and told them where i thought it could work













Monday 1st October

acting 
today i asked the dancers if they wanted to be in my song because i thought if it was just me and scrooge it wouldn't be as good, so i asked the dancers to come up with a bit of the song that is instrumental so we aren't just going to be standing there for ages doing nothing. i kind of saw the dancers as a portal into the past because as soon as the dance is finished then we are in the past. we then spoke to our acting teacher and we were talking about a dance that everyone could be in and we chose hard knock life and our teacher said it should be when the present when the two children come out of the ghosts robe but i said that it should be at the beginning and we should be children on the street but she said no.

Wednesday 3rd October   

performance project
today to begin with we worked through my song and i realised that i wanted the dancers to come in before the dance break to show that we are being teleported. we then showed the actors what we came up with for hard knock life and they all wanted to dance which was good because we did not know if they would be up for it. the dance ended up looking really good

Friday 5th October

performance project
today we went through the whole play marking where people came in and the different ques, although i only have one part i'm on stage for quite a while. we then had a talk at the end and our teacher told us what we needed to improve i was told to:

• work on character 
• learn lines
• work on a voice

i found it hard to find a voice as the ghost of Christmas part is hard because he has no distinct voice or characteristics 


Monday 8th October

acting
we needed an end song so our teacher told us to think of different songs we wanted to use and we decided on here comes Santa clause and we would all be dancing whilst Scrooge was passing out gifts. so we came up with different dance move to make the dance fun and comedic.

Thursday 11th October

performance project
two girls from out class left and we found out because they told us via text and one of the girls played Scrooge so we then had to re cast Scrooge which was annoying because the dancers had made this whole dance around a certain person. so it was like we had taken 4 steps forward just to take 10 back. however, we were able to run through the script with the new Scrooge we just had to tell her where to stand and what to do during the songs.

Friday 12th October

performance project
today we went through the whole play and we were told we had to learn our lines before we get back and i was a little worried because last year we never had to learn lines so i was worried that it would be hard to learn not just the lines but the ques for my lines.

Wednesday 31st October 

performance project
today we started a dance for Fred's party scene that was a partner based dance and we were told that what we learnt so far we had to teach to the actors. when teaching the actors we found it a little bit hard because not all of them had dance experience but at the end it looked really good. we also taught them a little of the Fezziwigs dance which i help teach as im not in the dance.

Friday 2nd November

performance project
today we went thorough the different dances and showed the teacher what we had learnt and i think it went well i'm not in any of the dances but they looked good its just people needed to look like they enjoyed it a bit more because it looks very blocked

Wednesday 7th November

performance project
today we went through the whole play off script and i thought it looked really good there is still a lot of things that need to be fixed like spacing, i worked with a new voice this time but i found it hard to speak loudly whilst being high pitch and soft this is something i was trying to get a hold of because when i tried to be loud but when i was being loud i lost the voice and i got frustrated because i was told that i needed a voice but to still be loud 

Friday 9th November

performance project
we all came together and did a warm up for our bodies and out vocal chords i found it fun because the actors had a lot of warm ups that i had not tried yet, i feel like the plays getting a lot better and you can tell we are all trying. when it came to my song i found it hard to think of something to do when i am singing to Scrooge i had the idea of trying to dance with the dancers but i felt like it would ruin it. 














Wednesday 14th November

performance project

in today's lesson we were told that the last song has to be by a British band or artist and we found the most awful song because not to be rude but the best Christmas are american. we then made a dance using this song and we are using it for the final dance i think the dance is good because its very family-like but i think its also a bit rough as its really randomly put together because we all had different ideas we all wanted to put in. 

Friday 16th November

performance project
today we did not do much it was supposed to be an exam where we film what we have so far but no one showed so we couldn't do much.

Monday 19th November

acting
we went thought our songs trying to add some more emotion and feel to it. i think this helped because the play is very serious we need to make sure the songs have emotion and feel to it. what i like about my song is that it has such a raw and emotive feel to it so all i need to do is add that to my voice and my movements 

Wednesday 21st November

performance project
we had a performance today in the theatre and it was so bad like we were not told that we had to perform and i think it was the worst time to perform as we had not done any tec runs so the music did not come on right. we hadn't done any thing in the theatre so the ques for coming in were all off and i think it was just such a train wreck people were missing so others had to fill in. i was worried as if this is what it looked like what will it look like when we have to perform. 


Wednesday 28th  November

performance project


Thursday 29th November

performance project


Wednesday 5th December
we blocked through what we could with lighting we also worked on ques with sounds today was more of lighting then anything we did not run through it fully we just kind of had to stand where we were and wait for them to note down what the different lights were.

Thursday 6th December 
today i sorted out my costume i ordered a sparkly grey top to go with a flowery cloak they gave me and i wore black shorts, one of my teachers said that they were going to make me a flower crown which i thought would make the outfit so much better as its like festive we also blocked again but this time it was like split first we did a tec of the scenes and song and then we teced the dances after. we then got a chance to go into the costume rooms to get some last minute things i did not need much but i thought i still should look to see if maybe there was a sparkly belt or maybe some gloves but i had no luck.

Tuesday 11th December 

we did a full dress run finally and it looked really good the only thing that i found hard was when we had to stay away from the curtains because i never know when Scrooge has fallen asleep so i have to look and see if shes fallen asleep but aside from that i thought it looked really good. after we done the runs we were told that we all need to be louder and i took it on board but i again found it hard to use the voice they gave me but be loud with it. but i tried to be loud and i felt like i was being loud they said that i also need to put focus to the audience more so i added that in my song.

Wednesday 12th December 
today was our first of three shows and i think it went well there were a few screw ups put i think all in all it turned out very good i think we all have worked hard these last couple of months and i think it is finally paying off i was very nervous at first because i did not want to mess up in front of an audience i wanted to look like a glowing ghost so i covered my face in powdered and liquid highlight to give of a glowing ghost look which i think worked.   





evaluation

during the rehearsal period i think that i worked hard i showed up to every rehearsal i always took in what the teachers said. At the beginning i found it hard because i didn't know how to make the character come to life because the ghost of Christmas past has no distinct personality for example, Scrooge is a an old man who is grumpy but there is no character for the past ghost. When i first audition for the part i wanted it because i thought that i could take a tricky person to play and make it my own, i really struggled to get a hold on what to do with it. to help me with my character struggle i looked up online different ways that the ghost has been played and i wrote down notes and tried to make a base for the ghost and then i came across a school production of the play and the past ghost was played as an old creepy Victorian servant and i liked how he was very structured and he spoke posh. i originally wanted to play the character as a creepy broken doll but then  thought i couldn't be creepy or scary because that's the ghost of yet to come so i then decided to play it like i was dazed or from like another world.the feedback that i got from the teachers is that i needed to speak up louder and play to the character more which i found hard to do both of them because the voice they gave me was that i had to speak in a smooth high tone and i found it hard to project that and still sound smooth and then with the character i had chosen a mellow non-emotional character so its hard to play it up when i supposed to be mellow. i used these pieces of feedback to help me in my performance so i tried to talk a little bit louder and then i tried to make my character emotionless but still a big character but i found it hard     

through the rehearsals i found that me strengths were that i was dedicated i learned my lines early on i never missed lesson and i was always trying to better my character i always took notes and tried to improve the way i portrayed the ghost. there were also some weaknesses i found it hard to speak up and it also took me a long time to find a character. for the performance i found that my weakness was volume but again i found it hard with the voice and also there was a bit in my song where i messed up a bit but i'm glad i just continued. some strengths were that i was fully prepared and i didn't mess up or feel nervous. i still need to improve my dancing and a bit of my acting for unit 12 but i think my  singing and some of my acting skill are ready for unit 12. i think the final performance was very good and i think we all have worked hard these past months, i think a weakness for the last show was i think our energy was a bit down because it was late and our final show but i liked how in the last show the dance was the best it has been everyone was having fun and we were all just enjoying the moment