I believe that that this week has been very successful and very productive having come so far from when we first were given the initial brief. On Monday we kicked of project week discussing what we took from pitching our ideas to the class and our little meeting with Joff, we then decided that we would come up with a structure and an order for our piece. Taking on board all of the ideas we took from the Tate modern, and putting it together so that we could pitch last week Thursday. once we had the order of our scenes it was time to start developing them, improvising with ideas and writing the scripts.
We wanted to sort out our set/props quite early. We wanted to keep it simple yet effective so discussed ways in which we could do so. I came up with the idea of using blocks so we went round looking for some and decided it would work. after Me, Aga and bianca worked on our middle scene decided toThe war is a modern war, but to keep with the style of the Crossfire‘s play we do not mention specifically what war we’re in. And we formulate the boxes in such a way that they look like a barricade.
Then we improved our second scene by now knowing what we are going for. The idea that after the first scene, Bryce is coping from the effects from war and that his best mate (which I play as) is now part of his subconscious adding to the contrast that I’m there in spirit as well as Bryce finding solace in the normal world.
Wednesday
Bryce and I started scripting scene two. Unlike the first scripting where we had the play Crossfire as our stimulus, this time round we recording our improvisation and then typed it down, making edits where we felt fit.
Last Sunday (the 7th), Dad and I went clay pigeon shooting and I sought it fitting to record some sounds that we ended up using, which I found to be more ideal as we’re not looking for authentic gun sounds. I gave the sounds to Tristen who’s using Q-Lap to mix our sounds cues while we still have them. Later that day, I went out shopping to buy some a pair of toy guns to use with while we rehearse as Bryce and I have something to play with while we act.
Thursday
Bryce and I managed to script our final scene simple by I writing a sentence and then Bryce replies with another sentence. We knew what we wanted in our third and final scene so it made the writing easier. The idea that Bryce (now called Mark and I, Carl) is now coming to terms and is willing to be a father. This is also the point where we address that I have been dead all this time after the first scene and I have been part of Mark’s coping mechanism. We wanted this scene to appear ambiguous so the audience can take from it what they like. From either the religious aspects to the psychological aspects, but Bryce and I were more interested in the telling of the story and Mark’s predicament.
And, as a group, we managed to create an opening and how we’re all staying onstage, moving the boxes around the stage to create new scenes, props and levels, and how to integrate ourselves. From this we looked at sound cues and managed to watch each others scenes thus far, how to improve them, and we have about half the skeleton of the show finished.
With the boxes dotted around the stage with a white long box with a plant pot on top (where we each individually plant a seed) looks like a art gallery. And the image of us who are not in a scene are just sitting onstage listening to the scene before them adds this inclusivity to the piece. And we, as chorus, can switch from listeners to people in the scene, as in Aga’s first scene she’s in a park or busy street, we as chorus can act as if we’re in a park talking to one another. In Brenda’s speech, she talks about how she’s been abused and, on certain words, we gesture, in unison, the pulling of our sleeves and applying make-up to hide our bruised faces. We also noted that we needed to use the plant pot in some way to act as a constant reminder by using it as something else like a make-up brush holding in Tia’s and Brenda’s scene or just simply having it in view.
Tristan's Reflective Journal (PDP) 