Wednesday, 28 June 2017
Theatr Brycheiniog workshop
On the 31st January we were invited to go to Theatr Brycheiniog, in Brecon. This theatre serves all the border counties and is the biggest theatre in our area. WE arrived in the morning and were greeted by Martyn Green, CEO. He was to be our practitioner for the day. He had once been an actor but eventually went into stage management and then management. He was very well versed in theatre and had offered us the opportunity of going to the theatre to work both in the studio and on the Main Stage.In the morning, he showed us around the theatre, talking about his development plans for it. After that we performed our contemporary monologues for the Auditions for Actors unit.
After lunch, we performed a series of improvisations on the main stage for Martyn who gave us a constructive critique at the end of each improvisation. It really was a new experience actually performing improvisation to a professional theatre practitioner and it really made me raise my game. I tried to apply the teachings of Grotowski, Artaud and Stanislavski where appropriate. I also gave thought to movement, gesture, projection, mime and most importantly,characterisation as, at all times, I wanted to create believable scenarios and characters.
We started off with a few warm up activities including physical theatre pieces where we had to create shapes like a motorbike, a creature, a four poster bed and an elephant.
https://youtu.be/xQo5beK9EKU
https://youtu.be/gWWwLLGyaGQ
https://youtu.be/ifxsIVxxrn4
THis is footage of our character development scenario.
https://youtu.be/SkThtlGaGRM
Extending improvisation
https://youtu.be/upRThYmzNfU
Stimulus - Difficult customers in a restaurant
In this improvisation we were required to develop a scenario. The strength of the story line needed to be driven by maintaining our characters. The objective was to create an engaging story line by working in the style of Mike Leigh, the director. He creates plays by bringing actors together and getting them to improvise around a theme. This can produce really dynamic results as he carefully considers the cast before he introduces them.Their improvisations feed directly into the script he produces.
Feedback:
Feedback we received was that we weren't 'difficult' enough. It was all delivered on one level and there was no defined beginning, middle or end.The only element of dynamism was right at the end when we stormed off. I smiled when we stormed off which meant I was fully engaged with my character. We were commended for our naturalism, this would work in a t.v drama.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tPBNHwB-TI
Stimulus -Fairytale
We were asked to re- create Cinderella with just the five of us. We were also given the task of doing it in the style of a soap opera. . However, we hadn't included any of the type of features you would expect to see in a soap.
This was a good experience for me as I had to multi - role as none else volunteered to take roles as the improvisation developed. I played a male role and an angry and unpleasant role. I tried to maintain each individual character by applying emotional memory in the style of Stanislavski. As a man, I had to dance with Angel so I tried to use a deeper voice as well.
Feedback:
Feedback I personally received was that I was spontaneous and seized opportunities as and when they presented themselves. Group feedback was that we had committed to following the original storyline and that we had produced an entertaining and developed scenario. A constructive criticism was that we hadn't created a soap opera style of drama. For that, we could have raised the level of 'drama' and possibly by over-reacting to incidents or by slightly changing the story to include more contemporary elements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64GG7uAz0qs&feature=youtu.be
Stimulus - All change!
In this improv, we had to start the scenario off with two of us, then the third person comes in and changes whatever dynamic we have established. When Mikey came in and affected the atmosphere, Emily and I had to respond to this in a believable way. I was able to stay in character, despite the drastic change of pace and emotion.
Feedback:
We were told we had created a 'kitchen sink drama'. These became popular in the 1960's and involved a naturalistic acting style and often dealt with disturbing or emotional themes. We were told we sustained our characters successfully and we responded sensitively to each other.
https://youtu.be/QU2zzd4EXH8
Stimulus - Role Swap
This improvisation involved swapping roles mid way through the piece. In this improvisation I started off in the first couple so I had to carefully examine the role I was playing so that it could be easily replicated by the person that took my role over.We responded to feedback which was to observe more closely each others intonation and tone patterns, as,whilst we got the movement, the actual tone of the improvisation changed with the new couple coming in. So, we had another go with the focus on intonation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipFIif2jbgg&t=99s
Stumulus _ Role Swap
Our second attempt at this stimulus. This time we really used listening skills to try to take on the vocal tone and intonation patterns of the person whose character we were taking over.. My aim was to make sure that any one who copied me, could easily mimic my voice and body language.
Feedback we received was that this second improvisation was better, in terms of us assimilating the original characters.
Stimulus - Difficult customers in a restaurant
In this improvisation we were required to develop a scenario. The strength of the story line needed to be driven by maintaining our characters. The objective was to create an engaging story line by working in the style of Mike Leigh, the director. He creates plays by bringing actors together and getting them to improvise around a theme. This can produce really dynamic results as he carefully considers the cast before he introduces them.Their improvisations feed directly into the script he produces.
Feedback:
Feedback we received was that we weren't 'difficult' enough. It was all delivered on one level and there was no defined beginning, middle or end.The only element of dynamism was right at the end when we stormed off. I smiled when we stormed off which meant I was fully engaged with my character. We were commended for our naturalism, this would work in a t.v drama.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tPBNHwB-TI
Stimulus -Fairytale
We were asked to re- create Cinderella with just the five of us. We were also given the task of doing it in the style of a soap opera. . However, we hadn't included any of the type of features you would expect to see in a soap.
This was a good experience for me as I had to multi - role as none else volunteered to take roles as the improvisation developed. I played a male role and an angry and unpleasant role. I tried to maintain each individual character by applying emotional memory in the style of Stanislavski. As a man, I had to dance with Angel so I tried to use a deeper voice as well.
Feedback:
Feedback I personally received was that I was spontaneous and seized opportunities as and when they presented themselves. Group feedback was that we had committed to following the original storyline and that we had produced an entertaining and developed scenario. A constructive criticism was that we hadn't created a soap opera style of drama. For that, we could have raised the level of 'drama' and possibly by over-reacting to incidents or by slightly changing the story to include more contemporary elements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64GG7uAz0qs&feature=youtu.be
Stimulus - All change!
In this improv, we had to start the scenario off with two of us, then the third person comes in and changes whatever dynamic we have established. When Mikey came in and affected the atmosphere, Emily and I had to respond to this in a believable way. I was able to stay in character, despite the drastic change of pace and emotion.
Feedback:
We were told we had created a 'kitchen sink drama'. These became popular in the 1960's and involved a naturalistic acting style and often dealt with disturbing or emotional themes. We were told we sustained our characters successfully and we responded sensitively to each other.
https://youtu.be/QU2zzd4EXH8
Stimulus - Role Swap
This improvisation involved swapping roles mid way through the piece. In this improvisation I started off in the first couple so I had to carefully examine the role I was playing so that it could be easily replicated by the person that took my role over.We responded to feedback which was to observe more closely each others intonation and tone patterns, as,whilst we got the movement, the actual tone of the improvisation changed with the new couple coming in. So, we had another go with the focus on intonation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipFIif2jbgg&t=99s
Stumulus _ Role Swap
Our second attempt at this stimulus. This time we really used listening skills to try to take on the vocal tone and intonation patterns of the person whose character we were taking over.. My aim was to make sure that any one who copied me, could easily mimic my voice and body language.
Feedback we received was that this second improvisation was better, in terms of us assimilating the original characters.
Simple improvs+ weekly reflections
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2hPp7Gux7s&feature=youtu.be
In this solo improvisation, I explored the space and used mime. I had to express my emotions through muttered speech and clear movement and gesture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOAhyeSht_I&feature=youtu.be
This was a solo improvisation in which I was driving and I shouted at the Sat Nav to shut up. I tried to understand the role of someone who was impatient and someone was late- but it wasn't their fault. I learned that when you are carrying out a solo improvisation and it's up to you to engage the audience. If you falter, it means you're not in character.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSjna2Nv5U0
In this improvisation our group had a disagreement. The blame changed to different people and the emotion changed frequently. Our feedback was that we worked together as a team and were able to switch the emotion well.
https://youtu.be/w0jKHRKyxqc
Callum and I were doing a pairs improvisation. We were really having to listen to each other so that the scene flowed.
11 September. We looked at quite basic improv work this week. In our small groups, we had some very little scenarios to look at. We did an exercise where one person left the room and in a pair, we made a scenario based on an emotion, and the person who left had to guess what the word or emotion was. We had a funeral, a therapy session, and a patient anxious for test results. This helped us to look at what we were trying to convey, and how the audience would feel in response. On THURSDAY, we did scenarios in pairs as there were 5 of us. These pieces were contrasting. Fair example, one person wanted a pet, the other didn't. There were family scenes, friendship ones and school scenes. It really helped to work with a range of people, with different acting styles.I researched Mike Leigh and looked at his work on youtube. He is a very talented director. His actors are fantastic as they work in a team, without corpsing, and with the ability to devise scenes based on anything. 18 September. This week, we continued doing little scenes. We worked in a small group of 3, creating scenarios based on conversations or relevant group ideas. Callum discussed the Mary Rose, so we made a scene about that, with a tour guide, a mother and a bored child. We also did a dispute improv, with a problem of different people wanting to watch different things at a cinema. We also worked on a difficult restraunt customers with conflicting problems. We also did a guessing game where we had to assign someone a character, or real person, and make them guess and imagine themselves in their shoc, in order to work out who was chosen for them. This was quite hard as the spectrum of types of character or real person are so broad. 25 September. This week we were introduced to solo improvs. This was where we focussed on one actor, with a scenario. Mina was a person none alone, hearing a sound at the door, and panicking as it was from the kitchen. My first attempt was with lots of speech, and my second had none. I found that without any speech, I found it hard at to portray what I wanted to, however, apparently my expression and movement was better that way. Too much speech took away from that. In future, I will try to use my body more, and speech a little less, but using a fair mixture. We were introduced to one line improv. We were given a line and one of us had to use it at first, launching in to an improv. WE worked together well on this, as the improv sparked from the line, and we worked together while put on the spot. We needed to be spontaneous and dynamic. 2 October. This week, we advanced the one liners, by only one person knowing what it would be. This stopped us from overthinking, or being able to plan much storyline. We also looked at people in a place with a problem, as this was a basic improv technique that helps you define characters, context and issue for a piece. 14 October. This week we worked on one line improv, in a group of 4. This is very different as this exercise began in a pair, and was increased to 4 people. We also looked at particular scenarios, like people on the edge of a cliff. We had a couple of seconds to plan, but then we began. The topic was so broad that it could lead anywhere, and it actually traveled down the suicide path, and it was interesting for me to put myself in the shoes of some one trying to put a stop to a mass suicide.
3 November Today we devised and led a workshop where we taught basic improv games to some delegates who had come to the college to learn about working with V.I people. We taught Da Da Diddly, and Fortunately Unfortunately, also What Happened to Maria. They seemed interested and had a few questions about the course for us. We then worked in a group to do a restauraunt improv. This improvisation focused on using mime skills.We each had a character trait to impersonate. Mine was a newly redundant character. We had five minutes planning time before starting. We then realised we'd been overthinking so we began. We got our timings well, and worked together well. We then worked in pairs with doctor patient improvs. It helped us to work together, with enough room for dialogue. We also learnt how each other worked. It was good to work with Charlotte and Angel, as I had not worked with them much before.
As part of our Auditions for Actors unit, we used improvisation to learn more about our monologue characters. I found this a particularly useful exercise as it enabled me to make more of a connection to Charlie from 'Keepig Tom Nice' Below is some footage from this activity.
https://youtu.be/P_lpyYCCauI
https://youtu.be/wJKZ9Mzns5U
In this solo improvisation, I explored the space and used mime. I had to express my emotions through muttered speech and clear movement and gesture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOAhyeSht_I&feature=youtu.be
This was a solo improvisation in which I was driving and I shouted at the Sat Nav to shut up. I tried to understand the role of someone who was impatient and someone was late- but it wasn't their fault. I learned that when you are carrying out a solo improvisation and it's up to you to engage the audience. If you falter, it means you're not in character.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSjna2Nv5U0
In this improvisation our group had a disagreement. The blame changed to different people and the emotion changed frequently. Our feedback was that we worked together as a team and were able to switch the emotion well.
https://youtu.be/w0jKHRKyxqc
Callum and I were doing a pairs improvisation. We were really having to listen to each other so that the scene flowed.
11 September. We looked at quite basic improv work this week. In our small groups, we had some very little scenarios to look at. We did an exercise where one person left the room and in a pair, we made a scenario based on an emotion, and the person who left had to guess what the word or emotion was. We had a funeral, a therapy session, and a patient anxious for test results. This helped us to look at what we were trying to convey, and how the audience would feel in response. On THURSDAY, we did scenarios in pairs as there were 5 of us. These pieces were contrasting. Fair example, one person wanted a pet, the other didn't. There were family scenes, friendship ones and school scenes. It really helped to work with a range of people, with different acting styles.I researched Mike Leigh and looked at his work on youtube. He is a very talented director. His actors are fantastic as they work in a team, without corpsing, and with the ability to devise scenes based on anything. 18 September. This week, we continued doing little scenes. We worked in a small group of 3, creating scenarios based on conversations or relevant group ideas. Callum discussed the Mary Rose, so we made a scene about that, with a tour guide, a mother and a bored child. We also did a dispute improv, with a problem of different people wanting to watch different things at a cinema. We also worked on a difficult restraunt customers with conflicting problems. We also did a guessing game where we had to assign someone a character, or real person, and make them guess and imagine themselves in their shoc, in order to work out who was chosen for them. This was quite hard as the spectrum of types of character or real person are so broad. 25 September. This week we were introduced to solo improvs. This was where we focussed on one actor, with a scenario. Mina was a person none alone, hearing a sound at the door, and panicking as it was from the kitchen. My first attempt was with lots of speech, and my second had none. I found that without any speech, I found it hard at to portray what I wanted to, however, apparently my expression and movement was better that way. Too much speech took away from that. In future, I will try to use my body more, and speech a little less, but using a fair mixture. We were introduced to one line improv. We were given a line and one of us had to use it at first, launching in to an improv. WE worked together well on this, as the improv sparked from the line, and we worked together while put on the spot. We needed to be spontaneous and dynamic. 2 October. This week, we advanced the one liners, by only one person knowing what it would be. This stopped us from overthinking, or being able to plan much storyline. We also looked at people in a place with a problem, as this was a basic improv technique that helps you define characters, context and issue for a piece. 14 October. This week we worked on one line improv, in a group of 4. This is very different as this exercise began in a pair, and was increased to 4 people. We also looked at particular scenarios, like people on the edge of a cliff. We had a couple of seconds to plan, but then we began. The topic was so broad that it could lead anywhere, and it actually traveled down the suicide path, and it was interesting for me to put myself in the shoes of some one trying to put a stop to a mass suicide.
3 November Today we devised and led a workshop where we taught basic improv games to some delegates who had come to the college to learn about working with V.I people. We taught Da Da Diddly, and Fortunately Unfortunately, also What Happened to Maria. They seemed interested and had a few questions about the course for us. We then worked in a group to do a restauraunt improv. This improvisation focused on using mime skills.We each had a character trait to impersonate. Mine was a newly redundant character. We had five minutes planning time before starting. We then realised we'd been overthinking so we began. We got our timings well, and worked together well. We then worked in pairs with doctor patient improvs. It helped us to work together, with enough room for dialogue. We also learnt how each other worked. It was good to work with Charlotte and Angel, as I had not worked with them much before.
As part of our Auditions for Actors unit, we used improvisation to learn more about our monologue characters. I found this a particularly useful exercise as it enabled me to make more of a connection to Charlie from 'Keepig Tom Nice' Below is some footage from this activity.
https://youtu.be/P_lpyYCCauI
https://youtu.be/wJKZ9Mzns5U
Tuesday, 27 June 2017
Contrasting monologues
I think my monologues contrasted well. My contemporary character Charlie, from 'Keeping Tom Nice' was confrontational to her parents and was obviously holding in a lot of pent up emotion. There was a lot of scope within this piece to explore anger and sadness and I really enjoyed the challenge of working with these emotions and creating a believable character.
My second monologue came from 'Taming of the Shrew', I was playing the character Katherine. She is confident, outspoken, loud and feisty and quite aggressive with her female counterparts. But she has realised that the way to be with your husband is to support him and not go against him as, ultimately, it will make their life experience so much better if they are living harmoniously.
Here is my final monologue.
https://youtu.be/7Lj2RCMuy0Y
Here is my final taming of the shrew monologue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNdiP3_6gkg&feature=youtu.be
My second monologue came from 'Taming of the Shrew', I was playing the character Katherine. She is confident, outspoken, loud and feisty and quite aggressive with her female counterparts. But she has realised that the way to be with your husband is to support him and not go against him as, ultimately, it will make their life experience so much better if they are living harmoniously.
Here is my final monologue.
https://youtu.be/7Lj2RCMuy0Y
Here is my final taming of the shrew monologue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNdiP3_6gkg&feature=youtu.be
melodic phrases
Below is a link to my youtube account where there is a video of me carrying out my melodic phrases.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC8ccd1H6ZI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC8ccd1H6ZI
Working on and refining audition speeches
2 October. So far I sadly haven't met my current learning target, despite reading through the Piece and practicing it. One good bit of feedback was to not swallow words, and to make the character's anger more real. It doesn't have to be louder, only deeper and more real. 9 October. When I went in jo the class on Thursday, I thought that I had not learnt anything, as it was not staying in my brain. However, Cara gave me one word prompts and I had learnt so much. Sadly, there was no expression but this is okay as I had not fully learnt it, by any means. Since then, I've been reading and practicing the script and I hope by next lesson I will have improved. 7 November. Today I did my monologue about 4 times. I am finally managing to remember all the words, but there are a few areas where I need prompting, mainly in the first bit. We were looking at ways to move the piece forward. From now on, I will use a chair as a prop, to express the character's emotions. For example, I could sit on it, stand behind it, stand beside it. It can be a guide to show the variety of emotions Charlie is showing. I will practica with my chair in my room, so that I can adapt to this kind of technique.
14 November. This week, I kept practising my piece with no script. I used a chair, and practised different positions of my body. I sometimes start sitting and then stand, or sometimes I will go from standing behind the chair, to sitting, to standing in front of the chair. I feel I can express my character very well, and put emotion into the piece. I can understand my character and what she is going through, and I can portray her well. I can also outline her background story. This is good because the more familiar I am, the more natural I will be able to act. I think now, the main target is to focus on remembering those phrases which I mix up a bit.
22 November. This week was very much the same as last week. We were going to do a fake audition interview, as if I was applying to RADA. However, I was not well on Monday so I missed this.
30 November. This week, I did actually carry out my audition interview. I felt very confident as I am good at speaking to people. One thing that was not right was the fact that I leant forward which I shouldn't do. I had to redo the interview as it was accidentally deleted from the flip, and I was able to take these comments on board. I also did my piece again, and I feel that I am almost at performance standard.
22 January: This week, we did character hotseats, where we could ask questions to each other about our characters. I had to explain Charlie's childhood, and I also had to talk about her frustrations with her parents. This put the role into perspective for me. It made me understand what it felt like to be inside my character.
29 January: This week we kept practising our monologues, and we also did an improv based on our characters. We were in a library and at the horse races, and my character, being very modern and quite young for her age, was very eager and asked a lot of characters, as she wants to see the world as the playwrite indicates. as the only modern day character, this was very interesting.
14 February: On 30 January, we were about to go to a theatre in Brecon, where we had a tour of the workspaces, the theatre, and were told a lot about the way it works there. In the afternoon, we were able to do our monologues. I was not nervous, but I deffinately wanted to do my best. I think it went well, and despite the fact that I was in a new space, I navigated very well and as able to manage movement without letting it hinder the power of my words. It was very helpful hearing from Martin, the CEO of the theatre, and seeing his reaction to our pieces. He said mine was emotional and was very well done. I feel that since my first year of the course, my insight into a character, and understanding of the components of a piece have really improved.
15 January: This week we spent most of the time going over our speeches. With mine, we investigated the movements with a chair, and how I could walk in. In this monologue, my character is frustrated and angry, so the way I move is important. I tried moving from the door, and pretending to open and close a door but I found the gesture hard. We also did an interview for Rada, which was useful as it helped us understand how an audition would work. I did my piece, and this was followed up with feedback, such as try to perfect movements.
https://youtu.be/62hkxs34bUI
This was the monologue that I performed at the theatre.
This was the monologue that I performed at the theatre.
Storytelling techniques - final evaluation
6 June. At the end of May we went to Forbury care home to perform our stories. I felt very prepared as I had a braille script, and the sound effects were ready to go. First Callum read his poem, and he read it very well, using a very narrative tone and his rhyming poem was easy to follow. Mikey's story then followed, his was very long and I had to say quite a few lines in his, but it was a very Blytonesque story, and I think the residentS enjoyed it. Finally, I read my story. As we were performino outside, we had to make sure our voices were clear and carried well. I felt my projection was very clear, and I used a lot of internation in my voice, as I had a high voice for Grace and a slightly lower tone for Ted. The sound effects went very well. Usually, with braille readers, the braille script is hard to sight read, but I found that I could fluidly tell my story, with too much faltering. After the stories, although the residents did not properly remember our stories, they seemed happy and pleased. Marsha, who ran part of the story telling project then asked us to tell our own stories, which, although was not part of the work, still helped us to practice clear and well spoken naration.
19 June. Below is my story and final evaluation.
I feel I have gained an understanding of the benefits of a storytelling project on the ararget audience. A lot of people with dementia do not have many memories of their own, as they struggle to remember what happened. A story can provide the sences and imagery to mark a small amment of lucidity for a person. It can also recreate a memory for them, even just for a few seconds, that can make them feel more human. For some, even a smell description, or a farmyard scene, can bring baack nostalgia. Storytelling can also have a calming effect on people, as it can create gentle memories and imagery in someone's mind to distract them from the confusing hum-drum of life especially when people are dealing with memory loss.
I think I applied a range of storytelling techniques. I spoke clearly and with internation, and used slightly different tones for different characters. I also used a dream sequence that was dark and ominous, and I used a more serious tone for this. I differentiated my voice between the reality and the dream to show that there was a difference. I also used sound effects to influence my story, and to create emotion and memory. I used school sounds, farm sounds, and creepy dream music for the nightmare. I also used a waltz track in the end to tie up the story. I read the story slowly enough that it could be heard, but with no pauses that could loose the astention of the spectators. I used a simple writing structure with only two characters to make the story easier to follow, and so the spectators could focus on the words, and hopefully some knowind of memory they could inspire. As I introduced the group, I hoped that the audience were very familiar with my voice and my gentle tone which may have made it easier for them to follow my story. I used soft tones, but at a clear and audible level, so that the spectators had a chance to follow the story if they could.
I feel that I have a strong understanding of the effects my storytelling skills could have on the audience, and the ways it was adapted to fit the audience. I altered the story by simplifying the characters so that there was only two,, which would mean the audience would be able to follow the story more easily. I chose language that was formal, but descriptive, so that it was not too much of a modernised story, I also kept the piece natural and not too elaborate so that the audience could identify with it. If I was writing a piece for young adults about loneliness and being apart from your siblings, I'd talk about emails, texts, maybe certain social media, and might use more modernised vocabulary. However, instead of receiving emails or facebook messages from each other, Grace received letters from Ted, and phone calls, which the audience would have a greater understanding of. I also gathered only stimulai that I received from the group. I hoped that the bird lover would like the sound effects, and the reference to farm animals and birds. I hoped the farmer's wife would like the jam reference as that is what she told me about. I hoped the teacher would relate to the classroom sounds, and the people who were born in Brazil and Germany would like the references to their professions and traditions, for example the German Gingerbread, and the Brazilian language programmes. Some people also described their love for ballroom dancing, which was very periodic at their younger age, so I hoped the waltz would remind them of past memories of dancing. I also made sure the storyline was interesting but not too complex, and the fact that there were only two characters meant that the audience, who all suffered with memory loss, would be able to keep track of what was happening without loosing their train of thought and unfocussing.
Grace wakes up early on a hazy friday morning and gets ready for the day. She heads outside to collect the eggs from her chickens, she has 10 hens, and they'd laid a total of 8 eggs that day. After putting them in the basket, Grace heads over to the cow stall and milks them by hand, she hates the new technology available to farmers' wives like her. She sweeps the yard, feeds all the chickens, sheep, cows and horses, and tends to the crops.
She gets changed out of her farm gear and into her every day clothes, plus her flowery cooking apron. She checks the big slate clock on the wall, it was 11 in the morning already. It was time for 2 hours of jam making, Grace thinks.
In the kitchen, Grace makes a variety of jams, including plum, strawberry, cherry, raspberry, blackberry and a number of marmelades. She would sell some, and the rest, she would give to friends or she'd keep to herself!
As the day grows later and later, Grace completes all her daily duties, and by the time twilight had set in she starts to feel lonely. She wonders how her brother Ted is doing. Was he in Brazil or maybe Germany? He teaches kids, generally abroad. Grace misses him terribly. She wishes he would come home and see her. Maybe at christmas she'd see him again.
Meanwhile, Ted dismisses his class of 14 year olds in Germany. He loves teaching, it was a passion for him. He liked to see youngsters achieve so well each year. He'd spend half the year in Germany, and when summer time dawned, he'd head to Brazil for all of the summer language programmes. This left him very little time to see his Sister, Grace. Grace was 2 years older than Ted, but he'd been the one to fly the nest first. He walks home to his little Bavarian cottage which he shares with his girlfriend, and enters, kicking off his boots, ready to relax for the evening. He gets out his laptop, and gets ready to mark some essays. But instead, he finds himself on a flight finder website. It was time to see Grace.
Grace heard a knock at the door. She called out and then ran to answer. A stoney-faced man waited on the doorstep, clutching a thick letter. He gravely handed it to Grace.
"Sorry ma'am, bad news." Grace ripped open the envelope with quivering hands. It read:
"Dear Mrs Blake. I'm sorry to have to tell you that Ted died suddenly a couple of days ago. I'm so sorry to have to tell you this in writing. I'll send you somethings he'd like you to have. With love, Ted's girlfriend, Anne."
Grace screams and sits upright, she'd obviously fallen asleep on the sofa. She checks the time, 1 am! She hunts around feebly for the letter, the letter that doesn't exist. She sighs with relief and collapses back on to the couch, falling into a deep and unddturbed sleep.
Two weeks later, Grace had not heard from Ted since that terrible nightmare she'd had about his death. She'd phoneed him frequently, both at his address in Germany and in Brazil, to no avail. She began to feel lonelz, anxious and depressed. She even wrote him a few letters, again to each address, in the hopes of a response. It was now Christmas eve. Grace was carrying out her normal every day jobs. She had been given little gifts from her friends for Christmas, but now she was sat at home by the log fire. She pours herself a mold wine and sits on the sofa, feeling sad.
Suddenly, there was a cheerful knocking at the door. Grace rushed to the door, expecting carrollers or charity collectors. Instead, ted was standing there with a small suitcase, and a bouquet of flowers.
Grace screams with delight and embraces her brother, who laughs and hands her the bouquet of flowers, then crushes her in a tight hug.
"Hey, sissy! Missed me?"
Grace began to cry tears of joy. Grabbing her brother's hand, she guided him round the farm, showing him all the animals. When they were done, they sat by the fire and sampled Grace's homemade mince pies, and some of her jams, until Ted produced a delicious german gingerbread house, which they gladly shared. After a while, they started sharing memories, laughing, and just like the olden days, the happy siblings began to waltz cheerfully round the living room, viennese style, while the farm animals made their own chorus out in the snow. Grace decided this was the best Christmas she'd had in a long time, and Ted thought the exact same.
19 June. Below is a copy of the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bm027QFMU0&feature=youtu.be
Monday, 26 June 2017
Responding to a stimulus -story telling
6 March. Today we were given a new stimulus, a delicate black Victorian parasol. And today, we had to write about it, either a story or a description. This is below: Dear diary. I found this parasol in the attic today. In a massive box of nanny's things. Its black as ebony, with a yellowed paper note tied round the handle, the writing almost faded. It read: "To Elsie, with love." I showed it to mum. She said it was one of great-nan Elsie's presents from great-grandad George. And she gave it to nanny when she turned 18, who gave it to mum when she turned 18. She said I had to wait FOUR years, and Then I'd get it! What I don't get is why nan just left it in that big box of old junk, with bric-a-brac, and a random eclectic variety of things. But this was special. In four years, I'll buy a glass case for it, and put it up on the wall, somewhere we can see it and think of our ancestry. Maybe I could find some of nan's precious things, and mums, and eventually mine, and fill the case with our familys' special items, to be kept forever. We can collect things, stuff from our daughters, our daughters' daughters, to become a tradition, continuing in to eternity. And maybe, one day some archaeologist in the year 3000 will dig it up, find out about us, and discover the secrets of over a millenium. We'll be history... Well, our own private family history anyway. All that matters is we'll be remembered by those who matter most, the unborn children of centuries to come, those who'll map out our family tree.
This week we were given a music stimulus, a piece by Vaughan Williams called 'The Lark Ascending' that we had to write about. It was only supposed to be notes but in five minutes I wrote this: A bird flies through the sky. Its wings flutter. It is the bird that symbolises life. Sometimes we swoop up high, over mountains, over the sea, in to the clouds of inspiration and joy. We might fly over European lakes, through to Asian mountains, and over the African planes. Sometimes our wings touch the top of the trees, and sample what is there. The fruit of love, seeds of wisdom, the lush green leaves of tranquility. Sometimes a bird has to spread its wings and fly with confidence. We all take our first wobbly step, in to something new. Friendship, other relationships, a hobby or a goal. Birds get pushed off of cliff faces, by their bigger friends, in hope they'll find confidence. Sometimes we dive deep in to the water, to find fishes, when we are deep and in despair, looking to find hope. We hide in the reeds looking for new beginnings to spring up. This is life in colour. Good and bad right and wrong, and good and bad times.
Researching storytelling
Later that day we met with Marsha, the Fosbury care home project leader. Here is the footage of our chat with her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9xLojeXn9g&feature=youtu.be]
We discussed what we could do or bring to the home, such as music scents, materials and objects, also performances. However I just wanted to talk and gain insight on what the home was like. Later this week, we went to the care home and met lots of interesting people. It was very interesting, as the6e ware a lot of sound effects like murmuring, counting, quiet conversations, and a lot of unidentifiable sounds. I spoke to some people, some lucid while others were aware. Some people were joking and cheerful, some seemed lonely, others were quiet. Some of them just wanted to talk. Cara played some old songs which they responded well to. We did our monologues and they seemed very interested which is a very good moing experience, as they would rarely have access to performances. I am very happy with my first visit and will look forward to more person to person conversations.
8 March. Research: Below are some music and sound stimulases that may be helpful to the people in Forbury, as they may bring back memories for them. There are songs from world war 2 and some sounds that might make their memory jog.
Pack up your troubles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKXi7zOtqhs&list=PL65C4677E716E1232
Door closing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U54G6obOSQI
Cooking sound effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWmUR9WzxvY
Street sound effects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIfVKpKFgyo
School sound effets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApYyTBsn2K0 This is long but could bring back childhood memories
Fireplace sounds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fYL_qiDYf0
Breakfast and morning sounds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj-OkRdgUKw 12 March. On Thursday, I went again to Forbury care home. This time, Marsha was not there, but we met the activities coordinators Tom and Emma. We sat, spaced out amount the residents, and talked with them about their lives. We did prepare a questionnaire, but I wanted to see what I could learn from them without directing the conversation too much. I spoke to Edna, Kay, and Paddy, all who lived fairly locally before coming to Fororbury. I picked up a lot from speaking to them. None of them were very lucid, but I discovered that Edna liked birds, and Paddy "Short for Patricia)used to be a farmer's wife.I also had snapshot conversations that were very short and in detailed with Mary (who used to teach), and Eric (who was from Brazil.) I had to begin thinking about my story. I think that I will take them on a written journey that collaborates everything I've been told using words and sound effects. I did not get individual stories from people, as I could not keep them focussed for long enough, but together I have enough to be able to tell a very interesting story with a combination of facts about them. I am looking forward to creating this, and performing it to them when it is complete.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9xLojeXn9g&feature=youtu.be]
We discussed what we could do or bring to the home, such as music scents, materials and objects, also performances. However I just wanted to talk and gain insight on what the home was like. Later this week, we went to the care home and met lots of interesting people. It was very interesting, as the6e ware a lot of sound effects like murmuring, counting, quiet conversations, and a lot of unidentifiable sounds. I spoke to some people, some lucid while others were aware. Some people were joking and cheerful, some seemed lonely, others were quiet. Some of them just wanted to talk. Cara played some old songs which they responded well to. We did our monologues and they seemed very interested which is a very good moing experience, as they would rarely have access to performances. I am very happy with my first visit and will look forward to more person to person conversations.
8 March. Research: Below are some music and sound stimulases that may be helpful to the people in Forbury, as they may bring back memories for them. There are songs from world war 2 and some sounds that might make their memory jog.
Pack up your troubles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKXi7zOtqhs&list=PL65C4677E716E1232
Door closing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U54G6obOSQI
Cooking sound effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWmUR9WzxvY
Street sound effects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIfVKpKFgyo
School sound effets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApYyTBsn2K0 This is long but could bring back childhood memories
Fireplace sounds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fYL_qiDYf0
Breakfast and morning sounds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj-OkRdgUKw 12 March. On Thursday, I went again to Forbury care home. This time, Marsha was not there, but we met the activities coordinators Tom and Emma. We sat, spaced out amount the residents, and talked with them about their lives. We did prepare a questionnaire, but I wanted to see what I could learn from them without directing the conversation too much. I spoke to Edna, Kay, and Paddy, all who lived fairly locally before coming to Fororbury. I picked up a lot from speaking to them. None of them were very lucid, but I discovered that Edna liked birds, and Paddy "Short for Patricia)used to be a farmer's wife.I also had snapshot conversations that were very short and in detailed with Mary (who used to teach), and Eric (who was from Brazil.) I had to begin thinking about my story. I think that I will take them on a written journey that collaborates everything I've been told using words and sound effects. I did not get individual stories from people, as I could not keep them focussed for long enough, but together I have enough to be able to tell a very interesting story with a combination of facts about them. I am looking forward to creating this, and performing it to them when it is complete.
Improv evidence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSjna2Nv5U0
In this improvisation our group had a disagreement. The blame changed to different people and the emotion changed frequently. Our feedback was that we worked together as a team and were able to switch the emotion well.
https://youtu.be/QU2zzd4EXH8
This improvisation involved swapping roles mid way through the piece. In this improvisation I had to carefull examine the role I was playing so that it could be easily replicated by the person that took my role over.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipFIif2jbgg&t=99s
Again, another role swap where two people started the scene then half way through two other people came in and took over the scene. My aim was to make sure that any one who copied me, could easily mimic my character.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nExZIVpnu_s
In this improvisation we were responding to a one line stimulus.
I thought there was blood on Callum's shirt but it was actually ketchup. However, they made me believe a made up story as I wouldn't listen to them saying it was ketchup. I had to be persuasive but also a little gullible. It was a successful improvisation because the others were leading me astray.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqPt0OZHTow&feature=youtu.be
In this improvisation I had a headache and was walking slowly and in pain. Callum was refusing to help. I changed the way I was walking to reflect the mood I was in. When Callum was being lazy and arguing with me I was having to stay in my role and retort.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64GG7uAz0qs&feature=youtu.be
In this improv, we practiced being a third person walking into the scene and changing the dynamics. When Mikey came in and changed the plot line, Emily and I had to respond to this in a believable way. I was able to stay in character, despite the drastic change of pace and emotion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2hPp7Gux7s&feature=youtu.be
In this solo improvisation, I explored the space and used mime. I had to express my emotions through muttered speech and clear movement and gesture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOAhyeSht_I&feature=youtu.be
This was a solo improvisation in which I was driving and I shouted at the Sat Nav to shut up. I tried to understand the role of someone who was impatient and someone was late- but it wasn't their fault. I learned that when you are carrying out a solo improvisation and it's up to you to engage the audience. If you falter, it means you're not in character.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tPBNHwB-TI
This was a good experience for me as I had to multi - role as none else volunteered to take roles as the improvisation developed. I played a male role and an angry and unpleasant role. I had to dance with Angel and use a deeper voice. Feedback I received was that I was spontaneous and seized opportunities as and when they presented themselves.
https://youtu.be/w0jKHRKyxqc
Callum and I were doing a pairs improvisation. We were really having to listen to each other so that the scene flowed.
choosing appropriate material for performance
11 September.
Today, I was given an outline for the unit and what I had to do to complete it. The first thing I had to do is think about selecting songs to fit into a programme for a show. For example, a mixture of solos and duets, fast and slow pieces and some group numbers which will include harmony and individual lines. I will also have to carry out some melodic phrase tests as well as carrying out a regular practice routine including singing scales and technical exercises.
This week, we reviewed technical exercises like major and minor scale, arpeggio, and va va va va vee vee vee vee. This reminded us of the ways to warm up, or prepare for a singing performance. This öeek, we just talked in a group about the singing performance, our group songs, and amy further ideas. We didn't get anywhere this week, as there were a lot of mixed conflicting ideas that we hd to discuss. We established that we needed solos, maybe duets and a group piece or two. 18 September. For most of this week, we continued to talk about pieces. We worked out that Groove is in the Heart would make a good group piece. We all liked Madness too, so Baggy TROUSERS was chosen. A popular choice was the 80s track Africa, which I don't really know. I thought about doing feed the birds from Mary Poppins but I'm not sure. 25 September. We have sung through the choruses of Baggy Trousers, while some people struggled, I managed to keep up. I also had a brief look at the rap in Groove is in the Heart, as we decided I'D do it. I decided to scrap the Mary Poppins idea and do Colours of the Wind from Pocahontas. Emily liked a lady gaga song, Callum liked a Michael Buble song, and we were all happy with the songs. However, some people wanted to do all the songs pre recorded, as in not live. I disagreed, feeling like I öould not feel proud of a pre recorded piece. 2 October. We've given a few of the songs a go. Groove is in the HEart is fun, but hard. People were sceptical about baggy trousers, but I liked it. I am starting to get used to Africa, as I previousé didn't know it. 13 October. We had a good look at Africa this week, as Cara needed to learn the piano tune for it, aid we needed to look at it. I also sang colours of the wind. My voice is richer and more tuneful than last year. As a second song, I've chosen je veux which is in French. I showed Cara the tune and she is happy with it as a piece for me. We also pre recorded Seasons of love, a song from last year, in the media rooms. Shia was a strange experience for me as I'm not a musician or media student. We will use this as a musical interlude in a celebration for achievement event in November. 31 October. We began by starting work on melodic phrases. I found one bar phrases easy to repeat, but two bars is harder As there is more to remember. I also managed to work out, during another exercise, which note was coming next and what key ^major or minorä a bar was in. I also identified the number of keys in a note. I am pleased with my work on this, but there is more to be done. I did my solo and was told my voice had changed and improved again. We then worked on the noses in my piece, as I don't always take enough breath before a long, very high note. This causes me to frown, and causes headaches. We are going to continue working on this so I can prevent this, and make the note stronger. 3 November Today I practised my new song, Je Veux, by Zak. It is a FRENCH song, and is very upbeat and lively compared with colours of the wind. I have mislaid my lyrics unfortunately, but I will retape them. 7 November. Today, I practised Je veux properly, at the right speed. I think my first attempt was very successful. I found the right pace, and I can now look at the lyrics properly.The only thing I must do is make sure I don't loose words. As it is a French song, I have to learn how to shorten, or make the words fit in to the tune and the line, like in English we would do gonna instead of going to. 10 November. Today I spenta lot of time on singing. Cara helped with my rap, for groove is in the heart, all is positive with this but the timings rare hard for some words. Also, my solo in french, Je veux needed some work. I have got better at not rushing le swallowing words, and the melody and sound of the song has also improved. Also, for one course, there's an almost aca pela moment, and we have adjusted when this will be. Instead of the third chorus, it will be the second, followed by a jolly one to end. 14 September. Today I mainly worked on my songwhich was very productive because we changed the entire pace of je veux to make it jazzy and more French. This would also stop me from swallowing my words and I can work on my diction even in the French language. The key for colours of the wind changed from a c to a b so that I can hit the higher notes in a more tuneful way and it would suit my voice range better. as it sounds jazzier and I can properly properly speak the French words with a lot of diction. I have tried to sing without a sheetoflyricswhichwas difficult however I have learnt the whole chorus off by heart. In colours of the wind I am still struggling to hit a couple of high notes. We are considering a way of making the notes more approachable and achievable for me. 22 November. Unfortunately for part of the weeek I was ill so I missed Momday's lecture. On Tuesday, I was able to look at my solos again. In colours of the wind we changed the key to a b I think I am making a fair bit of progression this area. We have slowed down the speed of je veux As there isa lot の あの Colours the wind. I have managed to master the velocity, but one note is difficult for me, and we may adjust the key. However, I have been able to look at
Today, I was given an outline for the unit and what I had to do to complete it. The first thing I had to do is think about selecting songs to fit into a programme for a show. For example, a mixture of solos and duets, fast and slow pieces and some group numbers which will include harmony and individual lines. I will also have to carry out some melodic phrase tests as well as carrying out a regular practice routine including singing scales and technical exercises.
This week, we reviewed technical exercises like major and minor scale, arpeggio, and va va va va vee vee vee vee. This reminded us of the ways to warm up, or prepare for a singing performance. This öeek, we just talked in a group about the singing performance, our group songs, and amy further ideas. We didn't get anywhere this week, as there were a lot of mixed conflicting ideas that we hd to discuss. We established that we needed solos, maybe duets and a group piece or two. 18 September. For most of this week, we continued to talk about pieces. We worked out that Groove is in the Heart would make a good group piece. We all liked Madness too, so Baggy TROUSERS was chosen. A popular choice was the 80s track Africa, which I don't really know. I thought about doing feed the birds from Mary Poppins but I'm not sure. 25 September. We have sung through the choruses of Baggy Trousers, while some people struggled, I managed to keep up. I also had a brief look at the rap in Groove is in the Heart, as we decided I'D do it. I decided to scrap the Mary Poppins idea and do Colours of the Wind from Pocahontas. Emily liked a lady gaga song, Callum liked a Michael Buble song, and we were all happy with the songs. However, some people wanted to do all the songs pre recorded, as in not live. I disagreed, feeling like I öould not feel proud of a pre recorded piece. 2 October. We've given a few of the songs a go. Groove is in the HEart is fun, but hard. People were sceptical about baggy trousers, but I liked it. I am starting to get used to Africa, as I previousé didn't know it. 13 October. We had a good look at Africa this week, as Cara needed to learn the piano tune for it, aid we needed to look at it. I also sang colours of the wind. My voice is richer and more tuneful than last year. As a second song, I've chosen je veux which is in French. I showed Cara the tune and she is happy with it as a piece for me. We also pre recorded Seasons of love, a song from last year, in the media rooms. Shia was a strange experience for me as I'm not a musician or media student. We will use this as a musical interlude in a celebration for achievement event in November. 31 October. We began by starting work on melodic phrases. I found one bar phrases easy to repeat, but two bars is harder As there is more to remember. I also managed to work out, during another exercise, which note was coming next and what key ^major or minorä a bar was in. I also identified the number of keys in a note. I am pleased with my work on this, but there is more to be done. I did my solo and was told my voice had changed and improved again. We then worked on the noses in my piece, as I don't always take enough breath before a long, very high note. This causes me to frown, and causes headaches. We are going to continue working on this so I can prevent this, and make the note stronger. 3 November Today I practised my new song, Je Veux, by Zak. It is a FRENCH song, and is very upbeat and lively compared with colours of the wind. I have mislaid my lyrics unfortunately, but I will retape them. 7 November. Today, I practised Je veux properly, at the right speed. I think my first attempt was very successful. I found the right pace, and I can now look at the lyrics properly.The only thing I must do is make sure I don't loose words. As it is a French song, I have to learn how to shorten, or make the words fit in to the tune and the line, like in English we would do gonna instead of going to. 10 November. Today I spenta lot of time on singing. Cara helped with my rap, for groove is in the heart, all is positive with this but the timings rare hard for some words. Also, my solo in french, Je veux needed some work. I have got better at not rushing le swallowing words, and the melody and sound of the song has also improved. Also, for one course, there's an almost aca pela moment, and we have adjusted when this will be. Instead of the third chorus, it will be the second, followed by a jolly one to end. 14 September. Today I mainly worked on my songwhich was very productive because we changed the entire pace of je veux to make it jazzy and more French. This would also stop me from swallowing my words and I can work on my diction even in the French language. The key for colours of the wind changed from a c to a b so that I can hit the higher notes in a more tuneful way and it would suit my voice range better. as it sounds jazzier and I can properly properly speak the French words with a lot of diction. I have tried to sing without a sheetoflyricswhichwas difficult however I have learnt the whole chorus off by heart. In colours of the wind I am still struggling to hit a couple of high notes. We are considering a way of making the notes more approachable and achievable for me. 22 November. Unfortunately for part of the weeek I was ill so I missed Momday's lecture. On Tuesday, I was able to look at my solos again. In colours of the wind we changed the key to a b I think I am making a fair bit of progression this area. We have slowed down the speed of je veux As there isa lot の あの Colours the wind. I have managed to master the velocity, but one note is difficult for me, and we may adjust the key. However, I have been able to look at
14 November. This Week i mainly focussed my solo
songs. I changed the speed and accompany
of my song Je Veux, to make it jazzier and slower. This meant that I could sing the individual
lyrics more easily, which can be hard in French. In my other song, Colours of the wind, I
changed the key from C to B. This helped
as I struggled to meet some of the higher notes. Also the key fits my vocal range. I am pleased that I was able to make good
adjustments to my singing to make it easier for myself. Here is a video of me practicing my solo Colours of the Wind
https://youtu.be/2A-8WcC6_Pc
songs. I changed the speed and accompany
of my song Je Veux, to make it jazzier and slower. This meant that I could sing the individual
lyrics more easily, which can be hard in French. In my other song, Colours of the wind, I
changed the key from C to B. This helped
as I struggled to meet some of the higher notes. Also the key fits my vocal range. I am pleased that I was able to make good
adjustments to my singing to make it easier for myself. Here is a video of me practicing my solo Colours of the Wind
22 November. Unfortunately
I missed one of this week's lessons. This was the lesson when the group made the final decision about the songs to be included in the performance. We had 10 songs, 6 will be pre-recorded with a view to creating pop videos to go with them. Four will be sung live and all of the pieces will be live streamed. The focus for the performance will therefore not be to produce a live performance, rather pre-recorded with a live element. I didn't like the idea of pre-recording the pieces, I like the idea of performing on a stage and feeling the adrenaline of singing my best. When we record something, we can do it again but when it's live you only have one chance to do well.
The list of songs for inclusion is as follows:
Africa - group- studio
Groove is in the Heart - group - live
I see the Light -duet - studio Em and Cal
We are Family - group - live
Colours of the Wind- studio my solo
No Floods - studio - Emily
Hallelujah - live Callum solo
Can you Feel it - studio - solo Cal
Je Veux - live my contrasting solo
Own Composition - live - Mikey
This isn't the running order of the show, just a list of how we are going to present the songs.
I did however get the chance to sing through my solos on Tuesday,
without a word sheet. Although I still
struggle to remember a lot, I am making slow progress. I am still happy with the adjustments I made
to my solos, and I think this kind of change has helped with my singing skills
as I was able to enhance them by tailoring them to me.
I missed one of this week's lessons. This was the lesson when the group made the final decision about the songs to be included in the performance. We had 10 songs, 6 will be pre-recorded with a view to creating pop videos to go with them. Four will be sung live and all of the pieces will be live streamed. The focus for the performance will therefore not be to produce a live performance, rather pre-recorded with a live element. I didn't like the idea of pre-recording the pieces, I like the idea of performing on a stage and feeling the adrenaline of singing my best. When we record something, we can do it again but when it's live you only have one chance to do well.
The list of songs for inclusion is as follows:
Africa - group- studio
Groove is in the Heart - group - live
I see the Light -duet - studio Em and Cal
We are Family - group - live
Colours of the Wind- studio my solo
No Floods - studio - Emily
Hallelujah - live Callum solo
Can you Feel it - studio - solo Cal
Je Veux - live my contrasting solo
Own Composition - live - Mikey
This isn't the running order of the show, just a list of how we are going to present the songs.
I did however get the chance to sing through my solos on Tuesday,
without a word sheet. Although I still
struggle to remember a lot, I am making slow progress. I am still happy with the adjustments I made
to my solos, and I think this kind of change has helped with my singing skills
as I was able to enhance them by tailoring them to me.
Singing performance
Here is a link to the singing performance. I am very happy with this performance. I was unfortunately feeling rather unwell that daybut I managed to translate very competently in French. I also felt confident that I was loud, clear, and I faced the audience. I also felt that having a floor mic really helped, I could tell where it is, but I could still gesture and move without worrying about the sound travelling. I unfortunately sounded like I was out of breath during the songs, but I was confident with the words, and with my overall performance. I also took part in the ensemble pieces, with my own line in We are Family. Apart from a tiny tuning issue I felt confident with our group song. Unfortunately we could not live stream the pre recorded performance, but I feel that we still carried out a successful, tuneful, and harmonised performance. I unfortunately sang the wrong line at one point, but I am pleased with it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNheDgolR-s&t=326s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNheDgolR-s&t=326s
Following a regular practice routine- term 1
11 September. This week, we reviewed technical exercises like major and minor scale, arpeggio, and va va va va vee vee vee vee. This reminded us of the ways to warm up, or prepare for a singing performance. This öeek, we just talked in a group about the singing performance, our group songs, and amy further ideas. We didn't get anywhere this week, as there were a lot of mixed conflicting ideas that we hd to discuss. We established that we needed solos, maybe duets and a group piece or two. 18 September. For most of this week, we continued to talk about pieces. We worked out that Groove is in the Heart would make a good group piece. We all liked Madness too, so Baggy TROUSERS was chosen. A popular choice was the 80s track Africa, which I don't really know. I thought about doing feed the birds from Mary Poppins but I'm not sure. 25 September. We have sung through the choruses of Baggy Trousers, while some people struggled, I managed to keep up. I also had a brief look at the rap in Groove is in the Heart, as we decided I'D do it. I decided to scrap the Mary Poppins idea and do Colours of the Wind from Pocahontas. Emily liked a lady gaga song, Callum liked a Michael Buble song, and we were all happy with the songs. However, some people wanted to do all the songs pre recorded, as in not live. I disagreed, feeling like I öould not feel proud of a pre recorded piece. 2 October. We've given a few of the songs a go. Groove is in the HEart is fun, but hard. People were sceptical about baggy trousers, but I liked it. I am starting to get used to Africa, as I previousé didn't know it. 13 October. We had a good look at Africa this week, as Cara needed to learn the piano tune for it, aid we needed to look at it. I also sang colours of the wind. My voice is richer and more tuneful than last year. As a second song, I've chosen je veux which is in French. I showed Cara the tune and she is happy with it as a piece for me. We also pre recorded Seasons of love, a song from last year, in the media rooms. Shia was a strange experience for me as I'm not a musician or media student. We will use this as a musical interlude in a celebration for achievement event in November. 31 October. We began by starting work on melodic phrases. I found one bar phrases easy to repeat, but two bars is harder As there is more to remember. I also managed to work out, during another exercise, which note was coming next and what key ^major or minorä a bar was in. I also identified the number of keys in a note. I am pleased with my work on this, but there is more to be done. I did my solo and was told my voice had changed and improved again. We then worked on the noses in my piece, as I don't always take enough breath before a long, very high note. This causes me to frown, and causes headaches. We are going to continue working on this so I can prevent this, and make the note stronger. 3 November Today I practised my new song, Je Veux, by Zak. It is a FRENCH song, and is very upbeat and lively compared with colours of the wind. I have mislaid my lyrics unfortunately, but I will retape them. 7 November. Today, I practised Je veux properly, at the right speed. I think my first attempt was very successful. I found the right pace, and I can now look at the lyrics properly.The only thing I must do is make sure I don't loose words. As it is a French song, I have to learn how to shorten, or make the words fit in to the tune and the line, like in English we would do gonna instead of going to. 10 November. Today I spenta lot of time on singing. Cara helped with my rap, for groove is in the heart, all is positive with this but the timings rare hard for some words. Also, my solo in french, Je veux needed some work. I have got better at not rushing le swallowing words, and the melody and sound of the song has also improved. Also, for one course, there's an almost aca pela moment, and we have adjusted when this will be. Instead of the third chorus, it will be the second, followed by a jolly one to end. 14 September. Today I mainly worked on my songwhich was very productive because we changed the entire pace of je veux to make it jazzy and more French. This would also stop me from swallowing my words and I can work on my diction even in the French language. The key for colours of the wind changed from a c to a b so that I can hit the higher notes in a more tuneful way and it would suit my voice range better. as it sounds jazzier and I can properly properly speak the French words with a lot of diction. I have tried to sing without a sheetoflyricswhichwas difficult however I have learnt the whole chorus off by heart. In colours of the wind I am still struggling to hit a couple of high notes. We are considering a way of making the notes more approachable and achievable for me. 22 November. Unfortunately for part of the weeek I was ill so I missed Momday's lecture. On Tuesday, I was able to look at my solos again. In colours of the wind we changed the key to a b I think I am making a fair bit of progression this area. We have slowed down the speed of je veux As there isa lot の あの Colours the wind. I have managed to master the velocity, but one note is difficult for me, and we may adjust the key. However, I have been able to look at
14 November. This Week i mainly focussed my solo
songs. I changed the speed and accompany
of my song Je Veux, to make it jazzier and slower. This meant that I could sing the individual
lyrics more easily, which can be hard in French. In my other song, Colours of the wind, I
changed the key from C to B. This helped
as I struggled to meet some of the higher notes. Also the key fits my vocal range. I am pleased that I was able to make good
adjustments to my singing to make it easier for myself. Here is a video of me practicing my solo Colours of the Wind
https://youtu.be/2A-8WcC6_Pc
songs. I changed the speed and accompany
of my song Je Veux, to make it jazzier and slower. This meant that I could sing the individual
lyrics more easily, which can be hard in French. In my other song, Colours of the wind, I
changed the key from C to B. This helped
as I struggled to meet some of the higher notes. Also the key fits my vocal range. I am pleased that I was able to make good
adjustments to my singing to make it easier for myself. Here is a video of me practicing my solo Colours of the Wind
Working on harmony and melody lines
5 March: Working on harmony and melody lines
This week, we practiced all the live songs. In particular I worked on Je Veux, which went very well but Cara had to record it so that she could remember my particular arrangement. Also I accidentally rearranged a few of the words so I need to work on the lines that went wrong. We worked on Groove is in the heart, and we are family, which were fine apart from I slipped up on the words in groove, and some people didn't know their lines in family. In 'We are Family' each person had to learn two lines of the verse and then sing the chorus's all together in unison. My two lines came before the first chorus and I found it easy to remember them, however, when you are singing small parts on your own, it can be difficult when others are not loud enough or don't know their lines as you are relying on them for the flow of the piece.
Since then, I have been practicing my lines and securing my own parts.
12 March. This week my throat was very sore so I tried to sing my solo but could not really manage very well. I did sing my parts in group songs, and reaffirmed a couple of words I had forgotten, for example, I needed to remember "Your groove I do deeply dig." I also helped during we are family as some people found it hard to remember their lines, and others sang quite quietly. Hopefully, next week, my throat will no longer be sore and I can practice my solo. I feel fairly happy with it but again, there are some words I keep forgetting. However, I do feel very confident with my parts in our show, one step beyond. 1
9 March. This week we practiced our songs, and decided we'd do all of them live when we perform for the French students. It was hard rehearsing colours of the wind after so long not practicing due to thinking we would be using the recording. I will continue to practice my lyrics until the performance.
We are going to include a recorded piece in the live show as well. This is Africa, which we have spent a long time on in the studio refining the harmonies. I found the fact that we recorded 'Africa' quite challenging. As we weren't working as a whole group at the same time. This meant that I could not differentiate my part from others on the recording as easily. When we originally practiced the parts for Africa, we were put into voice range groups. This is challenging as although you are in the same harmony group, everyone's voice range is slightly different. I would have preferred to have been in a group with someone with a lower harmony as I feel this would make it easier for me to pitch higher than that person.
Overall, I learn harmonies by repetition and it can also help listening to the piano playing the tune rather than the original song recorded by the artist.
This week, we practiced all the live songs. In particular I worked on Je Veux, which went very well but Cara had to record it so that she could remember my particular arrangement. Also I accidentally rearranged a few of the words so I need to work on the lines that went wrong. We worked on Groove is in the heart, and we are family, which were fine apart from I slipped up on the words in groove, and some people didn't know their lines in family. In 'We are Family' each person had to learn two lines of the verse and then sing the chorus's all together in unison. My two lines came before the first chorus and I found it easy to remember them, however, when you are singing small parts on your own, it can be difficult when others are not loud enough or don't know their lines as you are relying on them for the flow of the piece.
Since then, I have been practicing my lines and securing my own parts.
12 March. This week my throat was very sore so I tried to sing my solo but could not really manage very well. I did sing my parts in group songs, and reaffirmed a couple of words I had forgotten, for example, I needed to remember "Your groove I do deeply dig." I also helped during we are family as some people found it hard to remember their lines, and others sang quite quietly. Hopefully, next week, my throat will no longer be sore and I can practice my solo. I feel fairly happy with it but again, there are some words I keep forgetting. However, I do feel very confident with my parts in our show, one step beyond. 1
9 March. This week we practiced our songs, and decided we'd do all of them live when we perform for the French students. It was hard rehearsing colours of the wind after so long not practicing due to thinking we would be using the recording. I will continue to practice my lyrics until the performance.
We are going to include a recorded piece in the live show as well. This is Africa, which we have spent a long time on in the studio refining the harmonies. I found the fact that we recorded 'Africa' quite challenging. As we weren't working as a whole group at the same time. This meant that I could not differentiate my part from others on the recording as easily. When we originally practiced the parts for Africa, we were put into voice range groups. This is challenging as although you are in the same harmony group, everyone's voice range is slightly different. I would have preferred to have been in a group with someone with a lower harmony as I feel this would make it easier for me to pitch higher than that person.
Overall, I learn harmonies by repetition and it can also help listening to the piano playing the tune rather than the original song recorded by the artist.
Singing techniques
18 September This week, we refreshed our memory on singing warmups. We nid a note on la, our pitch rising to a crescendo at the end of each scale. We then moved on to a harmonic minor, sung on va, in a minor key, with the pitch descending. Our arpeggio exeercise was "I am on top of the world." Finally, we moved on to our technical exercise, Va va va va vee vee vee vee. It is helpful as the pace can increase, and it is useful for breathing. During this week's singing lecture, we began to discuss ideas for our signing performance. We discussed making some pop videos, and performing some pieces live. There will be a mixture of solos, duets, group songs, live performances and videos. We discussed a few ideas for group songs, like Africa by Toto, but no decisions were actually made. I found that I was a little frustrated as we went round in circles, but I understand that it takes a while to plan a show and pick pieces that we were comfortable with. We listened to our ideas, talked about them, and could even help by advising each other on a good song choice. One thing that people were mixed about was live and performed/pedre recorded pieces. I really want to do my pieces live, as I think I would feel a little disappointed, as for me, part of learning lines and putting energy in to a song is truly performing, not just recording in a booth where I'm not myself. 25 SEPTEMBER This week, I made one of my choices for a solo song. I chose a song from Pocahontas, colours of the wind, as I feel it is powerful, paints imagery and is a challenge for me as I have never approached this type of song before. We also picked Africa by Toto as a deffinate, a popular choice for many. Cara suggested groove is in the heart, and we all agreed to do it. I will do the verses. The third group piece is Baggy trousers, by madness. Our group show name will be one step beyond, also based on Madness. We decided to practice one of the songs, and everyone picked Africa. Although I like the song, I didn't have the braille lyrics so it was hard for me to actually sing. 2 October On Monday we had a big group chat about our pieces. Some people were confused about the briefing. Finding that it was flexible, everyone deliberated about the nature of the show. Not everyone wanted to perform, they preferred the pop video plan. I however, thought that although pop videos are clever and could work, the course is of a performing nature and and I want to do it properly. Apparently, I may have to do one solo on a recording, which disappoints me. On Thursday, we revisited last year's rent song for the celebration of achievement ceremony. They wanted musical interludes, so we worked on the song. It worked well as most people knew the words, so we sang quite comfortably together. However, one person did not want to sing which was disappointing and not good for the team. We also had a look at Groove is in the Heart, and it was also successful. Cara showed me the rap part of the song, and after some practice I will perform it. I am deliberating doing a French song for my other piece, as I speak and study French.
Tuesday, 20 June 2017
Dance rehearsal updates
14 March. Recently we have been planning our dance
show, and the plot line, tying it together.
The first thing to do was to practice the line dancing, as our western
theme was going to include line dancing amongst other types of dance. We looked at a track from footloose which was
very fast, and would include faster versions of the regular line dances we did
like boot scootin boogie. I found it
hard to follow as it was quicker, I just about managed to learn the boot
cmootin boogie, and the heel tap toosh-push, but I could not manage the
chacha. I will work on it and hopefully
I can make some progress.
11 April. Recently we have been working on our final
project. We have been looking at the
line dancing, and inparticular for me, the boot scootin boogie track. We have decided that I would be better to
dance the slower line dance than the quicker foot loose track, as it would be
easier for me to learn and carry out the steps confidently. We also have been looking at ballroom dancing
again, as for our show, which is about Callum entering town as a kind of rogue
and wooing some women until someone kills him for what he'd done, needed to
include some slower and more elefant dance.
We decided that I would do the waltz as I found that easier, and as
Emily missed the waltz classes, she would do the quick step. We have also slightly touched on America, the
track in West Side story which is more of a musical theatre piece. We have devised a solo sequence for me, as
the angry character who was worried about the other girls. It is quite a
simple dance, but I feel I can perform it well, as it is a lot of center
stage mime and movement. When the group
enter, the speed kicks off and I have not properly looked at that yet as it is
very confusing.
28 April. We have been continuing to rehearse for the
show. We have been looking a little more
at the rest of the West Side Story song.
As the chorus starts, we begin a turn across the stage which I found
hard, but I have been shown how to step easily across the stage and then back
to my start position. We have also been
working on the Waltz, which is slowly improving, although I abbw worry about
standing on my own, and Callum's feet.
We have not yet looked at the final tango, which was when we will kill
Callum, from Chicago. We have also continued
studying the line dance, which I am gradually feeling more comfortable
with. We have decided to cut out the
chacha, and to only focus on the boot scootin boogie and the toosh push.
27 May. The show is fast aproaching, and I am not
quite confident yet. I feel happy with
the West side story track now, as most of my movements are centre stage, but
when I cross the stage I am moving at an easy and comfortable pace, and I do
not have the fast fight scene which we were looking at before. The waltz has improved, as we have mastered
the corners which we found very hard to cross efficently. I am still happy with the line dancing. My only worry is so we have not studied the final piece properly yet, as the group practiced
while I traveled home for the holidays.
I think we have a week of classes before the show so I am sure the
running order and the flow of dance, and the final piece, will work out
well. The changes were partly because
Callum is no longer a "baddie" so we had to change the final
storyline. But I am sure we will pull it
together as the class should know the song we will be working on, and hopefully
can show me.
Here is a few photos taken during the rehearsal process.
Here is a few photos taken during the rehearsal process.
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