LIEF MACIAS- ENTRY TWO

What have we done so far?

At the beginning of the rehearsal, we went to see the location where we will be performing our Final Major Project. This was really helpful in seeing how we as performers can work within the space, and how the space could look visually, where our audience will be seated or stood, how much of a space we have for our physical work compared to the rehearsal space we are using within college.  Therefore it was really exciting as this gave instant ideas as to how our performance space will look.

We had new ideas such as having a long operating desk the length of the performance space, where the operators will be sat with each of the equipment needed such as laptops, lighting, sound and other things such as our scripts and props to be laid. This was great because it made the operators more visual and involved, by having them centre of the stage and in front of us; this made sense as to having the idea of “Control” and the recreation of making “The Shining”, with the white dance floor in the middle of the space in front of a massive projector where our film will be playing live.

We also managed to decide on how many performances we were able to do and how many would be appropriate, as the location is able to seat 60 or more people, which is a lot more than we would be able to have within college, therefore we decided on doing three to four performances, as it would be filled and therefore we wouldn’t need to perform to many times.

Through recapping over each of the scenes made, we were able to move on to the next three new scenes, where we also had to come up with new gestures of each individual scene, playing them together, in order to create a physical piece with the use of “fast and slow”, “Big and small”, “Repetitive” and “Percentages”. This was a lot easier this time as we had done it once before, therefore we knew what was expected from us and we were much faster in creating our movements.  I felt like the music was also really helpful to work along-side to, as it set a certain atmosphere and mood. It made me feel an urge to move and work, the music also surprised many of us as it seemed to work really well with certain movements within the group work. Therefore we considered in using it within the actual performance. This really helped with the concentration as if it is quiet, I tend to become more aware of my surroundings and who is around and watching me, I prefer to be able to be in “the mode”, rather than any distractions.

It was lovely to see what each of us had produced and to share it with one another, as we aren’t able to speak I find it is amazing to see how much work we can produce in such a short amount of time, some beautiful movements with the contrast of harsh or disturbing.

We began working on the “Naked woman” scene, where we were thinking of repeating the scene three times, having Stephanie, Abby and I be the three women with our partners. This scene was really fun to do as it was very different to any of the other scenes, it has a slight comedy element to it as the woman isn’t meant to be there, it is all in “Jacks” imagination, as she’s a very beautiful woman who then turns old and wrinkly. This made us work well with our partners as it meant working close with one another, which I think some people found uncomfortable in either pretending to kiss one another or actually having to.

What needs to be done next? Next rehearsal, where everyone will hopefully be taking part, as we have struggled slightly in not being able to recap over every scene, or every scene to its full potential, therefore we really need to go over every scene with everyone, performing as well as possible, also making sure we are sure as to our individual movements and movements when filming or operating. We need to keep adding layers as we really made a start of adding layers to the performance in making it detailed and in depth, and began putting all the pieces together, It would be really great if we sat down for a few minutes before each rehearsal to talk about any ideas we have towards the performance, as we could perhaps incorporate it during or as the rehearsals go on.