Week 1
In the first week of project 2, We were given small scenes from various different short scripts. We got to look into the characters using just the little snippet of the scene and figure out how to play, talk, walk and just act like the character in general. One way I tried to learn lines was by walking up and down the stage with Keira and saying a line each without the script as we passed each other. We got to develop the characters we had so we could play the roll perfectly. Later on, within the week we had our auditions for the Christmas carol and the characters we wanted to play. We used the script we had been analyzing and working on. BIF film academy also came in to give us a workshop, They showed us some short films which we had to discuss the plot of, the camera angles used and why they could have used these angles to tell the story. We then watched an M&S Christmas advert that we had to recreate ourselves. My group chose to recreate the Christmas tree scene where they put the Christmas tree up with the little boy. We all chose little parts to chip in and help create the scene. I was the Christmas tree so all I had to do was stand there with my arms out while everyone around me pretended to hang things on me. Once everyone had a role to play and a job to do, we began rehearsing the scene. We had the little boy run into the room and have him see everyone hanging up baubles on the tree, the boy waves at everyone as they all greet him. Once they all greet him, he runs behind the tree to put the star on the tree, however we didn’t have a star so we improvised and just used one of our peers hands. Once we had finished rehearsing the scene, We got to film our scene using an actual set camera and microphone. It went smoothly and once we finished shooting we got to watch the other group film theirs!
Week 2
in the second week, we began to create Scrooge’s grand entrance for the play. This scene is shown in a happy Victorian street with Jolly children and Jolly adults spreading Christmas spirit! The streets are constantly busy and positive with activities such as Choir, Selling Drinks, selling clothes, Ice skaters, Dancers, children playing in snow and even people trying to steal. I chose to be one of the ice skaters along side Ellie, Alex and Hollie. We ice skate from one side of the stage to the other and land in front of a shop. As the streets become more crowded Scrooge enters from backstage and the aura on stage becomes dark as people start to move away from the center of the stage to make room for scrooge. Everyone moves in the opposite direction of where scrooge is to show how lonely he is and how nobody wants to talk to him. We then moved on to blocking the first scene which includes Scrooge, Fred, Bob Cratchit and one of the charity workers. While they where blocking the first scene, The rest of the class got separated into 3 groups to work on what’s gonna happen behind the scenes for the play. I worked in the props section which meant we had to go through the script and look for props we would need, This ranged from things such as pens and paper, to scrooges bed and the carriage. On the 3rd day, we did an activity where we were all linked up like a chain and had to figure out how to come loose without letting go of each other. It took a long time but with communication and teamwork, we managed to untangle ourselves. once you were untangled, you could help untangle everyone else who was left. The second game we played was like tig, however the person who was it, couldn’t run, they had to take small steps and shuffle to each person, if you linked arms with someone the person could not get you, however you could only link arms for 5 seconds and no longer. Once you had been tug, you were also it with who ever tug you, this also took a lot of team work as you had to help save your peers if they were in trouble. After we finished the activities, we had a run through of everything we had done so far. We then moved on to doing the second scene which was when scrooge comes home from the office where he sees Marley’s ghost. We had to improve doors and how Marley was going to scare scrooge into falling. We then had to try make the scene ominous which we did by adding rain sounds and heavy footsteps to create a scary feeling around scrooge. We then ran over it to make sure everything was in time and we knew our ques. In the afternoon we worked on the transition scenes for the ghosts and created a little dance scene. In the dance scene Scrooge gets lifted and moved around the stage.
Week 3
This week we started piecing the set together, discussing what we are gonna use for props and what we can create with other materials. We started creating the big props like the carriage, the fireplace and windows for the house, we had different people doing different jobs, a group of us painted set and others designed things like the tomb stone and food for the feast scene. To paint the fireplace we mixed paints together to create warm tones like brown and orange to give the Victorian middle class fire place visual, and then on the other side we did a smaller version of the fire for the Cratchits. While some people were painting the set, other people were going through for their first makeup run. For my makeup look. Hollie, girl who was doing my makeup, decided to do a flushed old woman effect to represent an old cook whos been stuck in the kitchen. She added liver spots and heavy blush to show I had been stuck in the kitchen. The wrinkles gave a very old effect. In the afternoon we blocked the thieves scene with the ghost of Christmas yet to come.
Week 4
in the final week, we worked on ques and timing. This was something we had to work on as music was sometimes off and we could not see from behind the curtain. We kept rehearsing the entire thing over and over, deciding what we could improve last minute. We did one last makeup run so the makeup artists could figure out the final look. We then performed for the makeup students so they could see how their makeup looks and how the hair looks. We continued to develop the performance to make it perfect. Within this week, Aliyah and Dominika returned from Greece so we had to catch them up and show them where they had to be. By the time we finished catching them up. It was show day! however we had many people off, this caused problems as we had to find last minute understudies. We all went down to get makeup done and once our makeup was done it was time for our first performance. The first performance went very well. we got through it well. After our first show, we spoke about what we could make little changes to. We then went for our makeup touch ups so we could do the second show. The second show was very good to say it was our first time performing in front of a big audience. We had a few set backs with music as sometimes we played the wrong song, or the music wasn’t on time. However it went well. If i could change one thing about this performance, id make sure we have understudies, So we don’t have to rush and find someone to fill in.