Project 2 – Usman Sheikh

what have i been asked to do?

My role for the production side of the project was me focusing on Lighting, Lighting is one of the key parts of the performance, as it helps to tell the story of what is going on, I first taught the basic of the lighting board, then carried out my own personal research about it too. After trying to learn the basics of the board I then propose the idea of moving certain light angles to help the audience to not look into a black scene. Once that was done we where behind schedule for recoding all the cues. On day one of recording cues which was a Monday I worked on scene 1 to scene 20, which I hoped to get to on the Thursday I was in. Day two I programmed cues 20 to 52 this took abit of time to record as we had rehearsal going on Which took abit of my time. On day 3 I programmed 52 to 85 cues of the musi c scene of honour, this music scene was the most painful and abit joyful at the same time. It was painful because I had to update cues, record more cues in-between other cues. It was joyful at the same time because I learned how to operate the moving lights into a sequence, this helped me a lot as I only needed to press the go button the rest of the cues would go after a certain wait time, that I would of given it, finally on day 4 I finished of all 102 cues for the performance.
My other role that was given was sound, Sound is also a key part of the performance, as it would also tell the story of what is going on in the performance. In-between the rehearsals I would go over the different sound cues and note them on the script, when noting the different sound cues in the performance helps a lot as it tell when to turn on a certain track and to play it. Each track/ music would need to be on a certain level of volume this is because there is some scenes of the performance where the actors would talk over the music, or their a dramatic scene like honour.

Who is my audience?

My audience audience will be people who are interested into a Christmas, a Christmas carol targets poor people who are trying to survive in cold night on Christmas eve.

What skills am I bringing to this production? (are they skills learnt from previous performances? Why am I bringing these skills? Why are they important?)

The skills that iw ill be bring to this production is my diligent to learn about what I need to learn about, By me being diligent i bring 100% of my brain power, I am bringing this skill as it would keep me concentrated to do my roles in the performance, This is important because it makes me a realisable person, a trust worthy person. Another skill that I would bring to the production is that I am creative, this helps the performance as we need to go over the different set design and lighting designs in the performance, the skill of being creative is important as it help me to think o f what lights I will be using for a cue.

brief synopses:

A Christmas carol tell the story of a rich, grumpy man called Ebenezer scrooge who hates Christmas, scrooge was described as a mean-sprited selfish old man. One cold Christmas eve scrooge is unkind to the people around him, he refuses to give to charity. Scrooge gets invited to spend Christmas with his nephew, freed but rudely scrooge says no. When scrooge gets home, he is visited by his old friend Jacob Marley and then 3 other ghosts. The ghosts take scrooge on a joinery through his past. Then gets shown his clerk, bob crotchet family especially his son tiny Tim who is very ill but full of spirit. The ghost then takes him to see his nephew Fred’s Christmas celebrations – which he had been invited to, but rebuffed. Finally, The Ghost of Christmas Future terrifies Scrooge by showing him visions of his own death…

The ghosts’ journey through time teaches Scrooge the error of his ways. When he wakes up on Christmas Day he is full of excitement, and buys the biggest turkey in the shop for the Cratchit family before spending the day with his nephew, full of the joys of Christmas.

What are some of the circumstances that occur in this script/story/production?

One circumstance that many occur during the story is that the audience sees all of the poor family’s grieving, individuals hungry/ children cant afford food t eat. We see if your not a high-class family, those family’s cant eat a big enough turkey, we can see the consequences of not being rich in the Victorian era leading people to be sick because people worked in the mills/factorys.

Where is this project set? What time period/year is it set?

The performance a Christmas carol is set in 1840s during the hungry forties, a period of that involved high unemployment, In 1840s London didn’t have no welfare status, no national heal services or environment laws, Which made it hard for people to live in those days.

What conditions do the characters live in/experience? What conditions did the writer experience?

the surrounding environment of the Victorian era was Cities became crowded and dirty, with smog-filled air and polluted rivers. At the same time, however, the Victorian era also saw the rise of beautiful and ornate architecture, public parks, and gardens. During the Victorian era, poverty was a widespread problem in England. Industrialization had led to the growth of cities, and many people had migrated from the countryside to work in factories and mills. However, the rapid growth of industry had not been matched by an increase in social services, and as a result, many people lived in poverty. The working classes, in particular, often lived in overcrowded and squalid conditions, with little access to education, healthcare, or other necessities. Moreover, the lack of labor protections meant that many workers were exploited and had to work long hours for low wages. Despite these challenges, however, many poor people during the Victorian era were able to improve their circumstances through hard work and determination.

The conditions that many character live in are poor, cramped and crowded apartments the inner cites often inadequate heating, lighting and sanitation. Children are poorly clothed, thin and hungry, they huddle together In the cold, dark room and are described as “ dirty ragged and abject” the poor people are described as victims of social and economic inequality.

What environment do the characters experience? How does it relate to the writers environment?
The environment the characters experience is how they grew up in the Victorian era. Such as the character tiny tim, who live in a small house with out any help from the government on how he going to die, if he doesn’t get the aid he needs. It hard for tiny tim to grow up in the Victorian era as boys like him won’t fit in due to the other boys will bully him

What social factors occurred during the time project is set?
One social factor that may occur during the project is that someone may get ill and might not turn up on the project day, this make will slows down the project as someone else needs to take the role of that person who’s ill.

research

Charles John Huffman Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the worlds best known fictional characters and regarded by many as greatest novelist of the Victorian Era, Charles dickens has made many books such as, the famous Christmas carol, Oliver twist.

Charles john Huffman dickens was born on 7th of February 1812, and sadly passed away in 1870 in his country home gads hill place. Charles perhaps his widely known as the author of a Christmas carol, Scrooge takes on a journey to explore what Christmas is really is, going on a trip with many of the sprites, showing him the what Christmas is really true.

The early life of Charles dickens was blighted by true poverty, Confide as a small boy, Charles dickens first work in a boot factory. When Charles was born the family move to Bloomsbury to London and then Chatham in Kent where dickens spent much of his childhood. In 1821 dickens went to Giles academy in Chatham for about one year. Later that year he was twelve and he attended the wellington house academy in London. At the age of fifteen, the family have problems that required him to return to work. And so, his last “schooling “was again. Later leaving school again. He was self-teaching himself, Charles loved to read and write.

Charles dickens always dreamt of being an actor, Charles once obtained a acting audition at Covent harden in the spring time of 1832. He never attended the audition due to the bad cold. But though dickens may have missed his chance of becoming a professional actor however he never lost his loving of performing.

How have you applied your research towards the development of the overall project?

The research I have carried out has supported my overall understanding of creating an orthotic and realistic production of a Christmas carol.

As a company we didn’t really think about the production meetings that we would have had, which may make us behind scheduled If we had production meetings we would of thought of things like props such as the carriage.

Write some notes from your production meeting/s
Level of the sound will be lowered for the audience to hear performers when the music is played.
Lighting will be rigged and angled to the right places on a Thursday.
The horse carriage will be removed from the production and be replaced with actors using umbrellas as wheels

production

What was discussed?
The lights will be angled on a Thursday and will be in the right places
The backdrop – window will be secured
All of the production cues will be done before Thursday,
Monday get cues 1 – 20 done, Tuesday get cues 20 – 30, Wednesday get cues 30 – how many cues.
What ideas did you put forward? Why?
The ideas I put forward was the lights been angled, we decided to do this on a Thursday.
Using the moving robos lights
Did you agree with all the ideas? If not why?
I agree with all of these ideas as 1 all lights will be in the right spots for the right times.#
Using the robos will make the scenes to look cool, and professional
How would you have done things differently?
I would have had a production meeting every week for the production, this ensures everything is up to date

RISK	SOLUTION
A electrical fault may acquire during the production.	Make sure water or any liquid is next to any electricals.
Light falling down.	May sure lights are secured
Background dropping on someone	Make sure all back drops are secured at all times.

Lighting is one of the key parts of a production, it communicates the mood and atmosphere and help in tell the actual story.

All theatres need lighting to illuminate the stage. Only outdoor theatres , such as globes uses natural daylights, However lighting can do so much more than showing the audience what is going in the production. Lighting help tell the story by communicating the mood and atmosphere to the audience. Lighting can also make a entirely new and strange world for the audience to experience.

Role:

– Light designer decides on what will exactly know how the lighting should be used in a production. After reading the scrip a light designer will talk to the director and other management about how lighting can strengthen their vision.

All technical effects, Can be programmed in advance by a computer, so all the operator has to do is press a button “ go “ for that the next cue can play. Every light on the stage will have a number which will correspond to numbered channels on a lighting deck, often at the back of the theatre. The lighting operator can turn all the lights on and off and putting of many effects via sliders on the deck.

The lighting department do a rig check every night before a show to make sure every single light is working right, including the one backstage that the audience cant see, But the actors and other members of the team will see, This is because everyone who is apart of the backstage needs to see what they are doing. During a performance the dep

Costumes help the designers the create the world around the production, showing the audience when and where it is set. the designers carefully chose the right outfits, this helps with the story telling towards the audience about their characters, revealing little of all sorts of things about age, jobs, relationship with other characters and position in society.

Old or modern?

Costumes are part of the directors and designers vision for the play and are a way exploring/highlights certain issues in the play. If a play is set in the past, the designers need to decide whether they want the costumes to be from a particular historical period. Traditionally, plays set in the past set in present day or a mixture of costumes from all different period. It will all depend on the message they want the clothes to convey if a designer decides to use a authentic period costumes, this can tun the play into a fascinating and believable portrait of a particular time.

Sound, and sound effects create a sense of place for the audience in the production. When combined with a set, costumes and lighting, the right sounds bring the play to life. Sounds play a really important part in creating the play world. Speakers are positioned all around the stage to make the noises to audience hear as three dimensional and believable as possible. If actors hear a sound coming from a television, there will be a speaker hidden inside it to amplify the tv sound. Music is vert important to the sound of a play. It will set the mood of the production and it will tell the audience the story, for example we have the Christmas carol to do. So we get Christmas songs and effects, The music in the production will tell the audience its about Christmas.

As soon as a production is chosen for the performance schedule, marketing and press people will be informed to start thinking about what sort of audience. People in charge of marketing will put posters in a public place like bus stops or trains or colleges. When seeing a poster about a production visually effect way of telling people about a play. The image on the poster will have been chosen to tell people something about the play instantly and also to convey the overall mood. The image will be discussed and agreed with the director.

As well creating a great poster, College will be emailing people who have seen one of the plays before and telling them about new shows that will be happing. College will make sure the play is featured in the college newspaper, magazines websites and blogs.