Progression of Ideas

As you look back on what you did to get to your final version of your piece, you realize how many ideas you and your group have actually went trough together to create the outcome you came up with. In this post I will be going into more details on the different ideas we had and how they finally evolved into the piece that was seen on stage.

Of course, since the whole project was called Lamer, we had an idea that the scene would have to do something with the sea, and probably be set around it. Especially after our whole course groups discussion with Andy, where we talked about the different possibilities for us to set our scene in, it was quite clear that we were going to be set on the sea. For a while we had an idea with my group to have to be on a cruise of some kind, meeting for the first time, but quite quickly we got inspired by our stimulus and came up with the idea to actually have the characters be friends and have them to be on a holiday sailing trip together. With this we also came up with the boat being becalmed, since this way there could be more room to focus on the characters and their emotions, rather what is happening around them, a storm or too much of the sailing. This really stick all the way trough our devising, since we wanted to show our characters, their personalities and the dynamics between each other.
    To set the feeling of boredom on the boat, we started our scene with the different characters just minding their own business, sitting and laying around, only Craig fiddling with the boat. Yunusa also felt that his character, Rick, wouldn't just be sitting around, since he would be more concerned to get out of the whole situation and back to dry land. This lead to the idea of Craig and Rick having a bit of a fight, quite in the beginning of the scene. It was interesting way to progress from the silence and boredom, starting the drama on the boat with a bang, rather than slowly building up to it. Yet, we didn't want to keep the fight going on too long, since in some of the improvs it started to drag a bit, and so we added that Xanthe should go and break the fight off. After this the all of the characters would gather around to sit together and have a play of poker, leading to a deeper conversation about the lives of the different characters. We had this in our scene for a while, but after showing our progress and getting some feedback on our scene so far, it was aid that, if all the characters sit down right at the beginning, it takes out all of the energy from the scene, making it harder to pick it up later on scene again. At first, we just dropped the poker game, since it wasn't exactly adding anything crucial to the piece and changed it to the girls discussing how the group isn't as close as it used to be, resulting in apologies over a group cuddle. This was good, but it also solved all the possible future drama the characters might develop later on the scene about their friendship, something that could be used much more efficiently, or even as the main focus of some of the characters. Rather than having the people solve the friendship issue right away, I came up with the idea, that perhaps Vera could have some doubts about the group, resulting her finally blowing up at the end and revealing her most inner thoughts and doubts. We settled on this idea a bit later, after figuring out the outline for the end of the scene. Like this, we could end scene with the same kind of rise in action as we started with the physical contact between Craig and Rick. Now, since we weren't going to have a deep conversation nor a poker game, we turned the discussion about the different peoples lives, into Vera starting to hint at about her doubts towards the group. She still apologizes in the end, but the whole thing is not resolved, but rather just pushed back for a while. We also wanted to use the poker game somehow, since it is usually the thing go and do when extremely bored. A little part of the characters searching for the cards was added then, bringing some more of that feeling of being becalmed and dullness to the scene.
   Now all we had to do was to figure out how we would like to end the scene. We really wanted to end the scene with a bang, and so we were lead to the idea of having someone die in the end. We considered having Xanthe die of the boom hitting head, but then leaned more towards Rick dying. For Xanthe, death would be more of a release, ease from all the pain she is going through, where as for Rick, the one person who really has a life outside of that boat and wants to get out, it would be more dramatic. Yunusa also came up with the idea to not use a 'bang'-noise to imply the boom hitting him, but rather have the chance to use physical theatre in the performance to bring across the hit. This amazing, since it ended up being more believable, than with the noise, and this way we were also given the chance to use different kind of techniques in our performance.
    After the boom has hit Rick, we initially had all the characters just stand there in shock, but it wasn't very believable and so it was changed into the characters actually gathering around Rick's dead body, not maybe knowing what to do to help, but still trying. Xanthe would be the only one who doesn't do anything because of the amount shock and panic she is in, giving the opening for Vera to let out her mind about Xanthe and this boat trip. We also had a call from Ricks girlfriend to interrupt Vera, ending the piece with the group in shock of this revelation, but we then felt that it was taking too much attention of Rick's death and the emotions Vera was going trough, changing it into the characters just getting the grasp of the dark reality of Rick being dead.
    Realizing, that we pretty much had the piece all together now, we still felt that there was something missing. Paige wasn't getting enough time to really show her personality in the scene. We really wanted to show everyone's characters, so we definitely needed to add something for her to really bring out her evil ways. This was done by adding too the search of the poker cards. Paige would actually find some of the cards, but toss even the rest of them to the sea, then blaming Vera for leaving the cards on the deck. This way we were able to show how much Paige as a character just loves to stir up trouble, and also get some rise to the action right before the final showdown.

Using the Stimuli in Devising

Before I go into more detail about how we used the stimuli, here you can find my initial response to it. 


La Mer - Charles Trenet

   Originally, we were thinking about having our scene so, that this would be the first time the characters would all meet together, just having Xanthe as the link between two different groups of people. After thinking it trough, Lucy suggested that perhaps our characters should already be friends and the boat trip they were on would actually have some meaning to it.  This song right away had more of an happy and festive feeling to it than the other two, which really inspired me to the idea, that perhaps our characters could be on a some kind of a holiday-trip or something that they have done before and created a tradition within their friend group. This song really helped to get the sense, that these people should actually be friends
    There is also a part at the end of the song that somewhat gave me more inside into Vera character and her feelings towards Rick. The song is in French, but if you translate the last three lines you can see how they relate to Vera's love and how the sea has affected her:
"And with a love song
The seaHas rocked my heart for life"
    The song probably meant these lines to be interpreted, as the sea helping you fall in love, but for me it sounded a bit different. Sure, probably this tradition of getting together to go sailing on the sea has had an affect on Vera's love towards Rick, deepening it and maybe even helping her realize her feelings, but the sea has also ripped away the change of her ever getting to be with Rick. 



Benjamin Britten - Four Sea Interludes
   This piece really has a certain calm but at the same time uncertain and ominous feeling to it. In my original response, I talked about how sea is somehow unpredictable, at first calm and safe, but then can quickly turn into something dangerous. Especially with this symphony, the serenity has a dire inkling to it. Anything could happen. This really lead our group to the idea of being becalmed in the middle of the sea. Four Sea Interludes really has the feeling of slow drifting, like when you are becalmed with no wind, only the currents of the ocean pulling you forward, perhaps into something unknown. Our characters are feeble in the hands of the sea. This symphony also inspired the storm at the end of the scene, since it has an 'emerging danger' feeling to it. Claude Debussy - La Mer also helped us shape this part on our devising, but in a lesser extent, since it has more of an unstable sensation, especially as the song progresses it gives out an image of a storm, rather than a calm sea. 

"Sea Fever" by John Masefield
   In one of my earlier blog posts, I mention a part of this poem having a strong influence in developing Vera's feelings towards this boat trip:
""I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,"
- a segment from John Masefield's 'Sea Fever'    This first line of the poem really felt close to what is going on in Vera's head, when she decided to participate on the boat trip. On the other hand, she sees the closest friends might have ever had in this group of people, which is why she has hope to their future together, but at the same time Vera realizes the fact, that she hasn't felt like a part of group in a long time any longer. But rather than like the poem, which seems to admire the sea and the journey it will take the person, Vera dreads the outcome of this trip, because she knows deep down that what ever happens, the result won't be pretty. "
  To add to this, the poem also talks about" gypsy life", travellers heart, wanderlust, which I feel Vera very much is. when improvising this character there was a lot about Vera travelling her whole life, living in two different countries when growing up, and the year before our devised scene happens, she has been travelling and trying to find herself. But rather than finding herself during this trip, she has realized some things about her friends, or rather, how they might not be her friends at all. This uncertainty is very visible in the final piece, since Vera's main focus is to explore the possibility of having any future with these people.  


"The Great Wave off Kanagawa" by Katsushika Hokusai


   In my initial response to the stimulus, I thought that this painting had a sense of loss and defeat to it, but after researching the painting a bit more, I have to say that I am taking my words back. When before I only saw the powerful waves taking away the lives of these poor fishermen, now I am not so sure if the fishermen are even completely bothered by the waves. They are experienced and most likely know what they are doing, and so are confident that they will get home by the end of the day. This contrast between the terror of the waves and the empty placid sky over the mountain create a balance of confidence to reflect out of the fishermen in the picture. All of the characters in our piece have this kind of trust and confidence towards Craig, the person sailing the boat, as they ask for his help in getting the boat back to moving. Some of the characters also have this trust towards Xanthe, the one who arranged the whole trip, and so is in a way responsible for everyone. Unfortunately, this trust is broken in the end when they fail to secure the boom and Rick gets killed. 


"Vera" Person from your own life
   When I originally started thinking about the four possible people I would like to create my character for the finished scene, 'Vera' was the one I knew least about compared to the other three people. She was always a mystery to me, and so when she was picked for me to start working from, she was initially given the name "Deep and Mysterious". I kept this in mind when I started doing the improvisations, but as I started to work with different character dynamics, Vera's character really shaped into something a bit different. She wasn't any more that mysterious, but rather closed. I wanted her to be more than just the 'Deep and Mysterious'-girl, so I started to think of, what if she used the mystery as a front and is actually starting to want to get out of it? I felt that this was a more interesting way to portray someone, someone who is in crossroads in their life, and it is very visible in the final piece, with Vera's uncertainty with her friends and some lack of confidence in defending herself. Still, at the end of the scene, she is able to let it all out and take a step forwards, closer to knowing herself.

Research - Mike Leigh & Naturalism

MIKE LEIGH

• One of the most important contemporary directors in the UK
• First realized wanted to make films while analysing  the cinematic potential of his grandfather's funeral at the age of 12
• In his teens devised comic sketches
• Studied at the Camberwell School of Art then enrolled to London film School
• has since returned to be the Chairman of the Governors since 2000
• As a student started to write plays which were largely  improvised
• Became recognized for writing powerful TV films like Nuts in May(1976)
• Directing methods involve intense improvisation, research and close collaboration with his actors
• Starts projects without a script, begins with a basic premise which is developed through the improvisation 
• established clear codes of practise such as never letting actors discuss their characters anything but in third person
• players getting too close to their parts in firmly discounted
  "... people becoming the characters doesn't happen..."
  - Mike Leigh
• Actors only know what their characters do

NATURALISM

• Movement in European drama & theatre
• developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
• Refers to theatre that attempts to create a perfect illusion of reality
• Dramatic & Theatrical strategies used(e.g.):
• three-dimensional settings
• everyday speech forms
• a secular world-view
• acting that attempts to recreate the impression of reality
• Naturalistic writers influenced by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution
• believe one's heredity &social development determined one's character

How did we use this in our devising?

    Unlike Mike Leigh does, we didn't use his method for a long period of time before actually starting to create our scene, because of obvious time constrains, but we did begin the progress of our scene with improvisation and character development trough it. Talking about our characters, playing games like The Hot Seat and thinking about how our characters move and hold themselves to start the progress of our characters and to give us actors the knowledge to use to react to things just like our characters would when improvising. So, in a way we used Mike Leigh directing method, but in a shortened amount on time. It was a lot about exploring the character that was chosen for you on your own time, and finding out new things about them especially after we were divided into pairs. Once in pairs, the mane focus was creating memories for our characters, improvising when the two would first meet and some of the most important moments in their relationship. This all connects to Mike Leigh's way of directing and creating his characters and stories, we first create these memories and happenings that have moulded our characters. The final result of the character will be seen the finished piece, but there is so much character development that the audience might not be able to see or know about, because the importance of this development is to enable the actor to truly know their character and their life inside and out. For me, I felt that starting right away improvising the first time my character Vera and Yunuse's character Rick, met was difficult at first, but trough that improvisation we were able have in depth conversation about our characters, how they would act in certain situations and how they would react to each other. When we were then put into our final groups of four, or in our case five, we continued to improvise the first time all of our characters would meet. This really helped me with character development and further understanding Mike Leigh's method and why he uses it.  Because when we finally started to plan and improvise the scene that would become our final piece, it so much easier for me to act as Vera and think on my feet about what she would do and what she would think about this situation they are in. 

    Naturalism was the style we were all going towards with our pieces, trying to be as realistic as possible throughout the scene. We did this by keeping our characters in kind of boredom, since in real life, everyone isn't talking all the time, but there are moments of silence and uncertainty. 

 We needed to think about being realistic especially with our end, where Rick dies. The shock and the actions of the different characters needed to be done so, that it could actually happen in real life. Originally we had everyone just stay silent because of shock, but then after some consideration, we realized that this wasn't actually how most would act. There is always someone who go and try help, and so changed so, that we would actually have Craig be one of the first ones to run out and help Rick. After that Vera, probably still in denial about Rick dying, trying to go and wake him up. The only one not to actually do anything would be Xanthe, which seemed the most natural reaction to her character, a deeply unsure and depressed person who just cannot deal with this kind of shock. Still, in the end, when all of them realize there isn't anything they can do to save Rick, all of the characters sort of move into this helpless silence, where their youth and inexperience with these sort of situations come alive. All of characters are either in their late teens or early twenties. Naturally they haven't seen that much of life and so are feeling afraid and useless in this situation. 

27.11.2013

Day before the show

Today was a true working day. I felt from the right beginning everyone in to finish anything unfinished and do their best to use all the time we had beneficially. We had special focus on getting the movement pieces to flow and work well as the transitions between different pieces. It was important that they actually had a meaning to them and a link to the scene, rather than just having people randomly moving on the stage. We also worked on the big ending movement piece for the first time in the performance space at Pelham. This brought up some difficulties, since the space where we have been rehearsing is a lot bigger than our performance space, and so we needed to tweak some parts a bit to make it work. For example. when before we had been in straight line creating the tableaux, now we needed to edit it into a semicircle to be able to fit it on the stage.
   Even though we did a lot of good work, I still feel there is something we really need to improve on. With the beginning and end chorus poem, we really need to get a perfect complicity to be able to say the poem all together at the same time. Now, it seems that people are not sure when to start and what exactly is the rhythm. This could be fixed with working on our when we all take our in breath. Also, in our final movement piece, in the beginning with the jumps, not everyone is in time with their jumps(including me sometimes). This is about finding the rhythm and focusing on the piece, rather than the things happening around us.

25.11.2013

Describe all exercises done today and answer the following questions:
- What did you learn?
- What did you achieve?

   The first game we played was very simple in theory, but it seemed difficult for some to actually play game well. The exercise start by someone quickly deciding who to run to, and then running to them whilst keeping eye contact with their target. When realizing someone is running to you the 'target' has to then yell the runners name out loud and become the runner themselves by choosing their own target to sprint towards. The difficulty of this exercise was its simplicity, many might have thought that they are too good for this game or won't anyway needed, and so wouldn't put their 100% in doing it. The exercise was really about commitment and focus. You had to be fully committed to the game to make the best out of it. You also needed focus as the game became harder, as there were more than one runners. You really needed to focus on your target for them to notice you, and focus on everyone running, to know if one of them was targeting you. I really felt that this exercise was a good 'test' to see, who is really willing to go all the way and really commit to the game rather just thinking what they do is 'good-enough'.

   The next exercise we have done in class quite many times, but it is still very useful. The exercise starts by everyone moving around the space in neutral, playing the game named 'Don't Bump Into Each Other', so basically you make a game out of not bumping into other people. This then goes into the next part where you have to jump in unison with the person in front of you, landing at the same time and then keep walking around. The last phase, what I call the 'Stop and Start', always starts everyone standing all around the space in neutral. The idea of the game is to be able to start or stop walking all at the same time, without communication or anyone leading the group. The movement should start with perfect complicity with everyone else, and getting that complicity is the goal of the exercise. To make the transition from still to walking a bit easier, we joined the stillness with a deep breath in, and as we start to breath out, the group would start walking all in unison. To this breath, we also added a chant "Rose, rose, rose,rose" every time before started to walk again. I think that every time we do this game as a group, we get closer and closer to the point of perfect complicity, but we still have a long way to go. The focus in our group can be extremely terrible from time to time, people starting to talk or giggle, and without some discipline it is unlikely that we will ever achieve complicity. But with some hard work and true focus, I know we have the potential for it.

   The Clapping Chain is where the group gather around to a one large circle. One starts the chain with passing the clap to the person next to them by clapping their hands once both at the same time. The next person then turns to the person next to them on the right and passes the clap to them the same way as they received it before, by clapping hands once in unison. This is repeated with everyone first receiving a clap and then passing it down. All the way trough the chain, the group should keep a even rhythm with the claps, because as there are more clapping chains started, it is easy to lose track when is your turn. With focus, being ready to receive the next clap is very important, and so, after passing the clap down, you should right away move back to your left hand side to receive the next clap.

   In the next exercise we were divided into four different groups and teach'd this song:
Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose
Shall I ever see the red
Aye, marry that thou shalt
Shall thou art dead.
    This exercise was about developing the chorus, as all the four different groups would start to sing at different times, in canon. This exercises was a lot about being able to keep a rhythm within your own group, that would help us further develop complicity. 

 
After the chant we were given a sheet with two songs of Ariel's from the Shakespeare's play The Tempest. We started off by reading each song with the whole group in a circle, each reading one word at a time. This was to find the rhythm within these little songs, but also transfer the words into songs, since we did not really know, how the actual melody went. After this, we were divided into two group, each having one of the songs of Ariel's to work on. We were supposed to  learn the song, with each group member having a line from the song. Then we had to perform the song to the other song, keeping a certain rhythm whilst reading it. With this the idea was to really find music within the text. This was a real focus exercise, since you needed to be alert the whole time to hit the beat the right time with your line.


Reaction to Round-By-Trough exercise
   This exercise was to eventually turn it into part of our performance, linking each scene together. We were divided into pairs, our partner being someone from our devising group. Our mission was to create a 12 beat movement piece, with using the idea of going either round, by or trough  your partner. After this we went back to our full devising groups showing each other the ideas we had and then combining them to create an initial movement piece. With this exercise we really needed to get comfortable with each other and be able to be close to each without feeling awkward or afraid. It was also a sort of a trust exercise, especially when we added some lifts into the movement. I personally really liked this, even though it did feel a bit awkward at first, but after a while I realized how silly it was of me to feel uncomfortable with people I was going to perform with.

22.11.2013

What did we work on today?

    After our feedback on last Tuesday, we really wanted to start working on the bit's that were either lacking something or needed more attention from us. Especially getting Paige's characters have more lines and let her personality shine more trough, was a very important point to work on. So, what we did to enable this, we added a new part to the scene. In our scene, we have a moment where the characters start to look for a pack of cards on the boat, but then realize, that the rocking of the boat has knocked the cards into the debts of the sea. Before, this was just a moment that passed in our scene without bigger drama, but since Paige as a character is someone who naturally wants stew trouble, we decided that this could be a good moment to expand on trough improvising. Instead of the group just forgetting about the cards and moving on, Paige starts to speaks against Vera for leaving the cards on the deck, and even make fun of Vera's mishap. Even though the girls calm down quite quickly, this little episode between the two character's gives Paige the chance to keep picking on Vera trough out the rest of scene, bringing more of Paige's personality and character to show. What I really liked about improvising this scene, was that it felt very naturally to act out. Paige stirring up trouble because she feels it is the only thing she does well and Vera reacting to it with her uncertainty towards the group and her effort in it showing clearly and stating to the audience, that these people truly are drifting apart from each other. Still, with Xanthe trying to get over the cards, trying stop her friends fighting, point across that they did use to be better friends.

   Another thing we changed was the ending. Before, we had Rick's phone ring after Vera's melt down, revealing that he had a girlfriend all along, something more important than this friend group. From the feedback, we realized that this was a bit unnecessary, taking away emotion from Rick's death and Vera's emotions. What we did to fix this, we simply crossed out all the parts about the cellphone and the girlfriend, and rather had the group slowly realize, that Rick truly is dead and end the piece with them standing in silence, before being knocked out by large wave.

    We decided to also work on a Plan B, in case Max wasn't able to perform next week. The biggest changes in this version of our scene was, of course, the absence of Craig's character. Xanthe would be taking on the sailing of the boat, since her character was the only one with a privileged background and possibility to have done sailing before. Craig's lines were then divided between different character's. Hopefully, we won't be having to use this, but it is always good to have, just in case.

19.11.2013

Feedback


   After showing the project of our devising so far, we were given some really good feedback on our scene. One of the main things was about our boat and how we showed the audience the dimensions of the boat. It was said, that it was very clear that we were on a sailing boat or a small yacht, but the placing and existence of the boom that eventually knocks out Rick in the end, wasn't that well shown by us. We really need to add something to our piece to really make clear to the audience, where the boom is and that it exist in the first place, since it will have a huge effect on the characters. Also, the positioning and blocking should be thought over, ensuring that we take in consideration that the audience will be in a Arena-formation. Right now we have blocked and positioned ourselves to perform the piece in End-On, but we need to make sure that we use our given space efficiently, but also taking in consideration the fact, that we will have audience on 3/4 sides. 
It was very important that everyone tried to give their best feedback to other groups, so that everyone's show would be at it's top. Unfortunately, we were quite short on time, and so for the last two groups we had to just listen to our tutor's comments to save time. I still was able to give some suggestions to the first group. What I thought their group had to improve on was establishing the space, since in the beginning of the scene, where they were looking for one of the characters, it wasn't exactly clear where they were or if they were all looking in the same room. Still, the parts in their scene, where they had two people talking to each, and the other two conversing in mute, work very well, and how they transitioned from that muteness was extremely fluid and impressive.

   Our group received a lot of feedback also about our ending, with Rick being hit by the boom and the moment after that. Originally, we planned that all of our characters would be so in shock, that they wouldn't exactly know what to do, and so there would be a moment of silence, before my character Vera rushes over to Rick to try to do something. Someone made a comment about it, that it didn't really work, since in a real shock situation it would be more realistic to have people go and try to help, instead of just standing there. This was a good point, in my opinion. Perhaps there should be a brief chaos of people trying to do something, but not necessarily knowing how to help, before Vera would take over and try to calm things down, or rather get her voice heard. 
   After Vera's speech about Rick's death, the group and her love towards Rick has ended, there is the end bit where Rick's cellphone rings and we find out that Rick has had a girlfriend outside of the friend group all along. When we thought of this, we thought it would be a way to show that Rick truly had something more important than these people he is with on the boat, and also creating a sort of end to Vera's obsession of Rick's, since she wouldn't have had a chance with him any ways. We were also noted about this, than the bit didn't really bring anything necessary to our scene, but rather undermined Vera's feelings and the strong emotions at the end, also completely forgetting about the dead person. Since the feedback, we had a brief discussion with the group, deciding, that it might be for the best to cut out the part about Rick's girlfriend, and perhaps change it so that the silence at the end comes because of the realisation that Rick is actually dead, bringing an end to the original group of friends. This way, we would have more focus on the emotions and the death of Rick. 
   Many also felt that the character Paige needed to be stronger and more involved into the action happening between the other characters. A good way to get her some more time to shine would be to add more to the part where the group realizes that the poker cards have gone overboard. 

18.11.2013

   Since the unfortunate accident that happened to Max during the weekend, our group decided to focus more on the characterization of the other people in the scene and figure out, how we wanted the scene to end, since he wasn't there to do work with us. We had a rough idea of it, but now we had to improvise it and start working towards the perfect finish. We wanted the finish to be quite dramatic, rising in action, since we start our piece with a conflict, then go into more mellow conversation between each character, so a big finish would be needed to make scene work well. We decided that something bad should happen to one of the characters, and that character should be Rick. He is the one talking about having a life outside of the boat throughout the whole scene, desperately wanting to get out. This way, he does get out, but not necessarily the way he would have wanted to.
   Rick is hit in the head by the boom of the boat, followed by a moment of silence. Shock and desperation takes over and finally Vera steps out to try and help Rick, but after realizing she can't help, and no one else cannot snap out of their state of shock, Vera can't take it any longer. All her thoughts start to spill in tot he open air, all the doubt she has been having about the groups friendship and the future. She starts to blame the others of Ricks death, resulting in her breaking down into tears. Rick and Vera had a past together, which Rick apparently has moved on from, but we felt as a group that it would give Vera more reason to go Rick first, if she would still have feelings for him., and so, as she begs Ricks cold body to wake up, she confesses her love to him, only to be disturbed by a ringing phone. As she slowly calm down, Vera answers the phone, finding out that it is Ricks girlfriend on the other end. When the phone call ends, all the remaining members of the group look at each other in shock. The scene ends as the boat rocks and knocks everyone of the boat, ending in a blackout.

   During the whole scene, Vera has been one of the characters, who has rather stayed away from the arguments, and just tried move on from them. She doesn't show any want to be on the boat, but neither does the desperately want out. Since the friends haven't seen each other in a long time, Vera has started to doubt their whole friendship, if they are friends any more, or does she even want to be their friend. These thoughts come out at the end, when Vera lets out all her feelings to the others, showing them, that there are more important things in the world than themselves. All of the character have selfish features, Paige wanting to cause trouble for her own amusement and Xanthe basically swimming in self-pity, Vera picks up on these traits and uses them against the others to make a point, which is quite selfish of her. But her objective isn't to protect herself or make herself look any better, it is to point out her admiration towards Rick.

"I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,"

- a segment from John Masefield's 'Sea Fever'

    This first line of the poem really felt close to what is going on in Vera's head, when she decided to participate on the boat trip. On the other hand, she sees the closest friends might have ever had in this group of people, which is why she has hope to their future together, but at the same time Vera realizes the fact, that she hasn't felt like a part of group in a long time any longer. But rather than like the poem, which seems to admire the sea and the journey it will take the person, Vera doesn't  dreads the outcome of this trip, because she knows deep down that what ever happens, the result won't be pretty. 

12.11.2013

Explain what is happening in the except and how it fits with your full scene

  In this scene, we start of with Craig(Max) and Rick(Yunuse) arguing about the boat not moving, resulting in aggressive contact between the two of them, almost knocking Xanthe(Lucy) overboard. After calming things down, the group talks about Paige's(Jade) life and how she is having problems at home. We also get a bit of the group starting to enjoy alcohol beverages, Paige and Xanthe than the others. We thought that this could work as the beginning for our piece, since it would right away establish some of the desperation that some of the characters are having being on the boat, and also shows the dynamics between characters.

Describe the process of making decisions shown in the excerpt
 
     With the conflict at the beginning, we first thought that it could be everyone arguing with each other, Craig and Rick obviously talking about the boat and the girls arguing about something else, Still, we weren't entirely sure if it would actually fit the personalities of the characters for all of them to just blow of like that. In fact it might even be against their true nature to do so, since both Xanthe and Vera would just want everyone to get along and calm down. There was no real reason why the girls would fight, so we decided that the conflict would happen between Rick and Craig. Rick's character is very work and family centred, and with a bad temper it would be quite likely for him to get annoyed with the other, especially Craig, who is supposed to sail the boat. We played around with the idea that we could start of our scene right away at the fight, but since Craig and Rick have been good friends, we felt that there needed to be some backing up before the 'explosion'.
 
Notes

   After showing our devising so far, we were given some really good notes on what to work on next. Mainly, we need to ask question from our character and ask them, what is their driving force on the boat. Is it that they want out? Why? Would they show their emotions to the others on the boat? This was really something that hit me about Vera, I wasn't entirely sure if I knew the answer to all of these questions.
    I have established before, that Vera isn't entirely sure about the relationship with the other characters. She doesn't feel as close to them as she might have had before, and perhaps this trip is a sort of a test for her to see, if the others truly are worth her time. She isn't exactly eager to stay or get out of the boat, but why is that? Why is she so indecisive about the group? Perhaps there is still a part of her that is somehow attached to the group, or someone in the group, much so that she cannot seem to let go of the past to move on with her own life.
   This was a thing that we discussed a lot as a group, the dynamics within the characters and their own little friendship ensemble. It was our starting point for the whole piece that this trip for the characters would be something they have done before together, a tradition, but perhaps in the recent years the friendship of these characters has been pushed aside by other things in their lives. The big question within the group is, if they really even are friends any longer, or if they should be, but from the characters Vera is the only one actually acknowledging it. The others have probably thought about it, but would rather push it aside. Xanthe, for example, sees this group as her foundation and because of depression is desperate to make this group work once again.

   In further devising, I feel that we really need to work on getting some dialogue for Vera and Paige, since now they have been more on the background. Both of the characters have great potential on creating some kind of discussion or drama, and it would be important that all of the characters have their time in the spotlight.

11.11.2013

In todays rehearsals, my group decided to focus on our characters, where they are in their lives before the storm and shipwreck. We also discussed the relationship status between our characters. Our characters used to be a tight group of close friends, but they would have not been in touch for a while. All of their lives would have been slowly drifting apart because each of them would have started to focus more on their futures or themselves than the group. This sailing trip would be kind of a 'reunion', a old tradition our characters are trying revive after a year of not properly seeing each other.

To figure out what each one of our characters have been doing for the past year, we played a version of the 'hot seat'- game, where we asked questions from each other in character and improvised the answers. I found out that character Vera has been travelling in America after dropping out of university. During her travels, Vera has tried to find herself, but as she said during the game, 'the travelling hasn't taken her anywhere'. It seems that after returning to England, she has found herself in the same situation as before she left on her travels, a bit list and without meaning. Still, this doesn't seem to depress Vera too much, since she keeps doing things like work, rather than swimming in selfpity. What the travelling did do to her, was to make her question something in her previous way of life, like if her friends are so close to her anymore or is it time to move on?

8.11.2013

Describe status exercises. What did you learn?

In the status exercise we were first divided into pairs. Then, as we have done before, we were given a small scene to start experimenting status with. This time the scene was in a work setting, with 'Sir' the boss firing 'Smith' from their position, since the company doesn't allow people with criminal records to be employees. After asking for reconsideration, with lousy results, Smith leaves saying they didn't even want to work there in the first place. Me and my partner did the scene with different kind of statuses for our characters, first with Sir being higher status than Smith. I, playing Smiths part, tried to avoid eye contact in this senario to imply my nervouness around Sir, also hunching and keeping to myself a bit. After this we played around with different status combinations, like reversing Sirs and Smiths statuses, or just trying to one-up each other being both the same status. I found it actually easier playing Smith as higher status, because the last line "I didn't even want to work here in the first place" which, in my opinion, is quite a straight forward thing to say showing higher status rather than lower.

I thought it was also quite interesting to try out showing the room itself having higher status than the character Smith. I tried to do this by showing the uncertainty of my character to even enter the room without permission. Izzy and Lucy also showed an interesting way of doing the scene, in which you weren't really sure which one was higher or lower status. In the scene both of the characters seemed to be uncomfortable with this situation, Smith even breaking into tears, leaving Sir in a very difficult situation. It looked that the Sir might come out and just give Smith the position back, if Smith would have not stormed out before Sir had the chance to add anything. This really showed that lower status doesn't always mean submitting, but it can also be a way manipulation.

Describe and sum up the discussion we had in class.



We started our discussion with writing things on the board that were somehow connected to our theme, La Mer, the sea. Things like, romance, the moon, destruction, waves, and nostalgia were put up, but there was also some things that either directly related to each other or were somehow connected. These words on the board were escape, pilgramidge, wonderlust, (self)discovery, and change. There was also a lot about being trapped or isolated, and someone even drew a triangle representing the bermuda triangle. This really gave us a subject to discuss about and think, whether these repeated phrases could be major themes for our scenes. We started talking about the scenes setting on an isolated island somewhere on the sea, unknown to the outside world. A place that might not have the same perception of time than we do, giving us the possibility to have characters from different times at the same place together. All of the scenes might not have to be set on the island, but there could be scenes from the boat or the characters deciding to leave on a journey.

26.10.2013

Describe the status exercise.

For this exercise we were split into pairs and each one labeled either A or B. We were also given a short dialogue with four lines we were ment to play around with. The idea was to first decide which one would play the higher status and which the lower status character and then try to convey this status difference with our body language, our way of speaking and pacing with the lines we were given. After trying it once or twice now the pair would either switch their statuses or try different pairings, like conversation with both being higher or lower status, even creating a bit of a competition which person from the pair did a better job at conveying their chosen status(which one at being higher/lower status).

What is 'status' for actors?

Status can mean many things to an actor. It can and should be a part of character deveplopment and play a part when creating relationships between characters in that specific projects. But status could also be something that separates actors from each other, wether it is how long you have been in the business or what sort of productions you have been in. A higher status actor might mean someone who is highly respected amogst other actors and people in the business, but it could also mean an actor works in big productions and might be a so called 'star'.

How can you use this in devising ?

You can use it to show dynamics between different characters. I think we used status in our last devised scene, where we used status to show the relationship between The Master and The Servants, by having the Servants be causeaus and rather apogoletic around the Master.

What have you discovered about your character?

My character, Vera, seem to be quite mysterious about herself. This was in a way known before, but I feel that she doesn't really like or want to talk about herself or anything that is too personal, but rather uses her 'deep and meaningful' stereotype as a shield of some kind. So, in other words, I think she is hiding something big about herself. I also discovered that even though she is very accepting and open to new things, in some areas Vera might not be able to bend that easily, and with the right(read: wrong) person at the right time, Vera could possibly get quite defensive about her views.
Vera seems to hold herself upright quite naturally and with her calm warming smile and slow paced walk she seems quite confident, but as soon as she stops, you see her feet pointing inwards, telling something about Veras self-image. Perhaps everything isn't so calm and happy in her head? Especially since after dropping out of uni from studying art history, Vera is probably having a bit of a crisis about what she wants to do with her life. Yes, she says she is going to travel and explore the world, but is it really what she wants?

What other characters could your character know? How?

There was rather many characters that Vera could know. For example Hope, Bellas character, who studies graphic design. Since Vera studied art history in uni for a while, I felt that these two characters might have met in uni in the same artistic circles. They both also seem very laid back kind of people.This is how Vera might have met Jennys character Leila as well, since she is a art student at uni. Both Leila and Hope are very happy and out going characters who Vera could easily be friends with. I also found Max's character Craig to be somehow similar to Vera, since they are both interested in art and other creative medias. Craig as a person still somehow contrasts Vera in certain ways, like Vera is very calm and hesitates before saying anything, and Craig on the otherhand is more unshameful with his words but also gives a restless view of himself. I can see Vera being very attracted to this sort of contrast, since she is all about exploring new things and personalities, as if people would be collectable items. And you know Vera wants her collection of interesting people to be as big and complex as possible.

21.10.2013

Today in class, we went trough all the four characters each had wrote a paragraph on describing them as people. After a vote, everyone was assigned one of these characters to further work on. For me, the person chosen was number three, also known as the deep and meaningful. 

"This person is someone who is friends with a lot of people, or so people say. If you mention her name, ten people in the room will turn their heads around and know who you are talking about. Yes, people seem to know of her, but no one actually seems to know her. She is a quiet person, doesn't talk much, but always has a calm smile on her face. She will listen to you, but expect her to small talk. Every time she opens her mouth it is something deep and meaningful what she says, and her words will make you think. Think about sad and wonderful things, about the universe and nothingness, and you both hate and love her for that. You know that people have talked about dark things to her, told her secrets, but you still pour your heart out to her and you hope to get something back from her, but no. She never tells about her life, her first kiss, her first tears or even what she did last summer. You don't know her, but you stick with her, because you just know that someday she will want to open her heart, and you want someone to be there for her."

The most difficult thing about this person, is that you think you know her. You can tell all the times you have gone to a party and seen her there, sitting in a corner with couple of people listening to her talk about the universe and how our generation is going to make a difference. She seems to truly believe in it, knowing that all of us has a part in making it happen. For her, making a change isn't necessarily recycling or putting on riots to get the government listen. No, her approach to the issue is to do it by art and realizing that our inner selves deserve to be expressed. But what is the issue? You are not quite sure, since she focuses more talking about the universe and other subjects that only make sense at 2 am after a long night of laughter and deep thoughts, than herself and her beliefs, but you just know it is something big. You know that that big curly mess of a hair has big thoughts, ideas and secrets inside of it. It somehow seems that she has so many things in her head, real things about life and love and loss, but the only thing she wants us to see of her is this out of this world being without having any real life issues herself.

Why does she keep so quiet about herself, if people are obviously interested? She sees so much beauty in others, their lives and personalities seem so magical to her, but when it comes to question, what is interesting about her, she cannot say. Maybe that is it. Maybe a lack of confidence and perhaps her lack of self-worth prevents her from opening up and talking about her experiences and her own life. After a while, you start noticing, that you know nothing about her past, what she did before you two met. What is her family like? Has she ever lived anywhere else than the small town in Montana? Does she have any pets? Allergies?  You want to go and ask her, but after looking into those deep eyes, you notice a glimpse of sadness under that calm smile and you just know that after she is finished with her story, you want to unhear it.

So you never ask. 

But perhaps knowing her doesn't need to go deeper than knowing her favourite colour, which is deep red, like the colour of her stained lips. Her wardrobe consists of endless amounts of dresses, that somehow look homemade, but still fit her relaxed style perfectly. Every day she meets you with the sound of her black boots hitting the ground with a calm, but still cheerful rhythm. Her hair, as before stated, is blonde and curly. She used to have it down to her lower back, but had then cut it to a shorter length, revealing her pierced ears. Her favourite accessory is her beloved black pen, which she surprisingly almost never uses to write in a notebook. Instead, her arms are filled with scribbles and notes from that day, sometimes even asking others to join in on the fun. If you are ever in a class with her, she will fold you small origami swans when ever she is bored(which is most of the time). It looks impressive, but actually that is the only kind of origami she knows how to do. So yes, maybe you don't know her deepest darkest secrets and maybe you will never be able to label her as one of your bestest friends because of that, but she sure will make you smile when you are feeling down. 

Describe the exercises and theories done today in class

Toy Box
For this exercise the group was split into partners. The idea of the exercise was to imagine a magical box in front of you, with anything you could imagine inside of it. As the other partner starts taking things from the box, miming the action and stating what they pulled out, the other half has to encourage the other one to keep on going as well as they can, saying things like "Amazing! What else is in the box?" and "Wow, that is fantastic! Keep going!".  

Over-react to gift
Again with a partner, one of you mimes giving the other one a gift. The receiver has to think of what the present is and automatically like it, reacting to it the most over the top way possible. 

Poses
This exercise is also in pairs. One of the partners starts by going into a pose and then the other one goes ahead and adds their own pose, adding to their partners pose, creating a formation. After holding the formation for a second or to, the first person thanks their counter partner, giving the turn to start out with a pose to the other one. Continue, each one taking turns posing first.

2nd Poses exercise
Similar to the last exercise, partners start by one of them putting on a pose and the other one adding to it with their own, but instead of breaking of and starting the formation all over, the first partner moves out of their original pose to change into another pose, now adding to the second persons pose. Continue doing this.

Yes, and...
With a partner, start improvising about anything, the only rule being that after the first person has set the situation by stating their line, all the line from now on must start with the words "Yes, and...".

Yes, but...
This is pretty much the same as the last exercise, but instead of "Yes, and..." you say "Yes, but..."

Party Quirks
This exercise is a improvisation game set at a party. one of the participants is chosen to have the party, and as they start 'setting up' for party(or leave the room), all the other members of the game are given a quirk, task or some kind of a characteristic, like a swimmer, a cowboy, someone who just came from the dentist etc. Now, let the party begin! As the guests arrive to the party one by one, it is the hosts task to guess what quirk each guest has. The game ends when the host has guessed right all of the quirks of the guests, or when time ends and the party is over.

Describe four people you know. They must be:

• similar age
• same gender
• people you could possibly play

Focus on what they are like as people.

1. 

   She is someone I have known for so long, like a book I have read hundreds of times and should know from front to back, but every time I open it to read it again, I find out how little I really knew about it. She is like that. It isn't as if she changes all the time, actually I feel she is the most constant person in my life, but I just keep on discovering new things. I could never get sick of her. 

   The first time you meet her, she might seem a bit pushy, little bit too happy and little too excited. Soon you will learn she is like that almost always. She doesn't really care what others think of her and that what makes her so amazing. Whatever pops into her genius mind, she will do and she might embarrass herself whilst doing it, but it doesn't matter. It is only a moment that already passed. She isn't one of those people who move with grace or make your wonder how they became who they are, you just know she was born like that. She born with a walk that says "Hello, are you a nice person? I am a nice person. Lets be friends. Hey, you want to learn how to climb a tree? I don't know how either, but let's just try and do it!" 

2.

  You won't like her at first, but that's alright, she doesn't like you either. She will look at you from head to toe, smile at you and either politely, but very very coldly, leave you be, throw a sarcastic expression to you and then leave you be or take a liking to you, for what ever reason, and put on a wide smile and do anything possible to get you to like her. She seems to hate everything and everyone around her, except those who she can somehow benefit from. You could be good looking, rich, good at school or just someone she feel good next to. There is no way of knowing if she actually loves anyone or feels close, since it is common for her to change her friend groups like underwear.

3.
   This person is someone who is friends with a lot of people, or so people say. If you mention her name, ten people in the room will turn their heads around and know who you are talking about. Yes, people seem to know of her, but no one actually seems to know her. She is a quiet person, doesn't talk much, but always has a calm smile on her face. She will listen to you, but expect her to small talk. Every time she opens her mouth it is something deep and meaningful what she says, and her words will make you think. Think about sad and wonderful things, about the universe and nothingness, and you both hate and love her for that. You know that people have talked about dark things to her, told her secrets, but you still pour your heart out to her and you hope to get something back from her, but no. She never tells about her life, her first kiss, her first tears or even what she did last summer. You don't know her, but you stick with her, because you just know that someday she will want to open her heart, and you want someone to be there for her.

4.
   She seems to be perfect in every single way imaginable. She graduated high school with highest marks, got a scholarship, is studying to become a doctor, sings in the choir and the glee club, is the president of the theatre society, cooks damn well, and manages to do everything with a smile on her face. She doesn't just seem to be perfect, she is perfect. She is the girl that all the mothers want their daughters to be like. Proper, social and the best at everything. And the daughters want to be her. She is exciting and spontaneous and manages to do everything with such grace. She is the living proof that you can do it all, and not die of exhaustion while doing it...All... And you hate her for it.
   But how can you hate someone who made you a card for your birthday and baked you a batch of cupcakes(the double chocolate ones, which you know you can't resist)? 

This was my reaction to the starter material. In my notes, I start by talking about happiness and childlike excitement following with nostalgia. Then things start to change, as the memories start changing, sun not being so bright bringing disappointment and sadness. The my thoughts moved to things like battle and lost, but in the end there was still hope.

What I feel these thoughts reflect to is much of the change that sea has. It is unpredictable and it has many sides. It could be calm and beautiful, bringing life and happiness, but the sea can also be scary and dangerous, destroying everything we have build. The drawings reflect to this thought, first being two people on a beach, holding each other in front of a seemingly calm ocean. There is also the moon, that affects the tides if the sea. The person with two sides, light and dark, good and evil. And the whirlpool. I don't exactly why I drew it, but the image of a whirlpool just popped into my head.