Unit 8 - Collaborative Project

 Task 1.1 Production Diary 

April 29th – 1st may: Monday 

we did a read through for the show lovely bones and I was sharing with my friend saying lines since were the same character but in different casts and then we spoke about what happens and how rehearsals are going on. 

Tuesday 

Today we started of a game with village, this game helps me with concentration and listening. After we started talking about rehearsals and blocking and props for lovely bones and see how we could work with it and then we blocked a few scenes. 

Wednesday 

Today, we picked up with more blocking of a few scenes and I instantly got working and learned a few lines really quick and thought about my character Buckley and how I present him. I also thought about ine if the scenes I am in and what I could do and my dynamics. 

Thursday 

We started with working on more scenes of lovely bones and working on notes and seeing what I can bring to the lovely bones and just working on blocking. At the end we spoke about the assignment. 

6th – 8th may: Tuesday 

Today we did a warmup where we had to ignore Suzie because myself and others struggled not to look at her, so we did that. After that we worked on a few scenes that needed work on, and I thought about how I could use the space during them. 

Wednesday 

Today, Tom helped us with American accents and taught us a few ways to help with them and listened to other peoples ideas of how they learn. After we worked on the beginning scene where all the dead kids introduce the show to make it more interesting and to help keep it going. We then worked on the funeral scene to capture the emotion and to make it more dramatic when Lindsey sees Mr Harvey and when Ruth slightly sees Suzie when she says her speech. 

Thursday 

Today we just run through some scenes of Lovely scenes and looked over some that needed worked on. We couldn't do much some most of the people needed were in Jayne Eyre, at 1 we then took off to watch and to support our friends that were in it. 

12th may – 15th: Monday 

Today we got back into working on Lovely bones and more blocking and I was looking for more props for the show. 

Tuesday 

Today was auditions for the Shakespeare job, I didn’t take part since im not a big fan of him so I started my assignment. 

Wednesday 

We just got on with a few games like village, it involves concentration and listening. After we got on with more Lovely bones and thinking about blocking, what I could do and costume. 

Thursday 

In the morning, we started on a few more scenes for the rest of lovely bones and worked on the final few scenes, We had to do this scene where I as Buckley have to shout at my “Dad” it was an intense scene as I had to find the right kind of angry to push Jack to a heart attack, I wanted to work more on it as I could of did more and I will in upcoming rehearsals and shows.  

 

Task 1.2 Audition process 

Audition Process: When I heard we were doing auditions for lovely bones I immediately looked through the characters and who I could portray and play good, the character Buckley stood out the most and did some research on him, we then had to find monologues that contrast to our character so I did some research and found a monologue that fits innocence and youth, this monologue was from Narnia, the lion the witch and wardrobe and said by Lucy, I chose this monologue because Buckley and Lucy both have being young in common and having both to go through something horrible at a young age. When auditions started, I was slightly nervous but exited as I practised my monologue. During auditions I thought about who I’m saying my monologue to, show my youthful innocence when I’m performing my audition and how I’m speaking. These were thought though really and didn’t go terrible. 

The monologue: “It’s all right. It’s all right. I’ve come back. Why, haven’t you all been wondering where I was? I’ve been away for hours and hours. It was just after breakfast when I went into the wardrobe, and I’ve been away for hours, and had tea, and all sorts of things have happened. No, Peter. I’m not just making up a story for fun. I was in the wardrobe. It’s - it’s a magic wardrobe. There’s some wood inside it, and it’s snowing, and there’s a Faun and a Witch and it’s called Narnia; come and see. There! Go in and see for yourselves. But - but where has it all gone? No. It wasn’t a hoax, I promise. Really and truly. It was all different a moment ago. Honestly it was.” 

We were also given question we had to answer to show our understanding of the show: 

What were your initial thoughts on the script you have chosen? 

I was exited to do this since it was such a serious topic because it was controversial among the cast it is such an emotional roller coaster, and it would bring everyone together. 

Which particular character do you like/resonate with you? 

I choose Buckley because I feel like his innocence and ignorance to the dark aspects that surround him really made him stand out to me. 

What three areas of research do you think you should be covering to be able to take on this challenge? 

I did research on Lovely Bones itself when it was created and how 

I looked at how it was depicted from script to stage to screen  

I researched more on the character I'm playing Buckley so I can see how I can portray him perfectly 

Why did you choose the monologue that you have brough today? 

I choose the monologue from the Lion the witch and the wardrobe, it is spoke by Lucy Evans and I choose it because both Lucy and Buckley have a lot in common because they’re both young and experience a lot of dark and life changing events and how they’re always happy and try their best to make others as well. 

What does this monologue that you have brought today tell us about you as an actor? 

This shows im willing to try everything because as an actor you never know what could happen and could succeed in anything. 

 

Evaluation of Audition: 

I read through the scripts and watched the movie to show my dedication to the Lovely Bones and the audition Before the audition started, I got people to watch my audition for feedback and made sure I remembered them in the audition, and I thought it went well as I delivered the image of a spontaneous child well. I made sure to have a thought-out answer and worked and thought about them and I showed my understanding for the questions and the audition. When auditions were being released, I immediately did some research to look for a monologue to see what the character I wanted and choose the one that I thought that related to the character and what was best. I then answered the questions we needed to do thoroughly and answered them the best to my ability so I could answer them in the audition, I then thought about the monologue and worked on how I could portray it good. During the audition I thought about my emotions and how I entered the space as a spontaneous child and remembered my blocking and tone and how I spoke during to make my voice more pitched to show my child like nature. When I was being questioned, I answered them the best to my ability and remembered about what I wrote beforehand to show my dedication and understanding for the audition and how I wanted to be in this show. I thought about the clothes I wore to so I could move swiftly and quickly in the audition so I could display my professionalism, and it consist of what I needed for it, I wore audition appropriate clothes and made sure I was ready and prepared.  

 

Task 2.1 - Review a range of research sources to support the production of a performance project 

For research for my character Buckley, I investigated his character by watching the movie to see what role he plays in the family and what he does throughout the movie and what he was experiencing during Susie's death and how he took it. And when we had to think about costume I researched what people would wear in the 1970s and looked through some colour schemes to see what I could wear for him and I ultimately choose this as the costume I also thought about the colours to my costume, for act 1 i choose a bright and vibrant costume to contrast how Buckley is happy and living his childhood after he is told about Susie's death I choose more darker colours to show how he lost his sister at a young and has conflict with himself about it. I then looked over his relationships with other characters and how he would react with them on stage for example he is bonded to his mother and father Jack and Abigail salmon and his sister Lindsey salmon, and how he has a spiritual connection to his dead sister Susie Salmon. When I read about Buckley being able to feel his sister and see her. During rehearsals I made sure I showed that throughout scenes I shown signs of still being able to feel and see my sister and making sure that I interact as much as I can with the family during rehearsals to show I understand the character Buckley and his bonds with the characters. For props I just used a few toy cars to show his youth and stage and a drawing book to show how I want to perform Buckley and a comic book in act 2 to show his growth during the years after of Susie’s death to show his change. 

act 1 costume: 

And for act 2 costume: 

2.2 - Production role

For production role I choose social media because s a teen I can reach the right and of audience and trends. Foe social media I have been posting videos about lovely bones posting photos on Instagram trying to get Lovely bones promoted and people to come watch it, Also for design I brought a few child props to put around the Salmon home to make it feel like a proper home and also added a photo as me as a child to add to the homely features. Another way I have promoted the lovely bones is by using Ticktock because it is a popular platform to everyone and can promote Lovely bones a lot. Videos of promotion from Ticktock:

2.3 Research - How has it helped in rehearsals and performance

Researching helped me with with costume because I did a lot of research on 1970s over what they wore so I could order the costume after and did some research on Buckley's colour schemes. I then thought about props and looked up toys in the 70s which I used for the set like fire fighter truck, toy car and a comic book for older Buckley. I also watched the movie to get some inspiration for my performance as Buckley and to observe his dynamics with his family and took notes during rehearsals and when I am playing my character Buckley I will make sure the research I have been doing is followed onto stage for the final performance.

4.1 - Evaluation on Personal Journey

My journey to bring the Lovely bones to live was long, I had to think about so many things, to start I did lots of research behind the lovely bones and I watched the movie to get a good idea about what happens. I then thought about costume and what colors for the show, and then thought about my character to see what I could bring to life. I then discussed my thoughts and ideas for the set with the rest of the cast and what we could do to make it more like the Salmon home, I brought in toys and a penguin for the home and a photo of me for the picture frames. I did talk to the other cast playing the same role as me and we talked about what we should do, how we should portray our characters differently and just spoke about supporting each other in general. During rehersals I did think about a lot what I could be doing, how I should be interacting with the set and the other characters. For example the toys, when it wasn't my time to speak I would go to the toy box and get them out and play with the toys like a child would do and play around with them. And I would interact with the other cast like my 'Parents' or sister I would be very warm towards them and would drag them to come play with me if they had nothing to do. I also spoke to the cast what I should be doing when it is an intense scene and experiment different deliveries of lines and how the dynamic and relationships change between them until we were happy with what we had, I also spoke to costume team a lot about my costume to come up with more ideas to see if it was good with what I wore. I then spoke to design about props like comic books, toys and coloring books to see if it ft the set and the era the show is in. I then spoke to the cast I mainly work with about our characters relationships and how they should act with each other on stage and to show the audience members and other teams the understanding of the show and the set all together.

 

4.2 - Final Performance

Even being an ensemble character you have to consider a lot of things, you have to think about a background for your character, like where did they come from, what is their involvement with the family and make a background for them, I did these things with all the characters I played as an ensemble, for example in the beginning I played one of the dead children who start he show off I had to think about the way I presented my self and how to show that I am going to heaven off stage and move swiftly, I then play an ensemble character that is a friend of the Salmon family and I had to interact with the father to show we had a bond and had to play a character that moves into Mr Harvey's house with a family, I thought about the relationships with the family and how I could interact with props and with the other characters on stage. As an ensemble character, if your working in a scene with lots of people you need to be aware of spacing to lets other people past and to keep a good pace to keep the scene balanced and think abut intense moments in a scene full of other characters like your facial expressions, how you react to information, like in the scene when Ruth is giving her speech about Susie I thought about my reactions and how to talk to other characters in the show. These are the skills I have learnt in the shows I have been in as a character as an ensemble.
Now my character I played Buckley, during the show I made sure I interacted with the props on the set, for example the toys I usually play with since these are important to most of the scenes something important is happening. During intense scenes I made sure I was kept out the way or off stage, if I was involved I would make sure the pace went good and I didn't make my act to big yet. The things I have learned from this play is that it grew me closer to more realistic performances and acting and changed my perspective on the way I view it. The things I hope for the future is that I want to take more risks and every chance I get to make my actions bigger to appeal more to the audience and to not overthink lines. One of the strengths I acknowledge is that I can use the space well and can interact with other characters in the show lovely bones like they are actually my family and can use props like so and can project my volume in tense scenes when needed. During the show, the scene when Buckley and his father Jack Salmon have a heated argument, I made sure my volume was high and that my blocking was good and that I wasn't making a mistake, I also conjured an emotional memory during the scene to show the understanding I have for Buckley's outburst and what he has been put through. The way I interpreted the character Buckley in the show is what I was happy with and what I saw when I was reading the script and that I reached my goals n the performance. Personal area of improvement is that I could take more bigger roles in the future when I have the confidence I know I have and to not afraid to be go big and to achieve the role I want to get and to not be afraid to try. Feedback from peers is to not be afraid to put myself in the spotlight and to make sure I make my volume higher which is what I aim to d in the future. I finally come to recognize the growth and progress I have come to as a performer because at the start of the journey I would be terrified but now I am exited to see where I go and the skills I have been taught and to seek out more opportunities are and my overall development as a performer.