Week Beginning the 11th November

On Monday 11th November Shenagh saw our Short Movie that we did with Rob on Thursday. Shenagh made a few changes to our performance:

1. Whilst walking through the fun fair scene we should look excited and be interested in every ride. This showed that we were more in our characters.

2. When we go in the haunted house myself and  Ashleigh should have a few moments where I convince her to go inside, I act excited whilst Ashley acts scared.

3. When in the haunted house we should look around. Myself,  Ashleigh, Louis and Hanna show how scared and nervous we are in our facial expressions and body.

We then chose our props from the prop room for our film. We were able to get:

1. A black jacket for Mark

2. A bowl to put the Crystal ball in

3. 2 cloths for Marks chair and table

For the story board when we go to the fortune teller for  Ashleigh's future we added to the ending that Louis would throw the crystal in anger because he didn't believe what was said.

On Tuesday 12^th November we went to the room with the green screen and did our film. I really enjoyed recording our film as I was able to know what happens behind the scenes of a movie. At the last minute we had to change roles for when we have to escape the haunted house:

At the first I would want to leave  Ashleigh behind but Hanna doesn’t want to leave but it made sense if it was the other way round because Louis would tell Hanna that he would get the car ready to escape so she already knew that we were going to leave her.

Whilst doing this we were able to watch another group filming their haunted house movie and from watching them I was able know that:

1. To stay in character

2. Facial expressions

We learnt what the differences are between movies and theatre, in movies you are limited in going over the top with your actions and space but in theatre you can go over the top with your character also there is more space for you to move.

About Green screen
It is used for films and television to create made up places, animals and give the appearance that people could do things that we can not really do. E.g. In Harry Potter they used the green screen the give the appearance of Harry flying on his broomstick and to create fictional place like Hogwarts. 

Green screen is created with the help of brightly coloured backdrops (usually green) fabric or paint. This allows technicians to separate the green from the person in front of it and replace it with anything. This process is also known as chroma key. 

In tech work - unit 4 we watched a documentary

“I am Britney Jean” (this is Britney Spears) whilst watching the documentary we had to answer questions about her big performance in Las Vegas. Some of the questions were:

1. How many dancers auditioned?

2. How many dancers got through?

3. Why did She come to London?

4. How many months did she have until her performance?

From watching the documentary, the process for putting on a production is:

1. Spending a couple of months planning your big performance

2. Knowing where you are performing

3. Having meetings with directors, producers, set designers, sound design, lighting designer, costume designer, backup dancers and backup singers to make sure how the performance will look and sound like

4. Promoting your big performance so people can come to see you

On Thursday 14th November the morning lesson we got into pairs; we were given 3 different scripts we performed one of them to the rest of the class. The purpose of this was for us to practice reading scripts.

we played games whilst Rob called us individually to have a conversation about how we have been doing since September. For me:

1. My confidence has grown and when my confidence has grown more, I will have more energy in the class and for any performances.

Hamilton report

1. Briefly discuss the background context of Hamilton; who was Alexander Hamilton? What was his background and what did he achieve? What was important about him? What was happening in America at the time and what important historical events was he a part of part of? Why is Hamilton an important figure?

Alexander Hamilton was an American Politician, lawyer and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, he helped create American Independence against the British.

But his early life was very different, born out of wedlock in 1755 in the British West Indies, his mother was not married which was looked down on. His family were poor but he was orphaned to a successful merchant (a person who sells products e.g. food, fabric).

When he was a teenager, he was sent to New York for his education at Kings College to study maths but whilst he was there Alexander Hamilton became very interested in politics, he was very clever and ambitious.

At the time, the American Revolution war was happening, it was a war against the British. America wanted independence from Britain.

Although he was born in the West Indies that was ruled by Britain he decided to fight against them.

He became very important in American history for starting the first National Bank of the United States and becoming the Secretary of the Treasury under George Washington’s Government, his role was to trade with other countries, make sure laws were followed. His face can be seen on the 10 dollar bill.

2. Who are the main characters in Hamilton and what are the central themes (subjects that are explored)?

The main characters in Hamilton were:
         

•                 Alexander Hamilton
•                 Aaron Burr
•                George Washington
•                 Eliza Hamilton
•                Angelica Schuyler
•                John Laurens
•                Marquis De Lafayette
•                Thomas Jefferson
•                Hercules Mulligan
•                James Madison
•                Philip Hamilton
•                Maria Reynolds
•                Charles Lee
•                Samuel Saebury
•                King George III
•                Peggy Schuyler
•                George Eacker 

The themes were:

·         Love

·         War

·         Politics

·         Betrayal

·         Family

·         Ambition

3. What are the different ways used to tell the story of ‘Hamilton’?

·         Singing

·         Monologues

·         dancing

4. What musical styles did you hear in Hamilton?

In Hamilton the musical style I heard were hip hop, singing and rap.

1   
          5. How is this different / similar to other musicals you have seen?

When I saw the musical Matilda, they sang how  a traditional musical would sound like but in Hamilton they sang rap and hip hop.

Hamilton was set in 1700s, so it was different to hear rap in the performance as rap wasn’t invented then and in other shows the songs suited the period it was in.

The similarities with Hamilton and another performance I saw such as a Christmas carol there was romance, anger, sadness.

Hamilton is based on fact as Alexander Hamilton was an important member of the United States Government.

2   6. How successful were the performances in the production - were there any ‘stand out’ characters? What made their performances special?

The production was a big success. Characters that stood out to me were Eliza Hamilton (Rachelle Ann Go) and Angelica Schuyler (Allyson Ava-Brown) because when they sang, they gave me Goosebumps as I have never heard singers perform like that before. I had sympathy for Eliza Hamilton as she had 3 heart breaks:

·         When she finds out Hamilton cheated on her

·         Her first child Philip died in a duel

·         Hamilton died in a duel too

This made me feel heartbroken because of the way the she conveyed her feelings and pain in her acting. I also thought Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson (Jason Pennycooke) and King George (Gavin Spokes) stood out because they were both able to make me and the audience laugh with how they performed their comedy roles. Using facial expressions and their body movement to show the funny and stupid side of their characters.

7. How did the audience respond to the work at different points? 

The scenes that made the audience react with sadness was when Hamilton (Jamael Westman)  and his son Philip (Cleve September) died as they were both killed in duels. I heard a girl behind me cry which showed losing a loved one is a sad moment. A scene that made the audience laugh and clap out loud was when Hamilton’s son Philip (Cleve September) aged 9 years old performed a rap and popular dances from the present day. It was also very funny to watch him because the actor was a grown man playing a young child, his voice became high pitched, he looked at the floor and fiddled with his clothes whilst in character to show how young he was. 

8. In the Q & A, what did you learn about the skills required to be part of the production?

·         You need to know how to get ready before performing. (warm ups, re-reading lines, getting into character)

·         You need self-belief.

·          It is not easy to get parts and you get rejected in auditions.

9. What did you find out about the challenges of working as a performer in the industry?

The challenges I found out was that whilst chasing your dream to be a performer, you should always have a side job because you do not know how long it will take you to get a role. You should take drama, singing and dance lessons to keep your confidence going before your next audition.

10.What else did you find out about being part of the Hamilton production?

All the cast are loving and caring to each other. They always celebrate each other’s birthdays by bringing in a cake. There is a lot of teamwork on and off stage and this can be seen in the performance.

11.What was the message or messages that Hamilton left the audience thinking about? Some of the cast members discussed this.

The message was to fight for what you believe in.

The message that Hamilton left the audience thinking about was it does not matter where you are in your life, there is always time to follow your dreams. Never give up, always believe in yourself.

12.How can this inform your own approach to your training?

To never give up and to watch professional performers, take some of their skills and add it to my training. If I do this, this will help my confidence grow, help my acting ability become 100 times better which would help me to follow my dreams.