DOCUMENTING THE JOURNEY (PRODUCTION DIARY)
8TH MARCH 2021
Today was our first official day back into college after the 3 month Covid Lockdown period. This was very exciting as it has been difficult working from home and online.
Upon arrival, we had to be taken into the second building as college to have our Covid tests completed. It was a bit chaotic as we had to register and fill in forms but the process was done carefully and professionally. This was actually my first covid test and it was nowhere near as bad as I imagined. Thankfully, our whole class received negative results and we could go on with our first day!
Since today the Year 2's weren't in (as their tests have been scheduled for Tuesday) Kane had us play an array of games and do some fun practical tasks, as Year 2 are needed for the performance. The games we played were: splat, wink murder, three truths and a lie and change the action.
SPLAT is a fun warm up activity which gets everyone involved. There is a 'splatter' in the middle who will call the name of somebody in the class. This person then ducks down and whoever is beside them must shout "SPLAT!" in an attempt to be quicker. Whoever is second is out. I particularly enjoy this game as it has everybody involved and is very energising. It also requires a lot of focus which gets you prepared for the lesson.
WINK MURDER is a very tactical game which requires concentration, creativity and intuition, which is what makes it so great. Somebody from the class is selected to be the detective, and steps outside whilst the murderer is picked. Then when the detective comes back in they have to guess who is the killer. The killer winks at people and then they have to dramatically die. The detective has 3 guesses and if they don't get it correct in those 3, they lose.
THREE TRUTHS AND A LIE is a game of intuition. A group with pick 3 people to tell a truth and one person to lie, then the others in the class have to try and figure out who is the liar. The aim is to make everything seem as realistic as each other to trick the others.
CHANGE THE ACTION is quite similar to wink murder. A person will step outside and another person will be chosen to lead everyone with the actions. The person in the middle has 3 guesses and has to try and figure out who is leading the action.
After this Kane set us some practical tasks. We were split into groups and given a location; my groups was a bowling alley. We devised a spoof of Dora (which was Leah's idea!). I portrayed Boots, Dora's friend. We had Swiper (Kalem) come and try and steal our bowling pins, and throw them away. Then the Map (Ethan) lead me, Dora (Leah) and Brooke (Big Red Chicken) to find it. We also did the classic chicken dance. It was rather funny and it made everyone laugh which was good, otherwise it would've been so embarrassing.
Our final performance task was Sketches. We were split into groups again and had to create our own sketches. My group went with a group therapy sketch, which was comedy. My group was Kalem, Ethan, Leah, Iona and Emily. We all depicted different characters. Kalem was the actual therapist, and was not good at his job whatsoever. Leah was the 'bitchy' one. Iona was the 'innocent' one. Emily was the 'confessor' (and also generally just insane). Ethan was the 'seductive' one. And I was the 'goth' (who barely spoke and just chucked paper at the therapist). Overall, I really enjoyed this task and it helps with improv as it is quick, and it also gave us a lot of creative freedom. The other group which performed were fantastic, they did a spoof of 'Super Size vs Super Skinny' and it was absolute comedy gold.
I have thoroughly loved my first day back- seeing my friends and teachers and just being able to work in a classroom has been amazing. I can't wait for what's in store for the next upcoming weeks!
9TH MARCH 2021
To kick off our lessons today we warmed up with some games, which included: splat and wink murder, which I explained in my last diary. It's always a good way to get everyone energised and prepared for the day ahead, and this is a big day! First in college rehearsal for Like There's No Tomorrow!
Like There's No Tomorrow is a huge project we're working on- it is a play by The National Theatre and groups from around the UK are participating in this. It is shown at the York Theatre Royal, and the performance which wins will then get to take it to stage in LONDON! This is an ensemble piece which is performed by both First and Second years.
For this rehearsal we were split into groups to go over scenes. One group went over the City Scene with Bobby Brunt's Campaigners, however I went in a separate room to rehearse Scene 1, where I play Teen 1!
10TH MARCH 2021
Wednesday was most definitely the most physical day for most of us. We worked on the prologue with Tom Guest. We could work with the second years which was really lovely and the energy was great. This scene is a celebration of the 'Great Mother' and just the planet, life in general I guess you could say. At the beginning of the scene we chatter in groups in commencement of the celebration- after this it was followed by some choreography which I took part in. Additionally, Sadie Paterson sings a song called Blooming Heather.
After rehearsals, I, along with some others helped do some set design, kind of. It was mainly just grabbing different parts and moving them from point 1 to 2.
Like there’s no tomorrow set design time lapse 1 - YouTube (time lapse of set design)
11TH MARCH 2021
Thursday, COVID test day! Yay! Jokes. After our testing was done and dusted we got on with another rehearsal. Today we began on scenes 8 + 9. In this scene you can see how the crack is becoming more severe and how the city people are handling it. For example, the Youtuber vlogging it for views and the fly tippers dumping rubbish in it, versus Maru and Fin trying to do something about it. I'm a 'Parkour Mover' within scene 8- I basically jump over/around the crack. In scene 9 I'm a worried person which is well, self explanatory. There was definitely moments that lacked focus and concentration was lost, but I can see it improving.
National Theatre Connections. Scene 8 - YouTube (rehearsal)
THREE GOALS FOR NEXT WEEK
- PERFORM WITH PURPOSE
- LEARN CONTEXT OF CHARACTERS IN EACH SCENE
- STAY CONCENTRATED
15TH MARCH 2021
Today marks our second official week of face to face rehearsals! Woop! However we are actually kickstarting today with a workshop from ArtsEd. We had a lengthy discussion on topics, such as: auditions, opportunities, courses and options etc. We also had a general Q+A for any other question's. This was very informative and helpful, inspiring too in a way.
We continued rehearsing scenes 8 + 9 and tweaking and perfecting it, making sure we were all on track.
16TH MARCH 2021
Tuesday was a day. To say the least. At first it was fun, we played our usual games and a new one! Corners. Basically we walked around as a character, somebody shouted CORNERS and we'd run to corner 1,2,3 or 4. If your corner was chosen you had to do a forfeit.
However, rehearsals were NOT going smoothly. Concentration and focus was just out of the window for some people. It was a rather stressful environment I'd say. I was trying to remain in the right headset but it was quite overwhelming in all honesty. We started to pull together nearer to the end but it was still a bit of a downer for me, at least.
17TH MARCH 2021
Today was thankfully a lot better than yesterday. It was very productive and we had a lot of energy too! We had Tom again, which meant we could have a refresh of the prologue and touch up on any mistakes. Generally, the prologue is a fab scene and I think it's going to look amazing.
We also blocked the very last section of scene 10- we all come together when we realise what Bobby Brunt is really doing. We also did a small task where we looked at scene 3 and in small groups we performed it how we imagine it.
Additionally, we have to take on another role for this project...Things like costume, props, marketing etc. I am on the marketing team with a few others. I created this Instagram account and will be contributing towards this.
18TH MARCH 2021
Today is my first official day of filming! AH! I'm filming Scene 1 during the morning. We used an empty classroom in college. We did a few run throughs and then got on with it! For summary, Teen 1 (me) and Teen 2 (Joshua Durnall) are messing around in a class room, throwing around paper. We're the class clowns really. Then Maru gets agitated resulting in an argument. Teacher (Ethan) gives Maru and we go off. Honestly I think it went really well. We were prepared and had a wonderful team alongside us. It took around 1 hour to film as it's only a short scene.
Today we were introduced to an AMAZING new game- Ninja! A little hard to explain but I'll try: we stand in a circle in a ninja pose, we have one move to try and hit the person next to us on the forearm BUT they can dodge it, but you have to remain in this position until your next go. I genuinely have never laughed so hard while simultaneously feeling so anxious!
It was a rather chill day today. We did some character sheets to really dig deep to understand them. This developed my understanding of my roles a lot more and I found it helpful. Our sheet asked us a multitude of questions (one regret, key events etc).
THREE GOALS FOR NEXT WEEK
- FOCUS ON OTHER ROLES
- KEEP TRACK OF CUES
- BE MORE INVOLVED
22ND MARCH 2O21
Today I filmed the Sitcom 'Uncle Liam' directed by Adrian Everest. It's a Christening gone wrong- firstly the baby is forgotten, then it's revealed the group turned up on the wrong day. We filmed away from college! We were lucky enough to go off campus and film at the Parish Church in Stockton Town. We had to make a few adjustments to the script which was a little confusing but I think it went good!
Uncle Liam - YouTube (sitcom)
23RD MARCH
A new day, a new scene (or two) to film. Today we tackled the infamous scene 8 + 9. It was actually rather smooth in terms of filming. I don't have much to say so it was a lot of background acting and waiting around, but I actually really loved it today.
Before we went off to film, Ethan and I recorded our own improvised videos in our roles. This was a task Kelly set, so we interview each other as the Teacher and Teen 1- it's now up on Youtube!
24TH MARCH 2021
Wednesday was busy, busy, busy. Today we were filming the Prologue and the Final scene. It was a bit difficult to film the prologue as the location was smaller than our usual rehearsal space, however after a few takes I think we managed to adapt well. The other difficulty was that we couldn't actually hear the music, so I was counting the beats in my head. Other than that, I think it was fab!
We filmed Scene 10 after a break. It was rather eventful as we didn't get to do this scene as much as the others. I got some extra lines to say during this scene which was really fun! It was weird jumping from the Prologue which is set hundreds of years ago versus the modern scene. It definitely put it in perspective.
25TH MARCH 2O21
Well I've wrapped filming my scenes now. In lesson today we got our end of year scripts, its a play called 'Stuff'. We have had a few conversations about this on teams, however seeing it again concerned me as there is 8 characters. There is not 8 of us...so Kelly suggested a potential double cast. Plus joining year 2 for their show 'The Musicians' which is a big ensemble piece. We did a read through and swapped reading for different roles. I read for Dani- my favourite character since our first read through. It was good to sit down and have a relaxing lesson and see what's next.
TASK 2 - IT'S ALL ABOUT THE DESIGN
There are a variety of factors that go into performances, and it's not just the performing. Things like costume, props, set etc can make or break something. But I'm doing something a little different. Marketing. Now this means the advertising and promotion of this project. I, and a few others became the Marketing Team.
To connect and communicate efficiently, the team made a groupchat and discussed roles and potential things to work on.
The first thing I did was create the official Instagram account. This was a great success as we began gaining followers. I promoted it to friends, family, college people, anyone I could really! We regularly interact with the APTA and UFilms social media which was amazing.
I have been trying to contact different article outlets to garner more media attention. Justin managed to actually get us an article though!
TASK 3 - CREATING YOUR CHARACTERS WORLD
Another task we were set was creating something of our own based off of our characters. Whatever we decided to do had to be off script and of our own imagination. I decided to work alongside Ethan so we could do a sort of collab- as he is the teacher and I am the student. Then he interviewed me about Bobby Brunt, and my life in the school. This was completely improvised and we just went with the flow and what felt natural to the character for this element. This task I thought was really fun and it really allowed me to have some freedom with my role. Improvisation is one of my weaker points in acting I believe, so it was kind of difficult but I think I managed this task well and it turned out great!
Meet the characters - Like Theres No Tomorrow - YouTube
TASK 4 - NATIONAL THEATRE
The National Theatre is a well known and respected theatre based in London. Unlike your ordinary theatres, this one holds three stages. The smallest theatre, the 'Dorfman Theatre' holds 400 seats. The next theatre is called the 'Lyttelton Theatre'- this has 880 seats in total. Finally, the largest theatre is named the 'Olivier Theatre' and has a whopping capacity of 1,150 seats! The named Olivier is named after the National Theatre founder (Laurence Olivier). He founded it in 1963 and the first thing to hit the stage was a production of 'Tamburlaine the Great' by Peter Hall. Until 1976, the company was based in the 'Old Vic' theatre in Waterloo- currently it is located near the Thames in the Southbank of London.
On their website they state 'we make world-class theatre that is entertaining'. The National Theatre is a very renowned theatre which holds entertainment and work for thousands. They garner many viewers and audience members, back in 2017 they were 91% full in their Southbank home. If the amazing attention they receive off the public doesn't convince you on just how successful this theatre is, maybe the well known actors who have made appearances here will...ranging from Alan Rickman, to Maggie Smith and David Tennant (plus many many many more!).
They have put on a very wide range of shows during their time as a theatre, including: Othello (John Dexter, 1964), Jumpers (Tom Stoppard, 1972), Guys and Dolls (Richard Eyre, 1982), Henry V (Nicholas Hytner, 2003), Nine Night (Roy Alexander, 2018). In addition to this they do touring shows across the UK, some productions even went to European countries. However due to Brexit this has now been suspended. The theatre showcases a variety of productions: from Shakespearean plays to international classic dramas and new plays by contemporary playwrights. Since June 2009 NT have been doing a 'National Theatre Live'. This means they have had live productions played in cinemas, in both the UK and internationally, the first one which began this programme was a production of 'Phedre' which stars Helen Mirren. Since this begun, productions have been broadcasted to over 2,500 venues and 60 countries. During November 2020, they began an at home streaming service called 'National Theatre at Home'. You can rent viewings of productions or pay for a monthly/yearly subscription.
Moreover, they also run a youth theatre festival called 'National Theatre Connections'. It began in 1995 and it allows young performers to be apart of new plays written by leading playwrights. If a company wins they're invited to perform at the National Theatre. Luckily, this year Stockton College took part in this project, and we were given the script 'Like There's No Tomorrow', an important environmental piece. Unfortunately, due to Covid we could not perform this in York so instead we filmed it.
TASK 5 - YOUR PERFORMANCE
At 8pm on Saturday 17th April, Like There's No Tomorrow premiered on York Theatre Royal's Youtube channel...finally the day where we can see this amazing project in its final form. However, before this we had a zoom workshop with the National Theatre. This workshop was fantastic- not only was it great seeing the people associated with the show but we engaged in some fun and helpful tasks too. We did some ensemble work- moving and gesturing at the same time which was great practise but definitely more difficult on zoom. We also did a lot of character work which I adore- we were asked questions to answer as the character which really got me into the headspace. On a more physical note, we did some tasks where we moved and walked as our characters. We also did things such as posture and how they sit. This workshop has 100% given me more insight on developing characters and will help me for the future.
TASK 6 - EVALUATION
After weeks of filming, rehearsing, sweat and tears we were finally able to watch the finished project on Saturday 17th April at 8pm.
SCENE 1
In scene 1 I play Teen 1. A cocky, know-it-all teenager who is best friends with Teen 2. During the scene, my character and Josh's argue with Maru over wasting paper and littering. On the positive side, I think I really pulled off the attitude and tone which is appropriate to the character. I believe I used the correct vocal expression, projection and pitch and it was delivered believably. Another thing I think I pulled off is facial expression- from when I'm laughing at Teen 2 missing the bin and being defiant, to when I stand up against Maru and shout at her. I tried to make it as natural looking as possible while also making it very visible as to what emotions the character feels with each line. On the other hand, I think I need to work more on my body language and expression. I feel as if I lost it towards the end when I'm stood up to Maru. I wasn't stood quite as dominant as I feel I should've been in that situation, and I was stood in a more neutral stance.
SCENE 8
Within this scene my role is a Parkour mover. Although there is no actual lines, my performance is based off of movement and physicality. Although it's a short scene I think I worked well in pushing myself to play a character I would never typically have. It pushed me out of my comfort zone and I think it driven me to work harder. Although this is positive it also means I need to focus on the physical side of acting more for any future roles.
SCENE 9
Likewise to the previous scene, I have a small but important role. During this I am 'Worried 4', a fellow city person who is at the crack and anxious about the city's wellbeing. I think the tone and speed of my lines were delivered well and you can feel the fear when I speak and my emotions are clear. But again, I think to make this even better I should've added in some more body language to really push this emotion to the audience.
SCENE 10
My final role was Crowd 3. Within this scene I am defending Bobby Brunt against Maru, Fin and Asha. I am rather aggravated in this scene as 3 children are trying to revolt against the city's next leader. I believe I used facial expression well during this scene and the anger I'm feeling was clearly portrayed. Although next time I would vary my pitch to show the levels of emotion during each line.
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