How did the Assessment go?
The whole process went pretty relatively well. Our VIVA was quite short and those that were done in rehearsals were done in the showcase.
Some problems during the showcase:
1. The make-up was a failure. 2 members had sore eyes after using the face paint as it entered their eyes. I was having eye sore in the middle of the play as the paint entered my eyes and i teared so badly that my make-up was distorted in the midst of the play.
2. There was insufficient time for the make up and dressing up. 30 minutes, we realized was insuffiicient as we had to hurry like some mad dogs.
3. There was a bit of technical problems as we think the tech people are not really familiar yet with the play.
4. We accidentally dirtied our shirt(some of us) because the shirt is white and it is quite difficult for one not to accidentally touch the face stuff like that after the make-up session. Thus some of us dirtied our costume just before the exam.
5. We sweat a lot and it causes the paint on our faces to smudge.
Lessons learnt through the whole process of working together:
1. I learnt that we should always believe in whatever we do, and not compare ourselevs with others. Just because others are better than us does not mean we have to give up on our task and change to another task.We cant judge ourselves as 'lousy' just because we see other groups doing better than us! This is a wrong thinking! This was the case for group as we had to constantly change the skills in the beginning. we shall not comapre ourselves with others.
2. When it comes to TSD, please put aside friendship and professinalism. In rehearsals and meetings, the attitude we have for each other should not be that sort of friend relationship, but rather colleagues relationship. It will be hard for someone to reprimand someone in the group who is his/her friend, and this is not professionalism anymore. There is always this barrier of friendship to stop you from scolding your friend, even when you need to. So, profesionalism is important.
3. I learnt that in order for a person to be respected, he/she must respect others too. In TSD there is often quarels and disagrrements whic are inevitable. However quarrels should not go to the extent of humiliating someone, or scolding someone for the slightest mistakes he/she did. It is Biasness! This will cause others not to respect you. I was often shouted at in my group by a member, and i have been containig my emotions in my heart, to prevent any conflict. However, after this GP2, i have realized that the people i know in the past are not the people i know at pesent.So we must learn to respect each other, as others have dignity too.I forsake my dignity for peace and hamony within the group.
4. I also learnt that we as an individual should have a specific strong stand towads something and not always follow what others say, as the people in the group may not be right/true.
5. I learnt taht DS pieces should be kept as simple as possibble(KIS). Looking at other groups, i realize that we are fotunate to do mime, a relatively easy task.
6. Also i learnt taht skills that require you to move, should not have much talking to be done. We should move more so that we can explore our own bodies, and realize how magical the body can be. Sometimes through trying out the moves, we discover new moves and gestures etc, which are sometimes beyond our imagination.
7. I also learnt that keeping to deadlines are esssential,basically the punctuality. It is not just punctuality in work but also in rehearsals and meetins. This is unfair for those who come early all the time.It can be a waste of time and dragging others.
8. As a leader, i learnt that giving the specific stuff to the different poeple are essential for the overall performance of the play. This type of specialisation allowa others to focus on specific task and creates efficiency in the group play. This is my first time being a leader . i was pressurized initially and didnt know much to do, or jow to initiate things, but still i just go with the flow, everything will fits in. For me, being a leader. allows me to be stronger emotionally and socially. Emotionally becuase the process required me to contain the emotions i have in my heart, and it made realize that the challenges ahead will be greater. I may even find a more difficult person to work with. Socially because it expands my understanding of the group membes better. Before being a member of the group, i know them in a certain tyle and after the whole process, i know them even deeper. All the stuff about the person in ,my group slowly reveals, their personality , characters etc etc....
The lessons learnt that i gained from the 2nd group assessment have made m stronger and i shall be ready to face life's greater challenges.
Overall, the experience i learnt is a lot and that i hope the next group assessment will be a success too.
THE END. :)
Friday, August 21, 2009
6th post
How did we improve ourselves after the showcase?
We decided to change the 4th scene a little bit to show more of our DV.Also, Ms Norzian went for one of our rehearsal at the dance studio and she wanted us to change the entire scene 1 because it was deemed to be very 'low energy' and not that comedic. We also learnt some basic physical techniques from Julius, our physical theatre workshop instructor. Also, as our play still seem not so exaggerated enough, we went about practisingin front of the mirrors for the facial expression.
Were there any problems that came along?
1. There was always a problem in miming out the props in the scene.This was definitely a problem still in the Box scene. It would be difficult for the audience to relate to, if they dont even know what the things that we are miming out.
2. There is still a problem of lack of exaggeration for some of us, as some of us are not as flexible and physically inclined compared to other.
3. As the sounds were still new to us, we still had difficulty in coordinating the sounds and the movements. The sounds were made by Mark, and thus we have to analyze the sound closely for the specific moves that we wanted.
4. We also tried out the face paint that we just bought, but it was quite difficult to use. It seems difficult especially to use hands to draw the sahpes and outlines on the face.
What were some of the discoveries made in the process? New insights?
One new discovery was the use of vocal exclamations that could be further enhanced. Initially, we only did 2 to 3 sound effects of human in each scene, but slowly as we analyzed the scenes further, there are some parts where we can actually add in comedic sound effects too. NEW DISCOVERY!
Improvements from the latest showcase:
1. We incraesed the font size of the latters on the black corrugated board and made the outlines thicker so that it can be seen. We repainted it, and thus can be seen clearer.
2. The tension in the 1st scene has improved comparing it with the latest showcase. This was because we decided to change th scene and decided to focus more on the significamnce of the remote control.
3. Facial expression is now better than the previous showcase though.
4. We also used dramatic pauses more often in the play, as suggested by the J3. An example would be when i splased water on Melissa's face, i had to stop for a moment to show the dramatic pause, and thus through here, the effect given to the audience is greater.
We decided to change the 4th scene a little bit to show more of our DV.Also, Ms Norzian went for one of our rehearsal at the dance studio and she wanted us to change the entire scene 1 because it was deemed to be very 'low energy' and not that comedic. We also learnt some basic physical techniques from Julius, our physical theatre workshop instructor. Also, as our play still seem not so exaggerated enough, we went about practisingin front of the mirrors for the facial expression.
Were there any problems that came along?
1. There was always a problem in miming out the props in the scene.This was definitely a problem still in the Box scene. It would be difficult for the audience to relate to, if they dont even know what the things that we are miming out.
2. There is still a problem of lack of exaggeration for some of us, as some of us are not as flexible and physically inclined compared to other.
3. As the sounds were still new to us, we still had difficulty in coordinating the sounds and the movements. The sounds were made by Mark, and thus we have to analyze the sound closely for the specific moves that we wanted.
4. We also tried out the face paint that we just bought, but it was quite difficult to use. It seems difficult especially to use hands to draw the sahpes and outlines on the face.
What were some of the discoveries made in the process? New insights?
One new discovery was the use of vocal exclamations that could be further enhanced. Initially, we only did 2 to 3 sound effects of human in each scene, but slowly as we analyzed the scenes further, there are some parts where we can actually add in comedic sound effects too. NEW DISCOVERY!
Improvements from the latest showcase:
1. We incraesed the font size of the latters on the black corrugated board and made the outlines thicker so that it can be seen. We repainted it, and thus can be seen clearer.
2. The tension in the 1st scene has improved comparing it with the latest showcase. This was because we decided to change th scene and decided to focus more on the significamnce of the remote control.
3. Facial expression is now better than the previous showcase though.
4. We also used dramatic pauses more often in the play, as suggested by the J3. An example would be when i splased water on Melissa's face, i had to stop for a moment to show the dramatic pause, and thus through here, the effect given to the audience is greater.
Monday, August 17, 2009
5th post
This post will mainly talk about the group so far till 13/8/09 where we had another group showcase, this time without Melissa.
So far, how has our group been doing?
The group has been doing well, and we were studiously having rehearsal on monday and tuesday as usual. The sounds however have not made yet, but are in the process. Having said that, the people in our group have been doing well, noone is a lazy bump or a total failure here, so its fine in this group. And yes, we have not bought our face paint!!!!!! HOW!!!!??? anyway, i checked out on the place in the intenet and found a place where they sell face paint, called Party City, probably and hopefully their face paint is good and wont crack.
How did the showcase go?
OMG i cant believe it, we had more comments than the previous showcase. The seniors J3 were the ones giving comments, especially Gisella. They were mostly -ve comments, but also had + comments. During the showcase, we only showcased the box scene and the house scene as melissa was absent. So the comment goes like this for the 2 scenes:
The Marriage:
-The use of Black Board was not effective as the words could not be seen clearly
-There was messy parts in the use of imaginery table as people often either banged into it without realising or underestimated the height of the table
-What is the significant of the remote?
-The last part where Afiqah take the box herself was good
-Tension was not very evident and not so good.
-Actions need to be more definite as some actions were not easily understood
The Box:
-The energy level shoot up once i came in (haha)
-The box was not clearly seen and the problem of the imaginery box is a problem in this scene too
-Facial expression can be made better
-Dramatic pauses can be used more often
In overall, the comments made allowed us to explore the 1st scene more, and refine it to make it better, by showing the DV easily. Comic effect were evident but not so much, can be made more.
There still need to have improvement made in the play itself. I think the presence of the other 2 scenes would be able to compelement the allover performance of the play! MELISSA PLS RECOVER SOON!
So far, how has our group been doing?
The group has been doing well, and we were studiously having rehearsal on monday and tuesday as usual. The sounds however have not made yet, but are in the process. Having said that, the people in our group have been doing well, noone is a lazy bump or a total failure here, so its fine in this group. And yes, we have not bought our face paint!!!!!! HOW!!!!??? anyway, i checked out on the place in the intenet and found a place where they sell face paint, called Party City, probably and hopefully their face paint is good and wont crack.
How did the showcase go?
OMG i cant believe it, we had more comments than the previous showcase. The seniors J3 were the ones giving comments, especially Gisella. They were mostly -ve comments, but also had + comments. During the showcase, we only showcased the box scene and the house scene as melissa was absent. So the comment goes like this for the 2 scenes:
The Marriage:
-The use of Black Board was not effective as the words could not be seen clearly
-There was messy parts in the use of imaginery table as people often either banged into it without realising or underestimated the height of the table
-What is the significant of the remote?
-The last part where Afiqah take the box herself was good
-Tension was not very evident and not so good.
-Actions need to be more definite as some actions were not easily understood
The Box:
-The energy level shoot up once i came in (haha)
-The box was not clearly seen and the problem of the imaginery box is a problem in this scene too
-Facial expression can be made better
-Dramatic pauses can be used more often
In overall, the comments made allowed us to explore the 1st scene more, and refine it to make it better, by showing the DV easily. Comic effect were evident but not so much, can be made more.
There still need to have improvement made in the play itself. I think the presence of the other 2 scenes would be able to compelement the allover performance of the play! MELISSA PLS RECOVER SOON!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
4th Post
After the showcase, i was really happy! Because i didnt expect ours to get praises and little critics from the teachers. And surprisingly, we did very much better than other groups!!!! I think our DV is simple to understand and grasp thats why the teachers liked ours more.
Comments from the teachers:
1. Some actions seemed a bit forceful.
Solutions: I have decided to try out the movements again and let members watch. It was said that maybe i could tense up my muscles so that it looks more real and natural, but still have to be exxagerated.
2. The expression needs to be more exxgerated and more refined.
Solutions: We will train ourselves in front of the mirror to perfect our expressions. Also look on internet to get inspirations.
3. To cut down on the duration of the play, but still have equal distribution of the characters.
Solutions: We decided to add in another scene, but will shorten the previous 2 scenes, so that the whole play will be about 15 minutes.
4. To consider whether to have a specific character in alll scenes or to have different characetr and personalities in all scenes.
What did i think made the showcase a 'success'?
Personally, i think that the DV is simple to comprehend and relate too. Since our audienec would be secondary school students, they may be able to relate to our play much easier. It is talking about gender stereotype and thus involves youths too. Also, it was a success because we did mime, and mime is interesting and funny, thus it will more engaging. People wil be more interested to watch! Also, since our group was the 1st to present, it gives us the greater confidence, since we are still 'fresh' to be watched, and also that was Ms Norzian's 1st time watching our modified play too.
What were some turning points after the showcase?
Firstly, we made the decision to cut down on the 1st 2 scenes since it was deemed too long and Ms Norzian decided to make the play time to be only 15 minutes.
Secondly, we decided to change the top to a long sleeve shirt.
Thirdly, we will be buying face paint, of good quality, since we can now use the funds given to us for Humanities week.
Fourthly, expression and movements willl have to be more refined.
LAstly, the idea of using socks will be abandoned.
What are some other areas of improvements that can be made in the future?
1. Basically, the expressions and movements have to be more refined.
Own reflections:
I think our group really were great!!!! We can do it! From nil to now, we didnt thought of going this far. but we did it!!!
Comments from the teachers:
1. Some actions seemed a bit forceful.
Solutions: I have decided to try out the movements again and let members watch. It was said that maybe i could tense up my muscles so that it looks more real and natural, but still have to be exxagerated.
2. The expression needs to be more exxgerated and more refined.
Solutions: We will train ourselves in front of the mirror to perfect our expressions. Also look on internet to get inspirations.
3. To cut down on the duration of the play, but still have equal distribution of the characters.
Solutions: We decided to add in another scene, but will shorten the previous 2 scenes, so that the whole play will be about 15 minutes.
4. To consider whether to have a specific character in alll scenes or to have different characetr and personalities in all scenes.
What did i think made the showcase a 'success'?
Personally, i think that the DV is simple to comprehend and relate too. Since our audienec would be secondary school students, they may be able to relate to our play much easier. It is talking about gender stereotype and thus involves youths too. Also, it was a success because we did mime, and mime is interesting and funny, thus it will more engaging. People wil be more interested to watch! Also, since our group was the 1st to present, it gives us the greater confidence, since we are still 'fresh' to be watched, and also that was Ms Norzian's 1st time watching our modified play too.
What were some turning points after the showcase?
Firstly, we made the decision to cut down on the 1st 2 scenes since it was deemed too long and Ms Norzian decided to make the play time to be only 15 minutes.
Secondly, we decided to change the top to a long sleeve shirt.
Thirdly, we will be buying face paint, of good quality, since we can now use the funds given to us for Humanities week.
Fourthly, expression and movements willl have to be more refined.
LAstly, the idea of using socks will be abandoned.
What are some other areas of improvements that can be made in the future?
1. Basically, the expressions and movements have to be more refined.
Own reflections:
I think our group really were great!!!! We can do it! From nil to now, we didnt thought of going this far. but we did it!!!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Third Post
Again, we had to change the story and concept, because we didnt get Ms Norzian's approval. Thus , we have changed the story to one that has got to do with poltitics of identity.And in this case, we have decided to touch upon the topic of gender in the society.
Why did we choose gender issue?
We consulted Ms Norzian about our previous storyline but she said that we didnt really connect the story with 'Politics of Identity'. As such, she also said that we HAVE to stick to the theme of the assessment, only then we willl be assessed easily and pehaps, score better. Moreover, the idea sturck us when she gave us an analogy about how roles could be 'exchanged' between opposite sex. Eg. A girl paying the Bill during a date. Also, since topics like homosexuality and trasngenders are a taboo in the society, perhaps we could perform something related to gender issue.
What did we come up with finally?
We decided to stick with the idea of situations,since we are doing mime as our skill.However, we changed the stories. There will be a total of 4 scenes. They are: Restaurant scene, House Affair scene, Hiking scene, and a Shopping scene. All 4 scenes will show clearly how certain moves of actions are done, which are supposedly should be done by the opposite sex. The DV would be how certain gender stereotyping in the society are commonly seen, but which are not entirely true. The decided costume would be black and white stripes, and the make-up is decided to be same for all character(face painted white). We would be able to play with our expressions more.
Were there problems trying to do the scenes chosen?
YES!!! Definitely! We wanted our play to be as funny as possible since it is a comedic play. HOWEVER, in every scene, it is sometimes difficult to think of funny elements to be injected into the scene unless we do some stupid actions. For example, because we lacked of ideas on what to mime out that makes it funny, we used some common/similar stage directions for some scenes. The use of sneezing occurs in 2 scenes, Restaurant and House affair. Also, falling down is a common action we used in some scenes too. Moreover, given our inadequate experience about mime, we also faced the problem of 'not miming', but instead simply doing the actions. Lastly, our rehearsals are mostly after school hours and therefore, we usually get tired easily after some mimng exercises. We just realized that miming is more tiring and exhausting than dancing. It involves the mind and the body!!!!!
What do you think could be improved in the future?
1. I think that the scenes should be adjusted to show the DV more. Because right now, from my own perspective, there are 1 or 2 scenes which i think have not really brought the idea on the DV.
2. As a group, we should contribute during rehearsal more because we seriously lacked ideas on waht to do sometimes. We are doing MIME!!!!! MIME!! so difficult to think of all the movements and actions...!!! And yes, we should also maintain good physical stamina, because(especially me haha)i tend to get tired easily after 2 or 3 hours of rehearsal.
ANY other comments:
As a whole, i think we made vast imrovements and progress! We can mak it!!!!! :)
Why did we choose gender issue?
We consulted Ms Norzian about our previous storyline but she said that we didnt really connect the story with 'Politics of Identity'. As such, she also said that we HAVE to stick to the theme of the assessment, only then we willl be assessed easily and pehaps, score better. Moreover, the idea sturck us when she gave us an analogy about how roles could be 'exchanged' between opposite sex. Eg. A girl paying the Bill during a date. Also, since topics like homosexuality and trasngenders are a taboo in the society, perhaps we could perform something related to gender issue.
What did we come up with finally?
We decided to stick with the idea of situations,since we are doing mime as our skill.However, we changed the stories. There will be a total of 4 scenes. They are: Restaurant scene, House Affair scene, Hiking scene, and a Shopping scene. All 4 scenes will show clearly how certain moves of actions are done, which are supposedly should be done by the opposite sex. The DV would be how certain gender stereotyping in the society are commonly seen, but which are not entirely true. The decided costume would be black and white stripes, and the make-up is decided to be same for all character(face painted white). We would be able to play with our expressions more.
Were there problems trying to do the scenes chosen?
YES!!! Definitely! We wanted our play to be as funny as possible since it is a comedic play. HOWEVER, in every scene, it is sometimes difficult to think of funny elements to be injected into the scene unless we do some stupid actions. For example, because we lacked of ideas on what to mime out that makes it funny, we used some common/similar stage directions for some scenes. The use of sneezing occurs in 2 scenes, Restaurant and House affair. Also, falling down is a common action we used in some scenes too. Moreover, given our inadequate experience about mime, we also faced the problem of 'not miming', but instead simply doing the actions. Lastly, our rehearsals are mostly after school hours and therefore, we usually get tired easily after some mimng exercises. We just realized that miming is more tiring and exhausting than dancing. It involves the mind and the body!!!!!
What do you think could be improved in the future?
1. I think that the scenes should be adjusted to show the DV more. Because right now, from my own perspective, there are 1 or 2 scenes which i think have not really brought the idea on the DV.
2. As a group, we should contribute during rehearsal more because we seriously lacked ideas on waht to do sometimes. We are doing MIME!!!!! MIME!! so difficult to think of all the movements and actions...!!! And yes, we should also maintain good physical stamina, because(especially me haha)i tend to get tired easily after 2 or 3 hours of rehearsal.
ANY other comments:
As a whole, i think we made vast imrovements and progress! We can mak it!!!!! :)
Monday, July 20, 2009
2nd Post
Our Group decided on the skills, which were mime and sounds. We felt that multimedia would not be so appropriate after all. The story had already been changed too. The angel story was too abstract. And there were too many loopholes identified during our first showcase.
We met up during the weekend and we changed the entire story and DV. We decided to touch uopon stereotypes prevalent in the society, in which it touch upon the issue of money. The story goes about how a beggar, a businessman a bimbo and the businessman's wife all aim just for cash. The story was meant to be comedic since the skill used is mime. Also, the DV has been changed to something like, How everyone aims for money in this world. We decided to work on something that is prevalent in the society so that it is not so abstract and can be easily connected to the audience. Moreover, touching the topic on beggar nad money, will add flavour to the comedic nature of the mime itself.
I have also checked that modern mime and Marcel Marceau are actually connected. It is because of marcel marceau that we now got moden mime. He made a break through to modern mime. He was the man who evetually created the 'mimodrama' which is commonly known now as mime. He is famous for his 'Bip' character in pantomime. Mime basically focuses a lot on expression, and movements(particularly the hands).
The set for this was decided to be in the park. we wanted the all scenes to take place at only 1 location, therefore we felt a park would be the best place to set it. Since we are doing modern mime, the cosyumes decided were costumes that peole today would wear like suits etc.
We met up during the weekend and we changed the entire story and DV. We decided to touch uopon stereotypes prevalent in the society, in which it touch upon the issue of money. The story goes about how a beggar, a businessman a bimbo and the businessman's wife all aim just for cash. The story was meant to be comedic since the skill used is mime. Also, the DV has been changed to something like, How everyone aims for money in this world. We decided to work on something that is prevalent in the society so that it is not so abstract and can be easily connected to the audience. Moreover, touching the topic on beggar nad money, will add flavour to the comedic nature of the mime itself.
I have also checked that modern mime and Marcel Marceau are actually connected. It is because of marcel marceau that we now got moden mime. He made a break through to modern mime. He was the man who evetually created the 'mimodrama' which is commonly known now as mime. He is famous for his 'Bip' character in pantomime. Mime basically focuses a lot on expression, and movements(particularly the hands).
The set for this was decided to be in the park. we wanted the all scenes to take place at only 1 location, therefore we felt a park would be the best place to set it. Since we are doing modern mime, the cosyumes decided were costumes that peole today would wear like suits etc.
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