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!!!!! :)
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
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.
Monday, July 13, 2009
1st Post
Initially, our group decided on the 2 skills which were movement(dance) and acting. We even choreographed the first few scenes already, and we even videotaped it down. Inspirations come from mainly after watching youtube videos of peole dancing. The dance part was mainly hip hop and ballet. The story was written by Mark, about Angels, about how one who wants to gain power and improve one's status, he/she evetually lose the person around him/her, causing hurt to others.
The use of angles Ans: angel are a prevalent idea in society today. we all have heard about it and the picture that some into our mind is one that shows angels to be infallible and they are supposed to be good and they are second only to God. we want to explore the possibility that even the best of us can fall and succumb to our desire to gain and attain more. every individual is fallible and by showing the audience a scenario with ANGELS, they will be reflect on that fact and see whether they have acted like Heath in the story- even though his intentions are noble- and to see if they have in fact lost themselves and also hurt the people that they love in the process.
However only last week, we decided to change our skills from dance and acting, to mime and multimedia. This is because:
1) initially, we wanted to do dance and acting. but after a few tries(see video posted), it was painful to watch ourselves dance and also, there was no meaning to our moves, they were just copied and it did not convey our DV.
2) the dance did not have any traditional purpose.
3) we felt that we need to learn a new skill and expend our repertoire.
4) not much changes made to story line
5) furthermore, Ms Norzian would prefer that we try other skills, which will not confine ourselves to other skills in the near future
The reasons we use1) the story and script is about angels and thus, it is not a realistic or naturalistic piece, thus, to act would make the play quite boring and uninteresting and would not portray our DV accurately.
2) this is an abstract piece and thus, it is better suited to do a movement skill to show the feelings and emotions of the characters, rather than just telling.
3) all the members felt that learning mime would be a new experience.
4) mimes are usually associated with comedy and that is one of our intentions, to make the play entertaining yet, as with mimes, there is an underlying seriousness behind the comedy, the play tells a really strong message and the impact would be much better seen with mime.
5) the multi media is also used to enhance the piece as it provides a different perspective to the story.
6) the use of multimedia would also give us the opportunity to "talk" without "speaking" as the actors would remain silent.
7) the mood of the play could also be brought up with the use of multimedia
However come to think of it, the reason why we change the skills was because one of our member thinks that our dance movement is incomparable to other groups. Our dance was deemed to be 'low' standard. That is why we decided to not do dance anymore. However, there is one important lesson that can be learnt. Does that mean that when someone does something better than you, you have to give up on what you do? In this world, there will always be someone better tahn you in whatever you do, but that does not mean you have to give up on waht you ae doing! Dreams will not come true if you always think that way! No matter how good others are,we must never compare ourselves with them, but rather focuses on ourselves, and just give the best we can!
The use of angles Ans: angel are a prevalent idea in society today. we all have heard about it and the picture that some into our mind is one that shows angels to be infallible and they are supposed to be good and they are second only to God. we want to explore the possibility that even the best of us can fall and succumb to our desire to gain and attain more. every individual is fallible and by showing the audience a scenario with ANGELS, they will be reflect on that fact and see whether they have acted like Heath in the story- even though his intentions are noble- and to see if they have in fact lost themselves and also hurt the people that they love in the process.
However only last week, we decided to change our skills from dance and acting, to mime and multimedia. This is because:
1) initially, we wanted to do dance and acting. but after a few tries(see video posted), it was painful to watch ourselves dance and also, there was no meaning to our moves, they were just copied and it did not convey our DV.
2) the dance did not have any traditional purpose.
3) we felt that we need to learn a new skill and expend our repertoire.
4) not much changes made to story line
5) furthermore, Ms Norzian would prefer that we try other skills, which will not confine ourselves to other skills in the near future
The reasons we use1) the story and script is about angels and thus, it is not a realistic or naturalistic piece, thus, to act would make the play quite boring and uninteresting and would not portray our DV accurately.
2) this is an abstract piece and thus, it is better suited to do a movement skill to show the feelings and emotions of the characters, rather than just telling.
3) all the members felt that learning mime would be a new experience.
4) mimes are usually associated with comedy and that is one of our intentions, to make the play entertaining yet, as with mimes, there is an underlying seriousness behind the comedy, the play tells a really strong message and the impact would be much better seen with mime.
5) the multi media is also used to enhance the piece as it provides a different perspective to the story.
6) the use of multimedia would also give us the opportunity to "talk" without "speaking" as the actors would remain silent.
7) the mood of the play could also be brought up with the use of multimedia
However come to think of it, the reason why we change the skills was because one of our member thinks that our dance movement is incomparable to other groups. Our dance was deemed to be 'low' standard. That is why we decided to not do dance anymore. However, there is one important lesson that can be learnt. Does that mean that when someone does something better than you, you have to give up on what you do? In this world, there will always be someone better tahn you in whatever you do, but that does not mean you have to give up on waht you ae doing! Dreams will not come true if you always think that way! No matter how good others are,we must never compare ourselves with them, but rather focuses on ourselves, and just give the best we can!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
