Rehearsals: Implementing Lights, Sound, Projection

During this rehearsal, we had implemented lights, sound, projection in the production. For the lights, we had moved the lamps directing to the centre part of the stage, drawing the focus to the centre of the stage where all the scenes are happening. The lighting has made the stage and space of our production become more theatrical and professional.  Also, it centres the focus towards the main actions of the production.

For the sound of the production, we downloaded sounds from the internet that corresponds to certain actions involved in the production. For example, we had downloaded sounds of locking doors to show clearly to the audience, that in one scene of the production, that the door was locked. Through the involvement of clear and loud sounds, it passes a direct message to the audience that something has been done in the scene. 

For the projection used in the production, we moved the projector in the drama studio to a certain position where it would be able to project on the curtain behind our scenes. We created a power point and projected it to show the change of scenes and certain messages we wanted the audience to understand without stating clearly in the context of the production.

These implementations were very useful and helpful for the production. They helped the context of the production become more clear and aesthetically presentable. 

Rehearsals: Finishing the Improvisation of the Scenes

This rehearsal was mainly focused finishing the improvisations of the scenes. We had been working on the main scenes of the production for a long time and had not have great progress. Therefore, we had decided to restructure the scene. 

First, we had gave another thought to our theme and purpose of this production. Also, we had thought about the ways to implement the message in to the production with humour that would interest the audience. We found ways to play with theatre techniques and implement them into the production, to make it easier to understand and more interesting to watch. We had known that the improvisations we had before were dry and the context were quite confusing, therefore, we needed a change. Through these two rehearsals spent on improvising the scenes, we had changed the way we presented our message. We had changed from a small scale discussion way of presenting, to a large scaled and humorous way of presentation. After the changes, the scenes have started to make sense, and become interesting to the audience.  

Artistic Intention

Today, we were working on our posts, and we started talking about our production as a whole. Then, we touched the topic of the artistic intentions and our intentions through our productions. We discussed that our intentions were to let more people understand the truth about the stereotypes that the Chinese local students have on international students. Delivering this message would be our intention for the product. The artistic intention is that we would like to deliver this message through to the audience with the involvement of the theatrical elements, such as, lighting, sound, etc. In this aspect, we would be able to let our students understand our

Rehearsals- Opening Scenes and Improvising the First Scenes

In the recent rehearsals, we tried to create the opening scenes where all of the students were equally distributed over the stage. The opening scene would be surrounding the topic of the local student's stereotypical thought on international students. The statements we have come up with earlier would be implemented in the scenes. Every one of us are going to have different statements, and the statements are going to be spoken in a "random" order so it would look like a discussion but also will construct "balanced" focus across the stage. The statements will be implemented in a way that the international student that are placed with these stereotypes is known as "she". This would create a sense of mystery in the play. This idea originally comes from an existing theatre production that also uses a "she" throughout the production. We practised the opening scene multiple times and implemented all 8 statements in the opening scenes. 

These are the images of the opening scenes: 

Later, after we finished the opening scene, we decided to chose two statements to create the first scenes. The statements we chose to use were the "use of devices" and the "homework stereotype". For these scenes, we started to implement statements in the scenes, including the local students and international students. This is still an on going improvisation that we are still working on at the moment. 

Rehearsals Part 1

A few days ago, we started our rehearsals for the TIE production. We started off with confused ideas about the theme that we had set up: "Western v.s. Chinese" and focusing on an international aspect for the theme. We had very scattered ideas at first that confused us for what do in the production as a whole. Later, we further discussed how the international student aspect could be fixed to the theme and how it can be focused. After this, we were more focused on what to do for the production, since this was the major idea that we were confused about.
We started thinking about the opening scene for the production. Before this, we had come up with different improvisations of different ideas of diversity between the cultures. For the opening scene, we started thinking about eight statements (one for each of us). These statements were based off of different stereotypes given from the two different cultures on international  students. We also found three different tracks of music that could be played in the opening scene that were "hybrids" of the two different cultures.
I thought the most important value I got from the first rehearsals were that it is very important to improvise scenes and ideas through acting on the spot rather than planning everything out before acting the ideas out. I think it is a value that is very important to know for the future not only with theatre productions but with other areas of expertise. Therefore, I thought that although the first rehearsals was a confusing process of developing ideas but it was a great learning process for me.

Review: Drama Performance by the Year 12 class

On September 29th, we were invited to view the drama performance by the Year 12 Theatre Class. Their performance was designed into a maze involving spaces for each scene on the way through the maze. Throughout the performance the performers used dramatic actions that were large in scale. For example, in the office scene, dramatic actions were performed while working on the paperwork.

I think the dramatic actions would place actions in the scenes that everybody would notice and focus on. Also, it would presents the scenes to be dramatic and lively. 

Another point I thought was interesting was that the settings and the space organisation done to the total space they had was very well done and sophisticated. For example for each setting, there were many props included and it included a lot of detail to the scenes. 

Also, I thought the way that the performers perform in ways of speaking volume, clarity, acting skills was overall good. They were mindful of their speaking volume allowing the audience to be able to understand the story. 

I liked the performance. I thought it was a very interesting plot and it was a very good performance concerning all the points stated above. I hope that the Year 12 would earn their achievements they hope for their performance. 

Further Discussions on the TIE Product

We had a further discussion on the TIE product today. We looked at the ideas we had before. We started about the topic of the differences between two cultures (Western v.s. Chinese). We made a Venn Diagram on the comparison the different cultures.

We talked about many aspects on the topic of the different cultures, such as: The valued concepts, the traditions that are used, etc. We talked about how Chinese people view Western cultures and how the development has urged Chinese people to slowly follow Western cultures. We then thought about what would be in the middle of the Venn diagram and we realised that us, as international students, would fit in the middle. Lastly, we decided that the idea of us, as students in the middle, can become the starting point for our TIE product. We could demonstrate how we view the different cultures and ideas that we were influenced by in the Chinese cultures. This would become a real life situation which would fit well in the global context we are learning about. Using this, the target audience we decided most suitable for this production would be the secondary staff and students. 

I thought that the further discussion added to this was very productive and useful for letting us know what direction we should be heading for making our TIE product. We ended up finding the starting point of our theme and topic that the production would be surrounding, which would be very useful for making the product in the near future.
Our work done over the past classes:

Brainstorm of the Ideas for the TIE product

Today we were assigned to complete the brainstorming process for the ideas that we were going to choose from for our final TIE product.
We started with discussing and brainstorming ideas surrounding the global context: Fairness and Development. We wrote down a
number of ideas that we had come up with surrounding the context down on a poster paper:

Later, we chose a aspect and elaborated ideas on the topic. We chose the topic of the social discrimination. We chose this topic because we had ideas surrounding this topic already, which would make this choice easier to follow to. 

Next, we brainstormed two ideas surrounding the topic of social discrimination.

The first idea was about social discrimination on the topic of wealth. The target audience in this case would be the students of secondary. The topic talks about the different perspectives on the values of life. Scenarios of this idea would be such as: The poor would discriminate the wealthy with the perspective that their property criticises them, etc. The second idea was about academic achievement. The target audience in this case would be the students of secondary. This idea surrounds the different perspectives and treatment between the people that hold different academic achievements. Scenarios of education and workplace were listed on the brainstorming paper. 

The Importance of Criteria

Through the process of creating, improving, and presenting the presentations of TiE, I have learned the significant importance of the MYP criteria for Drama. 

For the presentations, we were assessed on the Criteria A. 

To achieve a 7-8 mark on Criteria A, we would have to achieve the following:

i. demonstrates excellent knowledge and understanding of the art form studied, including concepts, processes, and excellent use of subject-specific terminology

ii. demonstrates excellent understanding of the role of the art form in original or displaced contexts

iii. demonstrates excellent use of acquired knowledge to purposefully inform artistic decisions in the process of creating artwork.

For the first strand, I have learned that we would have to include concepts, processes and subject-specific terminology. I was confused with this strand at first, which led me to the incorrect explanation and use of these three requirement. For example, I had used processes in the wrong way. Instead of stating the processes of TiE, I had explained the development process of TiE. After the presentation, I had understood the this strand is to state the concepts needed in TiE, state the processes needed in TiE (What is done in TiE?), and use specific terminology in the explanations of TiE. Mr. Evans showed us what it would look like to achieve this strand: 

After this explanation, I had understood the way to achieve this strand. I have realised once you understand this, it wouldn't be as hard to achieve it. 

 

For the second strand, the criteria stated to demonstrate the context of the role of art. I have understood that to achieve this strand we could present information on the historical context of TiE. Using the historical context, we could show the development and the role of TiE as an art form. Again, to achieve the first strand throughout the presentation, I could include specific terminology in the explanations. 

For the third strand, the criteria stated again about including knowledge of the processes of TiE. This would be achieved likely to the first strand. 

Learning about these strands shows me what I can do to improve my presentation for the end product that should be made for the final submission of the MYP E-Portfolio. 

The criteria is important because if they are not achieved, then the marks for the final presentation which would be for the E-Portfolio would be low. Therefore, achieving these standards are very important. Now, I have learned approximately what to do to achieve them through this practice presentation process.

Theatre in Education- Introduction

Theatre in Education

Theatre in Education started first in the Belgrade Theatre in 1965. At that time, the world was going under very many revolutions and changes. Theatre in Education was a project undertaken by the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry. Gordon Vallins played a key role in finding the principles of TiE. He was appointed as Assistant to the Director in 1964. He was disappointed with how schools behaved and looked at visits to the Belgrade Theatre for a production of Hamlet. This had motivated Vallins to run a program called the Young Stagers, where young people could work to receive discounts on theatre tickets. These young people would develop and perform their own production. The theatre's director had agreed that the theatre should be the centre of the city's life, and thought that this should begin in the education systems. Later, a Theatre in Education company was made and it not only trained actors as performers but also as teachers. They visit schools that expose children to creativity and affect children's thinking through drama performances. Later, TiE became a famous approach for education through theatre, and many companies have been made after that that serves the same purpose.
The principles of the TiE:
- Creates productions for the purpose of education.
- The productions should end with delivering a message to the audience that inspires discussions, thinking, creativity within them.
- An interactive production with activities that will make it possible to interact with the audience during the performance.
- The performers should not only be trained as actors but also as teachers.
- Produce productions that raises the awareness of topics or issues that surround the students (bullying, etc.) among the audience.
- The productions should be fun and interesting for the audience.
- Appropriate and enhances learning and thinking among the audience.

This is the first TiE company I have researched on. This is a theatre in education company from Hong Kong. This company work with schools around Hong Kong, Macau and Southern China. I have chose this company to explain in more details, because compared to the other companies I have chosen, this one is based in HK, which is easier to relate to than the other companies. This company provides English-language performances in many different schools. Also, it stages a performance that would include a variety of drama workshops. Another service that this company provides, is that it could produce a school drama starring students. 

This company has performed shows such as:

- Aladdin and the Magic Lamp

- Beauty and the Beast

- The Spring Onion Band- live music concert for teens

- etc. 

This company also provides an issues-based theatre. This could contain issues such as bullying that could educate students on these issue topics. 

This is the second TiE company. This company is located in the UK. This company uses performance, discussion workshops and lesson plans, to meet the needs of a range of learning styles and abilities. According to the company's website, they are "members of Anti Bullying Alliance, PSHE Association, Sex Education Forum and NWG." This could help a lot with the education topics that the company covers.

This is the third TiE company. This company was founded in 1982 and is located in the UK. According to the TiE company website, "over 5000 children and young people benefit form the company's work each year." This company has a strong theoretical basis, it "focuses artistically on the power of theatre images and dramatic action to create resonances and challenge us to new ways of thinking; whilst being educationally grounded in active learning and problem solving." This company has earned multiple awards and is recognised as a leading centre in arts education. 

Theatre Games

This lesson, we played a few theatre games.
We started with a game where we all stood in a circle and we were to choose random letters and speak it loudly and clearly. For example, L: Lalalalalalalalaaaa. We basically did this many times until we were confident and until we spoke loud and clear enough. I think this game's main idea was to let us understand that on stage our voices have to be loud and clear so everyone in the audience would be able to hear and understand what you are saying.
Next, we were asked to recite the tongue twister: "Peter Piper picked a peck of picked peppers". We all took turns saying this tongue twister, and all of us had stumbled through this tongue twister. After this activity, Mr. Evans told us that this activity was for making all of us being more comfortable around each other. I thought that this was a good activity, since we all saw the different sides of each other, which made us know each other better.
The next game we played was where someone stands at one end of the stage and we all lined up after a line. The person standing at the end of the stage turns his/her back to the rest of the people. The person chooses when to look back, and when that happens the rest of the people have to freeze immediately. The aim of this game is for the people walking towards the person at the end to touch the person before they turn back to see you move instead of freezing.

This game led all of us to have fun with each other. I think that this game was to make all of us feel more comfortable around each other.
The last game we played was the "trust fall". We all paired up and took turns taking the trust fall. I was with Nancy and it was fun playing this game. This game involved contact which would happen a lot in theatre. Therefore, playing this game was a good way to get used to each other, since drama can contain contact sometimes.
All of these theatre games were aimed to make us feel more comfortable around each other. After this lesson, I had learned more about being comfortable around my classmates, and I knew more about them through the discussions we've had.

Production Elements of Drama

This lesson, we went to the drama studio and we learned about the production elements of Drama. They are the lighting, the sound, the position of standing, and the background of the settings.
The Lighting
First, we were shown the lighting desk that controls all the lighting lamp in the drama studio. Mr. Evans showed how the each switch every individual lamp. After I was shown the lighting controller, I thought of how the lighting crew in theatres might work through the performances. Also, it shows how important the lighting desk is; without it the performance would not be able to continue.

After we looked at the lighting desk, we looked at the bulb inside the lamp. 

Later we looked at the lighting filters that could be put on the lamps of the studio to change the colour of the lighting. The filters can be easily placed in the lamp, this could be used to create different settings for the performance. 

For example, the blue lighting filter could be used to create an underwater setting, or a dream setting, etc. The lighting filter can impact the theatre effects a lot. It creates an atmosphere that tells the audience immediately what the setting of the play is. I think that the lighting filters are very useful for theatrical effects, and they could be controlled through the lighting desk, which would make a change of setting during the play possible. The lighting filters can change the look of the setting a lot. For example: 

This shows that lighting filters can be very important and useful as a production element. 

Next we looked at the sound aspect of the production elements of Drama. 

We first looked at the sound system that wires the speakers in the drama studio.

Although the sound desk looked very complicated, but after seeing how each speaker is wired the specific channel, it was easier to understand. The sound desk could control the sound of the speakers very well, and I thought the sound system in the drama studio was very good. The sound system as an aspect of drama is very important, because in theatre you not only need to deliver information through visual effects, but also you need to use the hearing sense to create the theatrical effects that is needed. Therefore, sound systems are also very important as a production element. 

After this, we looked at the how the position standing in the light could change the visual presentation of the character during the performance. For example:

In these two pictures, it shows the difference the position where Sonny was standing changes the perspective of him from the audience. This change could be used as a way to show the change of the mood or a setting during a theatrical performance. Therefore, this is also very important for bringing theatrical effects to the audience. 

Lastly, we saw the different backgrounds in the drama studio and also we were shown of the space we could play around with as the theatrical space. 

This was one of the backgrounds in the studio that we were shown. After being showed all the different kind of spaces and backgrounds in the studio where we could use, I thought that about how there could be many different kinds of performances held in the same space, without actually using the same plot of theatre arrangement. I thought that this was also a major production element in drama. 

After being showed all the different production elements, I understood more about how the dfferent elements could bring different theatrical effects to the audience. 

What is reflection?

Today, Mr. Evans had shared two links to us that we could use later in our reflections. These two links both contain ideas that could be used for reflections.

The first link was about the sketchbooks of artists and how it is beneficial to people if they use it.

This link was about an interview between the author and the artist Julia Rothman. The first question asked was about whether an artist's sketchbook bespeak the fact that either the success of an artist is based on their "genius talents" and if it is based on practice alone, compared to whether if it is the mix of both. For this question Julia Rothman answered that an artist's sketchbook actually shows that is the mix of both an artist's "genius talents" and them practicing over and over again. She says that sketchbooks are full of evidence of the artist spending lots of time practicing for their work to come out like they expected. Then she states that work in the sketchbooks would not be possible with practice alone, it also involves the creative and the talents of the artists. Therefore, she agrees that it is a mix of both options. There were two questions that followed in this interview. They were mainly about how sketchbooks would be able to contain both the talents of the person and his/her efforts and practices. To conclude, sketchbooks can be very useful in reflections. As the link says, sketchbooks contain both the effort of the individual and also the creations of that person. Therefore, when reflecting it would not only show your work, but it would also show all your inspirations and creations that have led you the the final creations.
The second link was about how an artist's notebook is a huge collection of the person's thoughts and efforts.

Notebooks can be a good reflection tool as well. Notebooks reflects a person's work and their ideas through the whole process of making the final creations. It would greatly show that the person did the work and put effort in making the product. Therefore it would be a great reflection tool if used to explain the process of making the product.

In this lesson, we also investigated the different types of writing for reflections. They were, Descriptive, Personal, and Reflective writing.

I used my experience of moving from Shenzhen to Nanchang in the past, to write the three types of reflection. From this practice, I had learned the different ways to reflect and what ways I could choose to write in my reflections in the future. These different styles of writing can be used in different ways. Such as, if it is a reflection of the facts of a performance the descriptive writing style would be used. If the reflection is about reflecting on personal emotions and feelings the personal writing style would be used. Lastly, for reflecting how a performance impacts on you personally, then the reflecting writing style would be used. Therefore, there are many ways where these different writing styles could be used to reflect.
Finally, in the lessons we also looked at the different medias we could use to reflect.
This was the handout we looked at:

These media widens the range of media that can be used for reflections that I know before I looked at the handout. All these different ways of reflection are creative and can be inspirational comparing to the normal type of reflections with only text involved.
After this lesson, I had learned the different ways to reflect. This would help me with the reflections I would have to do in the future.