post number 6

so, we had a showcase on thursday, for the seniors.

here was some of the responses:

1) metaphors, for the house scene, the remote can be used as a power status/control between the couple, to make the DV more defined.

2) more dramatic and varied actions.

3) work on dramatic pauses.

4) keep up the energy of the pieces.

and so, after hearing all this comments, we headed out to better the house scene, which had a lot of problems.

so, mark and i wanted to use the  remote as the power status and it was a great idea, since we had a focus for the piece and also, another idea for the sound was built. basically, the "husband" which is actually the woman will have the football/soccer channel as a mark of his turf and reign. also, we decided to make the masculinity more obvious for the female. also, there were problems with the length and placing of the table and i guess we need more practice and markings might be place-small- so that we don't go so very off.

as for the wife, the man, will have oprah winfrey as his channel and we have made him more sensitive and emotional, much like the typical stereotype of a woman. anyways, i think that with this as the focus, the scene is much more coherent and sucinct and i feel more comfortable.

the only thing is that i don't know if i want to make the husband and wife to be loving, or outrightly enemies from the start. i have to make the decision soon.

i am also worried for the rope scene, as we don't have feedback for it yet and i'm not sure if our DV can be clearly seen in that scene, and we still need to refine it, but it is hard since mel is sick and i don't want her to come for rehearsals in case she spread the sickness to the rest, which would be worse. so, i think once she is back, we will show the rope scene to TGO and get feedback.

the sound for the house, proposal and box scene is set,  just the rope scene to comfirm.

suryadi and i have already bought the face paint today and we will have a full run on tuesday, complete with face paint, costume, set, lights, sound. and we need to train our tech crew and be trained too.

the group is still working and communicating well together.

god save us.

post number 5

ohayo!

so, the showcase has already passed and i feel great because the M&Ms had got good and constructive feedback from the audience- so yes! i feel motivated to continue doing well!

some of the comments were(even though i was not there)

1) improvements to be made to the facial expressions.

yes. that is true. thus, this goes back to the mime exercises that we have to practice more- given the limited time. so, i will have to set aside more time to practice this.

2) the movements must be more presice and succinct.

i think that this flaw is inevitable because firstly, we are not trained professionaly in mime but other than that, i think with more practice, we can improve our mime ability.

3) stock type characters? to make the characters more identifyable

this is yet to be decided, but roughly, most of the group members are aggreable that their own character has certain traits identifyable to them so that it makes the movements easier to choreograph.

4) buy long sleeved t-shirt

on the way. and thank god we have funds. yeah beby, $100!~

5) must have equal distribution of the roles

this has been my ultimate worry because, the fact that our DV is about gender subversion and reversal, most of the scenes tend to have more guy parts and the girls are left without much to do. TGO also mentioned that each person should be "in charge" of one scene to ensure the equal distribution, which we have allocated already. so, to solve this problem, we have a 4th scene, this one with the focus on girls. i know we are pushing the time limit so now we have to be more accurate in our movements so it all goes back to the mime(actors) and how well we can accomplish our scenes. Gambatte!

more about the 4th scene: Rope scene

the fourth scene is basically how 2 macho girls wants to court to boy that they see and they do it ruthlessly, much like how boys woo girls. this idea makes use of the rope aspect of mime, because we all liked the "rope" exercise and we decided to integrate this into our piece. furthermore, our DV is seen when the girls are the ones going after the boys, destroying the age old notion that guys have to be the one courting the women. also, the ways in which the women are presented are more macho and will be comical to watch.

the set is simple, in a park, with a bench. we'll see what we can do with the bench. lots of ideas.

as the director: i was pleased that our piece got the thumbs up and i feel that a huge load is lifted off my back, that we were on the right track. also, i could continue doing my job and i like it.

so, i have decided with the groups to lower the timings for the scenes so that we can add in the 4th scene. i think that i have a lot of ideasa as to how to improve the 4th scene and how the actors should move and how to make this scene more comical.

i will continue trying my best. =)

as for the lights, i think that the lights that i have set were not a problem during the showcase and i feel that we need to try the facepaint with the lights, so that will come when we actually buy the face paint.

again, i would want the set to be lighted just enough for the actions and expressions to be seen and also, to get the feel of the area, be it a park or dining room.

group: as for the group, i think that in my absence, the members are stepping up more and i feel that our group has not much conflicts and are mostly professional. i look forward to working with them.

good job and keep striving!

post number 4

Hola!

since the last post, there has been several changes:

the possible removal of the hiking and shopping scene- reason: there is lack of energy and also i am unsure that the audience can grasp our message in this scenes. also, these scenes were particularly demanding in the physical context and i felt that we were not able to fully meet the criteria that the scene needs. the obvious answer would be to train harder but there is that limit, i felt. however, we will see if we can still place the scenes into the piece if we manage to improve our physicality and our control of muscles(yes, none of us are flexible). so, it might be scraped off!

however, there is a bright side when we have a newer scene:

box scene- to show that girls are stronger physically than guys, contrary to popular believe. so, the scene goes like this, guy finds box on floor, tries to move it aside, another guy comes along to help him. both are unable to push it aside. at the last part, two girl comes along and carries the box away effortlessly.

this scene, i believe, has a lot of potential to be comedic as well as train our movement. also, the story is simple and easily understandable to the audience.

so, with the DV in mind, i set out to see this scene unfold. we had the basics settled, but, the elements and more subtle actions in the scene needs to be choreographed. i had some problems, because, i left the actors move by themselves, i told them the situation and then i let them decide what they wanted to do and with their actions, i would comment or tell them the mistakes and better the movements. however, i realise, that at times, some of them just stood where they were, without initiative, waiting for me to tell them what to do. this gets a bit frustrating as i cannot concentrate on individual actors but rather, i prefer to look at the scene as a whole and from there, change the little details. 

another problem was the lack of energy from some of the actors, as though they cannot wait for rehearsal to end. but in the end, i think that we manage to cross the hurdle and bring our concentration level back up. 

i feel that i am sometimes focusing my directions to the scene to make it more funny than conveying the DV, so i need to take note of that little fact. 

most of the time, i find that the actors are on their feet and they are not lazy and can find actions to do on stage, just that i need to make sure that the energy in the sketches are not dispersed and that there actors who are in the scene are not just acting as props.

for the restaurant scene, i think that there needs to be better timing for the actors and that they need to take their moment to show the audience their intentions and their facial and body expression, this way, it would be more effective in placing the DV across.

i have the same comments for the house and box scenes, however, i think that physicality needs to be noted by the actors(especially me!) and cannot break out of character. i realise this. however, i think to perfect the timings, the most important thing to note is that the sound is not in yet and the real timing can only come in when the sound is finalised. this will be done next week.

as the set designer, i have had to make choices, especially in the case of props, and having made the decision to stay true to the minimalist and also pantomime aspect, i have taken away tables(restaurant and house scenes) and also, i do not recommend to have a real box on stage. i might be wrong, but i am hoping for feedback during the showcase and we will consider the comments given then.

as the lighting designer also, i have lit up the set to be bright enough for the acting space to be seen yet not too bright, accordingly to the needs of the different scenes. since the focus is not lights, i don't think this would be a problem, however, if there are comments to have more lighting effects, i will change and consider as need be.

i think that the group is doing okay in terms of chemistry but i feel that more commitment and energy is needed during rehearsals. we need to step up our game as we have not been meeting deadlines because of the many changes to the script but i want to be more efficient.

i am looking forward for the day when we can perform a really good piece of total theatre and mime.

GAMBATTE!