Unit 3- Started on 30/11/2018

Context

                                UNIT 3-Silent Movie                30/10/2018

In our first Lesson of Unit 3, as a class we were told that we will be doing a silent movie project on the 20th of November with the creative media group, since it's going to be in black and white.

The name of the silent movie project is called "Dumbwaiter" by Harold Pinter and it's a play which features two characters named Ben and Gus.

Our first taste of experiencing Dumbwaiter was pairing up together to read the script. At one point I even read the script with Mya. This was done so that we can get used to the dialogue of the play.

Planning 

Paint Decorating Sketch- 1/11/2018

A few days later when we had returned from our day-off we did mime techniques which we then had to apply to the decorator scene where I was with Camille. We played a couple who were having their house refurbished.

In this sketch we weren't allowed to speak or anything that seemed obvious to speaking unless they were specific noises like grunting and squeaky noises.

There were 2 characters, the husband and the wife.

I portrayed the husband while Camille played my wife. The plot was about a wife painting the interior of their house and doing the hard work. While the husband was sitting down on an armchair reading a newspaper.

The Act continued with the wife finally getting annoyed at her husband for doing nothing and begins shouting at him while the husband is ignoring her at the same time.

What happens next is that the wife throws paint at her elusive husband. Then all chaos breaks loose with the husband retaliating and one point getting a paintbrush and using it on her especially putting it on her. The wife starts to feel sad so to cheer her up my character puts his arm around her and offers to help her paint. 

This was done to show Rob that we were able to do an act without speaking. Me and Kamille were praised for how well we made our sketch run smoothly since at first when you are doing a complete different drama with someone for the first time, you struggle or you find it difficult to keep that continuity fluent but there was that great connection between me and Kamille like if we could read each other’s mind. 

Research

5th- 9th of November-Buster Keaton- Jail Act Inspiration

In one of Rob's lessons we were organised into fours and I was put with Shevell, Shabir and Tienna and all three are in my class and we were asked to do a drama inspired by the silent movie icons that we were watching a few days ago to give us an insight on how we act in silent movies to make sure that those watching a silent movie/performance knows what is going on.

I decided to give my idea and my peers who were working with me agreed with the concept that I came up with which I thought about when I was thinking about the silent film that I watched in Room 222 with my class in Rob's lesson.

There were a many characters but we only chose a few characters to portray, albeit those characters ended up being The escaped convict, The victim who has his clothes stolen and two policemen.

The people who ended up having these roles were me, Tienna, Shabir and Shevell respectfully.

The drama starts of by a prisoner being taken away to prison by fellow policemen after tussling so much he finally managed to escape out of the clutches of the policemen who then try looking but find out that he's nowhere to be seen.

The escaped convict then finds someone and makes them unconscious by creeping up behind the potential and strangling her, once the person has been taken care of the escapee takes the clothes of the knocked out citizen and hears that the police are coming so he runs away.

The police duo find the person on the floor whose clothes have been replaced with those of the prisoner.

They mistook him for the prisoner that has escaped not so long before and therefore takes him to be jailed. 

When he's put in a cell, they soon find out that the person that was caught isn't the person that they were looking for. 

The framed one is soon released but then see's the supposed prisoner with his clothes and attacks him which ends up knocking him out. The wrongly accused victim dials the police to come and apprehend the escapee who is then returned to prison but this time is jailed.

Here is the link down below!

https://YouTube/watch?v=cNxUPRlWGp8#action=share

planning

12th-16th of November

During Mandy's lesson we went over a scene in each of our mini performances which I did with Shabir, Shevell and Teianna. My scene was the part where my character attacks Teinna's character who is then knocked out and has their clothes stolen.

I had to exaggerate the scene and make it large. This meant putting every detail into perspective. Making it look like if I was doing the actual thing. Every person who was in Mandy's lesson all did scene from their own performance and there was a moment where a student ended up tripping and spilling their tea on someone during the act. Mandy ended up correcting the decision to do the act that way instead she wanted the student to spill their cup of tea and trip after. This was done so that the audience would be to see what was going on since in a silent movie no is supposed to speak or make any noise. So we have to exaggerate the movements so that the audiences can go along with what is happening just like in the old silent movies by Buster Keaton, Stan and Ollie and many more.

Research

19th- 23rd of November 

The themes of the "Dumbwaiter" is a comedy since there are many hilarious moments when Ben and Gus are speaking. The theme of "The Dumbwaiter" could be a "Time Killing" theme as it involves two characters just speaking to one and another just waiting for a phone call.

There are two characters in the play overall. In the stage space only two actors are allowed in the stage space and so it seems reasonable for us to be doing this performance since there are only two characters in the whole play overall.

Planning/Problem Solving 

The Day of the Performance   29/11/2018

An email was sent to me that said "Wear something that your character would wear", So I decided to come in green trousers with a white shirt in preparation of role of Gus in the dumbwaiter.

I took advantage of the time that I had to learn my lines of by heart before the performance since I haven't learnt my lines.

It made me feel desperate that everyone in my class had already learnt their lines.

Despite revising my lines at home a few days before the performance was about to take place, I still weren't able get a hang of learning my lines.

It was like my mind was blocking the words of the script even when I read my lines repeatedly.

So I would take time to look at the words of my script thoroughly especially in college during lessons. 

I tried many forms of learning to help me but no matter how many times I read the lines I still I couldn't remember it accurately in my mind when I was saying the words without the script.

My partner and I decided to spend our free time helping me to learn my lines but she actually ended up creating many disadvantages which was by choosing a noisy place with a lot of people and start talking to other people rather than help me learn my lines.

We then met with one-another near the entrance at the time that we've been asked to. So we were only minutes away from doing what we have been preparing since coming back from the half-term.

Even after going through my lines during my break I still weren't able to say all my lines without the script.

It was now for my turn to go on stage and luckily a few members from my class that are supposed to perform came late so that meant the performance was delayed which was good for me because I could use that time to practice my lines while everyone else was sitting down in their chairs.

I was feeling nervous and my turn was about to occur and I still haven't learnt my lines fully.

The next moment I saw myself sat down with the theatre lights shining bright to my face and many faces starring towards me.

The moment my partner Kamille started speaking her lines, my head was filled up and it felt like there wasn't any space for the words that I've been rehearsing for the last few hours.

I had forgotten my lines and I tried to come up with as many phrases as possible. I was hoping that I would know my lines by the time it was time for me to go on stage.

To avoid this problem I would need to learn whichever script is given to me as soon as it's given to me before the rest of my peers, so that I could be able to get it out of the way so that I can avoid the mistake that I made on the day of the performance. 

Evaluation

WATCHING DUMBWAITER IN ROOM 222

Reflection- 03/12/2018 (Robs Lesson)

After many weeks of watching Dumbwaiter videos, script reading and practicing how we should act our drama's out, we finally ended the Dumbwaiter affiliation and it was a lesson for me this project, it was and for me it was a unit that looked promising at first but after a while I didn't pick up the fluency that I should've carried to the theatre on the day of the performance but although I may have forgotten my lines I received great praise from outside class by two performing Arts students who were on a higher level than me. I was even told by one student that they didn't even notice me forget my lines.

I was so happy that I managed to stay composed because in my head I was thinking of leaving the theatre in the moment of my performance and shout "Sorry but I forgot my lines" and just feel upset afterwards.

But I'm glad I managed to stay in character and get on with the piece. 

Rob advised me that if I forget my lines I should just stop for a moment and think. He even told me to play the moment, (This can be done by being silent and put a pose) That way the audience wouldn't see that you've forgotten your lines.

PROJECT DEVELOPMENT WITH REBECCA GREENWOOD- unit 3 or 4

In Rebecca's lesson we have been looking at videos and documentaries. The videos included a film crew talking about what you need to do or what to take notice of when you are doing an event. Whether its ticket prices, the target market, the costs that will have to be paid for after the performance has ended. These fixed costs could include the rent of the arena and the seats. The salary that will be paid to the main performer is important.

Another video that we ended up checking a Documentary that Britney Spears ended up making in the year 2013. Where we went behind the scenes to see Britney come up with her plan to put on a show in Las Vegas where she has done many shows.   

All of Mandy's lessons that have involved before & After Dumbwaiter combined Oct-Dec.

(To the examiner: Apologies for the small font, I've tried to change it multiple of times but I haven't been able to.) 
In Mandy's lessons we have been very productive and we have been going through what are the physical requirements of being an actor. 
While with Rob we have been focusing in on the mental attributes to becoming an actor. This is useful for me and the class to listen to so that  we don't end going through any surprises when we end do end up going into that stage in our careers where we will be exposed to higher level of acting. Although I'm gambling on the idea of becoming an actor I can look for more tips from Rob on what I need to do for me to get to the stage where I'm able to make a living out of acting.
There are many qualities and skills that are very useful to develop that many actors and teachers have recommended such as;
Having a thick-skin: This is good to have because you may be told that you aren't good enough for a certain thing and you may be told other things that aren't really nice so a thick-skin is needed so that you don't end up giving up.
Patience: In the entertainment Industry it's really hard to gain work and to get a chance. It could also take a long time so you may have to wait for a long time therefore it's good to be patient.
Determination: You may end up being rejected many times and if it's my dream to be an actor then I would have to persevere so that I can achieve my goal.

Problem-Solving This week was inspection week which means Offsted came and so 
did the head of performing Arts. Which meant that Mandy was much more strict than ever so much so that when the inspectors were in the room she made all us students take our shoes off. This made me feel really weird and obscure because from past experience when I've taken off my shoes in a hall like 034 I've felt that the floor was sticky and dirty. So for me there was a reluctance inside me to take my shoes off.
But I knew from past experience 

Research
The things that we were exploring was that people such as male ballerinas and male cheerleaders needed to have physical strength since they would be doing a lot of lifting work especially when they will be throwing a female up in the air they would need that arm strength to be able to catch the performer again and make sure that she doesn't injure herself being caught or even injure themselves being caught so the catcher has to have a tatic that allows them to catch the female performer with a tight grip that isn't hurtful.

Context

Another thing that we looked at was to have great fitness so that we're able to perform tasks that is expected of us and the sort of physical attributes that we needed to be successful as an actor, dancer or a stuntman. Especially if your job involves you being physical then you will need to be agile and flexible so that stunts or somersaults can be done. This is done especially in Action movies e.g. James Bond, Superhero, etc. We may have to be fast and have stamina so that when were doing a police and criminal chase scene we can make it realistic.

Another thing that we looked at was to have great fitness so that we're able to perform physical tasks that is expected

There are other things that actors need to prepare for when they get a role of a character. These things could be lifestyle, attributes, skills, personality of the character they ended up getting. In Bio-pic films actors need to learn how to do the things that the characters were famous for for e.g. if it's a race car driver, then the actor needs to learn how to drive or if it's a famous singer that had a unique way of singing then the actor would need to learn to learn how to sing just like the person that they are supposed to portray.
ResearchFor some reason Mandy wanted us to look up The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time on our phones. I felt at that time "what does a play have to do with all that we have learnt in Mandy's lesson. But then again our main focus was on Dumbwaiter during the past few weeks. Dumbwaiter and TCIOTDITN are both plays so it's understandable why we were watching the trailer and when watching the trailer my classmates noticed that there were certain stunts that were being performed. So we discussed what did actors need to have to be able to do that was shown in the trailer.
At one point it's shown in the trailer a character climbing and running on a wall
At first I didn't see somersaults and things that take a lot of practice to do but when I watched the trailer again I saw all the things that my classmates had been talking about to Mandy.
It seems like the actors in the play had to do a few procedures and meet requirements in the trailer but that is obvious when you are doing a production in the theatre.
PlanningNext we got into groups of three to see if we can lift of the heaviest of the three off the floor.
Later on we actually did an activity that had something to do with testing our physical strength, that would be seen as group work. The way it started was a person who had to stand in between two groups of people.
There are certain amount of people who need to carry one person.
One person has to carry the head and another person has to carry the bottom of the feet.
In each side there were 3 people, so all together there were 8 people. Once all the people were sorted, they all started to lift the person that was being help up high.
I took part in the second lift and because I was eager of carrying someone high up just like they would do in films for a burial or in ancient Egyptian times where they would carry a dead mummy. we all somehow got into conflict due to knowing who should partake in the next high lift. 
This was our last lesson before the The Christmas Holiday and it had Nothing to do with Dumbwaiter whatsoever but it was about exercise and getting fit. Just like before we had to take our shoes off but this time I didn't mind because the floor looked really clean.
In Many's lesson we measured our heartrate. I was thinking considering how much junk food I eat, I was thinking that my one would be quite low but it was much more LOWER than how I expected it to be. 

Later we did a fitness regime that involved running to front of the classroom, doing press-
ups on the ground and jabbing. After a long time doing the exercises we sat down and measured our heartrate again. This time it ended up being higher and unlike last time where I was struggling to find my pulse and when I did, I would lose count after a while. This time I was able to feel my pulse easily. 
Problem SolvingAfter the all the work on Dumbwaiter I thought that if I was going to avoid the minor mistakes that I ended up doing during the performances then I needed to stop feeling guilty about being in this course and that maybe staying at my previous course which was business would've been much more better.
Because I'm a Christian and I asked one of the pastors of the main church if being an actor would be a good career path for me to choose.
His answer wasn't really encouraging for me. He told me to discard acting and go for an other alternative option.
But a year later after a few more encouraging talks I decided to do this Performing Arts course that I'm currently on. But even after the great advice and talks that I've received My mind keeps on bothering me and reminding me of what my pastor said and thinking that this course is the wrong idea. Even when I try to remind myself with the comments that sound like a Performing Arts course is fine to do from many people, I Still get these guilty moments that come to haunt me. 
But no job is exactly pure where you are never going to get tested. E.g. An accountant would be asked to launder money at one point in his career or masseur may be asked to do parts of the body that they aren't comfortable with or a simple job like being a cashier where you may have a customer that wants to buy something like alcohol, cigarettes,etc.
I'm not going to burden myself no more with this mentality but when there is something that is against my faith then I will stand strong.