G10 Scripted Reflection- Rachel Jung

One aspect that we did well in was blocking. We managed to get down what we wanted to do and convey pretty quickly, and we had a general idea of how we wanted the scene(s) to play out early on in the process.

The places we needed work on as a group was, I think, in teamwork. Even while we planned out the details, we left each other pretty much to our own devices. We also split the group in two, Will and Jasper in one group and Matthew and I in the other, because of our character roles, even though we are all on stage at any given moment. Likewise, we didn’t communicate outside of class or rehearsal moments. However, we did sometimes help each other out on what could happen or what the character should do at a specific moment and whatnot.

Personally, I should’ve thought and worked more on characterisation. I did think out a stance/posture for my character, but I did not implement it into my acting, and I think that’s a shame. I also think that I should’ve exaggerated the character’s emotions more or showed the emotions of the character more clearly. However, it’s hard to be dramatic when the person you’re acting with doesn’t seem to show as much energy as needed for the scene. But then again, we are graded individually so I should’ve went and done my own “brand” of acting instead of matching energy levels and enthusiasm as my partner.

Zen Zen Zo Workshop

It might just be because that week I was feeling kind of down, but it was hard for me to get into the proper mood for the “white line” exercise thing. I spent most of the week feeling dull and in a neutral state of mind, so it was hard to get into an excited mood. I didn’t really “solve” the problem; I just gave it the best I could. I think that as long as I was willing to work hard for the workshop, it was fine not being so happy and excited.

It was also hard keeping multiple tasks in mind. When we were stomping around the stage, it was difficult for me to make sure I was stomping down hard enough, if I was keeping my stance correct, if I was keeping a good enough tempo or whether I was on beat with the music or not (there is a reason why I failed at band in my old school), at the same time as keeping in mind where my classmates were, the gaps created on the stage, and being aware of the audience. At one point, I found myself kind of just zoning out instead of focusing. I think. I don’t really remember much of how I got through this exercise. If I ever had a moment when I just disconnected from my body, this is the moment. I think given enough time, I would have eventually got it; but since we had limited time, I didn’t really solve that problem too.

I think I did well on the energy level exercise, at level one, when we had no energy. It’s me every day and every weekend.

Most of the things we did during the workshop was hard. Making the stance was also hard because since I have flat feet, it’s hard to keep my feet together and my toes touching. My feet kind of want to stay in a pidgeon-foot formation.

I find it difficult to keep track of multiple things at once, and the workshop helped me be aware of how much more I need to keep in mind while acting. Before I thought it was just my lines, other people’s lines, what other people were doing, what I was doing and going to do, and what my posture was. Now I know there is so much more. And that is terrifying.

Probably write down the things to keep in mind on my notes, think more of how to implement the Suzuki stance into my acting, remember to keep my energy at a level six.

1984 Notes- Rachel Jung

One of the themes portrayed in the play was the constant surveillance from “Big Brother” on the general populace, and Winston’s paranoia of his lack of privacy. When Winston found the “hidden” room, the audience sees Winston and Julia’s interactions within the room through a screen. I found it interesting to how the play leads the audience into thinking that the screen is only there for the audience’s benefit, only to turn out that it was just “Big Brother” spying on them.

Also, from the early parts of the play, when Winston is admonished for not participating in the the morning workout by the telescreen, the audience finds out that the telescreen is large, based on how much space the light from the screen covers. From that moment, the audience thinks that telescreens are large and obvious, so it leads us further into the false idea that the “hidden” room is safe because neither Winston nor Julia noticed a big screen.

 

It was also interesting how the play kept on switching from time period to time period. It starts off in the beginning of Winston’s story, moves to the future, then back to Winston, and etc. And there is a repetition in each different time period. For example, the rhyme “Oranges and Lemons” is repeated, as well as the child’s demand for chocolate and the mother’s declination. Both are phrases and echoes from Winston’s past that haunt him.

I kind of interpreted the constant shift in time as flashbacks or musings that Winston has, either as he becomes more aware of how oppressed his environment is or during his “reeducation”. The voice, that we discover to be O’Brien’s, keep on asking him where he is or how Winston will meet him in a place with no darkness. Winston would have discovered that O’Brien is not an ally, and there is no interaction between Winston and O’Brien until just before Winston’s capture, so Winston couldn’t have heard these words from O’Brien before his torture. Winston relies heavily on the past, and I feel like going through Winston’s past and then changing it would be a method O’Brien, or rather the government, would feel inclined to use. If you control the past, you can control the present and future.

Likewise, it might also be the government’s way of mocking Winston’s dependence on the past. Especially when the shopkeeper/government agent finished the rhyme that Winston had been chasing, just for old time’s sake. Because, whether or not Winston had been broken at this point, Winston knows that there is simply nothing he can do to stop “Big Brother”, whether he holds onto his memories or not.

 

A motif that repeats a lot, especially during transitions between scenes, is that the lights flash really bright and then off, accompanied by a loud sound. It could be meant to keep the audience on their toes, as Winston is constantly looking over his shoulder during the play, always worrying about being caught or being seen. It could also be a way to get the audience to feel Winston’s fear whenever he feels fear. For example, the torture scene.

 

When O’Brien allowed Winston to share his ideas with the “future” and the camera turn on, and Winston and O’Brien face the audience, it is obvious that we– the audience– are the future. The play is implying that the events in 1984 have already come to pass, and we are the ones who should learn from Winston. The fourth wall is broken. And when Winston is tortured again after his fruitless speech to the audience, he pleads for us (again, the audience) for help, saying that we can stop him from being hurt. I feel that this is a moment that really plays on the guilt of the audience.

Frantic Assembly Notes- Rachel Jung

One lesson is how the speed and music can completely change the interpretation of the scene and the relationships between the characters presented in the scene. Slow movement and music can create a more intimate atmosphere, while a more fast-paced setting could create a tension-filled scenario.

The amount of eye contact made and the target of said eye contact also impacts the scene’s interpretation. Eye contact indicates who the character is focusing on, and where the audience should also focus on. If Person A is looking at Person B, and B is also looking at A; this hints at some kind of intimate relationship, positive or negative. However, if A is looking at B, but B is not looking at A; the audience could come to multiple conclusions, but ultimately it will be of one in which A is trying to establish a connection by B is indifferent. Likewise, if eye contact is made, it tells the audience who or what is at the focus for the scene because when making eye contact, it is usually of importance to the scene.

The last one I can remember is the lift techniques. I learned that, if done correctly, size and weight are inconsequential for lifts. It’s mainly meant for transportation from one place to another, because if the person being lifted isn’t moved from Point A to Point B, then there would be no point to doing the lift. However, lifts can’t just be used just for the sake of using a lift; the transition also needs to have some kind of purpose. Maybe to show a metaphorical symbol of a relationship between two characters (i.e. Character A relies on Character B as emotional support, Character A is always being forced to do Character C’s will, Character A is glorified by Character D, etc), or maybe to make a transition from one scene to the next as clear as possible.

Storytelling Reflection- Drama

In general, I think that our performance went well but there could’ve been some improvements. I learned that the atmosphere must be fast-paced and exciting to keep the audience’s attention, especially for children, but it must not stay that for the entire time. There must be some variation to tempo and mood so that the audience is not subjected to the same constant tension for the entire time and instead experiences new tones. The lighting can subtly tell the audience of the mood and can amplify the emotions and atmosphere we, the actors, are trying to produce. We must be mindful of space and area, how we use it. We also must be aware of the movements and positions of our characters. This is an area we could’ve improved on because I think that in some scenes one or two of our characters are not moving or doing anything. This is reasonable in some way because the focus is supposed to be on another group of actors and a large action may detract attention from the main focus group, but the characters that are not being focused on should not just be standing still and doing nothing. Maybe small actions that add a little to the character’s personality or entertain the audience can be done. In addition to what we could’ve done better, we could’ve had better characterisation for some of our characters, especially mine and the Cat in the Hat. We managed to pick out a specific way of moving and talking (i.e the fish pretended to have fins and moved its arms and the Cat in the Hat talked in rhymes) but the characters didn’t have enough depth in personality. We also should’ve used more of the stage. During our actual performance and our rehearsals, we mainly stayed downstage instead of finding ways to use upstage or centerstage.

Currently, I’m relieved that the performance is over because I was really nervous on how the storytelling would go and I’m glad that it went well and I can put the experience into my brain archive to remember and analyse instead of continuously fretting over it. During the process of planning it out and in rehearsals, I was sort of stressed because I’m new to this school and to Drama and I was supposed to go make an adaptation of a children’s story with these strangers. I’m not really great with teamwork because I find communicating a very hard and nerve-wracking experience and I don’t have a lot of practice in working in groups since most of the time in my old school, group projects meant that each person did their work individually and then came back together once or twice to rehearse and then hoped that their final presentation turned out as a passable grade. Most of the time, I just listened and sometimes contributed some ideas. Other times, I felt a little irritated because I didn’t really like some of the ideas and whenever I suggested change, it was just waved away. For example, Luca and Will wanted to start the beginning with narration so that it’d rhyme with the Cat in the Hat’s opening lines. Will also said that the rhyming will give a boring and slow tone to the story. However, I thought we could just act as if we were bored instead of having a narrative. Because we supposed to be showing that the characters are bored, not to actually bore the audience to death in the very beginning. I eventually just accepted it and (grudgingly) agreed that the rhyming narrative would tell the audience that we’d have a rhyming scheme and that the starting tone is slow, which contrasts with the fast and exciting pace we have planned for later.

ATL Photo- Drama

I have a lot of concerns in all three categories and not a lot of strengths. I don’t tend to have any good ideas that contribute to the group and I don’t communicate with other classmates outside of class, but I do respond to other people’s contributions so that’s something. I think that most of my strengths come from the fact that I tend to go follow the group more than trying to lead it and so I don’t spend time adding to the discussion of where we should go. In some ways, it’s a good thing because that means the group takes less time to get started. On the other hand, it’s a bad thing because then I don’t contribute my thoughts and don’t communicate with the group.

So for this semester or term, I decided to focus on setting and working towards a goal (Self-Management), contributing to discussions(Collaboration), and expressing ideas verbally (Communication). For Self-Management, I should start by realising what I want (in this case, it would be having digital discussions and verbal expression) and to set reminders whenever I need to have one on what I should do and when I should have it done by. For Collaboration, I should first contribute to discussions digitally, learn people’s emails and/or phone numbers so I can contact them outside of class, and set a reminder when I have a question. Communication goes hand-in-hand a little with Collaboration. To go express ideas out verbally, I should plan out what I want to say and how to say it beforehand and predict how the conversation will go to prepare my answers because most of the time I don’t say anything in discussions because I know that I wouldn’t have any answer to give them and I don’t want to seem stupid.

For skills like these, I hope to keep them for the rest of my life, but I hope to have them and be able to use them frequently by the end of this first semester.

Drama: First Class

Aug. 24, 2017

First day of Drama:

I really enjoyed the games and how they taught/showed us the brief overview of the skills we needed to know and will learn in this class over the school terms. What I learned about drama was that it wasn’t all about acting as or becoming a different person for the sake of acting. Drama was something that was a tool that helped people understand who they were, inside and out, while showing them new sides to themselves. Something I look forward to in this class is what I will discover about myself, as a student and as a normal human.