Week 5 13 by Mike Bartlett Sophie's Blog

Week 5

In this blog I am going to talk about the lighting process of Act one and starting to block act five.

This week was the start of the lighting which was very exciting because it feels it if the play is coming to life a lot more. The start of the play is very naturalistic because of the light bulb effect feels as I the atmosphere is inside your bedroom which is simple but effective. The sound of the alarm makes the atmosphere more tense. I felt uneasy when I was panting because I can her my heart beat more than normal. Also seeing people getting up the same time as me makes more darker because of the dynamics that is shown. The lighting is a impressive to show the clock and to have it flashing makes the pace more faster. I think that is one of my favourite scene because I can feel other people that are connected to me that have the same dream. In the previous week Nikey came up with the idea of John coming thought the curtain and turning the alarm off with his watch. I think this is a lovely idea because it flows in to the next scene and it give the twelve a queue to exit the stage. However I think John should not do this very cheesy because it spoils the effects. I think should be more naturalistic when he does this not smiling as much when he does this.

Another scene that stood out for me was the clubbing scene when everyone is dancing. I thought that this scene combined with the lighting was a good atmosphere created. the lighting gave something extra to this scene instead of being a normal drama lesson. It made the actors creative with the lighting such as jumping in a club.

We began Act five by putting the twelve in the circle that was the beginning of Act five. However this did not link to the dialogue that was going to be said. Then anther idea came that we would be with someone that is linked to another character such as Zia and Shannon looking at the stars. This is linked when Shannon meets Zia on the park bench listening to John. The idea was to recreate a part of the play that has already been done or is going to happen. For example Ruth and Stephen chatting like they did in Act 1. This idea then became boring to watch because nothing was happening on stage which gave the last act very dry. So then we developed this idea by walking around in the space with the character but then this did not work because it was less structured therefore there was no purpose on that journey. Then we started to use the box as something to create the attention on. Unfortunately didn't work as there is loads of dialogue that is cutting in etc. I thought that this Act 5 was pointless because it doesn't leave the audience with a cliffhanger as much as Act 3 therefore we decided to cut Act 5. To be honest I didn't understand this Act 5. I thought that it was just a excuse to connect the 12 people one last time before the play ends. Also cutting Act 5 gives the play less risk of the audience switching off in the middle of the last Act which summarizes the play. I think that all plays needs to go with powerful ending or beginning so the audience won't forget the performance.


We then moved on to blocking Act 3. The first that we blocked Act 3 Scene 2. This scene has to lead on to a tense scene before this one. The previous scene is

   'We again hear Laurie Anderson-'Someone Else's Dream'
    This time it's cut even shorter. The twelve wake up again as before terrified and breathing'

The song 'Someone Else's Dream' starts with cellos being bowed slowly. I think that Bartlett was trying to create a relaxed atmosphere for the twelve therefore the cellos help the twelve to be calm. However The rest of the song stays on one level of pace which can make the song boring therefore the audience will loose concentration. So we thought that the music should stop halfway though to continue more on the plot. However having the whole song on will build the tension to the audience. On the other hand the audience have scene this scene before as it was Act one scene one.

Anyway I think that Act three scene two needs polishing because the response to each character is slow and not effective therefore the audience will not find it interesting. I am happy with what we have blocked. When I was doing this I was imagining what sort of house Edith stays in. Is it creepy? Smelly?. I thought that it was a messy house because her character is always in a hurry so she rushes about trying to look for things and it ends up in a mess. Having said this I thought of a idea that maybe I should pick things of the floor as I came in to help Edith because of her condition. I also thought that when there is no response from Edith then I reacted as if she was dead. So I walked very slowly just in case there was someone around in the house but entering the house made me less worried as I could see Edith standing staring at something. If Edith's characterisation was better then it would of made the scene more intense. I think she needs to stare at the audience to make the audience look uncomfortable. I think Edith needs to think about what she is staring at. Why is she terrified?. Maybe a photo of her family that she can't remember.



Voice portfolio: Articulation

Articulation

Articulators are parts of the mouth which the actor should experiment such as the energy, precision and quality of action. The articulators are the lips, the tongue, the jaw, the soft palate, the uvula, the pharynx, and the glottis.

The jaw is one of the strongest muscles in the body. It is known as the Masseter. The stability in the jaw is the foundation for speech production. Movements in the jaw are linked to speech clarity.

The tongue is one of the hardest work muscles that a human uses. The tongue is a vital instrument that gives everyone the ability to speak. To get the tongue moving it is always good to practice tongue twisters to open your mouth more and pronounce every word right. Also a great exercise to do is to poke your tongue out like a lion and slowly bring it back in to your mouth. This is show that you are controlling your tongue. As an actor this is an important skill to have because you need to be aware of the tongue in plays etc.

The soft palate is located at the back of the roof of the mouth. There is also a hard palate which is located at the front of the roof of the mouth. You can tell where the soft palate and the hard palate is because the hard palate is more bony and hard compared to the soft palate. The soft palate is made up of muscle that allows to press down as part of swallowing and to rise up creating space for yawns and bright open sounds. The tensor and levator palate muscles form a sling lifting the soft palate up and backwards closing off the entrance of the nasal cavities. A experiment to do for the soft palate is to say “hit” without releasing the final “t” sound. Make the “t” sound but don’t let the tongue release the air. You may feel the air pressure pushing towards the top of the tongue and you may feel a gentle pressure at the back of the roof of your mouth as the air pushes against your closed velum or soft palate.

Resonation

There are three resonators that actors use in daily life.

They are:

The head voice

The nasal voice

The chest voice

The head voice is associated with a high pitch. The nasal voice is at medium pitch. The chest voice is the low/deep pitch of the voice.

Week 4 13 by Mike Bartlett Sophie's blog

Week 4

In this blog I am going to talk about my the background of 13 and learn information about my characters. Also the rehearsal process.

Firstly we presented our prevention on All of aspects of 13. I came up with an idea of making a poster to be different to other presentation. However the poster was too digested with words and was unclear to see. From the feedback there was some uncertainty with the topic but the research was clearly done because of the facts that were written on the poster. Having thought about our presentation I thought I should have rehearsed on saying it to a audience instead of putting notes down on paper with not planning to say something detailed because I didn't go into depth about my topic which Ruth. I think I just made another way of saying the same thing on the poster. Having done this prevention I think that I will improve by rehearsing it more instead of being vague. With the poster idea the audience said how creative it was. To improve this presentation is to not make the poster too congested is to have separate posters on different topics this way everyone can see the writing. I will now take this feedback on board and I have learnt that I shouldn't go outside of the box too much.  

The other presentations have strengths and weakness. For an example most of other presentations had too much information on the powerpoint and they didn't explain in detail. However one presentation stood out for me which was Sophie's . The reason being that this presentation stood out for me was because she used cue cards which helped her about what she was going to see next. Sophie made eye contact with the audience which made the audience connect with her therefore it made it more professional and interesting to learn from. Sophie engaged the audience in what she was talking about. Sophie made a presentation which only had the main facts on the power point. The main points were easy to read because there wasn't too many words on slide. Sophie made a mindmap on the power point the views on the reviewer of 13. I thought this was a great way to express Dan Hultons ideas and views of the play. The bit of criticism I would give is that the mind map was not left on for long so the audience can take notes. It was clear and understandable. From one of the presentations I found out about my character. I found out that Shannon is that the critical part of her life is meeting John. I agree with this because she watches her videos John on social media and she had the courage to say hi to John.

In the Act 2 scene 11 Shannon sees John live for the first time. Her reaction is using her facial expressions such as smiling because Johns biggest fan. Shannon strongly believes in Johns views because she quit to her job because of the what  John said in his speech's such as in act two scene eleven he says "well I want to remove the barriers and believe that this may be the facts on the ground". Having read this I think that Shannon's barrier is her work because she is not enjoying it and it is keeping her away from her dreams.  Also Shannon is one of the twelve therefore she is drawn to John because she is related to the 12 disciples.

The rest of the week was focusing on Act 2 and the swift changes from one scene to the next. When moving from scene to scene it makes the performance look more professional. With '13' the scene change need to be quick because of the jumping from scene to scene with is not related to the previous scene.

Next week is starting to run though Act one and Act two under the lights.

Week 3 of 13 by Mike Bartlett Sophie's blog

Week 3

We started this week by picturing our character by closing our eyes. We were starting to think of questions in our head such as do they have something with them throughout the play? what do they look like.  I picked Shannon to imagine the character. I thought of her wearing a black trousers  and a black blouse to address that she is respectful and professional for work. Shannon's hair scarped back in a bun. The reason why is because that we know that she is working for a formal person. I thought that her shoes need to be practical because she is cleaning around a large area. I think a name badge to show that she is working for a big environment. I thought black pumps so she can feel comfortable whilst cleaning.

We then moved on looking at obstacles and objective. An objective is something to aim towards such as exiting from another side of the room. An obstacle is something that is stopping the objective. We tried this in an exercise. In this exercise there were good examples being shown. For an example two people acted a scene when one person was invited to this party. Although it was funny I could see a scene starting to progress whereas the other people that did the exercise tried to stop them physically. In Act one Scene 5 I think Shannon’s main objective is to get enough money so then she can quit her job but her daily objective is finish her work for the day so then she can go and see John speak in the park and meet her boyfriend Zia. However her obstacle is Ruth because she is stopping Shannon from doing her job. For an example with Ruth says “just switch it off alright”. At this point Shannon finds it irritating that she has stopped her from doing her work therefore she says “I didn’t vote for you” indicating that she doesn’t like Ruth. The verb that summarizes Shannon’s objective is I hear you. This means that Shannon is hearing her and responding to what she is saying. On the other hand Ruth’s interpretation to Shannon is I block you because she is just a ‘civil servant’ therefore she only comes to clean and not to say anything else.  The definition for ‘civil servant’ is a ‘person in the public sector employed for government department or agency’ therefore she is helping the government by cleaning.

In Act three scene four Shannon meets a geek called Zia. This week we blocked this scene. In this scene we blocked it as if it was we were in love with each other. We begin the scene silence. We used the Stanislavski method of solitude in public which made it effect and believable because it began to feel awkward and that made the scene more naturalistic. Whilst the silence was going on Zia and I made eye contact to make as if we were in love. The scene is set on a bench. I was on one side and Zia was on the other. We found that the distance away from each other gave a realistic approach to normal life. Also this is the first time they meet therefore the distance worked. It communicates to the audience to that the silence built the awkwardness.  I think that Shannon’s objective is to encourage Zia to come up with a conversation because she is shy to speak to someone that she loves.  Zia is responding to this objective and thinking that he must involve her in this conversation before she goes. He then start taking about thirteen and Shannon interested because she is watching Johns speech. Then Shannon’s obstacle is Zia because she then asks Shannon out which she stops. Then Shannon’s objective is to assure Zia that she will come out tonight. I thought that this was a beautiful scene to block because there is lots of shyness that builds to love. This also looks like they are in there own bubble because they are constantly having eye contact and looking away. Nothing else matters around them apart from each other. From the blocking and feedback I can play this scene successful because of the chemistry that Zia and Shannon have. For an example when Zia and Shannon both look at each other when the odd "stars" were mentioned. 

In Act one scene 7 we meet Alice who is Mark assistant. I thought that Mark’s objective for this scene was to block Alice because he has a ‘headache’ and wants to get the case finished.This was given in the blocking of the scene. The scene was to be more of a fast pace. This links well because of Mark's objective. Also he is saying a list of things to Alice such as ‘a toothbrush, a new shirt and a double espresso’. I think that Mark walks in all messy and unorganised because he had a late night the night before working. This is why he has a headache. Also his breath is messy to breathe in because he asked for a ‘toothbrush’ therefore he has no time to brush his teeth before work because he woke up late. However Alice’s objective is to remind Mark of the case that he is supporting for. Alice is described in this scene wearing ‘yellow jumpers trainers and leggings’. I thought that was a good outfit to wear for Alice because it says in the text and also Mark comments on her fashion. The words "I block you" work with tho scene because Mark's body language is communicating that he doesn't want to do this case. Also he hasn't put any effort into looking professional to win this case. Also he blocks Alice by giving Alice simple answers to respond to. For an example 'my brother is ill' is a simple answer that he could think at the time. The blocking of this scene helped the situation because we are walking to that specific objective and then is stopped with his obstacle.  

My aims for next week are to learn my lines for Act 2 and read through Act 1 and reminding myself of stage directions. Also next week I should think about my objectives more during the scene.

Portfolio: Larynx and vocal folds

Larynx and vocal folds

The larynx is a voice box which contains the vocal folds. The larynx is a muscle that helps position and shapes the vocal folds. It also releases unnecessary tension in the voice box. An important thing to do for an actor is to look after your larynx because it has three main function such as swallowing, breathing and voice production. These main functions are what keep your voice awake. Sound production happens when the vibration of the mucosa. The mucosa is the inner edge of each vocal cord. Damages such as structural, inflammatory or lesion of the vocal cord can affect the voice production and quality of your voice. The larynx manipulates pitch and volume. The vocal folds are situated just below where the tract of pharynx.

Every so often as an actor it is recommend moving your larynx sideway. It is good to do this because it will relax your voice box and decrease unnecessary tension before you go on stage. It is best to do this exercise before vocal warm up so your voice is prepared for the warm up and is clearer.  You must not do this too often as it may cause damage to the vocal cords.

 

This is an image of the larynx and vocal folds. The vocal are located first in the throat followed by the larynx which is near the back of your tongue. Then the trachea is after the larynx.

Week 2 13 by Mike Bartlett edited

Week 2

We began this week with a introduction to Greek tragedy. To start the task was to come up with 6 emotions such as good news and bad news. Whilst we were doing this of the drum was our signal to change the emotion. Every time it was hit everyone's body language changes. A lot of people with shying away or curled in a ball. Some people were standing up. On the other hand in the good news the atmosphere changed again by the change of facial expressions.

There were some other emotions such as empowerment. With these emotions they were developed to a scene. This was interesting to watch because of the reaction that people were having. Having the emotion empowerment implied who was being supported and who was being unsupported. When I was in this scene I felt that good voice projection and standing on the chair gave the crowd something to the support. This way it gave the crowd something to listen to. It gives more impact to the crowd rather than being unsure to who side you will be on.

Following the workshop exercise we came up with developing the workshop exercise to Ruth's speech with the crowd.  For an example the first of Ruth's speech is "It's tough". I associated this as receiving bad news so I put my head on my hand to communicate to the audience that I was sad. However it could be seen as fearful because the hand could be defending the head to show fear but the doesn't link to the original words of "its tough".  When the scene started all of the people were on different levels to make it as though it is a park for a speech to happen. Ruth was on a platform to show that she is the person delivering the speech. Ruth was directed to out pauses every time she speaks. This was effective as it gave time for the crowd to react. This was the 1 to 10 technique. This is when the drum is tapped ten times and then the crowd would have changed emotion. I think that Ruth's speech is effective because the chorus react all together but come up differently to different words. I think this is a strength because it makes the audience interested about why do the people react differently. It also reveals some personality of the chorus. For example sitting forward on a chair  means that the person is interested about what Ruth is saying. 

Ruth's speech refers to Margret Thatcher. Margret Thatcher was one of the longest raining Prime Minister which indicates that she is strong willed. She was the leader of the conservative party. Her economical policies emphasized in deregulation. Deregulation is a process of removing and reducing state regulations. People have an reaction to this statement therefore the crowd have a choice to empower the thought or show fear or disagree with Thatcher's views. From my research of thatcher she said 

 ' I always cheer up immensely if an attack particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left' Thatcher 

Relating this to 13, Thatcher mentions a 'attack' which could relate to 13 and what Ruth is facing in reality with the London riots. The London riots is creating conflict is trying to explain about. I think that Thatcher is trying to say that violence such as verbally or physically is not the answer to everything because that wouldn't  be politics. There wouldn't be anything to talk about because there is arguments or 'attacks' happening. From Ruth's speech I think Ruth is supporting Thatcher's views because of the situation that is happening is similar to Thatcher's history. 

We then started to run though Act 1 to see which scenes need blocking or needing work etc. This was good for me to see because I didn't see some of the scenes being rehearsed. The blocking in Act One scene helped me see my character more. It gave some background who I was. For example giving Mark has files meant made me understand that I was his assistant. The part that I thought was effective was the guitar strum and we see John. It gives an impact and something for the audience to react to. To improve this I think the pace of the scene should be faster than we rehearsed and then when the turn to face John happens it becomes slow to change the dynamics of the scene. It makes it more exciting to watch therefore it will make the audience engaged.  This gave me an idea of what the first half of the play will look like. I think the first scene was so powerful to be part of because everyone was bringing something to the intense atmosphere. It made me nervous and felt like I was in a nightmare. Phoebe came up with an idea that the 12 were paper people. This was a great idea because the 12 are all dreaming about the same thing therefore they are connected such as the paper people are connected by holding hands. The circle in the middle of the floor could be the clock with the projector shining on the circle. The clock should be red to symbolize fear and tense feelings that are going on in the characters mind. The lights are dark to create a scary atmosphere but calm.

Another workshop we did was relating to our previous physical theatre project Frantic Assembly. They came up with the idea of chair duets. We then took that idea and put it in a scene where it is set in London and the chair duets are benches. It looked really effective but abstract and created chaos. Along with the chair duets we took the four corners exercise and transferred that into 13. This created even more chaos but in a structured way. It was clever the way it was structured because even knew where they are going. They had a purpose to get to the next destination. I imagined that I was in London and I was looking where to go next. Many others were doing this to which made it set like London. The main scene that was happening was Mark and Holly. When Mark shouted everyone went quiet for a couple of seconds which was a lovely effect to include because it breaks the atmosphere and then starts again.

Next week will be finishing and polishing Act 1.


Bibliography

Thatcher- www.brainyquote.co.uk  Published: 2011  Date found: 2/11/14 

Week 1 of 13 by Mike Bartlett

13 by Mike Bartlett

 

Week 1

 

This week was the starting the process of our play for contemporary theatre. At first the title of the play '13' felt unusual because most titles are words.The words reveal a story behind it but when the title is just a number the storyline is a bold and broad title because the number '13' can have loads of stories and meanings. For an example '13' could relate to Friday 13th.This day is considered to be unlucky in western superstition.  However it may link to the amount of people that they are for an example '13' people or objects etc.

Reading a little of the play I gradually was beginning to have an idea of the themes and the plot of the play. This made me change the perspective of the plot. I started to think that Bartlett was linking the play to real life. For an example the character "Ruth" is the Prime Minster which a sense of naturalism in the play. Bartlett also describes the setting of each scene such as in Act 1 scene 7 the scene is in the drawing room at number 10. The words "number 10" gives us a idea where the setting of the scene is and atmosphere it will be like.  The first couple of scene are broken up into different dialogues with different people such as Act 1 scene 2 when Sarah, Ruby and Dennis have landed in England and see John followed by the next scene which is a riot with Amir and Racheal which were mat in the first scene.

Reading the play gave me more answers to my questions such as the actual plot to the play. The first act starts very mysterious for an example in Act 1 scene 1 was created when the 12 had an nightmare.

I started off with trying the character Ruth. Ruth is a superior character that takes charge of the political world. Ruth is a person with high status and I found that Ruth should be played as a high status which means that she will be either standing up or sitting upright. Ruth's character needs to be well spoken and persuasive to the crowd. I found that Ruth's character was a difficult part to play because of the status being implied in the play therefore tried for her assistant Carol. She is a slightly lower than Ruth therefore she is not as posh as Ruth. However Carol is a important character to play because she is the person that keeps the Prime Minster in mind. For example in Act 2 Scene 2 she describes to Ruth about the "final document of 2000". However Carols character is interesting to play because Carol can make up a purpose of the "final document". What could the "final document" be? Even though Carol was not right for me, I really enjoyed bringing ideas to the table of the state of mind that Carol is in.

Playing Carol felt comfortable and was a good character for me. However another called Shannon suited me better therefore I went with the Shannon character. Shannon's style is comedic was I was more comfortable to play rather than Carol because she is too robotic to Ruth. Carol is always sorting out documents Whereas Shannon is from a lower class is a cleaner hoover. I was more confident playing the character Shannon because I like playing comedic character. For an example Shannon is hoovering and taking no notice that the Prime Minster is talking. Shannon is just a normal person who doesn't really care who she is cleaning for but she does feel for the Prime Minster. For an example "oh hi! you alright?" means that she has a concern or worry on how the Prime Minster is looking because she is constantly fidgeting with her skirt. The phrase "oh hi!" makes Shannon's character feel innocent and friendly. However when the words "you alright" are said if sounds as if she is not sure about her outfit that she is wearing. This is why Shannon pulls a face to communicate her opinion on the character.

 I also tried a character called Alice who is Marks assistant. Mark is a lawyer so this means that Alice will have to sort of files and be responsible for them.  Alice needs to be organised and show this through her character. I thought that I played this well because of the involved with Mark in Act 1 scene 7 where banter is being said through Mark and Alice. The banter is friendly just through work colleagues. Alice is making fun of Mark by her reaction of his clothes and punctuality.

Act 1 Scene 7 started off with Mark listing "a toothbrush a new shirt and a double espresso". At first I thought that he was describing someone that her is representing by a s I read the script more I began to realize that he was listing what he needed. After a couple of times rehearsing I knew that this was the right character because of the banter and the truth being told.

My aims for next week is to picture in detail my character and keep that detail and show it to the audience.










 

Sophie Nickerson:Third Course option

University of Chichester

Course:  Musical theatre and Acting for film BA (Hons) 

What skills do I already have?
BTECH Extended Diploma (Acting)

Qualification
Subject                                Grade                           Qualification
Religious Education          B                                  GCSE
Drama                                B                                  GCSE
Maths                                C                                   GCSE
English Language             C                                   GCSE
English Literature             C                                   GCSE
Core Science                     C                                   GCSE
Music                                C                                   GCSE

What modules will I study? 

Individual tuition for voice
Practical acting experience in film work
Extensive practical coaching in dance and acting skills
Students study in a thriving department of 500 plus performance specialists
Production experience in a range of genuine theatre and film environments    
Students are supported by a team of more than 40 visiting professionals and practitioners 

What skills will they help me develop?

Practical Acting experience on film  

Coaching Acting and dance skills 

Finance options 

Offers grants and loans £500-£1000 per person
Offers Student Finance England
Location
The location is positive for me because it is not too far away from family.

Entry Requirements 
GCSEs (A*-C) five subjects including Maths, English and Science

Is there a audition?