Unit 7

Unit 7 - Preparation for Specialist Studies

Context

Our Unit 7 consists of an overview of what we have learned during the year by doing projects like working the sound, lights, being a stage manager on shows, a national competition and being technical director for one of the shows as well. We also need to show how we can use the skills that we've learned during this course on upcoming projects, especially our Unit 8.
The main thing that I will be focussing on for my Unit 7 and Unit 8 is the Acting Level 3, Year 1 final performance. This piece is called Love and Information. For this piece I plan to be the stage manager as well as design and create a set using pvc pipes. This idea has been agreed on during the first production meeting that I had with the director. Doing this will create an interesting setting as well as giving the actors an opportunity to work with an abstract set. The set will be very versatile and can create a visualization of isolation or a crowded space as the pvc pipes create a box feeling. The director can decide how big or small they want the space to look by putting a certain amount of people in it.

Progress

During my time on this course I believe that I have made a lot of progress. When I started this course I knew how to use a certain type of lighting board which wasn't anywhere near the lighting console that I know how to use now. Starting off I had very little to no knowledge about how to operate a sound desk but after learning how to do this by having physical practice I can use it and even explain to someone else how to use it as well. We learned how to do all of this during our first term and were able to produce multiple shows, even the Christmas show which scale is bigger than the shows we would usually do. Besides learning how to do light and sound, I learned how to do stage management, which is the practice that I would like to do professionally. This was a bit more difficult as we don't have a certain class for that. By looking at how other people would call a show is how I learned as well as doing research on the internet, in books and by doing work experience at a West End show.

What I learned in October
During my first month at the college we went over the basics of lights and sound. We were taught how to properly operate the light and sound consoles. Besides that we learned how to rig the lights safely in case  we needed to this for future shows. After this we did our first show for Acting Year 1, Levels 2 and 3. The lights and sound were very simple as we didn't have the skills to create something more elaborate yet. This was also the first show that I did as a stage manager. We weren't given a script, just a running order which I was used to by doing shows at my secondary school. It was my first time calling a show and I got the comment that I did it a bit too aggressive, this helped me to adapt my calling style.

What I learned in November
November was my second month at the college and there were quite a few trips planned during this month. It started with the Performing Arts and Production Arts students going to a special school matinee of Hamilton. Because I sat quite close to the stage, I was able to see some of the lights as well as some of the automations. This was very interesting as I had never seen a production through technical eyes. After this we had a trip planned to Disneyland which was part of our Unit 3. This consisted of us looking at the technical aspects of running multiple shows as one company. We looked at the different techniques that Disney uses and how we could adapt these to work for our theatre and upcoming projects. Straight after Disneyland we went to Theatre Craft. There we could sign up for different workshops that would show us the technical side of the theatre. The most interesting workshop that I did that day was the automation workshop. This was something that I didn't really know that much about but is quite important for a stage manager to know. Besides that I won tickets to see Motown which was amazing. The fun part was that I could now identify the things that I had learned previously in that day in the show. Besides the things that the college had planned for me, I was able to get work experience with a stage manager on the West End. I went to shadow the deputy stage manager of Heathers: The Musical at The Royal Theatre Haymarket. This was an experience that I really enjoyed and learned a lot from, for example: How to mark up a script and professionally call a show. Amongst this I also had an opportunity to talk to the rest of the stage management team about the industry and they gave me some tips and tricks as well as the offer to stay in touch with them so I would have contacts as soon as I get into the industry. We also did another small show with the Year 1, Level 2 and 3 actors in which we applied the skills we had learned thus far.

What I learned in December
Once December started we knew it was time for the Christmas show. Usually the college does a pantomime as these are very popular to do around the holiday season, but because they had very little (only 4) Dance and Musical Theatre students, they decided to do a slightly adapted version of A Christmas Carol. During this production my role was to be stage manager. This consisted of marking the script, which I had learned to do the precious month, as well as calling out the actual show. I also was the contact person in the tech crew that the actors could contact if they had any issues. Besides that I was also in charge of costumes. This mainly consisted of making sure that everyone had and was in their costume on time and that they were returned neatly. The process of doing the show went smoothly except for a technical issue during the last show. We fixed this quickly as a team so the show could go on without any further interruptions. The main thing that I learned from that experience is that we can still function well as a team in a stressful situation because everyone knew exactly what to do without having to consult with each other. Another thing that I learned whilst doing the Christmas show is how to use the movers. My classmate explained everything that he was doing in terms of lighting for the show which really helped me to understand everything about the lights.

What I learned in January
After the holidays were done we mainly focussed on our Royal Opera House Challenge. This was the national competition that we took part in. We had to work on our planning and how we would execute our ideas to get a physical piece that we could present to the judges in a video. By doing this I learned how to plan better and how to create a piece of clothing from scratch. Whilst creating the piece I had used bits of my experience that I had learned about costuming during A Christmas Carol.

What I learned in February
During February we got back into doing shows as we were given the task to be technical director on a show. I chose to be TD on Macbeth, the Year 1, Level 3 Acting show. The role of technical director was harder than I expected, especially if you have to do it for three different groups. My planning for the show had been better than for previous shows because I had now learned this skill due to doing other shows. I was with the class during their rehearsals and had production meetings with them which I learned to do from doing Christmas Carol. This was very helpful as I had all the ideas written down clearly. These meetings also gave me the opportunity to tell the cast and director if something was not feasible or if I had ideas to change or add on to certain parts of the show.

What I learned in March
March was the month of the Macbeth performances as well as the Dance/Musical theatre one; Little Shop of Horrors which my classmate was TD for. During one of the performances of Macbeth I acted as backstage support, which I hadn't done before. This was very interesting as I could communicate with the actors directly if they had any issues and resolve them on the spot. This was a part of stage management that I was lacking but now have the skill to do so again. For the Little Shop of Horrors my classmate put me on sound. I was pleased that he had done this cause this was something I hadn't done before, at least not for a complete show. The knowledge was there, I just needed to get the practical part of it down. Everything went well as I had the confidence that I needed because my classmate sat beside me if I needed any help or instructions. In the end I didn't need help but I now possess the skill that I need to fully do it on my own.

What I learned in April
Although the month of April was interrupted with a two week break, I realized that I learned quite a bit. During the time that I have been working on our new project, which is being TD for another show, I have learned about creating and developing a set design. This is a side of theatre that I hadn't really done any research about, but I do have an interest in. For my current project, Love and Information which is the Year 1, Level 3 Acting show, I have researched abstract stages and how I would be able to create one on a low budget. This is a big part of my Unit 7 and 8 and I will explain this further in the Proposal part in Unit 8.

Physical Proof of my Progress
Down below are some video's of my progress over this year. Most of the video's are lighting related as these easiest to record without disturbing anyone whilst they are working.

This was the first show that we did for the Acting course. As you can see the lighting is very simple. There were very little ques to call because we had only a few lighting and sound changes.

This is a video of the first show that we did for the Dance/Musical Theatre course. At the time we struggled with this piece, but looking back on it with the experience that we have now, this was a very easy piece to program and call. 

This is the recording of A Christmas Carol. This was our first big show which we learned a lot from. As you can see there are multiple lighting and music changes as well as a projection part. The difference between this show and the first one that we did is pretty big. You can tell that we learned  lot between these shows.

This is the lighting installation that I did as part of my certificate. This was the first piece that I fully created on my own. Compared to the single colours that I was able to do at the beginning of the year, (see first video) I think the progress is very visible.

This is the performance of Little Shop of Horrors of which I did the sound. This was the first full piece that I did sound for besides my lighting installation.

This is a recording of one of the groups that did Macbeth. This was the show that I was TD on. For a first time I think it worked out quite well. I am looking forward to compare this with my next project.

 Skills Audit

Evaluation

During my time at this course I absolutely believe that I have learned a lot. Some things didn't exactly go to plan but because these mishaps happened I know how the prevent them from happening in the future. The previous productions and my classmates have inspired me to be more creative going in to future shows and how to encourage my team and the actors to do that as well. By doing this I believe that my Unit 8 as well as the shows that I will work on during my second year will continue to become better and better.

Unit 6

Unit 6 - Performance Skills & Context

Context

For our Unit 6 each of us had the job of Technical Director for either Dance/Musical Theatre or Acting. Although one of us had the most control, we were allowed to help each other and certainly did so. We had the choice of either being TD for two performances of Little Shop of Horrors, performed by the first years of the Dance/Musical Theatre course or three performances of Macbeth, performed by the first years of the Level 3 Acting course. From the start on we knew that the Acting course would need our help more as their teacher had been replaced due to personal reasons.
Originally I decided to be the TD for the Acting class but realized quite early on in the process that I would not be able to do it all on my own because of the amount of work that needed to be done within the timeframe. Luckily my classmate stepped up to the plate and helped me out where I needed it. We also needed to show what we had learned during our Unit 5 and apply this through the process of creating a show.

Another aspect that was part of our Unit 6 was to take control of either lighting, sound or stage management for one show. My general interest still lies within stage management, which made me go for that area during one of the pieces. Although I did stage management for my own piece, I decided that it would be interesting and useful for me to do sound as well, as I had not done this on a bigger scale before. Therefor I did sound for the Dance/Musical Theatre piece.
As well as doing sound, I wanted to do backstage support as well to see a different side of backstage work other than the technical part. This also gave other people the opportunity to do stage management as I had done it on all previous shows. This is not because I claimed the stage manager's position but because no one else had wanted to do it besides myself.

Research

The research period for these pieces were limited due to time constrictions. I managed to get a script and character list for Macbeth fairly early in the process so I would be able to read along during rehearsals and take notes. Because the group was divided into three smaller groups; blue, black and pink, we needed to have three different production meetings to discuss the views of each group. Each of them had fairly different ideas which made our research process difficult but quite interesting as well. The blue group wanted a modern setting, the black group wanted to keep it like the original play and the setting of the pink group was dystopian. The best way to research all these different ideas was to tackle them one by one. This is the same approach that I used during my research for Unit 5. This worked very well for me during that research process, so I figured that it would work again for this one. As we did in Unit 5, we received a directors vision and based our ideas off of that. By having a directors vision we know which direction we need to go in in terms of costumes, props, lighting and sound.

The Blue Group - Modern

As I have stated before, the blue group wanted their interpretation of Macbeth to be set in modern times. During production meetings they had talked about wearing mostly suits and body con dresses apposed from the capes and dresses from the 11th century. They even suggested to put the play into an office setting with harsh LEDs for lighting. As production arts students we told them that this would be possible but it wouldn't look the best. We really wanted to work with them to make their play look as good as possible which includes being honest about ideas, and sometimes saying no to them. We decided to keep the lighting fairly simple with some splashes of colour here and there to bring some more life into the play. The group also was vey particular about the music that they wanted to use. All of these songs would classify as modern songs as they were created within the last ten years. 

The Black Group - Classic

The black group decided that they wanted to stay as true to the original piece as possible and keep it classic. During the production meetings they had talked about getting costumes that felt true to the time but unfortunately we didn't have the budget for that. Another thing that they had mentioned was the idea of getting real swords for the fight scenes but due to health and safety regulations as well as the budget, we weren't able to execute that either. Their lighting plan was similar to the pink group as the black group didn't have any specific ideas for lighting. For sound and sound effects they wanted it to have a major resemblance to what people would have used during the 11th century. 

The Pink Group - Dystopian

Although it started as a silly suggestion, the pink group decided to with a dystopian setting to differentiate itself from the other two groups. This was the most interesting concept for me as there are a lot of different ways that you could go with this. Because no one really knows what a dystopian future looks like, a lot of things are possible especially for the props and costumes. During the production meetings the group had talked about the characters wearing camouflage when they were in the battlefield instead of classic armor. They also suggested the use of guns instead of swords but due to the fact that we don't have those available in our prop department and with a lack of time to make them, we had to scrap the idea. The lighting plan for this group was the same as for the black group. The pink group made it very clear that they wanted red in certain scenes to show the transitions of the characters during the story as well as to bring more drama during the fight scenes and monologues. As for sound they wanted a mixture of classic sounds, like trumpets for when the king enters, and more modern ones like an air siren instead of a classic alarm bell. 

Little Shop of Horrors

Our main research for Little Shop of Horror was done during our lessons with the Dance/Musical Theatre teacher. Together with her we looked at the lighting plans that the Dance/Musical Theatre students had created and how we would be able to make this happen. We also looked at bits and pieces of the original film and the best way to translate the scenes in film to something that would look presentable on a stage. After discussing that we went on to watch some clips from the musical adaptation of the film. We talked about how the set and props looked and how we would recreate that if we had the possibility. It made us aware of how much time and effort would go into making a full functioning plant and that we would not be able to do this on our own. Luckily we didn't have to as the scenes that the class were going to perform only included the smaller version of the plant. One of the students had already made this and took photos of the process so we could see how she did it. We compared her version to the one that they had in the official musical. Both of them were some form of glove that you could put in and make the plant move by using your fingers to open and close the 'flytrap' plant. It was very interesting to see how they approached the research and creating of this prop as we had done this before in preparation for our Unit 5. 

Planning

Macbeth

The stage and prop table

The one thing that I always begin with is having a production meeting with the director. We managed to do this quite early on in the process. We sat down with each individual group to discuss their ideas (as explained previously) and inform them about the limitations of our theatre. During these discussions I managed to get a script so I could start marking where in the play the sound ques were and where they needed props.
After these production meetings we planned for us to be at some of the rehearsals so we could see how the groups interpreted the script. Another reason why attending the rehearsals was helpful was because the actors and director could tell us their visions for each individual scene as they were rehearsing it. This was especially helpful during the rehearsals of the fight scenes as the fight director had some ideas how to light the scenes that he had choreographed as well. We also thought about using fake blood capsules for the death scenes but eventually decided to cut this after taking a closer look at the fighting scenes. We realized that the capsules wouldn't add anything because the effect is quite small. Another factor that came to our consideration is that the actors would have to do the entire fight scene with the capsules in their mouth, this could make the capsules burst too early an ruin the effect as well as the risk of having a chocking hazard.
As the actual performance came nearer, we planned a tech day. During this day we were supposed to do the lighting and sound for all three groups. We had made a time table so it would be clear when which group would have their tech time. During this tech time I mark up the script(s) so I know exactly where which que goes. The markings that I have made previously help with clarifying where most of the sound ques need to go as this isn't always explained as much as the lighting. As I write down the ques I work together with the lighting and sound technicians to make sure they have the ques in the right order as well.

A flip through of my script:

Performance of the Pink Group:

Little Shop of Horrors

On the day of the show we had time to meet with the Dance/Musical Theatre students to discuss their lighting plans for each scene. We sat down with them so they could explain their vision as well as tell us where in the script they wanted to light/sound to change. During this I managed to get a script so I could mark the cues. Because the teacher had already prepared all the props and the costumes we didn't need to plan time for this anymore. The only thing that needed to be done in terms of staging was putting together the cue built. This only took us about 20 minutes. During this time the actors were preparing themselves for the tech run-through that was the next thing on our planning. We went through the entire performance and recorded all the cues as well as downloading the songs that they needed.

This was fairly easy as we had already discussed the lighting plans that the students designed. We only needed to add a simple spot for their individual singing pieces that came before and after their Little Shop of Horrors piece. Following the technical rehearsal we did a dress rehearsal which went smoothly. The actors were very professional and willing to work with us on the technical aspects of their show.
Later in the afternoon we ran the matinee show. We decided that I would do the sound and my other classmate would do the lighting. The show went well as all the cues were started on time and the actors were really on their game.
We did another show in the evening for the parents and friends to watch. Due to an appointment I missed the beginners call but I made it back in time to resume my role as sound technician. This show went even better as the actors were less nervous and they had a possibility to talk to us before the show started about things that they wanted to be tweaked. These were minor things that were easily changed but made the actors feel more confident.

The dress rehearsal:

The matinee show:

Problem solving

During the period that we were working on these productions, I ran into a few issues. The first problem that occurred was that the Acting teacher had to leave due to personal reasons. This made the students fall behind on schedule which created problems later on in the process. It was arranged for them to get a new teacher but this took a while. The next problem that we ran into was the fact that the original teacher wanted to do the play in the round, as the technical crew we knew that this would not be possible due to how the theatre is build and how the lights are rigged. It would be a big task to re-rig all the light just for a few shows and then having to put them back to their original state. We explained this to our teacher, the new acting teacher and the students so they could focus on re-blocking the play as they had started blocking with the idea of doing it in a round in mind. Another thing that we experienced was a lack of budget for the amount of ideas that the students had. Some ideas involved getting smoke machines and other expensive props and/or costumes. As TD I had to tell the groups that this unfortunately wasn't possible because it was a smaller show.
Something else that I struggled with personally, was the fact that most of the students had a lack of theatre etiquette. When I step into a theatre space I expect for people to have mutual respect for each other. I struggled with the fact that students that were not supposed to be in at that time showed up and slowed the process of teching the show down by talking to the actors and having their phones go of. This really tested my patience up to the point that I walked away because I wasn't able to do my work in that environment. I talked to the teacher/director about it and told her that I needed some time to calm down. My fellow classmate took over as TD for the rest of the afternoon which I was very grateful for. The following week I came back to do the show as I felt that I owed it to the two groups that did make the effort previously. During the weekend I reflected on the situation and realized that there was a lot of tension coming from both sides due to the pressure that we were all under. As I still was the TD for the show, I did attend them all but placed myself into different roles. For the Blue Group I did stage management, for the Pink Group backstage support and for the Black Group I sat in the audience and evaluated the performance. 

Evaluation

Although we managed to get all the performances done in time, there were a lot of things that could have been improved. A big part of this was my patience, or a lack of it. As the performances came closer and the stress started to build, my patience dropped. Maybe this was because I expected more from the actors than I should have in terms of preparation. Still working with scripts a week before the performance aggravated me because I realized that we wouldn't be able to focus as much on the technical side because not everyone knew their lines yet. This resulted in the fact that the time that we had to tech the show almost turned into another rehearsal until we (the tech team) took over in a way. Looking back on it I should have taken the teacher/director aside and consider trying a different approach so we would be able to do what we needed to get done that day. This is definitely something I would do the next time as I feel like it would make the process of teching quicker and smoother. Another thing that I would try to arrange the next time is to have multiple tech days, especially if we have multiple groups that want different lighting and sound. This gives us less stress because we know that there is another day and we can actually take the time do discuss ideas and issues. Overall I think it would have been nice if the actors had more rehearsals in the theatre instead of a dance studio as the space is bigger in the theatre. This would save a bunch of time because we wouldn't have to go over their blocking again and we could just focus on the technical side. Another thing that I think would be beneficial is to have a one on one with the director to discuss the lighting and maybe even showing them some lighting states in advance so we could tech quicker. 

Unit 5

Unit 5 - Production Skills & Context

Context

For our Unit 5 we competed in the Royal Opera House Challenge to improve our production skills for future shows and projects.
The challenge was to create either a set, costume, marketing strategy or a hair and make-up look for the ballet Romeo and Juliet. The challenge also gives us the opportunity to dive into an area that we wouldn't particularly choose to do as a full time job but still peeks our interest. We can also learn how to apply the techniques that we use in this challenge to production arts and technical theatre. Through this we also learn what it is like to work for a client and to listen to what they want as well as putting our own creativity into the design.

Research

Costuming

The first area we explored during our practical class was costuming. We were given half an hour to create a male and female two-dimensional costumes out of tissue paper. We had created a mood board during a previous lesson with colours that we thought were linked to the story of Romeo And Juliet. We learned about texture and different fabrics and how this can works for costumes, but can also be restricting for the dancers.
After that we created a "costume" using scraps of fabric and a mannequin. We were given about twenty minutes to do this. We were supposed to do this in pairs, but I ended up doing it on my own which I didn't mind. When the time was up we discussed how functional our creations were. We talked about restriction and how the dancers need to be able to do certain movements.

Set design

Our second area was set design. We started of by getting the assignment to create a 8 cm by 8 cm box made out of foam-board. I initially thought that this wouldn't be too hard but it actually was. We had to cut out the square pieces using a craft knife and then glue them together. It was quite hard to get the pieces to all be the exact same size. This made putting it together harder too, as some of the pieces didn't line up and formed gaps. After everyone had assembled their cube we assessed each individual box. We learned that you have to consider the thickness of the material your using and which sides will touch which to get a perfect cube. In the beginning the creating of the box didn't make much sense to me, but after the explanation it did. I learned that you have to be extremely precise when it comes to set design as one millimetre will become much bigger in real life, so of you have one centimetre too much, it will affect the whole set when it gets built to scale. 

After learning all this we got another assignment to create a small box staircase. We learned how to plan this out but didn't get very far on the actual making of the staircase as the class was almost over.

Royal Opera House

During our research period we went to The Royal Opera House to look at the costumes and sets that they had on display. Our teacher explained some of the techniques that are used to create the sets. I was very interested to see bits and pieces from professional costumes to get inspiration for my own piece. Although there were more female costumes than male, I could still work with the pieces that were on display.

Something that sparked my interest was the detailing on the costumes, especially the male ones. I liked how intricate it was and wanted to incorporate that into my costume to make it feel more like it would fit in within Royal Opera House standards. Something else that stood out to me was the usage of gold within the male costumes.

Another thing that was displayed were the different types of netting that are used to make the tutu's. This was interesting to me as I was thinking of making a tutu for one of the characters. I eventually scrapped that idea after seeing how hard and intricate it is to create a tutu. 

  

Planning

Once we had done some basic research for all the different categories we had to start planning what we wanted to create for the challenge. As I already had some skill in sewing but wanted to develop this more, I decided to got for the costume category. This meant that I had to sketch costumes for three different characters and execute one of them.
The first thing I did was divide my portfolio into different sections; History of ballet costumes - Romeo and Juliet: The Ballet - Character Research - Sketches - The execution process.
I tackled each section one by one to get an optimal amount of knowledge about the subject and to keep everything organized.

I searched online for the history of ballet costumes and wrote down the information into a Word document so I could later write it down in my portfolio in my own words. I also searched for pictures that would spark interest and for the reader and that would clarify some of the terms that I used in my writing.




For the Romeo and Juliet: The Ballet piece I found my pictures first. I wanted to show how companies differentiate from each other by using different colours and textures to identify the characters. I decided to write something about the music that is used in the ballet, the choreography and of course a brief summary of the story itself. Although I wrote about different aspects of the ballet, I still wanted to keep the theme of costuming coherent through my portfolio.

After the main research of the ballet I needed to decide which characters I would want to create sketches, and later on, a full costume for. Something that I was planning to do from the start was to choose a character that wasn't as big as Romeo or Juliet. I also knew that I wanted to dabble in creating menswear so the characters that I decided on making sketches for were: Mercutio, Lady Capulet and Juliet.
Now that I had picked three characters, I needed to do more in-depth research on them. I created a mind map for each character, displaying their personality traits as well as other characteristics that came to mind when I thought of them. Each of them had a different style of mind map for example; Mercutio's mind map was very boxy and with straight lines connecting the small boxes to the big one. Juliet's mind map was a lot more flowy and less angular to portray her youthfulness. Another thing that I added to each character's page was pictures of the costumes that other companies have used.

During the process of the character studies I already started drawing some sketches. Although this was not in the planning, I did let it happen because I was a afraid that I might lose the idea if I didn't sketch it right in that moment. Knowing that I had three characters to design for, I allowed myself to have multiple weeks to do this as I can't control my creative flow.


After I had sketched for all of my characters I had to pick one sketch, this was one of Mercutio's designs, and start to think about buying the fabrics and trimmings. I knew what type of fabric I wanted and made a rough estimation of how much fabric I would need to create the costume. By using Google to find the nearest fabric store I set a date to go there to have a look around for the fabric, trimmings and buttons. Fortunately, the store had the exact fabric that I was looking for as well as the trimmings and buttons.

Now that I had my fabric I needed to create a pattern for a jacketed sew it. I planned for this to take up most of my week and allowing for it to go wrong as well as I had never done this before.
Something else that needed planning was having time with a model so I could see how the jacket would fit on a person. I got in touch with a friend and agreed multiple occasions for him to try on the jacket and give commentary on the fit and look of it as well as getting a mannequin to put the jacket on when the model was unavailable.
One of the last parts that needed planning was the taking of the photo's/recording the video that would be send of to The Royal Opera House.

Problem solving

As most projects come with some problems to tackle, mine did as well. 

One of the more frustrating parts of the portfolio was that it was kept in a room that we weren't always able to access. This made it hard for us to work on the project as times a we couldn't always take our work home with us. We resolved this problem by storing our portfolio's in a different room which we did have access to. 

Another thing that I had not taken into consideration is that I had to hand-sew everything because I do not have a sewing machine at my home in London. This made the sewing process a bit longer but after I got the hang of it again it went pretty quick. 

Something else that I had to tackle was that the first jacket I created didn't fit properly due to the pattern. The first pattern was based off of a denim jacket but it was too ill-fitted on the shoulders and too baggy everywhere else. Due to this I had to think quickly and realized that my sister has chefs jackets that would work perfectly. Using the chefs jacked I created a new pattern. Fortunately I still had enough fabric left to create a new jacket. I managed to do this within a few hours as I had some experience with the cutting and sewing of the precious jacket. The second version had a way better fit overall. 

The last thing that didn't go exactly according to plan was the fact that my model wasn't there on the day that we took the pictures. I would've liked to send in some pictures of how the jacket looked on a human as well but I settled for ones that we took with the jacket on the mannequin.

My final piece:

My Royal Opera House Design Challenge Video:

The feedback that I received from the judges:

Evaluation

During the process of designing a costume for the Royal Opera House Challenge I realized that I could have done a lot of things differently. Some of these things are completely logical thinking about them now for example setting a period for me to be creative. When I was not able to produce something in that amount of time I would be disappointed in myself and would stress about the time that I would have left to complete the designs. For future projects I would just let my creativity come in and make time whenever it feels right to do so. Another thing that I would do next time is too either rent a sewing machine or plan time for me to use the sewing machine at the college. This would prevent me from stressing over having to hand sew everything. This would also make the design look cleaner by having flatter and more equal seams. Something else that brought me some unnecessary stress was the amount of gold trim that I had, or rather the lack of it. Although my calculations for the fabric itself were good, the ones that I made for the gold trim were not. Due to this I didn't have enough to cover the front seam. Even though the jacket looks alright without it, I feel like it would have given it a bit more of a luxurious look if I had put trim along that seam. One of the last things that I could have improved was the positioning of the buttons. These were not as perfectly  aligned as I wanted them to be. Next time I will definitely take more time to make sure that the buttons are in the correct place. The final thing that I would want to be different the next time is to have an actual model for the photoshoot as well as a mannequin. By having this it shows that the costume is actually wearable and it gives more interesting photo's as a person can position themselves in a way that shows off the costume best. It would also help by making my vision truly come to life. 

Unit 4

Unit 4 - Context

Tableaux Christmas Era's

Context

For our Unit 4 and in preparation for our Christmas show we had to research different era's of Christmas celebrations and create a tableau of our appointed era. This would give us a better understanding of how Christmas would be celebrated during the period that our show, A Christmas Carol, would be set in. It also gave us the opportunity to develop our prop making skills as we needed to research and create food items that guests would eat at a Christmas dinner during all of the era's. For the actual creation of the tableaux we needed to create a set as well as cast actors to perform as if they were at a Christmas dinner.

Research

Vacuum Forming Machine

We started of by doing some general research together as a group to establish what we collectively knew about Christmas during the Victorian era, the 70s and in the 21st century. This lead mainly into research about what a traditional dinner would look like during these periods. We looked at what people would wear to these types of occasions, what the tree would look like, how the table would be set and most importantly; what they would eat. We all agreed on main foods that we would all be able to use for our tableaux. These were: A turkey, roast potatoes and brussels sprouts. After agreeing on these foods we researched how we could best make these. This was a short discussion as we quickly realized that the easiest and cheapest way to do it would be papier-mache. We took these ideas to a tutor who is very skilled in creating props and asked for her opinion. She told us that it would be easier to make a base set of potatoes out of clay and use those to create multiple plastic ones by using vacuum forming machine. 

After all agreeing on the foods and how to make them, we were each given an era for our individual tableaux. Mine was contemporary/21st century. We split off to do our individual research and to come up with costumes, decorations and a table setting. My main research was on Pinterest as this is a source that a lot of people use nowadays to get their inspiration from. Most people tend to keep it fairly simple by using the classic combination of red and green or black and silver. My personal preference went to black and silver as I expected my classmates to already use red and green in their tableaux. Food-wise people tend to stick to a classic as well: turkey and side dishes. They add character to their tables by decorating them elaborately with tinsel, ornaments, glitter and/or branches. For the costumes I decided to go with black and silver as this fitted in with my theme.

Link to Pinterest mood board: https://nl.pinterest.com/MadelonWarmoltz/a-christmas-dinner/

Planning

Brussels sprouts

As soon as the research period was over we decided to get to the making of the food items. We decided to make the brussels sprouts first as they were fairly simple to start of with. We found newspapers and started to tear them into smaller pieces. We added a mixture of glue and water to the newspaper and rolled them into balls. Something that made the sprouts really interesting was the fact that we all had different techniques to creating them. This created versatility as some sprouts were small and smooth and others were a bit bigger and had a roughness to the outside. When we were happy with the amount of sprouts that we had we left them to dry.

About a week later we came back to start painting the sprouts. We started with different colours of green and painted the base coat with that. The different shades made for more dimension in the sprouts as they were all going to be in one bowl. After letting the base coat dry we moved on to adding highlights by dabbing some yellow paint onto the sprouts. This made them look more realistic.

Potatoes

As the brussels sprouts were drying we decided to make the potatoes. Each of us shaped a half potato out of clay. Again, because each of us could make it our own, none of the potatoes had the same shape or size. After we were done shaping we took them over to the vacuum forming machine. We were taught how to safely use this as it is a machine that melts plastic. The plastic melted and was formed over our clay potatoes. This went very smoothly until we needed to remove the plastic from the clay molds. This was a challenge as we had to cut it out and re-shape the clay so the plastic wouldn't get stuck anymore. Using the vacuum machine we made about four sets of five potatoes. 

We started painting the potatoes the week after we painted the brussels sprouts. Trying to make them look as realistic as possible, I used a bigger painting brush and dabbed the paint onto the plastic making the potatoes look crumbly. Then I proceeded to do the same technique around the edges with a brown to give them that roasted look.

Turkey

During the making of the potatoes and the painting of the brussels sprouts we created a papier-mache turkey. We started of by blowing up a balloon and sticking newspapers on it with a mixture of glue and water. Someone came up to us and explained that soaked card would be more sturdy than newspaper so we continued on using that. We made the legs by bunching up some newspaper and covering it with a layer of card as well. After the outside layer was dry we deflated the balloon and started painting the base and legs with a combination of brown and red paint. Once this was dry we attached the legs to the base. One of the legs fell apart during this process so we decided that we just needed to be careful with the placement of the turkey in our tableaux as well as in the performance of A Christmas Carol.

The Shoot
Once we had finished creating all of the props we decided on a date that we would do the shoot on. We informed the actors when they had to be in the theatre and how long it would approximately take. Before the actors came in we collected all of the props and costumes that we needed and had them at the ready for the actors to put on. We decided that the order of the shoot would be chronologically as this was simply the easiest way to decide who went when. 

Problem Solving

As mentioned before we had some issues with the creating of the foods. These were all minor issues that we fixed quickly and didn't end up being a problem. The only other problem that we faced was that the tablecloth that we intended on using for the tableaux went missing. We found out that it was missing on the day of the shoot so we needed to improvise with the thing that we did have available to us. In the end I used a green velvet robe as a table cloth. It didn't fit fully over the table but with some clever angles I made it look like it did.

My Christmas Tableau

"Modern Christmas" tableau. As explained before I kept the colours very neutral with most of the actors wearing blacks but with touches of glitter. The tablecloth is not completely as I envisioned but due to time restrictions I worked with what I had. I decided to decorate the table with some garlands and ornaments to make it look more festive and modern. The turkey is the centerpiece of the table as it usually is during a modern Christmas dinner. Another thing that added the festive mindset for me was adding the element of gift giving, which is very common for people to do during the Christmas season.

Video version of the tableau

I directed the actors into a toasting position as this is an action that most people associate with parties and the holiday season and put on some Christmas music to add to the atmosphere. I let the actors improvise with each other for a bit to get a more genuine feel.

Evaluation

Moving into future projects I would change how certain things got executed. Something that I would change for the next project would be time management and communication. Due to clashing schedules between us, the actors and other shows our timings didn't go as planned. We could have communicated better with all of the parties to agree on multiple dates for the actual shooting day. Another thing that I would change is the lack of props that we had. Looking back we could have rented props and/or costumes as well. These are the things that I will look into for projects in the future.

Unit 3

Unit 3 - Introduction to professional practice

Context

From Monday the 12th of November to Thursday the 15th of November we went on a trip to Disneyland Paris to learn about the ways in which Disney uses technical aspects to create an unforgettable experience for their guests. We looked at different parts of Disneyland and how they used lighting and sound in different ways. Some examples are; rides, parades, shows and general park lighting and background sounds.

Research

Lighting And Sound On Attractions

During the trip we went to observe multiple rides to see how Disney uses multiple types of lights and sound to make the experience more immersive.

Disneyland Park:
The first attraction that we explored was Hyperspace Mountain. This recently updated rollercoaster goes at 44 mph and lasts for 2 minutes and 5 seconds. It is newly themed after Star Wars which reflects during the ride. The lights in the ride consist of LED strips, regular LED's and projections. Another part of the immersion is the Star Wars soundtrack which is blasted whilst you are on the rollercoaster.
The second Star Wars themed attraction that we went on was Star Tours: The adventure continues. This attraction uses 3D glasses together with a 4K laser system to get the ultimate immersion into the story. The best part about the ride is that it's different every time. There are over 60 possible journeys with different characters popping up. The ride is fully controlled by a computer which makes every journey truly different every time.
Another rollercoaster that has been recently been updated is Big Thunder Mountain. The Walt Disney company added projections on the 'cave walls' to make the attraction more interesting whilst you are going up just before the big drop. It also ties into the story that was created for this particular attraction which is about a small mining town that finds gold in the mountains.
The first 'dark ride' that we went on was Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast. It is a combination of a dark ride and a shooting gallery. The attraction uses sensors and targets to monitor the score of the player. The targets light up as soon as the sensor is hit. All of the overhead lights in the ride are UV lights to make the target lights more visible.
We then went on to go on It's A Small World. This is another dark ride but you go around in a boat instead of a cart. Most of the old stage lighting has recently been replaced with UV lights and the soundtrack has been remastered. However during our time in the parks the soundtrack had been mixed with Christmas songs and some of the dolls were dressed up in Christmas themed outfits.
Another 'attraction' that we went on was La Galerie La Belle Au Bois Dormant. This is the inside balcony of the Sleeping Beauty Castle and features multiple stained glass windows and tapestries telling the story of sleeping beauty. Surrounding the balcony are structures that resemble trees which have multiple tiny LED lights inside them which flicker slowly. In this area the Sleeping Beauty soundtrack is played.

Walt Disney Studios Park:
The first attraction that we went on in the Walt Disney Studios Park was the Studio Tram Tour: Behind The Magic. During this attraction you get to see part of sets and props as well as a technical based scene called Catastrophe Canyon in which fire and water elements play a huge part. You also see how they reset the scene.
After that we went on Ratatouille: The Adventure. This is a fairly recent attraction that involves a lot of technical aspects. The attraction uses LPS-trackless ride technology which makes the rat-shaped vehicles move on their own without a track. Disneyland uses WiFi and RFID-based local positioning systems. Together with the trackless carts the attraction uses 3D glasses together with domed screens to make people immerse into the story and make it look like the characters are actually in front of you. The ride also uses wind and heating to make it feel like you are actually underneath the 'oven' or running fast.
The rollercoaster that we went on in the Walt Disney Studios park was Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. This attraction features songs from the band Aerosmith that are played through the on-board speakers. There are 5 different soundtrackers (trains) each with their own light show. Each train has has 120 speakers, seven speakers per seat including one underneath the actual seat and six in the headrest.
The last attraction that we did in the park was The Twilight Zone Tower Of Terror. This is a dark drop ride inspired by the tv show The Twilight Zone. During this ride guests go onto an elevator ride that drops 130 feet. Whilst you are queuing 1930's music is played to set the mood for the time in which the story takes place. The light in queuing areas also go from light to dark to make the atmosphere more mysterious and adds to the suspense of the guest. During the first part of the ride the lift moves forwards into a different shaft which is referred to as the drop shaft. A big technical difference between the one in Florida and the one Paris is that the one in Paris does not have a randomized drop sequence. Because of this multiple vehicles can operate at the same time in the same shaft.

Technical Aspects Of Disney Parades

One of the major things that Disneyland is famous for are their parades. These are visionally stunning and quite technical in terms of lighting, sound and the floats. For Disneyland Paris' 25th anniversary they have created a new parade called Disney Stars On Parade. The parade consists of 8 units/floats, every unit having a theme and certain songs that tie into that theme and the films represented on that float. 

The first unit: Discover the Magic/The Opening Unit. The float features Mickey and friends and the songs that can be heard whilst watching this float go by are "A Whole New World" and "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.''

The second unit: Discover Friendship/Toy Story Unit. The characters featured on and around this float are Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie and more toys. The song that is played with this unit is "You've A Friend In Me"

The third unit: Discover Adventure/Jungle Unit. This float features Simba and Nala from The Lion King and Baloo and Mowgli from The Jungle Book. The float is the original float form Tokyo Disney's Jubilation! parade. Songs that play with this float are "I Just Can't Wait To Be King", "The Bare Necessities" and "I Wanna Be Like You."

The fourth unit: Discover Imagination/Peter Pan Unit. On this float you can find characters such as Peter Pan and Captain Hook. This float also is originally from Tokyo Disney's Jubilation! parade. The songs that go with this float are "You Can Fly", "Following The Leader", "The Second Star To The Right" and "A Pirates Life."

The fifth unit: Discover A New World/Finding Nemo Unit. The characters on this float are Nemo, Marlin and Dory. The song that is played whilst you watch the float is "Beyond The Sea."

The sixth unit: Discover Enchantment/Sleeping Beauty Unit. The character that are featured on and around this float are Prince Philip, Flora, Fauna, Merryweather and Maleficent in her dragon form. The songs paired with this float are "Battle With The Forces Of Evil" and "Hail To The Princess Aurora."

The seventh unit: Discover Romance/Princess Unit. These small floats/carriages feature Rapunzel, Cinderella and Snow White together with their Prince Charmings. The carriages are originally from the Disney Magic on Parade which came before Disney Stars on Parade. The songs that are played with this unit are "Someday My Prince Will Come", "I See The Light" and "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes."

The eighth unit: Discover Wonder/Frozen unit. On this float you can find characters like Elsa, Anna and some of their friends. The songs that play with this float are: "For The First Time In Forever" and "Let It Go."

All of the music cues are operated through the parade control computer. This piece of equipment was designed by Dorsey in 1980. This system removed the need of a stopwatch as it automatically managed and executed the audio for up to 50 parade floats. This invention created the ability for Disney to go from 5 to 23 zones so different music could play at nearly five times the number of points along the route at the same time. In 1994 Dorsey designed a second generation parade control which increased the number of zones to 34 and allowed it to track floats along the entire route. The third generation parade controls hundreds of show zones along the parade route. This system is still used now at the majority of the parks including Disneyland Paris.

Shows In Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris has multiple shows a day in both of the parks including the two firework shows that close the parks. The shows vary from live performances by actors, singers and dancers to a car stunt show, projections and fireworks. 

Firework displays:

Disneyland Paris has three different firework displays in three different area's. One in the main park called Illuminations, one in The Walt Disney Studios called Goofy's Incredible Christmas which can only be seen during the Holiday season and one in the Disney Village called Disney's Fireworks and Magical Bonfire which could only be seen on November 7th, 9th and 12th 2018. 

Disney Illuminations is projected on the castle in the main park. The projections are synced with music, water jets, lasers and fireworks. The show is around 20 minutes long and follows the adventures of multiple Disney characters.

Goofy's Incredible Christmas is a combination between a live performance with actors on stage and a projection on the Hollywood Tower of Terror with fireworks as well. The projections are placed on two sides of the building. All of the lights, music and fireworks are synced together.

Disney's Fireworks and Magical Bonfire is a show without projections. The fireworks and music are synced together to create a coherent show.

Live performances:
During our trip we saw one live show called Surprise Mickey. This show was specially created for Mickey's 90th anniversary and revolves around Minnie Mouse and her friends who are planning a surprise birthday part for Mickey Mouse. During the show multiple actors, singers and dancers are on the stage interacting with each other, the audience and the screen. The show ends with streamers being fired into the audience. This show happens multiple times a day.

Stunt show:
In the Walt Disney Studios park Disney provides a car stunt show to let guest take a look behind the scenes of multiple stunt sequences and how they are created. The show features multiple cars that are specially created to do stunt work as some of them have the frame of the car put on backwards or even have the driver sit on a platform on the side of the car. The show also has elements of fire in it to keep the audience in suspense.

General Lighting And Music/Sounds In The Parks

Because Disney wants to fully immerse you into a world of wonder they have music playing all throughout the parks. The music and lighting are different in every area of the park that cohere with the theme. Throughout Main Street U.S.A. instrumental versions of Disney and Pixar movies as well as big band music. The music that is played in Fantasyland are instrumental versions of classic Disney songs, mostly from Disney Princess films. In Frontierland instrumental versions of western songs are played. The music played in Adventureland is a combination of instrumental hula-themed songs, African style songs and some instrumental versions of songs from Peter Pan. The songs featured in Discoveryland are mostly songs from the Star Wars soundtrack.

Every 'land' also has lanterns that go with the theme of the area which make them blend in so guests don't notice them. For example Adventureland has lanterns hanging from multiple high places in the area. 

Planning

Presentation

As a part of this unit we had to give a short presentation about what we had learned about the technical aspects of Disneyland Paris. I decided to go with the subjects; Technical and Creative Roles In Disneyland Paris, Shows In Disneyland Paris, Parades In Disneyland Paris, Rides In Disneyland Paris and Health And Safety In Disneyland Paris. By choosing these subjects I thought I would cover a general area of the technical aspect of Disneyland. During the trip I already made notes and took pictures of the shows, rides and parades. Having this information before I even started on the presentation was very helpful as I knew what to focus on. After we got back I narrowed it down to certain aspects of rides and shows that I thought would be interesting to talk about and I started to research them. After that I put my bullet points into a Prezi and rehearsed my presentation a couple of times so I would be ready to it when it was time to actually present my research. 

Link to my Prezi: https://prezi.com/p/hmicdoibnn5m/

Link to my presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRM5qBtdUvM&authuser=1

Problem Solving

Because the main part of this unit was to go on a trip and learn from this, I didn't run into many problems. The only thing that I was slightly struggling with was the fact that I didn't have as much photo's of the technical aspects of the rides/shows/parades as this is difficult and/or even illegal to do. I solved this by googling some pictures that were taken during the construction of the rides and parade floats so I could analyze them even better.

Evaluation

During my presentation I got quite nervous which made my vocabulary very basic. I tend to rely on basic words although I had rehearsed my presentation at home. Unfortunately my nerves took over and I realized that I should have made cue cards and have rehearsed more and maybe even rehearse in front of an audience. Another thing that I would do differently next time is the part on Health and Safety. Unfortunately Disneyland doesn't give much information about their health and safety policy as a safety measure. 

Websites I used:

- https://www.disneytouristblog.com/?s=disneyland+paris

- https://www.designingdisney.com/parks/disneyland-paris/disneyland-park

- https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/technology-bringing-innovation-to-disney-parks/

- https://www.t3.com/features/making-magic-how-disneyland-paris-most-famous-rides-are-designed-and-built
- https://www.disneylandparis.com/en-us/legal/theme-parks-rules/

- https://www.forbes.com/sites/csylt/2018/05/26/the-secrets-behind-the-sparkle-of-disneys-parades/#78ab779a6792