27/3/12 Filmed Assessment

Today was our filmed assessment. I like these assessments as it really helps us voice our concerns on the project, our performance and the style of directing. I feel my contribution was good, providing some good points and opinions on the performance itself. Also my personal evaluation was good, providing fair positives and negatives on my own performance and on what I can focus and sort out next time around. I had no qualms about the style of directing I felt it was good, but I feel I needed more time and be cast sooner. Other than it everything was cool.

Bradders signing out :)

24/3/12 Portsmouth Performance

Today was our Portsmouth Performance. Instead of performing in the venue (it was too small) we ended up performing outside, garnering quite a crowd. I thought, considering we was missing cast members, we did well. It did cock up abit as we lost track of the edited performance (Ali Baba and Envious Sisters cut from piece) but i believe we held it together quite well. I feel my performance was up to the same level as previous performances which I am very proud of, having the same level of focus as in previous performances. After we went to the fair... Was awesome.
Bradders signing out :)

22/3/12

STRIKE Day: Today we striked our set as it was not needed anymore. Took quite abit of time but finally got it done in the end. Next time dont spend as much time on striking one thing
Bradders signing out :)

Performance Day 1 20/3/12

Open Dress: We did an open dress rehearsal today. I thought this performance was rubbish if im honest, especially Act 2. Focus was low, energy was low, everything was just not what it should have been.

Got a quite alot of constructive criticism today, more than expected so I need to change my portrayal of the Vizier dramatically.

Performance 1: This performance couldnt have gone any better. It was perfect. Im really happy with this. Focus was extremely high, energy was high it was just great. I feel my performance, after taking on the feedback, was much, much better than previous performances which gave me a big confidence boost. Only problem is that the cues could have come abit quicker and people need to stop forgetting to strike props, scenery etc. Other than that it was awesome
Bradders signing out :)

Rehearsals 19/3/12

Today was the tech rehearsal. Probably the most important rehearsal to date, as it sorts out lighting, sound etc. Also it helps us remember to set props and help with flats which is really good as we've had problems with them. I felt this rehearsal helped greatly, personally and generally. I do like getting the technical rehearsal completed as it restores confidence in me ready for the performance.

Bradders signing out :)

Lessons 1,2.3 16/3/12

Lesson 1: Continued rehearsing, especially on Ali Baba. This helped out alot it just needs abit more tweaking. Then we continued with rehearsals.

Lesson 2: Continued rehearsing stories, working on them as we went along.

Lesson 3: Was given an extra line today in the story without an ending, so i need to learn that sharpish.

These rehearsals really do help build my confidence but at the moment I am quite worried about it. Hopefully it'll pass.

Bradders signing out :)

Lessons 1,2,3 15/3/12

Lesson 1: Started rehearsals properly today. Started with act 1 (well...duh). Was ok but abit jumbled, but rehearsals are meant to be like that. I believe this helped alot in working out the kinks in the stories e.g. Positioning, working on unhooking and moving the flats etc.

Lesson 2: Continued on with rehearsing, same as last lesson, just reminding ourselves of cues and all that. Started rehearsing Act 2. QUite glad in this act that the flats are not really needed, I find them a nuiscance.

Lesson 3: Continued with Act 2. Again same as last lesson rehearsing cues etc.
2nd and 3rd lessons were less jumbled, giving me a confidenc boost and maintaining my focus. These confidence boosts are good as they help me out in rehearsals :D

Bradders signing out :)

Lessons 1,2,3 and extra rehearsal 14/3/12

Lesson 1: Got straight into work continuing on with Es-Sindibad. I feel we made good progress in this lesson with the story, got very near the end. Before we completed it though we started we returned to the Abu Hassan story. Didnt get alot done due to the fact everyone was laughing at me. Also during break I helped Johnny create movement for his Es-Sindibad character.

Lesson 2: Carried on with Abu Hassan. Basically got the whole story blocked just need to revise cues and get my lines fully learnt. We returned to Es-Sindibad and finally got this completed, just needs polishing.

Lesson 3: Got to work blocking the Envious Sisters story. I feel out of all the stories we made the most progress on this one, blocking the entire thing in one lesson. Also we continued blocking the story without an ending, ending up completing that. Both just need polishing and rehearsing to per-fect.

Focus was much better today and I felt i carried out my instructions well.

Bradders signing out :)

Lessons 1,2,3 13/3/12

Lesson 1: Today we got straight into work, starting off with recapping the first part of Ali Baba. It was going well until the fire alarm went off -.-.

Lesson 2: This lesson we re-started progress on Es- Sindibad. Starting from the beginning we recapped and continued on from that point, ending up creating some crazy Twister-like tablo. I found this tablo quite confusing at first but after we ran through it I got the hang of it.

Lesson 3: Continued on with Es-Sindibad, nearly making it to the end of the story, with some neat steps created out of our bodies, in which Johnny used to walk on.
My focus today was good but not great, especially in the second lesson, same with my energy. Next lesson I will trya nd maintain my focus and energy at the top level.

Bradders signing out :)

Lessons 1,2 extra rehearsal 12/3/12

Lesson 1: Today we got to work on blocking the story of the envious sisters. It seems to be coming along quite well we got the first few pages blocked. Also we brushed up on the "promise" interval, just polishing it.

Lesson 2: Continued on with blocking the story of the envious sisters, just polishing up the starting cues and lines.

Extra rehearsal: Worked on the story of How Abu Hassan Broke Wind. We completely recreated the main section, which I believed was of great benefit to the story. And we worked a tiny bit on Ali Baba.

Bradders signing out :)

P.S the picture attached is our work on Ali Baba

Extra rehearsal 9/3/12

Lesson 1: Focusing our entire attention on The Story of the Woman who Wouldnt Eat. Recapping and continuing in from where we previously left, we made amazing progress and blocked nearly the entire story in the first lesson. One good idea was when we pulled this tarp over Charlie. As we pulled down he pushed up, creating this eerie, creepy effect.

Lesson 2: Just ironing out the kinks in the story, which is now basically complete. Im glad we got this one out the way as I thought this was going to be a long story, but it wasnt (:D). I thought my focus was great, aswell as everyone elses.

Bradders signing out :)

Lessons 1,2,3 8/3/12

Lesson 1: Todays lesson started off as usual with a quick warm-up. We then got to work on transitions between Ali Baba parts 1 and 2. This went quite well, the transitions were smooth in my eyes. I think some work needs to be done on the actual parts themselves but i feel that will be done in due time.

Lesson 2: In the second lesson we did a full run through of what we had completed so far. Some of it was messy but by doing the run-through it helped us find the weakest points of the performance and work on them.

Lesson 3: This lesson we took director feedback for praise and improvement and read The Story of the Envious Sisters. I am not too keen on this story, it just seems to drag and is too repetitive. I thought my focus today was really good and i took all instructions and applied feedback creatively, and I will continue this into succeeding lessons.

Bradders signing out :)

7/3/12 Lessons 1,2,3 and extra rehearsal

Lesson 1: In the start of this lesson we did a focus warm-up with Gavin before we got started. We recapped the prologue and Ali Baba and thr Forty Thieves, it went ok. In the prologue I kept forgetting my lines, which was embarressing, but in the end i got them down. The rehearsal of Ali Baba was better. I kept mucking up on the quartering of Kazim bit, i didnt keep my hands up high enough. Even though on the last try I nailed it I believe it still needs work. Then I went of with Daniella, Arnold and Chloe to rehearse the little breaks in the story, involving King Sharyhar, Sharhrazad, Dinarzad and the Vizier. I felt this was the most beneficial part as it helped me regain my cues and get me back on track (need to work on one of thr prologue lines, make sure i dont get it mixed up)

Lesson 2: In this lesson we recapped the Story of the Man who Broke Wind. I quite enjoyed recapping this because I enjoy all the over-the-top performances of the characters. Need to be off book soon for this as i need to learn the monologue section.

Lesson 3: In this lesson we continued on with the Story of Ali Baba Part 2, managing to get it blocked to the end, which I felt quite proud of. It just needs clearing up now ironing out the creases and improving on the cues.

Extra rehearsal: Just recapped Ali Baba and the Story of the Little Beggar, again improving on the kinks in Ali Baba. I can tell, as Gavin said, that as a class we are picking up momentum and starting to get things completed at an increased rate which i think...is just awesome.

Bradders signing out :)

Lessons 1,2,3 6/3/12

Lesson 1: Today we started with a warm-up I led. It involved stretching and focus games with the beanbags (I got all of them going, beat that Gavin) and a few games just to loosen up the class. Same cant be said about tbe rest of the lesson. To me it seemed a disaster, but some good ideas came out of it e.g. We changed the movement pattern on the square house so it became easier for Demi to leave the house and gain access to it.

Lesson 2: In this lesson we focused on the prologue and Es-Sindibad. The energy in the class wasnt particuarly high, and i feel it wasnt one of my best rehearsals as i kept forgetting a few lines, which was really awkward and embarressing. The recapping of Es-Sindibad. It was like a bare bones recapping, it didnt have alot of energy or focus.

Lesson 3: this lesson on the other hand was the complete opposite to the others. We broke off from the rest of the class and started on the Abu Hassan farting story. We completed half the story in the lesson. The comedic value of the story is instantly obvious and we played that to the extreme. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and im glad i was cast in it.

Bradders signing out :)

Lesson 1 5/3/12

Lesson 1: Today was a slow day. We started off with a new story, The Story of the Person Who Wouldnt Eat. We didnt get alot done and focus wasnt particuarly high, which is probably why the lesson was slow. But one good idea from Gavin was using two sticks and fabric to represent a Ghoul, which I found quite orginal. I do like this story as it is really dark and it involves a zombie theme (zombies are awesome), but right now I am not too keen on it. I felt my focus personally not at its usual high. Next time I will keep my focus up high, no matter who is the main focus of the story and what story is being worked on.

Bradders signing out :)

29/2/12

Lesson 1: Today started off with a stretching warm-up that helped focus us all and we continued the Story of the Little Beggar. As Johnny was absent i stood in for Johnny and read in his place. Apart from that i only did script annotations.
Lesson 2: This lesson I started working on my Blogger, catching up with the days previous work. Then i was cast in the minor role of the King in the Little Beggar Story, and worked on the first few lines of dialogue.
Lesson 3: In this last lesson things really did start pick up for me personally. As we set and blocked the last lines (the awards ceremony) it felt like we as a class achieved something as we had completed the Little Beggar story. I also felt like I was in the award ceremony at the end of Stars Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, but no one didnt pick up on it...fools.

Bradders signing out :)

Lessons 1,2,3 29/2/12

Lesson 1: Today started off with the recapping of the current progress in Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, which helped dramatically as it keeps my mind refreshed and on point for the rest of the day. I feel my concentration was good in this lesson and i responded efficiently to instructions

Lesson 2: In this lesson alot more original stuff was created instead of recapping. One original idea to note down was how we would quarter Johnny's character Kazim. We was given a large piece of red material to feed through everyones hands, then at the ends me and Teri would run towards each other and loop around and run behind the slats and drag Johnny in. I didnt like this idea at first but when the kinks in it were straightened I cam to like it.

Lesson 3: This was the best lesson in terms of ideas but not necessarily in focus. The best idea was one that Alex cam up with, to show the quartered body of Kazim. Me, Charlie, Becca, Paige and Johnny laid in varying positions on top of each other and had the red material draped over us and random limbs laying out to simulate huge quantities of blood. I thought this idea was ingenious and I enjoy creating this image every time. I feel my focus lapsed a bit in this lesson purely because of the fact that it was a long day and was getting restless.

Bradders signing out :)