Today was the day my greatest set design was ever born!
After spending half an hour yesterday planning my set design, i had this afternoon to realize it!
Here is a picture of my fantastic set! hahaha. i'm proud of it, really proud.
After spending half an hour yesterday planning my set design, i had this afternoon to realize it!
Here is a picture of my fantastic set! hahaha. i'm proud of it, really proud.
I also improvised and added a few things here and there which were not planned. But all in all it contributed to the effect of a messy, oppressive and almost crazy room and it got great feedback from Mrs Kamal! I wanted to add more things to the design but Mrs. Kamal said it would be too overboard to do so as the set looks fine now.
Having done well for my design, we went straight into the performance. At the starting of the rehearsal she asked me questions to find out the motivation behind the lines and clarified most of my thoughts for me by asking me questions and making me think in character. It was like hot seating mixed with forum theatre, an experience i really enjoyed as it was purposeful and meaningful. I now now exactly how to transit from emotion to emotion and from phase to phase in my character smoothly. It is just refining and perfecting the acting bit.
Next problem we faced was the quotes. What was established was that the quotes were important for the performance as they clearly state why the character hates dreams so much. However, the problem was the quotes were not embodied enough. For one, the character's tone of voice - which shows his reaction to the quotes, is not intense enough and the research behind the figures of fame saying the quotes is not done so that the tone and the reason and context is not set properly for my character to react. in short, the quotes lacked a personality and feeling.
But fear not! Research is being done and will be updated asap!
Lastly was my use of my set. I had weights around which Mrs Kamal felt were underutilised and the ladder as well. We quickly solved the problem by incooperating such items into the performance by means of changing the stage action to still suit a purpose and yet add another layer of depth beneath the performance by giving the stage actions meanings and attitudes. Such things do not come easy and i'm very happy to have been able to realize them.
Today i learnt (or rather, found out) a few things:
1) Downstage is the STRONGEST position
2) Status is depicted by the blocking and the levels at which the character is at.
3) Emotions can have parallals to help the actor remember them.
4) The set can really be used to set the atmosphere and mood of the performance
5) The best way to solve a problem regarding dramatic realization is to talk it out
6) Visual images and symbols can cause a big impact
7) Research is very important in putting up a performance =X
I felt like I had a very purposeful session today and achieved much more. I also have some other issues to think about (ie. the ending and the lines) as well as much trying out to do. I'm looking forward to such a lesson again!
The actor froze at 1:50 AM