Mask making

 

Over the last couple of das we have started to build the bases for two different types of mask, the first being a prosthetic method where we had to cast a member of our groups face and then pour plaster into it so that we can later create our prosthetic so that it will exactly match her face. The material we applied to the face first dries rather quickly and copies all marks of the face exactly, we then created a hard outer shell using mod rock so the blue alginate doesn't lose it shape whilst pouring in the plaster.

 

The second type of mask we have been developing will eventually be a paper mask created to fit an actor (this we did not cast). We started of by looking  types of mask and what they may portray about a character and how an actor may use them. We were then given a small brief of two words that would describe a character and we then create a mask to fit tat brief. My brief was-sly peasant,  I thought about the types of features that this character my have and wanted to accentuate the nose and chin to make them pointed and to have asymmetric eyebrows. We started building clay onto the basic face and creating the shape wanted. The next step was to apply a rim of clay around the edge so that when the plaster is applied it doesn't just all run of the side and it creates a nice edge on the mask.

Once the plaster is applied as a thin layer it is allowed to harden slightly before a thicker layer is applied, this is allowed to dry before removing the head and plaster. This will give us the shape to apply the paper into to create the mask that can be used.

 

This is the final stages of the paper mask, when the plaster is dry the cast etc is pulled out and the cast cleaned out and Vaseline applied. Small pieces of brown paper are glued to the inside and allowed to dry (ensuring areas like the nose are carefully covered). The a layer of j-cloth is applied followed by another layer of brown paper. This is all allowed to dry and once this has happened the mask is gently pulled out and the eyes, mouth and edges trimmed. Shading and highlights are added along with elastic and the mask is complete.

The butterfly lion

                                       http://www.trch.co.uk/index.aspx?articleid=22929

At first from looking at the design as I entered I was aware that it was going to have multiple uses because of the simplicity and the basic (by which I mean the fact that there was not a definite time place or theme to the pieces of set) design of the props and set. I did not know the story before so was looking forward to what the set was going to be and how the characters would interact in the space.

The design was a small area of floor within a green landscape that contained a few kitchen set items, they were adapted to portray many different areas and landscapes to tell the story. We saw the plains of Africa and the barricades of WW1, with the small change of positions of the set this was achieved very well.
I really enjoyed the use of the set and the use of costume to portray several characters as I was multi-rolled, the simple addition of a piece of clothing to an actor to show a character change or age change was very clever and this was useful to see as it as clever that this was all that was needed for a child or adult to get a sense of character change.
The story was very captivating and the actors very good at telling the story and allowing us to go along with Michael the main character as he learnt of Millie and Bertie's white lion. I thought the use of puppetry was very well integrated and clever within this type of story, the actor that portrayed the lion was dressed in white and sometimes became the narrator and did not have the lion puppet, this allowed him to remain on stage and to 'represent' the lions spirit in a way. It allowed the children to trust the actor and identify with the character of the lion. The character interacted very well with the set and each other overall a very well put together production and a piece to enjoy by all ages.

 

Giles Croft and Micheal Eaton

I found this master class very useful after seeing the show because I think it gave me a better understanding of the director and the writers expectations and how they approached in creating the piece. I also understand that the set had to travel to another venue so allowed me to understand that this may be why the set didn't seem to fit properly within the playhouse because it wasn't just having to fit the one venue. The director said that there were something's that he felt could be changed if they were to put the piece in the playhouse again and also how it had changed from the rehearsals o the performance. I still do not understand however the fact that the writer was so interested in the fact that Charlie Peace was a notorious criminal but I felt that they didn't make a big enough feature of this in the actual show. Overall though it helped me to understand their intentions a little more.

Installation reaction!

I decided to install my snail zebra crossing around lunchtime because I thought that there would be more people walking through the park at this time. I managed to set the piece up at a time where there weren't many people walking through, there was only one man that passed us at the set up. I found a bench that was close to the location so that I was able to observe and hear the passers by but they weren't able o directly connect me to the piece. I found that all the people that passed were pretty positive towards it and they smiled and thought that it was quite quirky.

 

Before I set it up I was worried that there might be dogs that it might endanger if they got hold of the snails but I actually found that the dogs that passed it didn't really take notice of it and seemed to ignore it. just after I set it up a man walked past me and commented about it saying 'oh look its a snail zebra crossing, amazing that someone has got some imagination' I thought this was quite funny that he hadn't realised it was me that had set it up.

I found that the snails really stood out and people did take the time to notice them and to read the sign, what I thought was good was most of the people passing it actually came from the other side from where it was facing but this meant they pent a little more time to read the signs they passed it.

 

I was interested to see how different groups of people would interact with it for example who would notice it more, would people walk on the paper or over it etc. I thought that children would probably interact with it more because its something to discover but I found that it was mostly adults that seemed intrigued by the idea and a few children actually just walked/ran passed t and it was the adults with them that drew their attention to it.

One thing that I didn't really count on happening was people picking up the snails themselves, there was a couple of people that did and out them back but at one point there was a couple of children that started to pick them up and collect them so I had to tell them not to remove the snails. I didn't really think that anyone would do this as I thought that they would see as something to observe rather than remove. I feel I could have used this in a way because I could have made more snails and replaced them as they were taken, it was interesting to see that most people actually just looked.

 

There was a group of people that seemed to stand and look at the piece for ages (shown in picture above) and it was interesting that they paused for long and eventually they did take a few pictures, I asked one of them afterwards what he thought about it he said 'innovative, different, unusual and his first thoughts were why did I choose blue for the snails' I thought that was interesting and not really something I had taken into account that people would think of.

As I was removing the installation there was a couple with dogs that asked me what it was for and if they could take pictures, they seemed fascinated by the idea. This is where I noticed that the dogs didn't seem to take any notice of the installation.

 

Overall I think this was a really good experiment with the use of an installation and seeing how people react to something so simple, I came away with reactions that I hadn't expected and the things I had expected didn't really happen so it was a very good experience and would love to be able to develop on this if I was able to be able to create something throughout the whole arboretum.

artist inspiration for installation

http://artthreat.net/2011/01/giant-pink-snails-invade-america/

The exhibition is curated by renowned Italian directors Gloria Porcella and Lamberto Petrecca. It is their hope that the snails encourage the public to “re-examine existing perceptions of urban life, and inspire us to play with our cities, as well as to mentally and physically rejuvenate them, in other words, to Regenerate them into more healthy, vibrant, animated and loving environments.”








I found this installation by Gloria Porcella and Lambero Petrecca and thought it fit really well with my concept and found the images really interesting and their concept was very similar to what I was trying to achieve.

installation idea

For my installation in the city I wanted to place mine within the arboretum because I have noticed a lot of people walk through there everyday but don't realise a lot of the natural aspects that are going on around them. I wanted to create a piece that means people have to slow down and take time to notice and to take a pause.

This made me think of slower creatures that might be within the arboretum and led me to think about using snails, I wanted to use the idea of suggesting that something is about to occur or something is there that people would have to wait for or look out for.
I thought about how I could incorporate of snails into and first thought about making a large snail at the side the path and having a zebra crossing (the idea of slowing down).

After feedback about this idea I started looking into other pieces of work that have used snails but also how I could develop it to be more suggestive and subtle.

Photoshop

In today session we were looking at a couple of tools that can be applied in different ways, we first looked at layering two pictures over each other and applying a mask to allows us to see some of the picture under that other one. We then looked at applying the blur, light effects, masking and gradient tools to apply light and shadow in the correct places on a drawing of a pile of boxes. The result is the image shown above.

bamboozle theatre

http://www.bamboozletheatre.co.uk/ 

Bamboozle theatre came into show us a performance that is designed to interact with children that have learning difficulties. The piece is designed to allow the children to notice the colours and textures of items and to allow them to interact with the story being told. The piece that we saw today was a piece devised as if the children were entering into a dream and to experience aspects of that dream, bamboozle were very good in their interaction with the children and I really liked that they introduced the dream world to each child individually. I feel this allows the children to feel part of what is going on and makes them have an individual experience.

There was a lot of visuals to catch the children's attention but also an association with sound and action, some of the actions were introduced with a change in music or the use of a gong. I really enjoyed watching the children react to the performers and watch them in awe at what they were doing. It allows the children to be part of the action if they fee they want to and allow them to gain what they want from the experience. I think the performers interact well with the individuals and if the children don't like so will back off slightly or move to the carer so the child can still what is going on without feeling overwhelmed.

Charlie Peace

http://nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/whats-on/drama/charlie-peace-his-amazing-life-and-astounding-lege/


Charlie peace is a play that is based on the legend of Charlie Peace that is based a sideshow at goose fair. We followed the character through his life as told to us by moments pieced out by the showman starting at his time in Sheffield meeting his lover.

I found that looking at the design it did not seem to fit within the space properly and the space itself was not utilised as it could have been, the design seemed cramped in the space. I also felt that  use of projection for jarred with the time period it was trying to portray and also the effect they were trying to achieve, the images were too crisp.
I felt it was off putting to see the actors through the curtains because they suddenly seemed to jump out off character as soon as the curtain had closed.

The main problem I had with this production was the use of space in conjunction with the design and the use of projection, I also didn't understand that if he was supposed to be a notorious criminal that committed a lot of robberies they didn't seem to give a sense of this in the production.

city installation brief

For this part of the project we were asked to devise an intervention or a temporary installation that we could place in an area of the city that would allow the public to interact with it and change their perceptions of that place.

For this I started to look at the arboretum because I have noticed people walking through without really noticing the nature around them so I would like to propose something that would allow them to take the time to notice more of their surroundings.

Red earth theatre

http://redearththeatre.wordpress.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUC0GdilU-w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZcrrfDF_0w

Red earth theatre company is a company based in Derby and they work with and cater for a range of people with hearing problems.
They work with hearing and deaf actors on stage all of which when it comes to the performance know how to sign, they work the signing elements into the performance allowing the deaf to enjoy the play as well rather than feeling separated by the use f a separate signer at the edge of the stage.

The designs have to be thought out carefully allowing the signing to stand out against the background and the costumes have to allow the actors to be able to move their hands freely.

This type of theatre allows diversity of hearing and deaf people, allows them o enjoy the performance at the same level allowing more access to a variety of people.

connections from the week

Looking back through the week I was able to notice a lot of connections with a lot of the things that we were doing and we were asked to make note of these connections as an exercise.

I started looking at the talk we had from Dominic Shaw and how he works with people on the fringe of society and people that may not ordinarily have the chance to be pat of theatre, this linked with looking at cardboard citizen who are a company that use theatre of the oppressed to involve homeless people so they are both companies that help people that would not otherwise be helped. The theatre of the oppressed is a type of theatre developed by Augusto Boal to involve the audience in the piece of theatre, we carried out a workshop looking at an area of this type of theatre called forum theatre.
All of these companies and techniques allow the participants to explore the space and explore themselves in how they would react to a piece of performance. Allows them to improve, learn and make new experiences.

I also thought about the semiotics lecture that we had and how it is used within theatre and how as theatre designers we have to be considerate of the whole picture and guiding our audience to a specific moment. It all comes down to the exploration of space and the use of that space in portraying/telling a story. This links back to forum theatre because it allows the audience to tell the story and how we can learn from the experiences we have had and how we apply those.

Peter farley-anthropomorphism

http://www.wsd2013.com/biographies/peter-farley/

There are 5 types of anthropomorphism:

-shaman: humans wanting to embody animals, gain attributes of the animal
-symbolism: people using/wearing symbols of who they are
-embodies: actor becomes the animals e.g. pantomime horse
-referential: refer to animal or object to try and convey
-metaphor: the animal conveys how the human may come across within the play

What is the difference between anthropomorphic costume and puppet?
A costume may be in one of the categories above and the person is that animal or the costume 'consumes' the person but a puppet may also be part of a costume however when the person is external to the 'costume/puppet' then this is more puppetry than anthropomorphic for example war horse is a puppet because the manipulators are separate to the horse.

people mentioned:
-Marie-Jeanne Lecca
-Maria Bjornson
-Comelli
-John Macfarlane
-Nicolas Remisov

Forum theatre workshop with Becky Matter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbYx01re-ec

The workshop with Becky Matter was the exploration of forum theatre and how this can be used within a group or audience of people. This type of theatre is adapted from the theatre of the oppressed developed by Augusto Boal.
I found the workshop really useful to understand the practice a lot more and to discover a new type of theatre that I didn't really know a lot about before the workshop, I liked the angle that this type of theatre takes because it incorporates the audience into the action of the play and allows them to look back and change it how they would play things out.
It is a really useful tool to be able to review a situation and see how things could have been different if you were able to go through the experience again.

The idea of the type of theatre is to play out a situation where there is someone that feels degraded or oppressed and then for the audience to stop the action and take the place of this person and replay the situation changing the actions of the scene or the lines to approach it differently to make the oppressed person come out feeling better.
Sometimes the situation can be made worse because the person taking over could still have the wrong attitude and raise the tension of the situation.

I think this type of theatre could be really useful to adapt to a situation that can be used for childrens theatre allowing them to change the situation and it would have very good lessons for them to take away.

Semiotics and phenomenology

Semiotics is a sign system, a way of interpreting and reading signs in theatre. Sometimes within an image it allows us to discover particular things about the area or people within them because of what the image is portraying from items such as clothes or the way someone is standing in comparison to someone else etc.
You can tell how someone feels about themselves by the way they are acting in the picture or the way they are interacting with the environment. it allows us to determine a time in which they became comfortable with themselves due to the clothes they wear because these could be a demonstration of that.

Dennis Severs house is a good example of a theatrical but practical piece of semiotics, the house was bought by an American called Dennis Severs and was adapted and built up to look like a house that belonged in the 19t century. All the aspects of the house were a representation of that period and allows the viewer to believe they re witnessing a house from that period and all the rooms were made to look as if the people were still around the house but you never see them. This is an example of semiotics because a lot of the items were only a representation rather than the actual but collectively those 'signs' allow the viewer to believe in that experience and those characters of the family even though they are never seen.

'Scenography involves the manipulation of the visual and spatial environment of a performance'
   Joslin McKinney

As theatre designers we deal with the whole picture and focus the audience to aspects within that space.

Phenomenology: a philosophy or method of inquiry based on the premise that reality consists of objects and events as they are perceived or understood in human consciousness and not independent of human consciousness.

Bert O. States said Furniture designates space as a place, meaning that the situation or placement of something determines the interpretation of that space. We read everything by scale in comparison to us.

Books recommended:
Daniel Miller-stuff, collection of things
Arnold Aronson-looking into the abyss
John Berger-ways of seeing
Martin Heidegger

Cardboard citizens

http://www.cardboardcitizens.org.uk/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srvnPJcLmlM

Cardboard Citizens changes the lives of homeless and displaced people through theatre and the performing arts.

The cardboard citizens are a company that present plays performed by the homeless and displaced people, to share experiences and problem solve together. They work in partnership to widen the reach of the company’s work and allow those that would otherwise be unable to participate in theatre. The company make theatre for general audiences so a wider public can share in the company’s learning and understanding of the issues faced by homeless people, allowing excluded people to develop skills and confidence through projects and workshops. The company also meet the practical needs of the homeless and displaced people, supporting them in matters of housing, education, employment, health, career and personal development.

They are working to further develop theatre projects in and out of hostels for a wide range of audiences, focussed on the lives of homeless and displaced people. They will be supporting people in diverse ways, helping homeless people to play their part in the world, and society to understand how life is lived on the margins. Ambition being that they will enable every hostel resident in London to be able to access the company’s work, as audience or participate.

 

 

 

Augusto Boal-theatre of the oppressed

http://www.theatreoftheoppressed.org/en/index.php?useFlash=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_Oppressed
The Theatre of the Oppressed describes theatrical forms that the Brazilian theatre practitioner Augusto Boal first elaborated in the 1960s, initially in Brazil and later in Europe. Boal was influenced by the work of the educator and theorist Paulo Freire. Boal's techniques use theatre as means of promoting social and political change. In the Theatre of the Oppressed, the audience becomes active, such that as "spect-actors" they explore, show, analyse and transform the reality in which they are living.
'The theatre of the oppressed is practised by "spect actors" who have the opportunity to both act and observe, and who engage in self-empowering processes of dialogue that help foster critical thinking'

The theatre of the oppressed is a system of exercises, games and techniques based on the essential theatre, to help men and women develop what they already have inside them: theatre.

The oppressed are those individuals or groups who are socially, culturally, politically, economically, racially, sexually or in any other way deprived of their right to dialogue or in any way impaired to exercise this right.

Cardboard citizens was founded by Adrianna Jackson and it is one of the foremost companies for using and teaching theatre of the oppressed.

Richard arm

 

http://www.castingabout.co.uk/Home.html

 

 Richard Arm came into talk to us about the methods and materials of being able to cast objects and people to then made a piece of prop or masks.

He talked to us about the different materials that you would need for a particular type of cast and how the processes of those worked, also the types of things that a particular method could produce so what you would need if you wanted to cast someone's face compared to if you wanted to cast a small object.

 

5 ways of making moulds:

-open

-split

-plug

-skin

-multi-piece

 

He talked to us what each type of mould would be use for and how you would cast these and also the materials you would need to cast this.

 

condensation cure is a casting method that uses materials that release molecules to be able to dry such as multi-purpose silicone. Addition cure works in a different way to this, it is a platinum based compound as apposed to tin based like the previous. This allows it to be more stable.

 

there are 3 types of casting:

-general purpose

-clear

-gel

 

texture and colour can be added to the general purpose cast to create a effect of material eg types of stone.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4q2ArRPj3c

 

This video shows how layers of resin can be build up and painted on as separate layers. 

 

 

Dominic Shaw

http://urbanangel.org/

Urban angel is a company set up by Dominic Shaw and the company is designed to rehabilitate youths within a community that would otherwise not get a chance to reform. The company takes on people within a certain age range that has been put forward by the institutes that the youths are from so for example a foster home might ask if the company can take on a group of 16-19 year olds to make a chosen performance.

The company is mainly site specific and the topics can be quite demonstrative of the groups background, the plays are sometimes pre written but often are devised by the group and what their ideas are about what they want to perform. So the work can be quite aggressive and they use the audience as a tool so it can be quite uncomfortable for an audience. It is important for them to have an audience to properly be able to perform and to get the reactions for them to progress the performance.

It allows them to reintegrate back into the community/society by introducing them to art, take it to them and allow them to have access to the opportunity.

1984

http://www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/whats-on/drama/1984/

 1984 is a performance based on the novel written by George Orwell,

The Oceania province of Airstrip One (formerly known as Great Britain) is a world of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, and public mind control, dictated by a political system euphemistically named English Socialism under the control of a privileged Inner Party elite that persecutes all individualism and independent thinking as thought crimes. Their tyranny is headed by Big Brother, the quasi-divine Party leader who enjoys an intense cult of personality, but who may not even exist. Big Brother and the Party justify their rule in the name of a supposed greater good. The protagonist of the novel, Winston Smith, is a member of the Outer Party who works for the Ministry of Truth, which is responsible for propaganda and historical revisionism. His job is to re-write past newspaper articles so that the historical record always supports the current party line. Smith is a diligent and skilful worker, but he secretly hates the Party and dreams of rebellion against Big Brother.

 The main set that appeared to be a permanent fixture was what seemed like an office room or a room within a learning environment or a museum. The play opened with a voice over and a single character in focus sitting at the main table on the stage, it then developed to show a group sitting at the table talking about the diary that the previous character was writing in.

This to me seemed an interesting opening because from what I could gather after the began to interact was that this was years after 1984 and they were looking back at the diary and who may have written it and the 'world' as it was then. It allowed the audience to participate in this and discover the character for themselves.

In the first part of the play develops into a repetition of flashbacks to that group and the main character because he is discovering who he is and what part he plays within his world.

I found the character very interesting and found that the play is very clever and allowing the audience to discover along with that character, there is confusion at the beginning with trying to interpret where the character belongs and how the situations surrounding him connect with him and the world, but as the play goes on I found it easier to interpret and understand where he was and what is happening around him. I thought it was very clever some of the concepts that they used within the performances for example the use of the 'private room' for the main character and love interest to escape to away from big brother. This was set up so that there were no cameras and they weren't being watched however for the audience to see what happens in the room is as broadcast onto a large section of screens at the back of the stage. I thought this was clever because they weren't suppose to be being watched and yet the audience was protruding on their privacy.

The filming of the private room was cleverly done and was a very good addition into the live action of the rest of the play, the set itself became slowly destroyed and changed by the main characters and I felt this was a good representation of the downfall that is trying to be brought onto the society by big brother. The change in set is also very clever and it makes the character and the audience question relationships formed and the connection between him and the society.

I enjoyed the development of the play and felt that there was an element of understanding that would come from reading the book and would allow me to understand the themes better and how things connect. I feel that the play is very cleverly put together and the characters actions and speech is well connected to the main base of the novel/play allowing you to walk away and still be questioning motives and actions.