How can the children interact/engage with our scene?
- A major factor of our children's performance is that it breaks the fourth wall. This in itself is a giant interaction with the children and they will be engaged from the very start. This is good as it means they are less likely to get distracted or bored during the performance and are more likely to have a far more enjoyable time. We also had the idea of asking them questions such as 'what should we do now, should we do this or that? etc Meaning they have a direct impact on the direction of the performance. This would be good as it means they will be more intrigued to see where their ideas and decisions will take them.
- An example of this would be with our character 'The Story Stealer' in which the children have to stay still have chant a song in order to make 'The Story Stealer' go away. Children are engaged as they have to sing a song they learn on the spot and sing it louder and faster in order to make the character go away.
- An idea our group had which is a strong element to our story/performance is 'The Jelly Box'. This is going to be a box filled with jelly that the children have to put their hands in to in order to find the keys. This is a good idea as it is multi-sensorial which means that multiple senses will be triggered at the same time creating a surreal feel. For example, touch will be feeling the squidgy-ness of the jelly. Smell, will be from the jelly itself, sight as there will be a projection of 'jelly' or a 'jelly character'. Sound as we will be saying jelly or find a musical piece which contains the word jelly. I think this will be used in our final piece as it is such a key element already and will be a good technique to use for children's theatre due to it being multi-sensorial. We also thought about creating multiple boxes that had different textures on in order to engage the touch/feel sense.
How could you make the space work in interesting, unexpected ways?
- A way in which I thought we could make the space interesting would be to hang things from the lighting rig. For example, we could hang some smaller boxes of different shapes and colours/textures. We could also hang a key from the ceiling as one of the challenges in our piece is to find three keys. This would link well with that. This would be good for children's theatre as having things in the air as well as on the ground will visually engage and challenge them to look beyond the norm and to think 'outside the box' when trying to solve problems in our piece.
- Another way in which we thought we could use the space in different ways were to use 'The black box studio' for just the planet itself and then use the outside area where the seating rig usually is for the beginning before the main problem has occurred and at the end for the laser light show. By using the 'black box studio' for just the planet means that they will feel completely immersed in the environment we are trying to create. Meaning we will create a world for the children to experience which will be cut off from 'reality'. This will make it easier for them to get lost and enjoy the piece by forgetting about the real world for a little while.
- We also had the idea of sticking spots or stars on the floor and when we shout a specific word they have to stand on the spot really quick. This is an idea we came up with in order to calm the children down if they were getting a little too excited or to re-gain focus. Another way we could incorporate this idea is when 'The Story Stealer' is about they have to stand on a spot/star in order to not be seen. This would be good for childrens theatre as it would make our story/performance even more believable due to them having to perform an action in order to carry forth the narrative.
What shapes, set could be made from the boxes that would work with a variety of stories?
- An idea that I thought could be used was levels. For example, we could create stage blocks and cover them in boxes meaning that they would be secure but still look surreal as they would appear to be boxes. This then could be used in order for characters to sit or for objects to be placed on, or a place where the children can sit when they are watching or waiting for instructions. This would be good for children's theatre as it creates another reality in which the performance is set meaning they can get lost in the atmosphere of boxes. Also with this idea we could colour/paint the boxes different colours in order to show different areas for different stories. This would be good as it visually shows the structure of performance. I.e once we've finished the story in the red zone we would travel to the green zone and hear their story etc.
- Our group also had the idea of creating music, light and TV boxes in order to help tell stories, progress narrative or make it more interesting for children. For example, the TV box could be used to show a message from a distressed monster about something they need the children's help with. This would engage them visually and aurally in a different way to how they have been previously interacting with the performance. I.E. They have been watching us live performing and now they are watching a pre-recording. We also felt that this would enhance excitement as they would be wondering what's going to happen next. This would work for a variety of stories as it could help tell them in different ways and break up the live action performance a little bit.
How can we make the performance multi-sensory?
As I have previously mentioned we will make it multi-sensory by using a range of different techniques. For example, we have the textured boxes which will be covered in different materials. I.e. Tin foil, fluff, glitter etc. We will then have specific boxes which will have a specific theme/colour/activity, For example, one covered in lights, one containing a radio/TV and one containing a substance such as Jelly. These will be effective ideas for childrens theatre as it will engage their senses and possibly challenge them to become fully immersed with the perfromnce and excite their imagination. We also had the idea of having a perfume/spray spelling box in order to engage the smell sense. Possibly linking this to jelly so that their will be a sensory overload at one point during our piece. This will be effective as it will fully engage them and hopefully immerse them meaning that they will be fully involved and hopefully be more willing to participate.
We then picked three words that we thought showed how we were communicating meaning.
- Amusing - We have elements of humour throughout out piece and exaggerated characteristions that would be humuorous to children. For example, the wise wizard uses big arm movements and walks in a weird way. This works as the children will find it enjoyable meaning they will pay more attention.
- Engaging - We are using multi-sensorial techniques as well as using elaborate stage design/set. For example, hanging things from the lighting rig, possibly creating levels and having music, texture boxes and projection/video imagery.
- Challenging - We are creating little puzzels that the children have to solve during our performance. For example, how to find the keys. There will be little things they have to do before they can obtain the keys. I.e. One is suspended in the air but how do they get it? etc. We also have the challenge of creating quite intense emotional atmospheres for example, panic when the star hits, then fear when the story stealer arrives.
We then wrote out a synopsis for our first activity/story:
Here is a video of our first initial devised ideas for Children's theatre.
EBI.
Personally I feel as though I need to work on my monster characterisation as you can clearly see from the video I'm moving and acting very much like a human which is not the aim of this project. In order to do this I need to change my vocal pitch and move in different ways. For example, having a funny walk or weird arm movements. Something that makes me visually different from my normal everyday self which could add to my monster character.
As a group we need to create more contrast between the different emotions. For example, the panic when finding the key wasn't really as panicked as it could have been and therefore meant we lost enthusiasm and pace. In order to change this we need to exaggerate movements and change our voices in a dramatic way in order to create contrast. We can do this by speaking in a low pitch and low volume to start with and using very little gestures then when the panic sets in we start speaking in a louder volume, higher pitch and flail our arms and legs in different directions whilst running.
I feel as though we still need to work on structure a little better as at the moment the children are just following us without a clear path to follow or to investigate.
What I liked about other peoples.
Vickis group
I like the fact that they used live instruments during their piece. i.e. The Guitar. As it engaged us aurally as well as visually and set a mysterious almost mystical tone for the performance. It also faults and strengths of characters in their piece. For example, their villain was weakened by the sound of music and was chased away. Where as it was a strength for another character who was playing the soothing music in the lair of Daniel the dragon. This is a good technique for children's theatre as it engages them instantly and sets a positive, happy tone for which they will be in for a while.
Megans Group
I like their use of audience interaction where we were instantly told to grab oranges off the floor to give to another character which acted as a source of fuel for the monsters. This set a very positive, exciting atmosphere that made you intrigued into what was going to happen next. Their characterisation was also a very strong aspect of their performance. As from their physicality you could see that they weren't humans they were monsters and their use of vocal pitch and volume also added to this.
No comments:
Post a Comment