'Our House' - Character Exploration and first lesson blocking

Explore traits, relationships with other characters - selfish, follower, sarcastic


Find at least 3 character traits, then how the traits have impacts on other characters - Find quotes that support this/stage directions.


Questions

Is your character funny? Yes, best friends with Billie and friends with Sarah (possibly not that great a friends as we often tell her all the bad things she's doing and how she should run her life) "We MIGHT if YOU go to university"
- Angie, Billie, Emmo, Lewis, Joe, Reece, Mum, Dad


Do you have any real friends? Yes - Billie possibly grown up together and therefore are there for one another. A lot of my lines are said in sync with Billie which shows how close they are. "We deserve a man with prospects.
- Joe, Lewis, Emmo, Billie


Do you hold a grudge? I don't think my character holds a grudge and if it is its done in a subtle way. Stood with - mum, Raven, Reece


Do you make irrational/stupid choices? I don't think my character makes any irrational choices, without being supported by her best friend so she understand why she is doing it. 
Stood with - Billie, Mum, Lewis

Do they have a secret agenda?
Ruin everything for Sarah if she does well and goes for University.

Gets on with people my own age as well as the mum. Likes to be liked by people but doesn't mind if people don't. They are independent but rely on the friendship of Billie. I think if they weren't friends they would be enemies. Doesn't really tend to get on with Joe but can tolerate him.


Improvisation Exercise - The Park
My trait was to be a follower. I made friends with Vicki who was nurturing/caring. Charlotte who was very understanding. I didn't become friends with Valencia as she was intimidating and I wanted to be like everyone and go with the flow not be judged and followed myself. I don't whether acted my part right I did interact with the right people but don't know whether I personally performed as well as I could of done.

Blocking

Today we also started blocking the first scene of 'Our House'. I felt from this we very quickly established relationships between characters and therefore placed ourselves accordingly to these proxemics. For example, my character would stay close to 'Billie' and 'Sarah' but keep my distance from 'Joe' and his friends as 'Angie' isn't very fond of him and thinks that Sarah can do better. Also by starting to block the first scene we got a feel for the dynamic and tone of the performance. For example, its very high spirited and energised so far. Meaning it sets of a very optimistic and lively atmosphere both for actors and audience. This is clear from the first musical no. being 'Our House' which is very high energy, bouncy piece to dance and listen to.

So Sing - rehearsals to performance

During one of our rehearsals we found out listening to the track 'Tears Dry On Their Own' by Amy Winehouse that the melody line was exactly the same as 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' by Marvin Gaye. Therefore, we decided to try out singing both melodies at the same time to see if they fit. We got this idea from one of our warm up/rehearsal techniques where we split into two groups and sang two different songs at the same time that fit the same chords and rough melody. We did this in order to show that we could hold our melody line/harmony without getting confused with the other singers. Therefore, we ended up switching the song 'Rockabye' by Clean Bandit to 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' by Marvin Gaye.

So our final running order was:

Human - Rag'N'Bone Man
Tears Dry On Their Own - Amy Winehouse
Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye
Keeping you head up - Birdy

Human - rehearsal process to performance

We originally started by singing this song all together as a group to become comfortable with the song, its melody, and its pitches as it is a fairly low song. Once we were comfortable with the lyrics we started on characterisation when performing. As it is a fairly aggressive song we started testing out different ways in which we could express the lyrics. For example, through facial expressions, hand/body gestures and emphasising certain words. For example when I performed it I emphasised the words 'human' and 'blame' the most as I felt they held more emotion than some of the others. I also did this because the whole point of the song was that people make mistakes in life but that doesn't mean you should blame them for everything that's going wrong. Therefore, by emphasising 'Human' it states that everyone is human and does the same. 'I am human, you are human, so why am I being blamed for everything. I'm not perfect and neither are you'.

Later, because we established early on that the song itself was very low. Our director Kim suggested that the boys sing the first verse as a ensemble. Then the girls sing the second verse in a higher octave. Meaning that the song stays in its original pitch for the beginning then varies for the second verse. Whilst we were singing some of us were tapping our feet to stay in time and could be heard. We all thought that this was an edgy good idea and therefore added it into our performance. So we all stamped our right foot during the verses to give it a strong beat and added to the darker, edgy vibe we were looking for this also then made it contrast with the other songs we were singing.  

Further on in rehearsal soloists were chosen to sing the verses as together it sounded to harsh and loud and didn't create but of a dynamic throughout the piece. Therefore, by adding soloists it created a different tone, a lighter almost more emotional whilst the rest of us hummed a two note phrase and repeated it every four beats. Then when it got to the chorus we all joined in making it sound stronger and fuller. Creating a warm sound that had some attitude to it. In terms of movement we had a simple foot stamp that we carried throughout the entire song and a little freestyle phrase during the chorus to emphasises emotion.

Tears Dry On Their Own - Rehearsal process to performance

When we first started leaning this song, there were only a few people that were 100% confident with the lyrics and melody. The majority of us hadn't heard the song before. Therefore, to solve this we went off in groups for around half an hour to learn the lyrics and sing through the song to make sure we were comfortable with it. Again like with 'Human' we all sang the song as an ensemble until we were all comfortable and confident with the melody. As a group we all had our difficulties as the melody line didn't necessarily fall on the beat and therefore we had to learn it line by line with the accompaniment of a piano played live. This helped us out a lot as it meant we could learn it at our pace and go over each line as many times as possible until we got it. Rather than having to play a backing track find the right place and play it again.

Later, again soloists were added to sing the versus whilst the rest of us clicked and swayed in the background. We then again sang the chorus and added in little movements to make it visually more engaging. I felt this also helped up add more emotion into it as we were visually representing the lines in a way and therefore meant we could understand and feel them more. The last verse all the girls sanf on their own as it related to them more than the boys. During the bridge we all sang it in a hished tone and crouched slightly raising upwards and as we did this we created a crescendo in volume.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Rehearsal process to performance

When we started learning this song a lot of us were familiar with it as it a fairly old song meaning many of us had heard before in its original form or from the film 'Sister Act 2'. Many of us took a very positive and lively approach to this song as its an upbeat jolly song in itself. I felt in rehearsal this was the song that needed the least amount of practice as we were pretty confident with singing this. This also then established when we split into two groups to sing two songs as the same time who would sing what. For example, the people that were completely comfortable with this song chose to sing this over the Amy Winehouse one. Also there was a clear contrast in pitches between those two songs. i.e. 'Ain't No Mountain' is fairly high where as 'Tears Dry On Their Own' is quite low. Meaning that people also chose which song they wanted to sing by which one fitted more comfortably in their vocal range.

Again with this song we came up with little movement phrases to perform during the choruses. This was similar to 'Tears Dry On Their Own' but differed slightly. This could be said that we did this because they had similar melody lines but had different lyrics and tunes.

The first verse we sang as a group in a softer tonality to introduce the jazzy/blues vibes it presented in the song and from the era it came from. Then when it got to the chorus we sang it louder with more energy than we previously had to make it sound bigger and brighter compared to the verses. The third verse was then sang by a soloist as it overlapped with the split choruses. This was done so the song could be performed smoothly rather than slightly disjointed and paused to keep timing.

Keeping your head up - Rehearsal Process to performance

Upon initial responses to this song a lot of people were worried about the high pitch the chorus was in as it goes fairly high even for a soprano singer. Many people didn't know the verses either and because it differentiated so much with the chorus people found it harder to learn than the other songs. Early on, soloists were chosen for this song because of how difficult it was melodically to learn. As well, harmonies were established fairly quickly to be able to cater for the people who couldn't sing up to that range. This was the song I felt had the most rehearsal time due to the fact it was difficult in terms of range and melody for us to sing. However, we managed to overcome these obstacles over time and practice.

Originally, I sang the harmony as I didn't want to strain my vocal chords as at the time I was very ill and couldn't see very well. However, upon rehearsals we found that the majority of the class chose to sing the harmony and the melody line was becoming distant. Therefore, I decided to sing the melody line as I could reach those notes in my range, but made sure I didn't hurt myself in the process. I waited until my vocals were better before I attempted to sing the melody line again meaning I would be able to perform it well and to the standard that was needed.

Towards the end of rehearsal and almost on show night we decided to add in some movement. This was simply freestyling around the space in a controlled manner. Which mainly consisted of clapping and swaying/stepping. This was because it was our finale piece so therefore needed to have something different from the others. I.E we moved around the space. We then ended with a run of the chorus A Capella with no movement to create a strong, bold finish to our medley.

'Our House' and 'Baggy Trousers' Movement in Performance - Dance Lesson 2

Today we recapped the dance to 'Our House' and finalised/polished parts that may have been a little on the rough side last week. We also added in little 'improve/chat phrases' during dialogue sections and the introduction to set the tone of a strong, positive, good relationship group of people.



WWW.
'Our House' -
Again like last week energy levels were very high and I feel as though everyone had found a characterisation and performed it big and elaborately. To show this everyone had sharp, unique movements that differed from each other making it visually engaging. This adds to the school leavers vibe that we need to portray towards the beginning of the performance of 'Our House'.  

'Baggy Trousers'

We then looked at 'Baggy Trousers' that myself, Vicki, Megan, Valencia, Maddy and Raven choreographed a couple of weeks ago. We also then looked at another version of 'Baggy Trousers' performed by Brighton Academy. This one was heavily influenced by dance. I felt that this video would help us understand the kind of energy levels we needed and what kind of characterisations we would need to have when performing. We took inspiration from both but mainly choreographed everyone to what my group had done previously.  

WWW.
I felt everyone had a very positive attitude to learning 'Baggy Trousers' and gave plenty of good ideas to how we could improve our dance and keep everyone onstage the whole time - this was a clear improvement from my groups devised one as we had multiple people go off stage at various points.

EBI.
'Our House'
My little trio group could continue to rehearse our little friendship phrase bit as its still bitty in some circumstances. For example we could physical count out the beats out loud to make sure we are in time with each other and the music. This would mean that we would have a strict time frame/beat to stick to meaning we would all repeat the movements at the exact same time meaning we would be in sync with one another.

Possibly create more of an improv scene with Vicki at the start of 'Our House' to lengthen out the intro as well as to show off our characterisations. I could also do this with Raven and Harry when we all cluster in a little group.

Dance - Our House - movement devising - Dance Unit 50

Today we created a dance motif piece for our house. That consisted of group motifs and duet/trio elements. Including walks, skips, jumps, spins and claps. We did this by watching the musical 'Our House' and their interpretation of the dance and seeing whether we could use any phrase in our own interpretation.

We started off with the iconic 'walk' that they use throughout the entire performance. This is a simple step movement with exaggerated arm swings. Performed in a jerky fashion to create sharp, clear movements. We then did a side step into 3 mini jumps whilst swinging our arms again but in a more fluid fashion. In order to create contrast from our previous movement as well as to gain pace and energy as we go into a box-step like motif. We then repeated this motif but instead doing it the opposite way. For example, stepping left instead of right and doing the box-step phrase to the left instead of the right.

We then broke off into two groups fake chatting and stage acting. Looking like we're having fun. We then skip in a line in a figure of 8 crossing paths with the other groups line circling around until we are in a semi circle. Then a group of us go into the middle and perform a motif whilst the rest of us stay around the edge. Then once they have finished and step out the circle we run and slide in, spinning on our bums to the left then spinning/jump up on our rights to get up and walk to the edge of the circle once again.

After this we then got into two's or threes and came up with a little friendly motif to add energy and to start to establish the relationships between characters. I was in a three with Harry and Raven. A lot of our movements involved us facing each other in a triangle formation and often having at least one point of contact. This was to show that our characters knew each other well and were comfortable with one another as well as to show the positive relationships we had. For example, as one moment we have a jump into a high five to represent the classic 'friend group' high five you see in films and shows. We did this to emphasise the positivity our group of characters had to one another.

To finish the devising we all came forward into a group to perform a unison motif which consisted of lifting our arms to our chest with one of our legs then switching the weight from one leg to the other punching towards the ground. We performed this motif twice switching direction.

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I felt that the group dynamic when being introduced to the idea and piece was very positive and enthusiastic. People has loads of ideas and was ready to get started straight away without any hesitation. I also thought that everyone has lots of high energy levels when it came to learning the choreography and people picked it up very quickly. This meant that we could progress our choreography quickly and devise more of the song. I feel as though my first impression was very positive and created a atmosphere of optimism which encouraged other people to jump straight into the piece as well.

EBI.
Personally, I feel as though my little trio group could work on our timing when it comes to claps and jumps as we are slightly out of time. This would make our performance slicker and make it seem well rehearsed and furnished when it comes to performing. I also feel that this will also help keep pace and energy levels gong rather than slowing them down as we are out of time.

As a group we also need to sort out timing when their is dialogue in the song. As we do not have any choreography for those moments meaning we are just waiting around for the song to start up again. In order to progress this I feel as though we could create mini narratives that could be mimed during these bits as to not draw attention away from the actors but to make it seem more realistic and smooth.

Rehearsal and first performance of 'Baggy Trousers'

Today our class split into two groups and choreographed some movement to two different songs from the musical 'Our House'.

These consisted of the on and off cast 'Sarah and Joe' and Emmo and Lewis going off and choreographing something for the song 'Driving in my car'. Then leaving the rest of us to choreograph something for 'Baggy Trousers'.

Firstly, we watched the musicals own version of 'Baggy Trousers' to get inspiration from their performance and style and to see what kind of movements/phrases they used in their piece. Upon watching the video we started devising straight away with the song in the background. We decided that we wanted to use chairs like they did in the musical version, to keep the same school classroom tone to the song. We decided to take inspiration from some of the motifs they used such as: the chair phrases, fake fighting and the general erratic movements.

WWW.
Our approach to movement went well as were very energised and had a lot of enthusiasm. For example, we took a very practical approach trying out different ideas rather than writing/talking about them for a long time without acting upon them. I feel as though this helped up to visualise what kind of movements we wanted and how we wanted to portray them. We also had good facial expressions as well as individual characterisations. We managed to choreograph our movement phrases quick and effectively which then also helped up effectively learn the piece as a dance as well as the song.

EBI.

Personally, I need to focus more on my movement and make sure I know exactly what I am doing as I keep looking beside me and behind me to make sure I was doing what the others were doing. For example, I can do this by blocking movement along to the song multiple times making sure I know what comes next and make it seem more natural and rehearsed/relaxed. As a group we also need to work on singing the lyrics as a group loud and clear as this will make our performance even better and on a whole new level.

An example of how I was valuable to the group - I helped keep timing in the countdown part of the scene as the tempo increased at various points which we needed to make sure we got right. I did this because I was at the front of the line and everyone was watching me and would be able to see me. I also feel as though I was valuable as I helped to maintain energy at various moments as well as being adaptable to any movement/idea mentioned.

Unit 7: So Sing - first rehearsal

In our first rehearsal we were introduced to the four songs we would be performing. These are:


Human - Rag 'N' Bone
Rockabye - Clean Bandit
Tears dry on their own - Amy Winehouse
Keeping your head up - Birdy


From first impressions I knew two of these songs from just hearing them on the radio. However, I didn't know many lyrics. The other two songs I had never heard of before and therefore wasn't certain or completely comfortable when singing them.

Personally, from being involved in choirs for the majority of my school life I am skilled when it comes to holding harmonies that may differ from other peoples. I am also used to performing as an ensemble. I do not mind singing solos if required.

I am a soprano singer and that's where I feel most comfortable when singing, is in the higher registers.