When starting the
topic of 1984 we were shown some images from a cartoon of the book by George
Orwell, with these images we were asked to put them in an order in a prezi.
This was useful because it helped us learn how to use prezi which we could have
used in our performance and we also got a better understanding of what the play
was about. In addition we were shown the film which influenced our performance
because it gave us ideas for small scenes we would perform and also the
spaces/locations we would perform in. I also decided to read the book so that I
could understand the point of the book even more and also have better knowledge
of the themes and ideas we would be trying to get across to our audience.
The themes of the
performance were oppression, control, freedom, love, betrayal and freedom. I
found these out in Ms Lee's lesson when we were looking at how Winston betrayed
Julia, how the party and Big Brother were controlling the country and also, how
in a dull and boring world where love is not supposed to exist, it
can still happen which we see in the relationship between Julia and
Winston. We showed the oppression and dullness upstairs in the food
hall and room 101 so that the audience could understand the themes we were
trying to portray and we also showed love in the ending of
the revolution when Winston (Stanley) and Julia (Rose) were reunited.
This showed the audience that because they believed in love and their own
thoughts they could not be controlled any more by Big Brother and the
inner party.
Furthermore at the
beginning of the unit we explored ways in which we could use multimedia - Video
footage, projections, sound, lighting, props, set,
costume, sounds-capes, posters and dance. In these lessons we were in
groups and discovered how to use projectors and props to make things we could
use in our performance. This was extremely useful because it made us
think about the multimedia aspects we wanted in our performance and how
simple things can be used to great effect like an old sheet and school
projector.
We were then were
split into groups and were given a room to decide our multimedia uses and write
scripts, all the multimedia added to the performance and were there for a
reason. The group I was in got given the food hall and we discussed together
what technical elements we would use. We also gave each other a
script to write which we learnt and used in our performance.
Everyone's group had to
decide all their used of multimedia and as a whole I think we created a really
good interesting atmosphere for our audience. We then all came together to make
a timeline so we knew exactly what
was happening in everyone's room and so we knew when planned
events such as the revolution was happening and at what time. Unfortunately I
missed this lesson, but my group was very helpful and helped me catch up on
what I had missed.
Use of multimedia
in the different rooms:
The Space - Anti
sex league, hate room
When the audience entered the space they were made to enter in a line and in there they were welcomed by flashing lighting and a projection. This helped the audience understand the reason for the hate
and allowed them to join in with the shouting because the lighting caused a frantic feel to the room. Also the costumes of the anti
sex league with the smart shirt, short skirt, heels and the flash of colour
from the red neck scarf really made their characters come to life how they were
teasing the audiences. As the audience entered with the lights flashing it made them feel confused and disoriented by the atmosphere and Presence of the anti-sex league. Also the fact that they were made to stand on a cross made the audience feel less important and being forced to listen and believe in what the anti-sex league was saying.
415 - O'Brien's
office
Obrien’s office had normal lighting but when Obrien did his speech theatrical lighting was used to create a spotlight. This showed the audience the importance of Obrien’s character and for the audience to enter a really technical room with lots of computers and screens making the audience feel intimidated by the importance of the room and the characters there. In the room Fenton was also on a computer but he wasn't pretending to do work he was actually using it to type up announcements and look and spreadsheets in order to make his character believable, the computer was not just a prop it was a performance in itself because the audience were able to explore the information on the computer and interact with the performance. They also had a video camera set up so that it looked as though Obrien's speech was being heard all over the country, so that everyone would hear what he had to say, this made the audience understand the importance of Obriens character and how everyone was trusting and believing in his words being completely brainwashed. The costumes they were wearing were very smart to show their importance and Obrien had a prop so that he could be editing word New-speak language, this made the audience feel like Obrien was trying to find as many different ways as possible in which to control the people within his world. The also had costumes in Obrien's wardrobe which could have been used more to interact with the audience and they had a coffee which was brought to the by the food hall staff so that there was a threading performance happening and the audience would enter Obrien's room.
Lecture theatre -
entrance
In the Lecture theatre a prezi presentation was used so that the audience could be introduced to what was about to happen, this prezi was very dull and contained rules and information which scared the audience because they were being introduced to something completely different to the normal world they live in. Lighting was also used to great effect, it was blacked out and the doors were locked so that they were in a holding area for about 5 seconds. This was really good because it gave them a change in atmosphere and world and helped them believe and join in, it gave them time to forget about what was happening in theirs lives and focus on what they were doing now. It made the audience want to enjoy the suspension of dis belief. When entering the room they didn't know what to expect but with the prezi informing them, the masks and the sudden blackout it made them enter our world quickly and effectively and added tension already to the performance.
413 - Food hall
This was the room I
was in and we wanted it to be a very cold and icy atmosphere so we just had a
few lights on and then the light coming in from the window. We also had a
continuous loop of 'War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength'
going on in the background which helped the audience understand what the people
in this world were made to believe in and how they were brainwashed and forced
into believing it because they didn't have a choice.
At the far end of the room we had the serving counter where we served real soup
and bread in polystyrene bowls and water in cups, this food was
served so that the performance was more realistic because a canteen is known
for serving food. Unfortunately the soup was cold but if we performed it again
we would make sure it was hot. At the other end of the room we had some
shelving which was dressed with food so that we could move with a purpose from
one end of the room to the other and change the areas in which we were
performing.
Other props we had
were a stock book which we could right in and we also had posters on the rules
to reinforce the theme of control and also to use in our performance.
Furthermore the windows were useful because we were able to get audience to look outside to where the Ingsoc youth were training. We also had a video which was on mute but had notices from different people, this added another layer to our performance because it sowed it doesn't matter what they are saying because you should just know they are saying good things. Unfortunately we were unable to connect up a live feed but it didn't make much difference to our performance, however if we did it again we would definitely have it up and working.
When the audience entered the food hall the first thing they would have noticed was at the far end of the room, the soup. This was difficult to handle because they all came straight down to that end of the room intrigued about what we were serving and feeling like they had to go and get food because everyone else was getting it. However later on the audience became more confident and began to explore the other parts of the room. Having the use of multimedia made the audience feel part of the world and worked really well because we were able to give the atmosphere of control and the multimedia performed in itself.
Room 101
Room 101 had a really creepy and scary feel to it,
there was the constant sound of a baby crying which made me think of a horror
film. Repetitive music can cause people to be tortured and become insane for example during the war the repetitive sound of the bombs did drive people insane. We also made the audience feel like they had lost control because what ever they did they could not stop the baby from crying and everyone knows when a baby is crying you instinctively want to make them better and happy again. They also blacked out the windows so it was very darks with only cracks
of lighting coming through the gaps and a very bright light just in one corner.
This bright light made the room hot and made the audience feel even more
uncomfortable. They also used projection of an eye operation which might have
made the audience feel scared and they used fake blood to show that people were
hurt and tortured in there. Other props they had were torture tools and a
flickering screen with a blood hand print on it which showed the audience that
very dark and horrible stuff happened in that room. It made the audience feel uncomfortable because sometimes knowing something is going to happen is worse than it actually happening. The atmosphere was very haunting with screams and distressing sounds frightening and scaring the audience. With all of the multimedia it made the audience more aware of what was happening around them and slightly disturbed due to every multimedia aspect in the room having the purpose to make the audience feel uncomfortable.
Stanley's room
Stanley's room
contained a hidden music box under the bed which made the atmosphere boring
because it contained dull background noises. They used normal lights which was
simplistic because that is what he would have had in his
bedroom. They also had a radio with songs on it such as
the chestnut tree and party announcements, this made the room more upbeat because it actually had interesting sounds which was a contrast with the rest of the rooms. The props consisted of a
bed, desk, diary and other things, the diary was useful because the audience were able to dive into his thoughts and read something interesting instead of just a bit of party propaganda. The thing that I found most effective in
this room was the apple mac computer with Shade's exercise video because Stanley
was able to interact with it and I think it was a really clever idea.
Brinley’s room
I really liked Brinley’s little shop because it was hidden away from the rest of the world and was full of props that he was trying to sell. One of the best things in his room were the little electric candles because they made the atmosphere very mysterious and it was a real contrast with the rest of the rooms because it there it felt quite safe, colourful and pleasant. When the audience entered Brinley's room the audience felt peaceful because the candles may have made them imagine a church where there are holy candles making them feel in a safe environment. The candles could also make them feel comfort like during a power cut when you are with your family around a candle, for example when we had a power cut we all ate round some candles and it felt really relaxing and I felt protected in our little bubble of light.
Outside
The audience were able to view outside from the window
in the food hall and also when they were walking across. Outside the training
took place and there was a real contrast in colour because they were wearing
bright yellow mackintoshes, this gave a more positive feel but actually lots of
young children were being trained to fight and being told off which was a
negative. The multimedia they used was a song which they chanted, this was good
because it showed how they were brainwashed to remember these lines and how
they all work together for the benefit of the party.
Everywhere/Hallways
All around the
rooms and hallways there were posters printed by Hector which really dressed
the space and made the world believable. Also in the hallways I believe there
were a few cameras and some props used in peoples individual performances.
Ending
The Ending was the revolution
scene. In this scene dance and music was used to confuse the party members. The
use of these two styles of multimedia allowed the rebels to express themselves
and showed the audience they no longer wanted to live in a world where you
could not think for yourself. I think the ending was really powerful especially
when Yasmin stepped forward and Tahlia accepted her into her arms because it
showed the rebels were better than the party and more understanding. The use of
the bike shed was affected because it showed in a visual the oppression the
people had to go through and the ending with Rose and Stanley was really good
because they finally won against Big Brother and Obrien.
Costume
I have mentioned
some of the costume already but I would like to mention it in more detail.
Everyone really worked well so that we were all coordinated wearing dull
colours such as grey and black. The rebels were dressed scruffy whereas the
inner party members were smart and clean. The red neck collar for the anti sex league
was a nice touch and the yellow of the Ingsoc Youth drew you towards them. The
costumes really brought the characters to life for example the thought police
were all in black so you knew exactly who they were and the torturers wore a
nice black dress to lure you into a false sense of protection but they also had
blood and hand prints on them to show the audience what they were really like.
I think by all the use of multimedia the spectator got to witness lots of different atmospheres created for the purpose of the rooms and I think they were able to interact and enjoy something they probably hadn't seen before.
Punch drunk really
influenced our performance because they also use multimedia and immersive theatre
in their performances. We also took the idea of the masks from them because
they use them in every performance. The masks were very effective because they
made the audience feel hot and uncomfortable like they were suffocating which
helped them understand our theme of oppression better. Also because we were not
wearing masks it made them feel alienated because they could be identified by
just the number on their mask so they didn't feel human because they
were just a number and entering a world which was diseased. It also
enabled us to interact with them and bring them into the performance because we
were allowed to tell them off if they were not wearing their mask and we could
also call them by their number - this happened in room 101. The masks allowed
the audience the freedom to perform. Punch drunk also influenced the style of
performance because like them we produced a production that was 'focused as
much on the audience and the performance space as on the performers and
narrative.' We also got inspiration from punch drunks the drowned man
(http://www.theguardian.com/stage/audioslideshow/2014/apr/15/the-drowned-man-punchdrunk-felix-barrett-temple-studios-audio-slideshow), because like it
says in the video we want to take them to a
'parallel universe' and make them believe what is happening is real.
I think that the ushers/ year 13 actors really helped our performance because they were able to get the audience involved with our performance and direct them to the good places and the right times. Also they acted within the performance with us helping us create pieces of improvisation making it more interesting. I also think because our performance was a sight specific piece it was more effective, we were able to use the performance to create a dull, drab, depressing, institutional atmosphere. This was good because it showed the audience how awful our world was and made a big contrast between inside and outside where the revolution took place suggesting to the audience the revolution was the right thing to do.
I think the acting
was really good because we were all able to stay in character throughout the
performance even though some things did go wrong and were improvised. I think I
portrayed my character well by having an upright body language, being dressed
smartly and using my voice to show that I was in charge of the food hall. I also commented on how much I liked the party to show the audience I had
grown up influenced by Big Brother and believed everything they were saying and I called them Lady and Gentlemen, sir and Madam to show I had a high status and respected them. I
also think I did well with the improvisation because I had to make up a speech
about chocolate because nothing was happening in our room so I had to make it
interesting for the audience. I think we all did extremely well when things did
go wrong for example when Sam hit Eleanor by accident but they stayed
in character until the end of the performance. We all interacted with each
other through our character and I think there were lots of nice
scenes and I am glad that I remembered my spacing for example
when I was telling someone off I made sure I did not rush over and there
was space because every scene is a chase scene.
There were a few things that I think cold have gone better for example I believe there could have been more threading performances because the audience didn't really know where to go. Furthermore I think that we should have made more time to put up our live feed in our room because I think we could have used that in our performance well. Finally if I was to do the performance again I would make sure the soup was hot and make more material for the performance. Lots of the time we had huge gaps where nothing was happening so we should have made up more material to fill up those gaps.
The audience seemed
quite confused at times so I think we should have given them more information
about where to go because they all just followed each other. My dad also said
that he would have liked to be told where things were for example he had the hate
times but he didn't know where that was taking place so next time
we could give them more information about where things were. In addition I
think they found the story quite difficult to follow because there was lots of
shouting so we could have explained it a bit better. I think the audience all
enjoyed wearing the masks and being part of the performance as well as the
atmosphere we created for them, however I think we could have involved them
more for example in Obrien's office they could have tried on his garments, but
overall I think they enjoyed it because they stepped into a world that they
were willing
to believe in and interested in because of the multimedia
used and our believable character choices.
Finally I think the most difficult aspect of the work was pulling everything together in such a short amount of time. I did find the multimedia aspect difficult because I am not great with technology but I feel as if I know a lot more now than I did before. The devising was particularly difficult because we had lots of time to fill up and we didn't really know what to do, but when I sorted out my character I just had to think what we she do on a normal day at work and from there on we were able to make lots of small scenes.
To conclude I think
that our performance was a huge success because we were able to help the
audience join in and enjoy the suspension of disbelief. However if we were to
do the performance again I would make sure we had 4 hours because we
were lacking in some performance material but other than that I
think our performance went very well.
I think that I have achieved a merit or distinction because I have contributed to the process of the performance giving ideas and input and showing imagination to shape the multimedia performance. I think I have justified my ideas for my choices in the use of multimedia and I think I performed using multimedia and performance skills showing focus, engagement and giving my intentions across clearly to the audience.
