Evaluation Of Performance/Multimedia

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.