final evaluation

Final evaluation for unit 8 performance

What type of research did you do and why?

In preparation for my performance i had to research my character, the themes of the musical, the background of the musical and the era the musical was made in. I started of by creating a timeline of the growth of the musical so for example when it first came out, when the film version came out and so on. I then went on and started researching my characters Eddie and Dr Scott. When researching my characters I watched interviews where they spoke about their experiences on set and playing the roles. Also to help me with my character research I watched a live version the musical, this helped me build on my character and helped me get in to character more. For example watching the live version of Hot patootie helped me with my performance and helped me with my interaction with the rest of the cast, also helped me with my singing because i was struggling to get all my notes/keys.  Watching the live version also helped me with Dr Scott, at first i was confused about his relationship with the rest of the cast, for example with Frank i couldn’t figure out weather they hated each other or weather it was a love hate relationship because throughout the piece it kept kinda swapping, but after re watching some scenes i figured out that they didn't like each other but they had a weird relationship. I also created a timeline of the LGBT rights in Britain during the 1970’s. Other things I researched were Glam rock, sci-fi B movies, flash Gordon, king Kong and so on.

What resources, materials and techniques have you applied and why?

How have they informed the development of your work?

Over developing the show we used resources such as dance studio time so we could rehearse and devise our songs and plot scenes. Having studio time helped us with a lot of our group work. I also used links and handouts given to me by my teacher to further my research about ‘Rocky Horror’, although we have done our own research the hand outs and links helped me with the research about the time period the musical was made in and also gave me a deeper understanding of some topics linked to the musical such as LGBT. To create the narrator voice overs we used the sound studios.  The resources we used helped us create and develop the performance. Also while developing our performance we used techniques such as singing, acting, dancing and also some choreographing. Not many of us had much experience in choreographing a dance other then when we each choreographed a dance in our last project. The techniques we used formed the whole musical. To create our props and set for the performance we had to use materials such as cardboard and wood to create some of our props, we also used different types of paint to draw and design some of the props and our poster.  We used spray paint to create the monitor/machine in Franks laboratory we also used spray paint for the lazer guns and we used different colours of acrylic paint to create the poster and car.In both inside and outside of rehearsals we used backing tracks that our teacher helped us find to learn our songs. Having the backing tracks helped us with the devising process, it made it easier because we wasn’t stressing about it so we could just move on to creating choreography and move on to the scenes. Another resource we used was our scripts, getting the scripts helped us learn our lines and also dot down ideas for the other scenes and dances. Having the script also helped us inside and outside of rehearsals because we could use it to rehearse our parts without having the rest of the cast, also helped with our cues.

Which elements have been most effective?

In the performance we used many different props/set so we could further the narrative of the musical. For example in the scene were Janet sees Frank’s bedroom we used the TV monitor, this helped show the audience what was going on because if we didn't have it and Janet just reacted out of nowhere it would be confusing. In the scene where Frank and Rocky get married magenta brings on a vale for Frank to wear and a bouquet of flowers for Rocky, this was effective because although we had Riff Raff act as a pop the props helped the audience understand what was going on but also gave it that hint of humour.

Another prop that was effective is the laser used in the death scene because although e had sound effects without the lazer or some sort of gun the scene wouldn’t have made sense.

The care in the first scene was effective because it started off the performance and if we didn't have the car the scene would have been difficult to do, as the only way the audience would know that Brad and Janet were in a car would be from the lines they were saying. In Hot Patootie Frank used a chainsaw while chasing Eddie around the stage, this made the scene/song humerus and also moved the narrative on. The wheelchair i used for Dr Scott was effective because it created levels between the cast.

In the scenes where Frank, Janet and Brad are in Frank’s bedroom the use of the screens and lighting was effective because it draws the audience's attention and was also funny because although you couldn't see them there movements were emphasised by the lighting.The phantoms standing at either side of the curtains helped with the narrative and it was also effective because it helped show a door.

How have your skills developed during the project?

At the start of the year I lacked confidence, but as the year has gone on I've managed to build on my confidence.  In first few performances at the start of the year I would tend to avoid eye contact with the audience, I would hardly face them, I also didn't sing up at all my confidence was very low. As the year went on I started to project more and build on my eye contact with the audience, for example when I performed my 20 minute solo set in my BTEC certificate it was the first time i managed to sing to an audience without bottling it, I projected and faced the audience for the majority of my performance.  I struggle a lot with remembering my notes/keys because due to personal reasons I can’t rehearse at home so I rely a lot on the time I have to rehearse in college. For ‘rocky horror’ I had two songs that I had to sing ‘Hot patootie’ and ‘Eddie's teddy’ while singing the songs my confidence dropped a lot because I kept losing my notes, to prepare for the show and make sure my confidence doesn't drop me and my singing teacher tried to rehearse the songs everyday. A skill that I have managed to develop is choreographing a dance, in our previous project I choreographed a dance with one of my classmates (rina) that was my first time choreographing a piece. I used the knowledge I learned from the previous project on choreographing to then choreograph ‘sword of Damocles.’ when I started the year I had no dance technique at all, i’d never taken a dance class, but as the year went on i started building on my technique. Although I struggled a lot with coordination due to my dyspraxia I managed slowly improve on my coordination in my ballet and jazz lessons. A few months ago I wouldn't have been able to do the dances that we done in ‘Rocky Horror’, but with practice in the dance lessons I managed to get through all the sets and my coordination didn't fail me. Although I had experience in acting I hadn't performed an acting piece to an actually audience as the year has developed I've built on my stage presence and my diction while acting and using a different accent.

How did you collaborate with others in developing your project?

To create a musical I had to work with not only my classmates but also the technical team.  Me and my classmates had several meetings with Adam from the tech team, so we could discuss the different props we wanted and some costume that the college's department could provide for us. We also collaborated with our teachers so they could help us perfect the dances and help us with our songs also. We collaborated with each other to create dances and to work out what hair and makeup would suit each character.

How did the performance of others impact on the progress of your project?

As we were a team and each had a key role to play when one of us was missing at a rehearsal it was a little hard to work on the project because we had to either miss the person missing parts or had to fill in. Also while devising or creating a dance if someone was missing it would make everything 10x harder because we would have to choreograph it without  them then slot them into the dance. But as a class we decided to create pieces of paper with everyone's name on it so mat least if they were not in we could just plot their spacing making it a little easier to work around it. another thing that impacted the progress of the project was people not knowing there lines or cue, this made the process of devising go slower because we were constantly stopping.  

How successful do you think your performance piece was overall? What were the strengths and weaknesses of the final presentations on stage?

Over all i think the performance went well but I think as a group our energy levels were not the highest that they could have been. Reflecting on my performance I know I could have done better then I did but due to confidence I bottled it quite a bit. A strength of the performance was we managed to achieve a good response from our audiences and all work around some slip ups while performing. For example during the scene where I come on as  Dr Scot comes in I got caught in the blanket with my wheelchair and i was struggling to move, but when the song ‘Eddie’s teddy came on Brad helped me move to Myspace and made it seem natural. Although I got caught and it made the scene messy as a group we worked around it and carried on like nothing had happened. Another example is in the song ‘time warp’ Colombia forgot about her tap solo and Riff Raff came in to early for the chorus but neither of them came out of character and we all continued with the dance without letting it affect our performance. These examples where strengths because as a group it showed professionalism. One weakness of the piece was definitely our energy, because when our energy was not on point we didn’t sound good and it also bored the audience.  

Do you intend to change the way you do anything in future projects? If so why? What have you learned?

One  thing I would change in the future is my stage presence, although it was okay, I feel like it could have been better while I was singing. I am also going to take time to build on my confidence more so that in future performances I don't end up bottling it. Another thing I want to work on is not coming out of character if things mess up or don't go exactly to plan  while on stage.

How does this link to your goals for progression?

Auditioning for the roles gave me experience for the future, it will help me progress with learning a song and a monologue in short a short amount of time. Also the auditioning process helped me learn to have thicker skin.

What did you contribute to  the collaboration process?

One thing I contributed is choreography and spacing for  ‘sword of Damocles’. To create the choreography i used the live version and watch the film version also so i could gather ideas. As I wasn't in the dance i could watch them perform the dance and change and adjust some parts to make it cleaner and better.

Also when we were backstage sorting out everyone's costume i make piece of paper with everyone’s names on them and all there costume and props on the back of it so no stress would happen on the day of the show and we would know if anything was missing.

I also helped out with what everyone was going to wear for different characters, for example for the phantoms me and nehemie though that we should wear all black and also have some sort of cover for our faces and also for Ella character Frank I suggested she should wear a leotard with fishnets tights.

I also took responsibility over my characters hair and make up, I had to ask some of the girls for bits and bobs like bandannas and chains for Eddie. My make up was very simplistic because I played the role of a male, i went for the natural and plan look and for the majority of the performance my hair was in a low ponytail except for Eddie my hair was down.

What different skills did you draw on and  how did you use them?

One skill I found useful was my listening skills while singing as a group, I had to listen to the other hormones and also listen to who was on the same harmony as me so i wouldn't lose my note. Other skills i drew on where my choreographing for sword of Damocles. While performing I had to keep my focus on point so that I could stay in time with everyone but also look and the audience. While in rehearsals i was mainly focused on doing the steps in the song rather then performing the dance.

How did your skills developed as a result of this  work?

My ears have developed a lot, I am able to listen to songs and hear all the different notes whereas before this experience I struggled a lot with hearing notes. Another skill that I have developed is patience while creating and devising a performance with multiple people in a short amount of time. I have also gained knowledge about performing and put a musical on but also about a different time before me.

What was your additional role and how did it contribute to the overall success of  the final show?

Creating choreography for sword of Damocles was one of my main additional roles, the time and effort put in creating this song was definitely portrayed on stage in the final performance. When watching the final performance i think the adjustments made to the choreography were a good choice. On show week I helped out with organising costumes and props for the show. I also helped keep everything in tacked so nothing would get lost before performing. For example I made labels for props and piece of paper with everyone's names on them and all there costume, when it came time to perform this helped everyone gather there bits and not worry about having to find things in costume change.

How successful do you think the show was overall as a collaborative performance? What was the reaction of the audience?

Overall I think the performance went well. I think that as a whole our confidence was much better in our second performance when the audience was our families, because we had performed it already before, our nerves were not as high and we all knew what we were doing. When performing we all had our cues set and we sustained the relationships between all the characters.  As a collaboration piece i think it went well we all worked hard and gave it our all,. we were supportive to one another and helped each other get through both performances.

In some of our songs backing vocals/ harmonies dropped a little at times due to either faffing backstage or not being loud enough. For example in science fiction everyone other then the usherette was back staging getting ready to go on stage so some of the backing vocals were missed, and in damn it Janet we were all doing the backing vocals but not loud enough. Also the main singing wasn’t always as projected as it could have been due to nerves and things.

Personal i think my performance was better in the second one because I wasn't as nervous and also when I sang my solos i was more confident.

What was the audience reaction?

In our first performance the audience was fellow students and some teachers. As it was our first performance our nerves were high and our confidence was a little shaky. In this performance the audience found it humorous and seemed entertained from the piece. Their reaction was positive and a few came up to us after saying it was really good and enjoyable to watch.

In our second performance our audience was friends and family, in this one we weren't as nervous we were more worried about how our  parents would react to some scenes and our costume. Although in this performance there wasn't as many laughs from the audience we got a few here and there. But when we all spoke to our parents afterwards they said they enjoyed it and were proud of us but of course it is a little awkward to watch especially when it is your daughters on stage.

Overall both audience reaction were positive and both audiences seemed to enjoy it in different ways.

What did you learn from the experience and how will you use it in future?

I have experienced playing the role of a male and adapting it so I am comfortable while performing this character. Playing the role of a male lead me to have to use a lower tone and lower range while singing, in the future this skill can help me to play other characters who are male if needed to.i have also learned how to adapt and cover mistakes and also how to keep a narrative going. Another thing is the different relationships with different characters on stage. This will help me in the future because I will know how to change the way I am acting towards a range of different characters.