#sampleworktie

Tuesday 23rd October 2012

Running a vocal warm up today felt natural to me; having done a year of musical theatre at Bournemouth we warmed our voices up every day so to share the new exercises to the group was an productive. However, the rest of the day was not so productive; I feel we wasted a lot of time doing nothing due to not knowing where to begin. Working on the workshop games was helpful and gave us an idea of what to include in our workshop for the children; we do need to remember though that the games we want to include are for 8/9 year olds, not us. 

The afternoon was a major positive part of the day for Toby and I. Having created the first draft of the lyrics to the song is a great achievement. Writing lyrics was a worry for me as I never know where to start but working with Toby, it seemed to come naturally to us; we bounced off each others ideas and worked well together. The lyrics we came up with are very cheesy but I feel this will work well with the children as they will pick up the words easier and may even start to sing along. I am really happy with the result of today and really excited to start work with the lyrics; adding in music will be a challenge but after researching what children liek to listen too, it will help with the type of music to go for. 

  Always stick to the schedule; it is there for a reason, always look back to it to know what to do for the day.

This is my budget if I was to use The London Theatre in New Cross for a two week run of the show. I will be using the theatre for a week rehearsal. I would like to put on a small piece of theatre consisting of 4 actors.

Expenditure

Cost

Running Total

Notes

Fringe venue

£900

£900

Based on rental price £450 a week.http://www.thelondontheatre.com/2.html

Fringe marketing

£10

£910

Based on websitehttp://www.thelondontheatre.com/2.html

250 posters and 10,000 flyers

£128

£1038

Based on a quote from a printing websitehttp://www.instantprint.co.uk

Set construction

N/A

N/A

There will be no set within this show but more props to make the stage interesting

Props

£500

£1538

Props will be brought from local charity shops and cheap shops, I would like a lot of props to cancel out the set.

Costumes

£500

£2038

Costumes will be very low budget which can be brought in from home or brought from cheap shops.

Rehearsal space hire

£175

£2213

Based on having one rehearsal week: £25 per day.http://www.thelondontheatre.com/2.html

Van hire

£86

£2299

Based on a quote from a van hire website: £43 per day for two days.http://www.enterprise.co.uk/car_rental/deeplinkmap.do?gpbr=U1D4&bid=004&cnty=GB

Accommodation

N/A

N/A

This will not be covered by me

WAGES

      Director

£3202.95

£5501.95

Based on the TMA website for an artistic director: £640.59 a week.

Performer

£3348

£8849.95

Based on the equity’s version of the national minimum wage for an actor: £372 a week.

Administration

£299.32

£9149.27

Based on the TMA website: £21.38 per night

Contingency

£966.33

£10064.74

10% of budget

TOTAL BUDGET

£10064.74

      To earn a profit my tickets would have to cost £15 each to earn a total profit of £435.26 if I was to sell my show out each night.

£15 x 50 seats = £750

Wednesday 24th October 2012

I am really happy with how today planned out; running a workshop with Toby was something I was worried about but it ran very smoothly and we managed to get a lot from it. Whilst running the workshop I captured some videos which will be great to look back to and help with building the song. 

Stripping back the song completly and turning the lyrics into a monologue was really helpful; the song is very cheesy but if you really look into the words it sends out a strong message. Listening to John just read the lyrics was very powerful and brought the seriousness into the words; as long as we remember why we are singing the words and tell the story then our message should get across to the children.

Getting the company to perform the song in their own way also was a success as it has given Toby and I an idea on where to go with the song; it is very important to listen to ideas from our company, fresh ideas can help create new ideas. Also starting work on harmonies was really interesting and something I have not attempted to do before; even though it was hard work I felt at ease and having help from Jasmine made it a lot easier.

"Words without thoughts never to heaven go"

William shakespeare

Thursday 25th October 2012 

Running another workshop for the anti-bullying song is very benificial for Toby and I as it gives us ideas on where to go with the song and also gives us an insight on what our company would like to do with it. Also running workshops is building my confidence up within the company and I feel I am developing a bigger voice and do not feel afraid to voice my opinion. Today gave Toby and I an idea for a basic rythm for the song; having characters use props within the classroom to create this beat I feel is great idea as it will let the children get involved if they wanted to clap or stamp their feet. I also feel by creating the beat this way children will remember the song more; if they start tapping their pen in class they will remember this part in the show and the song may still be in their memory. 

"The best way to make children good is to make them happy"

Oscar Wilde

Friday 26th October 2012

First read through of script

Firstly, I think Phil did an incredible job at getting the first draft of the script ready by the deadline; this means our schedule can carry on and we are on the right track towards the piece. The first ever read through of the script was a success; I feel the company got into the story and portrayed their characters well, considering we only recieved it today. The comedy elements within the script worked really well but may not be understood by the younger audience; I don't think is something big to worry about as younger children will find other things amusing such as a character having the same name as them or if we have a funny hair style. I enjoyed reading for my character of Lucy; being a follower of the bullies rather than a main culprit gives me the choice of whether she likes to pick on people or whether she herself is mentally bullied into doing it, it gives me lots to play around with in rehearsals. I am excited to put the script onto its feet and seeing what we can create as a company to make the children enjoy it and understand it more visually. 

  Directors notes...

- Monologue at end needs to be more understanding more children.

Tuesday 30th October 2012

Having the chance to show Marc our anti-bullying song and getting feedback will help in progressing the music and lyrics. We are lucky enough to have Marc work with us on the song; having his input will help us become more confident with it and help get the message across. Just by slowing down the song should help with punching the words out and by doing this the children may be able to pick up the song easier. 

Starting working on the script today made the piece come to life; the blocking of the scenes is going well and the sooner we get it done, the sooner we can start playing with the script and finding more out about our characters. Being able to play a child is exciting and I feel it will bring a lot of fun to the rehearsals; however, one main thing to need to remember is that we are still actors and need to keep the focus and listen to the director as I feel today we took the children characters a bit too far. Something I feel I would find very benificial for myself is doing a character workshop to find out more about Lucy; as a company we have not looked into this and need to start building character relationships. 

Directors notes

- Kids acting too similar; find your own character traits.

- Got a lot done and able to access characters quickly. 

- All understood what director was trying to tell us and obviously been studying the script.

- Not as focused in scenes.

- Be clearer when talking; think about diction.

- Stopped presenting outwards and focused more towards characters. 

  Marc's notes on song

- There are a couple of catchy moments but we lose them because of song speed. Slow it down.

- Didn't digest the words; slow down to get children involved.

- Practise with a click/metronome.

- Chorus is catchy, on to something useful, can imagine children singing it back.

- Dual part harmony or unison harmony singing octive higher/lower.

- Weird journey; need to take a look at song format.   

- Felt longer that what it was; find clarity of journey to make it feel shorter.

- Rap is cool, it will make them laugh.

- Melody wise re work.

- Lose last chorus section.

- Look at drum pattern; too busy pattern.

- Find another way to build music up.

Thursday 1st November 2012

This afternoons work slacked a lot; the focus in the room was terrible which meant we did not achieve what the schedule had planned out for us. By not sticking to the schedule means we are behind with our workshop plan which worries me as we have not long left and this is something I would like polished so that the children are entertained. However, we did try out a few games which I think could have potential if we look into them more. The 'chair game' I think will get the children interested and we can turn the questions asked to relate them to bullying and being different; the only concern I have is whether we will be able to get chairs into the hall and they could be a hazzord if the children are running and diving onto them. I think to start the workshop we should have some icebreaker games to get the children comfortable with the new enviorment and will set the tone of the workshop; introducing ourselves one by one with a action which everyone repears I think will work well and get the children excited. 

  "From the start it has been the theatre's business to entertain people ... it needs no other passport than fun"

Bertolt Brecht

Monday 5th November 2012

Going from Thursday's rehersal, starting to plan a workshop has become a major priority; we really need to get into the minds of the children and work out exactly what we are doing so that they are constantly on our sides. Over the weekend I wrote out a workshop plan on what I would like to achieve and would really like to have a set plan as soon as; being a workshop leader I want to know what I am doing constantly. 

Reading through 'Closer' again I feel I am picking up words and scripts better each time I read; this is something I set myself last week, the more I read the better I will perform. However, the scene I was given to perform today I found I let myself get in the way of the character which made it awkward for me to perform within the scene; if in the professional business I was given this character I could not let this happen. I need to remember that the rehearsal room is a safe place and mistakes can happen which I will just learn from. 

"It's all right to hesitate if you then go ahead"

Bertolt Brecht