Claude's Blog

What is the skill that I used?

I had to show that I was a different kind of person from my partner. In this case you could see that my partner’s character and my character had a very different kind of life, which probably comes from the different types of lifestyles and background that our characters have. You can also see that I am in a rush and somewhat under stress. On the other hand my partner is more relaxed and seems to be in a calm state. I had to be aware of how he was acting in order to make my character’s personality believable.

How did I approach creating the character? Was it successful - if so how? 

I had to make my character believable, meaning I couldn’t make him too elaborate. I couldn’t make him peculiar because then I would have to add some sort of background to the person, which would be difficult. I think that the character was a success, because he is a normal person getting groceries, perhaps as a chore for his family, or maybe he is a cook at a restaurant, either way he needs to get them and he is in a rush. At the same time, he is not completely closed into this because he does ask for a soda, making him a more believable person, maybe he just wants something to drink on his way back home or on his way back to the restaurant.

What needed improvement? Make a suggestion?

I think that what happened could have been made more elaborate, instead of going too in depth with the characters themselves. By making the storyline more interesting, the people don’t have to be altered; this is what I think that my partner and I didn’t quite interpret that as well as it would have helped. I think that that is something to be aware of next time.

How can I use these skills in performance

I think that these are very significant factors in actual stage performances as well because I think that you need to be able to differentiate characters and their background. Overall I think that it is definitely one of the most important factors for a character in an act, So I think that this will be used when creating characters in general.

What techniques did I use to approach this skill?

We had to make it clear that there was a change. For example the one getting angry at the other can represent a higher status. The reason for the that is because the person with a higher status has the authority to get command or tell people what to do. My group and I thought that it would make sense if the person with the higher status was either relaxed or standing up in a demanding sort of way, while the people with a lower status would appear hard at work, or people like the factory worker would stay out of the way and stay off to the side.

How effective was my status and reversal of status?

At first I was more demanding and Michael was in a less powerful position to react back to me. Afterwards when we switcher the status around, Michael had many fans and seemed far more popular and wealthy than I was as a movie director. I think that we did pretty well, considering that we tried our bes to make our current status clear, whether you are shy or unsure of what to do, or scared and fearful of the other person.

How would I use this in performance?

It would be an effective way of telling people exactly who you are and how you influence the people around you and how they see you. For example in a play: I am a janitor and I am being told off by the Headmaster of a school, this shows I do not have the authority to argue back while he has the authority to get mad at me.

Q1 How did I perform?

I think that I did everything that my group and I had rehearsed for. Although I think that I did a good job on most of the performance, I know that I should have improvised when Thomas had forgotten his part. Next time I should be prepared to do that and my group and I should have worked better together. When I performed infront of the 4th graders, I was not completely sure if they would understand everything that was said. If I have another chance, I want to make sure that everything said was brief yet long enough to understand what is said. Also the narration could have been a little bit more smooth, and more people could have narrated to make it more balanced. Although I think that I did well to perform as I narrated about what was going on with the four companions.

Q2 What were some difficulties?

It was very difficult to really seem like a baby that had just came out of a very large peach. At the last moment,  my group and I had decided that I should not face the audience so that I can seem more like a baby. That was probably the decision that would have really changed how smooth everything went. It was also very difficult to make sure everyone else in my group is moving along at the same pace as I am. When our group could do this, it was very difficult to make a simple mistake. At some points we hesitated or stopped because we were unsure of what to do. This was also because of the lack of concentration when practicing.

Q3 What were some achievements?

My achievements were that I could changed characters without too much difficulty and also to be able to narrate in a smooth matter as I was one of the character in the story. I also felt like I had achieved something when the audience laughed at our group when we had done something to amuse them (Not when it was a mistake). I did not expect the children from fourth grade to laugh at what we had done.

Q4 Which group was successful and why?

I think that the Old Gwlim performance was successful. The group that did old Gwilm did not stutter or fail to say a line. They always were able to go along smoothly without many mistakes. Every actually seemed like the character they were because of how their physical and  vocal personality seemed to fit the character. I also liked how everyone in the group did not lose any concentration when performing. They stayed as their character all the way through the performance. From what I saw, none of them laughed or smiled when they were not supposed to.

Reflection

I think that mime is one of the hardest ways to perform in Drama. That is a reason why it thought that the Drama performance was a challenging thing to do. I think that it was difficult because I had to make sure that the audience understood what I was doing as if they were reading a book where it is very specific. Being clear on what we were doing was very difficult for my group. We all understood what each of us were doing, but we were not sure if the audience would understand. So that is when we changed that and made it more clear.

In the performance I think that I did a good job to stay on track and not loose concentration. Actually I think that the whole group stayed on track which made it a lot easier to concentrate. As a group, we had one weakness. We were not sure how to make the audience understand what we were doing. Often, it was difficult to make sure that our actions had consisted of enough detail to describe what we were doing. Next time I think that I would improve on how much more specific I am with my movement. Also how much more efficient I am with time so that I do not use a lot of time to describe something.

Definitions

Myth: A traditional story, esp. one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events. -Dashboard Dictionary

Legend: A traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but unauthenticated. -Dashboard dictionary

Folk story: Folklore consists of culture, including stories, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs and custom. – Google definition

Links to Mime Performance and speeches:

1 min speech:

7A Drama 1 min Speech (2011-12) from YIS Academics on Vimeo.

3 min speech:

7A Drama 3 min Speech from YIS Academics on Vimeo.

Mime performance:

7A Mimes from YIS Academics on Vimeo.

In this speech, I think that I did a good job on explaining my topic and thoroughly talking about it. I think that the last speech was a lot more easy to talk about and explain. I think that this time, the topic was a little bit more difficult to talk with ease.

My passion is to design things. Whether I design a poster on a piece of paper or even simply drawing something on a piece of paper. I have always loved to draw since I was little. Although most of the time when I do design it is on paper, I sometimes like to design things in different ways. Sometimes I make something out of wood or even LEGO blocks of my own design. I think that it is amazing all the things that you can do with your own creativity. Working hard on whatever I am designing is always worth my time. When I design something, I usually like to make some sort of pattern-like shape or even sometimes designing a structure. I hope that I can continue to do this for a long time even when I grow up. Thank you for listening.

What did I explore today?

I explored using mime to communicate and to show expression. I explored those things through today’s lesson. I also explored not making any sound in mime. By that I mean that I cannot talk in mime, I cannot make any sounds myself or with anyone else.

What did I learn?

I learned that on mime you always have to describe your objects without speaking or making any sounds. You can either show the size and weight of the object, or describe it’s shape.

How can I use this in performance?

I can use this in performance to make the performance more interesting and in depth. If I don’t describe the object well, no-one will know what object I am interacting with.

What did I know?

I knew that in mine you cannot talk or make any sounds. I also knew that you cannot use actual objects in mime.

What do I want to know?

I want to know how to describe certain objects that are hard to describe such as riding a bicycle, taking a jump off somewhere and at the same time being able to describe the length and depth of the jump. Also I want to learn more features to mime if there are any more.

This is my LAMDA video.

6A finished their first unit in Drama on improvisation. This has been a great way to start the year. Please see the details of our unit below and go to the Grade 6 page in this blog for more about assessment of the unit. Please view the videos of the our Theatre Sports Event.

Significant Concept: Responding to an external stimulus, one needs to have immediate action where there is a suspension of thought.

Guiding Question: How can I suspend habitual pondering and re-act without thinking?

Summative Task: Improv Theatre Sport
Students will engage in summative Improv Theatre Sport Event. 3 theater sport games will be chosen from 6 theater games practised during the unit. Students are divided in 3 teams. Each student has a sheet with rubric to record the minimum of 2 games joined.

Knowledge
•Be aware of dramatic instinct.
•The importance of the ensemble.

Skills
• Making an offer
• Accepting offers
• Giving the stage to others
• Move the action on (advancing)
• Creating a location

Slow Motion Commentary Group 3 from YIS Arts on Vimeo.

Space Jump 6A Group 3 from YIS Arts on Vimeo.

I think that this unit was a very fun and productive unit.