Steph and Butoh

May 29, 2011

Today my mother just died.””

January 8, 2011 by Stephanie Danielle

I decided that in order to treat her with respect I to focus on the fact that she is a failure of a mother. And in order for her to treat mr with respect, I must be one of her investments. I may be quite a failure now but if I look at myself as an investment and the huge amount of debt I have to return her, then I will work harder. It’s damn childish la. But she just refuses to talk to me as her daughter and I refuse to talk to her with lies as a daughter. She is so used to pretty lies…

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D-Day.

September 30, 2009 by Stephanie Danielle

I could not update the blog because I was busy updating the  CC. Everything is in there now. However, I still feel that it was not good enough even though I spent 3 nights on the final draft because I did not convey my whole performance properly. I think my concept was clear….enough but I just could not put my movement into words because I was moving according to emotion and it was hard putting it in prose.

I am really glad that I knew what I wanted and had a strong base (concept and vision) because at the end of the day, that was what saved me. Even though I had almost half of my script worth of sounds missing due to MAJOR technical glitches, I could do last minute recordings because I knew the important phrases that I wanted the audiences to catch. (other than the inheritance part which is quite long so I really had no time to add it back in) Furthermore, I knew what to say during the viva because I internalised the CC in the 3 nights full of editing and the clear idea/direction of the concept from the beginning.

(Lessons learnt: Have a very very very very GOOD FOUNDATION, concept is key!)

I had my lightings done and rehearsed way before hand but the sound completely confused my first performance. Furthermore, sound is one of my chosen skills, so my performance was completely screwed. However, through the support of my peers and the precious second chance that the examiners so kindly gave, my second performance was a success. There were a lot of missing sounds still, due to lack of time, and my technique was still not good but the performance intention was conveyed well enough.

VIVA:

Don’t refer to teacher’s comments.

Don’t spoil the FORMAL act.

Don’t repeat what the examiner says.

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Script changes again. Added lights.

September 20, 2009 by Stephanie Danielle

Scene

Intended Emotion, Image/Story/Event

Effect leading to Directorial Vision

1

Happiness, peace of the womb. Image of mother singing and playing a lullaby.

Intimate effect, Show the love parents felt while seeing the ultrascan as a reason against female infanticide.

2

Sadness and confusion due to the parent’s dreams of the fetus as a boy leading to frustration. Changes to happy when the father speaks in the news in contrast to the helplessness when the parents quarrel.

Show the mindset/ preference of the male gender to identify with the target audience. Remind them how the fetus felt when they thought of such things. And show them how their law says one thing but they believe in another.

3

Fear and anguish of the pain the fetus suffers from abortion.

Show the atrocities of abortion. So that they would be appalled at the grotesque pain a fetus goes through.

4

Pain – Depression due to Post Abortion Syndrome.

Show the after effects. Show restriction and pain because there’s nothing the mother can do to save the fetus.

Scene 1 (3mins)

Spotlight on fetus. Intimate effect of the womb, seen in ultrasound scans. Light yellow light for a warm effect.

The sound of a happy heartbeat is followed by the sound of waves. All subsequent sounds are muffled to create an “under water” effect.

Then, there is a voice humming the song “As the Deer”.

 

Followed by sounds of the piano playing “As the deer”.

Both parents: You are going to be the greatest.

fade.

Scene 2 (4 mins)

side lights come on to emphasize movement. White light to reflect the cold atmosphere.

Mother: This little dress is so cute! I wanna-

Father: Pei, Pei, Pei! Touch wood! What if we really get a girl haha.

Sad heartbeat.

Proceed to sounds of actual racing cars. Then a soccer match. Then a basketball match.

Father: He shoots, he scores! (echoes, repeats)

Newscaster: Let’s hear what he has to say about the 60 million missing woman in Asia.

Happy heartbeat.

Father: The figures are appalling. The west must have exaggerated them. However, we must not even give them a chance to exaggerate and laugh at us. We must not be seen as murderers because of gender. My wife is a woman and I thank god and her parents for bringing her into this world. For some of you who cannot afford more than one child, I say I am with you. I will also only have one child and not be a murderer.

Sound of news fades off.

Father: Did you like it?

The heartbeat quickens as it starts to turn to a worried one.

Mother: Yes. Which is why….I have to say….she’s a girl.

(Beat)

Father: Are you sure?…..Get rid of it. (softly)

Mother: What

Heartbeat starts to quicken.

Father: I said we have to get rid of it!

Mother: IT?

Violent heartbeat.

Father: You heard what I told them! I will only have one child. Do you want that only child to be a girl? What will happen to all our wealth? Who will inherit it? Outsiders!

Mother: No she is mine!

Father: Get rid of it!

Mother: No! she is mine!

Father: Get rid of it!

Mother: no! She is mine!

Father: Get rid of it!

Mother: No! she is mine!

Father: I don’t care. You don’t have a say in this.

Scene 3 (2 min)

Red cyclorama lights turn on. Sounds of the mother weeping and the clanging of the doctor’s metal equipment. Then sounds of the abortion taking place. On stage, the fetus is struggling. A scream is heard. Heartbeat stops. Lights fade off quickly.

Scene 4 (1 min)

Ellipsoidal side lights turn on, directly opposite each other, showing dissembled body parts. Red back light shone on mother who is hung in a crucifix position by 2 white cloths attached to her wrist. She cries in agony as sounds of the news come on.

Father: My wife is a woman…..We must not be seen as murderers because of gender.

Newscaster: 60 million missing woman in Asia.

Sound echoes as mother lets out her last scream.

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SLOW! NOT SHOW!

September 17, 2009 by Stephanie Danielle

I decided to change the first scene from the hopes and aspirations the parents have for the child to the love they have.

Reasons:

1. Their hopes and aspirations would be seen from a perspective that their child is a male. So it is already elaborated in that in the second scene.

2. I want to show parent’s essential love for their child. And how the fetus can already appreciate it. After seeing so many videos on parents deciding not to abort or send their child to an orphanage, I realise that it is hard for parents to see a lot of potential for their baby girl due to mindset. However, if I remind parents of their love for their child and how much they would want to protect their child because of that love, they would see that they are killing a baby they love and want to protect. Ultrasound scans show the baby playing and appreciating the mother’s voice already.

To show this, I would be using “As the deer”. This song is a song that my parents always sang to me when I was young. It will stop me from crying and sometimes make me forget that I am in pain. It is a song that reminds me of their love for me. Through the song being played, I would better picture the love my parents have for me and better show the appreciation of the fetus to her parent’s love. I hope that through the huming and playing of the piano of this song that the parents are reminded of their love for their child and remember their child’s ability to appreciate it. i.e. their love is reciprocrated. The voice is the sound of the mother huming her love to her child while the piano is played by the dad telling his love through an instrument instead of using his voice to tell.

Showcase today: Happy heartbeat for 1st scene because normal hearbeat seems to build tension and audience felt that an impending disaster was about to happen.

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Principles while creating the Butoh piece

September 11, 2009 by Stephanie Danielle

Points I learnt from reading and showcases:

Crooked line of action.

Back bent.

Joints have to be used as much as possible, especially fingers.

Intense movement.

Grotesquely, insanely, intense expression.

Image –> Emotion –> Form

NEVER EVER SHOW IMAGE. MOVE WITH EMOTION!!!!

Expression must be super intense!!!

SLOW SLOW SLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Drastic Change to script

September 11, 2009 by Stephanie Danielle

Each scene would be on one emotion.

Scene

Intended Emotion, Image/Story/Event

Effect leading to Directorial Vision

1

Hopeful happiness as well as burden given by parent’s dreams before they found out about her gender.

Show the potential the parents saw in the fetus as a reason against female infanticide.

2

Sadness and confusion due to the parent’s dreams of the fetus as a boy leading to frustration.

Show the mindset/ preference of the male gender to identify with the target audience.

3

Fear and anguish of the pain the fetus suffers from abortion.

Show the atrocities of abortion.

4

Pain – Depression due to Post Abortion Syndrome.

Show the after effects.

The third scene of the previous script has been taken out to facilitate development of other scenes and to show less of the story and more of emotion of the story.

Scene 1 (3mins)

Spotlight on fetus.

The sound of a normal heartbeat is followed by the sound of waves. All subsequent sounds are muffled to create an “under water” effect.

Then, there is a voice humming the song “As the Deer”.

Sounds of the couple in joy and baby toys. Spotlight enlarges.

Father: Spelling 10/10

Mother: Straight As!

Sounds of the Oscar award ceremony. Followed by sounds of the piano playing “As the deer”. Sounds of a Wedding ceremony.

Both parents: You are going to be the greatest.

Scene 2 (2 mins)

Mother: This little dress is so cute! I wanna-

Father: Choi ah! Wait really get a girl how?

Sounds of toy cars racing.

Father: This is better.

Proceed to sounds of actual racing cars. Then a soccer match. Then a basketball match.

Father: He shoots, he scores! (echoes, repeats)

Scene 3 (3 min)

A happy heartbeat is heard as the sound of the news fades on.

Newscaster: Let’s hear what he has to say about the 60 million missing woman in Asia.

Father: The figures are appalling. The west must have exaggerated them. However, we must not even give them a chance to exaggerate and laugh at us. We must not be seen as murderers because of gender. My wife is a woman and I thank god and her parents for bringing her into this world. For some of you who cannot afford more than one child, I say I am with you. I will also only have one child and not be a murderer.

Sound of news fades off.

Father: Did you like it?

The heartbeat quickens as it starts to turn to a worried one.

Mother: Yes. Which is why….I have to say….she’s a girl.

(Beat)

Father: Are you sure?…..Get rid of it. (softly)

Mother: What

Heartbeat starts to quicken.

Father: I said we have to get rid of it!

Mother: IT?

Violent heartbeat.

Father: You heard what I told them! I will only have one child. Do you want that only child to be a girl? What will happen to all our wealth? Who will inherit it? Outsiders!

Mother: No she is mine!

Father: Get rid of it!

Mother: No! she is mine!

Father: Get rid of it!

Mother: no! She is mine!

Father: Get rid of it!

Mother: No! she is mine!

Father: I don’t care. You don’t have a say in this.

Scene 5 (2 min)

Sounds of the mother weeping and the clanging of the doctor’s metal equipment. Then sounds of the abortion taking place. On stage, the fetus is struggling. A scream is heard. Heartbeat stops. Lights fade off quickly. Ellipsoidal side lights turn on, directly opposite each other, showing dissembled body parts. Red back light shone on mother who is hung in a crucifix position by 2 white cloths attached to her wrist. She cries in agony as sounds of the news come on.

Father: My wife is a woman…..We must not be seen as murderers because of gender.

Newscaster: 60 million missing woman in Asia.

Sound echoes as mother lets out her last scream.

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Working Script

August 31, 2009 by Stephanie Danielle

Scene 1 (3mins)

Spotlight on fetus.

The sound of a normal heartbeat is followed by the sound of waves. All subsequent sounds are muffled to create an “under water” effect.

Then, there is a voice humming the song “As the Deer”.

Mother: I’m pregnant!

Sounds of the couple in joy and baby toys. Spotlight enlarges.

Father: Spelling 10/10

Mother: Straight As!

Sounds of the Oscar award ceremony. Followed by sounds of the piano playing “As the deer”. Sounds of a Wedding ceremony.

Both parents: You are going to be the greatest.

Scene 2 (2 mins)

Mother: This little dress is so cute! I wanna-

Father: Choi ah! Wait really get a girl how?

Sounds of toy cars racing.

Father: This is better.

Proceed to sounds of actual racing cars. Then a soccer match. Then a basketball match.

Father: He shoots, he scores!

Scene 3 (2 mins)

Sounds of children playing catching in the playground. On stage, a few white dresses appear as the lights come on them. They are hung by red threads. The fetus plays with them but realizes that they do not have a body like her. As this is happening, the heartbeat transits from normal to happy to worried. After asking why, the dresses swoop up showing the graves/alters they were hiding behind them. Minor key on a Japanese string instrument is struck. The heartbeat quickens with fear and there is a sound of the mother taking a deep breath as if she just woke up from a nightmare. Simultaneously, the fetus moves back to her original position, as the lights on the graves/alters part of the stage fade off quickly.

Scene 4 (1 min)

A happy heartbeat is heard as the sound of the news fades on.

Newscaster: Let’s hear what he has to say about the 60 million missing woman in Asia.

Father: The figures are appalling. The west must have exaggerated them. However, we must not even give them a chance to exaggerate and laugh at us. We must not be seen as murderers because of gender. My wife is a woman and I thank god and her parents for bringing her into this world. For some of you who cannot afford more than one child, I say I am with you. I will also only have one child and not be a murderer.

Sound of news fades off.

Father: Did you like it?

The heartbeat quickens as it starts to turn to a worried one.

Mother: Yes. Which is why….I have to say….she’s a girl.

(Beat)

Father: Are you sure?…..Get rid of it. (softly)

Mother: What

Heartbeat starts to quicken.

Father: I said we have to get rid of it!

Mother: IT?

Violent heartbeat.

Father: You heard what I told them! I will only have one child. Do you want that only child to be a girl? What will happen to all our wealth? Who will inherit it? Outsiders!

Mother: No she is my baby!

Father: I don’t care. You don’t have a say in this.

Scene 5 (2 mins)

Sounds of the mother weeping and the clanging of the doctor’s metal equipment. Then sounds of the abortion taking place. On stage, the fetus is struggling. A scream is heard. Heartbeat stops. Lights fade off quickly. Ellipsoidal side lights turn on, directly opposite each other, showing dissembled body parts. Red back light shone on mother who is hung in a crucifix position by 2 white cloths attached to her wrist. She cries in agony as sounds of the news come on.

Father: My wife is a woman…..We must not be seen as murderers because of gender.

Newscaster: 60 million missing woman in Asia.

Sound echoes as mother lets out her last scream.

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CC draft 2

August 30, 2009 by Stephanie Danielle

“Not thinking, only soul” – Kazuo Ohno

Critical Commentary (IS2)

Directorial Vision

I want to show that parents should not abort just because their child is a girl.  I would do this through the perspective of a fetus that would eventually be aborted. The performance would be episodic, each scene highlighting the significant moments of the fetus’s life, showing my argument towards why a Chinese parent in China would subscribe to female infanticide and why they should not.

To do this, I chose Butoh movement and sound as my skills. Butoh to me, is a type of movement that shows dimensions of the world we do not see. It does not rely on form and therefore does not restrict the emotions I want to portray. The fetus comes into the world, pure and bare, devoid of sin. Her perspective gives new dimension to the world. Butoh movement would effectively recreate the (reactions to her surrounding sounds) thoughts of the fetus in the mother’s womb as thoughts and emotions of the fetus’s different dimension are not restricted by the modern day forms we usually see. Realistic snippets of sound is used effectively as an element to display the fetus’s story, so that audiences better relate to the fetus through the understanding of the real-life events that happened. The interactions of sound and movement show the audience the facts we see and the effects we do not see through movement to support my argument.

In this, I hope to remind my target audience, Chinese parents-to-be, the hope and potential their daughter presents; and to show them how mindsets are just stupid excuses for abortion compared to the potential in the baby girl.

Performance Theory

Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno were the founding fathers of Butoh. The first butoh piece was in 1959, done by Hijikata.[5] The grotesque Butoh appeared first in Japan as a reaction to the atrocities seen in the second world war and the student riots there. It also appeared as a reaction against the contemporary dance scene in Japan, which Hijikata felt was based on imitating the West and Noh and was too superficial. Ironically, Butoh had to take elements of Kabuki and Noh theatre( the white bodies and slow movement) as the subversion by Butoh then, was shunned. Butoh also took elements of German expressionism (focusing the performance mindscapes, having episodic scenes) as the founders learnt dance in Germany too.[7] This shows that Butoh is still evolving. It is even said that each performer brings a new version of Butoh.  I would present my own take on Butoh and the topic I am discussing in an episodic form, depicting the emotions of the fetus.

Ohno only began developing it in 1960. Kazuo Ohno focused more on individual performance rather than group and focused on more emotion driven methods of conceiving a piece- the emotion derived from an image is put into form. Hijikata uses methods that need more strategies and techniques to put the imaginations into the nervous system and methods which contribute to group performance- form is created through very coordinated group movements to evoke the emotions of the image. Hijikata believes in form first rather than emotion, saying, “Life catches up with form.” This caused the trend towards form that is apparent in several Japanese dance groups, who merely recycle Hijikata’s shapes and present butoh that is mere body-shapes and choreography (Viala 100): which would lead butoh closer to Contemporary Dance or Performance Art than anything else. A good example of this is Torifune Butoh-sha’s recent works. [8]

Therefore, I would follow Kazuo Ohno instead of the popular Hijikata method. To me, Kazuo Ohno presents a more intimate Butoh (spotting even personal topics like his experiences with his mother)[10] and his emotion driven, individual methods give me more space for creative expression rather than a choreographed product of a group – where the performance is a result of compromises of each member because of the different perspectives. Furthermore, I want to create a piece focused on the fetus reactions and movements not a group performance.

For Kazuo Ohno, the body is “being moved,” from an internal or an external source, rather than consciously moving a body part. A certain element of “control vs. uncontrol” is present through many of the exercises[1].Butoh is a certain state of mind or feeling that influences the body directly or indirectly. As Ohno puts it, “Form comes of itself, only in so far as there is a spiritual content to begin with”[2]. Therefore, I would not use mirrors to choreograph. I would release my inhibitions and perform based on the emotions of the fetus. Digging deep into the depths of my heart to present the extremes of emotions I have for the images the fetus sees through what she hears. This would present the emotions of the fetus as well as the intensity of Butoh.

Butoh can be a state when a person becomes someone or something else and expresses an abstract idea or image based on that perspective. For example, take the studying of a rooster. “The idea was to push out all of the human inside and let the bird take its place. You may start by imitating, but imitation is not your final goal; when you believe you are thinking completely like a chicken you have succeeded.” The important thing with this is not the transformation into a chicken, but the transformation itself, the fact that you change. Only in this way you can bring the body back to its original state – as Hijikata puts it. [6] Kazuo Ohno however, does this by asking his students to do the exact opposite of what they are doing in these exercises as a subversion of what they normally see and think the image is, to show a different perspective from the one the world shows us.[4] Therefore, I will not imitate first like Hijikata says. I would move according to the emotions of the fetus and try different shapes to show the same emotion instead of following the form that immediately comes to mind.

Lastly, from my observations of Butoh performances and Kazuo Ohno’s work, I realize the extent to which they contort their bodies, especially their back. Some contort their back to make it flow through the almost impossible flexibility of their spine[9] but most just use hunchbacks and bound movement to create contortion. Every other joint in the body is also bent as much as possible to give the grotesque, contorted image of Butoh. For Kazuo Ohno, he might not always contort his back but he always bends his elbows and fingers. [10] Expressions are extreme with as much intensity as their slow movements. Sometimes, they would have faster movements but it is mostly slow.[10] Therefore, I would really have to train my back and stomach muscle and try my best to bend every single joint in my body while doing movements based on intense feelings. Their expression and movement is further intensified with the white powder on bodies and mostly all white costumes they adopt in a usually dark coloured background. Therefore, the black box would be perfect for a performance space and a proscenium seated audience would be viewing the show so that the space around most of the sides of the performances is black. This would then be in contrast to the white powder I would be using for my body and white clothes.

Evaluation

I first got inspiration from looking at the exhibition at Singapore Arts Museum on Female infanticide. One piece that really captured my attention was in a Blackbox living room with little white dresses that hung midair, giving a ghostly effect. Red threads were hung and at the bottom was statistics of female infanticide in China. I later researched more on this topic and found that it was not only in China. Female infanticide is prevalent in the whole of Asia. However, different countries have different reasons to which why they practice it.

Even though it is illegal to do so and China appears to be against it, law cannot change mindsets. Furthermore, China’s One Child policy makes it inherent for family’s to have a baby boy in order to have a male heir and to have children supporting them in old age rather than being married off to another family in the case of daughters. Therefore, through my performance I would show the hypocrisy of China and the traditions/ways of life that keeps Chinese from changing their mindset. By identifying with them, I open a door to their hearts to tell them why they should not follow the crowd. I would help them recognize their child’s potential and cruel nature of abortion towards mother and child as reasons that rule out the possibilities of female infanticide no matter what the circumstance.

I initially wanted to use Shinonme Butoh on the more optimistic moments of the but I could not find enough resources on how they formulate their piece and what conventions they adhere to. Furthermore, they have only done 3 pieces and their website is quite outdated. Therefore, I could not gain enough foundation theory of it to use it.

I used emotion themed scenes as Butoh is not only dependant on imagination but largely on emotion as well.

Blibliography

  1. Maureen Freehill. Interview from Oregon literary review: What is Butoh? Online. 16 July 2009

<http://maureenfreehill.blogspot.com/2009/07/interview-from-oregon-literary-review.html>

  1. Ohno, Kazuo and Yoshito Ohno. Kazuo Ohno’s World from Without and Within. Trans. John Barrett. Middletown: Wesleyan U P, 2004. (Online excerpt)
  2. What is Shinonme Butoh? Shinonme Butoh, 2002. Online.

<http://www.shinonomebutoh.com>

  1. Sondra Horton Fraleigh. Dancing into Darkness: Butoh, Zen and Japan. University of Pittsburg Press, 1999.
  2. Dan Herman. What is Butoh? Online. 10 March 2003.

<http://www.butoh.net/define.html>

  1. Buto Dance of Darkness. Neo Zen Dinamico, 2009. Online. 30 June 2009.

<http://www.zen-neozen.eu/Theatre/Theatre%20bu-to.htm>

  1. Mathew Romantini. 10 Questions. Online. 21 July 2007.

<http://theatreisterritory.com/tag/matthew-romantini/>

  1. Coelho, Abel. A Compilation of Butoh Exercises. Honolulu: U H Dept. of Theatre and Dance 2008 (Online excerpt)
  2. Vanessa Skantze. Blood Remembers, Skin Yearns. Online video. 27 April 2008.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2RJ9JCDakQ>

  1. Kazuo Ohno. Dance of Darkness Ohno or “Ono” Excerpt Online Video. 10 May 2008.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gqukIxf8oM&NR=1>

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CC guidelines

August 30, 2009 by Stephanie Danielle

Things to note:

Formatting conditions: WR – SI, GI, AE, bliblio

Theatrical performance space?

Episodic/narrative.

JUSTIFY!

I

1st point of DV: Performance Intention: What you intend to show in the piece should be related to the audience reception. BE clear of the vision. Statement must have a strong stand – should have the word “should”.

Female infanticide should not exist.

Expectation of working text: Overview of piece in each scene. Not more than 5 big ones. Give leeway for pauses, pacing and movement of props.

2nd point of DV:  Why and how you use the skills to contribute to the overall concept and DV. Make sure that all your scenes’ objectives contribute to the DV.

600 words.

II

1st point

Historical and contextual knowledge of tradition: Find definite moment in time that created the tradition. Founders, why and when it came about. – H5W. Link these to the intentions of your piece. Use the reason the

Performance theory:  Methods used, application of theatre tradition, useful exercises you took from the theatre practitioner.

600 words

III

Comments from audience: Did your audience get your intentions through the structure, skills used, etc. Why it did/did not work.

How did you change based on comments?

Highlight significant creative choices

Vision, What I did, how I did (changes), Audience perception (scene by scene, what worked/did not), How you changed it and how it helped, AFI if you have had more resources and time and why it will make it better.

Principles/aspect of sound design, butoh.

800 words

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Starting point.

July 22, 2009 by Stephanie Danielle

DV: Women should be compelled to abort just because of their baby’s female gender.

Audience: Asians

Skills:  Sound, movement (Shinonme Butoh, Kazuo ohno), maybe lights.

Story: About a female fetus’ thoughts and growth till abortion.

Research:

Sites on these issues state that there are 60 million “missing women” in asia possibly largely due to infantcide.  Estimates say China will reach there in about 10 years.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5953508

http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/5250

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,281722,00.html

http://www.enotes.com/genocide-encyclopedia/female-infanticide-fetal-murder

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Infanticide

http://brokendreams.wordpress.com/category/female-infanticide/

Major changes that cannot be made.

August 16, 2009

I was really nervous about the showcase to the seniors but they were surprisingly impressed by the concept. Not that it was fantastic, but they liked it! However, I realised that due to the lack of foundation and research done by the group, a lot of concepts were not put into place and it is too late to change them. If we had more time I am sure we would have made the requirements. As of today, scene 4 is the only one without any changes or complaints. It was too bad we reached the point of realisation only then. Actually, our whole group wanted the sounds to be similar to that of Romeo and scene 4. But we did not know where to find or create that type of sound. In fact, it was only when Rui shan stumbled upon the bipolar track did we get the sound we wanted.

If we had had more time to research or knew where to find sources, we would have built a better foundation. But we had to dive into the movements too early. Miss Norzian pushed for a good foundation (every decision and move with justification) from the beginning but I guess we just wanted to get things done quickly, with our own movements and our favourite songs for our own story.

Things that could not totally be changed: Sound choices (especially scene 1), movement vocabulary, character air time (due to nature of our story. However, we did let each character have his/her moments in the play)

However, I felt that although we could not always reach an equillibrium with our 2 skills, we did effectively brought out the emotions and message of our piece to the audience. In addition, we made a good decision to weave each scene together to create one storyline instead of the usual, episodic and sometimes confusing expressionistic plot. This way, the 15-16 year olds we are targeting would understand the play better.

Major Change!

August 8, 2009

Due to comments from the last showcase, we had to change our script. Each scene now is directed to the theme of a choice of identity. All the characters get to have their moments but we still don’t have the “airtime” requirement covered. It is hard to have everyone’s story spread out evenly in 20 minutes without losing focus.

So here are the changes:

Scene 1- A 45sec build up for the father’s character using the interludes of Plastic Flower. Choice of identity shown in father’s character.

Scene 2 – The original scene 2 and 3 combined to give Hamid and Chen Xing more air time and to show the theme of identity because of the choice the protagonist has to make between the nerd and the friend.

Scene 3- Original scene 4, shows how the sibling is forsaking her identity because of her father and how she is beeing hurt in the process.

Scene 4 – Original scene 5, protagonist sees in her sister, the identity she could become and runs away from it.

Scene 5- All identities come on stage where the protagonist has to choose the identity she wants.

We will also be using sound and lights as our skill instead of multimedia. However, we will still have the video to support our piece. The screen would be hanged further in front so that it would not be distracting.

We have scene 5 left to choreograph after today’s rehearsal!

Update: Original notes from meeting this week:

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Scene 1

  • Basically the same movements
  • Changes include: Sibling will be in the scene all the time. This scene causes her illness to seep in. Audience can see moments of insanity.
  • Father tries to parent children, they do not listen.

Scene 2

  • Child, Friend 1 & 2, Father watching at the sidelines (with intention to help again)
  • Friend 1 & 2 presents a choice to Child, differing routes to follow.
  • Friend 1 & 2 affects each other at the same time in their endeavour to influence Child.
  • “Pitching” their ideals to Child, Child is affected, wants to choose but don’t know how.

Scene 3

  • Parent and Sibling scene.
  • Parent gives up on giving them a choice, asserts his.
  • Parent’s violent behaviour causes her to be fully psycho.

Scene 4

  • Child & Sibling interaction.(same movement)
  • This scene shows the Child what she could become.
  • Child runs away from this “choice”.

Scene 5

  • End result.
  • Child will make a choice in this scene.
  • This scene shows how Identity is based upon how one ultimately makes a decision, in between external factors. (How others affect you à DV) It is more of an internal struggle than an external one.

Blog entry 4d (reflection)

July 26, 2009

Costume I admit was not good at all. But it was the cheapest way. T-shirts and fabric paint with stickers. Simplistic, not what I had imagined but then again, we are not using costume design as our skill so I guess I’ll just have to deal with the basic aspects like what type of line/pattern/etc

Anyways, rehearsal was great! This time, we choreographed it together! Through the laughs and funny things we tried, we got scene 3 done in an hour. Which is a miracle considering the amount of time it took for us to do the first 2 scenes. I really thought the fish eye thing I suggested was the best, direct-and-specific idea I have had. BUT software software software! As of now, we will not be using videos so the effect can be put in place. I know of friends who can do fish eye effects without a Holga on existing digital photos so it should be feasible.

I have been researching on the possible backgrounds(stated in 4a) we could use on the screen for each part of scenes so that multimedia is used in more ways. Furthermore, using expressionist art for what it means to us would help us convey the message better and help the audience see what the protagonist sees.

Lighting had to be considered while designing the costumes so we got that roughly done way before the next lighting and sound cue deadline.

In conclusion, although we are behind our own targets, we are picking up the pace for movement choreography which is good! Hopefully we can meet our end july target by finishing everything. Scene six will be hard but we shall overcome! Even if we miss the target by a slight bit, we would have enough time to brush up yea? haha

Blog entry 4c (sketches)

July 26, 2009

Copy of TSD costume

TSD costume father

The Green one is the father’s costume, the yellow is the friend’s one, the black is the nerd’s and the last is the sister’s.

Blog entry 4b

July 25, 2009

Sorry this came in late, I just came back home.

Character: Protagonist

She will be wearing a white childlike top to symbolize innocence and purity. It also makes her stand out as she is the only one in every day clothes unlike the others. This will immediately tell the audience that she is the protagonist. The shape of her top would be a triangle and the angular sides would tend more towards horizontal than vertical. Thus, making her seem shorter compared to the other characters who try to suggest what she shoud be or could be. This will bring out the theme of politics of identity as the more dominant characters in her life impose ideas on her. This will also bring out our DV as the audience sees how she is affected by the actions of the more dominant characters in her life.

Character: Father

Advancing features:

(Space)Large, unbroken.

(Line)straight, continuos, thick, sharp, solid, vertical, long,

Advancing Features

Aspect Design Effect/symbol of
Path Straight Stiffness, Tension, austerity
width Thick Forcefulness, aggressiveness
Continuity Unbroken rigid
Sharpness Sharp Assertiveness, hardness
Contuor Shaped
Consistency Solid strength
Length Long elongates
Direction Vertical and horizontal, checked Strength, austerity, widens and elongates
Space (pattern) large enlarges, makes character look more dominant
Shape (pattern) straight edged harsh, Assertive, rigid
Scale (pattern) Large enlarge
Colour GreenUnder red light –

Under blue light-

nature, learning

Blog entry 4a (Costume Theatre Tradition)

July 23, 2009

Tradition

Costume would follow cubism as expressionist theatre used cubist costumes (mostly).

Searched on Sonia Delaunoy.

Coming up:

1. Blog entry 4b (Costume CC)

Character:

Colour:

Why: character? Relationship to other characters/DV?

Lines: (path, thickness, continuity, sharpness, contuor, consistency, length, direction)

Why:

Shapes:

Why:

Pattern:

Why:

2. Blog entry 4c (Costume Sketches):

3. Blog entry 4d (reflection on rehearsal)

(Will update by 2moro)

side notes, expressionist paintings we could use as background:

Vincent van gogh: Scene 1a sunflower, Scene 2 stary night.

Edvard munch: Scene 1b The dead mother, Scene 3 Anxiety from L’Album des Peintres Graveurs

http://www.vangoghgallery.com/

Blog entry 3b (Sketches)

July 20, 2009

Have to discuss transitions for the protagonist, the sibling and the father with the group before designing the costumes to show the transition. Expressionist designs should inform the audience the stereotype/state the character is in or how the protagonist views the situation. Therefore, designs are exaggerated. So maybe we would have to show the exaggerated changes in character too.

For the 2 friends, I used large stickers as badges as they are cheap and show the audience immediately that friend 1 is all fun and games like pokemon and friend 2 is all about book awards, etc.

child

For the protagonist I was thinking of a dress like the one in the picture above. I found a top that has the same “structure”- the bottom being a lot larger than the chest area, the cloth used having the ruffle effect and puffy at the shoulders except that it is almost like a sleeve-less top for ease in movement. The actress would not wear a dress as it would restrict movement. Instead she will wear a similar top and leggings.

CCF07202009_00001

Blog entry 3 (showcase)

July 16, 2009

I realised that we needed more research on laban and that though reading is a chore, the laban book must go through all of us! I watched the lifehouse skit again and realised what Miss Norzian and the rest were talking about. The lifehouse one was really like a skit but ours, a dance. However, we want to use contemporary, laban dance techniques. So I was thinking that we would have to do something like lifehouse at the first part where there was dance but not to the beat. More towards a story being played out. Something like mime maybe? However, I felt that scene 2ais something like a skit. The only drawback is that I don’t know whether we can achieve the same energy as a dance.

Another feedback was that the words were too distracting. I thought that we could have the words on 3 occasions in the 1 scene. The first part when the father is reading it and everyone does not much. The second one at the song transition. And the third at the other pause. Coincidentally those times are when the father starts to try new teaching techniques. Also I suggested that we could find expressionist art to be projected. We’ll see how it works out.

Blog entry 2b

July 16, 2009

I did not want to edit the original one because it was part of the thinking process. Basically what happened in the middle of the week was – Miss Norzian told us that we had to have a solid script and research on laban. Also, we had technical conflicts.

Everything on the internet about Laban was about his life and notation. So me and Hamid went to the explanade on Sunday to find the books. We spent half the time trying to find it and the other half trying to find which is actually useful. In the end, we only found 2 books that were useful and that we could borrow for Rui shan to read. Lesson: I read a few things and thought that the heavy weight was used in our piece when we were controled and the light when we were trying to break free.

We had a lot of changes in the middle of the week. I showed them Lena Park’s plastic flower for the 6 scene, and Lifehouse video for the 1 scene and Ruishan showed the Chinese song. We had conflicts but compromised on plastic flower for the first scene.The 6 scene is left undecided for the end. The first 1.5 mins of the Lifehouse video helped convey what I saw for scene 1a to the rest. We did not use exact movements but had a vision of what it would be like.

Lifehouse video

Lena park – plastic flower


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