Week of the 14/11/16

In this week we had started preparing for our workshop and performance at Durrington high school which will take place on 24/11/16.

We started by having a group discussion on what we wanted our performance and workshop to consist of, some people took notes whilst the majority of us discussed. However we all had lots of different ideas so we had to take it slower because too many people would talk at one time so patience was a very important in this session, we really needed to attain this skill with one another to get work done as well as for when working on the show itself. I think our communication skills slowly improved within this session, eventually hearing everyones different ideas and suggestions which then helped us to make a final outcome.

Although it took a while we eventually came up with the plan of having a mini medley of the show of some of the numbers had done as well as what included everyone as their roles, so we chose songs such as Under Pressure, Radio Gaga, I want it all, Its a Kind of Magic, and We are the champions.  I think this was a good choice of songs as it allowed everyone to display their roles within the performance and to play a part in the front and ensemble.

The overall plan we consummated was, a warm up with the students so they were all lively and in the right mood, so maybe a few drama games like splat or don't show keith your teeth, this allowed us to get them in the right spirits as well as work out what kind of group they were. We then would show them our medley performance, then do a workshop with them based on our performance, get them to show it and then a question and answer at the end of the session.

After coming up with our final plan we divided into two groups, the performance and the workshop. Each group were in charge of creating in more detail their section.

I went with the Performance team as felt my skills would work better there than with the workshop side.

We went into the dance studio and with the list of songs we had chosen we went through listening to them and deciding what order they should be as well as who long each section should be. This took a while as we had to make sure that everyone was happy but also that it made sense to people who were watching and may not have ever seen WWRY before. I felt that we were all really focused within this time and created a really effective arrangement. As a lot of the parts were double cast we had to split the sections in half again for each cast.

My section was I Want It All with Emily, we took the first half of the song as we hadn't done it together in a while as well as Durrington being my old high school they gave me the option which was really nice of the group.

We then went back in with the other group, and discussed what we had done to each group, the workshop lot had created a really cool workshop plan for the kids to do freeze frames to lines chosen from the song Radio Gaga. I felt like they had chosen really well and created an effective task for the students and had put a lot of thought and effort into their task.

After this we split up into our performance sections so I went off with Emily and Olivia, to focus on I Want It All. This was actually really fun to do as we hadn't yet blocked I want it all so it allowed us to play around with different ideas we all had, we really listened to one another and incorporated each others ideas and thoughts to create our final blocking of the number which I really liked.

I think overall in this session we worked really well as an ensemble, we still need to work on our communication with one another more but our focus and commitment was very strong with each other and the task at hand so came out with a god result. I feel that I learnt that with patience and communication things can get done a lot quicker and effectively as a group. I think our focus and commitment really allows us to create an effective piece overall even if we had a few bumps on the way there, but now we know we should be able to get through tasks a lot quicker now as a team.

week of 7/11

In this week we once again divided the time between costume and We Will Rock You.

When we were working on WWRY, in this lesson we blocked the second half of act one, this was a large section for my character so I was involved in a lot in this district. A lot of my scenes require a group of us so I was able to use many skills working as an musical ensemble as we worked on lightly blocking ensemble numbers.

The two main ensemble numbers we blocked in this lesson were I Want It All and Crazy Little Thing Called Love, As Brit and Meat have centric roles within these numbers Emily and I had to make sure we gave all our focus and energy into it because if we don't it will make everyone else feel like they don't have to, so we had to create the right atmospheres to make the numbers come alive and not drop.

Doing this required us to use a range of performance skills within the numbers, such as interaction - reaction as well as facial expressions. Especially with facial expressions as both songs have strong meanings and messages so using this skill adds dynamics to the performance also making it more understandable.

To add to this as our characters are the leaders of our 'pack' we influence the others characters a lot as they feed off of us so we set the mood and therefore demonstrate our leadership and status within the songs.

In this lesson I found building rapport and non-verbal communication with the other characters was quite challenging as I was mainly working with Emily on our sections and lines focusing on blocking our movements to work I will learn my lines and blocking for the scene so next time I can work on these ensemble skills more.

Even though these were the skills I found challenging I think my peer support and communication between blocking and in other scenes was effective as I had more of an understanding of the bohemian characters from seeing and studying the show before I could help them with characterisation and what certain people would do on simple scenes like sitting and improvising.

In this lesson I think my ensemble skill strengths were focus and commitment, I think I was really into this lesson making sure I was taking notes as well doing the blocking effectively infusing my character interpretation to make it more personalised.

10/11/16 - costume

For costume we were working on more of the analytical elements of the unit such as why are they wearing but not just the simple reason using tools such as P.E.E, Point Evidence and Explanation. Going into more detail, you could say that for an example Santa Clause wears his suit because it his uniform but he wears it because the red symbolises happiness and joy and the christmas feel and the white accents could symbolise the religious side and snow.

We exercised this skill through analysing what Sax and Max were wearing and creating a reason why we thought they were wearing that particular clothing, also our description should be descriptive enough that someone could create an exact image of them just using our analysis and descriptions.

Cover Letter - PAB

What should be included within a cover letter?:

A cover letter should have around five sections within it including and opening and closing section. You should explain why you are writing, how you knew about the project or job, your suitability, what you can do within this job. And then just reiterate the points of why you are eligible for the job and would be the perfect match before signing off and attaching your cv.



My Cover Letter - Front Of House Performance Team

Dear Mr Peck,

                      I am contacting you as I would like to be considered for Christmas temp for the Front Of House Performance Team. I discovered this offer from http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/ through email.

I think that I am suitable for the job as I have a favourable and helpful personality as well as having a great deal of patience which I think is needed for this type of occupation. As a Performing Arts specialist, I am very good at working as part of team as well as taking lead within a crisis or if necessary for some reason. This also helps with being able to work efficiently within a busy environment. My qualifications consist of a Musical Theatre BTEC, Creative Media BTEC, Dance AS and Art AS. These give me a range of skills making me adaptable to many tasks you may encounter a part of this job.

I think that I can really add to the company through my diversity as I am able to contribute to many areas in which are needed for this occupation, my adaptability will help make a less stressful environment within emergencies or tricky situations, I also have been working as a sales advisor at a jewellers the last year so will be able to use these skills to help maximise the font of house sales, it also allows me to have a positive relationship with customers.

I am really interested in this role as I like a challenge, to be occupied a lot of the time and always giving 110%. I enjoy working as a team which is a important part of the role as it requires to working with one another a lot. Saying this I was hoping to meet with you for an interview to apply for the job, if interested please contact me.

Yours sincerely,

Talia Murphy

mobile: 07788292751
email: t.murphy98@hotmail.com



COVER LETTER 2: Emerging Dance Development Artist, Cheshire Dance

Talia Murphy

75 St Lawrence Avenue, BN14 7JL

Jane Atherton,

Cheshire Dance,

1st Floor Winsford Library,

High Street,

Winsford, Cheshire

CW7 2AS

Dear Ms Atherton,

I wish to apply for the role of Emerging Dance Development Artist, I discovered the offer through http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/artsjobshome/ .

I am a very passionate and driven person in general but especially with dance and performing, I have been involved with dance since the age of 4, so have experience with working in large and small groups of people in a professional environment. To add to this I think I can be suitable for the job as I have also had experience working with children of all ages as well as children and adults with Disabilities so have good patience and able to work effectively with all.

I have always been good at and enjoyed being in a place of responsibility being a part of the eco team in middle school, then head prefect in high school and now a class representative at college for two classes, so feel I could be valuable within this placement. To add to this I have media qualifications and experience as well as dance which allows me to be helpful and insightful for anyone who needs the help within the company, my other qualifications consist of Musical Theatre BTEC, Dance GCSE and AS and Art AS, these showing my variety of skills that can apply to this specific position.

I have currently been working at a jeweller for the last year as a sales advisor so am able to deal with tricky situations and use the remaining facilities gained from it to support myself within this role. I am really interested in this role as I like a challenge, to be occupied a lot of the time and always giving 110%.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I hope you find what you’re looking for.

Yours sincerely,

Talia Murphy

07788292751

t.murphy98@hotmail.com

Week of 31/10/16

This week we focused a lot on our costume unit and continuing to block more scenes of WWRY.

In this rehearsal I feel we used a range of performance skills, we were able to do this as when off cast we act as the many chorus roles such as yuppies, GaGa kids and Bohemians. Today I was mainly a yuppie and officer, this required me to use characterisation to create a persona for these characters, as a group we decided that the yuppies were victims who the Killer Queen had already brain drained and had been mind washed into the Queens beliefs and so very robot like and soldier like, therefore we all had to be very slick and on form with one another but also we have to show we are not as important as Khashoggi or other characters so can't be too bold, we are just tools.

We worked a lot on creating the right atmosphere in the interrogation scenes using lighting and staging. I am finding it hard to keep up with the physical elements at the moment due to an injury so I feel I can't give my all within scenes as I am limited, making me not as in unison with the others, I am trying to improve this by working on my physio, so i can keep up with the others so I don't let the others down.

We worked on the Scaramocuhe and GaGa girls scene in which we are horrible to Scaramouche which enables the song Somebody to love, I am Teen Queen 3, we decided as a group that we were going to play them very essex like and stereotypical OMG kind of girls, this was fun and allowed us to play around a bit with it so we could get it good. Because they are still GaGa kids we said even though they'd all be slightly different in someway they would very much be in unison body movement wise so we do a lot of unison and mirroring of one another. To add to this by all going at scaramouch we emphasise the already bold point that she is an outsider, highlighting her importance within the story.


























In this lesson I learnt that discussing ideas as group allows you to create bigger ideas as well as all get the same understanding of what we are doing allowing us to all perform to our best and to portray it right.

When doing the yuppie sequence where we first see the Killer Queen, we have to sit all in a neutral position that is emotion void to give off the clone, robot feel I mentioned earlier, in this scene as yuppies we only have a few moments in which we move and make noise which is when we are reacting to KQ and Khashoggis conversation like gasping and laughing. As a group we struggled to portray these without giving to much emotion behind it so together we came up movements in which were robot like and suited the situation, very static and sharp movements with blank faces. This we had to run a few times so that we could get used to it, I came up with the suggestion that we create a more specific timing so we are really in unison or have a word that we move on this helped us to get it together more efficiently making us work more successfully as an ensemble within this section making it more effective as a whole.

I think our main problem of the lesson was that we were too eager and just trying to get through as many scenes as we could but this didn't allow us to create a effective and successful ensemble therefore, us talking more often and discussing one anthers ideas not only makes a more happy environment as everyone has their say but a more dynamic one, by the end of the lesson I think we overcame the problem and started to work really efficiently together.

PAB - Headshot examples

In this lesson we discussed the use of headshots, and what makes a good and bad headshot. Here is some analysis of a good and bad example of headshots.

Good Example...
The use of a light background allows the viewer to see all of the person within the headshot and give it more of a neutral look allowing the photo to me be more interpretative to a variety of situations which is good when being enactor or performer in general. Her looking directly at the camera is very professional, having a direct and strong look projects a story bringing the image to life, qualities like this in a image make them stand out in a pile of many. Another feature this one has that makes it stand out is the use of a blurred background making you a bolder image and making it look more efficient.







Bad Example...
Firstly his positioning is very informal for a headshot and would be seen by many casting directors as unprofessional unless going for something like children theatre, taking the picture at an angle also doesn't allow his whole profile to be seen. His demeanour doesn't allow him to be suitable for a range of roles, or employable at all as he looks like he wouldn't be competent enough.

Job roles presentation

In this lesson we discuss the numerous amount of roles involved within the theatre industry, we had to research any that we were unsure about and how they all intertwined with with one another. We then had to order them in order of status and responsibility for example, the board of the directors at the top and domestic staff at the bottom.

Watch presentation here - Job Roles