15/12/16 Lesson Analysis

On 15/12/16 we started the lesson by running through main ensemble songs, we felt that the two that needed the most work were 'We are the champions' and 'Boheminan Rhapsody'. We started we We Are The Champions, and I found that this one went well because it is quite repetitive however I think that as the song is a ballad is should be soft and the song is presenting the characters as free and together, yet I feel that we were 'belting' the song which made it sound more aggressive and it almost sounded competitive with each other, and I think that as an ensemble we should sing it more with each other than against each other to make it sound more appealing to the audience. We were able to adjust this issue by singing more relaxed and thinking about characterisation.

Once we had finished and improved We Are the Champions, we moved onto Bohemian Rhapsody. I found Bohemian Rhapsody a challenge because there are so many different parts to it, and it is hard to get both your part and harmony right and in the right place, however once we started working collectively and contributing ideas of how to help with the harmonies, we started working on it better. I think that as an ensemble it was important to stay calm, even though it was frustrating otherwise you could effect the way others are trying to focus, and I think that some people lost focus and started getting frustrated however the rest of us immediately worked as a team to make sure everyone was clear on what they were doing and that we could carry on. I think that the song sounded good when we had finished and this was due to our high energy and focus which I had been concentrating on since the previous rehearsals.

Dance Show Evaluation

Dance Media Piece:

WWW
- Timing with the group
- extension

EBI
- Could have made smoother transitions between movement
- Rehearsed timing with Megan more
- work on strength in the plies.

Seven Seas Of Rhye

WWW-

-Strong dynamics in movements

-Characterisation/Facial Expressions

EBI

- Focus- forgot what happened next when changing positions

- Eyeline- Often felt that eyeliner dropped

- timing at the end- I wasn't watching people in front for timing of swaying and everyone was out of time with each other.

13/12/16

Questionnaires

09/12/16 Lesson Analysis

On 09/12/16 We had an all day rehearsal in which we planned to run through act 2 twice, once with my cast and again with the other cast. I thought that this would be useful because it meant that after this rehearsal we would have run through the show twice, once with one cast and again with the other.

When we were running through with my cast I felt that it was a bit slow because a lot of us got confused either with blocking or forgot lines, and I feel that this was because of lack of focus in previous rehearsals. To improve this I made sure that when I wasn't on I went over my lines and prepared for the next scene. I feel that there were some issues in the scene leading up to 'another one bites the dust' because I forgot a lot of the smaller blocking ideas, such as flicking Kashoggi's glasses and wearing them, and I think that to improve this I am going to prepare for each scene out of lesson by writing blocking in my script. I think that this was unprofessional because it made others wait which effected their time and we had a lot more to get through, and when working as an ensemble I think that it is important to consider everyone else as well as yourself and what you are doing so that everyone gets through what they need.

After we finished act 2 with my cast, as usual after a few hours of rehearsal everyone seemed to loose energy and I feel that this is a reoccurring situation in rehearsals, so I suggested that we did another improvisation game to get everyone's energy levels up. This worked effectively because at the end of the game (same one as the previous rehearsal) everyone was energised, focused and ready to rehearse again. I think that it would be effective therefore to continue improvisation games throughout rehearsals so that everyone stays focused and we can work as a team to make this happen.

When we ran through act two again, we got to the end of the act and the final scene, however one of the main characters in that scene Pop, wasn't there so I volunteered to step in so that everyone else had an idea of what was happening around them and could visualise it, which I think is important as well as just listening to the lines, to see it as well so that the ensemble know what is happening and how to react effectively. This was good because we eventually completed the scene.

To improve for next lesson I would like to work on my focus as sometimes I feel that although it is important to keep energy levels up, it is also important to focus on the work and I feel that sometimes I get distracted and this distracts others. To work as an ensemble I think that I need to make sure that I am working well so that others do as well and we get more done. To achieve this I am going to read through the script and blocking out of rehearsals so that next time we rehearse I will be ready and won't distract others in a negative way.

09/12/16 Dance Lesson Analysis

In this lesson we decided that the most efficient use of the short amount of time we had was to run the dances for the upcoming dance show in the theatre, so that we could adapt the dances to the space. I found that the media piece worked well in the space, however in the part where we travel diagonally in groups at a time and eventually everyone is doing the same, I felt that I ran out of space because I was at the front, however we discussed spacing issues and we resolved this one by making the steps smaller, which actually looked a lot neater anyway, so I feel that this was an improvement because our timing looked better as well.

When we ran through the We Will Rock You numbers, we found issues in the staging because we had always rehearsed the dances as traverse because that is the staging we would use for We Will Rock You, however the dance show is proscenium so we had to re- block the numbers to suit what staging we had. I found that Seaven seas of Rhye was easier to re-block because we originally had two lines, on facing on side of the audience, and the other facing the other side, however we simply just had a front and back line, both facing the audience, and then swapped lines when we were meant to swap sides. This worked effectively as well because it showed the chaos in the characters and adding a lot of movement in a smaller space made it look more panicked, which is what we want to portray.

I found that 'Another One Bites the Dust' was difficult because of the complicated lines and blocking, and the directions and paths we took, however we eventually managed to discover different ways to portray the pathways and it worked effectively. Myself and Izzy also discussed blocking for our characters as we would both be playing Killer Queen for the dance show, so we discussed when I should come on and from where.

Overall I found this lesson useful because it prepared me more for the dance show and it allowed me to think of different ways to stage dances even if they are for different stage types. I think that to improve I could have put more energy into 'Seaven Seas Of Rhye' because it is a chaotic number and it could have represented the fear of my character better.

08/12/16 Lesson Analysis

In this rehearsal we carried on running act 1 with my cast. Considering how the last rehearsal went in terms of lack of energy and a negative vibe, I decided to come into lesson with a  positive attitude and high energy so that we could start the rehearsal in an energised way which effected our start of rehearsal in a positive way.

To warm up we started an improvisation game, which brought everyone's energy levels up which is important because we have to work together throughout the whole show, and high energy will help everyone with team work, and focus. It also put everyone in a positive mood which is also important for our perseverance with each other, and I think that this is important because it means that everyone will put more effort into team work. The idea of the game was to create a scenario, and start with one person, and slowly everyone joins by individually shouting 'freeze' and joining the scene but changing scenarios, and everyone on stage had to go along with it, which also brought out creativeness which could help in terms of contribution of ideas to rehearsals ad contributed to different characterisations. Below are some photos of the improvisation:

After the improvisation warm up, we started to focus as we continued act 1 with my cast. As I had completed all of my scenes from act one in the last rehearsal, I took the time I had to work on my off cast character and started guiding the ensemble numbers with different ideas and helping people with the blocking if they were unsure. For example in the last scene with the bohemians, when Khashoggi gets the police to attack the bohemians in a fight, I was reminding everyone on some things that were forgotten, like the blocking and where to stand, and I also helped people for ideas of movements for the fight scene. 

After we completed act 1 with my cast, I felt that my energy had dropped because of the fact that I wasn't too active because I didn't have an upcoming scene in the rest of act 1. I feel that this was unprofessional because if I lost energy from not doing anything it could have effected the rest of the cast when we were to start again, however I soon started to focus and prepare for my off cast character. 

We then aimed to run through act 1 with the other cast, so that both casts were familiar with act 1. This meant that I could work on my cues for my off cast character, which I feel is important because it meant that we could work fast but also so that I could support the rest of the cast and notify others when our cues are for our off cast characters, and this worked effectively because everyone was ready at the right times and we could prepare together and remind each other the blocking. 

Overall I found this rehearsal useful because I was able to work with my off cast character and I learnt to support others in the class as an ensemble and saw the positive effects on helping the rest of the cast and how it benefited the rehearsal overall. 

06/12/16 Lesson Analysis

On 6/12/16 we scheduled two hours to run through as much of the blocking as we could for We Will Rock You with my cast, which meant that I was Killer Queen. At the beginning of the rehearsal I ensured that I was energetic when I was needed to make sure that we could run through the scene as quickly as possible with the right amount of energy that allowed everyone to focus on what they were doing so that although we were aiming to work quickly, everyone was still able to understand their parts. During 'Killer Queen' I helped the rest of the cast, the Yuppies, with the dance to make sure that  everyone was sure in what they were doing, and this created a calm environment because we were working together as opposed to against each other which overall made the song look better, and the dance timing was more effective because it portrayed the robot idea we want to include to the show.

When I wasn't in a scene I made sure that I was quiet and respectful to others when they were running scenes in order to make sure that we worked effectively. I also made sure that I was preparing my lines for the next scene and running through the blocking, again to make sure that we could run the scene quickly and effectively ensuring that we are confident with the blocking in that scene. The scene was 'It's a kind of magic' we had choreographed a dance with this number, however a lot of us had forgotten the order of it and it took us a while to pick it up again. I feel that the reason it took us a long time to learn it was because of some peoples negative approach to running through it and the lack of motivation that came with that, causing everyone else's energy levels to drop which had a negative effect on our continuation of the rehearsal. However, we were able to overcome this and I personally tried to bring the energy levels back up by putting more effort into my part in hope of bringing everyone's focus back. This was successful as we were eventually able to continue the rehearsal effectively, and we were able to get through half of act one by the end of the rehearsal. I feel that positivity is important when working as an ensemble because it means that everyone will work together efficiently to get more work done, and in our case it would mean that we could run more scenes successfully, and use team work to make sure that everyone is happy with what they are doing.

In preparation for the next rehearsal I am going to make sure that I am confident with the blocking and the dances so that the same doesn't happen again and that we can have a fluent rehearsal without too many pauses.

02/12/16 Dance Lesson Analysis

On 02/12/16 we started choreographing the dance to 'Killer Queen'. I had some initial ideas for choreography by working outside of lessons with Izzy, and to begin we showed what we had to the class and talked about what we thought would be effective. We mainly showed stiff robotic movements to represent the fact that the Yuppies are brainwashed to obey Killer Queen, and we thought that the song could represent how much they admire her, and so are bragging to the audience, through actions as we thought it would be effective for them to have no facial expressions to show their lack of thoughts and feelings.

The class liked what me and Izzy had as we choreographed it up to the middle of the first verse, and we worked with everyone contributing ideas to choreograph up to the middle of the second verse, and we then decided to repeat the chorus.

The use of repetition for this song is effective I think because it represents the robotic movements and elaborates on the idea of their brainwashing if it is not already clear to the audience. We discussed the idea of it looking purposely rehearsed, as if the Yuppies wanted to introduce Killer Queen to the audience, and anyone else who meets her, to show their admiration for her even more than we have shown already.

01/12/16 Lesson Analysis

On 1/12/16 we scheduled an all day rehearsal for We Will Rock You, and our aim for the rehearsal was to finish blocking the entire show. We started blocking from where we had finished the lesson before, which was the end of act 1, and we continued the script straight away and made sure that we were energised to make sure that we could put a lot of energy towards our characters and this was effective because we were able to work quickly and effectively.

When it came to blocking the Killer Queen scene, leading from 'fat bottomed Girl' to 'another one bites the dust', I made sure that I used focus to make sure that we could block the scene as quickly as possible to make sure that we could carry on with bigger ensemble scenes, and this was effective because the fact that I was focused meant that we could do the scene quickly but also I was confident in what I was doing because I made sure I was listening to all blocking directions and this meant that we could continue with the show quicker.  

We finished blocking the final scene but didn't run through Bohemian Rhapsody because we felt that we should sing this through and learn the song first. However I feel that the scene before is an important ensemble scene because our job as the ensemble is to be completely motionless to represent the negative effects that the resistance has had on those who weren't lucky, and who had been brainwashed. This took a large amount of focus and I feel that due to the fact that it was the end of the rehearsal, everyone seemed to have a lot of energy out of the scene, and this had an effect on everyone's focus and this made it longer to block the scene because not everyone was listening to each other. To resolve this we made sure that we all started to control our energy levels and made sure that our energy went into the scene and effected it in a positive way as opposed to a negative way. I think that this was successful because eventually we were able to complete the blocking for the entire show and still had time left at the end of the rehearsal. 

We decided as a group that the most effective use for our time at the end was to learn bohemian rhapsody with the harmonies. This was useful because I wasn't aware of the different harmonies and when I am off cast I will be in the ensemble part of this song. It was useful to me to know when I sing as Killer Queen and what harmonies I sing as a bohemian and this meant that I could now focus on characterisation and work with the ensemble to do this. 

29/11/16

table thing

25/11/16 Dance Lesson Analysis

To begin our dance lesson we recapped the dance media piece we have been working on, and especially worked on the ending of it as we only finished it the week before. I made sure that I kept practising the ending throughout the week so that we could work on tidying the dance, and this was effective because it did give us more time to improve things that were weaker in the piece.

One thing that we improved was our timing as I feel that this was something that was in need of improvement. I think that after my part it is my job to keep everyone in part for the diagonal motif, however i always feel like I get the timing wrong, therefore I talked with everyone and soon learnt what part of the music I should start on, and this was beneficial because we were then able to know what part of the music everything else comes on.

After this we improved our timing with each other by going over the counts without the music, so that the dance performance looks neat and we are all moving in perfect timing with each other, whether it is unison or not, and so that our performance looks more effective. I feel that this was helpful because I am at the front for a long part of the piece and it was beneficial to recap the counts so that I could know when everyone else was moving behind me, and so that I could set the timing for everyone behind me.

In the second part of the lesson we began choreography for 'It's a Kind Of Magic' for We Will Rock You. We started with improvisation and talked to each other about what works best and where, and started piecing together effective movements that work best with the song and what is happening in the scene.

During this song, Killer Queen and Khashoggi feel that they have defited the Bohemians and are celebrating their power, and therefore the Yuppies are celebrating with them. We used movements such as punches into the air, and used a lot of repetitions in turns and lunges, to show the power that globalsoft believe they have. This worked effectively because it also added humour to it, and Killer Queen and Khashoggi are comedy characters.

We were able to finish the dance, and we ran it through with both casts. This was useful for me because I am in the dance with both casts, one as Killer Queen and one as a Yuppie, and therefore I was able to see where everyone is and I was able to adapt the blocking of Killer Queen to suit what the rest of the cast were doing to ensure I wasn't in anyones way.

24/11/16 Lesson Analysis and Durrington Evaluation

On 24/11/16 we dedicated our rehearsal time to rehearse and tidy our performance before we perform at Durrington. In preparation for this we learnt the dance to 'Radio GaGa' which is the final song we sing in the performance at durrington, and we felt that if we make it high energy with a dance it'll look more appealing to the audience, and they are more likely to remember the last song.

We were able to use focus and managed to learn the dance in a short amount of time, which was useful because it meant that we would have the rest of the rehearsal to work on songs and tidying up the rehearsal. I feel that when we sang the songs through with the piano, we seemed to loose focus and this caused a lot of stress between the cast, and this put a strain on getting the songs tidied. To overcome this we decided to focus and understand each other in terms of what we needed to get done and the short amount of time we had to do it, and this helped because we were soon able to carry on with the singing.

I feel that the performance went well as we were all focusing to make sure that we gave an interesting and well rehearsed performance, and we worked effectively with each other by communicating with each other to ensure everyone is comfortable in their characters and what they are doing.

I feel that one thing we could have improved on was in Radio GaGa, I feel that we were out of time with each other and the music. I think that it is easy in a performance to want to do your best but this creates competition with each other and being competitive means getting louder and trying to stand out, however in an ensemble it is important to make sure that everyone is on the same level of energy to ensure that the performance looks both tidy, and effective to the audience. We were soon able to realise this and we started working together to make sure that we were all listening to each other and making sure we had the same energy levels so instead of individual performers, we were one group. I feel that ensemble skills are particularly important in Radio GaGa because the characters we are trying to portray in our version of this song is that the GaGa kids are almost Robots because of the fact that they are practically brain washed to think, move and talk the same, therefore we all had to be on the same level of energy in our movements, levels of volume in the song, and timing with each other, otherwise the performance would have looked messy and it wouldn't be appealing to the audience, however I feel that we were able to work together to solve the issue almost instantly.

Overall I feel that today has allowed me to improve my ensemble skills further by coming to the realisation of how I can contribute to an ensemble performance as well as everyone else, by giving certain levels of energy and generally supporting everyone to ensure that everyone is confident in what they are doing.

22/11/16 Lesson Analysis

On 22/11/16 we had further rehearsals for our We Will Rock You showcase at Durrington High School. The plans for the lesson was to split into separate groups in terms of our songs and work on rehearsing them and discussing ideas and plans for each other. I worked with Izzy, and we worked on Another One Bites The Dust. At first we discussed splitting the song and working on interacting with each other, but not drawing attention from the rest of the ensemble who would be performing a dance to the song at this point.

We practised the song with music at first but then discussed the issue of the fact that we were copying how the singer on the track was singing the song, and this wasn't making it our own adaptation of it, however we tried to sing it in our own style but it sounded incorrect. Therefore we decided to carry on rehearsing for now and we scheduled a further rehearsal for us to improve the song and support each other in making sure we make the song sound original and appropriate for our own character.

When it came to performing our songs with the whole class and putting the performance together in an order, I feel like on problem we faced was the fluidity, not only between songs but during songs. To improve this we discussed the timing of the changes and making sure that we all felt relaxed in the songs so that we could portray our characters with confidence. I also feel that we have to make sure that everyone in the ensemble is clear on what they are doing, and to do that for this performance we had to make sure everyone was well rehearsed and that we supported those who weren't sure, but encouraging them. This was useful because it made the overall piece more effective.

Overall I found this lesson useful because I was able to work with Izzy to improve my confidence with Another One Bites the Dust, and our individual parts in that, and I also think that I was able to interact with everyone in the ensemble to ensure that the characters appear connected so that it was more appealing to the audience and interesting to look at. To improve I would like to make sure that I familiarise myself with Another One Bites The Dust so that I can make my own adaptations to it to suit both my own voice, and my interpretation of the character to match the ensemble song.

18/11/16 Lesson Analysis

On 18/11/16 we had an all day rehearsal for We Will Rock You, in which our aim was to get further into blocking the show and getting more familiar with the different scenes and the show in general. I think that this went well because we were able to work professionally using focus to make sure that we blocked as much of the show as we could that day, and were able to discuss with each other throughout the day how we could approach things in the script. For example in 'It's A Kind Of Magic' I suggested Killer Queen walking down the stage blocks to join the ensemble to show the power and manipulation in her character, and to draw attention to that part of the stage, and for Khashoggi to stay at the top as if he was proud, therefore everyone would have a purpose in the scene and the stage was used effectively.

I feel that as the rehearsal continued, the group started to loose focus and energy levels became low and this had an impact on everyones motivation to carry on with the rehearsal, so we all had to make sure that we were all encouraging each other and working as a team to make sure everyone was taking part, and this worked effectively because we were able to finish act 1 by the end of the rehearsal, and we were all clear on what we were all doing.

 I think that overall this rehearsal was effective because we were able to make the show more effective because we are all aware of each other on stage to make the performance look tidier. To improve I am going to make sure that I don't let my energy levels effect other people in a negative way, for example making sure I'm aware that if I have low energy and motivation, it'll effect other people in the ensemble as well.

15/11/16 Lesson Analysis

On 15/11/16 we began the lesson by discussing our own initial ideas for our upcoming showcase at Durrington High School. We felt that it was important to listen to everyone's ideas so we had a group discussion (video linked below) in which we all listened to each other and talked about the best options we could take into consideration and what would work best for our performance. We eventually decided to have one performance workshop after a few songs, and then a few songs after the workshop, so that the audience can leave on a positive note without having to only remember working on choreography.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74er9kqYEVs&feature=share


We then split the class into two smaller groups, one group were to organise the work shop based on our group ideas, and the other were to organise the performance. My group talked about the performance aspect to the showcase and discussed the ideas for songs based on our discussion with the whole class about what songs would work best. We discovered that we only had 30 minutes to perform the songs and workshop, so we thought about cutting down the ensemble songs to save time. This was effective because with little rehearsal time left it meant that we would have less to block, and it would therefore look more polished and engaging for the audience, and we could then use each others energy to give an effective performance.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S04JydFk2w&feature=share
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE5mIpKbnuw&feature=share


We then completed the lesson with a rough run through of what we had thought of so far for a rough measurement of time, and this was effective because it meant that we could look at what needs the most work to give the most engaging performance possible and keep the audience involved and interested.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHK8yRWGjFM&feature=share

15/11/16

On 15/11/16 We had Sophie come in to talk about her recent experiences in freelance and how it has benefited her. It was interesting to listen to because it showed me as an actor how freelance can actually work and how it can boost your career.

Sophie works in freelance as a singer and she had achieved many things after a few weeks by busking in Brighton. I think that the location was effective because Brighton is a big city where many artists and directors/managers are located and busking is useful because you don't know who is going to see you.

At first, I thought that this wouldn't help because I don't want to work freelance as a singer, I want to work freelance as an actor/comedian however it inspired me to approach different ways to boost your career. For example in comedy I could watch different comedians and see their approach and then try out material at open mics, and I think that Brighton would be an appropriate location to do so because of the amount of interest there are in performance.

I learnt that planning was very important for example Sophie does singing gigs at different locations so she has to plan what songs we will sing, and prepare for them, plan what outfits etc. In my case if I was planning for a comedy gig I would have to prepare material and think about what would be effective in terms of what I wear, and will it go with what i am portraying whether it be a character or to match what I am talking about.

I also found that filing and storing important documents and contacts are important. For example we learnt about this the week before in our presentations as well, and Sophie told us that you can register as self employed and this allows her to have money for outfits for gigs, and she must keep the receipts to prove that she is using the money correctly and efficiently, and to avoid legal issues such as tax. I also found it interesting to learn that when you're self employed or working freelance in the performance industry if you don't earn up to a certain amount you don't have to pay taxes, however it is important to keep receipts to make sure that you are saving money for taxes incase.

Another important thing to consider is time management. This could link with planning because if you have a gig coming up that you need to prepare for you need to priorities your time to make sure that you prepare your act to a high standard to avoid complications or mistakes in front of an audience, or potential employers.

Setting and Meeting deadlines can link to everything mentioned above, because you have to prioritise things that are coming first, for example if you have two gigs coming up in the same week then you need to prepare both and be confident with them. Also keep on top of bills, linking to filing important documents to avoid legal issues. Planning is important when meeting deadlines because you need to find what you need to prepare for a deadline, whether it be a performance, money, auditions, meetings etc.

Overall I found this talk helpful because it has prepared me for working freelance, and it has widened my knowledge on how to make freelance work. I also found it useful to learn things that I didn't think about like time management, or the legal aspects like filing important documents and contracts. I think that now i have seen someone working freelance and what it has given them, I feel with hard work and effort I could also boost my career as an actor and comedian.

11/11/16 Dance Lesson Analysis

o start the lesson today we did our normal warm up phrase that we learnt a few weeks ago. I found that the warm up today was effective because it allowed me to notice mistakes in my contemporary dance technique, and made me conscious to work on it for the rest of the lesson. For example I noticed that on the hops I wasn't fully straightening my legs, and this made it look like I wasn't putting in enough effort into my dance, and therefore I worked for the rest of the warm up and lesson on making sure that I fully straightened my legs, and worked on extension in my arms also.

Link to the warm up phrase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSi2oxHehrs&feature=youtu.be

We then worked on the media piece that we had been working on and our initial aim at the beginning of the lesson was to finish it. To start we ran through the dance with the music and noticed a few issues with timing in places. For example when I run round the back with Megan and begin to collect the rest of the group in small groups, we noticed that the timing of our dance wasn't in time with the music, and I took this as my responsibility because I was leading them and therefore I made sure that I worked on this. We then marked it through to tidy up some parts and recap what we choreographed did last week as not everyone was clear on it. I found this useful because I was able to continue working on my extension and even though we were marking I was making sure that I wasn't marking my arms, so that I could get used to fully stretching them.

We carried on choreographing the dance and were able to finish it at the end of the first half of the lesson. I feel as though the use of reaches and repetition we used in our choreography this week was effective because it allowed us to link the dance to the theme and keep the audience engaged.

Link to the Media piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV0gPOfxeX0&feature=youtu.be

In the second half of the lesson we worked on recapping the dances we had already choreographed for We Will Rock You. To start we did 'Another One Bites The Dust' with Izzy's cast so I watched to make sure I knew what I was doing when its my cast, and also to watch the ensemble so that I am aware of what everyone is doing in the number. When we did it with my cast I feel as though it went well because I made sure that I was aiming my movements towards the ensemble as well as the audience so that we could see the manipulation in Killer Queens character, but also so that it adds comedy to the scene that the Yuppies are supposedly pretending to 'die' or become brainwashed by Killer Queen to manipulate Khashoggi. I also think that our timing was good because we all made sure that everyone knew what they were doing so that the piece looked more sharp and engaging to the audience.

We then ran through 'Seven Seas Of Rhye' which I felt went better than the rehearsals yesterday because we all watched each other and again, worked with each other to make sure everyone was okay with the choreography and timing. One part I would like to improve on in this number is my duet work with Olivia because we seem to loose our spacing and it confuses us in terms of direction, so I will work with liv to make sure that we both are aware of our space and we both know what direction we are aiming towards.

Overall I think that this lesson went well because I was able to contribute more ideas to both We Will Rock you and the dance media piece, and this has improved both my contemporary dance skills and my ensemble skills. I feel as though one strength in todays lesson was my timing, as I was able to lead the rest of the group in the dance media piece, and I was also able to stay in time with the beat in 'another one bites the dust', which I feel is important because it is meant to look polished like the Yuppies are robots.

To improve I would like to work further on improving my extension, in both my legs and arms and making sure that I fully stretch them. To do this I am going to work in front of the mirrors, both in and out of lesson so that I can improve the skill and improve my contemporary dance. I think that by doing this it will make my dancing overall look much better and more appealing to an audience.

10/11/16 Lesson Analysis

On 10/11/16 we had another four hour rehearsal for We Will Rock You to continue our work in blocking the show. We decided that it would be good to go straight into blocking scenes where we finished last lesson as opposed to recapping, so that we could have an overall idea of what we are doing throughout the show, and then we can tidy the scenes at a later rehearsal day. I feel as though I was able to develop my ensemble skills here as I was able to work collectively with everyone else in the cast to make sure that we could get through the different scenes as soon as possible and made the most out of our rehearsal time. I feel as though I focused well in this rehearsal to make this target possible, and we were able to finish act one and start a few scenes of act two.

I worked mainly on my off cast character in this lesson, and this was useful because I was able to work with the rest of the cast on the scenes where we were playing similar characters to help support each other with the roles. When we were blocking a bohemian scene in the Heartbreak Hotel, where the bohemians are first introduced to Galileo and Scaramouch by Meat and Brit, I felt as though I was patient with the cast to make sure that we all reacted together. For example in the script it told us how to react to what Brit was saying about Galileo and that he is the character that the bohemians had been waiting for, and that we had to act shocked at points, amazed at others and worried. At first we all felt like we were reacting too robotic and had to work collectively as a group to support each other, and make sure we were all naturalistic in our reactions, and this worked well because we were able to complete the scene to a high standard.

8/11/16 Lesson Analysis

To develop our sketch books and character analysis of characters we are planning to design costumes for, we analysed what Sax and Max were wearing and why. I felt that this was effective because it allowed me to understand why people wear certain things, whether it is to do with their own fashion sense, to match their personality, status, and sentimental things to them.

Picture of the board:

Whole class comparisons.

My groups analysis of Sax and Max.

Analysing what Sax and Max were wearing helped me develop my skills to design costumes for We will Rock You characters because I was able to identify why people wear certain things, whether it was to do with their own style, their personality, sentimental values, or whether it was planned or not.

I think that analysing what colour they were wearing was particularly useful because it allowed me to associate the different colours with mood, personality, how they socialise, and this will mean that the audience will immediately get a feel of who the character is before they even say anything. For example when we were analysing Max's navy blue suit we felt as though it was a warm and welcoming colour that links to his job as a learning mentor, and having the ability to stay calm. We also said that this would make it easier for students to approach him and feel welcomed, which also links to his job and status. I feel as though if he was wearing a black suit it wouldn't be the same because we often associate black suits with negative news or that something bad has happened, and therefore I feel as though this wouldn't have had the same effect as navy blue.

We then started talking about hair and make up, and I found this interesting because before this lesson I never put make up and hair in the same category as costumes because I felt like they are completely different, but I learnt that make up and hair helps develop a character and how they look towards the audience, and to suit what they are wearing. For example Sax had naturalistic make up and I felt like this had a similar effect as Max's suit as it made her look more approachable towards students. Also the naturalistic look suggests that she is staying smart at work, and also may represent the fact that she feels confident in the way she looks, which can be traits of certain characters in We Will Rock You, such as Scaramouch and Meat.

08/11/16

Contract Laws

I did my research presentation on contract laws and researched the different aspects of it. Doing this research has helped me realise the legal aspects of all acting jobs and that there are so many precautions to take. It was also useful to know how easy it is to be tricked into getting paid the wrong amount of money, and signing a contract to say that you accept it even if it is under the minimum acting wage, and how you should approach the situation and who to hire to help.

Public Liability insurance

   

Agents

Tax Returns

Casting Directors

Union

Book Keeping

03/11/16 Lesson Analysis

On 03/11/16 We had a four hour rehearsal for We Will Rock You, to work on blocking most of act 1 and recap scenes we had already blocked. The scenes we had already blocked were the opening and then a few pages into the script, the 'Its a kinda Magic' scene. So we worked on recapping the opening, which went well as everyone remembered what they were doing and we worked collectively as an ensemble to recap it and help each other. When they were blocking the school scene, I took the time to look at my script and start learning lines to songs and lines in general, and this worked as when it came to blocking the Killer Queen scene I was able to speed it up so that it didn't take up too many peoples time and so that we could fit more scenes into the rehearsal.

To begin blocking the killer Queen song,  I found the wooden board prop on wheels that I thought Killer Queen could enter on as a Joke, and this worked effectively because I wanted to portray the character of Killer Queen as playful with her power, and I spoke to Kim and said it would add humour if Killer Queen felt she couldn't go anywhere without the help of her Yuppies and without the prop, therefore when I entered I used the Yuppies and worked on using them to get to the staging.

Overall I found this lesson useful because I was able to develop my ensemble skills by using patience and team work to recap what we had blocked before half term. I felt that because we hadn't run the scene in a week a lot of people had forgotten what we were doing but I think that it was important that we were all patient with each other so that we could continue developing the scenes effectively and then moving on to block the rest of the show.

21/10/16 Dance Lesson Analysis

In this lesson our main focus was starting choreography for 'Another One Bites The Dust' for We Will Rock You. I already thought of some initial ideas for choreography for this number inspired by a video of the London tour of We Will Rock You that I saw on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYkvswgOx20

I liked the idea of the Yuppies representing what was going to happen to Kashoggi and helping Killer Queen manipulate him by acting it out. I thought that because we are going to perform We Will Rock You with traverse staging we could have two lines of the Yuppies, one on each side of the audience and Killer Queen could walk through and on each line 'Another one bites the dust' two yuppies, opposite each other do a dance or gymnastic movement to fall to the ground to show intimidation towards Kashoggi. I thought that because my character of Killer Queen is playful it would be effective for me to 'moonwalk' through them sometimes or casually walk to show carelessness towards Kashoggi, and then at the end of the lines during the lyrics 'Hey, Im going to get you too' myself and Izzy thought it would be effective to shout this at an audience member, to involve the audience in this number and almost intimate them as well.

We were able to choreograph the dance up to the end of the second verse which I feel is successful because we were able to choreograph the dance that is not only to a long song, but choreograph it with the same standard throughout and developing the energy in certain places, for example every time I said 'another one bites the dust' the yuppies would react in canon to show the power, similar to what we did in the first chorus, and the repetition here was effective because we were able to work as a team to make the character of Killer Queen look more manipulative and also to show my idea of the character being playful, and the intimidation she is showing to Kashoggi by controlling the yuppies can look humorous at times.

Overall I found this lesson effective because I was able to develop my own character in We Will Rock You further, but also it improved my ensemble skills by allowing me to think about what everyone was doing in the song so that I could be aware of the surroundings and interpret everyone. I think I was also able to improve my choreography skills as I was able to suggest many ideas. To improve I would like to develop my movements further using exaggeration so that I can emphasise the character. I would also like to run through it when Izzy is Killer Queen so that I am taking part in the song as an ensemble character so I can work collectively and effectively with the rest of the ensemble.

14/10/16 Dance Lesson Analysis

We started this lesson with a warm up phrase using jumps and plies to warm up our muscles and to get our heart rates up to prevent injury when starting the choreography. We started with two hop/jumps changing directions and then the last one we did a roll on the floor to stand up, and as the motif continued it ended with a jump at the end. This was effective because not only was I warming up for the rest of the lesson, but I was able to improve my jumps by extending my legs, and extension was a target that I set myself last year to improve on this year.

We then recapped the dance media piece we have been working on over the last few weeks, and started to choreograph more. After we finish the trio motif that we learnt last week everyone slowly makes their way to the side of the stage and I'm left with the secret in the middle, and I was asked to choreograph a few counts to represent the fact that I had the secret and I didn't want it, so I interpreted some movements that myself and Izzy choreographed in our duet a few weeks before and developed it using space and dynamics, making sure movements were sharper in some places but slow and heavy in others to show the pain of knowing something you shouldn't. I used a lot of reaches and lunges towards everyone else to show the fact that I want to pass the secret on but no one wants to hear it. I then ran to the back of the stage to where Megan was and manipulated her using puppetry and choreographed a very short duet to represent passing it on and manipulating her. 

After myself and Megan run to where everyone is standing on stage left, I start collecting people group by group, with the warm up phrase we used at the beginning but we developed the choreography to suit both the music, and the theme of the dance, so after the second hop we simply turn with emphasis on the arm and putting our weight towards the back to make it look heavy, and head back to back stage left to collect more people, and continue this until everyone is on stage again. This worked effectively because it represented the theme of secrets and news travelling fast across the media, and the audience will understand that I had the secret and then manipulated Megan with it, which I think could represent a celebrity or a secret being spread on social network, and then I tell the rest of the group representing the public so everyone eventually knows. 

We were then asked to choreograph a solo to one count of eight using the movements from our original motif that we learnt weeks ago, and to add that to the end of what we had just choreographed. I think that this worked effectively because it represents chaos and the idea of different opinions people have on secrets and the media which links with our theme. 

Overall I think that this lesson was successful because I was able to develop my skills in dance for example, my extension and I was able to choreograph a solo part and make it link to the theme. To improve I would like to take part in contributing more ideas into the group pieces of the dance and work on making sure I am in time with the whole group so that we work together. I would also like to work on facial expressions as a personal target to represent the theme more and make the overall piece look more effective.

Costume 1- The Costume Bible

What is a costume bible?

• Costume Plot
• 
  

What determines costume design?

• Status- How a character is measured against another character.
• Personality- Colour might determine the mood and warmth of a character.
• Practicality suitability- how it will affect the way the character moves, and taking costume changes into consideration.
• Time Period- making sure the costumes are suitable to the era of when the show is set. For example, a classical theatre piece verses a contemporary theatre piece.
• Original Costume- How much is useful, and how much can be discarded, how it inspires the design.
• Lighting- changes the colour of a costume, links to practicality in terms on what it can reveal of an actor is wearing underneath the costume, whether it is intended or not.
• Budget- Strategically using your budget to create creative costumes, there are other ways of creating the character and status without expensive fabric.
• Size- Measurements of the actors size to suit both practicality and effectiveness of the costume.
• Audience- For example Children's Theatre would need appropriate costumes that will intreeg the audience. For example children would be interested in colour, texture and lights, particularly visual.

What is a costume plot?


A costume plot is for a costume designer to keep a summery of the different costumes for the different scenes, and what character wears what.

13/10/16 Lesson Analysis

I was asked to lead a vocal warm up for lesson. I decided to stick with the idea of timing and ensemble skills and taught everyone an 'in the rounds' song, I split everyone up into three groups and to start I taught everyone the three verses and suggested that we all sing them together to understand the timing of them, and then I told on group to start singing, and when they got the the second verse I told another group to start singing and then when the second group got to the second verse my group started. I feel that this warm up was effective because it made everyone focus on what everyone else was doing and this is a big ensemble skill to learn, because we always have to be aware of what others are doing so that we can learn to fit in with everyone else.

Before this lesson we were asked to familiarise ourselves with the following songs: 

-Someone like you (Adele)

-Just give me a reason (Pink)

-Don't stop believing

-You're Beautiful

I learnt these songs and the lyrics prior to the lesson as instructed and this was effective because I was able to pick up the songs easily in lessons with everyone. We started by singing the song by Adele, and we sang in time with each other, however Kim then said that we had to split in two groups and one group would sing Adele, and the other would sing Don't stop believing. At first I didn't know what to expect and I didn't think it would work, but I trusted the ensemble and as the music for Don't stop believe started, my group started singing Adele, closely followed by the group singing don't stop believing. The first time we did this it was difficult to sing the two songs together and stay in time with the music, but we soon learnt that we had to sing in time with each other to make it work, and this was a very important ensemble skill.

We then did the same with the other songs, my group sing Just Give Me a Reason and the other group sang You're beautiful. Similar to the last time, my group started first closely followed by the other group. I feel as though these songs went much better than the last because we knew that we had to sing with each other and worked on our timing with each other. I feel that doing this was effective because it allowed me to improve my timing to develop my ensemble skills further.

In the second part of the lesson we worked on different ensemble songs in We Will Rock You, and we split up into different groups to do this. My group (Izzy, Jade, Sam and Megan) were given the song 'One Vision' which is a song by the GaGa Kids, and it is the opening to act two. To start we talked about what might be happening in the song and looked at the lyrics for ideas. We thought it might be set around the fact that the GaGa kids are still oblivious to the fact that they are being manipulated, and that they are telling each other and the audience that they should only be listening to Globalsoft hence the title 'one vision', because what they think, say and do is decided for them. We then started to learn the song as none of us knew it. When we grasped the tune and the basic lyrics we quickly worked on movement before we showed it to everyone else. We talked about using robotic movements and confusion in our faces to link to the fact that we were being manipulated but it was all we knew. Then I suggested when the guitar solo starts both at the start and in the middle of the song, I would do air guitar but then everyone in the group looks weirdly at me as if I stepped out of line, similar to a bohemian, but soon stepped back into being confused and robotic. This worked effectively because it added a sense of comedy, and the show is comedy, and it also represented the GaGa Kids characters. I feel as though our singing went well but to improve we could have learnt the harmonies to work on our ensemble skills more.

11/10/16 Lesson Analysis

On 11/10/16 we began blocking We Will Rock You. We had already discussed ideas for the first few scenes to we began with the scene of 'Its a Kind Of Magic'. This scene revolves around Killer Queen and Kashaggis manipulative plans and how they can control people. We blocked the scene with Izzy's cast so I made sure to watch carefully and write the blocking for our character.

When we started working on the Yuppies in this scene, who I feel should be on stage the whole time when Killer Queen is on to represent the sense of guarding and protecting her, I volunteered to be a Yuppie so that I could work on my off cast character and look at how to develop the scene to suit an ensemble. We talked about what the yuppies would be doing in the song, so myself and Jade improvised some 'bopping' and swaying to the music when the song started to add a sense of comedy but also to make them look even more like robots, and that they have to react to whatever Killer Queen does. This way I feel that the ensemble in this number will be more together with each other and it will look like each character is the same.

When the scene finished I looked at places in scenes where I could begin planning my production role. I suggested that I film different scenes and videos to go on different screens around the stage. I was inspired by this idea by the Australian tour of We Will Rock You and the scene where Kashoggi is calling Killer Queen and she is in a bad mood. They had one big main screen and several smaller ones around it. I liked the idea of more than one screen but I thought that I could place it in different places, not just revolving around one screen.

The final scene we blocked was the song 'we are the champions'. I feel like this is an important song in We Will Rock You because it shows the characters of the bohemians having succeeded in finding real music, and therefore we need to represent the sense of 'togetherness' and this would take a lot of team work because as well as singing the lyrics we need to act with each other. We blocked it so that the two main bohemians- Gallelaio, Scaramouch were in the middle and the rest of the cast (apart from Killer Queen and Kashoggi) come on together and stand either side of the stage. We start by simply stepping and clapping in time with each other and then when the second chorus starts we start to come down the staging into the middle and start to mingle with each other. I feel as though this scene is effective because it shows the idea of love and relief, which is the theme of this song. I think that we portrayed this in our characters and this made the ensemble look much more effective because it looked more realistic towards the audience.

11/10/16

Continuing my work and research from last lesson, over the week between lessons I created my own Instagram page to advertise myself as an actor. I felt like this would be an effective idea because I could then gain followers and create a status online so that when I get auditions it boosts my popularity of the audience because of the followers that I have. This worked effectively because over the week of starting the page, I gained 200 followers for the account meaning that more directors and casting directors are more likely to find me. I found that when I posted my previous work experience I would get more followers, depending on the popularity of the act, for example I want to boost my career in stand up comedy and I feel that this Instagram account is a great way to advertise myself because I found that when I take screenshots of my recent performance of stand up comedy, and use hashtags to gain notice for the post, more people become interested and even casting directors like the photos.

Overall I found this effective because it allowed me to become more familiar with my online status and has already boosted my status further in just one week. To improve for next lesson I would like to continue working on my website so that I can link it to my Instagram page and show my followers a wider perspective on me and my work, and also show more about what I have done.

07/10/16 Dance Lesson Analysis

For the first part of this lesson we recapped the media group piece we worked on last week. We then talked about how we could develop the piece further and add more choreography whilst keeping up the standard of it so far. We decided to look at another groups motif that they worked on in previous lessons and developed it to suit the whole class. The motif was originally choreographed for three people, and they used levels, so one person was sitting on the floor, another was kneeling and the third person was standing, and we developed this so that we worked in groups of three with the same levels and motif, but did it in unison with the other groups and positioned it so that we were all in a diagonal line from the front left of the stage to the back right, and were in line with the people next to us. I feel that this was effective because it adds confusion to the blocking of the motif which links to the theme.

Media piece link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5dvXbSHEVE&feature=youtu.be

In the second part of the lesson we briefly began choreography ideas for 'Seaven seas of rhye' from We Will Rock You. Myself and a few other people came into college earlier to work on some choreography for this and some ideas of what we could include in the dance. When choreographing in lesson we worked on three positions that represent pleading and looking for help whilst sitting on the floor, for example a reach. I tried to be creative with this idea of pleading and therefore I would reach to a corner and lean on a diagonal to show the desperation in my off cast character. In one of the three movements I put both my arms to the side and leaned back and put my head back to represent 'giving up' or my character knowing that they aren't going to escape.

Overall I think that this lesson was effective because I was able to contribute ideas to seven seas of Rhye and develop my off cast character for We Will Rock You. This was effective because I feel as though it is just as important to understand your character as important as it is to play the character. To improve seven seas of rhye I would like to work on facial expressions, as now I know how the character reacts to this situation I would like to portray it on my face to make it more clear to the audience.

For the media piece I would like to contribute more ideas for choreography because I feel as though although I can pick up the choreography fast which is a strength, I would like to start contributing ideas so that I can help others and make the media piece improve.

30/09/16 Dance Lesson Analysis

Following the research that myself and Izzy did last lesson, we started to choreograph a duet routine with the stimulus of the Katie Hopkins quote we found. We looked deeper into it and started analysing the different feelings of both Katie Hopkins, and people with black ethnicity. It is obvious from the way the tweet is written that Katie Hopkins felt angered at the fact that people believe that there aren't equal rights, and that she feels that everything is equal, but many other people don't believe this and we often see news stories revolving around gun crimes aimed towards people with black ethnicity, particularly in America. Myself and Izzy felt that this showed that Katie Hopkins was shallow, and was controlling what society should think because of her power on social media and we therefore came up with the idea of puppetry and making it look like one of us is controlling the other.

After discussing this we began choreographing our piece. We started by facing each other and sitting on the floor with our legs bent in front of us, and holding our knees. We chose this position because we felt that it looked neutral and it would leave the audience wondering who was going to be in control, which links to the theme of media in terms of the confusion. We continued choreographing and thought about how we could portray the idea of opposites and made a decision to perform some movements in the opposite direction.

After the first half of the lesson we had choreographed one minute, and we felt that we could now contribute ideas to the group piece we were to begin working on. We then joined the rest of the class and worked on a group dance with the same stimulus of media, and the theme of how it can control people, and the lies it tells. We started choreographing movement to spoken word. We all stood still facing different direction, and Izzy said the first line whilst two people moved. Everyone then stood still again, and I said the second line and the two people moved again. Then when the third line was said we all moved in unison, the same movement from last week's motif where we stepped forward, covered our mouth with our right hand and did a side lunge to the left. I felt that this was effective because it showed the manipulation of the media and that it started with two people hearing something and then everyone joined in in what they thought was true, and this shows manipulation.

To improve from this lesson I would have liked to have explored more contact movements with Izzy, by one of us physically control the other using their hands, as well as the puppetry we explored. I feel that by doing this we would achieve the idea of looking into manipulation and it would have made the theme clearer.

06/10/16 Lesson Analysis

For this lesson we split the casts into different groups, the bohemians, the yuppies and galileo and Scaramouche. I was with the Yuppies with Izzy, Jordy and Sam because our characters Killer Queen and Kashoggi control the yuppies. We had to learn and perform a song by the yuppies ensemble, and I suggested to the group that we sing Killer Queen, because this is the song where we meet the controller of the Yuppies and they first sing as an ensemble. I feel that 'Killer Queen' is the yuppies biggest ensemble piece purely because what they are presenting.

To begin working as an ensemble for this song, we started to sing it through a few times, to understand the melody, and then we worked on developing it to make it sound different, by adding harmonies and listening for the ensemble's parts when killer Queen is singing. Near the end of the song during the line 'to absolutely drive you wild', there is a high note that I wasn't confident with so Izzy helped me achieve the confidence to reach it and I worked on using my diaphragm to achieve this. I feel that this was effective because this note is the last note of the song, and in my opinion, it leaves an impression of Killer Queen the character, to the rest of the audience for the rest of the show.

Once we had successfully learnt the song, we worked on choreography and blocking the number. I think that a successful ensemble should not only sing the song well, but perform it as well, and make it fit with the tone of the song. I suggested the idea of robotic movements because the audience learn that they have been brainwashed by Killer Queen. The group agreed and therefore we started choreographing robotic movements and walks. I feel like this is effective because it immediately gives the audience the idea of control and manipulation, which links to the theme of the musical.

We then decided to sing it through a few times again, now that we were comfortable with the movement and choreography so that we could make the performance look as effective as possible. We spoke about adding humour to the piece around Killer Queens manipulation, for example when she sings 'playful as a pussy cat',  I suggested to Izzy that we play on this and manipulate the yuppies (Jordy and Sam' by walking around them and going up to them and talking into their faces to scare them and to show control towards the audience.

To add more humour to the performance myself and Izzy interpreted a prop, and thought that instead of Killer Queen walking onto the stage, she could roll and a skateboard type prop. I used the prop in this rehearsal and Izzy supported me by my side walking, because the prop was difficult to use on my own, but we thought this would be a comical way to interpret the yuppies, and see them helping Killer Queen because whilst she has power and control, I feel as though she isn't very independent.

To finish the rehearsing we felt that to make it better we could interact with the audience as Killer Queen, not the Yuppies. I think that Killer Queen could effectively interact with the audience to try and scare them and show the manipulation in her character, but have the Yuppies looking straight ahead to show the fact that they are brainwashed and robotic. To do this I suggested to Izzy that on 'I'm going to get you' we lean towards the audience and single out one person and sing it to them, to again, show the power and also add comedy.

When we performed to the class, I feel that it was successful because we listened to each other so that the timing of our singing was good, and we were able to find the timing for the harmonies as well, which is what a successful ensemble should be able to do. When it got to Killer Queens verse in the song and myself and Izzy came on from the back of the stage, I could tell that the comedy idea with the prop had worked because the audience were laughing, making the idea in my opinion, successful. When we did the line 'playful as a pussy cat' I improvised and started to jump around Sam to create humour, but also to link with my initial ideas for characterisation of the fact that my interpretation of Killer Queen is that she is playful in a manipulative way, and I think this was effective because, again it made the audience laugh.

To improve I think that we could have choreographed more robotic movements for the Yuppies, and worked on characterisation more because I felt that although I have initial thoughts on my character, I felt that my performance was a bit confusing in terms on the way my character introduces herself to the audience.

Understanding The Elements of a Musical Ensemble

Elements of an ensemble: 

A musical ensemble is anything musical that involves more than one person. The elements include-

• Band Members- I think that making sure that every band member has the same level of confidence and contribution will help make a successful ensemble. I feel that it is important to ensure that the band members get along as well, to make sure that there aren't negative vibes that could potentially effect performing and the process of rehearsals. Band members must contribute towards what they are performing which will link into everyone feeling equal and like they 'have a say'. I also think that if every band member contributes ideas for their performances whether it be the song writing, blocking, organising solos etc, it will make the piece more sentimental for everyone and will mean something to each and every band member, and will also look more enjoyable towards the audience. 

• Organisation- I think that this means making sure that there are key dates set for rehearsals, and making sure that everyone is fully aware with what they are doing. This could be in terms of making sure everyone is confident with lines, or picking up the songs, or just simply ensuring that everyone is aware of each other. It can also mean making sure everyone is prepared for rehearsals by learning song lyrics, and harmonies and looking for new ideas to contribute to the numbers that will make it look more effective. 

• Communication: I feel that this skill can be used both in rehearsals and on stage. I think that as an ensemble it is important to communicate with others, and ensure that everyone is being treated fairly to prevent arguments and/or upset. I think that this applies to making sure everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute ideas and to change things within numbers. This also comes with listening skills, and the ability to allow people to have their say, and to understand each other from different perspectives. Communication can also be the performers interaction with the audience. For example, if they are singing a pop song, it'll be more effective to make eye contact with members of the audience to make it more fun and personal. They can also make eye contact with each other to show their relationships with each other to make it more enjoyable to watch as an audience member. 

• Co-operation: I think that this is an important skill to have as an ensemble member because being co-opertive comes with commitment towards the ensemble. For example, if someone is taking a bit longer to learn something within the ensemble, then you must be co-operative and contribute your help towards them to ensure that everyone feels comfortable and confident when working with each other.

• Rehearsal: A productive rehearsal means that everyone is more confident and will generally work better together. For example if everyone is contributing a lot of energy to the rehearsal, then not only will more get done, but everyone will feel happier which will change the mode of a rehearsal to positive, and this will affect the ensembles overall performance in a positive way as well. Attendance also contributes to a successful ensemble, which means that everyone should be at every rehearsal in a positive mood, to reassure everyone that you are committed and are ready to work.

S CLUB 7

I have chosen to look into S CLUB 7, who were a successful ensemble in 1999-2003, and I am researching them to find out what made them successful as an ensemble and reasons for their decision to disband in 2003.

The band was formed by Simon Fuller, who was a former manager of the band 'Spice Girls'. He was fired by spice girls, when the girls decided that they wanted to manage themselves. Fuller had a huge reputation of producing excellent bands at this point from his history with Spice Girls, and signing Madonna's first hit 'Holiday'.

He came up with a concept for S Club 7, and auditioned over 10,000 people in order to find the members to form this new band. He worked alongside producers from 19 Management who were to sign the band once it was formed. The 'S' in S Club 7 stands for 'Simon', as he was the creator and intended to work closely alongside the band, and of course, there were to be 7 members, hence the '7'.

S Club 7 was successful for their 5 years of their ensemble. They started their careers together in 'Miami 7', which lead them to make singles such as 'Bring it all back', and 'Reach'. Throughout the years, S Club 7 changed their styles of music based on what was popular at the times they were released and what their audiences were looking for.

S Club 7 announced in 2002, that Paul Cattermole was to leave the band, to start another career in Rock music. Therefore the band renamed 'S Club 7' to simply 'S Club'. They then had another year of success as S Club, and even made a hit movie 'Seeing Double' as well as releasing singles 'alive', and eventually their last single 'Goodbye', where the band reminisced over their time as S Club 7, and S Club and they eventually announced their disband in 2003, which was a mutual decision between the band, which means that they all agreed that it was for the best. I feel that as an ensemble, it is effective for mutual decisions because it allows everyone to have a say. It is said by Wikipedia that a lot of fans felt 'betrayed' and 'disappointed' by their single 'Goodbye' which resulted in their announcement to break up, which reflects the bands positive impact on their audience and how it upset them that they had to move on. This shows their strong communication with their audience.

Members of the band:

Tina Barrett- Tina Barrett was born in 1976, in Hammersmith, London. She attended 'Arts Educational School' in London for eight years, and soon after, she landed her first professional performance job as a dancer in a pantomime. Whilst attending a dance studio in Fulham, she became friends with Alesha Dixon, and Sabrina Washington, and they created a singing and dancing trio named 'Face2face'. When the trio started working on their debut album, Barrett left when she was accepted into S CLUB 7, after auditioning in front of Simon Fuller. I was surprised to find this information as it seems as though she didn't co-operate with her original ensemble and left them for another group, however due to her being the lead of S CLUB 7, I think that this was her reason to stay in the band.

Paul Cattermole- Paul Cattermole was born in 1977 in Hertfordshire. He was a member of National Youth Music Theatre, and attended Mountview Drama School to study a theatre and acting course. He was scouted by Simon Fuller and asked to attend the S Club 7 auditions after he appeared in a show. Paul was the first member of S Club 7 to leave the group in 2002, to pursue a career in the rock genre of music, causing the band to rename themselves S Club. 

Rachel Stevens- Rachel Stevens was born in 1978 in Southgate, London. Rachel studied at London College of Fashion and got a diploma in business originally, and along side that, started a career in business for a film company, but that was when she lost interest and decided that she wanted to be a singer instead, therefore started to pursue a career in the singing industry. At age 21 she joined S Club 7 after being scouted by Simon Fuller. She was the only band member who didn't audition, and instead was scouted by producers of 19 management and asked her to submit demo tapes for Simon Fuller to listen to. 

Jo O'Meara- Jo O'Meara was born in 1979 in Romford. Although Jo didn't attend a college or university, her school grades show her excellence for Singing, Dancing, and acting. O'Meara, similarly to Cattermole, was approached by producers from 19 management, and was asked to audition for S Club 7.

Hannah Spearritt- Hannah Spearritt was born in 1981 in Great Yarmouth. She, like Cattermole, was a member of National Youth Music Theatre. From the age of 12 she participated in local amateur productions and before S Club 7, she appeared in West End Musicals, and television programs as small roles. She met Cattermole at National Youth Music Theatre. I think that the history between Spearritt and Cattermole would have been useful towards the ensemble because it meant that they knew each other well enough to be confident with each other and towards the rest of the group. Spearritt saw an advert for S Club 7 in The Stage newspaper, which lists thousands of auditions for various professional job opportunities, and was accepted into S Club 7 after a series of auditions for Fuller.

Bradley McIntosh- Bradley McIntosh was known for being the 'cool' member of the band which inspired a lot of the younger boys to dress like him and want to be like him. He was born in 1981 in Lambeth, London, to Jamaican musical parents who were known for their band 'The Cool Notes'. He auditioned for the band S Club 7 and was successful after a series of auditions for Fuller. Like Hannah, he saw the advertisement in The Stage Newspaper. 

Jon lee- Jon Lee was born in Devon, England in 1982 and was the youngest member of the band. He was brought up performing in shows, and achieved his first main role in West End's Oliver when he was 13. Before S Club he also appeared as small roles in TV programs such as 'Eastenders'. He auditioned for S Club 7 after seeing the advertisement in The Stage.

Audiences:

The band was originally a pop genre, rising to fame in Miami 7, which was a children's musical program, similar to the nowadays programs such as 'Glee', therefore it attracted a lot of attention from teenagers and children in the 90's and 00's. Also the pop genre had a lot of attention from teens, therefore it was likely that they would be the audience. 

Miami 7 Opening Credits

Link to image: http://keywordsuggest.org/gallery/788206.html

The program was about a British band who had moved to Miami, America, and a lot of the audience was British as it was aired on popular British television channel CBBC. The series soon after aired in America, which attracted more teen audiences from America. The show was renamed 'S Club 7 in Miami' for American audiences. This inspired a lot of their hit songs and this program is how the band got well known by audiences world wide. The opening theme 'Bring it back' and the response it had from fans inspired the band to release it in June 1999 as their debut single. The video to this single is below. It still remains a popular song, with over 4 Million views on Youtube, which is a modern networking site, and when the song first aired it sold over 650,000s copies in the UK, and reached a platinum certificate in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. The four girls of the group shared the lead vocals of this song, and the boys were the backing singers and dancers for the music video. 

Miami 7 saw the seven members of the band in their own exaggerated characters, based on their personalities in real life. This would mean that different members of the audience could identify and relate with different members of the band. For example, Hannah was a playful character, given the S Club 7 colour of Yellow. Rachel was the popular, pretty girl who inspired so many girls to want to look like her. She always had good fashion as well on the show, which I think may reflect her background in Fashion school. 

Their TV show 'Miami 7', adapted into another TV series 'L.A 7', which was where their characters moved to Hollywood to seek a record deal, similar to how their characters moved to Miami. The theme song to this was 'Reach', which was arguably one of their most successful singles, reaching number 1 on the UK charts. This series was released after they had won 'British Breakthrough act', which shows their perseverance and their motivation to work harder and achieve more.

After the band released their debut single, and had amazing responses from all audiences, they continued to release more music. Their second single was 'S Club Party' which was on number 2 of the UK charts and number 1 in New Zealand. I think that this would have been encouraging for the band at this point, because their music and status was more recognised and they were becoming more popular within different audiences. The teenage audience grew as their music was getting more popular, and they got less attention from the child audiences, which meant that they were taken more seriously in the music industry. S Club Party video is below: 

After watching this video I noticed the change between the cheesy lyrics of 'Bring it all back', and this song. I feel that the change in audience must have influenced S Club 7 to explore a wider genre of their music, and begin giving everyone in the ensemble equal opportunities. For example the girls would sing the chorus, and the boys would join in with spoken word in unison to match the theme of the song which was a 'party'. 

Fans responded to this single positively, and the difference in genres between 'pop' and 'dance pop' encouraged a wider range of the teenage audience as well, and responded well to their third single as well by continuing to purchase them, and allowing them to both reach number 1 in the charts, and achieve high rankings in the charts worldwide. 

Their growing popularity meant that the band had busier schedules and quotes suggest that they often felt tired and jet lagged from so much travelling to balance their music careers and Miami 7. And Wikipedia have quoted on Paul Cattermole saying 'Kind of dreamscape in your head', from the amount of excess rehearsals and their continuous busy schedules. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S_Club_7#1999.E2.80.932000:_S_Club_television_series). I feel that this shows a successful ensemble because despite having these busy schedules and feeling tired a lot, S Club 7 didn't let this show in their music videos, or their interviews.

S club 7 adapted their music to suit what was in the charts. For example, they started to release R&B songs such as 'Never had a dream come true', and funk numbers such as 'Don't Stop Movin'. These would have encouraged the audiences to remain interested in the band. This would have come with communication skills. The band would have to communicate with their audiences and to focus on what is popular in the charts, to make sure that their music suited what the audiences wanted. 

S Club 7 had their first tour in 2001-2002, called 'S Club Party Tour'. The tour is something that the band all wanted to do and made a group decision to make it happen. They had a lot of rehearsals from early 2001- may 2001. The first performance was in May 2001, and it captivated the audience of 13,000 people, and this showed how many people S club 7 had attracted. In the video below, we see the audience cheering and chanting for the band to enter the stage, before the concert had even started, and the audience had filled the whole of the venue. Throughout the video we see the audience cheering and singing along to S Club 7, which shows the amount of popularity the band had gained before this tour.

Throughout their live performances, the whole band continued to show high energy, and a high standard performance. This would have been from their long rehearsals, and making sure that they are all confident with what they are doing. This would have come from focus, commitment and team work to ensure that everyone in the group was positive, and maintained high energy to captivate the audience for the whole concert.

Rehearsal Process:

I haven't found any sources describing the S Club 7 rehearsal process, or videos. However I looked into their videos and interviews and I feel as though the band would have been focused during their rehearsals. I think this because their videos and performances were always full of energy and well rehearsed. Every band member brought a high level of energy to their numbers and this is important for a successful ensemble because everyone needs to be giving the same amount of energy so that no one stands out for being 'worse' than the rest or 'better' than the rest. I think that for S Club 7 particularly, who often split all of the verses between the different band members and gave equal amounts of lyrics to everyone,  it was important that all of them put in a lot of energy to ensure that the videos and performances were interesting to watch. I know from my previous sources in Wikipedia (link above) that they had busy schedules and rehearsals because they were recording new singles, and rehearsing for Miami 7 at the same time which would have meant in order to make them look as effective as they did, they would have needed to bring positive energy to the rehearsals. This comes with Co-operation and communication, which are important ensemble skills (which I have stated in a list at the top of the post).

I think that giving each member a different personality worked effectively because it meant that they all looked different, whilst performing the same number. For example, particularly in 'Bring it all back' you can see the quirkiness of each individual character and this made them all stand out as 'different', and this would have meant that they could have contributed towards their own movement and what made them feel most comfortable when performing the songs and dances. I think that this changed in 'S Club Party', because they were all acting 'cool' and they all seemed the same, therefore it was less enjoyable to watch. I think that this was due to their demanding popularity and they were trying to figure out what worked and what didn't. Due to the fact that S Club 7 wasn't as successful as 'Bring it all back', it changed their next singles and music videos to do what suit their fans.

For their first tour 'S Club Party Tour' in 2001, it was said by wikipedia that S Club 7 rehearsed 'most of early 2001', and the actual concert was in May, which means that they were rehearsing for around 5 months. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S_Club_7#Tours

I only found one rehearsal video and it was for a live performance. It doesn't say what the date is, however I counted all 7 of them in the video, which means it was before 2002, when Paul Cattermole left the band. I think that a lot of them showed focus when running through the technical aspects of the performance, which shows professionalism. I also think that the fact that they focused meant that they would have got a lot done in a short amount of time.

Relationships:

From what I understand by watching interviews, S Club 7 were close in person, as they were in their songs. I feel that it is important as an ensemble member to get along with the rest of the band because it means that it is more efficient for everyone. A lot of modern day bands such as 'One Direction' have disbanded due to disagreements in the group, however S Club 7 maintained their relationships with each other to this day.

Hannah Spearritt and Paul Cattermole started dating in 2001. This was when the band was at it's most popular. During this time was when the band released their funk single "Don't stop movin'", and the fact that their relationship isn't obvious in the music video, meant that their relationship wasn't part of S Club 7, and therefore they remained professional which would have made rehearsals easier for the rest of the ensemble, by the fact that they weren't distracted.

I think that the different genres in music that the band released, would have had an impact on their communication skills both with each other, and the audience. They would have needed to focus on what the fans were demanding, what was popular on the charts, and what suited their band. Due to the fact that each member of the band had a different personality, I could imagine that this would have been difficult to discuss because they all suit different things, however their songs achieving so much success would have suggested that they had good communication skills and understanding for each other.

Below I have linked an interview that S Club had. It says in the video title that it was in 2000, however the woman interviewing them refers to them as 'S Club' as opposed to 'S Club 7', and there are only 6 of them, which would meant that Paul had left the group at this point. Also, their movie 'Seeing Double' came out in 2003, which would have been when this interview was. In the interview the ensemble are listening to each other, and laughing with each other which could resemble close relationships with each other. I would imagine that this would have helped them achieve more in rehearsals, and allowed rehearsals to be more positive.

Other Bands at the time:

Spice Girls- Of course Spice Girls had S Club 7's manager, but fired him, which caused S Club 7 to form. The Spice Girls had similar genre of music as S club 7, however because they were all female, they only attracted attention from mostly female audiences. The Spice Girls did however, have individual characters- Posh Spice, Baby Spice, Scary Spice, Ginger Spice, and Sporty Spice. All in which attracted a wider range of the female audiences with their quirky, individual looks and statements. The Spice Girls started to manage themselves in 1998, and broke up in 2001. The reasons for this was in 1998, they lost one member due to 'differences' between the group which suggests lack of communication, and agreement with each other. There were law suits against Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) due to the fact that the girls had signed a contract to attend a photoshoot as the 'Spice Girls'. A lot of controversy between the group was caused due to plans changing and a lot of opportunities for the Spice Girls being lost. This was due to the fact that audiences expected the 5 girls, as opposed to 4. Similarly to S Club 7, as once they became S Club, they only had a year more of success before they announced their disband, whereas Spice Girls had 2 years before they broke up  unofficially.

I think that the fact that the Spice Girls didn't announce their break up to the audience shows lack of communication towards their audience and admirers, whereas S Club announced their disband on one of their live performances, which made it a more memorable moment between themselves, and their viewers.

What Makes S CLUB 7 a good ensemble?

I think that overall, I have found out that S Club 7 was a good ensemble, because they were able to form a group together from complete strangers, and find a ground in which they can communicate with each other to form a group that suits each of them, and that reaches out to a wide range of audience. I think that their mutual decision to disband shows their strength as a group, because they all wanted to move on and find new opportunities, and instead of all leaving the group, they discussed it and worked it out together to show good co operation skills and communication skills between them. I also think that their ability to change their genre of music per song (remaining mainly within pop) shows their relationship with their audience and their want to make them pleased. I feel that their success and their careers show that their band worked hard, and this would have taken focus, and professionalism in rehearsals which meant that they would have to be positive and energised as an ensemble should be.

Our Presentation:

In groups we devised a short performance of our collaboration of research into two different bands. My group researched S club 7, therefore our devised performance was based on how the group was formed, and their journey up to when they split. We split the research so that everyone had something to say and we all spoke in our characters from the band. For example I researched Hannah from S Club 7 and played her in our presentation. I spoke about the research I found such as when she was born and how she joined the band. We all spoke about similar facts based on our characters, simply when they were born, where they were born and how they joined the band.

My contribution to the project was the research into Miami 7 and bringing the knowledge of the bands first appearance together. I feel as though this was important information because this is how the band was formed and is how they were discovered by a large audience.

Our Presentation Project: