Thursday 6th December

In todays lesson we focused on evaluating Snow Queen, the production side of it all.

What did you learn during this production process that was most valuable?

I learnt that you shouldnt leave things til the last minute. In this show the whole production process was very rushed. We had ideas of what to make but didnt get on with it til the very last minute. Also I learnt how important it is that set and props are made strong and durable. There were various pieces of set/props that got made very early on and then by the time the performance came they had been broken and fixed so many times. If they are made durable and strong from the start they will last and wont need to be fixed constantly. And finally I learnt that set/props need to be atleast double the size of the real life object. This is based on the flowers. We made the flowers all quite small, they were larger than normal flowers but not by much. They need to be atleast double the size of a standard flower so the audience can clearly see them. I do feel I learnt a lot and all things that I can take on with me to future performances.

Which sessions, or part of sessions, were the most interesting?...and the least interesting?

The most interesting sessions for me where when we got the most set done. I knew we were against the time so doing loads of the set felt sucessful and that we were getting stuff done. Also this is the sessions I learnt the most it felt. I havnt done much set or props before so doing this was really interesting. The least interesting session was doing our presentations. We all had to do a presentation on a specified area of the theatre. The problem was we didnt have much time to do any work on them so overall it was just pointless us trying to do a presentation, especially when we had lots of work to do on set.

What skill or production role would you like to explore further/develop next term as a result of The Snow Queen production this term?

I would like to develop my production role in make up. I did make up for The Snow Queen but I felt the role was taken over by others and that I didnt get to take on the role much. I am fascinated by it with the designs, colours, effects, all of it. I would like to be able to create my own designs and then do them on someone who has a big role in the show. Also I would like to explore the role of set/props. In The Snow Queen everyone in the class worked on the set and props and I helped make things but never personally designed anything or made something big which I would love to do. I am fascinated at the making side of it.

How effective was your contribution to the production process of The Snow Queen?

I dont feel I contributed enough in my specified area, make up. I was doing this along side Jess but felt she took charge which was fine but meant I didnt get a chance to put across many ideas of do all the make up. I contributed a lot in the making of props, I spent a lot of time making flowers in whatever material we could find. I also made a huge load of the sparkly leaves which were used in the robber scene. I never missed an academy session and never a tech lesson so my attendance was always full for this, meaning I contributed a huge amount of time.

Is there anything you would change if you did it again?

If we could do this again one thing I would change was our timing. We left way too much til last minute which caused a lot of stress nearer the end. We spent too many lessons all just focusing on working on one thing and not all contributing fully. Another thing I would change if we did it again would be the overall flower garden. It felt very messy and looked random and unorganised. We used so many different materials that there was no theme with the flowers, all random colours and sizes and designs. If we could do this again I think all the flowers should be the same size, bigger than what we did, all made using the same design idea and the colours to be some of the same. Also I think if we did it again the sleigh should be used. A lot of people put time and effort into making it but it didnt get used at all during the perfoemance which was a shame. To ensure it got used we could of made it more accesible with getting in and out. Lizzie, who was playing the snow queen, had big trouble getting in and out of it which was what ended up stopping it being used.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed working on the tech side of The Snow Queen but wish I was involved more in my specified job role.

Here are some pictures.

This is the Flower Garden.

This is the King and Queen castle.

This is the forest scene in which the robbers take place their robbing.

Thursday 29th November 2012

I felt this was quite a relaxed lesson, although I think we underestimated how much work we have to be done.

Me and some of the girls worked on props/set in todays lesson. We mainly focused on making more flowers for the flower garden. The flowers are all made very differntly so far. Some have been made using a yoghurt pot covered in material as the centre and then material all shooting out of it.
A range of materials and colours have been used to make it various.
The sizing of the flowers also vary. At the moment they arnt that big but I think we will change that
as show set and props are meant to be like double or more the size of the real object so the audience can see them.


This is how I want the flower garden to look but obviously understand this isnt that possible.


We got a lot done in this lesson but feel we could of done more if we had more materials. We are struggling finding things to make flowers out of now and are trying to be as imaginative as possible but finding it hard.


What went well is the teamwork in this lesson. We all worked together to get as much done as we can, taking turns with glues, passing things to eachother.

Thursday 22nd November

In todays tech lesson we focused on making mood boards, these will be displayed at the showing of Snow Queen in a exhibition before the performance. We had to create a mood board on our specified areas, mine was make up. We did this using the resources we had which were newspapers, magazines and various pieces of material. We all took on a different approach of how to set it out, mine was more like a mindmap where as others chose the idea of it being more like a border around the centre piece which was the words. Doing this task was really intetersting for looking at how colours go together, also looking at patterns. I found some really interesting things in some magazines including wall paper patterns which gave me some good ideas for the snow queens makeup.

This image is me working on the mood board.

This lesson worked well in several ways. It gave me some really strong positive ideas for the make up of the snow queen. It was also nice to just sit and talk with others in the class, when doing musical theatre you have to trust and be close with your peers or it makes performing and working with them hard so its nice to have a chance to bond more.

Thursday 18th october 2012

In todays lesson we was working on tech. To begin with we carried on reading through the story. We then developed our mind maps that we began creating last lesson. Our mind map is focusing on our chosen area of the theatre. I have chosen make up. I chose this as I felt this is the one I found most fascinating, also it was something I have not worked on before and enjoy trying new things. For each character I have done a mind map of what I think they're make up should be. I have added notes about what make up I think should be used, colour schemes, natural or not, etc.

We then was told what 2 areas/worlds we as a group have to create. Our performance is split into 4 worlds, each positioned at the corners of the room. There will also be areas which are where the characters travel to the worlds. Our class has been split into 2, each groups got 2 areas to focus on and my groups area is forest and the palace.

Thursday 11th October 2012

To begin this lesson we had to do a presentation to the class of the specified area of the theatre we had focused on. I had foolishly misunderstood instructions given last lesson so came to the lesson very unprepared. I did my presentation on the front of house and I focused on Ushers. I spoke about what I had researched and found out and also drew a rough drawing off their uniform now days and their uniform over 20 years ago. I feel this could of gone a lot better, I came unprepared and if I had been prepared I would of done more research and got pictures to pass around and more facts. Doing presentations is good for boosting confidence and also depending on the person but some students learn more listening to a friend that a teacher.

Next we watched the trailer for Snow Queen to get an idea on set, costume, colours, makeup and lighting. This is the trailer.

From this trailer we could see the main colours being used were blues, silvers and whites. Also that at times it needs to have a very cosy, warm feel, for example in the Grandmas house and at times it needs to be very dark and spooky. This can be shown by using homely props and using warm colours like orange. The main piece of set used is the sleigh. The makeup for the 2 children is very naturalistic but the make up for the snow queen is major! She has a white face, most probably done using face paint. The costumes for the children are quite old fashioned, they wear mainly dark colours. The snow queen has a massive white cloak on, she also has a black dress underneath. Having the white and black is very
strong and sharp. Looking at this gave us a very strong idea of the show and how we can do it ourselves.

We now began looking at another side of the theatre. I chose make up. This was something I haven't worked on before and was intrigued by it. We did a mind map and commented on each scene/character depending on what we are focusing on.

This is the outcome of my mind map.

Gerda & Kai

• Naturalistic look as they are only children.
• Use basic stage make up, e.g foundation, mascara, eyeliner, lipstick and blusher. To make them more expressive.
• Kai could have a more whiter foundation used for when he is caught by the snow queen to show he has been taken by her and that he no longer has his own expressions.

Grandma

• As the Grandma is someone younger having to look older we will have to use make up to make them look older so the character is believable to the children.
• Use a pale foundation to make their skin look pale.
• Use a skin coloured eye liner pencil to give her wrinkles.
• A light red lipstick to brighten her up and to make her more friendly and happy.

Snow Queen

• She needs to have white face paint to make her look extremely pale, almost ice like.
• Her eyes can be made bold using eyeliner.
• Using a glitter on her face will give her a more snow feel.
• Very dark red lipstick will give her a harsh feel.
• Maybe add patterns in a silver colour next to her eyes.

Flower Garden characters

• Basic stage make up e.g. eyeliner, mascara, foundation, blusher and lipstick. To just make their expressions bolder.
• Use face paint to create flower patterns on their face.
• Use bright colours.

Princess/Prince

• Use just natural basic stage make up e.g. eyeliner, mascara, foundation, blusher and lipstick.
• Give them a more royal feel by using make up.

Crow

• His face is hidden by a mask so no make up will need to be used.

Reindeer

• His face is half covered using a mask.
• The part of his face on show will be face painted white to match the rest of his costume.

Robbers

• They are wearing masks to cover their eyes.
• Basic stage make up to be used.

Gosspis

• All very natural make up as they are meant to just be people from the village.

Frozen Children

• They need a icy look, this can be established using white face paint.

Next we went upstairs to the computer room to work on tech research. Using pintrest I researched makeup and this is the outcome.

This is various ideas for the snow queen.

This is an idea for the flower children.

This next image is make up that can be used for various characters including the queen and princess, the robbers and the gossips.

What I fet went best in my lesson was the research on pintrest, I got so many new ideas and was really inspired by the pictures I found. What didnt work well was the presentation. I really regret not being organised and listening to tasks given as could of been the task a lot better.

Thursday 4th October 2012

This was our first lesson on technical stuff so to begin with we were given an introduction to this section of the course. Overall I feel very positive about the course.

To give us an understanding of how many roles there are we drew out the theatre from an overhead view, we then drew in detail each section and what staff are used. I was suprised how many staff there where that I didnt even think off. I learnt that the lighting section used quite a few different staff members. Also all the different areas of work that are involved in the front of house, ticket office, merchandise, bar, cleaners, ushers.
We then drew a person who represented ourselves, or a stick man in my case, and put that person somewhere on the drawn out theatre. The position represented an area we want to focus on. I chose front of house. Being aware of the wide range of job oppotunites in the front of house for the first part of research I am going to focus on is ushers.

Next we visited the National Theatre website, http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk, and went onto their collection of videos about each area of the theatre. We watched a video about flight. The video featured a scene in which around 5 actors were all featured in a flying sequence. In the storyline these actors have just fallen into some water/the sea and are currently underwater. Using lighting, sound and movement they create a very realistic look of under water. The actors all move in a way that is slow and like swimming. I didnt realise that the flying could be done in this way. I learnt in this lesson the skill and work it takes to create such a successful scene.

For the next part of this lesson we were on the computers. I began using pintrest to find images related to the front of house. Here are some images I found.

This is of a merchandise stand at a theatre. Its very important that the stand is very easily visble and stands out. If its not eye catching then the audience wont be interested. Also the price list should be easily seen so people can know whats on offer and the prices.

This picture shows a group of ushers. This image is old, its not recent. The uniform worn is very posh and smart. The ushers are the people the audience will first see so its important that they give a good impression. Nower days the ushers and both male and female but as you can see in this image its only male. So throughout the years the usual male tradition has faded out.

Overall the lesson was a good success. I learnt about the theatre and the staff involved in each area. I have chosen my first area of research, front of house, and im very happy with my choice. I hope that throughout this course I can gain a strong understanding of the technical side of theatre.