20.5. Scene 8

Today we devised scene 8. Some of the group had already started the discussion on this scene on Monday and here is some of the discussion I then caught up with during the next lesson:

• Political view: Everyone is corrupt. The judge and prosecutor have been paid off by the gangsters and the witnesses are most definitely all lying. The only ones who are innocent are the Defense council and Fish, but even Fish has been drugged, so that e won't say anything. 
• To show this we can use Gests of the characters, but also the scene makes multiple jokes in it, which indicate what side is everyone on
• Music is the Chopin Funeral March, but as the scene goes forward the music will get faster and faster to become this disoriented dance music. This will show how in the scene the lies are getting thicker and thicker and the tension of the scene should follow the rise as well.
• Sophie had an idea of having a video of an actual funeral on the background, but have be hacked so that it turn into a 'UI' sign
• We talked about this, and I feel we need to try it out, but it might also confuse the audience. They might think it is an actual funeral or confuse about why it is there. I do think having the UI-sign is a good idea though, to show that it is Ui and his men indeed who have rigged this trial. 
• I suggested during the devising that we could show a scale on the screen that throughout the scene keeps getting heavier on Ui's side, representing the corruption of the court and how it is more on Ui's side.
• We would have the stage divided into two as well, the other side being the side of people telling the truth, and then those who are working for Ui to win the trial and get Fish sentenced. At the part where Hook is testifying we can have him actually change sides, since it is pointed that he is beaten up in between two parts of the scene, where he also changes his statement.

We wanted a way to show the audience the different parts of the trial, also showing that some time has passed. It was suggested that we could use boxing match type 'Round'-signs as indications of each sections. This would also loosely connect to our showgirl styled prologue, since in boxing matches they pretty much use showgirls to prance around the ring to show off the signs.

As the judge, I would be showing the different signs, since the judge usually decides when the trial goes on break. This can also bring a more humorous side to the scene, since showgirls are usually unnaturally happy and my judge character needs to be very serious. Sophie promised to make these signs in a very simple way, with black paint on white paper, which will work perfectly. I will be ahead of creating the scale, since it was my idea. 

   I have a few ideas about how to do the scale, but I will really have to try them out to see which one works the best. My first idea is to simply cut the shape of it from cardboard and then have someone move it between each section of the stage behind the canvas. This might not work very well with the shadow and we would also need someone backstage to do it for us. Another idea is to animate it, but honestly, I have no idea how to do it. Also it would have to be perfectly timed to have it match up with our acting, which means this might be a too unpredictable method to use. As theatrical actors, even tho timing is important, there always has to be room for mistakes and the animation won't leave too much for our possible mess-ups. I could also simply make different pictures, which each have the scale slowly tipping to one side, but depending on if we can black the project in between each picture, it might look very tacky and too much like stop-motion animation, where we would rather have it smooth. 

   

In this scene, we really need to be more exaggerated than we were in the rehearsals. This is scene is a farce( "In theatre, a farce is a comedy that aims at entertaining the audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, and thus improbable. Farces are often highly incomprehensible plot-wise (due to the many plot twists and random events that occur), but viewers are encouraged not to try to follow the plot in order to avoid becoming confused and overwhelmed.") of a normal court, so our Gests need to extremely clear, but also we need to show the corruption of the characters even more over the top than we would usually. For example, the look between the Judge and Prosecutor needs to be big and clear, and I feel that the Judge could even wink when looking at the prosecutor, to make it clear that they are up to something, or rather simply playing with the innocent Defense Council who doesn't know what is going on. Other ways we can show the characters are corrupt and have even planned the whole trial is by for example having Givola answer the question too quickly, but also have Dockdaisy say her confession as if she would have just memorized it. 

   As the judge, I first thought that perhaps he could have been threatened into doing this, with showing some resistance towards Giri when he is yelling, and even being scared, but then I was wisely reminded that this is Epic Theatre and we need to have very two dimensional characters, especially in this kind of a scene. This was very true and I want to aim more to have a very serious and stereotypical judge instead. He could even feel bored, as he does know what is going to happen at the end, but is there just to make it seem like there was some fare play for the defendant. 

19.5. Scene 9

   When we first read through this scene I pitched the idea of doing the A and B part of this scene together, in a way intertwined with each other. Not only could it look very good, but also it works as a comment on Dogsborough writing his will. He talks about how he knew about all the bad things Ui and his men have done and how he knows they weren't good men, but in the end, he didn't do anything to stop them.

   We will have Dogsborough sitting in his chair on the right platform of the thrust, writing his letter, We have discussed earlier that this monologue of Dogsborough will be pre-recorded, so that it is like he is thinking the letter as he is writing it. 

   We cast Chloe as the Woman in scene 9, since she didn't have that many parts yet. Honestly, I wanted to be the woman at first, but I have already been cast to multiple other roles, so I thought it would be better to have someone else play the woman, just to have variety, but also because I already have too many lines to learn! I feel Chloe will also be able to bring something new to this part, something I probably would have not thought of.
    Since the woman is crawling out of a bullet ridden car, we thought it could be cool to have Chloe come from below the stage to represent the car, but also to surprise the audience. We have to try this out at Pelham to see how well different sides of the audience can see Chloe once she comes out, but she will have to get up from the floor quite quickly. There is also a problem with the transition after scene 7, since we would need a black out to hide her there. Of course, if we want to go all Brechtian style, we would just show Chloe go under the stage, but I want to discuss this with everyone else in more detail, once we get to try it out properly. 

Make up + Hair

 As I have been down with flu, stuck at home with a fever, I decided to play around with make up a little bit to get some ideas for the show. I took inspiration from 1930's movies and especially from Charlie Chaplin. In the black and white movies, everything was focused on creating contrast and so make up was usually very harsh and clean lines. I tried to do this on the eyebrows especially, but also tried out two different styles; a thinner more stylized one and a thicker and more natural looking. I added some contouring on my face with black eye shadow, but I felt like in the actually show we can use white makeup to make our faces look whiter and more pale to create even more of a contrast. Thhe mustache I put on by putting some black eyeliner on my finger and then smudging it on. I think it really worked, I like the painted-on-look and that it is a little bit messy. I think this could be used in the rest of the make up as well to create a style, but also not to create the illusion to the audience that it is real. I also lined my eyes, following Charlie Chaplin's style to bring out the eyes.




   I also looked into the hairstyles of 1930's. Women had a lot of finger curls that waved in front of the face. Side parting was huge on both women and men and I noticed that a lot of men also had some kind of a curl or wave for the hair framing their face. We could also try to create a more sleek military like look to some of the characters, for example the gangsters to represent their military style ranking and functioning as gangsters, but the curl could also represent the status they want people to see. The hair need to be something that is easily transferable from character to character, especially for those who are playing both men and women. Girls with long hair can put their hair on a low bun, since it is a women's hairstyle, but also can create a sort of an illusion of short hair.

14.5. Scene 6

We arranged to have some extra rehearsals today to finish off scene 6. We started this scene a week or two ago, but didn't finish it yet, so today we used to finish the scene and fine tune some of the movements.

   Scene 6 doesn't directly connect to a moment in history, but it has been discussed by historians that Hitler was trained by an actor named Basil, at some point of his career to become the political figure for the Nazi party. Many politician go through some kind of training, so that can appeal to the audiences. For example Margaret Thatcher was told that she had to lower her pitch to bring more authority to her, but also to make it calm and more trustworthy.Her voice coach also thought her breathing techniques so that she could speak slower. Thatcher was also told to change her style of clothing, since in the beginning they were too fussy and 'feminine' compared to the 'strong male' opponents. She was turned from a housewife to an intimidating opponents.

  Earlier this week we had a discussion about how to signify the character of Arturo Ui, not only by costume, but how we can show the change in character. Having the so called 'Hitler-mustache' seemed to be clearest way to show the character, but also to signify the characters connection to Hitler to the audience the best. There was also talk about having the Nazi sign on the costume, for example on an arm band, and even though it is a good way to show how the gangsters in the show represent the Nazi party, it isn't a clear enough connection to Hitler. We also discussed how to do this, painting it on or a fake mustache that we would glue on. Siou pointed out that the glued one would be hard to take off, but it also could easily fall of, where as painted one would stay on better. I pointed out that the painted mustache could still have problems, for example if we have a base make up on, every time the mustache would be taken off, the rest of the make up would be smudged as well. Still, painting the mustache on seems like the most reasonable way of doing, we will just have to work around the mess and have baby wipes and our base makeup ready off-stage.

    When we started to work on the scene 6, I had an idea of showing the change of Ui on stage, representing the change of the character and Hitler and the training he went trough to become the charismatic politician that helped him to rise to power. So, I suggested of using this paint on mustache to our advantage and have Max paint his mustache on in front the audience or have me paint his mustache. Max also had an idea to use the shadows to our advantage and have the Actor and Ui melt in together. The problem with this was that it might not have been clear to the audience that Max would be the next Ui, since they cannot actually see the change physically. Another problem with this was the transition to behind the screen. It is hard to make the transition smooth and look good, but we also couldn't find a reason for the characters to move there. we ended up going with my idea, since it was more Brechtian, but also extremely stylized.
   Me and Max then worked on the final speech in the scene, a speech from Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, spoken by Mark Antony. Caesar has been killed by Brutus and the other conspirators and Antony has been given the permission by Brutus to speech in Caesar funeral in the condition if he doesn't speak badly about the conspirators. Antony starts his speech following this, but then sneakily praises Caesar in a rhetoric way to win the crowd over and enrage them against the conspirators. This speech has been compared to several political speeches because of its rhetoric style which also connects to Ui's speech in scene 7. The contrast between the start of the speech and the end of the speech is quite stark, how Antony start by being sincere to becoming extremely sarcastic by continually calling Brutus 'an honourable man'. This represents the change of Ui really well and I really want to change it, by having Ui be more unsure in the beginning of the speech, but then take over and gain confidence. Me and Max chose some Gests that we thought would work with the speech, but also represent 'the new Ui'. We thought that at the end of the speech, after I've taken over the speech as Ui, Max should start copying the movements and we could face each other, representing a mirror and the start of our change. We will then turn around, have Max put his mustache on and turn around to face the audience, showing the new Ui. I think this works really well, since it is quite simple but looks very good on stage and has impact in it. It is also very Brechtian, since we can see the change of character on stage.

   Sophie also thought of having her character Givola show off his power and position to the Actor, by forcing the Actor off of his seat. This builds up the character of Givola and shows that he is intimidating and powerful. We also talked about having the scene start by Ui listening to blues or opera music, since it is his hotel room. I think it could be quite funny if Ui would be listening to the music, playing a conductor and have Givola come in and scaring Ui for catching him doing something that otherwise seemed out of his character. 

 This was video of the final run of the scene we did today:
 

   

• What is my goal for the next lesson? What do I need to do to achieve this? What information do I need?
• I want to Play around with Arturo Ui's child-likeness in this scene more, since it would bring more comedy into the scene, but also the change would be bigger. During my lines like "No, wrong. I want people to look at me..." and "I decide who's respectable" I could play around more by being like a child having a fit to bring more variety into Ui's character. I also really want to off book for the next time we do this scene so that we can really nail the humour of the scene, but also the Gests. I also think we have to try it out on the stage, since the levels might give us different opportunities to play around. 
•  I also feel like I need to find Ui's voice. I've been working on my chicago accent, but since I now have more characters, I really need find their way of speaking, not necessarily just a different voice, for each. I feel Ui could be a little bit slower with his speaking to show his high status. 

13.5. Scene 7 & Costume

Greta and Sav presented their idea about the costume's today, and we all participated in the discussion about them. The next text is copied from Greta's blog:

"Flake, Caruther, Butcher, Mulberry and Clark. My idea would be they should wear dark green suit jackets, black trousers or just green colour should be dominant in them costumes because it would symbolize cauliflower. Some of them could have cauliflower in their front pockets.

Roma, Giri and Givola. Black trousers and dark coloured shirts and suit jackets. Everyone could have different colour shirts but suit jackets should be dark, preferably black. Givola should have flower in his front pocket. All of them should wear dark hats but with different colour ribbons on, ribbons colour could be matched with tie colour.

Arturo Ui. My idea that Arturo should wear white hat (like Al Capone used to wear) and bright colour suit jacket maybe white or purple because it associates with royalty. Black trousers.

Bodyguards and gunmen should wear whatever costume they will have but as a symbol they should wear aviator sunglasses.

Judge. We will have to get a mantle and I was thinking that it would be funny if we could get a wig like in the picture on the left.

Doctor. Long laboratory coat.

Betty Dullfeet. Long down the knees skirt and jacket. Maybe little hat that used to be popular in 1930`s, gloves.

All other male characters should wear suit as well but without any symbols.
All other female characters should wear long down the knees skirts with shirts."

    During the discussion about the costumes, it was pointed out that in the 30's everyone wore suits, meaning that the jacket and trousers had to be the same colour. This brings some difficulty, since between character changes it wouldn't as simple as just changing a jacket, but you need to change the whole costume, which for example for me between scene 5 and 6 might become a bit of a problem since I am changing from Flake into Ui. It doesn't necessarily mean that we couldn't do changes like this,  since it is actually very Brechtian to change in front of the audience to have them see that it is simply an actor playing the characters, but we also want it to look good and flow from character into another.
   The cauliflower trust could also have different ensembles. The main colours should be greens and browns, but I felt that not all of them had to have full suits, but some could wear the full get up, but some could only have the vest or braces on tip of the trousers and white shirt. I also really like the play with colour for Ui, tho I think it should be a one coloured suit. Purple signifies royalty and white does that also. White has also been a choice of colour for some famous gangsters such as Al Capone who always wore a white hat.
   Some important items that we need are hats and Brogue shoes. The hats were a significant part of men's attire in the 1930's and they represent each character. Brogue shoes were also the style and since they were in fashion an couple of years back, I am sure we could find some reasonably prices ones somewhere.

After this we did scene 7. The others had worked on this scene before during extra rehearsals. I thought it was good that I hadn't seen this scene being made, since I couldn't make the extra rehearsals, since this way I had a more neutral way of looking at it and could give feedback to make the scene better. I pointed that Ui's speech could have more variety in it, since it was a lot of yelling and aggressiveness, where it should have moments of persuasion and (fake)sincerity. Ui wants to get these people on his side, to trust him with their money, which means there has to be a likability factor to the speech. Max needs to look at the text and analyze it so that he knows which parts the yelling adds to it.  Siou also pointed out that we should look at the stage direction more carefully, since there was a part where in the play it says that Clark is pulled to speak by Roma and Givola, but in our version he simply walks forward. The fact that Clark is pulled forward shows that he is forced to do this, which then again brings more attention what the gangster are really like and how they really don't have good intentions. There also needs to be more hesitation and frightfulness on her part.
   We also discussed if Dockdaisy should have a child with her and how it could be funny if she would just have a doll to represent the child, since she isn't really putting any effort in trying to be believable. I also suggested that it could be funny to have the bodyguard act as the child. I do not think we will do this, simply because it doesn't really follow the style we have chosen to go with.

   I am supposed to be the bodyguard in this scene singing the song "We would be one". I have been ill, so I haven't been practicing it too much, but we did think about how to make it work and make it funny. Someone suggested that I should lower my voice to sound like a baritone, but after the class me and Max came up with the idea that when I am speaking as the bodyguard I should have low voice, but as I sing the song I could even bring my voice a little bit higher than I usually sing. I want to try this out in class and see what the reaction is, since it could either be hilarious or confusing.

   As a class we should focus on reading the stage directions better, but also analyze the scene before class individually so that when we discuss the scene, we know what is happening and what is politically happening in the scene.

• What did I learn during this lesson? How can I use it?
• It is good to have fresh eyes look at the done scenes. When you create the scenes, sometimes it is hard to notice some smaller things since you've been working on the scene so much, but then someone else might see completely different things about it, for example if the points we are trying to get trough are noticeable. We should look at the scene's we have done already and have people make notes about them so that we are working towards our true potential. 
• What is my goal for the next lesson? What do I need to do to achieve this? What information do I need?
• I want to work on my song and be able to show the different ways I could do it to the rest of the class. I am also going to create the bodyguard character, with his own Gest and voice. 

11.5. ACTING FOR CAMERA

  Today me and Jenny finally got to do our scene from Mike Leigh's movie 'Life is Sweet'. We chose to shoot in the old painting and decorating section of the college, because one of the rooms already had a couch there. The window also gave us excellent lighting, so we only had to use our light when lighting Jenny's face.
   Our scene was fairly simple and pretty short as well. The difficulty in this scene was to get the characters clear and funny. Our pacing was especially important, but I felt we did a good job with it, since both of us were well memorized and we had rehearsed and discussed the scene multiple times. We took over all 5 shots and the largest amount of takes we had to take in one shot was 3, which was pretty good. Most of the shots were done in one take. Since our script was simple, we didn't have any entrance or change in position, it didn't take too long to shoot, but also most of the shots were done so that we got to do the scene from beginning to end, not having any pick ups. This really helped with keeping up in the mood of the scene and helping it to flow better. The important thing when doing a pick up or a shot in the middle of the scene, is to know the progression of the scene and how the emotions and intensity rises. You need to know what part of the scene it is, and what emotions your character is going trough so that you can keep consistent with the progression of the scene.
   I have said before that I don't like being infront of the camera, because I can't really relax in that situation. This time was a bit different, I felt a lot more comfortable acting infront of the camera, even though I felt I could have been smaller in my expressions. I still often think about acting in the theatre point of view, which makes my facial expression more exaggarated  to be seen from far away. I did manage to put some small looks that made a huge impact during the close ups, which I felt pretty proud of. I also tried to have a bit more northern London accent, since that is where the movie is set. Now, it wasn't perfect, but I did think that the timing and pace of it made it seem more realistic.
   On the technical side, what me and Jenny had to do in the shots were to sit closer together, just because on film the distance will look bigger. We also had to move the sofa once we started to film on the other side of room, so that the proportions would stay the same to previous shots. 

8.5. Staging, Scene 4, Prologue & Songs

   We were in Pelham today, and since trying out our stage last time, we had decided that it didn't work. I was sad to hear this, since it was my idea, but at the same time I agreed that it was too ambitious for us, but also limiting, when we could have something more innovative. There were three main ideas we were working with:

• Max's idea that looked close to a T-thrust extending from the stage. He also suggested having signs showing the different sides belonging to Cauliflower Trust or Ui's gang
• The signs could limit using the space in some scenes
• Sav's idea inspired by gladiator ring, having a floor height staging in the middle and two platforms of the sides
• Problem with this one was that we would lose a lot of floor space, since it would be hard to stage scenes. Pretty much nothing in the middle would be seen
• Sophie's idea of having to 'islands' on the side of the long catwalk formed thrust representing the Cauliflower Trust and Artuto Ui's gang. 
• I felt like the catwalk would also limit our usage of the space, since it would be hard to fit more than one person on it.

We discussed these different ideas and then tried out a hybrid of it that looked like the image above. This idea had the island(dark grey) and a bit of a catwalk as well. The island are on a lower level to the rest of the thrust. We even talked about having the island separate, but with our idea to create more of a cabaret-feeling with tables, having the island separate would take too much space. Also, trying out the catwalk we noticed it is too narrow, and so it isn't really using the space that well.Also, the island missing pieces on the sides didn't look right, kind of like we were trying to make the stage look impressive, but without a clear reason. So, we took these factors and edited the stage to the picture below. This way, we still have a bit of a catwalk/podium that can work as an excellent focus point, but also have more space. We also edited the point so that we have steps on all of the sides. We also filled the wholes on the islands. 

   We have classes at Pelham every Friday and I feel that next time we really need to just get the stage rigged and start rehearsing right away, since if we devise scenes during the week we HAVE to try them out on the stage to see if it even works. To make most of this time we need to get everyone to come in on time and help out, since today it took us longer because everyone were not pulling their weight. 

   Since last week we missed extra rehearsals, because too many people weren't able to make it this timeg, we all agreed to read trough the scene and come in with ideas for the scene, Really, we should do this before every scene, so that we can get trough discussions quicker, but doubt many do this, unless they have lines in the scene. Here are some of the ideas I came up with for the scene:

• We could have a picture of the mansion on the screen to show to the audience where we are in this scene
• When Ui comes in it could start with him and Dogsborough having their own sides, but then Ui invading Dogsboroughs side to show his power
• Since this scene has a lot of exit's and entrances, it would interesting to play with them and have the characters come somewhere else than just behind the stage, for example, the audience?
• When Ui has his longer monologue about what he wants from Dogsborough, he could really play out to the audience, even winking or doing gests that suggest that his intentions are not necessarily sincere.
• When Ui & Roma exit we could have Goodwill and Gaffles walk past them, both group clocking each other

Since Harry wasn't in, we had Max step in for Dogsborough. We will have to do this scene again with Harry once he's back in. This scene has the potential to be really good, showing the different sides of Ui, how he can be intimidating, but how still at this stage he hasn't reached his real potential and acts like a child when he isn't getting what he wants. I really like how when Ui and Roma come in, they have a chance to connect with the audience to show their true intentions and Gests. 

   At the end of the scene we have a sign shown that says "Hitler is appointed chancellor, promising to prevent the composure of Osthilfe scandal". In the 1930's, after WW1, many countries in Europe were in deep depression. Many of the Prussian estates were going bankrupt. The Eastern Aid, also known as the Osthilfe was Germany giving a part of the Government funds to the bankrupt estates in Prussia. They did this to maintain the support of the Prussian Junkers. But it became a scandal since many of the Junkers had wasted the money on luxury items, such as cars and vacations, rather than maintain the estates functional. As they looked into the scandal more, it was reviled that the President of the Republic, Hindenburg had a connection to the scandal having estates to himself that were in deep debt. This weakened Hindenburg's position and then appointed Hitler as chancellor under the pressure of the industrialist. I feel like in the scene we really need to be able to show the state of mind Dogsborough is in, he knows he has done something bad and he could get into deep trouble for it. 

•    Did I achieve my last goal? What could I or the group improve on?
• My last goal was to use the extra rehearsals to work on the newspaper people in scene 3, but since we cancelled the rehearsal I we weren't able to work on them. We need to make the effort to make time for extra rehearsals. We have set dates, Tuesdays and Thursday when we have extra rehearsals, but I hope others would arrange more rehearsals when they do have time, since there has been too many times when I've heard that either people don't have time or have something else during it. If people cannot come to set rehearsal times, they need to arrange rehearsals for the scenes they are in. I think I should probably try to make more time to even more extra rehearsals and try to encourage others to join and work around their schedules. 
• What did I learn during this lesson? How can I use it?
• It really was good today because we came into the rehearsal, everyone already having ideas about the scene. It really made us work faster and work better. It is really important to do research and study of the scenes at home, so that we can use all the rehearsals to create the scenes as good as we possibly can!
• What is my goal for the next lesson? What do I need to do to achieve this? What information do I need?
• I want to do my research on the next scene and brainstorm with myself as I did for this scene so that I can be the most use for my group.