All entries for Friday 18 February 2005

FRIDAYS SESSION

Today we had our second session for this 'Medea opposition' piece.

After a group discussion in which ideas were discarded and created we split into our sub groups to get 'productiive'

The discussion decided on a few main areas:

FILM WITH CLASSICAL PERFORMANCE IN FRONT roth, owen, ricardowoah, rhys FILM....zoe, sarah, sophierob PERFORMANCE

CONTEMPORARY&CLASSICAL COLLAGE/ART hannah, nick, others

CHORUS MAKSED TABLEAUX&MURMUR anna, natalie, amy, others

SOUND CLIPS/STORY TELLING myself and ian

The discussion before hand i felt was good to consolidate ideas but different prvate discussions (only through everyones enthusiasm) were detrimental to the group
We decided on overall themes, fuelled groups ideas and talked about how it might look etc.

Me and Ian recorded some of our sound clips on to his computer, then manipulated a short passage which we intend to use as the opener.
It creates an eerie effect which will work at the outset, and also finishes on 'and thats the start of the story'. at a playback (!) for the group it seemed to go down well

I liked the work of the film/performance group and their ideas for the man/women comparisons on the silent film.
They also had the idea of using The Beach Boys' Wouldnt It Be Nice to images of children's death – this highlights the horror and the question of who could do this (man?women?monster?) – the idea of putting it on headphones adds to this – it creates a more insular sick moment and also puts the emphasis on the person who has put on the headphones and chosen to engage with this.

So far this is how i see the performance going:

In , dark…...Sound intro of ten secs
….............Video starts up quickly
….............Other elements across the room begin – tableau, light on art
….............Performance in front of screen begins a bit staggered
….............bring in other elements later (......)
….............sound clips used at different moments, either in little areas or across the room – this is tightly structured!

Obviously this is my own thoughts and solely a rough guess i thought might work. I am sure it'll change a lot.

I would like to see, on top of our main three (art, tableau, film) elements smaller on top. People coming in quickly? A small monologue? Dont know really – but i know interst has to be maintained on top of these things with additional moments.
I like the room screened off, i think this will be a nice piece of work and i am enjoying the challenge.

I had the idea after i left the rehearsal of a small booth with one performer in it…? This was inspired by Hugh's statement that our theme was really focussed on the break up of relationships.
I thought that an audience member would be curious to come into this small booth and then when wentered he/she would be quizzed about the break up of a relationship for a few moments. This would bring an interactive element, and i would make it as non theatrical as possible so not to make it over the top or trying to be interactive for the sake of it….like we genuinely want to ask them. It would also in their mind clarify the overall theme of the piece and bring in a new dimension which would benefit the piece…?

: 18 Feb 2005 17:15 |  Tags: Medea |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Thursdays Session

Writing about an entry you don't have permission to view

After splitting into two groups (created by a difference of opinion..us the thinkers, them the arguers) we were given the broad task of responding to Euripides' text in a selected style….film, text, presentation, peformance, art…whatever i guess!
We divided into sub groups to carry out suggested research –

Film research (apparently 'rubbish' is all they got!)
Library and Internet research (including some good myths - the corinthians killed the children and bribed euripides to write the play)
Sound Clips (in which we asked questions inclduing reactions to simply greek tragedy and medea, then specifics of man vs women opinions, social view and also about the break up of a family. We tried to ask a wide range of people and managed to get a father's opinion which was very interesting)

When we returned we talked about how we'd like to present our response.
It was the groups opinion that we should create an installation piece involving art, sound, film and performance. As well as challenging the group and creating an interesting and new creative oppurtunity it allowed us to divide into smaller groups to focus on one area. However we decided that we should definitely bring everything back to the group to give everyone creative input.

I decided to focus with Ian on sound clips, though i have an interest in the performance also.
The group wanted to create a piece that was a sensory experience with as much interest as possible.
We settled on a theme for the installation – OPPOSITION - and talked about bringing in modern gender ideas like feminism and the like.

We want the 'performance' to last for approximately ten minutes, with the audience having the control over what they look at, with the studio divided into different spaces and experiences.

Like Owen I am excited at the prospect of creating a piece of work to be proud of with creative control and a blank sheet, though i feel very much that Hugh is offering advice when it is needed, and looking over our work, which i feel is helpful

: 18 Feb 2005 16:54 |  Tags: Medea |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem