Identity And Production

 In our first couple of session we were told to exercise our mouth is a quite odd way. I felt incredibly silly doing so but nerveless the more we did it the more I grew comfortable with it. We also did a lot of tongue twisters, Tip of the tongue teeth and lip. I found them difficult at first but again once I got into them I found it slightly better, however I still stumble on them but not as bad as I did at the start. 

At the start of every lesson we would do a little warm up exercise like stretching and standing in a circle while music is playing in the back, we would then take turns doing a dance move that everyone has to copy. Something else I learnt was how important it is to keep focus as well as facial expressions. Miss showed the class a short film about Identity and we were told to take notes and think about the message that the film was trying to get across.

While rehearsing for the play I often find myself breaking character and start laughing which is something I really need to work on. I also need to work on my energy and pronouncing my lines as I tend to mutter and rush my lines. 

We watched the verbatim theatre technique which was an interview where people would record each other and then try mimic exactly what they are saying and how they were saying it. We went off in pairs to find a quite space to record each other. Personally I found the activity quite fun to do, It also gave us a chance to learn more about one another.

I believe that your past plays a big roll in who you are, mainly because your past helped shaped you into the person you are today. However identity could also mean you ethnic background as well as skin colour. In class we discussed the different meanings of identity and wrote down all our thoughts on the board. We where then told to write our own monologue based on the idea of Identity. After we wrote our monologues as a class we put them all together and came up with ideas on how to turn it into a short show. 

For the opening of the play we all walked around saying one line from our monologue, I then walked up to the front of the stage and said 'I am me' which was a cue for everyone to get into their position. For the first part of the play we decided on using Ellie's monologue. Keana and I were on stage while everyone else was offstage, Keana played the big sister while I played the little annoying sister who would take her stuff and follow her around the house to get a reaction out of her. 

Bruna then played our mother who cooked us breakfast and watch us walk to outside the house as we made our way to school. We then moved on to Aya's monologue which was her and Kaya standing opposite one another, mirroring each other. Paige was next she read out her monologue which followed into Elizabeth's one where she talked about stereotypes. To finish up we ended with Lee's monologue who was talking about the difference between public and private school. Our play is a divided piece that was placed together by both the teachers and students. 

As I mentioned before we was told to write our own short monologue based on the topic identity. I wasn't quite sure how to write my monologue so I decided to write it in a story form.

"Do you every think about who you are." I asked my brother who was busy stuffing sweets in his mouth. "I know who I am, I'm Henry the great." He joked. I rolled my eyes and looked out the classroom window. I've never liked school, they tend to encourage us to be ourselves but the minute we do society pushes us back in a fancy box labelled mine, laced with a bright red ribbon. The sad truth is they don't want us to who we are. They want to take anyway our Identity. For me Identity means your race, your ethnicity as well as your past. But you see  society takes that away from us. We are judged just by the colour of our skin or our racial background. They want us to put on a mask and hid away. But I don't want to hid away anymore, I want to embrace who I am regardless of how many people judge me for it. 

We was then told to read our monologue out loud and I tend to struggle when I'm told to read stuff out in front of the class. I often mind myself rushing it or just staring at the page not saying anything as well as stuttering and stumbling on the words. 

During Rebecca's lesson we were told about the different types of production jobs and made a list of them. From that list we were then told to write an essay about the job we chose. The job I picked was costume design.  

A costume designer is someone who designs costume for a film or any kind of production. The role of a costume designer is to create outfits that suit the character. For someone who is staring out as a designer they would make around £16,000 to £18,000. Some experienced designers make from £18,000 to £28,000, whereas someone who is highly experienced will make from £28,000 to £35,000. One of the many skills that a costume designer needs to have is being artistic. They will need to draw free hand and sometimes with computer aids.  Another skill they need to have is good communication skills.  

You will need to work well with others especially considering that there are similar jobs built around design but you will also need to collaborate your idea with others inside the designer team. They will have to be working with others so it’s good to be talkative. Costume designers need to not only focus on how to make the outfits represent the character but they also need to focus on the texture, shape and colour of the outfit. Not only that but they also need to think if they are going to include any accessories such as gloves, glasses ,jewellery and so on. It’s important for the designer to also know what time era the production is set in. 

For example If the production is set in the 1500s, the designer would need to research the fashions of that period. The costume plot is also the responsibility of the costume designer. The costume plot shows not only what character appears in each scene but also what they are wearing, which helps track what each character is wearing. When the director and production team approve of the designers sketches the final product will be done in colour which will emphasis the accessories and unique features on the  costume. A job that evolves around being a costume designer is a fixer, which in my open is the hardest job considering they have to be on stand by all the time just in case the costume tears as the actress/actor is about to go on stage.

 Another job is the tailor, who’s job it will be to measure the actors/actress to make sure the outfits won’t be too big or too small. Costume designs will need to be able to sketch out their ideas as well as have common knowledge of the different kinds of fabrics. They will need to carefully analysis the script to get an idea of what kind of person the character is and how they are going to portray that through the outfits. There are many famous film/ production costume designers, for example Irene sharoff ,Ann Roth and William Long. There are three different kinds of costume designers, freelance, academic and residential. A freelance designer is someone who was hired for a specific theatre, film or production. 

They are paid upon hire, final renderings and open night.  However freelance designers can design for others while working on the hired company’s project. Freelance designs don’t need to always be at the theatre when they are sketching and collaborating their ideas, they are free to work at home. A residential designer is hired by a specific theatre or film company for a series of production. Unlike the freelance, residential designers have to stay at the theatre when they are working, ready to hand their work to the costume studio. And finally a academic designer is a professor at a school. 

The designer is a instructor but to some extent may act as a freelance designer. Professors of costume design are usually the most experienced professionals and most likely has had formal post graduate education. Also academic and residential designs are required to act like a shop mistress/master in a costume shop as well as designing productions.