- Based upon what happened before the scenes, Marion and I were set the task of exploring what happened before the scene that takes place in the performance. For this short showcase, I decided to play three different characters for exploring Marion's state so I played Jonah (his bully), his abusive dad and the Pillow man. To differentiate the characters, I used different pieces of clothing to help explore for my two characters on what play different characters are like. Going through Marion's scene, we learnt that he was beaten up by Jonah and his gang on the way home from Sixth Form and ended up getting hit more by his dad when come face to face with him at home. He then ran upstairs where the scene with the Pillow man begins. The emotion that were exposed in the scene was mainly depression and also anxiety can also be noticed. This meant that he felt that he was not good enough for anyone and that suicide was the perfect way out. In result for Marion's costume we would need a suit to act as his Sixth Form Uniform.
- We then explored the other characters and what they may where based on their back stories. Because my character came home from college and wanted to differentiate my character from Marion's clothing was that I would where tracksuits as this also considers our age group where some people who go to colleges typically wear full tracksuits. This can also be a suggestion for my character for being laid back and having a relaxed personality where as for my other character, we discussed that a typical basic look for someone who is insane is just a plain t-shirt and jeans as this is a contrast to what is actually in their mind - clothing empty but the mind is full; suggesting a mysterious personality allowing the audience to interpret what personality that character actually may have. For Stephanie's, it was a grey jumper and jeans as her character was someone who was similar to Prince going to college and just wearing casual clothes. And for the Pillow man, at first we discussed that it would consist of a gas mask as they are seen as something that represents something mysterious or something that is scary with the addition of an Egyptian mummified figure. Another idea that was considered were a witch doctor mask and a cape as we also the Pillow man acting as near a Grim Reaper and inspired off the Slender Man as they are both icons of fear yet we always remember them with the Slender man having a blank face and the Grim Reaper having the cape (The Pillow man would combine both). Factors that were considered were how Chris' microphone would fit in to the mask so that he would not sound like he is always shouting without the microphone.
Discussing implications of black out of hanging, what people may imply, history of hanging - Factors that may come in to play on stage, how will the hanging be carried out.
- Displaying hanging on stage is a very controversial factor as it can be seen as something too extreme for some audiences and we have to consider the effects that it can have on certain to on others. However the intention of the performance is to allow the audiences to be more aware of suicide and that it could be happening to anyone, some around our ages.
- The history of hanging dates back to the Medieval Times where it was a form or punishment through execution or in this case suicide. There a couple of different methods to hanging, for example a Suspension, a short drop with little struggle, which is the method going to be used in our performance. Other methods such as a Standard drop and a Long drop depended on the length of the noose/rope and the height of where the person is dropped with their weight considered.
- The next challenge was portraying the hanging on stage and how it could have been done. One method that was discussed was a silhouette of the corpse projected after the hanging or during the whole process of the hanging as at some points, the hanging felt too extreme to be performed. However we decided to use the method of actually showing the person hanging themselves and as the lights go out the chair and person drops. This had to be practiced in the dark a couple of times and for health a safety reasons we had to test out our balance and where the chair would drop to avoid injury.
Presentation - use of space, give words purpose.
- The play would be set out in the character's bedroom and in the last scene in a room with just a chair. The way the stage would be presented in the first three scenes was to have a bed and a bed side table and a table on the left side of the stage with the chair where the hanging would be taking place. We also wanted to use the Cue builds originally with the smoke machine underneath to open the whole performance with Chris looking at the audience continuously cracking to allow the audience to interpret the Pillow man as someone scary or comforting as his actions involved a helping hand. We also originally planned to have a window on the right side as it provided a feeling of 'escape' for the characters. However this idea was dropped as we could not find a suitable prop for the window. In addition to this we decided to add a stack of drawers in the back of the room as the room looked empty, however this idea was also dropped as it was a unnecessary and the feel of the room being empty also represented the character's emotion of being empty.
- In my scene, the way the blocked it is that I would use books to study and a Rubik's cube to occupy me. This also gave the space of the room a purpose as it would feel to contained if I just stayed sat there on the bed. Furthermore during the whole blocking of the scene, I had pin pointed what part I would walk to at certain parts of my script which links to a skill I have learnt to do last year and apply it to the Final Major Project which was to always annotate my script. Being at certain places, giving actions at certain parts of my monologue was a effective as it gave the words that I was saying a purpose and gave emphasis on how the character was feeling and exaggerated what their problem was compared to the others.
Mental illness/health based upon Jake character and murder - can compare to Amityville Horror of being told to murder whole family - can contract Kevin's voice contrasting with real case of paranormal activity.
- My second character is Jake and the scene is based after the murdering of his own family, him being the murderer. He then hears a number of voices in his head, one of which he murdered, his own father. This then brings forward that Jake may be traumatized by what he did and in result becoming mentally ill.
- Although the exact cause of most mental illnesses is not known, it is becoming clear through research that many of these conditions are caused by a combination of genetic, biological, psychological, and environmental factors. In Jake's case, his one can be interpreted by the audience in many ways. The way I had interpreted him and portrayed him as was influence of the paranormal which led to the use of an Ouija Board and leading to him releasing a spirit killing his family which then he realizes before being killed by the Pillow man. At this point of the performance the Pillow man has already had enough of ending people's lives, however for Jake's scene he did not consider his back story so it was not developed and killed him even before en explanation. The scenes purpose was that the Pillow man helps any one even if they are insane and could bring forward to suggest that the Pillow man could have been insane himself as well.
- To help me fulfill the paranormal back story, I watched the Paranormal Activity series which helped me come up with the block back story of Jake as he was influenced by having a huge interest in the paranormal. Relating to the films, later in the series one member of the family murders their whole family. This was beneficial to me as it gave me a way of how to portray the character. Kevin - one of Jake's friends is one of the voices heard in his head and in result can be represented as the entity that was released from the Ouija board playing with Jake's mind therefore making him 'mentally ill'. The thing about Jake's scene is that it can be interpreted in so many different ways allowing the audience to explore the scene creating that mysterious atmosphere to the performance.
- To add to the scene of making it clearer that Jake had committed a crime, police sirens were an idea to be added as this may allowed the scene to be set up, giving a brief scenario to the audience that a crime was committed and that this scene was different to the previous three as it was not set in a bedroom. Another challenge that emerged from this was that I had to make the characters have a difference, one being costume. This was also a fun experience of performing more than one character in a performances and the obstacles that were faced. Changing costume was fun as it allowed me to explore the sense in changing personalities from Prince to Jake. In addition to this, as we decided to portray the fact that his whole family was murdered, we had to go out to buy some additional props being the fake blood and a fake knife.
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