Evaluation

Evaluation

Evaluation of the performance:

• List all of the multimedia used in the performance.

- Cameras

- Lights

- Projection

- Speaker

- Videos(TV)

- Phones

- Recording

• How did multimedia enhance the overall performance? 

Multimedia enhanced the overall performance because it emphasised tension and emotion. It also meant the audience had to focus to not miss anything meaning it engaged them and showed a different way of performing. It told the story without always using dialogue, it brought life to characters that were showed through each scene. Multimedia made it easier to communicate to the audience what we wanted to adding onto this it enhanced emotions and the atmosphere. 

• What impact do you think it had on the audience and why?

I think it had a good impact on the audience because they were always on there feet looking interested about what was happening or about to happen. However I think they felt confused at times because there was a lot going on and they didn't have a lot of time to take it all in. As a whole i think it interested them to see what we could with multimedia and how we could incorporate with a greek tragedy. 

• Would the performance have been as effective without the multimedia? 

I think the acting was as strong as the multimedia so yes although at times we found it hard to incorporate it as we were learning at the same time i think we did well and without it i believe it would of had the same effect as we used promenade. 

• Which moment of multimedia was most effective and why?

I didn't get to watch many of the scenes that were inside so i didn't see much of the multimedia used but i saw the set of one scene in 415(Daniel group) and that looked very interesting i felt tension and a eery atmosphere when i walked in looking at the lights and projection so i feel they used that well. Although the use of the speakers for the chorus outside seemed most effective because it made us work together and move as one while building a emotion and telling a story to the audience.

multimedia

Multimedia aspect of your blog.

•   We began with a discussion of "what is multimedia?"

Multimedia means that computer information can be represented through audio, video, and animation in addition to traditional media

The word multimedia really shone out to me because in my generation at the moment it is a big thing, videos are shared virally, news spreads quickly through media and social networks and phones are used far to much, but to incorporate it all into a theatre piece excited me. I felt we could challenge ourselves as a cast and work together. After learning more about multimedia i felt we could use the setting as advantage such as the tv's spread around the school and electronics we had. I felt it benefited our play and brought life to it in a diverse way.  

•   Incorporating aspects of your mobile phone when responding to a moment of the chorus.

•   Exploring what "Live feed" is and how can it be incorporated. 

A live broadcast is fed through to you via television or the internet.

•   Garage band - what is it and how can it be incorporated?

GarageBand is a music creation studio with a complete sound library that includes software instruments, presets for guitar and voice, and virtual session drummers.

Exploring the Promenade aspect of Antigone.

•   Responding to your site and how it can be used within your section. Sound/ Visuals...etc.

•   Consideration of how multimedia might be used within your piece. 

•   Considering your site and how it dictates what you can/ can't use.

Throughout the unit i have enjoyed learning how promenade works and how it can be used to visualise key scenes while moving around and using a lot of action, i learned it can take away from a piece but also add to it. It can add to a piece by setting the scene and keeping the tension high but at the same time it can take away the gripping feel of watching a scene right in front of your eyes the focus is on you and you can really put forward your emotions however while moving i noticed i got slightly distracted because i was thinking about where i was going and where i needed to be. This can show very clearly to an audience through body language but i also believe if you keep in full character showing strong body language and interpreting the right emotions from the character you are playing it will be a great performance. I found exploring a greek setting made it easier for me to visualise how the setting would look like, this helped because although the audience was watching me in a circle of wooden stumps i felt i was at a crime scene. 
The unit multimedia stood out for me at the start of learning about it but as i progressed i realised that it was also very difficult and you have to adapt your learning to suit the environment your in, when i found out my scene was not in the play and we were left to our imaginations to create an interesting scene that wasn't really thought about i found it a challenge but i also felt excited. As the unit went on i learnt that you can sometimes get distracted with setting and props and realised we hadn't thought to much about the multimedia as we were set outside and more focused on how we could bring excitement and humour into Antigone. We put a scene together and thought about how we could use phones and videos but we tried it and it didn't really fit together or create an atmosphere so we changed the piece and as a group realised that if we put our all in our piece will succeed. Our site did dictate that we couldn't really bring much multimedia into it but we felt we could use the setting at an advantage. 

Scenes

Scenes from Antigone:	Multimedia used and locations	How did the multimedia in each scene enhance the performance?
1. Creon announces that Eteocles will be honoured and Polynices will be shamed and left un-buried.	Video to be shown on screen in reception.	It draws the attention away from the dialogue and gives the audience something to watch and take in differently
2. Antigone goes to Ismene to persuade her to assist the burial of their brother. Ismene refuses.	By the tree - video shown of the thoughts of the characters.	the space used gives the audience an idea of where the scene is set and the emotion
3. Antigone goes to bury her brother.	Round of wooden stumps.	the outside space gives the opportunity for a close interaction with the audience
4. Creon looks for the support of the chorus of Theban Elders in his  decision to leave Polynices unburied.	Creon announces from fire escape door of 415 - chorus round the tree looking up. Audience looking up also.	Shows how the people of Thebes were treated
5. A Sentry reports the burial of Polynices. Creon insists that the Sentry finds out who or face death.	Filmed footage of event is shown on screen top of stairs. Sentry talking to Creon.	creates tension and means the actors can build up the emotion that they want to convey Mul
6. Chorus sing about honouring gods.	From the yard up to windows of 413 Recorded chorus played.	the unity is shown through the distance from high up you can see every movement work well together
7. Sentry returns with the Culprit: Antigone. Creon confronts her.	Burst into 413 - audience turn to see.  Lighting used.	the lighting brings attention to who is talking and what is being shared
8. Creon confronts Ismene. Ismene tries to confess but Antigone won't allow it. And in the end, the two sisters are imprisoned.	Still in 413 but Creon live speaks to a projected Ismene. Antigone is walked out the room and joins the real Ismene - escorted off.  Lighting used	the projected ismene lets the audience see a different version of dialect and speech
9. Haemon both pledges allegiance to his father, Creon, and asks that Antigone be spared. After the discussion deteriorate, Haemon storms out vowing never to speak to him again.	Traverse in 413 - iphone lights as the two talk. Throughout confrontation, lights go out, one by one.	lights draw attention and bring life to a dark scene
10. Creon choses to spare Ismene, and to bury Antigone alive. As she is dragged out, the chorus express their Sorrow.	One light left on Creon's face. Sound of s body being dragged...etc.   Projection and video used	this creates an emotion and builds tension as you can only focus on one person
11. Tiresias attempts to advise Creon that what he is doing is wrong and that the Gods are angry. The prophecy of a dead son is mentioned.	Tiresias never moves his mouth but what he says coupled with weird underscore is played through speakers of 415.  Projected video played
12. The chorus, terrified, begs him to take Tiresias' advice. Shaken, Creon agrees to release Antigone and bury Polynices.	As many chorus as possible fill cavities of 415 and urge Creon. Three doors and side grated window thing.
13. Chorus deliver a choral ode to the god Dionysus.
14. Messenger informs Eurydice of Haemon and Antigone's death.	Filmed footage on repeat of Haemon stabbing himself and Antigone hanging, swinging from a branch.	the white shadows make it eery and you can sense death and sadness
15. Carrying the body of his dead son Haemon, Creon is then met by a 2nd messenger informing him of Eurydice's death.	Audience back outside looking at tree. Creon walking through the courtyard, holding Creon, confronted by messenger at the tree. Chorus look down from 415.	silence holds the feeling of remorse and death, the audience and chorus watching puts the characters in spotlight

Blogs throughout the unit

Blog 

Monday 19th March 

Introduction to multimedia 

We watched 3 videos 

1. Exploring Multimedia production

2. Devising a multimedia production 

3. Acting in a multimedia Production

This lesson we looked at a few clips that told us the meaning and background of Multimedia. I found out quite a few things. Here are some of them: 

1.

A lot of different angles are used to film 

Many of the actors play different parts, they also help out with moving props and lights

Its quite frantic and busy on set because there are lights and cameras everywhere

paragraphs from a text are picked out due to how much they can fit multimedia into it 

they consider it as the science of new construction which makes it more exciting

you can create what you want with lighting, microphones,cameras, angles and projection 

Sometimes it can be boring to look at a piece of texting and creating what you see in real life action using just voice and movement 

2.

Convert paragraphs into a storyboard to create a piece 

80% visual images were structured by actors 

picking out parts and putting them together 

structure means it works together 

3.

shared roles mean everyone works equally and everyone can be proud of the piece they finish with 

builds up emotion so they have an idea of how the audience will react 

 Thursday 23rd march

We did a neutral 10 minute warm up to get focused and ready for the lesson 

We got into little groups we used phones to open up the first few chorus lines 

I worked with Jake, Rory and logan  

We 

-shined torches 

-ring tones

-sounds

-voice notes

-videos

-image 

-light 

-sounds

What i learned: 

It is interesting to use technology in a different way and effect the reader using simple movement. 

There are many ways to use a phone and videos 

We then reflected on each others pieces, we then divided into two groups 

class 1-

- we looked at the different emotions shown when you use the camera unclose or faraway 

- have a video being filmed not in the room the audience are in, shown through projection 

- audience reactions 

- conversation through a screen 

- modern phone calls

- i had an idea of two people having a hushed conversation faraway yet microphone so audience can hear through earphones or speakers this will create a sense of mystery and questioning  

Next we moved onto looking at how garage band could be used and how using our own created music could help and work well with our pieces. After this we were put into groups to create a piece of physical theatre using sounds and our phones. 


1st exercised using movement 
we went into chorus 
we used one line and changed it into movement 
2nd We chose a modern scene , we talked about the difference and why they did this and the language used 

-we then neutralised so we can take ourselves out of character we then imagined we were in a dark cave 
-felt peaceful which let me focus and reflect on how far Antigone has come and what she would feel 
*anger * desperate * loneliness * upset * helpless * trapped 
- We then looked at the relationship between Antigone and Creon 

Sharing performances

Sharing performances

We recently shared our group performances. I found that my groups performance brought a lot of humour to the piece as the play is quite heavy and full of death and remorse we should put in a light and humorous scene. Humour is shown through the use of power and status. We decided to show the scene in a police murder scene, using police tape, alarms and guards making sure nobody goes near the body. The scene shows us using a phone to watch a 'funny show' while on the job but the wifi goes so we leave the body alone. When we have left Nina who plays Antigone goes to do a ritual for her dead brother 

Tim plays a dopey, useless PC

I play the bossy, demanding Sergeant 

Nobody is Creon but Creon is mentioned as the Superintendent 

Nina plays Antigone

Ellis plays polyneices 

United Kingdom police ranks 
Police Constable Sergeant Inspector Chief Inspector SuperintendentChief Superintendent

Here is a rough  copy of the script, our scene isn't to long but we are going to use a lot of props and when we have finished it, i think it will be quite an interesting piece .

Group 1 -                   
silence 

effective listening in 
crowd 
people of Athens 
power 

Group 2 -




Group 3-
Physicalised 
simple speech 
merged with audience 
reactions 

Group 4-
Tv programe 
2 characters 
relationship is clear/strong
focused well
reacted to each line with passion
language used made it interesting the watch
Authority 

Group 5- 
Girl power 
strong opinion 
rebellion 
higher king 

Rehearsal blog

My group- Ellis, Nina, Tim

Starting of today my group didn't really talk about what we want to do but throughout the lesson we've pieced together a scene that represents a murder case being examined. 
We've thought about lines and we are going to set it out, we've chosen characters and thought about emotions used 

This lesson we tried out some lines and picked out what fit together, We thought about humour and discussed if we could use multimedia effectively or would it take away from that piece, we decided it might so we would only do a short scene and not fit to much multimedia in because it would become overcrowded and the piece would get to long. 

Through rehearsal we have been adding onto it and making notes on how to make it better which makes us work as a team much better, although we don't agree on everything most of the time we enjoyed working on our piece because it was short and enjoyable. 

We performed our pieces to the year 11's i felt proud and quite happy because they enjoyed it and found it entertaining, they laughed at most points which what we wanted from the audience.  

Exploring the text

Exploring the text

Antigone and Ismene 

What did we focus on when exploring this scene?

We focused on the different sides of the two characters, Antigone the strong character that believes in family and peace and ismene who doesn't want to go against the laws and follows the kings orders. 

How did you explore the characters practically? 

We looked at he scene between Antigone and Ismene and read them, changing tone and posture to suit how we interpreted the scene and characters. 

What did you discover about the relationship between the sisters? 

I discovered the two sisters had an unbalanced relationship as you can clearly see they have very different characteristics and beliefs we can tell who is 'the bossy/demanding sister' and who doesn't break the rules. 

How did this scene link to some of the information you discovered in the session about the historical context?

Antigone and Creon

What did we focus on when exploring this scene?

We focused on two different versions and how we interpret each of them also the differences and how the language has changed over time. We also looked at power and the anger shown in each character. 

How did you explore the characters practically? 

We got into pairs and each half of the class got given a different version of the scene we then went and read it , carrying on we started putting in emotions that we thought fitted best and any movement. After this some people performed each version and we compared the two.  

What did you discover about the relationship between the characters? 

-In version 1 i discovered the two characters both had there ideas on what is right set in there head, yet Creon seemed as he needed to be persuaded and told what Antigone thought was right. i also discovered that Creon ruled over Antigone in a certain way meaning he could look down on her. 

- In version 2 i could see Antigone's anger come out through the use of language and the words she used towards Creon showed fury, i could tell Creon didn't have much to say about his decision because his replies were weak. 

How did this scene link to some of the information you discovered in the session about the historical context?

This linked to the historical context that we looked at because we learnt how in those times women were accepted they were frowned upon and looked at as useless, this is linked to there relationship because some would say this how Antigone is treated, as someone who has no right to talk over higher power or dictate what is to be done. 

Women in Greek theatre

Women in greek theatre 

How were women viewed in Greek Theatre? 

Greek women were restricted to living within a patriarchal society. Although some plays presented women as mere housewives, others put them in the position of political leaders, heroines, and murderers. The purpose of the female being staged in socially unconventional ways is to reinforce what will be defined as the 'ideal image'. A perfect wife, including having a good, social life, being cultural and fulfilling a lawful role. They were thought as inferior compared to men, they had no power as men felt they could do a better job. 

Misogyny is a recurring theme in Ancient Greece, and women were not only thought of as inferior and having a dangerous intention. They were expected to obey their husbands at all times ,however, in classical greek drama, there are instances where women would challenge men, society and politics.

Cultural context

Cultural context

• What were the performance conventions in Sophocles’ time? 

• What were the trends or fashions within the performing arts?

Social context of Antigone

Social Context 

• What do we mean by the social context?

People with a similar social context tend to experience what is called "social solidarity." They are more inclined to trust and help one another. The environment that makes up a social context is defined as a natural resource that enriches the life of an individual. 

• How did people live at the time Antigone was created?

At this time, 75,000 people lived in the city of Athens and around 225,000 lived in the surrounding countryside called Attica. The city had an area of about 0.7 square miles. In Athens, society was male-dominated - only men could be citizens and only upper-class males enjoyed a formal education. Women had few political rights and were expected to remain in the home and bear children. Fully one quarter of the population was made up of slaves. These slaves provided much of the manpower that boosted the economy, working in shipyards, quarries, mines, and as domestic servants. Most homes were simple, windowless and wrapped around a courtyard. Furniture was rare. People spent the majority of the day out of doors enjoying the mild Mediterranean climate. The Greek diet was also plain, based largely on wine and bread. A typical day would start with bread dipped in wine, the same for lunch and a dinner of wine, fruits, vegetables and fish. Consumption of meat was reserved for special occasions such as religious holidays. Who was the target audience for the piece? Only men were allowed as actors. The chorus were men, as were the actors and the audience.They had to be citizens of Athens, which only applied to free-born men plus a few special cases. The actors wore masks, so that the people would know which character the actor played. What were the needs, values and beliefs of the target audience? Men watching believed they were superior therefore they got to enjoy life luxuries, they valued performance and entertainment. It was also a democratic system in which adult male citizens voted. Men needed to be dined and waited on, they drank a lot of wine and partied throughout the night. They valued riches and wealth.  How did this influence the themes and characters of Antigone? This influenced the themes and characters because the audience were all males they needed to be effected in many different ways such as they included a lot of death so the audience would be on there feet and the atmosphere would be tense. They included small tabs where dancers would come on and joke around this was because it was quite intense and they needed something to lighten the mood occasionally. In Antigone, her father is the king which is influenced by the dominant roles in the democratic system.  What have you found out about the social context of Antigone?  Who went to the theatre? Only men went to the theatre because women weren't thought as important in that time.  What was the relationship between theatre, politics and religion?  Theatre- The beginning of theatre started because of greek gods such as Dionysus, a god of fertility and wine. In keeping with the god's special interests, exciting occasions. His female accompanies in particular, would dance themselves into a state of frenzy. Carrying long phallic symbols, known as thyrsoi, they tear to pieces and devour the raw flesh of sacrificial animals.  But the Dionysians also develop a more structured form of drama. They dance and sing, in choral form, the stories of Greek myth. Politics-  Politics is linked with theatre because in this time politics only included men and women had know say, they made the decisions and fought each other. It was very democratic and opinionated. This also tied into the performances as it was a way for de-stressing and being entertained. Religion-  Religion ties in with greek theatre purely because of the greek gods, they believed they had to please the gods and honour them they also followed what the gods believed was right, this is relevant to today as religion is important to many people as they worship and follow the God that they believe in much like Grecians worshipped Greek gods.

Current events

What was happening when Antigone was created? 

Was its creation influenced by any specific historical events?

I couldn't find much on what was going on but i found this text from a website about Sophocles i learnt about power and how wealth was important i also found out in the time this time there was a lot of competition, men fought others to gain respect- 


His father, Sophilus, a man of wealth he gave him the benefit of all the literary accomplishment of the age. His powers were developed and refined by a careful instruction in the arts of music and poetry. That he was a comely and agile youth is shown by his selection, at the age of sixteen, to lead with dance and lyre the chorus which celebrated his country's triumph at Salamis.

 His dramatic career was marked by a victory in competition with Aeschylus, under exceptional circumstances. The remains of the hero Theseus were being removed by Cimon from the isle of Scyros to Athens, at the time of a tragic contest which had excited unusual interest on account of the fame of the older and the popularity of the younger candidate. Instead of choosing judges by lot, the archon administered the oath to Cimon and his colleagues, asking them to decide between the rival tragedians. The first prize was awarded to Sophocles, greatly to the disgust of the veteran dramatist, who soon afterward departed for Sicily. For more than sixty years after this event Sophocles continued to compose and exhibit tragedies and satyric dramas. 

Communication

"Within a Theatre production, how does the use of multimedia help in its communication to an audience? What does it add to the piece?"

19th March 

This lesson we looked at a few clips that told us the meaning and background of multimedia. I found out quite a few things. 

Here are some of : 

- A lot of different angles are used to film
- many of the actors play different parts and help out with moving things and setting props 
-they look at sections of plays and convert paragraphs into lines and see what they can do with them 
- they structure and storyboard before trying it out 
- 80% of the visual images were structured by the actors