quick idea....

Just for extra brownie points guys, what do you think about testing another element in our P4T presentation tomorrow.
By the way what is it about?x

pause for thought presentation tomorrow.

looking forward to it.

Flocking Video 27.03.12

Hi All,
I have made a short document using the films from my camera. Unfortunately the vids from my phone are playing up on my movie maker thingy so for now this is the best I could do.
I really like the contrast between the slow movement with us standing up and the crazy floor work! Looks cool!

the uncAnny (or weird?)

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=iZawYU9SfU4C&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=what+is+the+uncanny+illustrated&source=bl&ots=76CPf7eGrG&sig=e4tyhTrjeOAh9XVakwM4NuH5S8w&hl=en&sa=X&ei=bhlyT-OaH4rP0QWQ28nqDw&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=what%20is%20the%20uncanny%20illustrated&f=false




http://kubrickfilms.tripod.com/id80.html




http://www.grin.com/en/e-book/39643/discussing-the-uncanny-from-sigmund-freud-s-essay-uncanny-in-relation

Extract: Psychoanalysis and Performance

Campbell, P. & Kear, A. (2001) Psychoanlaysis and Performance. Routledge: London & New York p. 11

This is quite useful as it shows an example of applying the Freudian 'uncanny' to theatre:

It talks about the space/set/enviroment itself being uncanny. It also further explains the use of sublimation and corporating subtle objects that could signify repressed meanings within the space.....

Things to consider

Just to keep in mind, (and refer back to each time we evaluate our work) when we continue to make....

From research and feedback from what the tutors have said I consider these points the most important to refer to when making work that falls under the 'manufacturing uncanny' definition. Interestingly they come in pairs!

Uncanny is defined as something that is both Familiar and Foreign/Unfamiliar

Freud explains something that is uncanny can entail your repressed Fears and Desires

With audience we need to consider both Studium and Punctum

One more important thing.......we want to manufacture UNCANNY NOT CLEVER TRICKS!

'Punctum and Studium'

http://georgepowell.wordpress.com/2008/07/01/studium-and-punctum/

This is a good link from a blog entry about the fabulous Lucida's Puncum and Studium :)

Theatre Layout Idea 01

AREA Layout (NO Sections) IDEA 01

AREA Layout (Sections) IDEA 01

Directors Commentary.

good evening theatre makers,

I would like to thank you all for our brilliant practical session today.

And

Equally as useful Research in the library. All of the absurdist pictures certainly gave us a lot to think about. feel as though (despite popular belief) that these painting we're far too sense-making. (Go with me here! its a bit out there!) but dreams are disjointed, and these pictures/paintings had clear narratives. mostly sexual. I think the beauty of what we are going to make is that we will have the disjointed factor to allow the audience to create their own 'narrative' or 'story' maybe we could use the audiences perceptions as part of the performance?

Just an idea.

Excited for more creating tomorrow.

I'm going to put my foot down and say we need to be settling/blocking by next week. latest.
Andrew wont be in Tuesday next week. He suggested Monday instead of Tuesday?

See you tomorrow

Some research from today...20-03-12

Here are some pictures of paintings by Magritte found in:

Hammacher, A.M (1995) Magrittte. Abradale Press/Harry N. Abrams, Inc

Rene Magritte is widely known for her use of surrealism.

This painting of a woman showing a man pictured within her outline has a great effect which i feel we can develop and experiment with using projection??

We all were intrigued by this one and this particualr painting triggered the dea of us creating face casts of each of us individually to experiment with? We could incorporate different projections?

Here's a couple of interesting/useful points from other reading taken from today.

Lacan's theory of dreams translated as pure jargen to me, it definitely requires another read. However I think I have understood at leats one thing about his theories. 'Literally 'the setting before the subject.' (2008:87) There's some educated schpiel leading up to this quote that leads me to believe that Lacan's theories differ from Freuds, as Freud's analysis surrounds sign and objects as signifiers. Lacan on the other hand, analyses the links and the overall setting.

Found in: Levine, Z.S. (2008) Lacan Reframed. I.B.Tauris & Co.Ltd: New York

Both Magritte's art and the art of Mike Kelley mostly centre around the body and displaying and referring to it in different "uncanny" ways.

Mike Kelley's work found in: Kelley, M. (2004) The Uncanny. Walther Konig.

As we've mentioned mirrors several times in our discussions, we haven't necessarily distinguished how these were to be used. Should we maybe consider using the mirrors with the audience and manipulate their reflection as an option?

'There is nothign more uncanny than seeing one's face accidentally in a mirror by moonlight. (Heinrich Heine).' (2003:187)

Royle, N. (2003) The Uncanny. Manchester University Press: UK

KCC II

Hey loving the imagery of the street signs etc, all really unusual, maybe we could find a way of creating some or sourcing similar to hide in and around the space.

Big time up for going to one of these Brighton Festival events, if not both.

Eloise love your quotes.

See you tomorrow,
10 in the canteen? not sure what room we are allocated tomorrow x

One more thing for the week.....

Some "Uncanny" images.....These are just to inspire us really and to find new interesting ways to manufacture something to make it look "uncanny". These are examples of subverted street signs from the website:

http://www.killmydaynow.com/2010/04/really-funny-subverted-street-signs-40-pics.html/

It shows many images that have been manufactured by people to appear subverted or "uncanny"....

Manufacturing the Uncanny

So Manufacturing the Uncanny is slowly becoming our main objective. Now this weekend my dad and I were chatting rubbish as per usual but he mentioned something very relevant to what we're doing. This is approx a couple of years old but does anyone remember the advert campaign about drinking; 'you wouldn't start a night like this...'

Both videos are the same campaign using different examples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuowE1SXNkA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=zkVqJTK0ioc&feature=endscreen

This really got me thinking and it is pretty much creating something uncanny- we all recognise the vile disgusting things that cause people to look like this on a night out, but cleverly the advert shows people, very casually, getting ready like this. This is showing something familiar to us all and showing in a new way/subverted kind of way.

Let's try and find more examples of stuff like this to inspire us more...

Vanessa's Suggestion....

I've just read what Vanessa's kindly put forward for us to look at and its VERY useful. I think it would be really useful for us all to have read it this week as this week we want to make and start experimenting. Its also got a sizeable bibiography on its site so if we all make a note for further reading throughout.

http://www.art.net/~dtz/scott3.html

~~~See Festival~~~

So the See Festival Brighton is a weekish long festival all about films and documentaries especially! I think its manditory that we attend something if we like the idea of incorporating documentary and film in with our live performance.

Now I mentioned something a few weeks ago about BAFTA winner and Oscar and Golden Globe nominated; Senna: The masterclass, its Sunday 1st April and its coming to brighton...BAFTA winning guys!! its £6.00 and its a masterclass for documentary making with the creative team behind Senna. Now we'd have to book said tickets pretty quick as I'm sure they'd sell out so we can discuss tomorrow??

The other/additional option is a FREE event Thursday 29th March is a student showcase for the work of student from both Brighton uni and uni of Sussex....I think we should absolutely attend this one as its a weekday and its free!

Now here's the link to the ebrochure of the See Festival....

http://seefestival.org/ebrochure.html

I definitely think it'll be really useful for us even if we decide to only use a minute of film its really important to understand the techniques and artistic references to it all and we could be inspired.

I vote definitely the Student Showcase and I really think the Senna Masterclass is an amazing opportunity learning from the best....(obviously its got nothing to do with the fact that I am OBSESSED with Formula one and in love with Ayrton Senna :) )

Let me know what you all think!

Research over the weekend

Hello All,


I have been reading a lot this weekend and thought I would share with you my quotes and knowledge etc.


In 'Experimental Theatre' by James Roose-Evans, Chapter 7, pg 45 he talks about realism and surrealism within a play he worked on. The quote that I thought we could relate our piece to is as follows:
                'Realism is only the Exposure whereas Art is Revelation; and therefore in the mounting of this play I have tried to avoid all Realism... Let our common sense be left in the cloak room with our umbrellas and hats. We need here our finer senses only, the living part of us.'


In 'Lighting the Stage' by Francis Reid there is a chapter about Lighting Effects. Pg 35 he talks about projection;
                  'Projected images have a translucent quality and we need to ensure that this is compatible with the materials used in construction of the scenic environment...'
It goes on to describe and explain the do's and dont's of projection, and I thought this may be useful for us 'non-techies' to have a glance at.


In the same book, Chapter 9 (Filtering Light) Reid talks about the use of white light, Pg. 67:
                    'However, it is perhaps not surprising that coloured light should be regarded with some suspicion: it is, after all, light from which important parts have been removed. Indeed, coloured light is regarded as unclean to such an extent ... that only unfiltered 'white' light is considered suitable to  illuminate the 'truth' in the playwright's text.


'Dreams' by C.G. Jung touches on; Individual Dream Symbolism, Psychic Energy and Freud. I won't bore you with all the quotes, but if anyone wants to read it then let me know and I will bring it in on Tues (Kelly- we need to compare Freud quotes)


See you all tomorrow.


Eloise

This is a random video I found and thought it looked pretty cool!
Focuses on Light and dance, but our budget may say otherwise, still a good video :)

http://www.wimp.com/suitdance/

Love you!

Multi-media: Video-installation-performance...

So we're still trying to define what our work is, I found a book that looks useful and could help us define the root we are going. It also has nice images:

Since we've discussed the 'documance' idea (Kelly's Concrete Concept aka KCC ;))...there's also work spoken about in this reading about artists doing something similar. They document their process and production stages and displayed as their subject......interesting???:

Kaye, N. (2007) Multi-media: Video-installation-performance... Routledge p.3, 72

Video for Documance on Thursday 15th March

Kelly's Concrete Concept (Script)

...results in seeing something already known or familiar in a new way. Gideon Obarzanek says this during an interview about Glow. During our process we have been experimenting with the idea of evoking recognition, we do not want to describe or only explain 'uncanny' as a concept, we want to display it.

One of our sources are the films we create, we use these as a documentary, like the one you are watching now, combined with live performance, resulting in a 'Documance'.

Our work is not about the technology, the technology is purely facilitating our art. we are aiming to manufacture the cross-over between reality and something that is not, a dream for instance. Us as artists are using the audience to enable them to come into their own awareness, and have a concious sense of themselves being there.

During the 'Documance' transitions are apparent but not distinguished, a question - Can you identify how this presentation began?

We are building on something subtly, using select dream-like elements. Yet knowing when to stop and to not over do it. Only a few of you may notice.

tomorrow tomorrow

Asked Keith, he said Studio 2 is up for grabs. will reseve it with Andrew after Evvvvvviiitta!!!

P.S: Its a new Argentina

glow

search on Youtube Gideon Obarzanek's Digital Moves (PopTech)

a note from me to the group :)

hey guys,


as you know its Evita today and tomorrow but i have been looking at some songs that I think could maybe fit into our piece that i can sing as thats what im bestest (i know thats not a word lol) at, I hope that this is ok and i shall post the songs and links on here when i have totally decided what to put forward to the group.
hope ya'll have a good day and i will be joining you peeps again on thursday :) 


lauren 

xoxoxo

Schedule for this week

Ok so here's the plan for this week:

Tuesday: Studio 7 10-4

Wednesday studio 9 1-4

Thursday: Black Box 10-1 Studio 10 1-4

Now it all depends on what we have planned for this week...we still have Caris, Eloise and Andrews workshops to do. We mentioned maybe tailoring the workshops to what we want to start focusing on or making in relation to the actual piece.

Now in terms of Andrews workshop we had agreed on waiting til further into our process to design and practice with make up, just confirming that. Which leaves Caris' and Eloise's workshops for this week preferably. As these workshops are dance and movement; (and we are very familiar with making movement from any starting point), I suggest picking one of the starting points from below that we have mentioned or looked at so far (feel free to add another suggestion) to make something tomorrow. I thought that we make something using the workshops focusing on one of these to have something actually made for the piece.

Let me know what you all think and hopefully we could aim to have something decided today and could be prepared with research and ideas to start tomorrow??

The next issue is whatever we decide to focus on, it is comprimised by the room allocations, for example 1 and 2; we would really need the black box...hence why making a decision sooner can allow us to maybe negotiate the room situation.

1.Gobos- lighting

2.Shadows- use of lighting

3.Creating an original sound/track

4. Dreams- creating something uncanny

5. Use of film- exploring the use and incorporating it into our piece.

PLEASE COMMENT WITH MORE SUGGESTIONS IF I HAVE MISSED SOMETHING.....LETS GET EXCITED!!! :) :) :)

Jacques Tourneur

A French-American director known for his use of shadow in film, (also done in black and white, because of the period) 1950's film.
Curse of the Demon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yYoEShoNzk&feature=related

At the beginning the use of lighting on the characters face, then at the end with the lit face in the room. Then the fire at the very end is really effective.
I think this is useful if we plan on continuing down the film route. Plus its in monochrome too.

Peace

Creative Discussion

Ok so we have positive feedback on the following things:

Films, (or use of a Stylistic approach to film or recordings)

The use of our process in creating the performance. Or showing at the end after our piece the process separately.

The idea of Dream state (further research to do into what kind of Dream state?)

Lets see if we can't discuss some ideas here and while the feedback's fresh (ish) in our head address what we need too.



My worries:
It has become apparent that we are becoming a very confusing group, as we are presenting something different every time. From Body Dysmorphia/ Theatre in the Dark, Limbo, then black and white/Dreams. Although I think it links we need to be more exact about what we are doing.
Also I think we have to be careful that we are NOT seen as a group presenting a film, because I don't think that is what anyone wants to achieve.

Stimulus I have read (posted before) informs me (us) that when we dream the majority of dreams are disjointed and consist of material being sorted by our unconscious mind that absorbs to our conscious while asleep.
So my overall vision is a very random series of moments, whether that's using film/dance/lighting/sound/singing, in a weird way it seems as though we have the opportunity to present all of our training backgrounds and the way we have collaborated by learning each others disciplines. Its the perfect way to demonstrate that, to the simple point it may follow this layout:

1. An acting piece
2. A soundscape collaborated on by us all.
3. A movement piece
4. So-luminaire
5. Singing piece
6. Application of make up in some way (in a scene, creating an unsettling look?)

Just an example, but it would involve people collaborating in different disciplines and learning. It doesn't have to be that black and white (see what I did there?...) we could just have the running theme that everything is a bit disjointed and distorted to create a dream-esque feel?

Any thoughts?
Sorry just wanted to word vomit a bit.....

Effects, Martyn's Workshop (Tuesday)

Anamnesis

'An effect of reminiscence in which a past situation or atmosphere is brought back to the listener's consciousness, provoked by a particular signal or sonic context. Anamnesis, a semiotic effect, is the often involuntary revival of memory caused by listening and the evocative power of the sounds'(Augoyard & Torgue 2005: P21)

Phonomnesis:
'Closer to anamnesis because of its inner, rather than sonic, nature, the phonomnesis effect consists of imagining a sound. In this case, it is not a sound situation that simulates a memory process, but rather a lived situation that engenders an inner and silent listening.' (Augoyard & Torgue 2005: P85)

Augoyard, J F. Torgue, H. (2005) sonic experience: A Guide to Everyday Sounds Quebec, McGill-Queen's University Press,

Devising Theatre- Extract

Hey all, I've been reading up on devising theatre. Alison Oddey talks about the initial stages of devising and I think it directly reflcts the way we've worked so far. This look like a really useful book with chapter about technology which will be good for us so check it out.

Oddey, A. (2003) Devising Theatre: A Practical and Theoretical Handbook. Routledge, p25

Here's the extract:

Apologies for the tiny-ness of said extract. I've highlighted the points that apply to us and reflect how we've worked. I think it refers to our workshops and how they have been effective. And the fact that we started with a range of stimuli is in fact very useful for devising as a group, and has been proven to have worked successfully in an end result. I thought we could share this tomorrow?

P.S could you please remember to bring clothes to move in and a water/drinking bottle tomorrow please as the choreography workshop will be tomorrow morning. Thankyou all!!!!

Suggested material from tutors & other material

Elevator Repair Service
http://elevator.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCCxfoGniIg

The Wooster Group
http://thewoostergroup.org/
interesting video example of work on the about section.

Jean Cocteau
http://www.jeancocteau.com/

Jean Cocteau: The Difficulty of Being.
This book has a really great introduction and looks as though it could be really useful for us. There is a section about dreams, so i'm going to see if I can get hold of it.

Theories on why we dream
http://psychology.about.com/od/statesofconsciousness/p/dream-theories.htm

Different types of Dream (could help us narrow what we want to create?)
http://www.dreammoods.com/dreaminformation/dreamtypes/

'The Interpretation of Dreams' By Sigmund Freud
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=M1afft7NY3AC&pg=PA165&dq=Real+Dream+Theory&hl=en&sa=X&ei=E5RXT-KxKIHssgbv4dSZDA&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Real%20Dream%20Theory&f=false
page 24 speaks about internal (subjective) sensory stimuli, is very interesting.

Some food for thought, hope everyone's having a nice day off! Would be good if we can discuss some of these things tomorrow :) x

Plan for Thursday 8th March

As we are having Wednesday off this is the plan for Thursday:

Start at 9 (Room tbc)

Kelly's workshop 9 - 10.30
Break 10.30 - 11
Sound exploration 11 - 12
Lunch 12 - 12.30
Make videos and pres prep 12.30 - 2

Artaud and Stanislavski quotes

"The theatre will never find itself again except by furnishing the spectator with truthful percipitates of dreams' Artaud.

"Picture not life itself as it takes place in realIty, but as we vaguely feel it in our dreams" Stanislavski.

Taken from Experimental Theatre: from Stanislavski to Brook. by James Roose-Evans.

COP - Code of Practice

1. Check the blog every morning before each session/day.

2. Inform the group if you are going to be late or absent.

3. If absent, decisions that are made are final, unless they are in your area of expertise and/or the absentee has a strong challenge. The majority will rule.

4. Always be open to change and do not let personal issues get involved.

5. Everything should be for the good of the piece/peace.

Tim's Artaud Workshop Video

Martyn's Workshop

hey'yall.

Hope you had a good weekend!

So, for tomorrow can you bring in a piece of music that, is special to you, or that reminds you of certain memories. (not saying I need to know the reasons although you can share with the group if you feel like it!)

We are going to be looking at Some theories that may boggle you but, will help us lots.

=] see you all tomorrow

~~~Choreography with Props Workshop~~~

Hey guys just a bit of a prep for my workshop.

Enter Achilles by DV8 shows use of pint glass, jacket and cigarette as a prop maybe have a look just to get an idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c9ToyDs3mY

What I'm going to look at with you guys is two ways in using props in choreography;

-Creating movement using a prop as a starting tool

-Creating movement sequences incorporating the prop.

Sometimes props are simply existent in theatre and dance and 'danced around' as opposed to 'danced with' and thats what i want to try out with you guys. Alot of my knowledge of working with props came from working with Jasmin Vardimon Company so maybe take a look at this snippet of her work and see the different ways in she incorporates prop use. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6LCxglzJmY


Could you please try to make sure you have a bottle of water or any kind of drink bottle with you on tuesday as i'd like to work with these to create something for part of the workshop. Thanks guysssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Tim's workshop Intro

I thought it would be good to have Tim's intro to refer to:

Sketches

We found some similarities to our sketches this morning. Our main similarities:

• In the round




• Like the idea of height and different levels




• More than one projection screen, preferably three.




• The audience in the middle under a spotlight.

Other suggestions taken from the sketches were:

• Draping, and materials around the space acting as both part of the "installation" and to cover and hide areas.




• Mirrored wall or side

We agreed on an idea of having the audience enter the theatre high up to look down onto the space where they will suggestively be the stars gobo effect on several bodies. (look at film for reference) We wish to pre-record as when the audience then descend into their positions there will be no such bodies. Playful idea. (open to adaption)

Could we all possibly put any drawings on here please thankyou!! :) :) :)

Kelly's vision

Monochromatic Compilation Film of first rehearsal