By Daniel Buckland level 3
North Kent college: Miskin
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Instillation project
Week 1
Icebreakers
Today I started college again but as a level 3 instead of a level 2 and first we were given a tour of the college campus which most of it I already knew but I learnt that there are turn styles round the back of a building through the car park as a different way to enter the college. This part was mainly for the new people in my course. When we were touring the workshop I went around and into the workshop so the others could enter from the back entrance. Then we played a game of bingo where we got given a piece of paper with a list of things on them like “has an allergy to cats” and “has travelled to more than five countries” and you talked to people who say their name them they say which ones they are or have done so then you write their name down in the box and go to a new person. I “played a musical instrument” which is the drums, “I can’t swim” and I “don’t drink coffee”. This game was fun and it also got me to know some people’s names with some facts about themselves. Then we played a game of two truths and one lie where you say three facts about yourself, and one is a lie then the other people need to guess the lie then you reveal your answer. Every person did their own 2 facts and one lie which my mine were Penguins are my favourite animal, I make stop motion animations and I have two brothers. The lie was that I have two brothers because I only have one brother, but everyone guessed my lie easily. This game got everyone comfortable around each other by learning information about everyone. Then we got split into two groups and we were given a pack of cards which had job roles in a theatre like stage manager and actors. We had to create a tree of how important each job is by the most important at the top and the least at the bottom laid out on the floor. I remember artistic director being at the top at the actors being at the bottom which gave us the basic starting point of the tree. We didn’t know what dramaturge meant and I forgot what it meant but after looking at the other groups tree it was nearer the top, so we moved ours higher as well. The rest was simple like head stage manager and assistant stage manager. Then we could look at the meaning of the job roles which were on the back of each card and dramaturge was the person in charge of research. Then we got set a task of moving a malteaser from the top of the seating bank to a pot on floor after going through a chair, but we had to do it out of newspaper, tape and straws. So, we started to plan and came up with the idea to make tubes for it go down while resting in between the seats so we don’t need to make supports. Then we started to roll up double pages of newspaper and then taping both sides and the middle, we did this repeatedly until we had enough. Then we had problems connecting the tubes together because they were different sizes, so we tried to cut the top off of the end of a tube and sliding it in then taping them together which didn’t work. After testing different tubes together some fit into each other then we taped them together. After a while of constructing the tube, it started to bend in the middle so the malteaser would get stuck, so we got paper which we folded then taped to the chairs, so it was higher up, but the tape kept on falling off so got rid of that idea. Then we just used tape in between the chairs for the tubes to rest on which worked. Then another tube started to bend so we used a tube made from a magazine as a support then we ran out of time, and we didn’t finish building it then it was time to test it but it got stuck in the middle. This task was done to improve teamwork and communication also we could of done this task better if we made a ramp because then we could of seen the malteaser and the problem.
Group work
Today we got set a task to make a tower from pasta which needs to hold chocolate at the top and your tower needed to be the tallest out of all the other groups. My group didn’t know how big the chocolate was going to be so we thought they could be big £1 chocolate bars, so we wanted a big surfaced sturdy tower, so we made three triangles out of pasta sheets then we used more sheets on top to create a flat surface then we rebuilt it but with play dough in the corners to stick the sheets together. Then we had an idea to get a bundle of thin pasta the get normal small pasta tubes through them to create a support, but they couldn’t stand up even with play dough stuck to the tower’s surface. The we had another idea to use four big tubes then put sheets on the top then we had an idea to use a ripped in half marshmallow then another big tube on top with thin pasta inside the tube so it’s taller, but it wasn’t sturdy enough. So, we put four simple big tubes on the sheet then more sheets on top and we ran out of pasta tubes and sheets so it couldn’t get any taller. The tower wasn’t the tallest, but it held the chocolate which was small chocolates from a tin. Then we were getting introduced to model boxes which were 1:25 scale to an actual set and first we were given a piece of paper with examples of other model box sets then the stage. Model boxes are used to plan a set before it’s made in big, so we know it fits and we know the right measurements. Then on foam board I got a ruler and drew out an 8ft by 4ft rectangle then I cut it out by using a scalpel and instead of making a table which I have done last year it was used as a stage deck for a little red riding hood set which I was in a group for. Then two other same size rectangles were used as stage deck then I cut out a square already drawn out, so I cut it out with a scalpel on the foam board which was a wall. Then a scrap piece looked like a bridge, so I drew around it on paper then I drew bricks covered in vines which I cut out with scissors and stuck to the bridge. The set was a small wooden cabin inside with two walls, a fence and a bridge in the background with a black drape underneath.
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Ropes
Today we got given a piece of paper and we got given twelve riddles that we needed to solve like “A man walked into a bar and said can I have a glass of water then the bar keeper pulled out a gun then the man said thanks and left why?” and the answer was because he had hiccups. I got 3 out of twelve right and this was done to teach that sometimes you need creative solutions to a problem. Then we got given our brief which was the instillation project where in groups you get a theme like Grimm brothers fairy tales, and you need to plan out three ideas then narrow it down to one and design a set then make a small set. The theme for this project was “altered reality”. On the brief was also a list of things to do in the project like make a prop and a soundscape. There was also a weekly evaluation guide with some other things too. Then we got taught about knots and at the time I knew the knots bowline, figure of 8 and a shoelace knot (I didn’t know how to tie a bowline and figure of 8 knot). The purpose of a knot is to hold someone in a harness, hold heavy or big objects up or down a ladder or to connect two ropes together these are the ones I got but there are many more uses for knots. The four basic knots are the bowline, reef knot, clove hitch, and figure of 8. There are two types of rope material hemp which is made from natural fibres and polyester/neon rope which is modern and softer. Also, there is static and dynamic rope. Static rope doesn’t take the impact and dynamic rope is stretchy which does take the impact. Then I tried to tie a bowline knot which needed one end and I did it by wrapping it around my hand then sliding it off then putting the end into the hole then around then rope and back through the hole then pull. It took me a couple of attempts, but I did it. A way to remember it is the rabbit going through a hole then around the tree and then back in the hole. Then I tried a reef knot which needed two ends and had two ways of doing it. One was crossing the right end over the right then the left around over the right and then pulling or creating a loop like the bowline. I found the first way easier, and I couldn’t do the other way. Then I tried a clove hitch half hitch which was done with one end on a pole. The end was put over the bar then over again to create a cross and then the end goes up the middle of the cross and is pulled. That is a clove hitch then a half hitch is added by a simple loop and the end pulled through it. Then I tried a figure of 8 knot which was simple and requires one end. It’s done by creating a loop then pulling the end through. A double figure of eight is the same but with double layered rope. Then I got shown four pictures which we rated least to most safe and the order was 4,2,3,1. Pictures 3 and 1 are safer because they are wearing safety helmets. also 3 is clipped to a bar and is wearing steel toe capped boots and 1 is not working at an angle. Picture 2 has a lanyard for tools so if a tool falls it bounces and doesn’t fall also, they are wearing steel toe capped boots. Picture 4 is unsafe because they are carrying heavy items up without a harness and they could fall onto the public street. Then I got shown different types of clips which were carabiner clips, swivel clips, pulley system and an anchor plate. The carabiner clips screws to secure it and it’s light weight, safe but hard to safe also it’s used for climbing. The swivel clips make sure that the rope doesn’t get twisted and it can be big or small. Pulleys can change the direction of the rope and is used to move people or equipment because is halves the weight of it. Harnesses come in two types which are the half body which supports the lower back and the full body to support everything but the head. Descending is used to go down to rescue someone, move equipment down or descend an object from a fixed point. Ascending is going up to focus lights at an outside stage and the same as descending but going up like moving equipment. Then we got shown an example of someone going up in a half body harness and then someone else going up in full body harness.
Reef knot
Bowline
Clove hitch, half hitch
Figure of 8
<----- Half body harness example
Full body harness example ---->
Harness and clip saftey
Weekly evaluation 1
This week I have got to know the new people of this course better by playing games like bingo and two truths, one lie. I also learnt the amount of job roles and which ones are the most important by laying a tree of jobs of the floor the most important jobs at the top. I also made a tube with a group to move a malteaser down the seating bank and into a pot. Also, in a group we made a tower from pasta, playdough and marshmallows and I made a small model set of the little red riding hood from foamboard. Also, I answered riddles, got given a brief and learned about rope, knots, pulleys and harness types. I solved the problem of answering riddles. I got given twelve riddles to answer which help to make your mind think of more creative solutions for problems this is useful for in case a prop breaks and needs to be fixed quickly. I only got three right but some of the answers were obvious once I heard it. I gained the skill of thinking quickly for a creative solution. I can improve on my communication by stop trying to think of ideas when I’m in a group of new people and to think of more ideas when in a group of only people who have been to college for a while in this course. I can practice this when I’m in a group for the instillation project by allowing the new people to come up with some ideas. What went well was the small model for little red riding hood because it was a team effort. I made one of the stage decks for the cabin, one of the walls and a design to add to the bridge. This model set also could work for different fairy tales as well because the cabin isn’t detailed, and the bridge looks old like it’s in a forest. This set went well for the small amount of time we had to plan and make it.