On the first week of making props for the Beauty and the Beast Show I watched a full run through of the play from the actors when they had just gone off book and some parts weren’t blocked yet, so they improvised but when practicing both casts did at the same time, so the two main characters had to be exactly in synch with each other’s movement and voice but when they were 1 second off it looked really bad. I thought they were going to perform it with two of the actors as the main characters, but they weren’t. I didn’t know the story very well, but I knew the play story a lot more when I watched Disney’s Beauty and the Beast live action film. I knew that the play was going to be good, but I was a bit shocked when I found it was only 1 hour and 15 minutes long because the last Christmas show I did as a level 2 was double the length with an interval in between. My role was an ASM which stands for an assistant stage manager and my responsibilities were to make, find online or find in the prop store for the show, put down the glow tape, activate the glow tape, stand next the door during shows to open and close it, checking if all the props are there and in the correct place and making sure the candles work and have enough batteries. I made the wolf masks, the egg basket, 4 half dead roses, 4 dead roses, wagyu beef, raw meat, sausages, fruit basket, green beans, crate for books, glow in the dark tree branches, back of deer head wood piece and the Sven sign. I also helped with other things like painting cogs and organizing beads then putting them onto the chandelier. Also, I grabbed many props from the prop store like the dead hunted deer in a bag and the mob weapons which had to be common 16th century France weapons. During the show I activated the glow tape, and I checked if all the props were there and in the correct place the during the show I would Open and close the stage door for the actors so that the door didn’t make a loud slam and to make sure the door was closed when possible because the audience can see a bright light when the door opened. Holding the door open for the actors was also important for when then were entering or leaving in big groups and the actors sometimes ran on stage that I held the door open for also when Lumiere and Clocksworth are giving Belle a tour of the palace they quickly leave off a door then enter from another door as while having a conversation as if they toured the palace, I hold the door open. I enjoyed watching the live action Beauty and the Beast film made by Disney because I learned more about the Christmas show because at the time, I didn’t know the proper story Apart from a couple of slow-paced songs. I also made a list of the locations and props used in the film to give me a good idea of the play. I also knew that the play would be shorter than the film and faster paced because it’s aimed at kids. Before I watched the film I didn’t know that the human prince was turned into a Beast I thought he was a Beast that turned into a human. What I found challenging was when my website wouldn’t load which I didn’t know why it was doing it so I couldn’t do coursework unless I was on a school computer, and I eventually found the problem which was that I had everything on 1 page, so the instillation project and Christmas show was trying to load at once with pictures. I fixed the loading issue by borrowing a more powerful laptop at home and then I saved a week by the sections then I created a new section and I put in the week and hen I deleted it from the home bit that had all of it on one page. This took a while to do that was just repeating, the same thing over and over again. I researched many different things like trying to find a specific prop online, researching specifics about a prop like the time period and researching more about the Beauty and Beast play, cartoon, live action and original story. I researched many fake foods that included the grapes, apples, fish, raw meat, baguettes and eggs. When I was researching the baguettes, they were really expensive or a not realistic children’s toy and a lot of the time the postage costed more that the actual prop. I found fake grapes and apples easily on amazon. I’ve also researched some tassels for the curtains which was £14.99 for a small white tassel on Dunelm but £18.99 on amazon for two that were bigger with colour options that were ordered. Some things I researched helped me with making props for example the fake turkey prop on a giant plate looked a bit plain, so I looked up images online of a turkey dinner and there were herbs, berries and green beans on the plate with the turkeys, so I decided to make some green beans for the turkey from air drying clay. I researched more information about the Beauty and the Beast play because I didn’t know much about it, so I watched the live action film which gave me a lot more knowledge about the story. I developed as a technician by improving my knowledge about making a varied amount of different props. I improved on my sewing from practice and sewing the wolf masks with other people in my department which is a useful skill to know in case a costume or fabric prop breaks during a show and it needs to be fixed quickly. I also helped the new first years technical theatre students by answering questions they had about the show before it happened and where certain things were. I have also become more confident in my skills and ability to do certain tasks and I talk more often. I also learnt how to work in a group better from the instillation project and as a department for the Christmas show. What went well was the communication between stage management and the play director because after we read the script, we made a list of questions that were answered as we managed to talk to the director in the same day. All of the props overall went well because none of them broke apart from a candle’s battery being changed once and not many props were added onto the props list apart from bowls, plates, cutlery and napkins which were all easily grabbed from storage in the college. The show also went really well. What didn’t go well was the rehearsals because the actors talked in the corridor and the cue lines for them to enter the stage were missed then the started the hold open the doors slightly to watch what was happening during the rehearsal that let light out and blocked other actors behind from entering so then they still missed their cue line to enter. That problem was sorted out by the actors before a show was performed which was lucky. Also, after a certain moment in the pay the stage doors swung open with a loud slam, letting the light in and one of the doors in the double doors wasn’t supposed to be opened which I told others about that was never solved and kept on happening. I worked with a team when the props were being made because when the wolf masks were being made, I sewed the fabric to the elastic strips while others cut the fabric or glue the fabric to the beanie or sew the elastic to the beanie or sew the wolf mask to the beanie. It became more efficient and quicker to make the wolf masks when each person had a specific role in making the wolf masks and it was made like a production line so after you did your bit given from another person you do your bit and then give it to the next person. I also worked as a team when the mark up was being done in the studio for the actors to practice with. In the mark up two people held the measuring tape and I put the tape onto the floor while another person pushed the tape down on the floor while I put it down. I worked with the construction department when I was helping them make the chandelier because I counted the bead one by one with help from another person and then they worked out how many beads would go on each fiber string piece and each string piece needed to have a hole drilled into the wooden frame. I also sat down with people from construction in the workshop organizing all the beads by the size of small, medium and lager which took a while to do since there was 4304 beads. Then we all put a certain amount of each sized bead onto a fiber string that was hot glued at the end. I was repeatedly putting 30 large beads then 17 medium beads and then 7 small beads onto each fiber string piece. I also helped lighting by being walker when the lights were being focused and I helped tape the fairy lights to the staircase’s handrail with someone in lighting and sound. What stood out to me most was the chandelier just because of how long they took to sort out and be added to the fiber string. Me and somebody else counted every single bead to get the number 4304 and then I was told to separate the beads into groups of 45 which took me all of the morning to separate most of them but I ran out of containers so I left them in the workshop for them to be used and then I was going to separate the rest by 45 from getting the containers back but another day I was sent down to the workshop to separate the beads by size. Then the beads were counted onto each string fiber piece so that there were 30 large beads, 17 medium beads and 7 small beads. I also helped clean the fiber strings individually with soapy water in a bucket, a cloth and gloves. The chandelier took a long time to make, and other people had to mark out and cut out the wooden frame to the chandelier and attach the fiber string to the chandelier. The chandelier is more noticeable with the fairy lights but can be easily missed by an audience member. I’ve learned many skills from this course as a whole. I’ve learned how to work in a team and basic knowledge for every department but lighting and sound which I haven’t done yet. I have learnt how to have a meeting with the director, and I’ve learned lots more about the play the Beauty and the Beast. Also, I’ve improved my knowledge of making and ordering online fake food props. I’ve also improved my sewing by learning how to tie a knot at the end the thread and I’ve gotten better with sewing with practice. Also, I’ve improved my research skills in buying online props. Also, I’ve improved my organizing and patience from the chandelier beads. I’ve also improved my coursework skill by doing a website instead of a scrapbook. I would like to learn more about lighting and sound so I at least have a basic understanding of it and I would also like to learn more about being in stage management because I would like to specialize in it next year.