By Daniel Buckland level 3
North Kent college: Miskin
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The instillation project
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The christmas show
The dance show
TIE and level 2 show
The dance show 2
More props and old photos research
Today we had the sugar glass bottles which the stage management tutor had picked up and the glow in dark rope came from delivery also we had Lucozade bottles, juice, scissors, fizzy water, printed off homework and Harry Styles pictures in folders on a table. Then I went online to look for 1950s and 60s pictures for the level 2 show which some of them will have a burnt hole in the middle from a controlled flame. I first looked up “1950s vintage family photos” where I found 3 black and white family photos then I looked up “1960’s wedding photo vintage” where a found a nice coloured photo and then I just searched for “1960s vintage photographs” where I found 2 more coloured photos one of them had 2 people in in front of a motorbike and the other one had 4 people in a car just before they went on a family road trip. Then I put the photos on a word document that I increased the sizes of the pictures on and then I emailed the document to the stage management tutor to print off at some point. Then I got given some fabric leaves which are going to be used in the level 2 show that fall from above the stage, but the leaves were stuck to each other, so I carefully separated the leaves which someone else was doing with me too We ended up with a small box of leaves after they were separated and 1000 more leaves were going to be ordered. Then I went to the prop store to grab 8 bottles, lids for the bottles in a box and some more cuddly toys for the TIE show, Brainstorm. When I found the bottles, I wasn’t sure how to carry 8 of them because I couldn’t carry 8 of them all at once then I thought to find a box to carry them in. First, I saw a crate with bottles already in them but there was over double the amount of bottles we needed in them then I saw a shopping basket which we used to carry the bottles in. Then I also grabbed a couple of smaller cuddly toys and the box of bottle lids. After we took the props we grabbed back to design, I looked to check if there was a shopping trolley outside of the prop store because we used to have one and one was wanted for Brainstorm, but I didn’t see it. Then I went into the pops store to grab a big cuddly toy sheep and dog and some more smaller cuddly toys. Then I grabbed one of the school books used in the show and I filled in the pages with english and maths work and I left a couple of pages blank in between in case the books opened by accident when they are thrown. Then me and the other stage management students went to the shops with money provided by the tutor and what we needed to get was puzzle boxes, cheap squash, sweets for audience, teenager looking desk lamp, 6 tissue boxes and carrier bags. We also needed to get the receipts so that we could show the tutor what we bought and how much we spent. First, we went into Aldi to get the squash which costed £1.09, and the bag costed 30p so all together we spent £1.39 in Aldi. Then we went into Pound Land where we grabbed multiple big bags of the Haribo which had strawberries mini packs in which was vegetarian in the audience member was vegetarian and we also got other sweet options like rainbow strips and lollies which all together costed £29.80. Then we went into Wilko where we found a desk lamp for £7 and 6 tissue boxes that costed £9.60 also if we include the carrier bag, we spent £16.70 in Wilko. Then we went into a charity shop where we found a whole shelf of different puzzles so we picked the ones that looked like old people would solve, which costed £3 per puzzle box so we spent £9 in the charity shop. All together we spent £56.89.
Table with props on
Document with old photos on
Separating leaves
Before separated
After separated
Going to the Prop store
8 bottles grabbed in shopping basket
Cuddly toys grabbed on table
Filling in school books
What I wrote in the school book
Going to the shops
Items bought from shops
Puzzles from charity shop
Squash from Aldi
Bag of sweets from PoundLand
Bag of tissues from Wilko
Desk lamp from Wilko
Separating leaves
Today I separated more leaves that we got from online that were going to be used in the level 2 show. This took about 30 minutes to do, which filled up the whole box. Then I got a bag that was going to be used for Brainstorm and I filled it up with yellow rain coats from One man's junk. Then I went to the prop store to grab a vodka bottle and some more cuddly toys but I wasn't sure which bottle was vodka so I looked up online pictures of vodka bottles and then grabbed one that looked like the picture then I grabbed some smaller cuddly toys but 2 of them were made to look dirty for a specific show which I wasn't sure if I needed or not. Then I went back to design where I got told That grabbed the wrong bottles and the dirty cuddly toys weren't wanted so I returned the dirty cuddly toys and then another group of people went to grab a vodka bottle. Then I was looking online for flat pack cardboard boxes for the TIE show, but they were either too small or too expensive and then I found a pack of 5 boxes for £19.98 with the measurements of 53cm times 53cm times 41cm with free delivery for tomorrow from amazon. Then I looked online for Helium canisters for the level 2 show because they want helium balloons with confetti inside which is going to be popped and I found a helium canister for £25 that could blow up 14 to 16 foil balloons or 27 to 30 latex balloons from Card factory. Card factory only sold one canister size, so we need to buy 2 for the show. Also, I think the leaves and confetti will fall at the end of the show so when we reset the next day during tech week, we would need to separate the leaves and confetti. Then I went into the workshop to paint the jumbotron for Brainstorm which is going to have a projection screen on each side. Then me and some others got black paint and I got a paint brush that I painted on the wood and metal. Then after it dried, we painted another layer of black paint onto it. Also, when the 2nd layer dries, we need to move the jumbotron and then paint the bottom of it because it would be very visible as it's going to be hung on the ceiling. Then I watched the MT's show that was shown in front of dancers, actors and techies. The show had an introduction said about each song and the musical it was from and then the song was played that they danced and sang to. I didn’t know any of the songs, so I got confused on what the songs were meant to be about, but the dancing and singing was still good.
Leaves before separated
Leaves after separated
Yellow rain coats stuffed in bag
Bag with rain coats inside
Going to the prop store
Cuddly toys that were grabbed
Researching props to buy
Flat pack boxes
Helium canister
Painting the Jumbotron
Before painted jumbotron
After painted jumbotron
Watching the musical theatre show
Helping construction
Today I was helping construction move white panels onto the floor that were going to be stapled but first I moved a box on wheels on to a stage deck then I got a broom, and I swept the floors making sure that I swept the underneath of the raised stage. After the first 3 panels were measured and stapled down in the middle, me and someone else moved a panel that was stapled onto the floor. Then I helped lift up a stage deck as a panel was slid underneath the pole. Then I moved another panel with another person and some other people lifted up the stage deck as we slid it underneath the pole. This was repeated until the floor was covered with white panels and the 2 panels were put on top of the centre raised stage deck and 4 panels are going to be custom cut to fit onto the centre stage deck without any of the panels sticking out. Then I watched rehearsals where they were rehearsing the scene where Jane is giving a presentation about the brain while two of the other characters are trying to make her laugh. This presentation is done with a power point on the projection screen and at one point she gives up trying to present it by memory and reads from a script, but they are not sure if the script will be pre set underneath the stage deck or in her pocket or to not have a script and read from the screen. Then the never have I ever scene is rehearsed which the audience play by standing and sitting down and when the last couple of audience members are still in the game the actors get the audience members on stage and spin an actor on a chair who points at someone who is then out until 1 audience member is left who has won the game. The audience member who wins is given a bag of sweets which we have and then is given a pound land toy which we questioned if we needed then thought that we didn’t need to buy them. Then I took off the price stickers from a pile of books and CDs and then I went into the auditorium where I held a door for someone who was drilling on the handles and then once he had done attaching the handles I tested to see if the handles were attached by lifting it up slightly and then putting it back down again.
White panels stapled to the floor
Watching rehearsals
Removing stickers and helping attatch a door handle
Door with door handles on
Books and CDs I removed stickers from
Organizing the props
Today we moved the props we had from design into the studio where the actors were practicing which was a couple of back and forth trips which I carried a laundry basket, a desk lamp, a shopping trolling and 2 of the big cuddly toys. Then the actors moved all of the props into organised piles and some of the piles there were of cuddly toys, cushions, gaming props and drink containers. Then I put labels on empty boxes from design and then I wrote the numbers 1 to 8 on the boxes so that we can write down what props are in each box and then I moved the boxes into the studio. Then some of the scenes were ran so that when a prop was used, we decide if it’s a personal prop that the actor has on them or if it’s in one of the 8 boxes underneath one of the stage decks or if it’s underneath a stage deck not in a box. When these scenes were being run, I was next box 2 with a notepad and pen noting down everything that was put in the box. Also, the raised stage decks that were around the audience were being used as the character's bedroom and each bedroom was customised with props to fit their character’s personality for example one was had comfort items in like blankets and teddies while another room had lots of items like wrappers and a football to make the room look messy. Then the directors were choosing actors to bring on certain props to go into the bedrooms. Having the boxes and the actors moving the props is a lot easier than the techies trying to pre set every prop which would be hard to remember and would look messy with techies going on and off stage. Then we continued to watch the scenes and note down the props put in the boxes. Then I went into design, and I emailed the stage management tutor what props were in box 2. On the list there was 9 clothes, 6 candles, 4 empty monster cans, 10 CDs, a football, green googly eyed headband, 5 hair curlers, 2 bulldog hair clips, a wire hair band, 2black hair brushes, 2 plastic medals and a pink comb.
Pile of props moved into studio
One of the labled boxes out of 8
Props organized into piles
Sorting out where the props are going
Weekly evaluation 2
This week I have found, printed and cut 1950s and 60s photos, separated fabric leaves, grabbed bottles and cuddly toys from prop store, filled in school books with work, went to charity shop, separated more leaves, make school bag look more full, researched flat pack boxes, researched helium canisters, painted jumbotron frame black, watched musical theatre show, helped construction, watched rehearsals, removed stickers from CDs and books, moved props into studio, labled prop boxes 1 to 8 and I helped sort out what props goes in which box. I solved the problem of not having certain props for Brainstorm and Someone I use to Know (the level 3 and level 2 show) by going to shops. We bought Squash from Aldi, a desk lamp and tissues from Wilko, sweets from PoundLand and puzzles from the charity shop. All together, including the bags, we spent £56.89. This task was done in Dartford, so we only needed to take the shuttle bus supplied by the college to get to the shops. I have improved on my note taking skill by taking notes when I watched the Brainstorm rehearsals also, I noted down the props that were being put in Box 2 as the actors were rehearsing and then we stopped whenever we came across a prop that we didn't know where it goes. Being able to take notes of the important information while keeping them short is a useful skill especially in stage management, because when a show is first watched you need to note down every prop they need. I can improve on my note taking skills even more next week because I think we will continue to write down which prop goes in what box. Also, I need to make sure that I don’t make my notes too long and messy looking because that is confusing to look back on. This week I did research on photos from the 1950’s and 60’s for the level show about dementia so we might burn a hole in the middle of it with a controlled flame. I found 4 in black and white and 4 in colour.