Final Performance Evaluation

Final Performance Link

The final performance went very well, we were well rehearsed and we knew the performance exactly. We worked incredibly hard, which contributed to the polished feel of the end product. We were able to overcome our initial ideas block, and being brave enough to cast that away, enabled us to create a story, with emotion and relevance. The context showed the effects of the first world war not only on the soldiers, but also how this effected the people closest to them.

The final performance had an air of fluidity and confidence, we brought the characters to life after receiving feedback from Tim the previous day encouraging us to make more obvious character choices, in order to animate the piece. Evidence of this can be found in the video at approximately 00:05, the choice we made was to walk in neutral, and then 'breathe in' our characters, making it clear to the audience who we were. This also enabled us to sustain those characters throughout the piece, giving the story a clear and concise beginning. Other ways we had already contextualized the piece include the motif at 00:36 seconds, after the lift i crawl onto jonah and then turn off, and the set of movements after represent the sexual desire felt by couples against the social expectations held by society to be married before having sex. This then prompts the next movements of putting the ring on my finger, to show the morals upheld by society. There is a theme of religion in some of the movements, as you can see in the parts where I am praying, at 00:48 and 01:47 minutes.

We used our bodies to create an unrelaxed atmosphere, representing the stiff attitudes of the time. We made this visually appealing by keeping the movements soft. You can see this in 00:15 - 00:28, this sections aim is to show the struggle between physical desires and wants compared to the block of the views of the time. The chair section at 02:15 has a physical representation of jonah's character making his way through the trenches, however it is also has an emotional meaning of my character being the guide that helps him through, however it could be interpreted that because he doesn't acknowledge me and I am an 'invisible' force, he now associates everything with war, and is blind to anything else. This theory is also proved at the end (3:33) when Jonah assumes the position of a soldier, saluting. This was a strong and obvious image, and in this case I feel the exaggeration was effective as it highlighted a key and definitive ending to match the beginning. My character was trying to disable this image and being unable to, acknowledged that Jonah had become an empty shell, and was now just a soldier and unreachable. This comments on the argument that war dehumanizes people, and the effect that has on the people around them.

There is quite a significant change in the piece, (c. 01:35) 'Pre-leaving for war' and 'Post-leaving for war'. We decided this was an appropriate time to change the music from 'Get Home' to 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood'. We wanted to highlight the change, to really show the difference in moods, from quite a romantic and happy first half, to a feeling of sadness, and a stressed atmosphere. There was a pause whilst the music changed, but I feel that this didn't make it look awkward or like we didn't know what to do, because we maintained our characters. The pause helped signify another important moment in the piece, and I feel stillness can speak to an audience just as much as words. It showed that in that moment when the characters are separate, something big has happened; the stillness was a catalyst for what was to come.

We encountered a few difficulties on the day of the performance. Firstly, we were not used to doing the piece in the space, so we had to adapt to contain the performance, you can see some examples of this where the space limits our actions. Jonah gets slightly stuck against the wall (01:57 - , so was not able to exploit the full capacity of the movements.(01:57) - 02:11). I also got stuck as I must have placed the chair too close, we were also a bit too close together to stretch out our arms towards each other, in hindsight, we could have used the space a bit better in that particular section. I also got stuck against the wall (02:36 - 02:42) which made the floor work look a bit shabby and squished, that was one section I hadn't quite worked out enough before the performance.

One mistake that was made was at the end when Jonah is saluting (03:33) he was facing the wrong way. This was a minor difficulty however, and we are told by audience members it didn't show, and some commented that it actually looked quite good. This is because we kept characters, and Jonah maintained the rigidness in his body.

I feel we could have gotten a higher grade, and the overall piece could've benefited from some form of text, perhaps we could've spoken some of the stimuli rather than taking influence from it. I feel it would have been effective for me to speak some words, perhaps a prayer during the chair section, however this could have been difficult as my words may not have come out correctly.

We didn't quite reach out target in terms of length, however we felt the piece had a slowness that made it feel longer. If we were to develop it we could wedge extra time between sections for speech and stimuli.

Another issue was that we almost overworked ourselves that week, and our bodies were really aching, which did make it a real strain (although we properly pushed through for the final performance!). Upon reflection (and talking to a friend in dance) we discovered that this was because we weren't getting our bodies warm enough before stretching. Another hazard was that the carpets do give you burn, and we ended up with many cuts. I also bruised my back quite badly, because my body wasn't prepared for the pressure put on it. The chair section could have been dangerous, but that was the part we rehearsed the most. We understood it was imperative to make sure nothing was dangerous. Jonah was always careful when standing on the chair/my shoulders, and got off as soon as I said 'get off'! We were sensible with it, so we were able to work out the safest possible methods of doing it.

Overall I was very pleased with the performance and the hard work really paid off, I feel we exceeded the expectations of ourselves and our peers.

Music Changes.

After receiving feedback from Tim we've decided to change the music from Ordinary People. We're in agreement that it takes away from the essence of the piece, and makes it a little bit too much of just a love story. We've decided we want to use 'Get Home' by Bastille and 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' by Nina Simone. Although neither of these songs are of the time, we feel they resonate the themes of the piece very well. After trying out different ways, we decided to play 'Get Home' during the section telling the story of before the war, as it fit better with the movements, and it also acted as foreshadowing for what happens later in the piece. When Jonah goes to war, the music is changed and 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' is played. This shows the inner conflict inside Jonah's character, and how he doesn't mean to change, but he does.

Get Home by Bastille

Don't let Me Be Misunderstood by Nina Simone