In the period of six hours, we have been looking at the theme, ‘Disasters’. We looked at two disasters at two diverse time periods, the titanic in 1912 and 9/11 in 2001. First we looked at the different class passengers on board the titanic in 1912 and how the passengers reacted when the ship first hit the ice burg. Using still images we made the scene, using facial expressions to explore the theme of the class on the titanic.
We also used body language to show the audience and make it more obvious what class we were playing. We also explored the 9/11 attack in September 2001. We also used still images to show facial expressions and different ways to mark the moment of when the plane hit the twin towers, and how the citizens watching the towers, used different body language and facial expressions to emphasise the trauma.
In the work shops, we used many different drama techniques to show the audience. how traumatic the disasters were and the situations they were in to set free from danger. The main technique that was used was still imaging. This technique was used because using still imaging you can get across to the audience how important life means too many people. It also showed us how the different classed people were treated in different situations. Another drama technique that was used during all six hours of work shops was thought tracking, this enabled the audience to get an overall idea of what the character was like and what was going through there mind at that very time.
Thought tracking was also used because it helped the audience get an idea of the characters and the different feelings they had when both disasters both struck. We used thought tracking in some of our scenes to show how the different class passengers abroad the titanic, how they reacted and felt as the ship was filling with water. Additional to those techniques other dramatic techniques, we also used role play and marking the moment. We used these two because showing different scenes at the same time of the disaster can make the performance a lot more dramatic, role play emphasised the disaster a lot as we played different characters and there reactions at different situations and how they reacted to this, using facial and body expressions. Using Mark the moment, you can create a dramatic scene by using a still image at the part of the disaster or use slow motion to high light the disaster.
During the six hours we were given several texts to explore to create more of an atmosphere, a better idea of what it was like to loose love ones in such horrific disasters. The first few work shops we looked at the titanic. We looked at an extract from a play called “standstill”. It explored the different classes (1st, 2nd and 3rd) and how they were treated on the ship and what privileges they had. We did this by making at least 3 different still images for the different classes and portrayed the different mannerisms and types of body language and facial expressions they used to show the audience the type of atmosphere and surroundings they were in.
We also looked at extracts such as “waiting”. For this extract we made three still images to show the different classes and how they ere reacting to the list of people that were missing from the titanic. We then developed our ideas by adding role play to our play to make it more realistic. We also had a piece of text that was written by many 1st and 3rd class people getting offered different jobs on the titanic and their family being very pleased for them. We also developed still images for this piece of text and used parrot on the shoulder to tell the audience what really was going through their minds at the time.
We then studied the 9/11 attack in America, we studied how the different facial reactions would be important and how body impressions would also be important, because we had to get across to the audience how devastating this was for those. First, we looked at a piece of text, when the plane was first boarding and before it had been hijacked. We then used role play to show the audience how they were thinking and we also used thought tracking to portray this. We also had to look at the impact that it caused to those who had family and friends in the world trade centre and the impact it had on their lives.
We created many still images to betray these duties and then created role play of when the plane was flying into the first twin tower. We used role play to show the facial and body expressions of what life was really like to have a jumbo jet plane flying at their windows We then made three still images before the World trade centre was hit and how they reacted at first using facial and body expressions. We also used thought tracking of what was going through there minds, whether it was that the plane was flying really low and have life suddenly about blaze into smoke of whether what they looked like was more important.
One text that we studied was called Requiem for Ground Zero, by Stephen Benkoff. This was part of a poem that was written about when the plane hit the tower and what happened and the images that were seen by the public standing and watching such a terrible moment in time. To betray such a horrifying time in 2001 we created 3 still images to show when; the tower was standing, the tower falling and the tower gone. We then created 3 still images of people trapped in the twin towers and showed their facial and body expressions. We then built this up by making it into a small play called “Fallen”.
We imagined that we had to take a phone call to our loved ones and tell them what was happening and why they were phoning them. To create this image we used many drama techniques such as thought tracking to gat across to the audience what pain and emotion we were going through. In our last drama workshop we used a piece of text that had interviews of American citizens first witnessing the World Trade Centre collapsing. We first had to make at least 3 still images to get across the facial and body expressions of those who were down below watching the plane hit the first tower. To make ours a little more interesting we made a news report. We used spilt screen to show the audience that people all over New York were affected by this terrorist attack and how the first reacted.
Looking at this afterwards, family and friends were very emotional towards those lost ones in such a horrific disaster. Many people left searching for loved ones, leaving posters and even searching in every hospital in New York to help find those they thought they may have lost. This was very similar to the way the titanic was left, missing people, distraught families, emotion and failure to find loved ones.
