Rehearsal Day Seven:
Monday, August 24, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Rehearsal Day Five:
Exercise:
Nate and Ryan don’t get each other. I had them sit across from one another and list physical traits for a good ten minutes, then face away from each other and try to remember them. They need to make a connection. They can’t keep acting in a bubble. They feel safe there
Ryan:
Work on Ryan as a super-villain has started. What is it that makes a super-villain so lame? They lack depth in performance or character. Well that’s not what Ryan and I talked about for his character over the summer. He wanted this whole dulling personality thing. He both cares for Carter, but has an obligation to put him through hell. That’s pretty interesting.
So I gave him eight cards for the telephone scene with Nate. Each time that he felt Charlie was not being a friend he would take a card. if all of them were gone by the end of the scene they had to start over, but if there were more than three they would have to do it again. There needed to be a variety. It worked for the most part, Ryan became more aware of his decisions. I’m hoping this will pay off the next time we do this scene, that maybe Ryan needs to marinate on the concept. Still, he’s less of a super-villain now. Both Ryan and Nate are too good at projecting the meaning of the line. The audience needs to play along as well, you can’t just give them all the answers. They’ll feel cheated.
Abe:
I worked with Abe for the first time as the Jabberwocky. He went for violence. Obvious choice. But the Jabberwocky is not a creature of violence, not at heart. Abe knows this, we talked about it. I told him that the anger is buried deep inside, that it’s not on the surface. Much better. Scene needs little work before performance. Now we can do the Torture scene in Part II since he has the character.
Hank:
Went back and fixed the first appearance of the White Rabbit. Much better. Hank is still playing himself to some degree. I don’t know how avoidable that is. But if I wanted Hank not to be Hank I shouldn’t have cast him in that part. I want him to grow, but I don’t think I am the director to do it. He was trying though, feeling for new ground, not relying on old tricks, but the new tricks are still Hank tricks.
Nate:
Nate’s body normally moves like a drunk earth worm. Since his injury he moves like a drunk earth worm whose head was stepped on. Teaching Nate to move more like Carter, a strangely more decisive creature that Nate, has been very difficult. One thing that’s helped was simply turning Nate’s wrist. Normally it hangs parallel to his body, flat and awkward, like a wing. I turned it thirty degrees so that it was as though he was carrying a bag or a loosened fist. It forced one to push their chest out rather than Nate’s hunchback stance.
Show Date:
A lot of today was spent searching for a show date. This morning I got the word that Tiffany was cool with the proposed date of the weekend of the 26 or September. Immediately we realized, upon speaking with Brian, that having the show during the week was not going to happen. We finally talked out a date that I’m hoping will work out. Besides that we’re screwed. I will have to recast (and probably rewrite and refill) the show and that’s just can’t happen at this point. At least I’m blind to the possibility of other options. Damn weddings. That’ Three now that have gotten in the way. My personal feelings towards that matter don’t help any.
Also, Talked to Brian about being my Adviser. Barb had actually already talked to him to give him a heads up. That’s cool because normally I would have forgotten to a week or two later. He said yes so that’s one less thing to worry about. And I have so much taken down for documentation any way.
Masks:
I think Scott has finally convinced me that if we do get the awesome chance to go to festival that I will present my mask designs. I’ve keep documentation of them as well so it’s completely possible. I would be really cool to compete, especially if the show itself wouldn’t get to, God forbid.
Rehearsal Day Four:
Worked on the Mad Tea party. A lot of fun. Cameron made me crap myself. He’s funny because his voice is so lucid that it does whatever he wants. Cameron himself will do anything you ask. I was initially worried because I’d never even met him before casting him. I saw him in Hayley’s show, but he was really shy in that and he had been shy around me. The mixture of Hayley, Cameron, and Hank was hard to watch due to laughing so much. It was a dream to direct. There was so much clay to work with. Nate feed off them a little, but I think he’s still in a lot of pain.
We worked the bedroom scene to death. The first one. It’s incredibly important that this scene work. If the audience isn’t in love with Alice by the end of this scene they will hate the rest of the show. Alice is very easy to hate. Susan is teasing me with the character. She has these brief moment of touching the essences of the character, but as soon as she does she retreats back to her safe place. Nate’s inability to understand Carter does not help.
None the less we got it looking much better than before. It don’t feel so much like a soap opera and I am starting to like Alice a bit.
After working on the scene for quite some time I told them that I was leaving. I was in no way giving up on them, but having worked them so hard and given them so much direction I needed to let go and let them explore. I needed to release the pressure of my presence. So Scott, Kate, Hayley, and I went back out to Yellow Creek to film.
Much better. Sunset worked for us. Less mosquitoes. Better framing. It’s a short scene, but it’ll help that audience connect the dots so I don’t mind the three hours of work we put into it. (Three hours before editing.)
Started on Jabberwocky mask. This is going to take some time.
Rehearsal Day Three:
I had to give them the day off. Nate looked like shit when he got back. The need to bump the show date back further is looking more and more necessary. Also, Ryan and Abe had to move in. It’s not like I couldn’t use the day to rest and get work done myself, it just makes me very nervous. Scott and I need to sit down and look at a calendar.
We did record with Corey. He’s the caterpillar. Minutes before I had to be at Waller I finished his mask. Things ugly as hell. I banked on the fact that Corey looks unique enough that it wouldn’t matter. Thank God I was right. The filming itself went really well and was a lot of fun. It’s going to look great. The blooper reel alone will have been worth the time we put into that scene.
Corey was pretty direct able, though he seemed a little nervous. It’s understandable. Scott and I don’t always explain what we want from people. I like to see what they’ll bring to the performance and since the Caterpillar is a mixture of emotions I didn’t want to ground Corey to one or another.
We also shot some footage out at Yellow creek. I doubt that it’ll look very good but Scott says he can work with it and see. I’ll know tomorrow if we have to reshoot. I freakin’ hope not. The mosquitoes out there wanted blood and they got plenty of mine.
Rehearsal Day Two:
Worked the only scene that doesn’t have Nate or Tiffany in it. I have a feeling that this scene will be worked a lot by show time.
It went well, but it wasn’t anything special. Susan and Ryan don’t really play off of each other at all. Actually no one plays off of Ryan well. I need to find a way to get this guy out of his head.
For the most part everything else went well. Nate’s getting his hand put in a cast so there isn’t much we can do.
Scott came in to do some recording. We can’t continue to waste this time or we’ll have to bump the show back. Unfortunately the recording didn’t go well at all. We wanted to form a soundtrack around a homemade Gregorian chant. Scott had thought it possible after playing a vocal jam in Jason’s class. I’ve never played it. I didn’t work at all. Mostly I got confused looks. This will need reevaluated.
Thankfully the video we shot was really good. The video we did was the one for the beginning of the show that brings the audience into the show. It’s probably my favorite video and really makes the play work in my mind. It’s not necessary for the audience to get the show but it’ll certainly help. It also foreshadows a lot. It sets Wonderland up, our version that is. It also gives the Cheshire cat so extra motivation. It’s a little behind the scenes of how Wonderland works kinda stuff.
Then when I got home I got a call from Nate saying that the had good news and bad news. The good was that his hand would not be in the cast much longer. The bad was that he would have to get it off on show night. That means we have to reschedule the show. Which means I need to start asking people about days that will work and days that will not. This could work in our favor. We’re already behind schedule and since Nate probably won’t be back tomorrow till late, we’ll be even further behind schedule. We’ll probably need the time.
Exercise:
Nate and Ryan don’t get each other. I had them sit across from one another and list physical traits for a good ten minutes, then face away from each other and try to remember them. They need to make a connection. They can’t keep acting in a bubble. They feel safe there
Ryan:
Work on Ryan as a super-villain has started. What is it that makes a super-villain so lame? They lack depth in performance or character. Well that’s not what Ryan and I talked about for his character over the summer. He wanted this whole dulling personality thing. He both cares for Carter, but has an obligation to put him through hell. That’s pretty interesting.
So I gave him eight cards for the telephone scene with Nate. Each time that he felt Charlie was not being a friend he would take a card. if all of them were gone by the end of the scene they had to start over, but if there were more than three they would have to do it again. There needed to be a variety. It worked for the most part, Ryan became more aware of his decisions. I’m hoping this will pay off the next time we do this scene, that maybe Ryan needs to marinate on the concept. Still, he’s less of a super-villain now. Both Ryan and Nate are too good at projecting the meaning of the line. The audience needs to play along as well, you can’t just give them all the answers. They’ll feel cheated.
Abe:
I worked with Abe for the first time as the Jabberwocky. He went for violence. Obvious choice. But the Jabberwocky is not a creature of violence, not at heart. Abe knows this, we talked about it. I told him that the anger is buried deep inside, that it’s not on the surface. Much better. Scene needs little work before performance. Now we can do the Torture scene in Part II since he has the character.
Hank:
Went back and fixed the first appearance of the White Rabbit. Much better. Hank is still playing himself to some degree. I don’t know how avoidable that is. But if I wanted Hank not to be Hank I shouldn’t have cast him in that part. I want him to grow, but I don’t think I am the director to do it. He was trying though, feeling for new ground, not relying on old tricks, but the new tricks are still Hank tricks.
Nate:
Nate’s body normally moves like a drunk earth worm. Since his injury he moves like a drunk earth worm whose head was stepped on. Teaching Nate to move more like Carter, a strangely more decisive creature that Nate, has been very difficult. One thing that’s helped was simply turning Nate’s wrist. Normally it hangs parallel to his body, flat and awkward, like a wing. I turned it thirty degrees so that it was as though he was carrying a bag or a loosened fist. It forced one to push their chest out rather than Nate’s hunchback stance.
Show Date:
A lot of today was spent searching for a show date. This morning I got the word that Tiffany was cool with the proposed date of the weekend of the 26 or September. Immediately we realized, upon speaking with Brian, that having the show during the week was not going to happen. We finally talked out a date that I’m hoping will work out. Besides that we’re screwed. I will have to recast (and probably rewrite and refill) the show and that’s just can’t happen at this point. At least I’m blind to the possibility of other options. Damn weddings. That’ Three now that have gotten in the way. My personal feelings towards that matter don’t help any.
Also, Talked to Brian about being my Adviser. Barb had actually already talked to him to give him a heads up. That’s cool because normally I would have forgotten to a week or two later. He said yes so that’s one less thing to worry about. And I have so much taken down for documentation any way.
Masks:
I think Scott has finally convinced me that if we do get the awesome chance to go to festival that I will present my mask designs. I’ve keep documentation of them as well so it’s completely possible. I would be really cool to compete, especially if the show itself wouldn’t get to, God forbid.
Rehearsal Day Four:
Worked on the Mad Tea party. A lot of fun. Cameron made me crap myself. He’s funny because his voice is so lucid that it does whatever he wants. Cameron himself will do anything you ask. I was initially worried because I’d never even met him before casting him. I saw him in Hayley’s show, but he was really shy in that and he had been shy around me. The mixture of Hayley, Cameron, and Hank was hard to watch due to laughing so much. It was a dream to direct. There was so much clay to work with. Nate feed off them a little, but I think he’s still in a lot of pain.
We worked the bedroom scene to death. The first one. It’s incredibly important that this scene work. If the audience isn’t in love with Alice by the end of this scene they will hate the rest of the show. Alice is very easy to hate. Susan is teasing me with the character. She has these brief moment of touching the essences of the character, but as soon as she does she retreats back to her safe place. Nate’s inability to understand Carter does not help.
None the less we got it looking much better than before. It don’t feel so much like a soap opera and I am starting to like Alice a bit.
After working on the scene for quite some time I told them that I was leaving. I was in no way giving up on them, but having worked them so hard and given them so much direction I needed to let go and let them explore. I needed to release the pressure of my presence. So Scott, Kate, Hayley, and I went back out to Yellow Creek to film.
Much better. Sunset worked for us. Less mosquitoes. Better framing. It’s a short scene, but it’ll help that audience connect the dots so I don’t mind the three hours of work we put into it. (Three hours before editing.)
Started on Jabberwocky mask. This is going to take some time.
Rehearsal Day Three:
I had to give them the day off. Nate looked like shit when he got back. The need to bump the show date back further is looking more and more necessary. Also, Ryan and Abe had to move in. It’s not like I couldn’t use the day to rest and get work done myself, it just makes me very nervous. Scott and I need to sit down and look at a calendar.
We did record with Corey. He’s the caterpillar. Minutes before I had to be at Waller I finished his mask. Things ugly as hell. I banked on the fact that Corey looks unique enough that it wouldn’t matter. Thank God I was right. The filming itself went really well and was a lot of fun. It’s going to look great. The blooper reel alone will have been worth the time we put into that scene.
Corey was pretty direct able, though he seemed a little nervous. It’s understandable. Scott and I don’t always explain what we want from people. I like to see what they’ll bring to the performance and since the Caterpillar is a mixture of emotions I didn’t want to ground Corey to one or another.
We also shot some footage out at Yellow creek. I doubt that it’ll look very good but Scott says he can work with it and see. I’ll know tomorrow if we have to reshoot. I freakin’ hope not. The mosquitoes out there wanted blood and they got plenty of mine.
Rehearsal Day Two:
Worked the only scene that doesn’t have Nate or Tiffany in it. I have a feeling that this scene will be worked a lot by show time.
It went well, but it wasn’t anything special. Susan and Ryan don’t really play off of each other at all. Actually no one plays off of Ryan well. I need to find a way to get this guy out of his head.
For the most part everything else went well. Nate’s getting his hand put in a cast so there isn’t much we can do.
Scott came in to do some recording. We can’t continue to waste this time or we’ll have to bump the show back. Unfortunately the recording didn’t go well at all. We wanted to form a soundtrack around a homemade Gregorian chant. Scott had thought it possible after playing a vocal jam in Jason’s class. I’ve never played it. I didn’t work at all. Mostly I got confused looks. This will need reevaluated.
Thankfully the video we shot was really good. The video we did was the one for the beginning of the show that brings the audience into the show. It’s probably my favorite video and really makes the play work in my mind. It’s not necessary for the audience to get the show but it’ll certainly help. It also foreshadows a lot. It sets Wonderland up, our version that is. It also gives the Cheshire cat so extra motivation. It’s a little behind the scenes of how Wonderland works kinda stuff.
Then when I got home I got a call from Nate saying that the had good news and bad news. The good was that his hand would not be in the cast much longer. The bad was that he would have to get it off on show night. That means we have to reschedule the show. Which means I need to start asking people about days that will work and days that will not. This could work in our favor. We’re already behind schedule and since Nate probably won’t be back tomorrow till late, we’ll be even further behind schedule. We’ll probably need the time.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Rehearsal Day One:
I get to the building early so that I can get the new script run off. The cast takes it surprisingly well that they have a new script that they have to memorize after I told them to be off book by the first day back. Which means that most of them were probably not off book. Except Hayley who memorizes things within two days. I’m not kidding. It’s weird.
We start with some games to get them familiar with each other. Everyone knows each other, but not everyone has worked together. After some warm-ups we played Sardines, a favorite of my productions. The mixture of people being reunited with the games seemed to make everyone comfortable with each other so I skipped the trust exercise games that I had planned next. I’ll probably wait to do them until Tiffany gets back from Brazil.
We then go into character walk stuff. This works pretty well. Susan, Hayley, and Ryan do the best at it. Nate is distracted. Cameron is shy, Hank is going to his stock characters that he has built, Abe is also doing well. I take them through some dislikes and likes. This tells me who has moved away from the script and built their own character and who is still using it as a crutch. Hayley has the White Duchess down, but seems to be relying on stereotypes of Bill the Lizard, not as rich a character to watch. Ryan too has added no depth to the Cheshire Cat. He comes across as a super-villain, something that I knew would be a risk.
We take a five minute break and this is when Nate gets a call that he needs to be in Pittsburgh immediately to get his hand X-rayed. I have no choice but to let him go. We break for lunch.
When we get back we do some minor character confidences and then I tell them that we’re going to break for a while and come back to do video. Tomorrow we’ll continue to do regular rehearsals. We have not gotten to rehearse any scenes by this point. Video will begin shooting at seven. Besides I desperately need a nap. I never sleep the day before rehearsals start.
And hour later I get a call from Nate. He will be in surgery tomorrow morning. His hand is extremely screwed up. He’s on his way back to pick up his stuff. I can’t miss two days of rehearsals. So I have Kate call back the handful of actors that I need to do the first couple of scenes. Luckily they’re understanding. No mutiny yet. Video is to be held off till tomorrow now. I tell Scott to think of what video we can get done. As much as possible so we can stay on schedule.
We’re waiting at Waller for an hour before Nate gets done on the phone with various doctors and family. We run the first couple of scenes. Nate is incapable of getting out of his head. His distraction makes him impossible to direct. This is where I would normally do something silly that would get energy up, but by this time my eyes burn in my head I’m so tired. And we have three more scenes to get to. Susan is doing surprisingly well. They both start out acting in a soap opera however. Is this how they view the script, how they understand it? Or is this their comfort zone? Still Susan takes the direction, but has nothing to work off of with her romantic interest. I resort to laying down the blocking track. At least I’ll have some work done on this scene. I go onto the next scene with Ryan and Nate. Again, blocking only for the most part. My fears that Ryan will be a super-villain are valid. At least he’s giving me something and can be adjusted later.
By the time I get to Nate and Hanks scene I’m angry. Hank is no longer acting having become so comfortable with playing himself over the years. This is going to take work. Rehearsal ends. I go home. I work on two more masks. All of the masks will be done by Thursday at this rate. After today’s rehearsal it feels good to work on something that I both have control of completely and will see instant results.
Video Meeting Update:
Talked through a lot of the video last night after hearing about Nate. We’ve broken it down so that we can form a schedule with which to shoot. As polished the video in the first Act. The first video is pretty exciting. It’s called the Danse Macabre and explains why Alice is having these crazy dreams as well as introduces you to Wonderland a little earlier so that it’s not so jarring when I happens later. It’s very complicated to explain, but needless to say it lifts the opening so that the audience gets into the show much sooner than later.
We assigned location and people to the video. I have a props list for the first half.
The last thing we did was work out what sound design is going to be used early on. Scott’s recording a weird Gregorian chant sorta thing mixed with Silent Hill-esque themes. Silent Hill is a video which I haven’t actually played, but I love the soundtrack to it and often write while it plays in the background. It’s also a movie, a Japanese game directed into a movie by a French-Canadian and written by the former best friend of Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avery. Yeah, it’s that sort of good. Scott and I have also pulled influence from the movie.
Scott has derived this idea from a game that he played in a Jason class. We never did that in Directing Studio or Playwrighting so I have to take his word for it, but it sounds like a good idea. Also I like Gregorian Chants.
We always branch off to other topics. One of them was the use of the damn fresco flower table that we found months back. How I hate this table. Before Scott had intended to use it for the tea party scene, but my hate for this table was undying. I hate frescos and I hate frescos of flowers even more. Scotts cough syrup thick enjoyment of irony made the table a wet dream for him. Finally we found a place for it in the café’ scene at the top.
We had looked through the prop/ furniture storage book in the office and had found nothing, except a piece here and there. Our show is too unique. But now Scott will be able to bring that Better Homes and Garden abortion to good use. I think I may paint parts of it black so that it doesn’t fill me with rage every time I look at it.
We also polished the first dream of Act II (post intermission) so that it shines like the Danse Macabre dream.
This is the kind of excitement that I used to get while working on the video for Twelve Dreams. Scott admitted to not really being excited about doing video for this show. Twelve Dreams was more fun. I agree. But we’ve found ways to make the story better through the use of the video instead of it being there for the sake of video. As used after these discussions the video really enhances the experience. It’s the difference between a Sheetz hotdog and a Nathan’s 100% beef foot-long with chili. Completely fulfilling and slightly self indulgent.
Nate:
He was in an accident last night. I think he’s alright, from what I can tell anyway. We talked briefly. He was able to get to the emergency room so he can’t be too bad. I mean he was sitting in the waiting room. I would hope they wouldn’t keep him there if anything was truly busted up. Still, it’s worrisome and I hope he’s okay. The guy has some real bad luck. Strangely the reason I called was to ask him the name of the deadliest snake in the world. It’s a boomslang. It makes you bleed out of your eyes. Probably not what he wanted to hear at that moment I’m sure.
Some guy T-boned him while he was on his bike, with another bike. That’s some crappy luck.
Welding:
Scott went home for two days. While home he’s getting the door ready for set use. Needs legs welded to the bottom. Also, the Jabberwocky pipe and Mad Tea party table will be created. His dad is an expert welder and doesn’t mind helping out. This will save us production time when the actors get back.
While not all of the production business will be ready to be set into place before the actors get back as planned, we’re much further along that Twelve Dreams was. And I never really expected that all to be ready the first day back, but being this far along has allowed us some of our more fantastic ideas to be realities. Such as the masks and the wide variety or fantastic set pieces and even the ability to polish the script as much as I have. And of course I can actually focus on the actors instead of if the video will be done or not in time.
Barb:
Spoke with Barb about scheduling. Worked out a schedule out that will work for the production, both of them I think. Also showed her the set. Got that okay. Had it okayed with Patrick a couple of days ago. I’ll have Scott shoot it over to Rick, Rob, Jason, and Val. The best part about the meeting was that she informed me that the websites were not attached in Brian’s e-mail so we can get that sent out. I want to update them first. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to transfer my journal from my computer to the internet.
Also, she’ll be able to check out the PowerPoint, though it’s slightly outdated by this point. Still, it’s a good starting point and probably better than reading the novel that my journal is turning into.
After meeting with Barb I can write up a honest and true schedule rather than the bare-bones one that the cast has.
Corey:
Worked with Corey that last two days. This will ensure that the set will be finished on time. As of Monday the 17th the deck will be ready to be put down. Victory.
Susan:
I’ve had several conversations with Susan about her character. It’s a character that’s out of her type and that she doesn’t quite understand. Also, Susan is still a very young actress and relatively inexperienced. Furthermore, most times when she’s it’s because she is very attractive or because she is such good friends with the person in charge and fun to work with. Of course this is not always the case. Certainly not with Boys’ Life. When I cast her in Twelve Dreams it was because the character needed to be stern and mature, but have a soft side around Putnam (Andy Venturella.) This is more in Susan’s type. As soft and kind as Susan is in everyday life, she is stern and adult, almost condescending in her stage life. Rick broke her of this a bit, but then again that attitude worked for that character.
In Saving Alice, Susan is playing a character that is far different from her previous roles and getting her to believably portray a meek character has been some work. The first thing that I did with everybody was to get a handful of journal entries from them. This let me know where they were in the understanding of the characters. Susan actually didn’t get those entries till after the character conference I had with her. The reason for this was that she hated the character.
Susan doesn’t understand why people cut themselves. Most people don’t and that’s been a trouble with the script. The way to solve that is to have Susan be so likeable that you can’t hate her or think less of her. The natural response to a human behavior that is not understood is to write it off as foolish and weird. Susan has to charm them. Admittedly her looks won’t hurt this process. But Susan condescending manner on stage is off-putting.
We had to get to the core of the character. When asked what that was Susan said that she was Innocent. But what is innocence? Where does it come from? What makes a person innocent? It is not ignorance. Ignorance begets naivete, not innocence. Megan Miller is innocent, but not ignorant. Things have happened to her that are horrible, but she maintains her innocence. Understanding this Susan hit the nail on the head, Alice maintains her innocence, because she still has hope. That is what makes her Carter’s opposite and that is why they are attracted to each other. Carter is a cynic.
Why does Alice cut? I don’t care really. Neither should the audience. As soon as you try to explain it, it can be questioned. Susan has to know, but that is not Alice. Alice is not a cutter, she is Alice, a girl who happens to cut. That seemed to help Susan also get into character.
The last piece that got Susan where she needed to go with the character is a stuffed bunny that I purchased from Molly last spring. Being enough in character Susan took the bunny as the prop that brought her into the world.
It’s strange to see your friends slowly take on traits that you know are for the character. I understand it from having acted before, but it’s slightly unnerving but at the same time very exciting. Hayley is worse, simply because her characters are some much crazier.
Video Update:
Our nightly conversations continue. I’m never sure whether I’m going to feel better or worse by the time that I’m finished talking to Scott. Still they’re conversations that have to happen.
Talked about the way that we’re going to handle what the script refers to as the “Epiphany Dream” which translates to “ the stuff that helps the audience get the story that’s happening behind the curtain a little better.” This one was the one that begins the second half and deals with what happened right after Alice’s death. The audience is going to feel unsafe and unsure after coming back from intermission. The title character was just killed off. Some may not even know that there is a second half. Scott and I came up with a sweet way to help the more traditional theatre goer. Cue cards, a Brechtian devise will be inserted as certain points where the transition needs a little pick-me-up and I’ve found a great place towards the very end where it actually helps complete the plot. It makes sense considering that the play is a sort of play within a play that Charlie is putting on for the audience.
The Bar:
Spent two hours at the bar talking/ arguing/ laughing about the differences between Brechtian, Staslavskian, traditional, Commedia theatre with Scott. Do other majors spend this much time working on projects and theory? Came up with an idea for the Mad Tea party that will give the actors something to play with on stage. Originally starting out as a tea fountain it was regressed to an “absinthe dispenser”. Of course this will dispense tea instead of absinthe, but it will add some action to a scene of mostly sitting and giving us the opportunity to “steampunk” another
set piece.
Leslie Meeting:
Sat down with Leslie and looked at her new designs. They fine. I have to continually remind myself that she’s young and hasn’t been a designer on a show yet, that I know of. Her designs will work with the show, but they won’t stand out.
If nothing else she’s become very easy to discuss designs with. Sometimes I think that’s more important than turning out an amazing design with a designer that you hate to talk to.
What will save them is the steampunk additions that will occur later.
She is working on the costumes that we’ll need for filming first. Poor girl really does have much more time to get work done than I do, and that’s saying something.
She has picked up on the irony of the show that others haven’t. That’s a plus.
Masks:
Two more masks are complete. That’s six so far. Have to wait for Abe and Ryan to get back to do the two more important masks. That makes me nervous. Nothing I can do about that however.
Set/ Blocking:
To save a ton of time Scott and I went into the studio over the duration of two days and blocked out the placement and movements of all of the set pieces and a lot of the actor entrances and exits. This is something I normally do the first day or two with the actors/ actresses and it’s agitating and annoying to all involved. A necessary evil, or so I thought. Blocking things out like this has taken a lot of stress out of the first couple of days of rehearsal. I learned to do things the previous way from fellow student directors and then working with Rick, it was something he didn’t do, but I couldn’t figure out how he avoiding wasting that time.
From now I I’m doing things this way. I’ve gotta tell Hayley about this, it’ll help her out too. I know that she sometimes has trouble deciding on blocking out movement like this especially if it’s not built into the dialogue (Though most times it is if you look at it abstractly.). This will allow me to focus on the acting from the beginning. Sweet.
Meeting with Brian/ KCACTF:
Met with Brian pertaining to taking Saving Alice to festival. It’s something that we’ve wanted to do from the beginning of pre-production. The power point that we created can’t actually be sent out to the faculty. Brian has a copy know, but I’m not concerned with informing Brian, he’s the production’s adviser and has been updated pretty much every two weeks or so. He knows what we’re doing. Professors that are understandably busy will have no idea how much the script has developed and the depth of the production.
Twelve Dreams is nothing in comparison to Saving Alice. 12 Dreams is like a larva form of this production, as it should be. Scott and I have grown so much since then. It feels like years ago. It’s only been a year, but we’ve done three other productions since then (Fish Eyes, Boys’ Life, and Mineola Twins.) Twelve Dreams was only in production for about three months as well. This is three years and then three intensive months, not including rehearsals. That’s one of the reasons the script became so long. Luckily I’ve finally gotten enough time to distance myself from the script and re-write it with the audience fully in mind. The first version was for me and I loved it. The second version was for theatre people, artsy types, my friends. This version is for all to enjoy...mostly. I’m not going to pull a Michael Bay and sell out so everybody who sees this advertised on a Burger King cup can come and enjoy it only to forget it a week later.
This is supposed to sit in your gut like a heavy breakfast. Oatmeal. Not a shmuffin. But oatmeal with strawberries in it to the plain gross oatmeal that Susan eats.
Brian suggested writing up a one page e-mail explaining all the work that we’ve bee n doing. That’s damn near impossible. I could write a book. A tome. But I’ll do it. I should be making masks, but I’ll do it. Damned able IUP e-mail. I suppose the powerpoint was just too much to swallow.
Leslie:
She sent me another three sketches of Alice’s dress at the end. I’m starting to get a little upset that she’s spending so much time on this piece. I gave her a list of costumes that need designed first. A list of priority. She still comes back to this piece. She knows that it’s only in the play for a total of five minutes. The amount of effort that she’s taking is wasteful. But I know that this dress means more to her than all of the other costumes. So with that in mind I have to bite my lip and let her go with it. If I take this away from her I’ll only get crap out of her for the rest of the production. In a way it always me discuss designs with her that she doesn’t care about, yet I do, and I get what I want. That’s called compromise. Yes, I suppose I’ve learned a bit of that. She gets the Alice dress and I get the sweet Jabberwocky costume the way I want it.
He design for Ryan’s costume has improved. She has taken the images and suggestions I gave her and has done good work with it.
I get to the building early so that I can get the new script run off. The cast takes it surprisingly well that they have a new script that they have to memorize after I told them to be off book by the first day back. Which means that most of them were probably not off book. Except Hayley who memorizes things within two days. I’m not kidding. It’s weird.
We start with some games to get them familiar with each other. Everyone knows each other, but not everyone has worked together. After some warm-ups we played Sardines, a favorite of my productions. The mixture of people being reunited with the games seemed to make everyone comfortable with each other so I skipped the trust exercise games that I had planned next. I’ll probably wait to do them until Tiffany gets back from Brazil.
We then go into character walk stuff. This works pretty well. Susan, Hayley, and Ryan do the best at it. Nate is distracted. Cameron is shy, Hank is going to his stock characters that he has built, Abe is also doing well. I take them through some dislikes and likes. This tells me who has moved away from the script and built their own character and who is still using it as a crutch. Hayley has the White Duchess down, but seems to be relying on stereotypes of Bill the Lizard, not as rich a character to watch. Ryan too has added no depth to the Cheshire Cat. He comes across as a super-villain, something that I knew would be a risk.
We take a five minute break and this is when Nate gets a call that he needs to be in Pittsburgh immediately to get his hand X-rayed. I have no choice but to let him go. We break for lunch.
When we get back we do some minor character confidences and then I tell them that we’re going to break for a while and come back to do video. Tomorrow we’ll continue to do regular rehearsals. We have not gotten to rehearse any scenes by this point. Video will begin shooting at seven. Besides I desperately need a nap. I never sleep the day before rehearsals start.
And hour later I get a call from Nate. He will be in surgery tomorrow morning. His hand is extremely screwed up. He’s on his way back to pick up his stuff. I can’t miss two days of rehearsals. So I have Kate call back the handful of actors that I need to do the first couple of scenes. Luckily they’re understanding. No mutiny yet. Video is to be held off till tomorrow now. I tell Scott to think of what video we can get done. As much as possible so we can stay on schedule.
We’re waiting at Waller for an hour before Nate gets done on the phone with various doctors and family. We run the first couple of scenes. Nate is incapable of getting out of his head. His distraction makes him impossible to direct. This is where I would normally do something silly that would get energy up, but by this time my eyes burn in my head I’m so tired. And we have three more scenes to get to. Susan is doing surprisingly well. They both start out acting in a soap opera however. Is this how they view the script, how they understand it? Or is this their comfort zone? Still Susan takes the direction, but has nothing to work off of with her romantic interest. I resort to laying down the blocking track. At least I’ll have some work done on this scene. I go onto the next scene with Ryan and Nate. Again, blocking only for the most part. My fears that Ryan will be a super-villain are valid. At least he’s giving me something and can be adjusted later.
By the time I get to Nate and Hanks scene I’m angry. Hank is no longer acting having become so comfortable with playing himself over the years. This is going to take work. Rehearsal ends. I go home. I work on two more masks. All of the masks will be done by Thursday at this rate. After today’s rehearsal it feels good to work on something that I both have control of completely and will see instant results.
Video Meeting Update:
Talked through a lot of the video last night after hearing about Nate. We’ve broken it down so that we can form a schedule with which to shoot. As polished the video in the first Act. The first video is pretty exciting. It’s called the Danse Macabre and explains why Alice is having these crazy dreams as well as introduces you to Wonderland a little earlier so that it’s not so jarring when I happens later. It’s very complicated to explain, but needless to say it lifts the opening so that the audience gets into the show much sooner than later.
We assigned location and people to the video. I have a props list for the first half.
The last thing we did was work out what sound design is going to be used early on. Scott’s recording a weird Gregorian chant sorta thing mixed with Silent Hill-esque themes. Silent Hill is a video which I haven’t actually played, but I love the soundtrack to it and often write while it plays in the background. It’s also a movie, a Japanese game directed into a movie by a French-Canadian and written by the former best friend of Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avery. Yeah, it’s that sort of good. Scott and I have also pulled influence from the movie.
Scott has derived this idea from a game that he played in a Jason class. We never did that in Directing Studio or Playwrighting so I have to take his word for it, but it sounds like a good idea. Also I like Gregorian Chants.
We always branch off to other topics. One of them was the use of the damn fresco flower table that we found months back. How I hate this table. Before Scott had intended to use it for the tea party scene, but my hate for this table was undying. I hate frescos and I hate frescos of flowers even more. Scotts cough syrup thick enjoyment of irony made the table a wet dream for him. Finally we found a place for it in the café’ scene at the top.
We had looked through the prop/ furniture storage book in the office and had found nothing, except a piece here and there. Our show is too unique. But now Scott will be able to bring that Better Homes and Garden abortion to good use. I think I may paint parts of it black so that it doesn’t fill me with rage every time I look at it.
We also polished the first dream of Act II (post intermission) so that it shines like the Danse Macabre dream.
This is the kind of excitement that I used to get while working on the video for Twelve Dreams. Scott admitted to not really being excited about doing video for this show. Twelve Dreams was more fun. I agree. But we’ve found ways to make the story better through the use of the video instead of it being there for the sake of video. As used after these discussions the video really enhances the experience. It’s the difference between a Sheetz hotdog and a Nathan’s 100% beef foot-long with chili. Completely fulfilling and slightly self indulgent.
Nate:
He was in an accident last night. I think he’s alright, from what I can tell anyway. We talked briefly. He was able to get to the emergency room so he can’t be too bad. I mean he was sitting in the waiting room. I would hope they wouldn’t keep him there if anything was truly busted up. Still, it’s worrisome and I hope he’s okay. The guy has some real bad luck. Strangely the reason I called was to ask him the name of the deadliest snake in the world. It’s a boomslang. It makes you bleed out of your eyes. Probably not what he wanted to hear at that moment I’m sure.
Some guy T-boned him while he was on his bike, with another bike. That’s some crappy luck.
Welding:
Scott went home for two days. While home he’s getting the door ready for set use. Needs legs welded to the bottom. Also, the Jabberwocky pipe and Mad Tea party table will be created. His dad is an expert welder and doesn’t mind helping out. This will save us production time when the actors get back.
While not all of the production business will be ready to be set into place before the actors get back as planned, we’re much further along that Twelve Dreams was. And I never really expected that all to be ready the first day back, but being this far along has allowed us some of our more fantastic ideas to be realities. Such as the masks and the wide variety or fantastic set pieces and even the ability to polish the script as much as I have. And of course I can actually focus on the actors instead of if the video will be done or not in time.
Barb:
Spoke with Barb about scheduling. Worked out a schedule out that will work for the production, both of them I think. Also showed her the set. Got that okay. Had it okayed with Patrick a couple of days ago. I’ll have Scott shoot it over to Rick, Rob, Jason, and Val. The best part about the meeting was that she informed me that the websites were not attached in Brian’s e-mail so we can get that sent out. I want to update them first. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to transfer my journal from my computer to the internet.
Also, she’ll be able to check out the PowerPoint, though it’s slightly outdated by this point. Still, it’s a good starting point and probably better than reading the novel that my journal is turning into.
After meeting with Barb I can write up a honest and true schedule rather than the bare-bones one that the cast has.
Corey:
Worked with Corey that last two days. This will ensure that the set will be finished on time. As of Monday the 17th the deck will be ready to be put down. Victory.
Susan:
I’ve had several conversations with Susan about her character. It’s a character that’s out of her type and that she doesn’t quite understand. Also, Susan is still a very young actress and relatively inexperienced. Furthermore, most times when she’s it’s because she is very attractive or because she is such good friends with the person in charge and fun to work with. Of course this is not always the case. Certainly not with Boys’ Life. When I cast her in Twelve Dreams it was because the character needed to be stern and mature, but have a soft side around Putnam (Andy Venturella.) This is more in Susan’s type. As soft and kind as Susan is in everyday life, she is stern and adult, almost condescending in her stage life. Rick broke her of this a bit, but then again that attitude worked for that character.
In Saving Alice, Susan is playing a character that is far different from her previous roles and getting her to believably portray a meek character has been some work. The first thing that I did with everybody was to get a handful of journal entries from them. This let me know where they were in the understanding of the characters. Susan actually didn’t get those entries till after the character conference I had with her. The reason for this was that she hated the character.
Susan doesn’t understand why people cut themselves. Most people don’t and that’s been a trouble with the script. The way to solve that is to have Susan be so likeable that you can’t hate her or think less of her. The natural response to a human behavior that is not understood is to write it off as foolish and weird. Susan has to charm them. Admittedly her looks won’t hurt this process. But Susan condescending manner on stage is off-putting.
We had to get to the core of the character. When asked what that was Susan said that she was Innocent. But what is innocence? Where does it come from? What makes a person innocent? It is not ignorance. Ignorance begets naivete, not innocence. Megan Miller is innocent, but not ignorant. Things have happened to her that are horrible, but she maintains her innocence. Understanding this Susan hit the nail on the head, Alice maintains her innocence, because she still has hope. That is what makes her Carter’s opposite and that is why they are attracted to each other. Carter is a cynic.
Why does Alice cut? I don’t care really. Neither should the audience. As soon as you try to explain it, it can be questioned. Susan has to know, but that is not Alice. Alice is not a cutter, she is Alice, a girl who happens to cut. That seemed to help Susan also get into character.
The last piece that got Susan where she needed to go with the character is a stuffed bunny that I purchased from Molly last spring. Being enough in character Susan took the bunny as the prop that brought her into the world.
It’s strange to see your friends slowly take on traits that you know are for the character. I understand it from having acted before, but it’s slightly unnerving but at the same time very exciting. Hayley is worse, simply because her characters are some much crazier.
Video Update:
Our nightly conversations continue. I’m never sure whether I’m going to feel better or worse by the time that I’m finished talking to Scott. Still they’re conversations that have to happen.
Talked about the way that we’re going to handle what the script refers to as the “Epiphany Dream” which translates to “ the stuff that helps the audience get the story that’s happening behind the curtain a little better.” This one was the one that begins the second half and deals with what happened right after Alice’s death. The audience is going to feel unsafe and unsure after coming back from intermission. The title character was just killed off. Some may not even know that there is a second half. Scott and I came up with a sweet way to help the more traditional theatre goer. Cue cards, a Brechtian devise will be inserted as certain points where the transition needs a little pick-me-up and I’ve found a great place towards the very end where it actually helps complete the plot. It makes sense considering that the play is a sort of play within a play that Charlie is putting on for the audience.
The Bar:
Spent two hours at the bar talking/ arguing/ laughing about the differences between Brechtian, Staslavskian, traditional, Commedia theatre with Scott. Do other majors spend this much time working on projects and theory? Came up with an idea for the Mad Tea party that will give the actors something to play with on stage. Originally starting out as a tea fountain it was regressed to an “absinthe dispenser”. Of course this will dispense tea instead of absinthe, but it will add some action to a scene of mostly sitting and giving us the opportunity to “steampunk” another
set piece.
Leslie Meeting:
Sat down with Leslie and looked at her new designs. They fine. I have to continually remind myself that she’s young and hasn’t been a designer on a show yet, that I know of. Her designs will work with the show, but they won’t stand out.
If nothing else she’s become very easy to discuss designs with. Sometimes I think that’s more important than turning out an amazing design with a designer that you hate to talk to.
What will save them is the steampunk additions that will occur later.
She is working on the costumes that we’ll need for filming first. Poor girl really does have much more time to get work done than I do, and that’s saying something.
She has picked up on the irony of the show that others haven’t. That’s a plus.
Masks:
Two more masks are complete. That’s six so far. Have to wait for Abe and Ryan to get back to do the two more important masks. That makes me nervous. Nothing I can do about that however.
Set/ Blocking:
To save a ton of time Scott and I went into the studio over the duration of two days and blocked out the placement and movements of all of the set pieces and a lot of the actor entrances and exits. This is something I normally do the first day or two with the actors/ actresses and it’s agitating and annoying to all involved. A necessary evil, or so I thought. Blocking things out like this has taken a lot of stress out of the first couple of days of rehearsal. I learned to do things the previous way from fellow student directors and then working with Rick, it was something he didn’t do, but I couldn’t figure out how he avoiding wasting that time.
From now I I’m doing things this way. I’ve gotta tell Hayley about this, it’ll help her out too. I know that she sometimes has trouble deciding on blocking out movement like this especially if it’s not built into the dialogue (Though most times it is if you look at it abstractly.). This will allow me to focus on the acting from the beginning. Sweet.
Meeting with Brian/ KCACTF:
Met with Brian pertaining to taking Saving Alice to festival. It’s something that we’ve wanted to do from the beginning of pre-production. The power point that we created can’t actually be sent out to the faculty. Brian has a copy know, but I’m not concerned with informing Brian, he’s the production’s adviser and has been updated pretty much every two weeks or so. He knows what we’re doing. Professors that are understandably busy will have no idea how much the script has developed and the depth of the production.
Twelve Dreams is nothing in comparison to Saving Alice. 12 Dreams is like a larva form of this production, as it should be. Scott and I have grown so much since then. It feels like years ago. It’s only been a year, but we’ve done three other productions since then (Fish Eyes, Boys’ Life, and Mineola Twins.) Twelve Dreams was only in production for about three months as well. This is three years and then three intensive months, not including rehearsals. That’s one of the reasons the script became so long. Luckily I’ve finally gotten enough time to distance myself from the script and re-write it with the audience fully in mind. The first version was for me and I loved it. The second version was for theatre people, artsy types, my friends. This version is for all to enjoy...mostly. I’m not going to pull a Michael Bay and sell out so everybody who sees this advertised on a Burger King cup can come and enjoy it only to forget it a week later.
This is supposed to sit in your gut like a heavy breakfast. Oatmeal. Not a shmuffin. But oatmeal with strawberries in it to the plain gross oatmeal that Susan eats.
Brian suggested writing up a one page e-mail explaining all the work that we’ve bee n doing. That’s damn near impossible. I could write a book. A tome. But I’ll do it. I should be making masks, but I’ll do it. Damned able IUP e-mail. I suppose the powerpoint was just too much to swallow.
Leslie:
She sent me another three sketches of Alice’s dress at the end. I’m starting to get a little upset that she’s spending so much time on this piece. I gave her a list of costumes that need designed first. A list of priority. She still comes back to this piece. She knows that it’s only in the play for a total of five minutes. The amount of effort that she’s taking is wasteful. But I know that this dress means more to her than all of the other costumes. So with that in mind I have to bite my lip and let her go with it. If I take this away from her I’ll only get crap out of her for the rest of the production. In a way it always me discuss designs with her that she doesn’t care about, yet I do, and I get what I want. That’s called compromise. Yes, I suppose I’ve learned a bit of that. She gets the Alice dress and I get the sweet Jabberwocky costume the way I want it.
He design for Ryan’s costume has improved. She has taken the images and suggestions I gave her and has done good work with it.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Mask Theory and Meeting with Nate
Meeting with Nate:
Disappearing Bed
Why isn’t work done?
When can he get back? August 16
When can he start working on the set? August 16
Honors college funding?
Memorized?
Scale drawing for Patrick?
How do we contact you? kvjp @iup.edu
Mask Theory:
There were always going to be masks in the show. From the conception of the idea I wanted masks in the show. I think that the majority of my shows have had some kind of face alteration, whether it’s through mask, digitally in the video, or through “ clever” lighting.
Masks are interesting because they show that the wearer is hiding something, that they are holding something back. There are other purposes of course, but if you see a person in a mask there is a sense of wonderment.
Once Scott and I came to the conclusion that the set was actually an underground theater that gave us a logical reason to use the masks besides that they look cool. At first we went to the Commedia Dell Arte’ masks because of their connection to theater as well the introductory monologue that’s been added. Upon further research there really aren’t a lot of masks involved in Commedia. At least not enough for this show. The masks used for Commedia exaggerate the features of the wearer. For some characters I wanted the persons face to be completely covered to convey the magic of wonderland.
What I really wanted, but wasn’t aware of, was Venetian masks. We decided to combine the two, which seems to have happened to some extent already.
To logically place the masks within the Wonderland I needed to know how they got there. Yes, they exist within the theater that is the set as well as the actors that are wearing them, but they needed to exist in the show within a show. Why did the Red Queen wear a mask? Why did the Jabberwocky?
Even if the audience may never know that answer it seemed cheap to bank on that assumption.
It makes sense that these kids that exists within the Hierarchy of Wonderland would bastardize the way the Hierarchy used to be. These young adults were in power now that the adults had, for lack of a better word, dropped the ball. This is a reflection of how the real world, the coal mining town, had become. I’ve lived in coal mining towns, towns that used to be booming, but for one reason or another have dried up. I’ve observed how children in these areas develop a certain demeanor and attitude and a way of taking the old and making it their own, for better or worse. I this case the Commedia/ Venetian masks have been used in the same way there elders would have, but made grungy or mechanized.
There are two exceptions. The Jabberwocky is not a youth. His mask has been mechanized, but only out of necessity. The Caterpillar is an older character and his mask has not been altered in any way. Also, the Red Queen has very little differences between the traditional and the modern. That is because of the status and the attitude that the character holds.
Honors College Grant:
Wrote up the grant incentive business. I’m gonna go talk to Kevin Brazanski tomorrow, or at least set up a meeting while waiting for Nate’s half of the proposal. The more paperwork I do the more I feel like a lawyer. I thought I got into theatre to avoid paperwork. I think I’m starting to get good a this muckity muck chit chat. It makes me want to kill something cute however. Like a baby duck orphan house. Why is it that being this professional always feels like lying?
Anyway, I worked with Kevin on CSI:IUP . I liked him. His team sucked, but he was cool. And the experience was certainly interesting. Something that I will think of for years to come. Thanks Tim. (Tim Zeddies wrote the script.)
Disappearing Bed
Why isn’t work done?
When can he get back? August 16
When can he start working on the set? August 16
Honors college funding?
Memorized?
Scale drawing for Patrick?
How do we contact you? kvjp @iup.edu
Mask Theory:
There were always going to be masks in the show. From the conception of the idea I wanted masks in the show. I think that the majority of my shows have had some kind of face alteration, whether it’s through mask, digitally in the video, or through “ clever” lighting.
Masks are interesting because they show that the wearer is hiding something, that they are holding something back. There are other purposes of course, but if you see a person in a mask there is a sense of wonderment.
Once Scott and I came to the conclusion that the set was actually an underground theater that gave us a logical reason to use the masks besides that they look cool. At first we went to the Commedia Dell Arte’ masks because of their connection to theater as well the introductory monologue that’s been added. Upon further research there really aren’t a lot of masks involved in Commedia. At least not enough for this show. The masks used for Commedia exaggerate the features of the wearer. For some characters I wanted the persons face to be completely covered to convey the magic of wonderland.
What I really wanted, but wasn’t aware of, was Venetian masks. We decided to combine the two, which seems to have happened to some extent already.
To logically place the masks within the Wonderland I needed to know how they got there. Yes, they exist within the theater that is the set as well as the actors that are wearing them, but they needed to exist in the show within a show. Why did the Red Queen wear a mask? Why did the Jabberwocky?
Even if the audience may never know that answer it seemed cheap to bank on that assumption.
It makes sense that these kids that exists within the Hierarchy of Wonderland would bastardize the way the Hierarchy used to be. These young adults were in power now that the adults had, for lack of a better word, dropped the ball. This is a reflection of how the real world, the coal mining town, had become. I’ve lived in coal mining towns, towns that used to be booming, but for one reason or another have dried up. I’ve observed how children in these areas develop a certain demeanor and attitude and a way of taking the old and making it their own, for better or worse. I this case the Commedia/ Venetian masks have been used in the same way there elders would have, but made grungy or mechanized.
There are two exceptions. The Jabberwocky is not a youth. His mask has been mechanized, but only out of necessity. The Caterpillar is an older character and his mask has not been altered in any way. Also, the Red Queen has very little differences between the traditional and the modern. That is because of the status and the attitude that the character holds.
Honors College Grant:
Wrote up the grant incentive business. I’m gonna go talk to Kevin Brazanski tomorrow, or at least set up a meeting while waiting for Nate’s half of the proposal. The more paperwork I do the more I feel like a lawyer. I thought I got into theatre to avoid paperwork. I think I’m starting to get good a this muckity muck chit chat. It makes me want to kill something cute however. Like a baby duck orphan house. Why is it that being this professional always feels like lying?
Anyway, I worked with Kevin on CSI:IUP . I liked him. His team sucked, but he was cool. And the experience was certainly interesting. Something that I will think of for years to come. Thanks Tim. (Tim Zeddies wrote the script.)
Scott Frank
Brian really wants me to enter Saving Alice in the NPP. I’m not really even sure why. All that I know is this; if I enter the play then Scott Frank will respond to it. This makes me nervous after all that I’ve heard about him. All I really know is that he likes to follow Fritag’s pyramid. So do I. But from what people have told me about him that is his life. He won’t pay attention to anything besides the script.
I wrote this with the mindset of directing it. So story wasn’t the only thing that I was focusing on. For the most part it was, but not all of it. And I know its not a perfect script. There are parts that are shaky and parts that I need to see live to get the pace right. I’m still tweaking it. But being that I’ve been writing so long I know that you can never completely satisfy a write with a written work unless they are the person that wrote it. That’s why I’m worried about Frank Scott. Because he didn’t write Saving Alice. Because I’m not writing his themes or with his voice or scene structure.
What makes me more nervous is that I over heard that Corey didn’t like the script. Why does this matter? Because he should like it. He is the “target audience”. Or something like it. And I should have grew a pair and asked for some feedback, but I didn’t. it the same reason that I don’t want Scott Frank to go ape shit on my play…because I’m still new at this writing thing and I;m still learning and if someone manages to tear me down just write it’s going to be a long time before I get around to writing another play. I know, grow a pair. I need them to be in this industry. But I’m not sure if any writer I’ve ever talked to has ever gotten to the point where harsh feedback doesn’t make them doubt.
So what can I do? Not enter it? What would it help if I didn’t submit. I fail by way of self execution.
I’m sitting down and getting truly intimate with the script. I don’t know this Scott Frank. So I have to do one better. In my mind I’ve brought the two writers that I respect most to respond to the show; Joss Whedon and Grant Morrison. If I can get the play to the point that I want those guys to see it then Scott Frank can blow it out his ass whether he likes it or not.
I wrote this with the mindset of directing it. So story wasn’t the only thing that I was focusing on. For the most part it was, but not all of it. And I know its not a perfect script. There are parts that are shaky and parts that I need to see live to get the pace right. I’m still tweaking it. But being that I’ve been writing so long I know that you can never completely satisfy a write with a written work unless they are the person that wrote it. That’s why I’m worried about Frank Scott. Because he didn’t write Saving Alice. Because I’m not writing his themes or with his voice or scene structure.
What makes me more nervous is that I over heard that Corey didn’t like the script. Why does this matter? Because he should like it. He is the “target audience”. Or something like it. And I should have grew a pair and asked for some feedback, but I didn’t. it the same reason that I don’t want Scott Frank to go ape shit on my play…because I’m still new at this writing thing and I;m still learning and if someone manages to tear me down just write it’s going to be a long time before I get around to writing another play. I know, grow a pair. I need them to be in this industry. But I’m not sure if any writer I’ve ever talked to has ever gotten to the point where harsh feedback doesn’t make them doubt.
So what can I do? Not enter it? What would it help if I didn’t submit. I fail by way of self execution.
I’m sitting down and getting truly intimate with the script. I don’t know this Scott Frank. So I have to do one better. In my mind I’ve brought the two writers that I respect most to respond to the show; Joss Whedon and Grant Morrison. If I can get the play to the point that I want those guys to see it then Scott Frank can blow it out his ass whether he likes it or not.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Power Point and Jabberwocky Design
Power Point:
I think that I've put way too much energy into this power point. i needed a way to communicate with the faculty just how seriously we're taking this production in order to receive respondents. Unfortunately it's taken a large amount of time to get through and I'm not a very good friend of technology.
But whatever. It's done now and I'll never have to see it again.
Masks:
Sent out the sketches i did of the Jabberwocky to Scott. Also developed his costume with Leslie through a series of e-mails. I really like the piper stick that we made for him. Sketches look great. Hope the real thing is twice as cool.
Leslie:
I'm finally starting to get Leslie. I've barely talked to her before the beginning of production. It definitely helps that she gets me info quickly. i hate waiting around for weeks for a response from a designer. I'm looking at you Addam.
Homework:
Abe is the only person who has not responded to me about homework. In fact i can't get him to respond period. I think if i sit him down and talk to him i may be able to fix this problem.
I think that I've put way too much energy into this power point. i needed a way to communicate with the faculty just how seriously we're taking this production in order to receive respondents. Unfortunately it's taken a large amount of time to get through and I'm not a very good friend of technology.
But whatever. It's done now and I'll never have to see it again.
Masks:
Sent out the sketches i did of the Jabberwocky to Scott. Also developed his costume with Leslie through a series of e-mails. I really like the piper stick that we made for him. Sketches look great. Hope the real thing is twice as cool.
Leslie:
I'm finally starting to get Leslie. I've barely talked to her before the beginning of production. It definitely helps that she gets me info quickly. i hate waiting around for weeks for a response from a designer. I'm looking at you Addam.
Homework:
Abe is the only person who has not responded to me about homework. In fact i can't get him to respond period. I think if i sit him down and talk to him i may be able to fix this problem.
P.S.
These are the rough sketches of the Jabberwocky and his Plague Doctor stick. I plan to post other sketches after i get the permission of the other designers.
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