Reflection 2
HELENA “I think you’re doing more than talkin’ and he’s doing more than listening.”
We’re about a month and a half into this process and we have two weeks until public performance. We have been to three clinics and it is our second round of tablework this week. The show is pretty good. I was so sure that we would run over forty minutes that I cut two whole scenes and now we are running 30-32 minutes. I’m thankful to have the time to go in an really work some moments. I’m very impressed with my freshmen. They have a lot of natural talent and are excited about the process. They take notes well and are doing the work outside of rehearsal. I wish this was true for everyone, but we’ll get through it.
The found objects idea was an absolute failure. It didn’t read and I didn’t like the look, so I built a shelf out of foam (to keep it lightweight) and rebuilt some of the electronics out of foam but left the back open to see the circuit boards and wires. I really like the final product and one of our clinicians noted how we should push it farther.
We have so very little set dressing. I’ve built some corn, but I’m not 100% sure what I will do with it yet. It’s tedious and kind of expensive, so we ARE using it. I just don’t know how. I think I’ll stick with the idea of this being the “back forty” of Harvey’s property. Maybe an abandoned corn field. We’re using the pylons as planes for much of the show (happy accident, I’m not going to lie), so I’m thinking of painting pylon covers to look like a T-6 and B-17. There is a yellow T-6, but not all the costumes have come in yet and I don’t know exactly what color Jerrie’s jumpsuit will be. I’d hate for you not to be able to tell where she ends and the “plane” begins, so that plane will probably be blue. I’m thinking of putting a call sign on Jerrie’s last flight helmet and maybe covering the center platform to look like the top of that flight helmet. The back pylon will be a stalk of corn. I may just order that off of Amazon if I can find one that doesn’t look cartoon-y.
The sound design has gotten the most comments. I’m very very proud of my student sound designer. She took my ideas and created magic with them. I reached out to the playwright and asked if we could record all of the reporter, newscaster and radio broadcasts. She said yes, so I reached out on Facebook to some of my actor and newscaster friends to record those for me. I have gotten a lot of interest. For now, I have created placeholders using AI from ElevenLabs. Some of them sound really good and may stay in the show, but some of them are CLEARLY placeholders, but that is okay. I’m most worried about the Portuguese voice-over at the end of the show. I’ve reached out to the ESL teacher at my school and on Facebook, but no one seems to speak Portuguese or know anyone that does. I did learn that Italian is very similar (more similar than Spanish, who knew?). I did have an Italian speaker reach out and offer, but, for now, I’ll stay on the hunt. I used a different AI generator for the Portuguese (Murf AI). It sounds okay, but I’d much prefer an actual person record it for me. But, my sound designer has layered white noise over the sounds. That got us through clinics.
Our most prolific clinic note was for certain actors to slow down, and, trust me, we’ve been trying. I have an actor in particular who sounds amazing in rehearsal and then reverts right to muscle memory, drops all inflection and speeds up when there is an audience. We will keep working on that.
This week, we will watch the videos of our performances at clinic and answer the following questions:
What is one thing that I do really well?
What is something that I could work on?
What is something that someone else in the cast or crew does really well?
What is something that someone else in the cast or crew (or something that the whole cast and crew) could work on?
What changed from the 1st clinic to the 2nd clinic? Was it a positive change?
What changed from the 2nd clinic to the 3rd clinic? Was it a positive change?
I always equate watching our clinic performances to football players watching film. It may be the only time that some members of the company every get to see the show. I’ve found it a very effective tool to help students see what they need to work on (once they get over how much they hate the sound of their own voice).
I lot a crew member this weekend. He just didn’t show up for clinic on Saturday and I had to do his job. Better now than at contest, but frustrating, none the less. I’ll either need to replace him (wish me luck with that) or have actors do it when they aren’t onstage. Either way, we will make it work, but it’s definitely a bump in the road.
I’m still struggling with the placement of the LEDs. The radio light is stunning and beautifully hidden. I’m not sure if I need to point the other two at the center platform or keep on one the stage right plane. I think ultimately I will keep them where they are. Once we get the timing right on the stage right LED, we’ll need it to see Jerrie in the blackout during the final storm. I still haven’t quite figured out the eclipse, but I’ll definately need the center LED for that. First thing next year, order more LEDs. -February 2023