Lesson Reflection #2

CARLOS GETTING KICKED OUT OF UNCLE'S HOUSE

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In today's lesson our main task was to create an improvisation piece about the uncle getting rid of Carlos. The main aim/target was to portray the feeling of Carlos whilst getting kicked out, and what happens to him afterwards in a realistic manner. The piece was directed in the perspective of Carlos, which was easy to portray and effective. When it came to determining the roles we chose;

•          Amirali - Uncle; Because he is tall and has a mature appearance overall
•          Aline - Carlos; I am petite and is a complete contrast to Amirali 

In the first image we witness the uncle shouting at Carlos. in my opinion, the frame was very eye-catching due to the levels in height, facial/body expression and gestures. The height difference shows that that the uncle is more powerful + older. The way he is looking down at her makes Carlos feel uncomfortable, intimidated and overall awkward. 'Facial Expression' is very important as it can completely tell an emotion all on its own. We portrayed the characters emotions through well-used facial expression; Amirali is showing that he is cross by having pulled down & slope in eyebrows, scrunched lips. We can also infer that Amirali is cross due to his body positions and hand gestures. On the other hand Carlos shows a shocked yet scared expression, as she is flabbergasted at how her uncle could be so arrogant and careless; this is portrayed through her widened eyes, frowned smile, crunched/humped back and hands in a fist together to portray that I am 'begging'. 

In the second frame Carlos encounters two citizens of Rio who are very caring by comforting and supporting her. They are patiently hearing out her problems and devising a solution. This completely contradicts the occasional stereotype that all people in Rio aren't necessarily caring for unknowns. It is actually showing us that although there are bad people in society, there are people who are willing to speak up, help for the sake of others, which is clearly represented in this particular scene. 

Carlos's emotion was portrayed using multiple aspects; her legs apart, head crouched down supported by her hands. This was not only a good representation of the character's emotions but is what gains the attention of the two Brazilian folk. One tiny detail, that I believe made a huge difference was the constant tapping of Carlos' foot. Although not an over the top gesture, it was a small, yet realistic gesture that shows her aggravation and slight anger.

The layout in which the scene was laid out was pin pointed specifically to make it as realistic as possible. The bus seats were laid out logically just like an actual daily-used bus. This helped set the atmosphere for the scene.

Lastly I would like to discuss some alternative endings that could've occurred:

1. Carlos is accepted into a rival gang, since they helped out a member
2. She is beaten up and thrown out of the bus to rot and die.
3. Carlos starts his own gang
4. Gains money and files a report against his uncle
5. Life continues as it is and everyone in the bus go their separate ways.

(In Third Person)

Marking The Moment - Criterion D

Marking the moment can happen when a scene has been created, and the group decides it's a significant moment in the drama, and they want to show this in some way. Why would you bother to mark a moment? At times things happen in a scene very quickly - and yet we know these moments can change the whole direction of a scene/play/skit. This is when something is needed to emphasize the moment. Marking the moment in a piece of drama work can be done in many ways. 

• We could use a spotlight to literally 'highlight' the moment.
• We could insert a thought-track.
• We could slow down time, or use a still image/freeze-frame.
• We could use narrating by another actor, or self-narrating, to draw the audience's attention to this moment.
• We could have one character speaking, while the background is frozen, to emphasise what the actor/actress is saying by drawing the audience.

On the lesson of September the 3rd, we did a task based up "train surfing". Train surfing is the term given to the act of people illegally riding on the tops of train cars. People who seek thrill climb aboard slow-moving trains and climb to the top of the box-type train. As the train picks up speed, the thrill seekers take position on the roof of the cars a lot like that of a surfer atop a surf board, hence the name "train surfing". There are several hidden dangers in train surfing that are not readily apparent to those doing the surfing. Some overhead dangers include low wires, signposts and tunnels. Dangers such as loose hand rails on train cars or loose ballast along the train tracks can all lead to the loss of grip, causing a person to fall under the wheels of the train, and lastly not going of the train on time. 

If an individual would not jump of the train on time, they would would often face the security/police at the station in which the train is stopping at. We used this danger as a synopsis for our drama piece. Let us start by discussing what lead us to this image, I order for us to better understand how the moment was marked. We had Ognjen playing a new member to Shawn's gang. Shawn started of by re-questioning and reassuring Ognjen if he was ready to take the responsibility and risk of "train surfing". This is done by Shawn delivering lines like, "Oggy, are you sure you want to do this, you know what could happen to you?” Using dialogue like this portrays that Shawn actually has empathy towards Ognjen. We then proceed to witness them actually on the train feeling the thrill, which is an aspect of the package deal, when it comes to "train surfing". Whilst on the train Ognjen and Shawn are crouching to avoid the power lines which could electrocute them resulting in death.

As the train comes to a stop, slowing down, Shawn manages to jump off the train successfully and on time. On the other hand, Ognjen, foolishly, got distracted and managed to stay on the train till it halted to a complete stop. This enabled for a police offer (Anushka) to capture her which leads us , finally, to the freeze frame presented above. 

In the freeze frame, we have Ognjen on the train, wanting to oppose some kind of threat to prevent getting arrested. Due to her not possessing a strong weapon to pose a threat, she decides to pose a threat by showing that she will commit suicide if the officers were to harm her and if they do make contact with her she will electrocute herself and the officers. This occurs since electric can pass through Ognjen's body and also affect the officers, which creates a more logical scenario, enabling the audience to get the impression of realism. This scene can actually be looked at more in depth, in the sense that, the train surfer had the will to actually die rather than go to prison. This enables the audience to question themselves on why, why does he not want to be arrested?

The moment in which Ognjen threatens to commit suicide, we felt, needed to be marked, as it was a significant nail-biting situation. Throughout the whole scene we incorporated small aspects which helped emphasise/mark the moment. We had Ognjen start of by going from talking softly, in a scared tone to a loud more buff tone. the increase in volume shown his perseverance and seriousness. Last but certainly not least, we had Ognjen ,in slow motion, reaching to touch the wire. This is more effective than quickly raising your hand as we can se the actually movement emphasised more. The scene is ended with a powerful line, leaving the audience at the edge of there seat with a cliffhanger, "I will do it, I am not afraid".