Week Nine

Monday 16th November 
In our double lesson, first of all we finished the final scene, which is where the suspects learn what has happened. We ask more questions so we learn what happened after the second flashback ended and then the final line reveals what Alice. The line is, "A body has been found in a ditch near to where the party was held. We believe it to be Alice's body. So Charlie Doorm, Jason Hatton, Elizabeth Hart, Michael White we are detaining you for further questioning regarding the death of Alice Kingsley." This relates to our stimulus as Alice falls down a hole to get to Wonderland which in this case is ditch. Also we chose the surname of Alice to be Kinglsey because this is what it is in other adaptations.
After we had finished the final scene, we decided it would be a good idea to have a full run through from start it finish and record it so we can see what it looked like. It went surprisingly well but we found some things that need to be improved. In the first scene, my fall didn't go as good as it had before because I couldn't get my feet to slip so it looked messy. The lift went well because I tensed my arms and body so it was easier for Morgan and Katie. I was embarrassed by my face in the performance because I looked gormless when I was meant to be looking scared, so I need to improve on my facial expressions through out the piece. The second scene ran really smoothly with the only down side being Katie stood up to soon. The third scene had good facial expressions and voice clarity. Something I noticed was that I fiddled with my hair too much so I need to use gestures appropriate to my character. We all noticed that it was quite funny in places without it intending to be. For example:

Elizabeth: Are you stupid?

Charlie: What do you mean?

Elizabeth: I mean. Are you a stupid?

I like this part as it adds humour to the piece. Scene 4 ran smoothly but the major issue came in Scene  5. It had a huge pause, due to forgotten lines which meant it broke the tension. However when I laugh at Michael and yell at him, my facial expressions and voice matches with the mood of my character. We noticed that for some of it Michael stood around like a spare part, so we need to either give him my lines or get him to do something else. The final scene went well and looked excellent. A major issue we all noticed was that the pace was slow so we need to speed it up. 

Wednesday 18th November 
In this lesson, we sat down and thought that maybe we could add something onto the end to build up the tension. After the final line, we thought it was a good idea to have a silence and then all the characters shouting that the didn't do it and blaming it on other people which gradually got quieter. This worked well but we wanted to go and try different ways in which we could do it. The idea we eventually went with was Charlie starts off then Jason joins in, then Elizabeth and then finally Michael and it gets louder. We chose this one because we thought that it sounded more effective and would create suspicion in the audience's mind. Then there will be a blackout and then it the lights will come on to reveal Alice lying on the floor dead and the others surrounding her, like the first scene.

Thursday 19th November
We rehearsed after school today and after we had taught Jack the final part we had added yesterday, we had a run through and showed it to some people so we can see what other people think of it. It probably went the worst we had done it, which was a shame because it was our first time showing other people. Although we made some mistakes, it turned out to be good as it allowed us to see what parts need changing and what they liked as a audience.

Alice looking down the Rabbit Hole

 

Week Eight

Monday 9th November
In our lesson today, we had a run through of the scenes we had created so far. This was helpful as it allowed us to see what needed improving and what went well. It was also very useful because it allowed Jake to come up with ideas on what the lighting would be like and then he was able to tell his ideas to us. It was helpful as it allowed us to see how we could create added tension and the best ways in which the audience would enjoy it. The lightining would be dark when we learn what has happened to Alice and during the first scene and then when they are ebing interview the lighting will be bright. We then continued working on the second flashback when the characters confront Alice. When Michael, Jason, Elizabeth and Charlie are talking about Alice, one of them calls her a bitch. With our target audience being 12 year old, we think that this is a suitable word to use. They will have heard it before and have most likely said it themselves, so they will be familiar with what it means. We didn't just us the word bitch in there for any particular reason we all agreed it was suitable word in describing Alice's character and is word people would use in that situation. In our next rehearsal which will be after school, we will continue to work on this scene and develop it further and then work out how to show what happened to Alice.

Alice playing croquet

Week Seven

Monday 2nd November
Firstly in our lesson today, we started off with the opening scene. We thought that because it was a formal interview that the characters needed surnames. To keep with our stimulus, we thought that the characters surname should be linked to the part they represent. We also decided that the character of Charlie should be more like the Dormouse instead of the Cheshire Cat because of the way she acts. Without purposely looking we found that the way Emily played the character, made her appear timid and shy like the doormouse and not smiley and brash like the Cheshire Cat. The names are: Elizabeth Heart, Charlie Doorm, Jason Hatton and Michael White. We then had a run through of this scene and the first flashback. We thought that while the characters weren't talking they needed to be frozen so it wouldn't distract the audience.
We all agreed that our distortion scene needed work and had to be changed because we didn't really like the way it was. We felt it didn't look distorted enough and it needed to be more distorted.It looked very mis-matched and under rehearse and didnt create the tension and suspense we wanted it to. Instead of going straight in with the music, we started a fresh with no music. The first bit we changed was the very start, which was done in slow motion. Instead we tried it doing tableauxs (still images) which were held for a count of four. As Alice isn't involved in this part, I watched the others and gave them feedback on how it looked. When Emily and Morgan push me forward, they did it more forcefully, so it represented Alice falling down the rabbit hole.  We felt that in our original idea that Emily and Jack were stood there doing nothing so when it came to pushing me everywhere, we involved all of them so it will show from early on that everyone has a reason to dislike Alice.  Then instead of being pulled back by Emily which felt awkward I am now pulled all over the place by all of them which gradually moved backwards. We kept the lift the same and when I landed, Emily and Jack held there hands together and I was lowered on to them and then back up and then lowered again before being bought up and pushed down.  As we were practising it again, by accident my feet slipped and I fell down. We all started laughing once they knew I was all right and then we looked at Miss, who said how good it actually looked. So we decided to keep it as I could make myself do it again. We practised with music and then we recorded it and watched it back. We all agreed that it looked so much more effective and more distorted than  the original idea.
We then began to work on the second interview scene and we came up with the questions that needed to be asked and how the characters would respond to them. After a while of practising and coming up with ideas, we voice recorded it on my phone so I could type it for the following lesson.

The script:
Police Officer: Alice has been reported missing.
All: Missing?
Elizabeth: It doesn’t surprise me.
Jason: She’s probably in her bedroom, waiting to be found. She likes attention that Alice does.
Michael: Missing? What do you mean missing? Her parents are gonna kill me.
Charlie: Missing? Are you sure? It doesn’t sound like Alice at all.
Police Officer: What was the true nature of your relationship with Alice?
Michael: Erm, just a friend. Er, that’s it, just a friend.
Jason: Well, I’d say we were friends but I don’t know about that.
Police Officer: Did you want you and Alice to be more than friends?
Michael: Well. Er, no.
Jason: No. Really no, no. That’s a no go.
Police Officer: A witness is willing to say the opposite of your previous statement. Is there anything you wish to say?
Michael: Er, well, she was just a family friend. That was it, just didn’t want her to be anything more.
Police Officer: Witnesses at the party say that you had an argument with her, Charlie.
Charlie: Well I did.
Police Officer: Well why did you lie about it in your previous statement?
Charlie: I didn’t lie. I just hadn’t got to that bit yet.
Police Officer: Was it because if you did you’d give yourself away?
Charlie: Give myself away to what. You’re not suggesting that I did something to Alice.
Police Officer: You don’t seem that bothered by her disappearance, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth: Huh, why would I? I want nothing to do with her.
Police Officer: Did you confront her at the party?

Wednesday 4th November
As I had typed the script up, the first thing we did in lesson was have a run through of this scene. After we had done this, we began working on the second flashback which is set straight after the first flashback has ended. While I was standing there, all the other characters would stood talking about how much they hate Alice while Michael was trying to be a peacemaker. Charlie and Jason are trying to persuade Elizabeth to go and argue with Alice but doesn't go until she learns Alice called her a stuck up cow. Then when Elizabeth does go followed by the others, she and Alice argue and then Elizabeth shouts that no one would care if Alice was dead. This is when Michael steps in and it is revealed that he is in love with Alice.
This was all we managed to get finished in the hour. Next time, we need to further develop it to give Elizabeth more of a reason to want to go over to Alice becasue we dont thinks she has a good enough motive to kill Alice or enough anger to go over and talk to her in the first place. Also we need to finish the scene and to the final part where everyone learns what happens to Alice.

Alice on a tree while listening to her sister

Week Six

Monday 19th October

In today's lesson, we continued to work on the first flashback where Alice arrives at the party. To make it feel more like a party we put some 'rave' music on that you would hear in a club or a party. This really helped as it allowed us to loosen up and the dancing didn't look awkward like it did before. It would also show the audience that the people are at a genuine party as it didn't look like a party before. We had to adjust the sound so that we could hear ourselves talk. The flashback scene went well as everything went the same as we had already done. We then worked on the second interview scene where the characters learn that Alice has gone listening. The sort of questions were 'What do you think happened to Alice?" "What did you say to Alice?" etc. We then refreshed our memories over the distorted opening scene. We decided to swap Jack and Emily's role when it comes to the lift as we felt it went smoother when Emily was the support. It went well but it just needs to be tidied up around the edges and in some places it seems a little disjointed and doesn't flow, which is something we will need to work on. 

Wednesday 21st October 

In the lesson, we picked up where we had left off in the second interview scene. After trying it for a few minutes, we felt we were repeating ourselves and we were saying the same thing as we had done in the flashback. We just felt it really wasn't working and it was becoming boring as it was repeating. While we were discussing this, we felt that the opening flashback needed more detail as there wasn't a strong enough reason as to why Micheal would want to hurt Alice, so we rehearsed the flashback again adding more things for Micheal to say and adding little hints as to what happens in the later. 

In the next lesson, we will come up with ideas as to what can happen in the second flashback and then rehearsing it, so we will find a way of doing the second interview scene which will link into the flashback. 



Alice and the Cheshire Cat after she has fought the Jabberwocky