Monday, 13 March 2017

Term 3 - Ballad Weekly Reflections

Week 1

These first week was my introductory week, we were introduced what we would be doing this unit. Firstly, I learnt the work behind claymation and all that was required to be able to do it. I also learnt how to combine claymation and stop motion together in order to create a movie. We were given a few options on what our theme would be for our combined claymation and stop motion. Since this was an interdisciplinary unit between English, Art and Music, our options were based on things we had taken in English which were the following: Fairytales, Phantasmagoria, Ballads and Private Peaceful.

Week 2

We were allowed to pick our own groups during this week. In Art I grouped with the following: Jana, Sophia and Rakan. For music I grouped with: Sireen and Sam. Including me, this was a group of 6 which will surely be enough for our project. This week was the planning week where we had to research character designs, music themes and what theme we were picking. We all felt that doing a ballad was best suited for us and we picked Sireen's ballad which was about anorexia. I felt that this was a good topic to do our ballad in as with the clay we can easily show a girl getting thinner and thinner as we can rip off more and more clay to showcase the big change. This was also where we designed an action plan so we could decide what we wanted to get done every week and how we wanted the ending result to look like. The action plan is written in my last blog post.

Week 3

This week was the week where we finally separated off into our own subjects. The music part of the claymation went up to the music room (aka me) and the art side of the claymation went to the art room to start creating all the characters with clay. This week was spent looking at our ballad, it needed some extending so that it can fit at least 3 minutes. We decided we didn't like our chorus so decided to write out a new one. We also added in some more repetition in order to extend the length. Once we completed the song, we began to research different ways we could play sad songs as our ballad is quite a depressing once since it is about depression.

Week 4

I brought in various pieces of sheet music to bring in for inspiration and began to take pieces of the ballad to compose music for. In this lesson we did the first two verses and took inspiration from one of my favorite songs to use as the background music for my ballad. We experimented with the drums and piano in order to achieve our final product.

Week 5

Since we figured out a piece of the piano parts, it was time to bring out the ukulele. We experimented with different songs and different chords to figure out how we wanted the ukulele to sound. It was quite difficult at first as the ukulele is a happy instrument and sounds very lighthearted so it was a struggle to play around with minor chords. We ended up composing the introduction by playing around with some chords and strings to give it a calming feel, as if it was the 'calm before the storm'.

Week 6

During this week, we composed the chorus which is a mixture of both the ukulele and the piano which was a bit of a struggle as it was hard to get them to mesh well as it clashed a lot at first. Then we moved on into composing new verses, the next few verses were mainly piano and it was quite
simple to play around with as I knew how I wanted it to sound like.

Week 7

This was the week where we polished everything that we had decided would be our music for our verses so far. We tweaked a few things and finished it so that we could begin recording what we had so far. It was a bit of a struggle as its hard to play something perfect for recording as I messed up quite a few times and had to rerecord countless of times. We also went into a room that had carpet flooring so that the sound would be louder and clearer; this is where we recorded all the ukulele parts as this room had the best quality of sound.

 Week 8

We decided that we wanted to incorporate more instruments so we borrowed one of the xylophones to use for a part of our song/ballad. So for two of ours verses we played around with the notes until we recognized a sound that would fit our song. I took down all the notes I played and quickly recorded it before I forgot it. In between the two xylophone verses, I played around with the piano until I found nice, minor chords that would mesh with the other verses.

Week 9

During this week, we decided what our ending would sound like. The second to last verse would be a piece I would play on piano which sounds mournful and sad which is the sound we want to incorporate in our song/ballad. Our final verse, however, is going to be on the ukulele. Sure, the ukulele is usually quite a happy, lighthearted instrument but we figured out how to make it sound a lot sadder. During the final verse, we're going to do some plucking of the strings so it would sound calming but at the same time sad. We made sure to record all of it.

Week 10

The music teacher advised us to rerecord all our music that included a piano as the quality wasn't as clear as it should have been. Recording piano parts on an actual software that was designed to record instruments is very useful and helps bring out a much clear sound which sounds a whole lot better. It was tiring, however, having to rerecord it all over again as it wasn't my original plan but I ended up recording it surprisingly quick. I made sure to save is as an audio file and sent it to myself as I would be able to edit it all together into a song.

Week 11

The song ended up totaling around 3 minutes, I predict that it is going to be too long for the claymation as it's hard to make claymations long. This week was spent editing and helping out the art as they're not finished filming as of yet, therefore we're not prepared to edit it all together as my action plan had originally wanted. As well as that, we still need to add in the narration of the ballad.

Week 12

This was our final week to finish off our claymation. It was quite stressful because we still had to shoot our final scenes, as well as edit it and film the narration. It didn't help that it was due the next day. However, we needed up staying after school and completed our editing, shooting scenes and recording then narration. There were issues as Sophia's laptop kept freezing and we were editing on her laptop so it was stressful having to sending it to miss. It has taught me to manage my time better as it is not fun finishing things last minute.

Tuesday, 7 March 2017

Term 3 - Ballad Action Plan

The following is my action plan that I am going to be carrying out and following throughout the term and the whole process in order to create a stop motion for my ballad.


Tuesday, 21 February 2017

Phantasmagoria Art Weekly Reflections

The following is my weekly updates of everything my group and I have been doing throughout the weeks leading up to our final performance. Instead of making each one, in different posts, I decided to collect them all into one post. This term, we have to create a performance related to phantasmagoria, a form of horror theater.

Week 1

This first week was where we were introduced to phantasmagoria. We were shown examples of it in different videos and how realistic and frightening it could be. At first, I was quite unsure, how was a group of year 8s be able to imitate something as well done as that? However, I realized that this is why music and art was combined. It was our job to make it look more realistic by combining art and music together. This week wasn't super productive, as we had not been sorted into groups or anything. Instead, the teachers simply introduced us to everything we'd be doing throughout the term and what we were expected to accomplish leading up to the final performance, where we were expected to showcase it to our parents either live or in a digital video.


Week 2

The next two lessons that occurred were where we discovered what groups we were going to be placed in. In the beginning, I was quite worried as we had not been allowed to decide our groups but once I was sorted and got to know everything, my worries were for the most part settled. We were told that this was going to be an interdisciplinary unit, since we were combining three subjects, music, art and English. English was fitting as since our unit this term was phantasmagoria and we had previously done horror stories in English, the two subjects could be combined. This week was where we began to look at each other's stories of Francis Brandiwine and the various horror stories we had come up. We ended up deciding to choose mine as it seemed like the easiest to transform into phantasmagoria and perform. Although, we did add a few tweaks into it to put even more horror into it. Finally, we decided on the format in which we would present it as. We thought that incorporating shadow puppetry would be the best way to present this, however we all had no interest in performing it live as we wanted the music and art to be synchronized and well put together. Instead, we're putting shadow puppetry but also adding in things digitally such as the backgrounds and fitting in the music using iMovie.

Week 3

In this week, we dug deeper into how our performance would go.We looked at the beginning, middle and end and what we could go both in the music side of things as well as the art, in order to make it realistic and well put together. To do this, we went to each section and decided what characters would be created and how to make it look realistic such as drawing different body parts separately so they would move on their own. In the music side, we looked at possible music to be used in each scene, for example in a suspense filled scene, we could add dramatic music to further build up suspense and tension. My group also decided what exactly would happened and how it would happen, as well as the backgrounds that would be needed digitally and every single thing that would need to be drawn, such as the number of characters we would need to draw, vines and trees and other background props to be used. Since this was the last lesson we would have before the winter break, we decided that we'd write the script throughout the break to know exactly how the whole performance would play out.

Week 4

The first lesson of the week was the whole, final one before art and music would be separated to do their own things. So we planned together to decide what should be finish at the end of each week and what our schedule would be so we would all be organised and prepared leading up to our final performance. My group planned out everything such as that we'd hopefully be nearly finished our puppets in the next two weeks and that most of the music would be finished as well and that in the few, final weeks we would intertwine everything so it would all be synchronized and well put together. The second lesson was where we were separated and led away to do our own things. My art group once again planned out everything single thing we'd need, such as equipment like cardboard, pins, etc. We also decided who would draw out what based on our art capabilities and who was the best at drawing and who was quite weak in that department.

Week 5

This week was where the action really began to happen. Our final plans on what the characters would look like were finally completed and we were now prepared to start our shadow puppets and draw them in their correct sizes. This week was focused sorely on the sea creature which will be the main focus of the whole story as that character is responsible for all the horror themes in our puppet show as it will terrorize and murder all the villagers. I drew the whole monster first and then drew the head separately, then the body and then its fin, this is so I could pin them all together to control how each body part moves. I have yet to pin everything together but will do that at the end when everything is completed and put together.

Week 6

In this week was where all the puppets were drawn out. We pinned everything together, all the body parts that were drawn separately were attached together to make it look more realistic and more 3D like while performing. The monster was quite difficult to do and I ended up redrawing the one I did last week as it didn't look as good as the new one I have created. However, it's a lot longer and therefore is a lot more flimsy despite the fact that it was created on cardboard. It was also harder to add a stick to it as it needed more than one and we weren't allowed to use the glue guns so we had to use tape but that kept falling off.

Week 7

All the characters for the upcoming puppet show was finished this week. The girl was created, the puppet that I'm the most proud of as it's beautifully drawn, in my opinion.  We didn't attach any sticks yet but we'll be doing that next week. The music side is nearly finished which is exciting as next week we finally get to add it altogether which is perfect since we need to start filming. My group for the most part is co-operating which has lessened the stress off me. I've had to rewrite the script as I feel it's too short and would not fit well with the music and art. The villagers were drawn out and cut out too. I think they turned out well. I didn't do three as I originally planned because I was running out of time so I narrowed it down to two and I guess that's better since the camera can only film so much of the screen as this will be easier since it will allow everyone to be on the screen and showing.

Week 8

The puppets and music is finished. Well, separately they are. However, we are yet to film it. The trailer for our phantasmagoria performance is finished and I'm very happy with the outcome of it and how it turned out since it looks pretty scary which will do well for our audience concerning the tension and fear that should arise within them. The music is a bit too short for the puppet show so we agreed to just repeat and lengthen specific songs that were composed by repeating them against once it had finished. We printed out the backgrounds we're going to require for our phantasmagoria performance and agreed we're going to project it using the acid sheets and the projector that comes with it. We stapled the two big sheets with the two long, large boards and put it in an area that we can go back to later so we can film our performance. Everything's going on track which is a major relief. We've started practicing and our performance is longer than expected but that's okay. I'm worried it will bore the audience though as it is nearly 5 minutes in length.

Week 9

This was the most stressful week we've had so far as it was our final week to get everything finished since next week will be mid term break and we won't be having any lessons. Straight after will be our performance to the parents and since it was too loud during the class we couldn't do any filming. We only managed to film 2 scenes during the class so we had to stay after school to complete it. It didn't help that it was due tomorrow, the same day as my math exam.So I had to return home and edit and narrate it (since it was too loud for my voice to be heard) but luckily I managed to complete it. I'm quite proud of the outcome and how everything turned out so I'm looking forward to showing it. The sticks for the sea monster is too little so we had to remove one from one of our villagers to use on our sea monster since it was too flimsy.

Week 10

I'm very thankful my performance is filmed as I didn't have to do any last minute stressing over the performance to the parents that were happening with the parents this week. I think my performance to the parents was successful since all I had to do was introduce my group and then present my video.

Tuesday, 17 January 2017

Phantasmagoria - Magic Lantern Light Shows

The following is screenshots of my presentation based on phantasmagoria and magic lanterns, a type of projector, and how they were applied in phantasmagoria to bewilder and scare the audience.







Tuesday, 22 November 2016

Stage Combat Reflection

Planning Stage Combat 

First character - The first character is Jessica, who finds fun in bullying the nerd of the school, Jane. She's filthy rich and lives in a huge mansion as an only child. Jessica is incredibly bratty and spoiled, who always has to get her way.

Second Character - The second character is Jane, the nerd of the school who is constantly harassed by Jessica. 

Why are you fighting? 

Jessica is constantly harassing and bullying Jane and she's had enough of it, it was time for her to stand up for herself.

What Happens During the Performance?

What happens in our performance is a simple scene between a popular girl in school and a nerd in the same school.The name of the popular girl is Jessica and the nerd is called Jane.In the beginning the popular girl comes in with a new outfit. The nerd is then in the same room.The nerd then does not compliment the popular girl (Jessica) on her outfit unlike the other people. So then the nerd is bullied by the popular girl.The popular girl then is enraged due to the reason that the nerd didn't compliment her and ignoring her outfit.The nerd is than enraged for beating her up and  is tired of her being bullied.She then rages and proves the popular girl wrong by blocking all her beats.She then gains revenge over being bullied continuously and beats the popular girl up.

How I Think It Will Go

I think my partner, Monica will do well but I'll mess up and make several mistakes throughout it, probably with creating sound as I do tend to forget. I think i will fail at being realistic as stage combat is not what I'm really good at. 

Reflection After Performance




I think I did okay, it wasn't amazing but I don't think I messed up horribly. I was impressed by the feedback I got from my fellow peers and my actual mark as I expected to do much worse since stage combat was not one of my stronger points and something I often got nervous about due to my previous mistakes during this unit, especially with things like punches and making them look realistic which is even a mistake I did today, looking at the video. Even though the camera's view is in the corner and not the audience orientation, it's still clear to see that the punches could have been improved more as you can vividly see that I did not actually punch her and I feel my reaction sounded  fake and I could have jumped a bit more since a punch to the stomach hurts very much. When Monica came to slap me, my knap was not as loud and realistic as it could have been but it was adequate and got the point across and it was better than missing it completely. The eye poke also did not seem very realistic as it was clear to see that she didn't actually poke my eye. My idea also could have been a lot more creative as it was a cliche plot even though nobody seemed to have done something similar to it other than the nerd concept.

For things that I feel I did well in, I would say was my showing of reaction when Monica came to slap me or even lay a hand on me, I showed that I was full of rage and anger towards her and was determined to get a few punches or slaps of my own in. The regular slap then the following backhand slap was by far my favorite part from this whole video as even though I knew it was fake, it still sounded very realistic to me as Monica did a fantastic job creating sound with the knapping technique. In addition, I ensured that I showed that slapping was something that was not a piece of cake and showed that my hand ached from slapping her by shaking it hard.

Overall in the unit, I learnt about various things, a complete list is the following:
-Slaps
-Punch to the stomach
-Upper Cut
-Hair Pull
-2 different types of choking
-Neck Snap
-Punch to cheek

The worst I was at from the above list was probably the neck snap as I had trouble wriggling my body to the ground acting like I had my neck snapped since I had never actually died before and wasn't sure on what to do. Although being the person that actually snapped someone else's neck wasn't too difficult. Another thing I need improvement is all the punches really, on creating sound and making it look realistic because when I come to swing at the person opposite me, it is obvious that it is not real unlike the slaps which I feel are what I'm best at due to how many times we had practiced it. The hair pull is also quite simple for me except if my hair is being pulled, it is difficult for me to try and hold my body back by putting my feet firmly on the ground, I prefer to stay in one position. The choking wasn't too difficult except if I was the one being choked since it was difficult for me to make it look like I was being choked. The uppercut is also something I'm okay at since I can actually create the sound and everything, however hiding my fist when I knap is difficult for me to do.

Overall, stage combat was something difficult to learn at first and get the hang of but after several practices, I go a hold of the basics and it slowly became easier and more enjoyable.