For the last week or so of school, you will be completing a "Play Pitch Assignment" and a Survey for the year.

MONDAY:
Read through the Play Pitch Assignment document in the downloads section of the website.

TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY:
Use this time to thoughtfully and fully complete the Play Pitch Assignment. I genuinely use these to help choose my future seasons and will consider all pitches.

Submit the completed document to turnitin.com by Friday at midnight.

MONDAY:
Complete the survey for the end of the year: https://forms.gle/CtVMqomxR7fDtn7v5​ 

TUESDAY:
Congratulations on making it to the end of the school year! Have a great summer!

For the last two weeks, you learned about costume development and figure drawing! Thank you for the beautiful renderings and collages! For the next two weeks, we will be exploring lighting design. 

MONDAY: 
Read the textbook pages (in the downloads section) that lay out a fundamental understanding of theatrical  lighting technology and design. Take notes on these pages, paying specific attention to the blue "Design" sections. 

TUESDAY:
Watch the recorded lecture on Lighting Design here: https://youtu.be/yUHrLdgsKjU 
Take notes on the lecture, stopping and starting if necessary. Focus on what I am verbally saying to know what is important to write down.

WEDNESDAY:
Watch the second part of the recorded lecture on Lighting Design here: https://youtu.be/eQ0vg1MtjE4
Take notes on the lecture, stopping and starting if necessary. Focus on what I am verbally saying to know what is important to write down.

THURSDAY:
Watch the third (and final) part of the recorded lecture on Lighting Design here: https://youtu.be/By6KiAmv-wY 
Take notes on the brief lecture, stopping and starting if necessary. Focus on what I am verbally saying to know what is important to write down.

With the remaining time in Thursday's 25-minute time, begin your Gobo Photo Hunt assignment! (If you do not know what a "gobo" is, you need to watch the lectures.) 

• Locate three separate, interesting "gobo" textures occurring in the world around you. They might be inside (like light coming through a window or another room) or outside (like sunlight or a streetlamp shining through a tree/foliage). 
  • Try going on a walk or walking around your house at different times during the day and at night. 
  • Remember that a gobo is a texture that is shown. It is not the light source itself or the object itself. Think of it like the outline/shadow of the object.
• Take pictures of these three separate "gobos". Write a one-sentence description for each photo. The photos and sentences should be in a Word document. (Reference the example in the downloads section.)
• This assignment is the first part of your Final and will not be turned in until next Wednesday with the rest of the Final.

FRIDAY, 5th - FRIDAY, 12th: Lighting Design Final Project Instructions

• Objective: To explore and apply three primary elements of lighting design (color, texture, angle) in a home-lab/mini-lab setting.
• Due Date: Seniors – June 10th, Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors – June 12th , but you may turn it in sooner if you like.
• How To Turn In: Submit to www.turnitin.com as one Word document. Things that should be on the Word document are underlined in the below instructions.
• Criteria/Instructions:
  • Part 1: Gobo Photo Hunt Assignment (Instructions for Part 1 are in Thursday's instructions above.
  • Part 2: Gobo Creation Assignment
    • With paper/aluminum foil and scissors/craft knife carefully create a gobo of one of the textures you observed in Part 1. Examples are provided in the downloads section of the website.
      • You may do this in one of two ways:
      • Use a flashlight as a stencil. Cut out the stencil and create the gobo. Tape the gobo onto the end of your flashlight. OR
      • Cut your gobo into a larger piece of paper and shine a light through the paper for the desired effect.
    • After creating your gobo, take a photo of the outcome of your texture experiment as well as the gobo itself and include this as the next step in your Word document. Notice how the “focus” (to use a term from the lecture) of the texture becomes crisp and clear (i.e. “hard edge”) and fuzzy and unclear (i.e. “soft edge”) as you move the light source.
  • Part 3: Miniature Light Lab 
    • This is the bulk of the final project and should take the largest portion of the allotted time. Examples are provided in the downloads section of the website.
      • Set up a static (unmoving) scene with small objects from your home. These objects might be dollhouse furniture, salt and pepper shakers, etc. Your creativity is the limit, but it should not change from picture to picture.
      • Place these objects on a deconstructed cardboard box, a solid color sheet, or a photography backdrop. Anything will work as long as it is solid in color.
      • Using items from around your home, create multiple lighting cues (referenced below). You may use food coloring in bottles/glasses of water or colored plastic sheeting to create your colors. You may use any kind of products from around your home (i.e. netting, craft supplies, other toys, etc.) to create texture. Experiment with angle in placing your light sources in front, side, back, up, down positions. Reference the lectures for details about the impact of these angles.
      • Cue 1: Basic McCandless (i.e. one warm and one cool front lights at 45 degree angles from the acting area)
      • Cue 2: A Clear Cut Focus on one object in your scene.
      • Cue 3: Use of a gobo
      • Cue 4: Use of another gobo
      • Cue 5: A wash of color on the scene
      • Cue 6: A creative cue of your choosing. Mix color with gobos if you want and experiment with angles. Get interesting! 
      • Take photographs of each cue and label them clearly in the word document.
• Part 4: Brief Reflection
  • Write a small paragraph about what you found interesting about lighting and how you think these concepts translate to a large stage. Include any lingering questions you might have.

Costume Design Part 2

This week, you will be applying your concepts from your film work last week and learn about figure drawing by practicing those skills as you create a research collage and design a costume for a main character in a new interpretation of a popular film.  (If you have questions about this unit, please email Mrs. Wagstaffe at wagstaffee@issaquah.wednet.edu)

TUESDAY:

Today you will create a visual collage that you will use to inspire your costume design. Your collage needs to include images related to your selected time period/setting as well as images related to costume design, like colors or fabrics. You can either use the internet and copy and paste images onto a word document, or you can use magazines, fabrics, art supplies, etc. to create a physical collage that you scan/take a photo of.
 
Find images that inspire you! These can be pictures of clothing, architecture, colors, textures, or anything else that you find creatively interesting. The images can relate to the mood you want to capture, the way you interpret your character’s personality, and other abstract ideas. They can also be specific elements you want to incorporate into your design, like a pattern or a material or a particular piece of clothing. I should be able to see how your collage connects to your final costume design.
 
Your collage needs to include a minimum of 10 images, your name, the name of the film, and the time period/location written clearly. This will be submitted to turnitin.com by midnight on Friday evening.
 
WEDNESDAY:
Using the collage you made yesterday to inspire you, the final piece of your project will be creating ONE costume design for your character. 
 
Today, watch the following video to see the basic process of figure drawing. You should get out a piece of paper, a ruler, a pencil, and eraser, and follow along with the video. Pause the video as needed to copy what the artist is doing. If you finish early, use the time left to begin sketching your costume. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gpbtwUI7to
 
Optional: If you are really interested in figure drawing, here’s a very detailed guide you can check out! This PDF has lots of really great examples of figure drawings with fabric swatches, as well as some great poses and examples from different eras. https://ljiljanans.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/character_costume.pdf
 
THURSDAY & FRIDAY:
Today, you need to create your costume design using the figure drawing you did yesterday. You should use elements of your research collage in designing the costume, such as color, pattern, or shape. The costume should reflect the new time and place your production is set in, and not the original setting of the original film! I am not grading based on your drawing capabilities, but rather on your ability to create a design that clearly connects to your research collage ideas and the reflections you made about who your character is from the worksheet you completed while watching the film. Your design needs to include color, and you need to label your drawing with your name, the name of the film, the name of your character, and the setting/time period of your production.
 
Please upload your collage and your drawing as one document to Turnitin.com for process points by Friday, May 29th. 

Costume Design Part 1

This week, you will be learning the basics of costume design research and figure drawing, and practicing those skills by creating a research collage and designing a costume for a main character in a new interpretation of a popular film.  (If you have questions about this unit, please email Mrs. Wagstaffe at wagstaffee@issaquah.wednet.edu)
 
TUESDAY, 12th (Learning about costume design and research)
Today you will be learning about the basics of costume design research. Read the article titled “Costume Design” (in the downloads section) to learn about the basic design process, especially how costume designers perform research on character, setting, and time period before creating their designs. 
 
Watch this short video on Tony-award-winning designer William Ivey Long and his process making costumes for a Broadway production of Cinderella. Notice how he collages reference images, colors, and fabrics to bring him inspiration! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhkZHM929Vk
 
WEDNESDAY, 13th (Selecting your production - you do not need to watch the film yet.)
Today marks the beginning of your costume design career! You are now a costume designer working on a new production that is reinterpreting a popular movie into a new time period and setting. 
 
First, select ONE of the following movies that you have access to, as you will be watching it for research. If you do not have access to any of these movies/streaming subscriptions, please email Mrs. Fry/Mrs. Wagstaffe and we will find a solution.

• West Side Story­ – 1961 (Amazon Prime, Hulu)
• Pride and Prejudice – 2005 (Amazon Prime, Hulu)
• The Devil Wears Prada – 2006 (Amazon Prime)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – 2016 (Amazon Prime)
• Black Panther – 2018 (Amazon Prime, Disney+)

 
Next, pick ONE time period/setting from the provided list. The time/place you select must be different than when/where the original movie was set!

• Roaring 20s in New York City (1920s)
• Victorian-Era England (1836-1901)
• French Revolution (1789-1799)
• Wild West/American Frontier (1850s-1900s)
• Edo Period Japan (1600s-1850s)

 
Finally, you need to select ONE main character from the movie that you are interested in designing a costume for. You will be watching the original film and taking notes about your selected character to help you create your original design later on. 
 
With the time remaining today, spend a few minutes Googling about the time and place you selected. You can also read about the movie you picked if you don’t know anything about it (try to avoid spoilers!) What did this place look like? What did people wear? What colors or patterns were popular? What historical events were happening? This information will help you later when you create a research collage of images to use as inspiration on your costume design. 
 
THURSDAY, 14th - FRIDAY, 22nd (Watching your film and completing the worksheet)
Reminder: Your Production Critique for the musical you viewed is due to www.turnitin.com by midnight on Friday.

Now that you know what movie you are working on, and the time and place the new production is set in, you need to watch the original movie to learn about who your character is, how they change over the course of their story, and what kind of world they live in.

As you watch, you need to fill out the costume worksheet provided (in the downloads section) and turn it in on www.turnitin.com. The due date for the worksheet is midnight on Friday, May 22nd. 

Write your Production Critique for your theatrical viewing from last week's assignment. Upload this document to turnitin.com. 

Reminders:
- The turnitin.com information is on the side of this webpage.
- Production Critique Guidelines are available in the Downloads section of this course.

This week you will view a theatrical production via a previously recorded staged production that is streamed online. This assignment acts as your second production critique assignment in place of the Spring Musical (due to the school closure); therefore, all the viewing selections are musicals! Viewing a production will take approximately two hours.

MONDAY - FRIDAY:

• Watch one of the following professional, staged productions:
  • Disney+    : Newsies: The Broadway Musical (watch the live version)
  • Disney+    : The Little Mermaid Live
  • Netflix       : Shrek the Musical
• (If you do not have access to Disney+ or Netflix, please email me!)

• You will write your production critique for next week’s assignment; you may of course work ahead and write it immediately afterwards if you choose to do so. Remember, use the production critique guidelines found here: http://www.mrsfry.com/theatre-downloads.html. 
• The one to two page production critique is due by midnight on May 15th via www.turnitin.com . 

This week you will begin learning about theatrical design through some foundational information and texts. In the following weeks, you will be experimenting with and analyzing costumes, lighting, and scenic design. This week’s assignment should take a minimal amount of time as you balance other classes and develop your daily schedule.

MONDAY - FRIDAY:

• Read the six scanned textbook pages about technical theatre - included in Downloads section as "Intro to Design/Tech Theatre". These pages are rudimentary and fundamental, so you may not be surprised by the information included. Write any new vocabulary from the “language of theatre” sections in your Theatrical Terminology/Spaces Packet from first semester. If you lost that packet, write new vocabulary words in your class notes.
• Answer the following question with one well-thought, developed, and proofread paragraph and submit to turnitin.com:
  • What are the four elements of production design? Choose three theatrical productions you have experienced in the recent past. To what extent were these designs a mixture of the four elements? Be specific.
  • This assignment is due to turnitin.com by midnight on Friday the 1st. 

Please refer questions about this week's lessons to Mrs. Wagstaffe at wagstaffee@issaquah.wednet.edu. Helpful materials and examples that are noted in the lessons below are in the downloads section of the website.

MONDAY: You will need to watch the YouTube video for the short musical “21 Chump Street” by Lin-Manuel Miranda. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELBGa6-uOhc

As you watch, think back to your reading packets from the directing unit, as well as the posters we made recently in class about all of the directing tactics we’ve learned and practiced using. Pay attention to when you see examples of these tactics being used effectively (or not so effectively!) during the musical. Pay particular attention to our newest tactic, the dynamics between left and right. Write down your general observations and reactions, and make a note of your favorite song or dance. 

TUESDAY: You need to draw two copies of the ground plan for the musical “21 Chump Street”. Make sure you draw the walls, apron, legs/borders/wings as well as the props and furniture items. Place all of the furniture, like the chairs or rolling wall unit, where they begin at the start of your blocking sequence. Refer to my ground plan example, and the examples from our textbook. 

WEDNESDAY: You will be using one of the copies of your ground plan to DIAGRAM a sequence of blocking from one of the following songs: “What the Heck I Gotta Do” (2:00-5:15), “Consequences” (5:44-8:00) or “Everybody’s Got a Cousin” (8:33-10:44). You will need to capture 4 changes in blocking, so pick a moment from the song where there’s enough action to record. Don’t worry about knowing the dance moves-record the directions if they cross, if they sit or jump, etc. For each of your four blocking changes, mark the timestamp in the video for when those changes occur. Refer to my ground plan+blocking example, and use the blocking symbols and stage directions that we’ve learned.

THURSDAY: Write a one-page double-spaced analysis of the ground plan and blocking for your song. You’ll want to look at the whole song/dance to have enough material to discuss. Use the blocking you wrote down as supporting evidence. Identify the different directing techniques that were used during the song, and consider why the director might have had the actors move or interact in the way that he did. How did tactics like body position, left vs. right, visual pauses, moments of silence, etc. shape your response as an audience member? Were there any moments you thought were especially effective or ineffective, and why?If you were to direct this scene, what might you change or do differently? Use all of your previous experiences as actors, directors, and audience members to help you brainstorm effective directing choices you would make. If you do not finish in the 25 minute time, you may finish this tomorrow (Friday).

FRIDAY: Revise/finish your written analysis and submit to Turnitin.com. Please include clear pictures/scans of both copies of your ground plan, the basic and the one with blocking, as part of this document. 

Additionally, please have the online survey/reflection included below completed by Friday: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdj57Kn0MjzcbtTw_Jerwm5s2I1TMHWdaP3ufP25HKLKrza_w/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1 

Visit the following website which has information on watching Free Recorded Theatre that took place at the Globe! This week, you can view Hamlet. Watch the Globe Player's Hamlet and compare it to the Globe Player's comedy you watched in class, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Think about Shakespeare's flexibility in crafting both comedy and tragedy so effectively.

https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/discover/blogs-and-features/2020/04/03/how-to-watch-our-free-globe-player-films/?fbclid=IwAR22eSe4oLRlSiachZ_jikKHpMjOu1o3FHBEh29XfIzxCuYAdgmJKaVZfqw 

This week I want us to consider the Theatrical History units we have covered thus far in the year. Consider the plays below and locate a PDF of the script online – they are all in the public domain, so it is legal and possible to find digital copies of these texts.
 
Select one play to read; if solitary reading is not for you, FaceTime with a small group of friends, cast the play, and read the play aloud! 
 

• Aeschylus Prometheus Bound
• Sophocles Oedipus the King or Antigone
• Euripedes Medea
• Aristophanes The Birds
• Plautus The Twin Manaechmi
• Terence The Brothers
• Seneca Thyestes
• Calderon Life is a Dream (1636)
• Ben Johnson Volpone (1606)
• Christopher Marlowe Dr. Faustus (1588)
• Moliere Tartuffe (1664)

When finished with the play answer/consider the following questions:

1. How did the play add to your understanding of that period of theatrical history?
2. To what extent does the playwright, theme, structure, or characters embody the perceptions and opinions of the time period?

 
Discuss these questions with classmates as well as debriefing the play itself.
 
Also, the 5th Avenue Theatre will hold (Free) Fridays at the 5th every Friday at 4pm! https://www.5thavenue.org/education/youth You will be able to “attend” workshops hosted by professionals as they engage in vocal and physical theatre clinics! Enjoy!