Zen and The PPP
Being Zen:
Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel is a book that Mr.Fearnehough talked to us about when we first started to work on puppetry and concentration. We had already worked on this book and on the 1st of October i wrote 'the key quote he read out to us was ‘If one really wishes to be a master of an art, technical knowledge of it is not enough. One has to transcend technique so that the art becomes an ‘artless’ art growing from the unconscious’. My first reaction to this was that a person has to keep on pursuing their own goals in order to succeed. A person has to overcome exhaustion and keep their own beliefs in what they can do' After reading a chapter of the book, we found out that the man in this book tries archery and tricks the master but the master refuses to work with him because he had let him down. I realized that for concentration especially you cannot force something to be perfect. If something will happen it will, we cannot push ourselves to be perfect if we have just started doing something. I find this relates to me because when we first started working on concentration and we did some exercise which made us do something for quite a while, i found i lost concentration. Reading the rest of the chapter of the book i realized also that it takes practice to be perfect, no one can be perfect on the first go, practicing is what will make a person perfect and this is done for everything (dance, acting, playing football and even doing a presentation).  
Relating back to what i said in October about the quote my first reaction still sticks with me that a person has to keep pursuing their own goals in order to succeed, pursuing their goals here would be practicing. 


PPP:
On Friday 13th (oouuuh) in our double lesson we worked on the PPP. We went through the marking criteria and the examiners report on the past PPP's. 
We first did a Mock PPP last year when i did it i really thought i had put in a good effort in what i did and included everything that was necessary for a performance. I  soon realised when we were going through the examiners report that i had missed out quite a few silly things and i wasn't very specific on what i wanted, such as:
- The lighting - in my PPP i had not but for my lighting what i exactly wanted and no dimensions or on what power the lighting would be. 
- Words- i used a lot of words which on the moment when i was doing my PPP was what i first thought off. These words were simply descriptive and sometimes were not really explaining what i was trying to portray. 
From the fed back i have got from Mr.Fearnehough i am much clear on what to do also because i had a practice im more comfortable in what im doing. It was also helpful to see past students work to see the aspects they had included in their PPP's and how much detail was added. 
The one thing i need to try my best now is talking about why i have chosen specific things to use and i cannot just use it to look pretty. I need to explain everything and i need to be clear on why im using it and also i need to explain correctly because one thing i could write about could be read differently by someone else and my idea might not be so clear. 

Script Writing for our play!

Tuesday I was off sick so I didn't have this lesson...

Thursday 5th December:
I have been allocated at script writer for our piece. I am excited to have this task as I mentioned in the blog before this one. On Thursday I got on with writing the script. The first act I found was the most important because I wanted to get the wording right and get the use of repetition for the next acts. I had to come up with key lines that I would be able to use later on in the script.

I only got up to Act 1 on Thursday, so tomorrow my aim is to finish the script with all movement and music points into the script.

Friday 6th December:
Today we first discussed the PPP when it is about to come and it was good to be reminded of the PPP because it was so long ago since we did the mock ppp. I also had a question about the IPP because a lot of my work is on word documents and I didn't think that this was the good way to brainstorm so I asked if we could do the IPP on a big sketch book just like we would for the PPP. The IPP and PPP are quite similar because you will go through the process in the creation of a piece or workshop.... But the ppp you never get an end results performed whereas for the IPP all of your ideas will be true.
After this discussion, I got on with my script. I managed to finish it before the end of the lesson which I was happy about. I feel pleased with the script but I hope that everyone else finds it good enough to use for the recording and for the actual piece. I have tried to incorporate repetition, a message, audience interaction, key lines so that the message gets into the children easier and they understand well. We want them to have fun and be educated and I think that the script is key for this to happen because it has to be educational but enthusiastic. I also added him some facts about the ideas too e.g. how many people are starving in the world. This fact will shock them and maybe make them want to change more.

Our puppet play and the IPP

Tuesday 26th November:

On Tuesday, Bekki wasn't there so we compared and contrasted the puppets we had used in the masterclass to a puppet that the art teacher had made in order to find the best qualities in puppets. We did this before making our own so that it would be the best it could be. This is working by influence, where we take good ideas from different sources to make  an even better project. This is very important to our production as it relies on the realism of the movement of the puppet. As there are only three of us and we can only use the one puppet, making it the focal point of our play.

 

The best features in a puppet we now realise after reflection are:

• ease of movement
• joints facilitate movement
• facial features
• correct, realistic proportions
• breathability
• light

Thursday 28th November:

Today we had a talk on our IP's, which we are very behind on. At first I was set on running a workshop on Strasber's Method, but after revising my action plan with Mr. Fearnehough I decided to direct a short extract of Ibsen's "A Doll's House". This talk was very helpful because it made the IPP much clearer for me and I'm now certain of what to do. 

Friday 29 November:

Today we carried on with our development for ideas for our new puppetry piece.
As an ensemble, we chose different roles to make the devising of our play faster. We figured out the important aspects that are involved in our piece which is:

• script
• LX
• puppet
• Shadow Puppetry
• Music and Sound

At first I was quite interested to make the puppet as Lydia was doing Script and I had already done Sound. However, I chose Music and Sound in the end as it will give me a basis of comparison in the TPPP. Music and Sound in our play is not restricted to just sound effects and background music but also narration. Something I noticed when performing our short "Monty" that in the audience participation, as I was doing the voice, the spectator who came on stage to talk to Monty spoke to me, not the puppet. This is something that must not happen during our play as the realism will be broken and the play will not be as effective.

IPP and getting on with our new play!

Tuesday 26th November-
Today Bekki wasn't here but Axel and I had the chance to look at all three puppets we had in the drama room and reflect on them. We thought about the strengths and weakness of each puppet under the sections of Aesthetics and Manipulation.
Doing this task really helped us to understand what we need to do to have the best puppet possible for our new production. We thought it would be best to just create a whole new puppet so that we could get the all the best features together in one puppet.
The best features in a puppet we now realise after reflection is:

• able to move
• good joints
• facial features
• good propertions
• easy to make breathe
• not very heavy

Thursday 28th November-
Today was meant to be the deadline for our first IPP draft.
We all know and understood that we had not done much of our IPP's. It is very bad that we haven't and Mr Fearnehough has extended the deadline which will be really helpful.
Personally, I have struggled to be getting on with my IPP because we have had a lot of work and when the deadline is long for something, you don't do as much as you should for it because you have other homeworks that are in earlier. I struggle to find the time to do anything more. After talking about it, I have a clearer idea of what an IPP should look like and where to start and develop my ideas. I actually like the thought of the task, I wish that we just had open time to do it!
Right now, I have brainstormed about my ideas and I have a concrete idea that I would like to do. I understand what I need to do to develop that idea now and I know what steps I have to do next.
I am happy that we did talk about the IPP. Mr Fearnehough said that he will regularly ask to see our IPP work now and I don't really mind that to be honest. I find that it will be better to make me get on with it and it will also be good to have chances to ask for help.

Friday 29th November-
Today we carried on with our development for ideas for our new puppetry piece.
We decided that it would be good to give ourselves roles for the making of this production. We know our actual story and message. We figured out the important aspects that are involved in our piece which is:

• script
• LX
• puppet
• Shadow Puppetry
• Music and Sound 

I am in charge of the script. I am happy about this because I have wanted to have a chance at writing a script and also planning the outline of our production. It will help me in understand timing for our play and it will also give me experience for my PPP if I do a little preview of the script.
I spent the second hour of the lesson doing a complete outline of the play. During this, I did have to stop and think would this actually work. For example, the shadow puppetry. We need two people to hold the two small puppets of Angel and Devil but we also need to hold up a white sheet for the screen. Thinking about it and all the possibilities, I realise that it is possible and this helped me to be able to move on and continue using the shadow puppetry.
When writing my script, I need to remember:

• target audience
• repetition
• key lines
• easy language to understand

All of these aspects mean that the message will be easier to get into the children and help them understand what we are trying to show. That is our main goal, for our production to be entertaining but also educational.

Next lesson, I will be able to start writing the script and I should get a lot done in an hour I hope!

Working with Professional puppeteers and getting up to speed on our own play!

Right, this is a bit of a late post but I'll try my best! On Tuesday 12th and Thursday 14th we made our own Bunraku-style puppet out of paper and masking tape, otherwise known as Monty. I say Bunraku-style because our focus was to have a working puppet that respected three key points. It had to move in a lifelike manner, puppeteers could breathe life into it (so manoeuvrability) its head had to be movable to assist with eyeline. This was all done in preparation for a masterclass on Friday 15th with the three puppeteers from Ouroboros that we spoke to on Thursday 7th. They had the kindness to come in to our small class and teach us the basics of puppetry. I was in charge of Monty's head and left arm.

This whole experience taught me that to perform a puppetry piece, it is incredibly important to rely on the BERPI technique I describe in my previous post. BERPI stands for Breath, Eyeline, Rhythm Physics and Intention and I described their roles in my other post so I won't go into detail on them now. However, the workshop made me realise that to perform a play with a Bunraku puppet, you need teamwork more than anything. I noticed that even if a the beginning we were having trouble coordinating our movements, practising made us gel more as an ensemble and we were able to show a mini performance without any major flaws (It was far from perfect but it was a beginner's piece). However, I noticed that Lydia, who was doing the feet, looked to be in a very uncomfortable position, to which the puppeteers answered "You have to die to make the puppet live". This has shown me a different aspect of Theatre and will make value and appreciate the true efforts of actors and puppeteers and dancers in the future.

This was a case where we learned by imitation, and proceeded to do exactly as the puppeteers told us in order to learn  the movements and conventions of puppetry.

In the following week, we started talking about our blogs and devising our own piece. We learned that in Theatre, copying is an essential way of learning. The three key ways of learning are imitation, influence and inspiration. We used imitation in the workshop. Our new devised pieced was influenced by the puppetry we saw in Ouroboros. Our play focuses on food wastage by primary students. We were inspired to add the shadow puppetry element after watching Ouroboros.

We decided to devise a puppetry play for primary students because they were very receptive to puppets and thouroughly enjoyed orking with them. They know us and what to expect from a puppet show.

The beginning of our Superman performance!

Tuesday I had no lesson because I had my final English oral :(

Thursday lesson we spent going through the blogs and how we need to improve and go into more depth! Our blog is going to be very important when it comes to our TPPP's and it is also a part of our course to have a journal.
Mr Fearnehough asked if he could use my blog as an example to correct and know where to add more reflections and examples. I don't mind using my blog because it will help myself and everyone else.
After going through my blog again, I understand that the things I need to improve on is :

• making links to other parts of the course
• going into more depth
• explaining the points I make

After such a busy week with tonnes of advice and points with the workshop, I did not talk about everything that I should have. It was good to go through the blog and talk about what we needed to improve. I have corrected the blog and will now continue to keep my blog updates with many examples and in depth because it is important that I understand things for when I go back on for my TPPP.

Friday in our double lesson, we had two hours to create our Action Plan for Bunraku and also come up with our next moves!
Creating the action plan now was quite good because it meant that we had to think about everything we had already done and this also meant we ended up reflecting of these things as a result because of discussion. We then had to think about what we need to do now for our Bunraku project and that is to create a performance and then perform!
Having the double session gave us chance to think about all the things we need to think about for our performance. We don't have long to create and practice so I find that we got a lot done in this lesson.
As we already did a short performance to some of Primary, we know that we want to go back there and do something bigger and better. They also demanded we do a performance that they can see!
As we knew our target audience, we had to think of a message and idea that is suitable for a younger audience. We have main goals and that is that we want our piece to be entertaining and educational!
We thought about the problems a younger child would be facing and wanted to create a piece that can be educational. Some of the ideas we came up with were:

• cheating on a test
• waste of water, food, electricity, paper...
• being friendly
• manners/respect
• Being left out

Our idea we like the most because there is more of an issue to do with school life and home life, also it will be something educational.
As we only have one puppet and we need three people to operate one puppet and there is only three of us, we had to think of solutions to the way our story would go with just one puppet and if it was actually possible.
We know that children love super heros and goodies/baddies so we took this idea of having our puppet waste food and then a devil and angel tell him what is right and he is persuaded to not waste things, he then becomes a super hero.
I think that our idea is brilliant because it fits perfectly to children and is also fun and educational which are our main goals! Thrashing out all these ideas on paper really helped us to share our ideas and combine ideas together.
We were influenced by the handspring puppet company to add some shadow puppetry into our piece too. They used it in their show and we think that it would be good to add in more types of puppetry into our piece and it would also work very well to show the devil and angel part.
Having all of these ideas come into place makes me excited and I hope that they work out well! We should start to work on our performance physically now!

Tuesday's and Thursday's lesson was spent creating a puppet made out of newpaper and masking tape in preparation for Friday’s workshop with the 3 Ouroboros actresses. We managed to create a pretty good puppet (which we rushed at the end). I think we did a good job in making a puppet that we were able to manipulate well.

Friday the 3 puppeteers came in, we started by learning each other’s names with a warm up exercise. We stood around in a circle and said our names to a clapping beat; we then said it in a different voice and then went on to add an action. This helped create the ensemble feel and make us feel more comfortable with the 3 actresses. We then watched the Ted Talk Video about Handspring Puppet Theatre. On this Ted Talk we were shown a puppet of a hyena and we were explained about the movement and manipulation of all puppets. The video then went on to talk about War Horse and a horse puppet was shown on stage. It was so life like and the characteristic of a horse was portrayed amazingly by the movement of ears, the legs and even the breaths and sounds.

 I learnt that you have to understand the body of an animal or human to be able to manipulate a puppet which is an animal or a human.

Before working with our puppet ‘Monty’ we worked on ‘eyeline’. Eyeline is the second most important thing when it comes to puppetry. We used teddy bears and each had an actress pointing where to look and we would have to make the teddy react to where the actress was and move to that point. At first I found this hard but then when I put my eye near to where the teddy’s eyes were it was much easier for me to get the Eyeline right. I realised how important eyeline is and if it is off it can change the whole thing the puppet is looking at so maybe changing the story.

After this we started working with ‘Monty’. I was the right hand puppeteer, Lydia was the foot puppeteer and Axel was head puppeteer. I think I had the easiest role to do, because Axel had to speak and remember to control the eyeline and keep the puppet alive. Lydia seemed extremely uncomfortable in the positions she had to do. My role was to only love the right hand according to to left and what axel was doing. Even though I thought my role was easy it was quite tricky to be coordinated with Axel and what the 3 puppeteers said ‘you have to die in order for the puppet to live’ is very much true.

We spent a long time focussing on our puppets movement; we were all focussing but sometimes forgot even if the puppet id lying down it is breathing. We also learnt that we have to think about our own actions so that we can portray the correct actions of the puppet in order for it to be realistic. If we did not do the actions properly it would not be as effective.

After we worked on the movement of ‘Monty’ we all created a short piece to perform to years 2 and 4. We wanted to make our little piece funny because we thought it would keep the children intrigued and it would be more successful than if we did something serious. We had the idea of using lazzi which we learnt when we studied Commedia last year. We thought that ‘Monty’ could have his own puppet show and that things could go wrong. We decided on him making a pancake and then making him drop it which would be slapstick and then we got a volunteer from the audience to have a go at flipping a pancake. Of course this pancake was not real but it was still enjoyable and didn’t stop the flow of our piece. We got lots of laughs off the children which was our aim. During the performance I thought that we succeeded with the way we worked together and manipulated the puppet.

After the performance we helped the year 4’s and 2’s make puppets for themselves, we helped them create the puppets and explained to them how to move the heads and body parts. I saw that the children understood about the movement of the head and I saw a lot of them manipulating the heads.

It was so amazing to have 3 professionals with us, I think it will help us with future work and their experience and knowledge helped us a lot with our own puppet ‘Monty’. It was very exciting to work with the young children again and I am excited to possibly work with primary again this time on our own showing the things we have learnt from the 3 puppeteers