Catch a clap

This exercise involves everyone standing in a circle. A clap is then past across the circle to whoever you want. When a clap is given to you, you should receive the clap and then pass it on. When passing the clap on you need to make eye contact with the person and clap towards them so that they know it is supposed to be for them. The claps should not speed up it should stay at a steady beat which you should make with your feet.

To make the game more difficult you should then walk around the space and pass the clap. For this you will need to be aware of where the clap is incase it is passed to you and you should concentrate. Remember you need to make eye contact with the person, so don't give it to someone if their back is to you because they won't realise the clap is for them.

We didn't get to this level but if you wanted to make it more difficult you could add in another clap so more than one clap would be going around.

This exercise was good because it made us concentrate and work as a team. In order to keep the clap going we had to focus and work as an ensemble so that the clap continued to be received.

Sources - Blackout

Source 1                          

Web Address - http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fascism

Title - The Free Dictionary

Date found - 7/11/13

Source 2
Web Address - http://www.daveyandersontheatre.com/blackout.html
Title - Plays Blackout
Date found - 10/11/12

Source 3
Author - Tim Stark
Title - Blackout Production notes
Date found - 10/11/12

Source 4
Title - Youth Crime
Date found - 28/11/12
Web Address -http://www.understandingglasgow.com/indicators/children/safety/community_safety/youth_crime

Source 5
Title - Skinheads
Web Address -http://www.bbc.co.uk/britishstylegenius/content/21862.shtml
Date found - 29/11/12

Source 6
Title - Blackout Physical script
Blog - http://blackoutscript.blogspot.co.uk/
Date Found - 6/12/13

Source 7
Title - The story of the modern skinhead
Date Found - 30/01/14
Web Address - http://urbantimes.co/2013/06/the-modern-british-skinhead/

First five lines

In today's lesson we took the first five lines in the play and split up into groups of six. The lines were:

Imagine

You wake up

You open your eyes

Any you're like that

Where am I?

Using these lines and the three exercises we did in todays lesson (fishers, milling, waking up) we had to make a beginning for the play in the theatrical configuration, thrust.

We then had to perform ours to the rest of the class and sir chose the one he wanted to use for the beginning of the play. The group I was in was the one that was chosen.

Charlie and I then became directors and had to teach the rest of the class how to perform it. A few bits we had to change because there was so many of us but it looked really good.(The Physical script link explains what it is.)

I really enjoyed the lesson because everyone got to put something into the performance so its not just one person directing, everyone has an input. The beginning involves changes in energy, different voice levels and lots of different movement. I also enjoyed being a director however sometimes people didn't listen which was frustrating and something our class needs to improve on.

Exercises

Milling

Milling is when you walk around the room going in and out between each other. Remember you should not be walking in a circle. Milling is then made difficult by changing the energy levels between one and five. Jacque Lecoq who came up with this exercise originally based it on levels 1 - 10.

1 - Slow (hardly moving)
2 - Lazy
3 - Normal
4 - Fast
5 - Frantic (controlled chaos)

You must walk through the middle don't just stay to the outside of the room and you don't have to walk straight on. You can go backward, sidewards, you can spin around. When you walk past someone you may want to have a small relationship with them and feed of their movement. Remember this relationship can still be going on even if they are on the other side of the room. 

This exercise is useful because it means that we are able to recognise different energy levels when needed and we also use it in blackout when we are shouting 'where am I' at the beginning of the play.

Fishers Exercise

Fishers exercise is when one person is chosen in the class and the rest have to copy their direction. You must all be facing the same way and if you can't see the person doing the movements watch others around you because they might be able to see. This may cause the movements to be in a ripple effect. The person who is leading should do all their movements slowly and they should not be too complicated. If the person can no longer be seen by anyone then someone else should take over so the exercise continues.

This helps us work together as an ensemble and use our peripheral vision so that we are able to follow the leader. We use this skill when raising our hands in a salute and a fist at the beginning of blackout. This is also used when people start changing into the dad behind kitty because they are all doing similar movements.

Waking up for the first time

Everyone should lay on their backs with their eyes closed. Then slowly people should begin to wake up but like it is the first time they have ever woken up. You should use the time to explore the floor, your hair, your clothing even your body because it is the first time you might not know how to sit up. You should also explore the room you are in, the lights, windows and space around you. Remember you do not have to copy others you may stay on the floor for the whole time whilst others could be a bit faster than you.

We used this exercise quite a lot in blackout when we were in the jail cell because it showed that we were trying to discover where we were and show that we couldn't remember what had happened because we were just waking up in this place that we did not recognise,

Link to physical script

http://blackoutscript.blogspot.co.uk/

This is recording what we have done in the lesson - by Lara and Clay (Source 6)
Before each lesson I will look on this blog so that I am able to remember what we have done in the previous lesson.

This is England

What is the function of the iconography used in the title

sequence of the film How might it help you understand the

film?

In the title sequence lots of different

things are shown to give the audience an

understanding of what the film is going to

be about. Graffiti and old buildings are

shown to show that the film is set in a

rough area. There is also lots of

destruction, fighting and

police to show that there are riots and different views going

on therefore a fight is needed to get their voices heard.

There are also images of soldiers, war and death showing us

that people are dying in the Falkland's war which some people

in England believe we should not get involved in. Music, dance

and the English flag is shown to set the time period and show

that people are proud to be British. Finally a flock of sheep

is shown to show that people join skinheads because they want

to be part of the group and they are just following what other

people do.

How is Shaun represented at the very beginning of the film?

How does his representation contribute to your understanding

of him as the protagonist of the film?

At the beginning of the film Shaun is shown as a young boy who

is being bullied by people at school because of how he looks.

He is shown to be living with his mum due to his dad having

died in the Falkland's. Shaun is represented as a angry boy

who has no one to talk to therefore he feels alone. This

representation of him makes us feel sorry for him because all

he wants is a friend to comfort and look out for him. We

can understand that he is the main character because he wants

to make his father proud, the skinheads use this to their

advantage by making him do things because they say it will

make his father proud. He is the protagonist of the film

because it shows how someone with a bad background can be

drawn into a gang and do bad things just because they are

looking for their identity and by joining the skinheads Shaun

becomes part of something and is no longer alone.

What do you think about the depiction of the skinhead gang

What are their defining features? Does the director glamorize

the gang? Does he demonize it? Give your reasons.

The skinhead gang are definitely defined by their short hair

and how they look. They are also defined by their actions, there is alot of smoking, drinking, weapons and aggression. The first group of skinheads however are quite welcoming, they are rude but shaun sees them as cool because they like to have a laugh and being part of their group looks fun. They all wear jeans, braces and shirts as well a DR Martens. The director makes being a skin head look fun at the beginning because they show friendship, they stand up for eachother, play games, play pranks, have handshakes and they dont let each other down.

However when the new group of skinheads come they are older and more aggressive and they believe being a skinhead isnt a games it is a fight for power, respect and freedom. The new skinheads brainwash people into thinking racism is good and shaun believes he is making a logical point. The new group of skinheads are alot more violent and uses graffiti and weapons to show this.

What is the function of Milky in the story? What does his name

suggest?

Milky is mixed race, his function in the story is to

show originally the skinheads were not racist because he is

also part Jamaican. However later on he is forced to decide 

whether he is truly English or Jamaican. His name is ironic

and suggests that he is trying to fit in because

he doesn't have 'milky' skin, as I said before he is coloured.

However later on in the film he is beaten up and called a

nigga to show Shaun that this is what happens. Having Milky as

a friend shows Shaun that people with coloured skin are normal

people to and him being beaten up makes him want to not be

racist anymore because these people have friends and family

to.

What does the gang mean to Shaun? What does Shaun mean to the

gang?

To Shaun the gang is a group of people he can have fun with and an identity. The gang is friendship and he is given confidence by being part of them. The gang is a place to go for comfort, it is another family and a place where he can be someone else's "Son" because he no longer has a father.

To the gang they see shaun as someone they want to cheer up and make feel better because he is alone and only has his mum. However the new skinheads want to use him to fight, to become aggressive and to be part of their fight for freedom.

Homework - This is England

What is your view of how masculinity is defined in the film?

I think masculinity is shown in lots of different ways through the film. First I think that both the male and female characters show masculinity by the way their hair is cut. The men have very short hair making them look tough and the female characters also have quite short and messy hair which suggests they like to be seen as tomboys. I also believe it is defined by the way they act, throughout the film there is alot of fighting and aggression so that the characters can show they have strength and are powerful. They also smoke and drink alot showing that they can handle it because they are manly and are up to it. Finally I think masculinity is also defined by how they are dressed and how they speak. They are dressed in big boots and checked shirts and they often use rude language. Many of the female characters use the same language as the men do which is not lady like and they also talk down to people showing that they are in charge and there is nothing you can do about it.

Discuss the theme of loss-of-innocence/coming-of-age in the film.

At the beginning of the film Shaun is a young boy with a squeaky voice, who is being picked on. He is an innocent boy who joins the skinheads because he wants somewhere to belong to and needs comfort. However he is then taught about how England has become a place where people from other countries can come over and take all the jobs and houses. He is persuaded and made to believe that no one should live in England if they are not truly english. In the beginning he is a young boy that has lost his father, then he is taken on as a young skinhead, he is taught how to speak powerfully and racist towards people and he thinks he is doing this for his father. He gets a better understanding of the world he lives in and becomes aggressive to people he believes does not belong in England. Becoming a skinhead he has been made to believe in racist views and has lost his innocence because he now fights and is aggressive to people who are not "truly" english.