Last post on this blog.

For the finally project we did in our class, although I feel like it could been worse and there were few mistake that we made during the performance, but I still assume that we did a great work.

With the light and the sound effect, the stage change between before and after the sunset become more reasonable then with out them, although we set where people should enter or exit at the last minute, which result in many mistake that we made in the last two scene. Both Miranda and john exit the wrong way. But the stage change was simple and useful in the play which easily let the audience know there are two kind of the stage and people act differently in different stage. So with those information I assume it was very easy to know the difference before and after the sun set. The other change we made to shows the flash back was the cloth change. All of as bring the winter cloth with us, which made audience easy to see the different of their dress.

I also think we made the character more clear to the audiences, like “peter” was more like a boyfriend of Miranda’s mother, not a random friend or doctor, and also clearly shows that he end in death because the flu, which kill many people after then sun set. Peter’s death make the whole play more hopeless and also made Miranda wish to go to the town more reasonable: because that she was the only hope to survive although that was way too risky. Also, Miranda shows how important the food are, john also was the only one who eat two meal a day. But I few a little bit of disappointment about we delete the line about the fire department was no longer work.

The mistake that we made in the play. We did not set the stage center at the center of the stage so there were a little bit to the left in the vidicon, also the other mistake that I already mention was people exit to the wrong side few time, and that would make some misunderstand to the audience. The other mistake was the winter cloth were not “winter” enough, which were more like autumn. But because in summer most of us will not stage winter cloth so it was able to forgiven.

After all I am glade that we went though the finally project and close this one year IB class with a good work. We took IB exam already and spend enough time struggle on every IB project we have done as an IB student. Although even at the end of the year I still assume that I could do better if I was in the b period class which will make me more talktive and have better cooperation with my group. One of the reason is I am not good enough to wrote, plan, stage or perform in any of the project we did this year. And I understand that is the reason I could not go to the AP lit class.

 

The hopeless earth

In the scene we played during class we shows some confusion in our play, the flash back are the second scene, the fourth scene, and the sixth scene. And the other confusion that we had was who is my character. I agree we still have a lot to work on, but I feel the group work was good and we did have a lot of progress during other days. I assume a play that without lighting change and sound effect is not a complete play. What we had for the first draft was the brave draft which with out the sound and the light effect, we even did not have the setting of them for now, so to understand this play was hard and required a lot of reading of the orgian book.

The book was about the story that after a sunset the sun never went up, every one living in the city that full of snow and darkness. My character was a doctor who also is the boy friend of the mother of the family, he always come visit the family after the father leave them, after the sun set he visit the family more frequently to give them advice to survive. Both of his daughter died during the flu and himself also died after few days. So we add in a new scene talk about the kids did not wish to get the flu and they will feel hopeless when they got the flu, because the boy friend of their mum who is an doctor got the flu and finally killed by they flu, which makes them feel disappointment when they found out that the visitor of their family has been killed by the illness and also they will give the hopeness emotion to the audience.

We use the flash back to show that the compare the life they once had and the life after then sun set, they used to have TV and watch football together, but now they even need to save food for living and let the younger brother eat two meal a day, but rest of them only eat one meal a day. The older brother was once a successful collage student that leave with the love and honor, but after he come back he was the man who tried his best to survive with the entire family.

The other thing that we did about the play we show that the stage dose not change much but they still need to use the limited sources to survive. That also reminded the audience that they are till 16 years old young kids who are childish and always has disagreement with the family. The younger brother was only 14 years old and he need to be the strong one of the family, and the only girl as the main character she need to go to town and looking for supplies. They have a life they they should not have and they did what they can tiring to survive.

Few Concerns

The last show of then school year, which named comedy tonight is a group about multiple comedies. I went there Friday and I was very amazed by the lighting control and the hard work that those actor did during practice, those are very beautiful. I specially like the morning meeting one, the imitation was almost real. But what I really worried about was the content of few comedies, which point at several different nations, countries, and religions which may made the student who share the culture, come form those countries, belong to those nation, or have those religions very awkward or shamed. 

In the first comedy, john jiang, who known as donald trump who shout out he will drive those Muslim and those Mexicans out of US, which indeed Donald Trump said. But the strong political tendency will hurt the students or teachers who think the other way. And speak about “drive those Muslims and Mexicans out of US” may hurt the feeling of the Muslim and Mexican students in CA. Because more or less CA is still an international school. 

And the other comedy which I was worried about the content was the one that William An played as a man who lost every thing he had in one morning, which is so absurdity that even make people feel bad about what happened, and for this comedy was about laugh about someone’ s pain and the absurdity that people always not wish happened on themselves. So I wander should we have a comedy like this in the play.

And the last one was about the swan, although I got some idea that this play was wrote base on a real story happened in CA, which i hope what I assumed was wrong because I could not be the only one who knew this story or the only who figure this out. So a strong story like this will easily point to a student who was once involved in the story that happened in the real life which is really unfair and cure to that student.

Although I made a lot of negative evaluation but I still think the show was great at some point, may be the best show that ever played in the Black Box.

life as we knew it

About the final project we are working on which is a novel named "life as we Knew it" is about a story after the disaster which block the sun an kind of make the world became a wasteland. Under the background like that we have five character which are the mum who is the only adult of this family and tried her best to make sure all of her family can survive from this disaster. Miranda, the main character who is only 16 years old, two of her brother, the older one jonny was a collage student who return in the middle of the science, the younger brother who is the “last hope” of this family and the boy friend of the mum. In this play we tried our best to show the “hopeless and the conflict between the family” which is hard to pretend we are living in the wasteland and we need to try our best to survive.

There are eight scene in the play and the end of those scene is not the end of the book which is hopeful and bright, the scene end in a kind of dark spot when Miranda try to go to the town and find supplies which under the condition like that was basicily tried to kill herself. In our scene the conflict between families was mostly about food and water which is important at that time. The family wish to save the little brother by letting him have two meal a day but the rest of the family have only one meal a day, but the kids will became hungry and find everything they could eat. The family had conflict about peter who visit them and ask him for the supplies and medic support from him. 

Final project A childhood memory

For my final proposal i wish to do the “empty house” form the novel wrote by Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle <Sherlock Holmes>.

I choose this book because this book was the first western novel I ever read as a child in china, although now this book seem like popular then 10 years ago but I still wish to rebuild this scene form my childhood memory although that may incomplete or got confused in few details. Form this book I first learned about the whodunit so I wish to do this book for my final project. 

The Sherlock Holmes contain many story of how did Sherlock Holmes shove many cases during his life in England, but nether him or Dr. John Hamish Watson I like the most although they are both active brave and wise, just like the hero for every child, but I liked Inspector G. Lestrade more then those two main characters because although this decive was old and not as wise as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, but he would show up every time when the main character needed and this made him as the hero who will finally send the guity to the Justice.

Empty house was the scene happened after Sherlock Holmes confirm dead in scene “The Adventure of the Final Problem” I choose this part of the book because this part was a new start for the book in some way, and this scene did not require many people act, only four of them and the body is enough, and people can act more then two characters in the same time so we may just need three people in the act because there one three of then show up in the same time. The empty house was about to solve a case which one man was murdered in his home with out make any sounds or let any one notice, the bullet shot though the window and killed that man with out making any sound, and this is also the scene when Sherlock Holmes came back form the “death”

After he has been travel for few years and came back to england. The stage would be setting like 19 century in English as best as we could do and this may requires all the characters use british english while they speak to show the audience that they were live in British. I wishInspector G. Lestrade have the Scottish accent but even I do not now what did that sound like.

This scene did not require much light effect and the sound effect also, so this can set just the bone chiller and have the same rain effect form that, also the other thing that require is two time of the stage change which can be just simple change the setting of the stage will show the audience that was two different place. So this was the basic setting for the finial project that I wish to accomplished in the end of the year.

IB test

In this first IB test that I ever take i feel like I did fine on the test one and feel a little bit lost on the second one. The IB test was different then I thought, which should be more casual. This test was almost the same we learned although we dislike the book and had a hard time to understand and memorize the poems and the author’s name. In the test I feel like we were given too much time for the work we should do, i feel like if I work with out any stop for relax i could finished the test in about one hour. And the time setting for the test is also weird, the test time is one and half hour and after one hour we may leave but we can not leave in last 15 min. So if we finished sooner then it one hour and half then we spend 15 min to review what we wrote then we need sit 15 min for nothing. But the test rules and directions was easy to understand and follow, that make sence then many ACT and SAT test. The first test was easy then I thought, it was basicly about the understanding of the book and some stage and act questions. What I did was simply spend half my paper to talk about what my understanding of the book and use the last half to stage and talk about the act directions and drew a stage setting at the end of it. I use to drew the stage by computer and this is the first time i drew the stage setting by pen so I may not did as well as the first time. But the second test i spend about two paragraph talk about the background information and I feel that maybe too much.

 

Light

The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime is a play that we went to see at board way at Wednesday. I have to say the profession of the actor and the light show me how different the Broadway is. The light was remarkable which shows ever thing that happening on the stage. Although I set at very back of the theater I still can see what happening when the actors moves, and even what the thoughts. In the plays I have seem, none of them shows how did the characters think when they thinking, and what emotions they had. That really helped me understand  the characters by telling what's in their head. But although the lights was fantastic, it made me headache after the show. 

  The other thing I wish to talk about is the professional actors was clear better then the unprofessional actors by using the lines and movements to shows who they are. By those movements and lines made me easier to understand why they did what they did. 

 The character I liked the most was Christopher. Even though I still insist has some kind of dysphrenia. But the actor did a good job by showing the part that he gets break down by anything. And where did not know what he should do he will always follow the girl who lead him.