Akram Khan Rush

This is me and my group in our 1st rehearsals. For our next rehearsal we need to expand our piece as we need to fit in more choreographic devices such as change of tempo, levels, canon. We are still continuing to improve our piece so we can dance to the best of our abilities. I am the dancer on the left in the trio.

Akram Khan -Rush Rehearsal 2

This is me and my group in our 2nd rehearsals. We added and expanded to our piece as we needed to fit in more choreographic devices such as change of tempo, levels, canon. We are still continuing to improve our piece so we can dance to the best of our abilities. I am the dancer on the left in the trio.

2 Job Roles and Responsibilities

Responsibilities of a Casting Director

A casting director is a middleman or middle woman who finds the actors needed to fill roles in movies, TV shows, theatrical productions, commercials or even corporate and music videos.

The studio, producers, director and writers are on one side, and the actors and talent agents on the other -- with the casting director in the middle. "Middlewoman" applies because casting directors represent one of the few entertainment occupations that's dominated by women, not men. I think this is because women maybe are more comfortable and instinctive judgements. 

A casting director's responsibilities extend beyond contacting actors or agents and holding auditions. Casting directors assemble casts that may include hundreds of actors, negotiate deals with the actors' agents and manage the contracts once the actors have signed.

Casting directors become involved in pre-production. The casting director may be employed by the studio, own or work for a casting agency or be a solo operator. The casting director:

• meets with the producers, the director and possibly the writer to understand the project
• meets with the production accountant for information about the casting budget, the money that'll be used to pay the actors
• reads the script and make notes about all the speaking parts
• creates a list of possible actors, in preferred order, for the most important parts first
• contacts the actors or their agents to determine their availability
• provides the list to the producers and director to make their decision Lead actors may not be asked to audition.
• prepares lists of actors and production schedule for supporting and more minor actors
• makes appointments for auditions or readings with the available actors
• provides information about available parts to talent agencies and lists opportunities with Breakdown Services, a company that maintains a daily list of acting opportunities
• conducts auditions
• makes recommendations, based on auditions, for each speaking part The director and producers make the final selections.
• negotiates contracts with the actors' agents, keeping an eye on the casting budget
• issues casting calls for minor acting parts and conducts those auditions
• acts as a liaison between the director and the actors, once contracts are signed
• finds replacements, as needed, during production for actors who can't fulfill their contracts

Casting Directors will work their way up in the industry and will start off small, they will be hired to do little job and work up to get work experience in being a theatrical agent or manager, where you will learn how the business works, who the casting directors are, what areas they specialise in, and perhaps who is looking to add to their staff.

Responsibilities for Marketing Directors

For most businesses, there are several different organisational approaches to marketing. The duty may lie with a single member of the team, or it could be a group responsibility. 

Depending on budget availability and the skills of the team, you may choose to outsource certain elements of the marketing process (such as market research) or decide to do these jobs in-house. Key responsibilities of the marketing director vary according to the business but can include:

• Instilling a marketing led ethos throughout the business
• Researching and reporting on external opportunities
• Understanding current and potential customers
• Managing the customer journey (customer relationship management)
• Developing the marketing strategy and plan
• Management of the marketing mix
• Managing agencies
• Measuring success
• Managing budgets
• Ensuring timely delivery
• Writing copy
• Approving images
• Developing guidelines
• Making customer focused decisions

Information can be gathered from questionnaires, focus groups, the internet, interviews, buying habits and many more sources, but it's important that the information is examined in a scientific way using proper statistical methods. 

Marketing Directors may have specific degrees in marketing which will help them achieve a job such as this. They may start off in work experience or work there way up in the industry.

Assignment 1 - Other Job Opportunities

In this assignment we are to look at 3 job roles that you would consider doing if not in a production job role. My first job that i looked at outside of performance roles, was a front of house role.

My application letter to a Front of House job would be:

Dear Employer,

Further to your advertisement in the The Telegraph, I would like to apply for the front of house position at your theatre. I have many years of experience in the theatre, as I started performing from the age of 9. I am familiar with how you must behave in a theatre and familiar with the ins and outs (backstage) of a building. In my time i have seen 25 west end prodcutions so i have a clear understanding of how the theatre works. This also is reflected accademically in my achievements within the theatre.

 Academically, i have achieved all my singing grades up to grade 5 all with distinction. I have done a total of 30 hours volenterring with disabled children at an organisation called CCPS  all the children their had a wide range of disabilities. I have performed in various theatre's including The Royal Albert Hall (London), The Capital (Horsham), Brighton Dome (Brighton), Eisteddfod Theatre (Wales).

As well as having knowledge about the basics of the theatre, I also have experience with some of the technology, such as mics - how and where to put them on the actor as i have also worked backstage in prodctions including a National Theatre's Connextions production.

 I understand that a Front of House role also requires customer service skills. I gained a lot of experience in customer service at Pebbles Catering Company, where I took payments in person and over the phone, greeted customers and dealt with any complaints. I handled all these situations very professionally, and built a good relationship with many of the frequent Pebbles customers. In this job it also means i have good catering experience so if any function rooms in the theatre were in use and required staff, i would be equipt with the health and safety regarding food and nutrition.

Thank you for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Yours Faithfully,

 

Niamh Kenny

SECOND JOB APPLICATION LETTER

To apply for a position with any Walt Disney Company, I need to start at DisneyCareers.com and choose my position of interest. I need to create a profile which includes an application to fill out, and then I can upload my CV. After applying online, I will receive a confirmation acknowledgement email, this is so I know my application has gone through, and I can also review it. Hearing back can be immediate or up to a couple weeks, it will depend on the volume of applicants. The company would've decided if your skills and experience match the role.

If successful, I will have an interview. It is most common to expect one phone interview and two in-person interviews per position.

My letter of application to Disney would be:

Dear Employer,

I am writing to you to apply for the role as a cast member (Disney Princess) at your theme park. My name is Niamh Kenny, I'm 17 years of age, and Caucasian. Being Caucasian allows me to take up various roles in Disney. I believe I would suite characters such as; Cinderella as I have long blonde hair and a similar build. Elsa would also be a well suited role for me as it is of similar characteristics. I've loved Disney since I can remember who hasn't? But as a performer, I see this as a real opportunity and a possible dream come true. I am great with children and have volunteered with a wide range of disabled children as I believe in giving everyone an equal opportunity to have fun

I am musically talented, which is what Disney reflects in their park parades, and of course, the films. This is reflected in my achievements of getting a Distinction* in my Performing Arts Level 3 Diploma. My peers would describe me as a confident and approachable, which are two characteristics I believe you must have for a role like this one.

I have been to Disneyland Paris and Orlando, and have recently booked a returning visit. I have found my experience at Disney Land phenomenal and in I particular remember receiving a V.I.P ticket from a Disney worker at Disney’s Wildlife park by one of your colleagues, this enlightened my Disney dreams and ever since I’ve wanted to give other children the experience I had and allow them to step into the world of magic, love and dreams.

Thank you for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon.

 

Yours Faithfully,

Niamh Kenny

THIRD JOB APPLICATION LETTER

For several years, I went to Brighton Festival Youth Choir. This led me to enquiring if they had any positions going there, so I have chosen to email the manager.

 

Dear Ester,

It is Niamh Kenny, former member of your choir. I am currently looking for a job in the performing arts that would work alongside my regular auditioning. Therefore, I am writing to you today to see if there any positions of work for me, or to see  if there were any opportunities for me to run singing  and possibly acting workshops. This allows the choir members to have a wider insight into the showbiz world, and how they can further there hobbies from choir to outside of choir.

At my time at Brighton Festival Youth Choir, I learnt a lot about myself and progressively became a stronger performer than ever before. On many occasions, I had the responsibility of looking after the younger years, both on and off stage, which is something I really enjoyed. I developed a strong relationship with all the conductors and choir masters, and would love to work with them. I believe there is still so much more for me to learn and gain from them. As well as the members to learn from what they taught me over years.

I would love to give back to the choir that provided me with so much.

 

Thank you for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Kindest Regards,

Niamh Kenny

ELECTRA Pre-Production Programme

In our lesson today we chose roles that suited our skills. So i chose to do marketting alongside my peer Elsie. In the beginning of the lesson we ran through the script by reading it through from start to finish this gave us a feel for how long the production would take. Each act took roughly 20-25 minutes each making Electra a 1 hour and 15 minute play aprox. It also allowed us as a group to change and alter anything regarding the script. Alterations such as the friends lines were combined and changed around. In this lesson we also chose the songs we are going to use in Electra, the songs will be sung by the chorus. and it has been pencilled in that the songs wont be sung they will be whispered making it seem more effective and erie.  After this we then went off to start on either line learning, blocking actions or to start our pre-production work. Elsie and I decided to start on pre-production as it was a chance when we could both work together and have access to photoshop. I didnt know yet creatively how i was going to conduct the programme and poster. So we split the roles and Elsie worked on the poster whilst i got on with the programme. The colour themes in the play are dark burned colours so i wanted to remain with this theme in the programme and Elsie also decided to do the same for the poster. As it is an erie twist on an accient greek play i wanted to make it traditional but with a modern twist. I began by looking at what images are suitable for the front cover of the programme and how to combine modern and old. I originally thought about having the old greek theatre masks for the front and came up with an image which was of the old greek masks but modernising them by  making them animated. So after creating the animated masks in the colour scheme of burnt out colours i then went to look for font for the front cover which would portray the title of the programme. Again with this i wanted it to look authentic so used the traditional Greek stylised font. I used a grungy distressed version of the greek font just to add character to the programme.

I then discussed with Elsie what i could add to the front cover to enhance it, and she then said what she was doing with her poster and how she was going to having spooky looking trees on the poster as a tree was a main prop on stage in the London show of Electra we saw. So i then used this idea to also include a tree in the programme front cover.

When designing programmes and posters for shows and productions you have to bare in mind printing costs, which i discussed with my teacher. I originally would have made a black background for the programme/poster however, with past experience of using a lot of colour last year i thought it would be better by making it simple in background colours but how to still make it look effective.

Below is what the programme looks like so far, its not completed and still have a way to go, but staying on top now means we can focus on getting all the acting perfectionised.

This is the front and back of the programme and i have begun the theme within the programme which will remain the same throughout. I wanted the programme to look as professional as i can make it. On the inside of the programme we will have black and white headshots of our class as individuals. This allows the audience to see each of the actors/actresses in our production of Electra, it also gives them an insight into what they are like, as each actor will write a few lines about themselves and maybe past productions they have been in. In the programme there will also be a breif overview on what Electra is about and a bit of background information into greek theatre.

This year for pre-production in marketting it is now a requirement to have a sponsership in the programme, getting this sorted and talking to buiness' about this gives us an oppourtunity to work with buisnesses and how this should be conducted properly. It also makes us learn more now in education about the buisness side of things. The money for the sponsership given to us will also cover our printing costs, previously last year we were making a loss with programmes but we didn't want that this year so this is why we have incorporated it this year and will be carried out in years to come.

There are certain aspects that need to be covered when designing posters and programmes for productions. You have to include a logo, for us it will be our college logo so it is correctly copyrighted, but if you were a theatre company you would use your theatre company logo. Other things to consider is a thank you page, so all the front of house crew and backstage crew get recognision as a play cannot come together without these vital parts. If you got funding for your production this is also where it would be mentioned.

Below is the final print out of the front and back pages of the programme:

After this i went on to create the casting list, this is something me and Elsie has had to organise as we needed to take individual head shots of everyone in Electra. Below is a template i created as our outline for where the cast list and photos will be. This will be the 3rd and 4th page of the programme and as shown i have kept the theme of the programme the same throughout. I then went on to do the Introduction for the programme as i had already done quite a bit of research on Electra so this was straight forward. I then wanted a full cast photo from our electra workshops this shows some of the process we went through to achieve and allow our production to come together. On this page there will also be our sponsership and this will be the first 2 pages. 

Fairytale Workshop

In todays lesson we were introduced to a fairy-tale workshop. The main target from this lesson was to help guide the chorus when we perform Electra, the reasoning for this is because when you are acting as chorus it can be hard to keep up the atmosphere and energy going throughout the play. To keep the energy going we were taught several ways to keep it interesting, one way we learnt was the shoal of fish where a group of people would stay compact together and one person would lead the group just like a shoal of fish, the directions will change frequently so you need to stay alert to keep up with the direction changes. This exercise allowed movement to continue through the show keeping it lively and active.


Another exercise we did was where we were put into groups of 4 and one at a time a person would change a part of movement of 1 one person who was acting almost like a moveable statue. This created a dramatic effect and the puppet effect of it allowed it to portray intense emotions.


The last exercise we did in this workshop was where you had to guide one person who has their eyes shut. This was a scary feeling if you were the one with their eyes shut but it meant you had to put your trust into the person who was guiding you. All these exercises allows to break up a piece of acting, it brings in movement which can be portrayed in a dance way allowing the piece to come alive.


At the end of this exercise we had to then put this into context which was a fairy tale of our choice, our group decided to chose a fairy tale we all knew well which ended up being Cinderella. We used the exercises above and said a line of the fairy tale each until the play was completed. The exercises made the acting more interesting and quite comical at places.


Below is the video of this performance of our fairy tale:
Fairy Tale Performance 


I believe my performance went well, we were in time with each other and remember the story lines and said our lines clearly and with emotion. This allowed us to interact more with the audience if I could have done it again I would have changed a few movements and I would have connected more with the audience, maybe by actually involving them would have been a great way to bring the atmosphere of the play up.

Electra Workshop

We did a Greek workshop specialising in the play. Electra, is a Greek tragedy by Sophocles. Its date is not known. Electra is set in the city of Argos a few years after the Trojan war, it is based around the character of Electra, and the vengeance that she and her brother Orestes take on their mother Clytemnestra and step father Aegisthus for the murder of their father, Agamemnon.

For our workshop we entered the room and on the floor was a scattering of masks. These masks portrays facial expressions which shows emotions. We all had to walk around the room and get into nearest groups of two, we then had to say to each other things we really like about the other person. This is an exercise which is done a lot in American theatre as warm-ups. We then had to reverse roles and get into a new pair and say something you genuinely mean about what you like about yourself and inform the other person. I found both of these exercises a challenge i found it easier to find positive things about someone else rather than myself, but knowing your strengths and weakness' in theatre is something good to know, so you can work on your weaknesses and excel on your strengths.

We then had to wonder round the room again and when we stopped the nearest mask to us we had to use. Mine was a mixed emotion face as half of the face was happy and half of the face was sad. We had to build up a character for this person and share it in a pair with someone else. I said that my mask was confused and felt he hid his emotions, i then suggested that my mask could have bipolar disorder this would clearly be represented in the mask as half the time he's happy and half the time he's sad. We then walked around with the masks on and had to walk in a fashion that that character would walk. I walked slowly as my character is cautious with the outside world, my character found it hard to trust others so i also crossed my arms and made my body movements scared and shy. 


Furthermore, we went off in pairs and had to perform a section from Electra without the mask, with the mask and then with the masks but just in mime. This was almost an improvisation activity which was found challenging with masks when miming, because when miming we usually rely on facial expressions to get across a storyline but when this element is taken away from us it proves difficult so you have to rely less on your facial expressions and more on your body movements. 

However, even with the restrictions masks give in mime i felt it was easier to portray any character as you can hide behind a mask and the identity of yourself isn't revealed to an audience.


Below is the videos of this workshop and the auditions.
Electra Workshop 1
Electra Workshop 2
Electra Workshop 3