My Work Experience Placement
August 31st, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Work Experience Unit Report.
For my work experience placement I worked with a small interactive theatre production company called ‘Rolemop’ who are based primarily in Brighton, but also extend to London. My dates of working were July 18th until July 22nd in Brighton and July 26th until July 28th in London making a total of 8 full working days. I helped in some trial runs of a production called ‘Broken Loops’; an entirely audience interactive/directed theatre piece with working triggers all around a set, triggering specific sets of live dialogue between two actors. These trial runs took place for a week in a rented space at the ‘Basement Arts’ centre in Brighton and in the actual performance space in an abandoned shop in Hackney, London, through the ‘Arts in Empty Spaces’ project: http://artinemptyspacesorguk.site.securepod.com/projects/rolemop-arts-ltd.
I helped in the creation of said sets and their triggers and also ended up having a fair amount of creative input into the piece, becoming part of the actual production team. I also helped in the filming of the trial shows and the get-out at the end. The production team consisted of Alex Buckley; the main director, scriptwriter, video editor, trigger technician and producer, Kerri Mclean; the main producer and casting director, Dave Paul; the art director and set builder, Peta; the actor playing ‘Cheryl’; the mother who has lost her memory, Heather; the actor playing ‘Rose’; the reunited daughter, Adam; the actor playing the Barman/owner of the social club and Me; the extra hands on the set, dabbling in almost every aspect of the production in order to help.
The team assured me that it would be fine to publish pictures and video of the production in this report and on my blog, as it was only a trial run of the show and could even be promotional to some extent.
These are some screengrabs that Alex emailed me of the final Isadora project that controlled the triggering of the projections:
For the two weeks I was involved in the show, ‘Rolemop’ were primarily aiming to get funding and publicise ‘Broken Loops’, through multiple trial performances to relevant audiences of community figures, arts directors and festival organisers, etc. So creating a strong representation of how the actual show would play out was imperative. This meant everything on the set had to work seamlessly whilst looking authentic, so as not to compromise the themes portrayed in the show. This meant when helping out creating the set and the prop triggers, I had to take the aesthetic of it very seriously, as a shoddy job would ruin the illusion of reality, defeating the object of the piece. For example, when wiring the set in London, we decided to not only feed the wiring through the suspended office-like ceiling, but also to conceal it all thoroughly, all too add to the illusion of reality. These are a few of the Triggers I created/helped create both in the Brighton space and the London set:
This was a Foosball table that I designed to trigger when a goal was scored. To do this I had to think of a way to place knock-sensors in the goals solidly without the use of a drill. I came up with the idea of removing the bottoms of the goals and using DVD cases, stapled to the bottom, to hold the knock sensors in place. This worked, and ended up being used in the performance.
Above is an alarm I took apart and wired to create another trigger. It was quite intricate work but paid off in the end as it was used in both the Brighton and London trial runs and will most likely be used again in future.
Below is a set of books that I made to trigger when the top (Beauty and the Beast) cover was opened. I placed a light-sensor underneath the top page after making a hole to house it in the books below, then drilled/glued them for stability. Alex said that because it worked so well, once he has the video completed for this specific trigger he will use it in future performances:
I also helped in the set construction, such as painting and decorating, helping build the bar on both sets and mending broken props:
This is the bar from the Brighton set. As the company was very small and under a strict budget of £300, the art director Dave endeavoured to create the set economically. This bar was a perfect example. We constructed the entire wooden structure from waste wood (acquired for free), the curtains were purchased for only £10 and most of the props, apart from the telephone, which had to be ordered, were obtained free or for under £5. The same is true for the bar in the Hackney space, which was even more effective, looking far more realistic. This aspect of production definitely taught me a great deal about working in a small company under a tight budget and how there are many ways to work around this possible hindrance, demonstrating the importance of resourcefulness.
This is the almost completed set in the Basement Arts centre; we all felt it did well to pass as a 1990’s social club, especially considering the space we were using for the trial. However, the space in Hackney was far more effective as it was, to a greater degree a ‘blank canvas’ on which work, allowing the team unlimited creative freedom. Here is a video of the space in Brighton, post-trial run showing:
During showings, ‘Broken Loops’ is almost completely directed by its audience, only changing when the barman has too facilitate the flow if said audience become too static. This meant it was very important that the audience immediately understood how they could progress the narrative within the set. Each trigger activated a progressing set of projected videos (memories) which in turn cued the actors to begin between three and four parts of a narrative dialogue depending on which trigger had been set off. These memories (and in turn that part of that specific narrative path) would then be stopped by one of the actors hitting the fruit machine or pretending to pour a drink at the bar, as both were rigged up as triggers cease these projections. The main difficulty however, was signifying to the audience the whereabouts of these, as often the audience would treat the performance passively, like usual theatre, even when subtly prompted by the barman to “Punch the punch-bag if you think you’re strong enough” or “Whatever you do, DON’T set off my alarm”. In the Brighton space there was a large lighting rig, so we decided to take advantage of this; lighting each trigger with a spotlight. This worked to an extent, but still not on the scale we’d hoped as even though the audience could tell where the triggers were, they still remained submissive. This led me to question how I would overcome this issue to make the show successful if I were directing it. My conclusion was that I felt the audience should be given some pretext before the show begins; explaining that triggers may be lit up and making it abundantly clear that without audience participation the narrative will not progress. I pitched this to the group and despite a slight feeling that it may create unwanted preconceptions and remove some illusion of reality, it was met with some consideration. It was also considered that alternatively, all this information could be displayed on the ‘Rolemop’ website when buying tickets, so as not to disrupt the shows realism. This would help multiply the purposes of the website, giving it a larger perspective viewing and thus promoting other projects ‘Rolemop’ may be working on.
The placement has given me a lot of inspiration for the direction I may follow with my work, both in the long and short term. Initially coming from a video production background, I felt it was important that I started experimenting with different possible paths to pursue so as to gain a wide range of experiences. This placement has been a perfect example of that, and has showed me new aspects of media production that I thoroughly enjoy. I have found that art direction, set design, interactive theatre and installation work, etc are much more hands-on and social than lone video production work, which are definitely aspects that strongly appeal to me. Due to this, I definitely feel this could be a direction I pursue as a future career option. This is not a guaranteed route however, as there are still numerous paths for me to explore at this early stage (youth media work or work on film sets to name just two), it is just an option worth considering. So as of yet, I am unsure which market I’m specifically interested in.
My work at ‘Rolemop’ has given a vast range of transferable skills I can apply to my own work in and outside of university; from how to rig up an entirely audience controlled set through triggers and computer software to much more physical skills such as carpentry and electronics/wiring. I also learned a lot about audiences and how they receive and perceive sets and performances, something very valuable to take away from my time there. When I work on audience interactive pieces in future, which is something I plan to do, I will take a lot of consideration of the audience perspective and not just the quality of the concept, an aspect I sometimes overlook.
‘Rolemop’ have pitched more upcoming projects for me to help with so it seems very likely that I will be working with them again. I have made good friends with all the team and proved my commitment so they say they will be very willing to have me onboard for upcoming events if I’m available. However, the likelihood of employment after the course is currently quite unlikely as the company is still very small and under a tight budget. Nevertheless, I will not rule this option out, as when funding for ‘Broken Loops’ arises, it is likely that the group will need additional hands to help out, and this may be paid.
In conclusion, I found the 8 day placement, despite being hard work with long hours, thoroughly inspiring and enjoyable; teaching me many new, fully transferable skills and allowing me to meet lots of really interesting new people, forming friendships and gaining valuable contacts for the future. It was intriguing to see how everything came together from scratch and how the completed set worked so seamlessly and effectively whilst looking so authentic.
One of my preconceptions of the placement was that I would be working on the sets in order for them the to stage a multitude of performances throughout the weeks, however, I soon found out that all the hard work was actually only for two main preview shows then the set would have to be dismantled. What I learned from this was that this is a regular occurrence in the theatre and interactive theatre world especially, as acquiring funding is a hugely important part of developing a production. Also, despite some initial warning that the company ran on a short budget, I was still surprised to find how economical and frugal to company was; making sure nothing was wasted and important props were obtained for as little money a possible.
From working with ‘Rolemop’ I feel I have identified a weakness in my own work that I plan to focus on. I realise that in certain aspects of work, I fear to use my initiative to its full extent out of fear of making a mistake. I feel to combat this I should learn to trust my better judgement and be self-sufficient in these scenarios.
I’m looking forward to future work with ‘Rolemop’ and others I’ve met during this production. Alex will be doing a lot of work with the youth project ‘SameSky’ including a projection project on the Chichester City Wall and has asked if I would like to get involved. I also plan to look for work with other similar companies, having some experience in that area now.
Finally, a concluding positive has arisen through this work experience and whom I met during it: Dave Paul, the art director of the piece, regularly works on feature film sets and through him, I managed to get a days work helping out on the set of his most recent film, getting a runner credit. He is a very good contact to have and I plan to regularly keep in touch with him regarding any more experience I may be able to attain.
Placement Diary.
Day 1, Week 1 – Met Rolemop team at Basement arts in Brighton. Briefed on the week and what had to be done. Wired the fruit machine and repaired two prop chairs.
Day 2, Week 1 – Erected foosball table, laid the carpets, began work on the bar structure (see report), wired fire alarm trigger and placed props around room.
Day 3, Week 1 – Wrote-up fake notice-board announcements (below), made foosball trigger with DVD cases (see report), finished bar structure and laid curtains, made sofa trigger (below).
Day 4, Week 1 – Started work on book trigger (see essay), helped with punch-bag trigger (below), wired all triggers to computer and tested them with Alex, organised set for show the next day.
Day 5, Week 1 – Final arrangement and test of set before main trial show, helped with the lighting of the triggers, filmed main show for companies website, helped with get-out at the end and loaded the van.
Day 1 Week 2 – Met at the space in Hackney, unloaded van, organised positioning of props, wired triggers through ceiling, bought glow in the dark paint from a local shop, began work on new bar structure.
Day 2 Week 2: – Finished work on new bar and painted it black, erected projector stand and painted it white, laid tiles by mirror trigger (right), finished work on book trigger, positioned props.
Day 3 Week 2: – Final testing and arrangement of set and triggers, vacuumed set pre-show, supervised final show, helped with get-out and reloading van.
Health, Safety and Insurance.
Here are the Health and Safety forms for the Basement (our Brighton space) and Rolemop’s Liability Insurance form:
General Risk Assessment July 2011
