Lewis & Clark Moodle

What I found particularly noteworthy was the concept of the use of the word “queer”. Serving as the umbrella that many tend to use because it connects to whom a gay,lesbian,transgender etc. is. I think one reason why people do not talk about the LGBT community often in a serious sense is because many are just uneducated in the different types of sexualities there are and it can be scary and quite intimidating to speak about this topic and even more so if you are not fully aware of the different types of sexualities there are. That is why using the word queer, I feel is a safety net. Especially when concerning the media. Knowing how the media is constantly looked at very carefully. I know many people who use the word queer and call themselves that because they are unsure of their sexuality but know that they are not straight and use queer to identify they are in the LGBT community.


I also found noteworthy that the author mentioned how Marilyn Monroe helped him learn about queerness. I find that was not the intention of the media production that aired Monroe's films. But just goes to show that media as a crucial role in making the viewer realize certain aspects about themselves. For example, they promote an idea on television and the viewer then questions whether it relates to them when more questions are popping up it is a symbol of realization of who you are and how you are being treated etc. And how in the example of Marilyn Monroe she can mean different things all together. So, overall there never really is one idea. Mentioned in the article, “queer understandings of Monroe” adding on to the concept of multiple ideas/categories. In the end, it is noted that it does get more challenging to categorize a film or an actor. Same how using queer helps to categorize an LGBTQ+ community.

So, Alex and I have this thing where memorizing lines can take awhile. We've tried learning on our own, flash cards and basically re-reading the whole scene over and over again or watch others perform it via YouTube and try to read the script along with them but nada. Until recently, at last, we have found a technique, so simple I don't know how we missed it. 

Basically, we cut our scene into a lot of little parts and pieces and repeat it 8-11 times. Yes, it takes that amount of tries but its working. 

Week one was a slow start with me in the play and Mo at the doctor's (although he gets the golden opportunity to do some method acting), but Olivia and I have been talking a lot about our characters and who they are, also what kind of world do they live in (i've also done a fair amount of research on pink eye). So we have created an aesthetic collage of images that are made to evoke an idea of the scene we are doing and the characters in it. Hope you guys enjoy, it took me four hours to figure out how to get a photo on this blog thingy. Warning: gruesome images ahead.

I'm extremely saddened to report that I haven't had the pleasure of working with Mo on our scene this week. Much like his character Doug from Gruesome Playground Injuries, Mo has been in and out of the hospital all week as he deals with mono, ear infections and swollen tonsils. Though I'm sure his trips to the hospital will help to inform his role, I'm sorry that he is dealing with so many ailments. 

Though we haven't had much opportunity for rehearsal, I am extremely optimistic about the quality of our scene based on the time we have had. Mo and I have had a couple of great conversations about the motivations of our characters and their relationship to one another. We agree that Doug and Kayleen are separated by more than time and distance throughout the play. Doug also struggles to connect to Kayleen's level of emotional pain, which is why he resorts to acting out in a way that will cause physical pain. In our particular scene, this is apparent in that Kayleen is dealing with the loss of her father and Doug has needlessly lost his eye after having an accident with fireworks. This discrepancy in their experience is a prohibiting factor in their relationship, and causes our scene to end without a successful reunion between the two of them. I'm excited to see how this interpretation will inform our choices as actors. Get better soon, Mo! We miss you! 

Jason and I have been working really hard on our scene from "This is Our Youth". On Saturday, we used the black box theatre in order to rehearse. While we were rehearsing we both had trouble getting into character and finding specific circumstances to make our scene more believable. So, we watched a Youtube video of the play to get a better idea of how the apartment was set up, the ways the Dennis and Warren interact with each other, and how to act when "high". It was a very productive session as we felt ourselves getting into character a lot better than before. We also now have a better layout of how the apartment looks in the black box. We are overall pretty pleased so far after our rehearsal. 

the following Soviet punk-rock music video is the epitome of 80's angst and anti-consumerism, and it gives some political/global context for This is Our Youth:

Onto the blog...

HOLY SHIT!

That basically sums up the awe and fascination that ensued this past week whenever while doing research on Jessica or Warren or the 1980’s. Everything these characters say or do is connected to some larger meaning. This reminds me of something my high school film as lit teacher told me, that every detail in a film is planned and has a purpose, from the script to the clothing to the color of the character’s car. I did research last week on Jessica’s Jewish heritage and how that relates to her studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that GOODNESS ABOVE there’s a strong history that ties together Judaism and tailoring in the United States. I now understand why Jessica seems “automated” to Warren (Jewish pride in tailoring, a trait absent from the up-and-coming fast fashion of 1980’s US) and why she dislikes her “Jappy” schoolmates (“Jappy” means preppy Jewish women. Preppy is a fashion movement that originated with sportswear fashions in the 20th century and clearly divides fashion into the older tradition of tailoring and the new fad of poorly-made, mass-produced clothing which threatens Jessica’s Jewish tailoring heritage).

I’ve been trying to piece together some absent minutiae by fantasizing about Jessica’s life. Her favorite color is yellow. She likes holidays, but tends to be off to the side and enjoying the festivities from afar. She likes Tang because she has a fascination with the US space program, though she doesn’t get to talk about space or science much since she’s too busy trying to make friends and science is likely not on the minds of young 80’s adults at F.I.T. Jessica hates Devo and Blondie, but is a fan of Queen and will always deeply love Elvis' dimples. Liam also did some excavating, research on young adulthood in the 1980’s and some theoretical research into Warren’s life (favorite food: pot brownies and pizza).

After seeing Much Ado About Nothing on Thursday, I started to get a lot of ideas for creative methods to tap into the characters’ minds, such as rehearsing in a whisper while maintaining the drama and stakes. Or trying to do everyday tasks like Jessica would (so far I’ve tried walking like Jessica, singing like Jessica (she sucks at it), and sitting on a bus like Jessica).

When Liam and I rehearsed last Thursday, we tried doing the scene as dramatically as possible, which was not only fun, but also really increased the stakes and made the characters much more compelling. We also switched characters once, and we both got a really great sense of our characters' relationship and the ways in which we both could change our interpretations of our characters. Liam and I didn’t have much time since Thursday to rehearse together since I was out of town, but I think I’ve done a good job at thinking about the text critically and trying to challenge myself to take risks with my interpretation and portrayal.

This past week was a pretty good kickoff to the Akimseu/Franco production of Proof by David Auburn. We made a lot of progress during Thursday's class period and received some great feedback as well. Unfortunately, we were unable to meet over the weekend because I (Kaili) was camping and hunting for mushrooms, hit me up if you wanna see pics :D. But then yaaaaay I returned and Emma and I linked up on Monday afternoon to rehearse more. We went through the first two minutes of our scene in the Akin lounge (honestly not the greatest idea because there was a lot of traffic in and out of the lounge, so it was pretty distracting) but we powered through! We wanted to set the scene as best as we could, so thankfully there were some bed frames casually in the lounge, almost as if Akin knew that we would need them. We created our own makeshift "porch" and ran through our scenes about ten times before we could find a run through that would satisfy us. We used a lot more movement, rather than just sitting in the chairs and was able to create a more intense scene. The ending of our scene is my personal favorite because it is the start of where sh** goes down, but you all will not be able to see that until next week . Check out some pics of what we did, taken by my lovely friend Angelica

This is my favorite:

We just figured out what we want our set to look like and what props we could possibly need. These are just initial ideas and are still in the process.

Post your weekly rehearsal blog below. Include videos, pictures, research, and updates from inside your rehearsal process. Be creative! 

     In our text titled Culture Theory and Popular Culture by John Storey, and more specifically the portion in the book regarding structuralism and post-structuralism, Ferdinand de Saussure is accepted as the father of the "signifier" and "signified" concepts. The ad that was chosen for us to analyze contains many opportunities to determine the signifier and signified, and formulate signs from what we believe those to be. The first frame of the advertisement that I have chosen to analyze is the man on the screen, the second is quickly after the screen is shattered, showing a seemingly surprised group of people with a bright light shining across their faces.

     The signifier for the first shot I have described is a man displayed on a screen. the signifier part of Saussure's process, in terms of this assignment, disregards anything the man is saying. Simply put, as the signifier stands alone there is almost no meaning. I have found the signified, in this case, to be much more telling of the message Apple attempts to convey. I believe the signified to be a man that has transcended into the only voice of reason, providing blind subscription to a people. Together, the signifier (the man in the screen) and the signified (voice of reason) bring to my mind sign-systems of conformity exerted by an oppressive force. A reason why apple chose this Orwellian style was to portray their competitors as oppressors providing what they believe to be the only right choice.

     My second shot of choice is after the woman destroys the screen. The signifier is the reaction of a seated audience, all of their mouths agape and a white light shining of them. Again, there is little context to be pulled out of a signifier alone. However, I feel that the signified in this shot is a group of people astonished by something that has always been on finally being turned off. Although the light seems blinding, the audience still stares, as if not knowing what to do. I cannot help but think of the audience members as "the bewildered herd," a term coined by Noam Chomsky in his book titled Media Control. The signifier and signified together create the sign system of freedom, revelation,and mental liberation.

     Apple quickly, and almost ironically, implies that there is finally something new to consume that separates us from the mentally oppressed. By ironic I mean to say that Apple is projecting a "breaking of chains" in their advertisement but at the same suggesting people to follow a new technology. This is besides the point though, as the advertisement is powerful and contains a dismissal of an existing product with a new choice.

     People watching and connecting the sign systems within the ad will denote the man and the audience as that exactly: a man on a screen being watched by an audience. However, in contextualizing the ad with common opinion at the time, the audience will see the man as "Big Brother" and the audience as "the bewildered herd." These sign-systems relate quite naturally: the signs in the first shot being conformity and oppression and the second being freedom and mental liberation. This is a perfect conclusion for consumers to arrive at if you are Apple's marketing team, as Apple's competitors are now seen as evil while Macintosh is seen as good.