Scripted: Day Nine

Today we focused on our characters relationships with the other characters in the performance. We done this by brainstorming one character and branching off what they know and feel towards other characters.

We got three characters done today as seen below, we spent about half an hour on each character going into real depth about why they are the way they are and dissecting the script to understand these people.

Scripted: Day Eight


As discussed, we continued working on our ending scene. Individually, I think we were all really focused on our own reactions, which made things a lot easier in terms of setting the scene. The scene was a lot harder than we initially thought as the body language of the characters in the scene was so hard to get right. Although William holds the gun in the scene, he is in control of the situation but is completely out of control in the fact that he is holding a gun towards his classmates. I think, we all had some contribution in the main parts of the scene, such as when William finally shoots Bennett. As the script lacks stage directions, we had to read into subtext very carefully. All we had was "William shoots Bennett twice" and although we tried out a few ideas of how to kill his character off such as where to position him, either having him die down the side of a wall or right in the very center of the stage. We are yet to decide on the use of blood capsules but thought it would look rather effective of we did. Another question asked was where would Bennett be shot? In the head, in the stomach, knee, shin. We didn't know where to shoot him, but we decided a stomach shot would add a slow pace to it, before finishing him with a head shot to confirm his death and add to the shock factor of the audience. The next stage was how to kill Cissy, which we decided would just be a simple and quick shot to the head, with the idea that the blood from her head would spray over Tristan behind her. However, throughout the whole scene I was more focused on my own sequence of movements. I decided to slowly edge towards the stairs and creep up them before running back down when I see Bennett shot, which is when I begin to cry. I slowly make way after William confronts me briefly before disappearing off stage. Although William has the majority of the lines, I think it is vital to how we respond to these lines and give an accurate re telling of the story, I think from now, we need to work on getting this scene to a T, so we all know what we are doing properly and can move onto polishing other scenes.

Scripted: Day Seven



We worked on the last scene today, the scene that involves William coming into school and pulling out a gun on his fellow students.



I think the hardest thing about the scene was getting our reactions spot on. As Chadwick, I tried to imagine how someone of his, normally reserved and composed character, would respond to seeing a classmate point a gun at his peers and himself. I thought that he would freeze on the spot, but be wary of any potential escape route in the area.



Throughout the scene, I get the impression that Chadwick isn't really on Williams mind. He is much more focused on Bennett, his main prize. So although Chadwick would be wary and out of the action somewhat, he would be a little more relaxed and perhaps enjoying seeing those who had bullied him being put in such a horrific situation.  However, his body would always be facing William, never looking him in the eye but focused on his movement and slowly edging away. I think we need to work on actually finishing the scene and getting a fixed set of movement in place as no one really knew what to do and we spent a lot of time trying to stage the scene correctly and making sure our movements were appropriate and built up such a strong tension, as this is the climax of the performance and needs to be powerful. I think in the coming lessons, we need to work on this scene to make sure everyone has the appropriate reactions, movements and tone in their dialogue.

Scripted: Day Six



We took a closer look into what we wanted our set to be like today, seeing as it was the first time in the hall for us we could finally picture it. We think that by performing on the floor we can use the stage as a second floor of the library, making the set a little more quirky as we can move form first floor to second floor. The only problem would be that we would have to make sire we don't use the stage too much and end up performing further away from the audience, plus it would defeat the point of performing on the floor in the first place. It would also give us another exit to use. We also thought about getting a real bookcase to add to the feel of the library instead of fake book wallpaper.


We performed the wasp scene again, setting where we would stand and focusing on how dramatic we wanted the scene to be, this took a few attempts, however, I think that we now have the right balance in the scene, from the exaggerative nature of the students in the beginning when the wasp is present, to how the mood drops so suddenly when Chadwick announces Lloyd had a heart attack before descending into his dystopian speech. I think the main point in this scene is to look into the subtext of the scene, what is our character actually thinking? how will I deliver my lines in the most effective way. I thought about this throughout the scene and was actually annoyed when the others (although acting) seemed to ignore me, so I believe thinking about my characters mind-set will be beneficial, especially in his large chunk of speech, where I need to focus on coming across as dark and weird as possible.


Below is a plan of what we want the set to look like as drawn by another group member, however, I think this is all what we imagined the set to look like, after all, it was how we set it out in our run through.

Scripted: Day five


Instead of starting from the beginning of the play, we performed scene 4 (the wasp scene) to our teacher. Throughout the scene, we continually tweaked parts, such as our tone and how we staged the scene. One example being the confrontational scene where William squares up to Bennett for picking on Chadwick. We made the mistake of staging this part behind the table on stage, where it really needed to be in front of the table to add to the drama and tension of the scene.

In addition, performing this scene allowed myself to get a greater focus on my character. In this scene he goes on a bit of a rant to the rest of his class, although it is probably aimed more towards Bennett that the others. It reads...



" Human beings are pathetic. Everything human beings do finishes up bad in the end. Everything good human beings ever make is built on something monstrous. Nothing lasts, we certainly won't. We could have made something really extraordinary, and we won't. We've been around one hundred thousand years. We'll have died out before the next two hundred. You know what we've got to look forward to? You know what will define the next two hundred years. Religions will become brutalised, crime rates will become hysterical, everybody will become addicted to internet sex, suicide will become fashionable, there'll be famine, there'll be floods, there'll e fires in the major cities of the western world. Our education systems will become battered, our health services unsustainable, our police force unmanageable, our governments corrupt. There'll be open brutality in the streets; there'll be nuclear war. So if you think I'm worried by you calling me names, Bennett, you little, little boy, you are fucking kidding yourself."



Here, we finally see an extremely dark side to Chadwick. One that is perhaps surprising to take. From our of no where he becomes this unhinged, lunatic predicting the demise of the human race and what the next two hundred years holds. He talks about complete chaos and destruction, perhaps looking at the bigger picture. I believe that he is disgusted at how petty Bennett is and cannot help but finally explode. However, his reaction is not violent. I think the message he is trying to get across to Bennett is that he is a tiny irrelevant speck on the face of the earth, and that Chadwick has a million more worries, much larger than the pathetic Bennett to think about. The darkness within him really shines through, perhaps revealing that Chadwick is always thinking ahead, or his very pessimistic in personality, he isn't particularly interesting to be around.

Scripted: Research

Stereotypical class nerd: As Chadwick, I think it is appropriate to take a deeper look into the stereotypical school nerd. Of course, Chadwick isn't the stereotypical nerd but I feel that by delving into that typical geek personality, I can create an original version of Chadwick Meade, my own version.

When I hear the word "nerd" or "geek" I automatically think of characters such as Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory or Milhouse from The Simpsons. Below is the definition for the term "nerd".

Nerd (adjective: nerdy) is a descriptive term, often used pejoratively, indicating that a person is overly intellectual, obsessive, or lacking social skills. They may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, obscure, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly technical or relating to topics of fiction or fantasy, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Additionally, many nerds are described as being shy, quirky, and unattractive, and may have difficulty participating in, or even following, sports. Though originally derogatory, "Nerd" is a stereotypical term, but as with other pejoratives, it has been reclaimed and redefined by some as a term of pride and group identity.

Although I agree with some parts of the definition that relate to Chadwicks character, such as his intellectuality and unpopularity, I haven't had any indication that he is particularly awkward in social situations, more that he seems very old fashioned and proper. I can imagine Chadwick spending inordinate time on obscure subjects such as maths or astronomy. However, I do not believe Chadwick is shy, although it appears that he is bullied by Bennett, I get a deeper impression that Chadwick doesn't really care, for he is mentally strong and resilient, in some ways, he sees the bigger picture. He confronts Bennett saying that he couldn't care less about the incessant name calling, and perhaps he is a little bit more insane than all the others. After all, he gives this disturbing speech on how humans will create their own downfall even though everything is provided to them, perhaps relating to how the sixth form group gradually destroys itself through the strained relationships, mainly caused by Bennett.

Although Chadwick possesses a lot of nerd like traits, I still cannot imagine him being one, an intelligent only child perhaps, but if I was to think of his appearance I certainly wouldn't imagine the guy on the left, more like the guy on the right. Smart and sophisticated, yet without the stylish sunglasses as I doubt Chadwick would be that confident.

I simply imagine him to look like the average teenager. Of course in the Private school he goes to everyone will be wearing the same uniform so he wont stand out so much. I don't think he would look any different to anyone else though. I'd imagine he would take pride in his appearance, perhaps brushing his hair rather than styling it. I think he would look very smart and certainly not scruffy. Overall, I get the impression that Chadwick is comfortable being who he is and sees his time at the school as temporary to university, which he cannot wait to go to, I think that's where he believes his real life will begin.

I can see him no different to the students below, nor unattractive as one site suggested, which was odd as there is hardly any indication to suggest that, I believe the others just see him as an easy target because he complies and doesn't fight back, perhaps out of a little fear, but perhaps he cant simply be bothered.

Scripted: Day Four


We actually managed to get quite a lot done in today's lesson. We started from the beginning again and managed to run until the end scene, although we didn't actually finish the last scene. I think that we are beginning to get a feel for the play now and are settling into it nicely. The more we rehearse the scenes, the stronger they become, especially in terms of creating our own stage directions and the actions we carry out when not saying our lines. This is the most challenging aspect, trying to create the school environment effectively whilst making it entertaining, if it was too naturalistic it would be a bore to watch. I think the  scene we spent the most time on today was scene four. In this scene a wasp enters the classroom and everyone freaks out. Most importantly, Bennett kills the wasp angering William and potentially acting as the catalyst for the shooting in the next scene. I think from the beginning we recognised that this scene had the potential to be very funny, hence worked on the overreaction of everyone, trying to create the panic and disarray and exaggerate te while scene as much as possible. Which adds to the comical effect as it is only a wasp. This took some work and different ideas but overall I think the speed at which the lines are said is paramount to the chaos created in the scene, perhaps te more we practice the more we will go off script and add a little dash of flair and originality to the piece.

Scripted: Day Three


We focused on the meaning of a constitution. Learning that we needed to have rules as a cast and without any directrors or people in charge, needed to make agreements to make sure we can make the time available as productive as possible. Below, is our list of agreements.







Afterwards, we ran scene 1 properly for the first time. We would regularly chip into the scene with ideas for how we could stage it and invent our own stage directions. The script is very dialogue based, so trying I keep the audiences attention will take more than just words, we need to try and create a proper sixth form library environment, allowing all the different varieties of characters to come through. In a way, every character will be showing their own story whilst other dialogue is going on. So this will take careful consideration and practice before the performance. I think the main thing is to make the scenes believable, naturalistic almost, as if the school we are in is, although private, full of normal students.