So the performance Username has been and gone and what a rewarding experience it was. It was a day full of excitement, nerves and anticipation. I feel so privileged to have worked with an incredible group of individuals. The performance itself generated a lot of interest due to the marketing and the teaser trailer that was released. The overwhelming feedback we received, including comments that “there were sequences that were courageous and utterly inspired [and how] the subject was in fact really rather important, and even shocking” (Jordan, 2015), made all our hard work and worries worthwhile.
Haynes, H. (2015) Set Image.Seeing the creation on the night was a truly exciting and proud moment. By working in strict unity with other members of the production all visual elements merged together and successfully reflected the style and emotions of the performance. The design elements of Username have come a long way since initial thoughts, which included, a wall of TV Monitors, a split stage to show online and offline and two actors wearing identical clothing to represent an online and offline identity.
As choreographer, I couldn’t be happier with how the choreographic segments went. By working in close partnership with our director I devised segments throughout the piece which amalgamated harmoniously and connected to the narrative and theme of Username.
Hartley, S. (2015) Contorting the Body. JumpCut Theatre has achieved the goal of presenting the societal ideals beauty and demonstrated how this procedure can become grotesque to obtain. The question we want to ask is how far would you go to achieve perfection?
Haynes, H. (2015) Marketing Leaflet.Works Cited:
Hartley, S. (2015) Username. [ContortingtheBody] Lincoln.
Haynes, H. (2015) Username. [MarketingLeaflet] Lincoln.
Haynes, H. (2015) Username. [SetImage] Lincoln.
Jordan, A. (2015) Drama Subject Site (DRA-SUBJECT): Username. [email] University of Lincoln, 22 May.
The reliance of technology, social media and the growing online fascination with identity within JumpCut theatre is one that has filtered into the staging of the piece. In order to create and show the increasingly narcissistic society, we are using a variety of different technologies. The set is made up of two large projector screens, one hand-held camera, two TV monitors, two large clothing rails and one mannequin. This decision consequently allows us to play around with the idea of how humans are becoming more obsessed with appearances in a technological driven society. As the designer of JumpCut Theatre I have taken note from several theatre companies and visual artists.
Chase, R. (2015) The Final Set.
Gob Squad
German-English Gob Squad arts collective have influenced my approach to set design. This organisation experiments with new technologies and new pathways of communicating. The company believes that film and TV are the main cultural language of our time. Shaun Pattern Gob Squad member claims, “only a tiny minority of people go to the theatre, so it makes more sense to speak the language of film and TV: (Gob Squad, 2015).
This is something we wish to explore throughout the set design and content of our piece. “Experts are now finding through clinical studies, [how this narcissistic society] is being further exacerbated by the introduction of hand-held technology and the ability to upload an image to a ready-made crowd of voyeurs in a matter of seconds” (21st Century Wire, 2014). We will highlight this issue through the use of IPhones, hand-held cameras and prerecorded voice audios.
Jorgen Leth – The Perfect Human
The Perfect Human is a short film lasting 13 minutes. It depicts a man and a woman; both labeled ‘the perfect human’. It contains many characteristic zooms to indicate the bodily parts of the perfect human being. Similarly to this artist, Stacey our stage manager will be giving demands and narrating Username through a series of live and prerecorded voice recordings to show the control that technology has over us. In the scene ‘sculpting the face’ Stacey with be highlighting and stating how the makeup should look in order to achieve the ‘ideal face’. To aid this visual image on stage the performers will use the hand-held camera to show close-ups of their faces and of them constantly trying to achieve this unattainable beauty. The zooms of the face will be projected onto the TV monitors at either sides of the stage making it more accessible for the whole audience.
Chase, R. (2015) Scenic Designer Work.As the costume designer for our piece, I have become increasingly fascinated by the research I have conducted regarding the concept of dressing for your body type. “The concept of dressing for your body type feeds into the idea that looking slim […] according to today’s societal ideals is much more important than wearing clothes you personally like” (Anuschka, 2015). It appears that in our generation a growing number of people are making fashion choices in order to fit into a category.
“I don’t like high-waisted jeans but I have to wear them because I’m a pear shape” (Anuschka, 2015).
This whole fascination seems so absurd to me and is something that I have strongly considered when selecting the costumes for Username. I want to highlight how we are becoming brainwashed by believing what these articles and how-to-guides on various body shapes are telling us and how they are making us overestimate the effect that clothes can have on us. At the start of this process, I envisioned the stage to look organized and have a sense of structure. Similarly to Forced Entertainments piece 12am Awake and Looking down we wanted to have numerous amounts of clothing on the rails position either side of the stage and all make-up in a row DS.
Forced Entertainment, (2015)
As the show progresses we want to give the audience a sense of growing exhaustion and destruction from continually trying to achieve this societal ideal body image. Through the use of costume and make-up, we want to present idealised beauty and show how this can potentially become a grotesque/maniacal procedure to obtain. The stage will start organised and gradually become messier throughout the piece.
Chase, R. (2015) Performance Night.Works Cited:
Anuschka. (2015) Why I Don’t Believe in Dressing for my Body Type. [online] Available from: http://into-mind.com/2015/03/25/why-i-dont-believe-in-dressing-for-my-body-type/ [Accessed 28 April 2015].
Chase, R. (2015) Username. [Performance Night] Lincoln 19 May 2015.
Chase, R. (2015) Username. [ScenicDesignWork] Lincoln 2015.
Chase, R. (2015) Username. [TheFinalSet] Lincoln 19 May 2015.
Forced Entertainment (2015) ’12AM Awake & Looking Down’: Some Production Images. [online] Available from http://www.forcedentertainment.com/notebook-tag/12am-awake-and-looking-down/ [Accessed 20 April 2015].
Leth, J. (2010) Jorgen Leth – The Perfect Human, 1967. [online video] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9kls6bMkRo [Accessed 13 May 2015].
21st Century Wire (2014) The ‘Selfie’ Obsession: A Chronic, Narcissistic Mental Disorder. [online] Available from: http://21stcenturywire.com/2014/12/13/selfie-obsession-a-chronic-narcissistic-mental-disorder/ [Accessed 25 April 2015].
“As technology takes over our lives, body image becomes an obsession […] All day we think about what others see” (Chase et al, 2015).
Chase, R. (2015) Designer Work.From a young age we are exposed to society’s depiction of desirable and presented with unattainable standards of beauty. We are bombarded with photo-shopped women on a daily basis and feel the pressures of achieving the standard of beauty being presented to us. As these standards become more prevalent and persuasive, so does the amount of women and girls with low self-worth. Many believe that feeding women with relentless images of inaccessible beauty is potentially worrying. What we don’t realise is how much these images are being digitally altered. No wonder women are incapable of reaching and achieving these ideals of beauty. “They’re not simply unrealistic, they are physically impossible, and yet those images are internalized as average and beautiful. […] “It’s a profit-driven idea of normal and beautiful that women will spend their lives trying to achieve” even though [they] are aware of how unrealistic these expectations are” (HiddenGrace, 2015).
In an age of high engagement, how has social media affected our self-image?
With the rise of social media and the ‘selfie, it would appear that we are breeding a generation of narcissistic young people who are obsessed with appearances. Our piece seeks to explore identity, technology and this obsession with idealised beauty. Something that we have discussed at great length is the concept of self-censoring your online identity and only allowing the more desirable and appealing aspects to leak out and make it onto social media platforms.
The opinion of others has been a part of identity development for more than a century. “Now that we can interact with […] thousands of people, we’ve strengthened the impact that others have on our self-value” (Erickson, 2013). Self-image is crucial to us; we rely on others perceptions and appraisals to develop our social self. The thought of us uploading a photo that is anything less than perfect is unimaginable. Therefore every ‘selfie’ is taken with precision. The ‘selfie’ allows us to retake the image until it meets our expectations and then improve upon it by digitally altering to create a more ‘likeable self’ and show a version that we think might be more appealing to people.
Chase, R. (2015) Selfie Post.This is something we wish to explore in our piece Username. We want to highlight the increasingly narcissistic society in which we care more about what others think. We also want to highlight the obsessive and meticulous process of taking selfies in order to try and find the perfect image.
Works Cited:
Chase, R. (2015) Username. [DesignerWork] Lincoln 20 April.
Chase, R., Gudge, C., Hartley, S. and Haynes, H. (2015) Username. Lincoln.
Erickson, C. (2013) The Social Psychology of the Selfie. [online] Available from: http://mashable.com/2013/02/15/social-media-and-the-selfie/ [Accessed 15 April 2015].
JumpCut Theatre has taken note from several theatre companies, individuals and visual artists who share the same topicality of our performance, the use of social media, identity and the obsession with idealised beauty.
Louise Orwin
One artist that was particularly influential to us as a company is Louise Orwin’s piece Pretty Ugly. The piece “explores a current generation’s fascination with YouTube [and] social media” (Orwin, 2015) and interrogates the recent trend that teenage girls have of asking the public to rate their appearance. I particularly like the fact that this piece “seeks to bring awareness to the way we are beginning to use online platforms; becoming relentless self-editors […] of our online and offline identities” (Orwin, 2015). We also hope to raise awareness regarding the effects that social media has on us. We want to highlight the way we are using social media and how it is contributing to the obsession with unattainable beauty.
In an interview Orwin states, “I think social media today [has] open[ed] up a new world where girls can really grow in their obsession […] you can find posts for example where they help each other with tips on how to best insert your fingers in the throat to puke” (Orwin, 2013).
We want to explore and highlight current fascinations and obsessive trends with beauty and body image.
Such as:
YouTube tutorials on contouring the face.
The ‘selfie’ trend.
Contorting the body to appear thinner in images.
The obsession with body shape.
YouTube. (2015) Contouring the Face.
In Pretty Ugly,Orwin uses a handheld live-streaming camera, which projects close-ups of her face and objects onto a screen at the back of the stage. This idea of live streaming is something that we wish to pursue and develop further within the set of our piece.
Orwin, L. (2015) Pretty Ugly.
Wies Fest
Another piece that highly influenced our vision of the show is A Whole Lot of Nothing by performance artist Wies Fest. The artist stands on a bare stage in ordinary fluorescent light and presents a bare face. The performance synopsis explains,
“A girl applies her make-up to look pretty, every day, and then she goes and tries to get as much attention as she can. She’s struggling, with real feelings and with her first world problems. And sometimes she forgets the difference between the two. The answer is this: nothing” (Flare Festival, 2015).
This piece highly influenced the direction of the scene ‘sculpting the face’ in which we explore the mania surrounding contouring YouTube tutorials – the art of highlighting and lowlighting sectors of the face to achieve perfection.
Works Cited:
Flare Festival, (2014), A Whole Lot of Nothing- Wies Fest. [online] Available from: http://www.flarefestival.com/project/a-whole-lot-of-nothing-wies-fest/ [Accessed 10 March 2015].
Louise Orwin (2014) Pretty Ugly Trailer. [online video] Available from https://vimeo.com/80746286 [Accessed 3 March 2015].
Orwin, L. (2015) [online] Available from: http://louiseorwin.com/site/project/id/15 [Accessed 3 March 2015].
Chase, R. (2015) Scenic Design Work.“The theatre designer is a comparatively unsung hero in British cultural life” (Llewellyn-Jones, 2001).
The role of the designer within the theatre business is one that commands enormous authority and prestige. This authority stems from the fact that the designer “must share in a production’s creative process with the director” (Llewellyn-Jones, 2001). As the set, costume and props designer for JumpCut, I will visualise and orchestrate the look of the stage and actors; I will work alongside the Director, Chloe-Ann Gudge to understand and realise her initial vision for the performance. I must make certain that I have a clear idea of how she envisions the performance on the stage. So we can begin working collaboratively.
Together in close partnership we will create and articulate a single vision for the performance. By being present at each rehearsal, I will ensure that all stylistic choices made in initial discussions will still work as our performance develops. By working in strict unity with other members of the production, I will ensure that all visual elements merge together to form a well-conceived unity that reflects the style and emotions of the performance. I will make sure that the set design fits the theatrical space to its best advantage and complements the costume/lighting and sound design.
Usually the process of creating a set design begins with the designer’s close study of the script. However, we believe that “devised theatre can start from anything” (Oddy, 2013, 1). JumpCut Theatre are creating a piece revolving around the topic of identity, the use of social media and society’s obsession with idealised beauty. Therefore, I will be creating a set with just the concept in mind.
After amalgamating the information gathered from the various production meetings with the Director, I will begin a series of scale drawings, sketches and model making. These visual representations will hopefully help the director and other members of the production team formulate a more refined production concept.
Chase, R. (2015) Model Stage.I am currently in the process of creating a scaled down model of the stage; this will be especially useful for all production members, giving them and myself a clearer visualisation of the layout and how objects will look in three dimensions. By building a model, I will be able to discuss design practicalities and make small/final adjustments before the objects are built, borrowed or purchased.
To aid my process and provide inspiration, I set up a Pinterest account and produced several mood boards to communicate my thoughts and define the visual style of our performance.
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Works Cited:
Chase, R. (2015) Username. [Model Stage] Lincoln 2015.
Chase, R. (2015) Username. [ScenicDesignWork] Lincoln 5 March 2015.
![Haynes, H. (2015) Username. [SetImage] Lincoln.](https://jumpcuttheatre.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2015/05/11258986_10206184409826148_886366206_n.jpg)
![Hartley, S. (2015) Username. [ChoreographyImage] Lincoln.](https://jumpcuttheatre.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2015/05/choreography-jumpcut-.jpg)
![Haynes, H. (2015) Username. [MarketingLeaflet] Lincoln.](https://jumpcuttheatre.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2015/05/Untitled.png)
![Chase, R. (2015) Username. [ScenicDesignWork] Lincoln 19 May 2015.](https://jumpcuttheatre.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2015/05/IMG_7890.jpg)
![Chase, R. (2015) Username. [ScenicDesignerWork] Lincoln 25 April.](https://jumpcuttheatre.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2015/05/IMG_7157.jpg)
![Chase, R. (2015) Username. [Performance Night] Lincoln 19 May 2015.](https://jumpcuttheatre.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2015/05/IMG_8151.png)
![Chase, R. (2015) Username. [DesignerWork] Lincoln 20 April.](https://jumpcuttheatre.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2015/04/IMG_8148-2.png)
![Chase, R. (2015) Selfie Post. 24 April. Available from: https://instagram.com/p/13HCWjKCtI/?taken-by=rosiechase_ [Accessed 24 April 2015].](https://jumpcuttheatre.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2015/04/Screen-Shot-2015-05-24-at-22.37.52.png)
![Chase, R. (2015) Username. [ScenicDesignWork] Lincoln 25 February 2015.](https://jumpcuttheatre.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2015/03/IMG_5263.jpg)
