Oral Presentation

Oral presentation from Elise Whyte

This is my Module 3 Final presentation for BA Professional Practice on Performing Arts. It's shows the development of my inquiry I carried out as part of my learning and practice

Good Luck

Good Luck to all Module 3 finalists who have their presentations today and tomorrow!

Cannot believe it's all going to be over. Well done all for sticking at it!

To our future....

Tea with MamGu

Tea with MamGu is a piece of new writing written by David Evans. In February 2012 it was entered into Theatre Breaks Festival in South East London.  It is a 20 minute short comedy about three welsh grannies that attend their weekly OAP meeting but end up in the wrong venue. At the festival, the show entertained and left the audience wanting more.

Rehearsals

It all started with a group of friends discussing how funny their grannies were and the strange things they do, like washing their underwear when they have guests. This then devised the script and gave the writer a very truthful yet comedic short play. The director, and three actors met up and starting playing with the script and developing characters. The three grannies were to be played by three young actors, two girls and a guy dressed up as grannies.  Every rehearsal began with a read through of the script and then devising of small sketches to enhance the piece. It soon became very farcical and even the actors couldn’t control their laughter because of the comparison to real life.

However, it soon became apparent that this style of comedy was not everyone’s cup of tea. The actors had to make sure that it was taken light-heartedly and no one was insulted by the gags. It is briefly based on whether life imitates art or art imitates life.

 It took a few rehearsals to develop a strong final script but the biggest worry for the writer was ‘would the audience find it funny?’ Everyone knows at least one Granny who is slightly ‘off the wall’ and tells you ‘if the wind changes, your face will stay that way’ but does everyone relate to it and find it funny. Theatre breaks was the perfect opportunity to get the script out to an audience to see what they thought.

It was all about seizing an opportunity. Everything was at risk for the company as their reputation was at stake. However, as a new company would they lose anything from it? Even for a new business your reputation is important as that is what you are remembered for. Reputation is everything within the performing industry and it was vital for White Desert to embrace and use any feedback to improve on what was created. After many discussions and limited rehearsals, it was seen as a chance to have a gamble. As it is said ‘Fate is in our own hands’.

Feedback

Male Aged 81 ‘Oh that was absolutely brilliant, it made me think of my wife, although, I

 Do not think she realised that it was based on her’

Female Age 56 ‘The funniest thing I have seen in a while! The Mamgu’s aren’t just welsh they are hyper-welsh!’

Theatre Breaks 'Great little comedy that had the audiences laughing out loud every night of the festival.'

Female Age 42 ‘Reminded me of my mum, everyone when they get old says silly and stupid things and they have managed to get this just right!’

Male age 20 ‘I’ve seen this show a few times now and it is still funny, it just gets better and better’

From this one opportunity, the short play was performed at the Bloomsbury Festival at the London Welsh Centre in November 2012. Again, the farcical comedy left the audience weeping with laughter.

Due to the success of the show in 2012, the writer David Evans, began to make a full length show, inviting new characters to be involved. In one year this show has developed into a show that is now being performed in venues all over the UK. It started off being a little snapshot of work for the actors and an opportunity for the writer and has changed into a professional show that will provide light entertainment to many in 2013.

Marketing

Getting the show out there was hard. Social Media was the best way to get people talking about it, and it was free. Without networking sites the show would have been a failure as it would have limited the market the show reached. We used Facebook and Twitter to market the show and now we are using YouTube and flyers (as seen above) to reach as many people as possible. 
The best marketing scheme we have found is to contact venues directly via email, including the flyer and trailer link. This gives you direct contact and the chance to discuss in depth what the show is about.

From the company’s point it view, it was a small expense at the beginning for props and costumes and the time given but ended up being beneficial because venues are now paying for the show to be performed. The company will now make a profit from what started off as a discussion amongst friends.

The trailer for the show can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LgxgjwCmyc&list=UUadGmvxPkx5djbstD0w3v6w&index=10

Professional Artefact

Professional Artefact

White Desert Production Advert 2013

The use of social media as a platform for marketing has become widely accepted and gives you the opportunity to expand with very little cost. However, it is never that simple. To produce an online presence you need to use all tools available to make it interesting to viewers.

The most important part of marketing in 2013 is having a base for all your information online, also known as a website. Using this base forms a platform from which you can work off and direct people to. You can link interesting posts or feeds from sites such as Facebook and Twitter. This then creates an active website which will intrigue interested parties.

Your website must include everything but to portray this, it is actually all about simplicity. If you become too detailed about what your company is up to, then the consumers will not understand and feel that you are trying to hide something. You must be bold and precise from words to colours. It helps to not be overly wordy and make it simple to use by creating links from page to page. This transpires to every item you put online and making an impact on your audience.

Using this to my advantage, I have created an advert for White Desert Production to advertise what we do as a company and what we are expected to produce this year. It portrays that we are a fun company who are willing to put in the effort to produce shows and that we aspire to be up-to-date with technology. This is to promote White Desert as a company and to let the audiences know where to find us to book tickets, find out more information and gain knowledge about our company. This advert can also be used to advertise our company to theatres and performers who are interesting in working with White Desert Production.

From taking clips from present shows, I have been able to construct a selection of clips to promote what White Desert is capable of producing as a company and what we are expecting to do this year. It is in keeping with the social media theme by incorporating where White Desert can be found online and where you can find out more information. As this advert is to be placed online, it is more beneficial to link through the website as it is an easier way to interest people as it is one click away. This advert is intended to intrigue the audience and entice them to venture to look at our website and ultimately see one of our shows in the future.

This advert is precise, bold and engaging to hold the audiences attention and is short to keep them wanting more. A new advert will be created twice a year to keep up-to-date with new performances and to show our positive attitude towards working with a variety of performers, venues and places. It is aimed to show the variety of shows we perform and from this get support from the people who matter most in the performing industry – the audience.

‘an actor needs an audience. Getting that audience, and getting the chance to perform in front of increasingly large audiences....... Is what selling yourself is all about.’ (How to be a working actor, 1994, pg. 3)

To market, you need an audience to relay it to. On the internet you target market is increased due to the mass of people online, but you need to intrigue the audience by offering them something entertaining to watch. By suggesting users share, like, tweet the advert means that every time your link is re-posted, you become more widespread amongst the online crowd. I have posted this advert on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube to create a buzz about White Desert and to generate interest about our up and coming shows.

The reason it is precise and to the point, is that with marketing, you need to create and impact instantly, (hence why social media works). It is extremely visual and changes quickly to create hype and interest within a short space of time. The limit on words enables you to intrigue the audience but not to overload them with information and give them the choice to view your website. I chose words that got my point across of wanting them to know what shows we are producing this summer and where to go to find out more information about White Desert.

The advert can be found on YouTube by following this link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKQczFEBMwg

www.wdproduction.com 

Time Management.

I have finally sent my work off to Middlesex University. It has been a roller coaster ride, but I now feel that I have put my inquiry into practice. Time Management has been one of the things I have struggled with throughout my inquiry but from finishing this Module in plenty of time, it is something I have learnt and developed from. It's a weird feeling to think I have learnt something that is actually useful to my future. I know this was the point, but it feels quite strange.

Advertising tip!

Another thing is how you advertise your self. Here is an extract of what we used in our about page on our website.

We at White Desert Productions are passionate about Theatre and the Arts. We believe that the arts save lives and enhance the quality of the life that we all live. We believe that every single person has a story to tell and a way to tell it that rivals everything else we know and that it should be told, and retold and told again as we learn and celebrate what and who we are. We believe that the arts are vital to our lives, our health and our future as well as our past and our present. It is this belief that has carried us through 2012 and will carry us into 2013 and beyond as we celebrate our partnership with The London Welsh Centre as their official Resident Theatre Company.

Although this is very interesting it doesn’t portray what we do as a company. I read an article on IdeasTap that suggest not to be ‘Overly Wordy’, so I looked into it.

You’re overly wordy

I get it. Your art is important and very worthy and you probably saved a kitten this morning on your way to your eco-friendly performance space. But you don’t need eight adjectives in your first sentence describing what you do. Keep it simple. If you can’t sum up what you do in one (short) sentence, then it sounds like you don’t really know what you do. If I read your About page four times and still don’t know, it’s not clear enough and I’ll call someone else for a quote. (Five common About Page Mistakes, IdeasTap, 2013)

So we decided as a company to change it to something more mature and less off topic.

White Desert Productions, a new and exciting Film, Theatre and Events company taking you to ‘The Oasis Of Your Imagination’.

Short, simple and sweet!

This intrigues the customer and tells them exactly what we are about. There are no secrets between company and customer and they feel that there is an element of trust. This is a very interesting tip to remember as there is no point in being overly descriptive because people see right through it. 

‘Besides, employers have apparently said they find not having a digital footprint “suspicious”, leading them to wonder what it is you’re hiding. Future employers want us to have a past, it seems, just a consistent and unblemished one.’ (IdeasTap, Daisy on Social Media, 2012) 

You have to find a balance. It is vital to have an online presence, however, how you portray yourself online, is how others see you. What do you want people to perceive you as? 

Bibliography

Daisy on Social Media. 2012. IdeasTap [ONLINE] Avilable at: http://www.ideastap.com/ideasmag/all-articles/daisy-on-social-media [Accessed 03 March 2013] 

Five Common About Page Mistakes. 2013. IdeasTap [ONLINE] Avalable at: http://www.ideastap.com/ideasmag/the-knowledge/five-common-about-page-mistakes [Accessed 13 February 2013] 

WD First Rehearsal for Monologue

13-02-2013

 I felt awful during my first rehearsal. I don’t know whether it was because I am friends with the director or because I was having doubts towards my career, I really wasn’t in a good place.

I went in and saw David, the Director, working with a character before me. They were going into so much detail about the characters history and what the character has been through, I felt inadequate, as I had done no such research.

We spent the first 10 minutes trying to get some character. I felt like I was just reading the lines and everything I learnt in college was forgotten. David was brilliant as he ignored the fact that I was not making much progress and kept pushing me to get results. I was questioning myself as an actor, and felt that I should just get an office job. It was tough having your friend tell you what to do, as you just want to impress them to prove they didn’t just give the role because you are friends.

I finally managed to get to a standard that David was impressed with, but it took longer than expected. I was embarrassed that I wasn’t the best I could possibly be. After talking to David about it, he stated that it was probably because of the depth of character work done by the actress before me affected my performance, but it shouldn’t have because my character required less depth due to the nature of the piece. This really affected my perception of the rehearsal process and my view of myself personally. From this experience, I have realized I shouldn’t compare myself to someone else. There is a reason for getting the part, so why should I doubt myself.

I need to put this into practice and prove to myself and to David that the part was meant for me.

http://www.ideastap.com/ideasmag/the-knowledge/five-common-mistakes-working-with-friends