C&C - P.2 > MESSAGES FROM THE PAST

Joan of Arc and her famous quote.

So our second assignment! Often described by our seniors as one of the go-crazy 'assignments', it started with grouping and themes. Over a few days, we assembled a group of 10 members. The theme being civilization, our group received the British Civilization! We were excited and apprehensive at the same time, as none of us really had a clear idea of how to proceed. Here is the project brief:




I felt like we were heading for a month of chaotic fun: our group consisting of that exact mix if friends (team description below with group photo). During the first few helpful tutorials, we fixed our direction based on a movie, unlike many other groups who made specific cultures their focus. That significant movie, The Messenger: Joan of Arc, played by Milla Jovovich became a major influence in the making our props and play. And so we fixed a movie night in one of the lecture theatres on the next Friday night to watch it together so we could understand it in a group. None of us were specifically familiar with the history, but it was sentimental learning together.

Following that, we delegated tasks immediately. We extracted several scenes that displayed olden British culture and fixed our play on that. In summary, MJ and I were the scriptwriters slash directors, while the rest of the team were split into Team English and Team French (as the whole play featured the war between the two). Branching out, the Props Team lead by Kayla and Winnie, handled all props needed such as cardboard horses and weaponry, whereas the Costumes Team lead by Tristan and Shi-Ko, fixed the general types and ranks for everyone. It was common understanding that each individual were in charge of their own costume yet must spend time to help each another and also the props. Basically, war scenes were the focus of the whole play.

The movie trailer:



In a period of around a month, we put together a few rehearsals in empty LTs whenever we could, though most of the time was spent on making props and costumes. Tristan was also in charge of collecting funds and managing finances from purchasing needed materials. Progress photos below:

An initial costume sketch.

Everyone had cardboard armour!

As I was playing the character of Joan, I had a lot of reading up to do. I never really done any acting but I felt like I could pull off being Joan, as her spirit and personality was something I admired and aimed to enact. Commanding the French 'soldiers' was a real laugh for me!

An interesting read on Joan, click on the link!

http://www.biography.com/people/joan-of-arc-9354756#charless-coronation 

As an extra, here is a copy of the script written by MJ and I. 

On screening day, we ran into bad luck as we had to switch venue to a small and cramped classroom. Nevertheless, we tried our best: judging from all the sleepless nights and joyful rehearsals. It was simply awesome watching us live - funny and painful at the same time. Our cardboard costumes were incredibly restricting! Seeing other teams like the Japanese and Indian and many others made the end of the project even sweeter.

My own costume, mostly made by me.

The set: wire mesh and foil tunic, cardboard shoulder, arm and thigh armour, and my favourite prop-the French flag (credits to the painter Winnie!)

Side view,

Back view.

Enjoy our short play! Pardon the few technical difficulties..

Lastly, a group photo of my dear team - full armour and freestyle.

From left to right. Standing ones first: Lynette, Tim, Kayla, Roy, MJ, Gary, Winnie, Tristan and Pei Kei. Squatting: Oat, myself and Shi-Ko.

Memories made yet again. 

Moving on to the last individual component, everyone had to submit an A5-sized handmade journal about their character played. Here is mine - using materials and techniques such as brown hardboard, butter paper, sketch paper and canvas tied with yarn to create a wrap cover, to recreate an olden style.

In my opinion, we could have definitely handled the play a lot smoother. Perhaps more research and brainstorming could have cut down the amount of time we spent on making props and costumes from scratch. Plus more effort put into rehearsing instead. However, we each extracted our own valuable lessons. 

Had a great time with them!