Our rehearsal on Thursday went so well! Thank you everyone for being prepared and ready to go!
Believe it or not, we only have two scenes left to film: Act 4 Scene 1 and Act 5.
At this rate I'm hoping to have the play completely edited in just a couple weeks!
Please make sure to have your lines in these scenes memorized and well rehearsed. This may be the last time we get together online for Shakespeare, so make it a great experience for yourself!
There are quite a few of you who have not emailed me about whether you have or have not earned your award, and if you have--which award you would like. Please let me know as soon as possible so that we can order them! (pictures are on the previous post, and they're super cool!)
As a short preview for our play I'm letting you watch the dance scene! Look at how great you all are!:
We miss you guys so much. Covid19 has been a bit of a kill joy, but we're hoping that after it clears we can all watch the play together. Please stay happy as you're stuck at home! Remember all of the success principles and stay proactive!
We'll try to use this link again and cross our fingers that it works!
Sincerely, The very excited to see you Shakespeare People who are paler and lonelier than they were a month and a half ago, but who are also super excited with all of the progress we've been quickly making.
We have an option for a tiara, a crown, or a sword. Now the big question is....
1. Did I work hard and memorize my lines within the time frame my mentors gave me?
OR
2. Did I work hard and do an hour or two of work (depending on which they asked for) each week?
If you can confidently and honestly say YES then please email me as soon as you can with which award you would like to be given! If you cannot honestly answer yes, then I'm really sorry. It doesn't make you any less important to us! Please also email me and let me know that you did not get the award. Thank you for your hard work! You're all awesome!
Dear Friends,
I'm really happy to hear that you've all recommitted to finishing this play.
I hope you know that the reason we've pushed through with this isn't for our own
benefit, but because we wanted to give all of you a fun experience where you could
connect with each other and learn new skills that would be helpful to you in other
areas of your life.
There have been a couple times now where we've seriously considered shutting this
down and saying that it wasn't worth it, but every single time the reason why we've kept
going has been largely due to those of you who have worked really hard and shown
the fruits of your labors during our practices. So thank you for working so hard. :)
I can't tell you how much it's meant to me to have these extra hours to spend with you,
because you are all friends who I care about very deeply, and who I'm not going to be
in Vanguard with next year. Your words of encouragement have meant so much to me!
We had a rough practice today, but we also were able to do really well at what we got done,
and I have complete faith in us that from now on it's going to be a much better experience,
so long as we're willing to let it be.
Anyways... I think Shakespeare would be proud of my Monologue-ing, don't you? ;)
We filmed all of Act 1 today, so great job everyone!
We only have 4 Acts to go! Sadly we cannot limit ourselves to filming one act per week, because that means we wouldn't be done until June. This means we're going to be having longer rehearsal hours. But don't worry! In the end we'll still have spent the same amount of time on it as we would have had we dragged it out till June.
Having longer hours in fewer days also means we won't have to get into our costumes a million times, which I'm sure the fairies really appreciate. ;)
You all know the drill: please memorize your lines so that you can feel confident and prepared as we record. :)
Anyone who is effected by the magical flower (whether you hold it or have it dripped on you to make you fall asleep) you need to make a flower following this origami video. Good luck! Please make it with white paper, or a very light color. :)
We'll be using the same link for class:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2354779168?pwd=WXlrMmVMQS9SMklic25WRjdHeU1adz09
Meeting ID: 235 477 9168
Password: Vanguard
Please be on time, which means in the meeting by 12:30 on Thursday!
Please make sure you have a working mic and camera, and that you are in front of a blank wall,
or as blank of a background as you can manage.
We will be running through till 6 p.m. (crazy but important!)
Some of you have a class at 2 that day, so during your class we will make sure to do scenes that you are not in. :) Everyone else: we encourage you to stay on the whole time if you can so that we don't have to track you down when it's time to film your scene. You won't always be on camera, so you're more than welcome to eat or do whatever you need to when you're off the screen.
If we get done before 6 then HOORAY! We'll get to be done early!
I'm hoping that it won't take very long, but we're giving ourselves a lot of time just in case.
We're excited to see you on Thursday!
We miss you all very much. Sincerely, The Shakespeare People
P.S. I edited the first Act, and Jayson's hair flip is "to die for."
Hello friends!
I'm sorry for getting the blog up later than usual. It's surprising how crazy weeks can still be, even when one is staying at home. :D
This week we are going to be recording!!!! This means EVERYONE IN COSTUMES!
We will be recording Scene 0, Act 1: scene 1 and 2, and Act 2: scene 1.
These are all of the scenes that we memorized our first few weeks in class, and that I believe we're all the most familiar with.
Having these recorded will allow us to spend more time and focus on the other scenes in the play, which are longer and might be more complicated. Please be completely memorized and confident in these scenes by this Thursday. Pretend that you're about to perform in front of your family and friends, and you want to look completely prepared and excellent on stage! Because, with all technicalities aside, that's exactly what's going to be happening!
In order to be prepared for the recording we need you to do the following:
Be in a location with a blank wall (or as close to a blank wall as you can get) in your background.
Make sure your computer camera is directly in front of your face so that we're not getting strange angles.
Be in a position where we can see your torso and a little above your head. This will allow for a little more body language through hand gestures.
Make sure the device you are using has a working mic.
Please do not share your camera with any siblings. We'll be recording the scenes one after the other, so if you need to trade off your camera with your siblings then that is fine.
Please wear your full costume, as well as hair and makeup if you can.
Keep in mind that this is supposed to be a very fun and memorable experience for everyone, so please don't stress out too bad. If you do your homework and prepare accordingly then there will be nothing to worry about other than possibly having the time of your life! ;)
Along with preparing for the recording, most of you still have not shared your photo or video of you dancing. I asked if you would be willing to participate in that last week, and you said yes. But that didn't end up happening.
Thank you to those of you who participated, it was very helpful! Those of you who did not, please know that the longer you stall the more the directors have to postpone getting things done on our end. We asked for your dedication when we started auditions, and I hope that you will remember the excitement and the conviction you felt near the beginning. We still need you to be just as active as you would have been if we were still meeting in person.
We need everyone's cooperation in order to make this production work. Along with that we want everyone to have a lot of fun while participating.
With that in mind, please make sure to send me your dramatic 50's character picture, as well as a video of you dancing (in whatever way you would like) in your costume to me by the end of this Thursday. That way you won't have to get in your costume more than once during this week, so long as you make sure to take the picture and video before you change out of your costume after class.
We're so excited to move this play forward and to continue to meet with all of you in the coming weeks! We miss you guys, and we hope you're staying safe and happy while at home. :)
Hello everyone! We had a great rehearsal yesterday and you all looked fabulous! I'm so proud of you for working hard on your lines and costumes!
This week we're going to focus on Act 5. We're making some serious changes to staging, so it's incredibly important that your lines as well as your entrances and exits are memorized. Not all of us have lines in Act 5, but we still need you there because of changes we're trying to figure out. We need "all hands on deck!"
Please come in your costume! We won't be in our costumes every week, but we'd like to see them again this week. :)
Everyone, whether you are completely memorized or not, please run through your lines six times. This will be easiest and most beneficial if done once a day, but you can cram them all in at the ending if you so choose, so long as you do it.
For now we are going to forgo the backdrops. But if you have access to a white wall that you could be in front of (or at least a wall that doesn't have a lot of distractions on it) please set up your computer in a way that will accommodate that. We would also like good lighting, as well as you being as close as you can to being head on with the camera.
In the past when we've done Shakespeare productions we've included small descriptions of the characters in the program to help the audience follow along more easily.
We're going to do something similar, only instead of a program we're going to have a short video before the play starts! With this is mind, one of your assignments this week will be to send me a dramatic picture of you in your costume. When you take the picture you are in character! Have fun with it!
Good examples below:
Also, we're going to try and make our production be black and white!! If you can make your picture black and white that would be great, if not it's okay and I can do it. :D
Summary:
Run through your lines 6 times this week. (Memorize completely if you haven't already.)
Take a dramatic picture in character and send it to me.
Come in your costume! (If you still don't have yours then take this week to finish it.)
We're excited to see you next week! Please don't hesitate to contact Roxanna, Elena, or myself if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely, the Shakespeare people who haven't seen you in a heckin' long time.
Hello!
For those of you who we missed at Shakespeare, a quick summary of what is going on is below:
We're going to attempt to record the play online through zoom! You won't be walking around, but there will be different panels where we speak. Our hope is to have it formatted similar to the video below. This isn't a replacement for performing our play on stage, but rather a backup just in case we're unable to:) If we are able to perform on stage then we will just have two different types of performances!
With this is mind, we're going to be very limited to act and communicate our lines through body language, which means we're all going to need to be very expressive through our face and our voice!
You have three assignments for this week. Please do not put it off to the last minute. We're counting on your hard work to be able to put this together. :)
Assignments:
You must have all of your lines completely and confidently memorized by next week. We're going to run through the play without using our scripts. Please practice everyday!
You must come prepared with around 1 minute of your lines practiced with a lot of facial expression and voice inflection. Preferably one of your longer lines. You are also able to do a bunch of small ones that are close together, but in that case make sure you practice how you react to the other person speaking. Some of you have lines that only take a few seconds to say. In that case make it the most dramatic seconds of your life! ;) Also make sure to practice adding a lot of expression to the lines you won't be including in that one minute. Expression is everything!
Come wearing your costume! We'll only be seeing your torso and up, so you're free to wear pajama bottoms if you would like. But make sure the top half looks amazing! Hair and makeup that would be fitting for your character would also be great.
Summary!:
1. Memorize your lines completely and confidently.
2. Come with practiced line that is filled with a lot of expression.
3. Wear your costume (and make it during the week if necessary.)
For those of you who need fairy wings here is a tutorial for how to make some that are simple but also look great!
If you have any questions or concerns PLEASE ask us! We're here to help you!
We hope you have a wonderful week:)
Hello friends!
It was established last week that your homework is essentially to just work on your lines.
If you haven't memorized all of the way then please work hard on that.
If you've already memorized them all then make sure to review them every once in awhile to keep them fresh! This post is being bombarded by memes... for good reason.
I'm sure you could all use some good laughs, so enjoy!
We will have two links again, one for
Shakespeare and one for socializing. If you guys could think of fun ideas for how to entertain yourselves while socializing that might make your experience even more fun!
Mafia wasn't too bad, and I've heard charades is a lot of fun. ;)
The times will be the same! Shakespeare at 12:30 and Socializing at 1:10.
Please remember the importance of being on time to the first meeting! 12:30!! :)
Links and room ID's can be found below.
I hope you're all having a ton of fun!
Ideas of what to do when quarantined:
Read a book.
Paint a picture. (or learn to paint if you don't know how. There's fun tutorials online!)
Sew something. Or crochet!
Reorganize your room.
Write a book.
Watch a movie.
Bake some cookies!
Study the scriptures!
I don't think it's ethically acceptable for me to require you to do these things under the name of Shakespeare homework... But I hope that you are all keeping yourselves happily busy and entertained!
Based on the discussion we had last week (which was awesome, thank you for participating!) we are going to have two zoom links. One for Shakespeare and one for Socializing.
Please make sure to be on time! 12:30!
Shakespeare Link:
Time: Apr 2, 2020 12:30 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/876737569
Meeting ID: 876 737 569
Socializing Link:
Time: Apr 2, 2020 01:10 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Hello fellow midsummer friends,
We have reached the point where if everyone did their homework faithfully in the weeks leading up to now that we should have all of our lines memorized. If you don't have all of your lines memorized then please make that a goal this week!
Whether all of your lines are memorized or not though, your homework is to run through all of your lines three times. Feel free to do it more than three if you would like. :)
Some of you have yet to contact us about your costume ideas, and if you're one of those people then please email us as soon as you can!
This is a pretty scary time. But I know that if we use our time wisely that it can also be the perfect time for us to draw closer to our Heavenly Father.
D&C 6:36 "Look unto me in every thought; Doubt not, fear not."
We're being surrounded by angels, some of which we may know personally, and if you are ever struggling in this quarantine then please pray for the comfort of your angels to surround you. They want to help you. :)
What a blessing it is that we can still be in contact with one another through the blessings of zoom! (and just technology in general;)
We have some fun ideas for class this Thursday, and we're excited to see you at 12:30! The zoom room code is below.
Hello friends!
Unfortunately, due to the unkind Coronavirus Covid-19, Vanguard is going to be happening online. We hope that you are all taking precautions to make sure you stay healthy. We really don't want the lines of, "I am sick when I do look on thee!" "I am sick when I look not on thee!" to become a reality for us.
We are not exactly sure how practicing is going to go online... We're still figuring that out, but for now you can memorize your lines! Yay!
We are so close to being completely done with the play!
Note: The gif is in reference to the end of memorizing the play is almost near, not the end of the world because of the coronavirus... :D
This week your lines to memorize are ACT 5. It's a shorter section than the scenes we've been grouping for you to memorize in the past, so make sure to work hard and you can get it done!
Not all of you have lines in ACT 5, and in that case you should have been memorized (or really close) to memorizing all of your lines from the play. Please make sure to recite all of your lines from top to bottom at least five times throughout the week. Only then can you say you did your homework:)
We also talked about costumes for a little bit in class last week, and we really want your input because it's always more fun to perform in a costume that you love.
One time during my phase of deeply hating the color pink, I was performing in an Arabian Nights play. The costume they assigned to me was hot pink flower patterned balloon pants with a hot pink vest and a matching hot pink head scarf. And believe it or not, it was the ONLY pink costume in the entire play! Everyone else was wearing blues and purples and greens and... you get the idea. I stood out like a sore thumb, and I absolutely hated it. I probably wouldn't mind wearing it now haha, but I think aside from it being pink, that it was mainly because I had 0 choice in the matter that caused me to feel miserable.
We want you to have a choice!
We would like for Theseus, Hippolyta, Demetrius, and possibly Amelia to be military figures. But that still provides flexibility. For example, Theseus, do you want a brown or maybe green uniform? Would you like to have medals? Amelia, do you want to be an officer or maybe a secretary? Hippolyta, do you want pants or a skirt? If you have a different idea from the military, let us know!
Those of you putting on the Pyramus and Thisbe play, are you poor or wealthy? Are you educated? Use your character analysis forms you filled out a couple of weeks ago to try and determine what you think your character would wear.
We would like you to draw a picture of what you want your costume to look like. For those of you who have two parts or a need for two costumes (this mostly applies to the Pyramus and Thisbe group) draw two pictures. If you don't feel comfortable drawing, then write down a detailed paragraph or list of bullet points telling us what you want.
We will take them into serious consideration when determining what will fit best:)
Summary:
Memorize Act 5.
Recite your lines from top to bottom at least five times.
Draw a picture or write a list of what you would like your costume to be.
Stay healthy!
Sincerely, still the Shakespeare people
Sunday, March 1, 2020
If you want to be Aragorn... continue memorizing your lines!! :D
Thank you for all of the work that you've been putting into this. Because of you we're on track to having a wonderfully practiced performance!
We have memorized almost half of the play in only two weeks! Which is amazing!!!
The next few scenes/acts aren't divided as nicely as the last ones we've been doing. So instead of me giving you a few scenes to memorize by this Thursday, I'm giving you two weeks to have all of your lines from Act 3 scene 2 to the end of Act 4 memorized.
I REPEAT: You have two weeks to have all of your lines that are contained in Act 3 scene 2 to the end of Act 4 memorized. (Pages 29 to 53.)
I'm trusting all of you to not procrastinate. And in order for you to say "yes" when we ask you if you did your homework you will need to have spent at least one hour on your lines each week. Unless you are someone with very few lines, (some of the fairies and actors) and in that case just make sure you're solid.
Included in that one hour needs to be your lines that you've already memorized. That way we can keep them fresh! ;)
In class we'll continue working on blocking the first 2 acts.
If you balance your homework by memorizing one or two new lines a day then you should be on track to have it finished on time, and you won't be as stressed out as the time comes closer. :)
NOTE: As you're memorizing remember to apply the tips you've been getting in class (blocking, voice tone and inflection, etc). It will help you a lot in the long run if you apply those early on in your practicing.
I cannot even emphasize how impressed we've been with all of you. Thank you so so so much for working with us and meeting your deadlines. You're wonderful!
Everyone did an excellent job with memorizing their lines last week! Keep up the good work!!
A reminder of motivation to meet all of the deadlines:
If you want one of these potential bad boys, (sword or crown) do the work!
Speaking of work, the homework for this week is to do thirty four hours of homework around your neighborhood.
:D
Just kidding! Service is always a great idea, but we're not going to require it for this class. :)
The real work for this week will be to memorize your lines that take place in Act 2 scene 2, and Act 3 scene 1 (pages 17-29.)
If you spend an hour on memorization and you still haven't finished with your lines then we will still count it as meeting your goal, however; please don't let that cause you to limit yourself to an hour of memorization time.
Along with the new lines you will be adding on, make sure to continue running through the lines you memorized last week! It's important that we keep them fresh in our minds!
If you have any lines you're struggling with because of their length or floweriness of language, please talk to Roxanna, Elena, or myself, and we will see what we can do to help.
This week is the field trip week, so we will be doing Shakespeare at the beginning of the day.
We hope that you will have as much determination as this woman when it comes to this play! Only you have a lot more in store for you than a clothing hanger... ;)
Since all of next Thursday will be dedicated to play practice there will be a little more homework to do. However, in the future when Shakespeare will only be taking place during Masters then your homework will most likely just be memorizing certain lines.
Assignments(:
Highlight your parts in a COLORFUL highlight! Please don't black out the other lines, or anything like that. You will still want complete access to everyone else's lines so that you can follow along! :D
Memorize your lines and your cues from the beginning of the play until ACT 2, Scene 2 (Page 1-16). This may seem intimidating, but don't worry! Most of you will only have lines in one scene in that grouping of scenes, and only some of you will have lines in 2 scenes.
Every week that you memorize your assigned lines by the deadline you will get a prize! AND if you decide to be amazing and memorize your lines early, before or by March 26th, then you will get an even bigger and better prize! That gives you over a month, so let's get poppin'!
Be prepared to show us your characters walk and posture!
Be thinking of ideas for your costume! We're setting the play during the 1950's because we thought it would be fun to end the Vanguard year by revisiting the decade that we started with.
We cannot stress the importance of you having your lines memorized in time. It's incredibly important in order for rehearsals and the performance to run smoothly. You will have the opportunity for one second chance. That means that if you miss the deadline once, we will forgive you. :) But if you miss the deadline a second time we will have to cut lines or swap your character, which isn't going to be a good situation for anyone. Please note that we aren't hoping you will use your second chance simply because it's there. We would love to see everyone meeting the deadlines in time!
Also please know that you are not limited to only memorizing the lines in the scenes we assign you! In fact, we strongly encourage you to get ahead of the deadlines and memorize all of your lines as soon as possible! (That way you can get the big prize! :)
Tips and Tricks for Memorizing:
Record yourself saying your cues and lines and replay them as you go about your day or as you're going to sleep.
Try writing them down with a pencil after memorizing. It causes a different part of your brain to start working!
Read one line over and over again, then add on another!
Memorizing lines is a lot easier the sooner you get started. Something that helps me is to set aside a certain amount of time (30 minutes or an hour) where I am going to only focus on memorizing. (No distractions!) You'll be surprised how much you can get through when you focus. :)
Here is the cast list:
Afton - Hermia's Mother (Egeus)
Anneka - Puck/Robin Goodfellow
Caleb - Flute/Thisbe
Chris - Demetrius
Elena - Titania
Eryn - Mustard Seed
Evelyn - Cobweb
Isa - Hermia
Jacob - Snout/Wall
Jaykob - Bottom/Pyramus
Jayson - Lysander
Jefferson - Oberon
Kassie - Snug/Lion
Kensie - Peaseblossom
Kylee - Starveling/Moonshine
Paige - Quince/Prologue
Sam - Theseus
Sarah - Helena
Shaylie - Hippolyta
Good luck with memorizing! I would strongly advise you to not wait until right before class to get started. The sooner you start memorizing the more you can repeat them throughout the week, which means they'll stick better during practice!
See you Thursday!
- Helena and Titania :)
P.S. If you missed the homework last week, and you still don't feel like you understand the play very well then PLEASE go watch the videos from the last blog post. They're short, helpful, and fun.
Sincerely, some friends of yours.
