Lights

We got the shadow puppet screen out on Tuesday, and we experimented with lights as well.
With lights, we can change the position, the intensity and also the color. With the lights we had in the classroom (the black box), we couldnt change the intensity however, we were able to change the color as well as the positioning.
The lighting is important because it could create a mood. Here are some examples:

From above:
it makes it seem like the character/actor is holy in a way. It also creates a sense of tranquility and also individuality.

From beneath:
This gives a sinister mood and also a mysterious mood.

From behind:
this also creates the mood of mysterious but also holiness.

From the side:
Since only half of the actor's body is lit, it makes it seem that this character has a different "side" to his/her character and that they may be hiding something.

Using colors also can be effective.
For example:
Blue: Nighttime, mystery, tranquility.
Orange: morning, beginning
Red: sinister, evil.
etc...

Here are some pictures with the colors on the shadow puppet screen:



I thought that this color gave the sense that we are in a forest, and the light is reflecting off the leaves.





I thought that this color had a sinister mood, and that something bad had/will happen.





This color made is seem like it was morning and the sun was rising.

I think that we should definitely include colors in our wayang kulit project, because it really does help create a scene, and it is not only one color on the screen. If it was only one color, it would be monotonous and the audience would be bored by it.

Marionettes

As an introduction to puppetry itself, we challenged ourselves by miming as marionettes, pretending that there were strings attached to our joints. This was actually quite a challenge since we are not used to moving one limb at a time (which is what marionettes generally move). I also thought that the exercise in which we pretend that "our puppeteers" dropped us, was quite challenging as well. Since the marionettes are not as flexible as us, we had to fall segment by segment.
After getting used to this activity, we were challenged with another task. To pretend that the puppeteer had dropped us, and then picked us up. With this, we were able to get a feel of "the center of focus".

Then, we divided into a group of 2 and a group of 3, and we had one as the marionette and the other as the puppeteer. The puppeteer was to have the marionette do some kind of task, such as making an omelette, or fixing a car. Then, we added in dialogue. So the puppeteer would move the marionette, step back, and the marionette would say a line. this line could influence the next move, but it is also influenced by the previous move.
Then, the two groups got together, and we had two marionettes and three puppeteers. We were to create a scene with a given location. This was similar to space jump, however it was a slower process, and there are many inputs into this activity. I thought that this was a good activity because it was not only fun and interesting, but it was also an activity in which we could think of the positions and how they can be either static or dynamic.

Tableaus

Working towards our Wayang Kulit (Balinese shadow puppets) project, we worked with Tableaus.
Tableaus are frozen scenes often with interesting and meaningful poses. The four aspects we need to bare in mind with tableaus are Balance, Line, Mass and Symmetry/Asymmetry.

Balance: Literal balance and Visual balance. Literal balance is the balance between each other and Visual balance is the balance as a whole group.
Line: Is it static (unmoving)? or is it dynamic (moving)?
Mass: It can be the positive mass (in) or it can be the negative mass (around).
Symmetry/Asymmetry: is it informal or formal?

We were introduced to this with tasks; With our bodies, we head to form letters, numbers and objects. For example, the letter 'C', the number 11, a flower pot etc...
Once we got the hang of the frozen scenes, we were given a harder task (working with the whole class (5 people)). We were to create a tableau based on a theme, and our chosen theme was "loss". As a group, we exchanged ideas and the majority seemed to prefer the idea of the "loss of somebody dear." Our tableau was set at a funeral.
We had one person (Sophia) to lie down in the middle, three other people (Maria, Mei and Sara) to kneel behind Sophia at a wide semi-circle, with Mei in the middle and we had one person (myself) to stand at the back (in the middle) to be the priest.
We tried to balance the stage as you can see in the description above. We also worked with levels, to show relationships and status as well. The three kneeling down obviously were close to the person who died. So their level is closer to the level in which Sophia was at, as opposed to the priest who has high status in a church or other sanctuary of the sort.

Tableaus can be used in productions or shows to show an important scene. It also allows the audience to let the plot "sink in."