Mr Forrest's Ultimate Portfolio Guide

Mr Forrest’s

Ultimate Portfolio Guide

Introduction/A word from the Author I am sorry to say that there is no shortcut that will enable you to magically score full marks with no effort. Creating anything at all takes time and effort, not to mention a great deal of review, editing and shaping to make sure that it does the job you set out to achieve. It is perhaps easiest to liken it to the creation of practical performance work.

From the initial outset things may feel either challenging and complex or relatively natural and straightforward. However, as we know the start and the finish are very disparate parts!

Anyone who settles for the first idea without shaping the blocking of movement on stage or considering the dialogue, physicality and interaction, would certainly be foolish to be surprised by a poor overall outcome. Even that which we considered to be secure and which remains unchanged for a substantial period, can still come in for harsh criticism or even total cutting before the product is complete. So it is for the portfolio, in which the author must assume the role of both performer and critic, if they are to ensure it achieves to its fullest potential.

Or Writing a portfolio is tough, if you are going to do it right, you need to read it back, edit it and reflect on it. Accepting changes and shaping it over and over is the best way to succeed.

First learning point: It isn’t really what you say, it’s the way in which you say it.

Action Point: “How do I learn eloquence?”

Eloquence, or the use of more elaborate and articulate phraseology, is something which is learnt over time. You absorb it from the company you keep, the things you hear, what you read and the programmes you watch. In that respect, it is quite easy to change things for the better, simply by reading different types of book or document and surrounding yourself with the ‘right kind’ of language.

It is easiest to imagine this once you have watched ‘Snoop Dogg’ narrating ‘Animal Planet’.

Whilst the outcome or end product is enjoyable, there is a rather large distance between the quality of his work and that of David Attenborough’s.

Reflection versus Prediction As with all things in life, it is easier to look back and retrospectively consider events than to predict what will happen. Just as you can describe what you did yesterday more effectively than what you will do tomorrow or even what you are doing right now, so too for performance work.

By looking back on work and reflecting on what you did, how it worked, why it worked and so on, you are able to add far more effective and eloquent detail. For many, however the question is more about what detail you are trying to add and this is what I will tackle here.

Consider this image, it essentially captures what we are trying to achieve in our portfolio, namely to add value to our work and present it in a manner where it has greater substance and merit than perhaps was intended.

Whilst this may seem that we are actively lying, what we are actually doing is allowing ourselves to read deeper than a superficial response. By considering imagery and symbolism of our piece and what it might communicate we begin to consider how ​an audience might interpret​​ our work. It is this response that has value and which we can present as ​our own goals and intentions​​.

Second Learning Point Anything can be presented as the work of pure genius, if it is analysed and evaluated by one. (​Like evaluation in English - Shannon Iceton) Action Point: “How do I find the ‘Genius’ in my own work?

This does take a little practice, but when you spend time considering your work you can start by making suggestions and then expanding them into more detailed responses. This is easiest when you have images of your own work, which is why we encourage ​taking photographs.​​ On the next page you will find examples of how to find genius in images.

Spotting the Genius So here is a random image of a freeze frame taken from the internet.

The pupils involved are Year 7 pupils so only 11-12 in age. How therefore can this possibly contain any aspects of outstanding brilliance?

Let’s use Mr F’s Genius table to find it….

1. Element

2. Techniques

3. Symbolism

A basic description of what you see.

A moment of reflection on which skills and techniques are being used.

A deeper level analysis of what we understand or might interpret from the image.

Three characters placed around a central character.

Proxemics - the use of distance to communicate relationships.

Blocking - specific spacing and placing on a stage

By clearly putting three characters around the central figure they instantly communicate the protagonist of the piece and an element of conflict or oppression.

Three different poses around the outside.

Gesture - to communicate through hand position.

Facial Expression - to communicate through the use of facial manipulation.

Posture/Physicality - the use of stance to communicate meaning.

Each of the different poses indicates a clear and distinct response to the protagonist of the tableau.

Gestures are used to communicate three clear aspects to the onlookers and aid in the communication of both a sense of narrative and relationships.

The central figure is reaching and looking at the girl at the back.

Masking & Eye Contact - we can tell the two central figures are looking at each other, communicating a link.

Gesture and Stance - again in this figure there is a clear sense of relationships being communicated

There is a clear communication of a relationship between the two and a sense of dependency of the protagonist on the central figure at the back. It is also clear that this dependency is being either rejected or denied in this situation.

Now let’s look at how that might be written up into a glowing portfolio analysis to make these Year 7’s into performance Einsteins.

From Genius Table to ‘Column 4’ We explored the use of tableau to communicate the challenges faced by pupils within a school context and to chart the differences of the various social groups amongst peers.

Through discussion we considered the way people respond to those at the centre of problems and gossip and agreed that placing our protagonist in the centre of a circle would help convey this effectively within the space. By applying clear blocking to the piece we were able to have her surrounded by her problems, whilst still visible to the audience. This was a highly effective way of singling her out both visually and in terms of the narrative.

To further the sense of her story and to symbolise and reflect the responses of peers to situations of social rejection we explored the use of gesture and proxemics to capture those experiences. I was responsible for creating a mocking pose as often pupils can become a laughing stock or feel as though people are laughing behind their back. To communicate this I used a range of gestures to show that my mirth was directed at the protagonist and even though having one hand across my stomach did at first feel a little cliched it proved to be very effective. Originally we did have my pose behind the protagonist at Stage Left, however when we were exploring the physical violence aspect as can be seen from Violet, we felt that pushing the protagonist from behind was more effective. As a result we sacrificed the notion of laughing behind her back in favour of the aggression and it actually proved to be perhaps more effective as the protagonist could now see that she was being openly mocked and ridiculed.

The final aspect of our tableau was our goal of communicating how friendships and allegiances can be tested by gossip and rumours. Through discussion we all felt that friends can often abandon you when you need them the most, as they fear the reactions of everyone else. To convey this to the audience, we placed Sofie at the upstage centre of the circle and had Imogen reach out towards her. This open palmed gesture clearly showed that Imogen was asking for help, which, together with her eye contact, clearly created a relationship link with Sofie, despite the fact that Violet had the closer proxemics. Sofie’s response of the open armed gesture of apologetic refusal, together with her positioning on even proxemics with my character showed that she was helpless and stuck amongst those who tormented her friend.

Overall, I think we were very successful in communicating the challenges of friendships in the face of rumours and gossip within a school setting.

Third Learning Point: It is not about who is in the piece, it is about what they did whilst they were in it and how you report it.

Action Point: Write your own table for one image from your own piece and expand it to a column four write up.

The Questions Sadly, many of us still fail to actually answer the questions or fully understand them. In this section we will try to tackle each of the questions of the portfolio, but ​it is important that you remember you must ​also​​ meet the requirements of the mark scheme. ​The two things are inextricably linked, in other words, you can’t ignore either and must consider them both. In fact, when you look at them together they make a bit more sense.

The Questions 1. What was your initial response to the stimulus and what were the intentions of the piece?

2. What work did your group do in order to explore the stimulus and start to create ideas for performance?

3. What were some of the significant moments during the development process and when rehearsing and refining your work?

4. How did you consider genre, structure, character, form, style and language throughout the process?

5. How effective was your contribution to the final performance?

6. Were you successful in what you set out to achieve?

The Mark Scheme AO1 - ​‘Create and develop ideas to communicate meaning…’​ - Level 5 ● Offers comprehensive explanations of the creative intentions for the performance. ● Assured and comprehensive practical creation, development and refinement of ideas from the stimuli to communicate meaning. ● Demonstrates confident engagement with the process of collaboration, rehearsal and refinement. ● Confident and accomplished use of appropriate drama terminology.

AO4 - ​‘Analyse and evaluate own work’​ - Level 5 ● Assured, fully balanced and considered analysis and evaluation of personal contribution to the creation, development and refinement process. ● Assured, fully balanced and considered analysis and evaluation of decisions made regarding content, genre, structure, character, from, style and language. ● Comprehensive, fully balanced and considered analysis and evaluation of individual performance skills demonstrated in the performance. ● Demonstrates accomplished comprehensive ability to analyse and evaluate the realisation of creative intentions within the performance, with fully balanced analysis and evaluation.

The Questions - Continued So, you ask, what is the link? What is all this actually telling us?

Fourth Learning Point: The portfolio is about proving your case, showing off your knowledge and making more of your performance.

Action Point: Start thinking about the portfolio as actually asking these questions: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

What did you do?

What did you make?

Why did you create it that way?

How did you decide on what it was going to look like?

What job does your play do? Does it have a point, a message or an ideal response?

How did you make sure your play did its job?

What was your responsibility in creating that?

Can you explain what your play did and how you ended up with it in an intelligent and articulate manner?

How much do you actually know about drama and stagecraft?

Do you know key drama terms and can you see them in your work?

Can you describe and analyse your work using drama terms?

Can you recognise the link between your final product and the original stimulus?

How did you get from stimulus to final product?

What ​really​​ worked in the play and in the development process?

Can you prove your involvement in the piece intelligently?

Which of your suggestions actually made it into the final piece?

Could you have done more in the rehearsal process?

Did your piece have an impact on the audience and if so, what was it and how did you achieve it?

What could have been done more effectively?

Are there any clear techniques that you used which really helped the piece have an impact?

...and try answering them.

Intentions This odd little word seems to cause a great deal of trouble in terms of understanding and appreciating what it means to you and your piece. ​Your intention for your piece is the job you designed it to do..

This is not simply to entertain, that is a highly shortsighted viewpoint and means that you miss the details.

It is not simply to create ‘a powerful piece’, that means nothing, without further explanation as to the power.

So you need to agree your intention, with your group and actually discuss it so that you all know and agree.

General Do’s and Don’ts The portfolio is your chance to score marks and justify a high score, this comes from sticking the basics below: DO ● ● ● ● ● ●

Analyse and evaluate your work.

Use effective higher order phrasing and vocabulary.

Proof-read your work regularly.

Seek help when you get stuck Discuss with your group how they think the performance succeeded.

Consider the input you had and the impact you made.

DON’T ● ● ● ●

Use the portfolio as a place to vent your frustrations.

Waste precious words looking at negatives.

Focus simply on what went wrong with the rehearsal process.

Deviate from your focus of analysing the play.

Group Discussion Your group and your audience are the best help you can have when writing your portfolio.

You need to sit and talk, preferably recording what you say.

Fozza’s Fancies

Symbolic, symbolism, symbolised Connotation, connotate Implicit, implies Pathos, sympathy, empathy Evoke Visual/auditory Inevitable/inevitability Prominent, visible Ascertain,deduce.

Apparent, evident, overt.

Engrossed, enthralled.

Influence, persuade, cajole.

Inform, educate.

Present, portray.

Atmospheric, potent, potential.

Impending, foreboding, foreshadowing.

Eliminate, eradicate, bypass.

Episodic, montage.

Each Question At A Time - Guidance from the Exam Board What was your initial response to the stimuli and what were the intentions of the piece?

In response to this question you should explain what the stimuli was, and what initial themes, ideas and issues the stimuli inspired. This will need to be kept brief, you might include the following: - An annotated copy of the stimuli - Mind-maps and spider diagrams Evaluation and analysis?: in this question ​performers ​and ​designers ​have the opportunity to analyse the group’s initial thoughts and feelings from the stimuli, as well as how and why they arrived at their final intention. Students can refer to any changes of intentions here and they may briefly evaluate their contribution to developing the intention.

As well as ​how ​and ​why ​they arrived at their final intention, students can refer to any changes of intentions here and they may briefly evaluate their contribution to developing the intention.

Mr F’s Bullets ● What was the stimulus? (be succinct!) ● What did it lead you to consider? ● What ideas did you have and how did they evolve to what you have as a final product? ● What did you want to do with the play? How did you decide on this? ● How did you want the play to impact the audience? ● What was your input in this process? Did you suggest anything?

What work did your group do in order to explore the stimuli and start to create ideas for performance?

This question focuses on how the performers and designers move beyond the discussion of ideas and the research of ideas, and how they began to practically explore the ideas from the stimuli.

Students should use their diary/ blog/ devising process notes to allow them to write about their contribution to the start of the creative journey e.g.

- taught lessons on skills/ stimuli that developed ideas within their piece of drama - their first rehearsals - moments of work/ performance created early in the process.

Students may discuss and analyse moments of work/performance that the group created or completed that was later discarded, as this still forms part of the devising process. ​Performers ​may wish to discuss how their role(s) emerged and developed.

Designers ​may wish to explain how and why they chose their design role, how they contributed to the creation of ideas for performance and how their initial design ideas helped to develop ideas for the performance.

Mr F’s Bullets ● ● ● ● ●

What did you do or try?

What worked in rehearsals?

What active things did you do which had a lasting impact on the final piece?

Did you go and do more research, if so did that feed in more ideas?

Did you create scenes and share them? How did you select work from all the things you did create?

What were some of the significant moments during the development process and when rehearsing and refining your work?

This question is designed to move the students ​away from the early stages​​ of the process and to engage them in reflecting on, ​analysing and evaluating the middle of the process.

Significant moments could include: - the first version of any scene - the first sharing of the complete piece of drama - the dress or technical rehearsal As part of this question, students may reflect on why and how they improved specific scenes or moments.

It may be useful for students to think about the aim and intention of each individual scene or moment of drama created, in order to answer the question and stay focused on the improvements.

Mr F’s Bullets ● ● ● ●

When did the final piece start to emerge?

What things gave you the ‘lightbulb’ moments of clarity?

Did you abandon an original idea in favour of a change of direction?

Did you alter course to improve the overall dramatic outcome and message?

How did you consider genre, structure, character, form, style and language throughout the process?

Students should aim to cover all of the areas above in response to the question; however, the depth required under each part of this question will vary according to the student’s role and the nature of the devised performance.

There are significant areas of overlap between some of the following and students may choose to write about some areas together, for example, genre and style.

The following definitions may be useful for students: ​ enre​​: the type of drama chosen for the performance e.g. comedy, tragedy, G docu-drama, etc. ​ tyle​​: the approach to performance chosen; this may link to practitioners e.g.

S Brechtian, naturalist, minimalist, TIE etc.

Form​​: the shape of each individual section or scene e.g. movement/ mime based ensemble scene, duologue, advert, naturalistic scene with moments of thought-tracking etc. ​ tructure: ​the overall shape of the performance reflecting the order that scenes are S put together e.g. linear, narrative, circular, episodic, play within a play etc. ​ anguage: ​the kind of language chosen e.g. contemporary, formal, colloquial, rap L etc.

Designers ​should cover all areas of the question as they should be instrumental in all of the decision-making during the devising process. The role of the designer does not sit outside of this process. The only exception to this is character; however the designer could consider how their role has highlighted character or added to the mood of characters.

How effective was your contribution to the final performance?

This section is about the individual contribution of the student. There may be references to their contribution as a group/ ensemble. Students must ensure that they analyse and evaluate their own contribution.

Student might want to approach this area of the portfolio by evaluating: - their contribution to the final performance in a chronological order - their contribution to key scenes in any chosen order - their contribution to the performance in terms of their role or role(s) - their contribution in any other chosen order.

A large proportion of this question requires the students to evaluate how ​effective their role as ​performer/designer ​was during that very last performance ​Performers ​may wish to evaluate the following: - characterisation and how effectively they created a role or role(s).

- use of performance skills: voice, movement, space,​ ​communication with other performers and/ or the audience.

- their understanding and application of genre, style and form.

​Designers ​may wish to consider the following: - use of design skills in performance to create character, location, mood, atmosphere and/ or style.

- whether design ideas worked in practical terms.

Both performers and designers may wish to offer speculative evaluation e.g. ​To improve my contribution, I could have...

Were you successful in what you set out to achieve?

This question asks the student to look back on the creative choices they have made as ​performer/designer ​and evaluate their success in front of a live audience This statement encourages students to outline the aims of the final piece and then measure the success of their artistic intentions.

Students can evaluate their contribution in both positive and negative forms. Each are valid choices if supported with detailed examples.

In this section, students may wish to consider: - the initial intention for performance and whether they achieved this.

- how they know that this was understood or achieved. Did this piece of theatre aim to shock, distance, educate, confuse or amuse the audience?

- If the initial intention changed or developed, how and why? Was this a successful change?

- the impact of the chosen genre, style, form, structure and language, and whether these were successful in communicating the intention.

For ​performers, ​did the characterisation and roles contribute effectively to the final performance, helping to create the intended impact?

For ​designers​​, did the design ideas and realisation contribute effectively to the final performance, helping to create the intended impact?

This question also encourages reflection, and there is an opportunity in this response to consider ways in which the final piece might have been improved or developed.

As with all previous sections, the best responses will be personal.

Health and Safety Health and Safety is not part of the mark scheme, however, it is detailed in the specification as an ‘essential’ area that students must cover; therefore, it is the centre's responsibility to ensure that all students are aware of this and do incorporate this into their responses.

Health and Safety aspects should be considered throughout the devising process, this applies to students who take on the role of performer as well as those students who decide to be a designer.

Health and Safety could include the following: - rigging of lights with the use of safety chains etc.

- storage of props and set safely - storage of paints and other toxic/ chemical substances - the length of costumes and fit - fireproofing of materials used - taping down of all electrical cables - use of blackouts and safety on stage and back stage - warm up (vocally and physically) - technical rehearsals to walk through all transitions, technical aspects​ ​and potential hazards.

- awareness of trip hazards and precautions taken - appropriate footwear and clothing when rehearsing - procedures and safety when choreographing physical theatre