Reflection Week 2-3

During week 2 we first combined ideas for the final story. We decided our story to be scary at the start and end happily. We added the roller coaster effect by changing the mood set with a steady flow. For example, the story could start scary and become more tense and then suddenly become scary and this mood keeps repeating till the end of the story. The rollercoaster effect is good because it makes the audience engaged and more curious.  We decided our story is going to combine elements of Narnia and peter pan together. So we decided to have mythical creatures and the setting of Neverland in Peter Pan. 

This is our Story Board:

Page 1 of story board

Page 2 of story board

In brief, our story is about a girl home alone and she drops her book under the bed. When she picks it up, the book sucks her up into a magical jungle. She is trapped and she has to find a way out. the she meets a mythical creature and he tells her a way to escape. She had to climb a mountain, cross the scorch desert and fight the three headed lion. Finally, she wakes up and she found out it was a dream. We developed and transformed our ballad/horror story for a family audience by adding mythical creatures to our story. This is good for kids because kids generally like mythical animals and creatures. We also made this story for a family audience by making the story less scary. However, we would have some tense scenes in our performance. Children usually get scared if the story or performance is too frightening. We also made the story very clear and easy to understand. If the story is complicated then the audience would be confused. During the creative process, everyone was included. We all shared our own ideas and we also included all of them. To make the amount of work fair, we decided to split the it. To make sure everyone is clear with what they are doing, we discussed and answered any queries. Everyone also put effort equally and contributed as a group. In music, we are using  live music and sound effects to make the story come to life. In art, we could do live puppet show and photos to make the story come to life. We also decided to have optical illusions, Visual effects and finally 4D effects to make the story come to life. 

Research on Phantasmagoria and Indonesian Shadow Puppets:

Phantasmagoria was a form of theatre which used a magic lantern to project frightening images such as skeletons, demons, and ghosts onto walls, smoke, or semi-transparent screens, frequently using rear projection. The projector was portable, which allowed the projected image to move and change size on the screen, and multiple projecting devices allowed for quick switching of different images. It was invented in France by a Belgian physicist in the late 18th century. It gained it's popularity through most of Europe, especially England, throughout the 19th century.

A video about the history behind the Phantasmagoria Light show

Shadow puppetry is an ancient form of storytelling  and entertainment which uses flat jointed figures  to create cut-out figures which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen . The cut-out shapes of the puppets sometimes include translucent color or other types of detailing. A range of effects can be achieved by moving both the puppets and the light source. Shadow play is popular in various cultures; presently there are more than 20 countries known to have shadow show troupes. Shadow play is an old tradition and it has a long history in Southeast Asia.

An Indonesian Shadow Puppet Performance

A Performance on the Gamelan music