Introduction

Hello I'm Adam Greenwood and I am currently a second year student at Oldham College studying UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma- Performing and Production Arts (Technical Theatre).




I have created this blog to archive my work throughout my final major project (FMP). I am the Deputy Stage Manager (DSM) for our upcoming performance of "Animal Farm" at Oldham College alongside "Our Day Out also with Oldham College.




On this blog you will find a collection of all my work including my project ideas, research on my role, weekly reflections and much more.




Adam 😄

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Prompt Book

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Attached below is a couple of pages of my prompt book for Animal Farm. One the left is a copy of the script, and on the right is where I record all my cues, notes, times and blocking. As you can see many times in addition to underlining the cue line, I will put it in quotation marks in the notes section. This helps me ensure that I don't miss any lighting (LX), Sound (SQ) and stage management (Stage) cues. During the shows, I would record running times. After some research, I found an application that allows you to easily record show running times for theatre. At the end of the show, it sums up all of the times. Below are the screenshots from all four performances. Thursday 14th 1:00pm               Thursday 14th 7:30pm Friday 15th 1:00pm                                 Friday 15th 7:30pm
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Animal Farm Research

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Animal Farm Research E ric Arthur Blair, better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, critic, journalist, and essayist born on the 25th June 1903 and passed away on the 21st January 1950. Animal Farm was first published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917. The original title was” Animal Farm: A Fairy Story”, Although U.S. publishers dropped the subtitle when it was published in 1946 (Wikipedia, 2017). Throughout the novel animal farm, the animals are portrayed more like humans than animals, this is called Anthropomorphism. “Anthropomorphism  is the attribution of  human  traits,  emotions , or intentions to non-human entities” (Wikipedia, 2018) Animal farm is also an allegory which according to the Collins English Dictionary means “a story with an underlying meaning as well as the literal one” HarperCollins Publishers (2009). Geor...
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Industry Practitioners Research

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Industry Practitioners  Research Part of my research was to find industry practitioners in theatre. During my time researching, I found this website which had a Q and A session with 'Nathan Matthews" who is the deputy stage manager at "Mamma Mia". I thought this was a great interview, so I included it in my research. Nathan Matthews Deputy Stage Manager at Mamma Mia The first thing I do every day is: Check my emails. It’s sad but true. Mornings used to involve making a pot of coffee, but I’ve cut that out, so it’s a pint of water instead! An average day for me involves: If we’re in auditions or rehearsing (which we’ve been doing since February!) I’ll usually be at the theatre just before 10:00 to make sure everything is ready for the day. During auditions, we make sure the auditionees are in the right place at the right times, try to settle their nerves and make sure they are as prepared as they can be. During rehearsals, we make sure the right...
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Technical Theatre Roles Research

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Introduction - In this assignment, I have been tasked with the collection of industry research regarding the job responsibilities and technicalities and have been given the opportunity to undertake numerous job roles as a member of the “animal farm” production crew. It is imperative that you understand a range of critical and contextual perspectives and approaches influencing the daily workload of professionals within the theatre production industry. Lighting Designer A lighting designer’s job is not only to light the stage but to create an overall atmosphere for each scene using lighting alone. Lighting designers begin by designing a lighting plan for the production, to create this plan they have to use set designs, storyboards, theatre plans, computer software and scripts to create lighting cues. Throughout the rehearsal and design  process, the lighting designer must edit this plan to fit the show. Before the tech rehearsals start a complete light plot must be approved, th...
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My Specialism

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My Specialism I have decided for the show Animal Farm, I want to take up the role of DSM (Deputy stage manager). As DSM is part of the stage management team, I’ve decided to research the full stage management role, Which I have attached below. Stage Manager (Elkin, 2018) A stage manager job is to communicate with the director, technical director, assistant director and cast. They also oversee all technical crews during performances. The stage manager is the liaison between the director and technical crew, which allows for them to become a clear line of communication between all the different production departments. Depending on the size of the company, the stage manager might “call” the show and is also responsible for the smooth running of the show. The stage manager is also the person who has to fill out all the paperwork for the show and they also take notes of props. Some of the other responsibilities of a stage manager includes setting up and running rehearsal schedules...
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Animal Farm Evaluation

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Animal Farm Show Write Up De-rig/ Fit up- Throughout the fit-up period, all of the crew helped out building and rigging for the different technical departments. We only had one week to build the set and ensure all the technical departments were ready for plotting on Friday. We de-rigged the lighting that was left up from the last external show. The de-rig process took us half a day as there was only 2 of us, if all the crew was there we would have had it done way before dinner time. Later on, in the week, we were given a lighting plan by Andy (lighting designer) which we had to rig. This included lanterns such as cantatas, Parcans, Source Four Profiles, Moving Lights. To rig these lanterns, we used equipment such as Tallescope and Zarges to get to the rig. We then used pullies attached on to a sling to send a light up to the crew member at height. Whilst doing this we used all of the correct PPE such as Hardhats, Steel top caps and gloves. Set On the second day, we...
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Weekly Evaluations

Friday 9th March 2018 Description- What happened: Today we finished our Animal Farm presentations, we then presented our PowerPoints to the rest of the class. Feelings- What were you thinking: Throughout today's lesson, I was nervous to stand in front of my peers and present my presentation. Although I’ve done it before, I still found it quite nerve-racking. Evaluation- What was good and bad: I thought that my preparation and presentation of my PowerPoint were good parts of the day, even though I was really nervous. Although I do believe that I could have spent more time practising my PowerPoint. Conclusion- What else could you have done: I think that if I spent more time practising presenting my PowerPoint, I would have found it easier to stand in front of my peers. Action plan- If it rose again what would you do If the opportunity of a PowerPoint rose again I would spend my time more wisely and practice presenting the PowerPoint to people. I would also try and spen...
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Project Proposal

Extended Diploma in Performing & Production Arts Unit 12/13 Project Proposal Candidate Name Adam Greenwood   Candidate Number  508850 Pathway   Technical Theatre Project Title Animal Farm   Section 1: Review (Approx. 150 words) Throughout the 11 units of my qualification, I have acquired a lot of experience in different elements of technical theatre. I have worked on many productions during my time on the course which has allowed me to come to the decision that my chosen discipline is deputy stage management. This has allowed me to further my knowledge of the technical elements including lighting, sound, audio visual and stage management. For example, since starting the course I have learned how to set up and operate a lighting and sound equipment. Furthermore, I have developed my knowledge of how to be a successful stage manager. Working alongside my pee...
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Work Experience

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Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester Frankenstein (April 2018) On Thursday 12th April 2018 I visited the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester to shadow their Stage Management department on the production "Frankenstein". During my time there I shadowed the ASM (Assistant Stage Manager) and SM (Stage Manager) through the matinee performance. During the show, they ensure the cast's safety, move set pieces onto and off stage and help maintain the artistic integrity of the show.  Due to the fact that the Royal Exchange Theatre is in the round, I got to see how the show runs from outside of the auditorium. Actors running endlessly so they don't miss their cues, dressers constantly running after them picking up any costumes that were dumped on the floor during quick changes, its a very interesting and different way of theatre than Iv seen before. Along with seeing that I saw how some of the different effects in the shows happened, they used a lot of different "Trick...
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