Summer 2022: We did it!!
It's 2022 and the children in Year 4 are undertaking a mammoth task...
To write their own opera!
You can check in on our epic journey here. We'll try to keep it updated as we get creative. Scroll UP from the bottom if you want to follow the whole journey in order. We will add new posts at the top.
Check out our Opera Playlist on YouTube for some inspirational singing, music and action!
March 9th - English Touring Opera visiting QUEENSBRIDGE!
We can't wait to meet a real opera company and hear real singers and musicians next week! Here are some videos to help you to practise the chorus parts for the opera:
It Doesn't Matter What You're Made From:
Fact Or Opinion:
Story Song:
1st March - Set Design ideas
today we had a very special visitor. Rachel came to talk to us about her work as a set designer. She explained how a designer will gather ideas and then make a model box. She showed us some of the theatre and film sets that she had designed. It sounds like an exciting job, as well as hard work.
Next, we had a go at gathering some ideas for our set design. We had three different tasks that you can see in the photos and video below.
- We used large objects as props or setting - imagining different things they could be
- We used lots of pictures, material and colours to create mood boards for the haunted house
- We used Lego, and model people (25x smaller than real people) to create interesting spaces from our story
22nd February - Storyboards
We have voted on a plot for the opera! It's so exciting and we don't want any spoilers but we can tell you it involves a haunted house of some kind, illusions and games, and sibling relationships. Today we made individual storyboards by drawing and writing the 6 main scenes in the opera in the way we see it. This helped us to understand the final story we had settled on, and it our pictures will also help to inspire the set design, costumes, lyrics and music. Here are some pics of us acting out the plot, and close ups from all of the storyboards which we will be using for design ideas! Can you piece together the story from all of the fragments?!
We have been working hard on our opera stories! Don't worry - we will only end up with ONE opera, but at the moment we are trying out some different story ideas. We have been working in groups and using our drawings of the tableau to imagine what's happening in the scene, and what might have happened before, or will happen afterwards. The characters from the last session are springing to life in these stories. At each stage f developing the story we also have to swap and work on someone else's story! The final plot really will be a collaborative effort.
1st February - Creating Characters
We had a chance to explore character today. We played character 'consequences', drawing separate parts of the body, and then imagining how these composite characters might move or sound. We also worked in groups to create 8 characters for our opera plot. But they might not look like you expect just yet. We began with characteristics - descriptions of personality that show what our characters are like on the inside. It was also important to give our characters at least one contrasting characteristic to make them rounded. In real life no one is completely one type of person! The characteristics included: adventurous, untrustworthy, grumpy, funny, curious, kind, shy, annoying, cheeky, sociable, friendly, optimistic, greedy, enthusiastic, cowardly, brave, sweet, cunning, ambitious, smart.
You can click on the characters below to find out more about them. Once we had chosen the characteristics, we decided what colour, pattern, texture and sound would represent the character best. We chose the prop they would most likely carry around, how they might move and a phrase we might expect them to say. We even thought about which animal they would be! Once our characters are part of the plot, then we will start to give them names and genders and pad out their identity a bit more!
25th January - creating tableaux
What is a tableau? That's the first thing we learnt about today. Rather than being the name of something fancy to eat your dinner off, a tableau is like a freeze frame moment. Directors use them to capture an exciting moment in a story on stage, and artists have historically used them as they paint a big group of characters engaged in an event. Here are some examples:
We looked at how a tableau can be exciting with people at different levels and in different shapes. We also talked about the emotions in an effective tableau. How are the characters responding to each other? Where are they directing their attention?
We used our theme of fun and games to create tableaux in groups. Then we added a point of conflict into each tableau - some kind of disagreement, problem or confrontation - as this will help to get us started with writing the plot in a couple of weeks. It was fun coming up with different scenarios and creating some super expressions! You could make a tableau with your toys. Find inspiration with the Royal Opera House here.
Finally we drew our chosen tableau with line sketches to capture the positions and expressions. We experimented with a bit of special lighting and all had a go at swapping into the tableau as well.
18th January - making music theatre
Today we had a go at making a piece of music theatre. Just like that! In groups, we had to think of a character and give the character a routine that they follow every day, week or month. We acted this out and imagined that one day something extraordinary happened to disrupt that routine forever. What would happen next? We added props and some sound effects to our plays, and acted them out to everyone else. It was good fun - we had to think VERY quickly, and we got better at making decisions as a group as the session went on. Sometimes we have to let our ideas go, which can be hard!
11th January - company name and logo, and voting for a theme
Today we looked at all of our answers and theme and voted for FUN & GAMES. You can see all of our other ideas below... We will keep them in mind when creating our story. We also came up with a name for our company. We are now officially calling ourselves
'Queensbridge Opera House'.
We have been busy designing a logo and will choose a final version soon.
4th January - What is opera?
We had an introduction to the project and shared what we know or think about opera. We learnt that opera is an art form that includes action, words, music and design. It is usually dramatic, powerful and emotional. It can have a strong message. It is a fantastic way to tell stories. We can't wait to get started.
Choosing a theme
To help us, we each answered the following three questions by ourselves.
- What makes you angry?
- What makes you thrilled or excited?
- If you could change any one thing about the world, what would it be?
This is awesome !
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