PHYSICAL SECTION

This week as a group we looked at devising the physical section within the lift. We wanted to create something that explored the process of the passesngers death in a delicate and interesting way. We began by improvising in the space, reacting naturally to each other and exploring different ideas and movements. We decided to focus on the passesngers bones breaking as this was a central part to the cause of their death's. We began by focusing on the qualities of our movements, looking at the sharp jolted way that the peoples bodies would have been moved. We also wanted to make sure it looked like their was a seperate force causing the bodies to move in theis way. to do this we decided to isolate the movements from the rest of the body, starting with just the fingers being moved, progressing up the arm and then to the torso. We felt this worked best as it showed the gradual painful process of this force taking over the bodies.

We also began thinking about how we would show the actuall falling of the lift and the process of the characters bodies being dragged down with it. So far we have thought about using lifts to represent this and having all the bodies in the space work as one to represent the force. I think we need to continue to look at this idea and next week to try it in our space to see how it effects the sounds and visuals for the audience.

Week 4

This week we worked on the experience the audience member would go through, as a group we decided that we wanted to have 1 audience member as we felt this would make them feel the most exposed and vulnerable in the situation. As well as this it also Means they will be fully immersed and not surrounded by people they could potentially talk to. In our piece we are planning to have the audience member in the centre of the lift with the actors surrounding them, as again this will make them feel the most exposed. We also worked on developing our physical section, looking at ways to show the lift 'falling'. We decided to include a lift where one of us hovers over the audience member to show this. Something we struggled with was the sensors in the lift, as if anything moves in front of them the doors open which would mean the illusion of our piece would be lost. Therefore we decided we would have to slightly modify our site by placing a black board in front of the sensors as this means they can't be activated. We are also going to hang a black sheet just in front of the doors so that if they do open the illusion is not completely lost. 

For next week we need to work on getting all our props together so we can do a full run in our site before the performance. 

STIMULUS

"On the night of May 22, 1903, in Pittsburgh, PA, a large group of mostly young people who attended the Pennsylvania Electric Mechanical Institute were having a celebration party on the fifth and sixth floors of the Donnelley building. About 700 people packed the two floors for the ball, and at around 10 PM another group of seventeen passengers was loaded into the elevator on the first floor, bound for the party on floor six. Just as the elevator reached the floor, it suddenly let go and fell six stories, crashing into the elevator pit. The multi-ton elevator cable and assembly came crashing down onto the elevator, crushing the occupants. When the party goers heard the crash, they rushed to the elevator. In the panic, some nearly fell into the open shaft. Four bodies were pulled from the rubble and taken to a morgue. They were so badly mangled it was not until the next day they could be identified. So mangled were the bodies, they could only be identified by the cloths they were wearing. The others in the elevator, the youngest being only 3 years old, somehow survived. The accident was blamed on overloading of the elevator with 17 people when the maximum weight allowed for only 10-12."

This is the stimulus we have taken to devise our piece from, we chose it as we feel it is fitting to our site as well as to our actors. We were drawn to the idea of a party atmosphere so we could provide the spectators with a journey to partake on. Our idea is to create the atmosphere of a glamorous event before the sound of the elevator crash draws them to move towards the lift. Within the lift we are going to develop a physical piece to perform where we show the crash and the way the peoples bodies are moved by the force. We want to incorporate Colour to represent the blood of the people inside, so we are thinking about having red paint that we throw in the lift to add to the audiences experience. 

OUR SITE

Our site is the TTA Lift at the back of the OBIE. The lift is really worn down and creates an environment that doesn't feel fully safe. The walls are covered in marks and one of the lights is broken, showing the lifts age and how it has worn. Within the lift their is a large buzzing sound coming from the broken light that becomes louder as the lift travels. You can also hear the sounds of the mechanics when the lift moves and the doors creak open.