THE COLLABORATIVE PROJECT


You will create an original piece of theatre with a group (minimum of two persons, maximum of 6 persons per group). The piece will be 13-15 minutes in length.

You will use one of the following as your starting point:
An Event 
An Idea, issue, question or theme 
An Image or photograph 
A Non-dramatic text 
An Object 
A Person 
A Piece of music 
A Site 
Street art, graphic novel or a comic strip

As a group you must create a clear artistic intention and highlight how your piece will impact the audience.


ASSESSMENT

You will submit a process portfolio, which is a maximum of 15 pages. This documents your own approaches and skills in detail. It should have a table of contents and numbered pages. It will also contain headed sections. 

You MUST include the following information:


YOUR PERSONAL CONTEXT
     
  • Identifying your own skills, approaches and interests in theatre.

RESEARCH INTO A PROFESSIONAL COMPANY
  • You should look at a professional company that creates and stages original pieces of theatre. You should consider how this could be used to influence your own approach to the collaboration. Discuss this in detail in your portfolio.

DEVELOPMENT
  • Discuss the formation of your group and the exploration of the starting point (ensure you include significant information on your target audience and your intentions for the piece).

REFLECTIONS
  • Include detailed accounts that describe the collaborative development of your piece and the specific explorations led by you.



PERFORMANCE/PRESENTATION
  • Provide descriptions and evaluations of your contribution to the final 13-15 minute presentation, considering the impact on the audience, your artistic choices and your fulfillment of intentions. (these must be seen in the video, as the examiner will use this as evidence). Also, consider your own specific artistic choices. 
  • Provide and discuss feedback that you received from your target audience. Depending who this is, consider HOW you collect your feedback.
 
REMEMBER YOU MUST ACKNOWLEDGE AND REFERENCE ALL YOUR SOURCES.

The second part of the assessment is the submission of a video, which can be a continuous 4 minutes long, OR an edited version containing no more than two key moments.

It should be of the final performance, but can start from any point. The video will be used to see if you have achieved what you said you have, along with proving the skills you have learned.



CHOOSE A PROFESSIONAL COMPANY WHO CREATE ORIGINAL WORK HERE
Collaborative Project Example —“Titan Arum”
​Starting point: A photograph—“Titan Arum”


Submitted work, Student A
Please view the work in the following order.Assessment, Student A
Collaborative Project Example —“Insomia”
​Starting point: Idea, issue or theme—“Insomnia”


Submitted work, Student B
Please view the work in the following order.


Assessment, Student B
Collaborative Project Example —“Social repression
​”Starting point: Idea, issue or theme—“Social repression”


Submitted work, Student C
Please view the work in the following order. Assessment, Student C
Making Videos of the Collaborative ProjectFor these video recordings, it is important that the students are clearly visible and that the sound from the presented work is captured clearly.

Pre-Production (Before the assessment)

Plan the video and gather any resources you might need. Students should make sure:
  • The camera is fit for the purpose and capable of capturing high-quality images and sound.
  • The camera is mounted on a tripod. Make sure the tripod is level and adjusted to allow for any necessary panning. 
  • The camera is plugged directly into an AC power supply (where possible). Any trailing leads and extension cables should be taped down securely. 
  • There is enough memory to capture the entire presentation. Clear the hard drive or memory cards in advance of the assessment date, and ensure there is additional storage space at hand. 
  • The camera focus and exposure levels are appropriately set to ensure all the student actors are clearly visible, particularly when any additional lighting is introduced. 
  • The presentation space is sealed off from general access to avoid interruptions and distractions. It is useful to alert passers-by that an examination is in progress through the use of signs outside the space. Audience members should be reminded to switch off their electronic devices completely. 
  • Student actors are given time to walk through their presentation prior to filming, to give an indication of how the space will be used and the most appropriate way of framing each section. It might be a good idea to film the walkthrough to ensure that the recording equipment is in full working order.

Production (During the assessment)

Some suggestions to keep in mind when filming live assessments:
  • Vision and sound are equally important in most video, so learn how to capture good sound as well as good pictures.
  • Check to ensure that the camera is recording before the assessment commences, and leave a few seconds at the end of the assessment before stopping the recording.
  • Camera work should be steady, in focus, well-exposed and well-framed.
  • Try to avoid zooming in and out excessively while filming. A helpful rule to follow is to have a medium close-up on solo presenters or performers (slowly panning as they move left and right), and to move to a still wide-shot when there are groups of student actors or other presentation elements that need to be seen in the shot. 
  • Do not switch off the recording at any point during the presentation.

Post-Production (After the assessment)

​Once the recording is finished:
  • Transfer the video recording to a computer to ensure that the work is backed up.
  • Clearly label the video recording to ensure it is easily identifiable at a later date.
  • Do not alter the video recording in post-production. Sound and brightness levels may be raised where appropriate, but there must not be any other interference with the authenticity of the recording.
​
​For Task 4: 
Collaborative project, students are required to select footage from the video recording to demonstrate their artistic choices. This process will require basic video-editing software to select the footage chosen for submission by each student from the full recording of the theatre piece.
Choosing the Right Moments of Video

The footage from the video recording that the student selects for the examiner needs to show his or her contribution, artistic choices and how these were realized.
 
Students might choose, for example, to select a moment that they had a hand in creating, a section they performed in, a moment they have directed or a moment that shows their lighting design. 

This choice will be dependent on what their focus was in the creation and presentation of the piece.

In order to choose the best footage for the assessment task, students need to be aware of what their contributions to the creation of the piece of theatre were. 

Use the IB handout below to identify your specific contributions: 
What was my contribution?
Individual students can use this form to help them identify their best moments in the video recording of their group's devised theatre piece. Students can, fill in the chart to outline what their responsibilities were in these specialist roles: Creator, Director, Performer, and Designer.

Capturing and Measuring Audience Impact

After the piece of theatre has been experienced by an audience, the students are required to capture and measure the audience’s response. 
Following are some examples you can use to give them some ideas.
​
  • Questionnaires
  • Interviews
  • Surveys
  • Discussion
  • Webpage/wiki/Facebook or social network space specifically dedicated to the production
  • Activities and games
  • A visitors' book
  • Audio recorders
  • Giving out bits of paper and asking people to draw their favourite moment on one side and give a brief explanation on the other 
  • “Vox-popping” individuals' immediate responses as they leave the space, that is, the first three words that come into their head when they think of the performance