Serial Killers

What Possesses a Man to Kill???

From our Short stories we notice most of them had elements of violence and murder so we began to look at characteristics of a serial killer.

Characteristics of a serial killer 

http://truecrimes.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/serial-killer-characteristics/

De-constructing Fairy tale

Fairy tales - Walt Disney!!

Walt Disney fairy tales are reconstructions of the Grimm brothers stories. These often contained:

• Once upon a time
• Prince and Princess
• Talking Animals 
• Good and Evil
• Eternal Sleep
• Forest
• Happily ever after

Fairy tales - Grimm Brothers 

Grimm Brothers are old gruesome stories which usually consist of:

• Murder
• Rape 
• Cannibalism 
• Violence 
• Incensed
• Paedophilia 

 Exercise

We set ourselves a task on creating our own short story.  I like the concept of using a fairy tale with the same qualities from the Grimm Brothers.  For my story I decided to De-construct Hansel and Gretel.

Hansel and Gretel

I took Hansel and Gretel and changed the aesthetics with a paedophilia twist.

There was a man who would lure children deep in the woods by offering them candy.  When they were in his cabin he would abuse them, rape them, burn their bodies and scatter their ashes around the forest.  A middle age couple were on a walking that day and notices smoke in the distance.  When they found out what the man had been doing they informed the police.  

The man was convicted of  21 life sentences which he admitted to. After only serving three months he was reported missing.  2 days later he was found in one of the prisons Large ovens where he had been locked in and burnt alive.

Narrative

Park Bench


From the creation of our characters we began to put them on THE PARK BENCH.

Park Bench is an exercise where a group take on a specific character and interact which each other on a park bench.  This builds a better understanding of your chosen character and helps build your improvisation skills.

Park bench was an extremely fun but challenging task.  Our created characters were put in situations such as meeting for dinner, going on dates, loving for a pet and overall curiosity of others being there.

From this exercise we were able to begin to create a background for our characters.

Interviews


Interviewing our characters was another task which we attempted.  From this exercise it gave us the opportunity to explore the characters lifestyle and past on a larger scale.

questions were asked:

• Where were you born?
• How is the family?
• How old are you?
• Are you married?
• What do you do for a living?

Characterisation 7/02/2012

Creating a character through the lyrics of a song
Song choice: Thunder - Love walked in 

Lyrics:                                                                                           ------: Key Lines

So tired of waiting I walked an empty land

I was looking for something to help me understand

But bad luck kept turning my dreams into sand

I didn't want pity, I had my share of friends

I wanted somebody more special than the rest

I was aching inside like I was approaching the end

Just about that moment the timing was so right

You appeared like a vision sent down to my life

I thought I was dreaming when I saw you that night

That's when love walked in through my door

That familiar feeling I had once before

Love walked in through my door

And it felt so strange

It's hard to remember being on my own

That kind of loving makes a hard man lose control

But I sleep so much better now I'm not alone

So promise me baby you're always gonna stay

I don't think I could take it seeing you walk away

You don't need to doubt it, I remember that day

That's when love walked in through my door

That familiar feeling I had once before

love walked in through my door

And it felt so strange

Like a long lost friend that hadn't changed

Giving me hope again

Love walked in

Love walked in

Just about that moment the timing was so right

You appeared like a vision sent down to my life

I thought I was dreaming when I saw you that night

From these lyrics I have come up with these characteristics:

• Full of Heartache 
• Lonely
• No Confidence 
• Could be Clingy
• Takes love very seriously 
• Thinks the world of a certain Girl

From these Characteristics we created a short monologue from the first-person perspective:

For so long I have been a man longing for something extraordinary.  I have been searching for that one special thing everyone wants, so much that the agony has been tearing me up inside.

It’s insane how much your life can change within a few seconds.  I met a girl not so long ago, and call me crazy but I think she might be the one.  I know the feeling when I get it.

I now have everything I ever wanted but I am scared it won’t last.

First Rehearsal 6/02/2012

Individual Idea Research


What ideas I would like to experiment with:


Slow Motion:  I have been watching slow motion videos on-line which I have found extremely interesting.  Taking something tiny and slowing down its action creates amazing images.  The same could be related to the movements of the human body in action, if the actions of the body were suddenly slowed down it could create some really beautiful images.  Actions such as    - Running
                                                                        - Swimming
                                                                        - Karate
                                                                        - Pakour
                                                                        - Dancing.


Neon Paint:  This is something I have always wanted to experiment with as I find it can bring a certain atmosphere to the working space. plus this is something I haven't seen being put into practice on the stage before.
The whole stage is blacked out, 2 black-lights on at each side of the space, performers have colourful neon paint on there hands and feet walking/dancing/flipping around the space would create an amazing image on stage.


Hidden Talents: Exploring hidden traits we didn't know about each other to perhaps include within the piece.
Myself:     I play drums
                Not afraid of getting hurt
                Dancer
Stephen:   Can sing 
                Great at Burkoff Mime
                Great with accents
Ben:         Great at improvising with objects
                Plays guitar
                Technician
Ollie:        Writing text/poems
                Dancer
Jen:          Writing text/poems
                Dancer
Cris:         Not afraid to get hurt
                Dancer
                Great with accents
Elivia:       Dancer
Natalie:    Dancer