A Little Local Theater....Assassins!

Last night we went to see Perry's show, Assassins. It was fun to see a live performance because everything becomes a lot more real to you since the characters are basically right there in front of you. You may not get the special effects of Hollywood but its fun to have a front row seat (and we did!) to see the action that is going on on stage. It was also great because we actually got to see Perry on stage performing to his fullest. I liked saying that I personally knew one of the actors in the show.

Assassins was different from what I'd expected. I assumed it would be another history lesson on people that have killed presidents. Instead it was told from the side of the assassins in a not so depressing way so it wasn't at all boring. What really kept my interest was all the songs that the characters sang - they weren't so serious, actually they had a comic overtone. They told the story with sort of a carnival background "Win a prize try to kill a President." Instead of just having one person come out at a time and tell their story they made it seem like they were all friends and tied all their assassinations in together with one another.

Seeing the way the actors portrayed the characters was good for me - It was great to see all the different kinds of emotions coming out of each person they played. They didn't have to be sad all the time they could go from mad to even happy or just crazy. It's good to know the different type of acting techniques that people can do on stage. I love seeing different styles and ways people act. It's like a mini acting lesson for me.

I love acting, especially in musicals. When I go see plays it only helps me get more into what I am doing because I have a chance to see how other actors work in their space, with their characters, and in the performance they are doing.

Even though it was a small space, the performers used all the open areas they could find to perform in making us feel like we were involved in what was going on in that scene. At Zeum we could do the same we have a lot of space and its fun to use it all because you get a bigger effect when you take up all you have. We could use things like the spiral walkway to do something fun or the metafield maze to get everyone involved. What if??

An special addition to getting treated to a performance was we got CREAMPUFFS that Ari bought for us. They were vanilla and strawberry and extremely good and we ate almost all of them. Good show and good creampuffs.

Spoken Music: Fran Varian visits Zeum

This morning Ari's friend, Fran Varian came and talked to us - she is a spoken word artist. I might have mentioned spoken work in my project in media and self image because that's how I'm performing it. Spoken word is a kind of performance art in lyrics, poetry, and stories are spoken instead of sung. So it's like talking music.

Fran gave us a insight into the world of spoken word like slam poetry, which is a competition with eight people who have two minutes to make up their own piece of work and get judged by random people from the audience. Wow that must take extreme talent to make up something in two minutes... it takes me weeks to come up with something even close to a poem.

The artistic process is different for everybody... but I'm seeing that the base of a spoken word poem is to "be vulnerable". A lot of artists write about things that are really personal. This can be hard because people feel uncomfortable but also really easy because you are writing about a subject you know the most - yourself. When you talk about yourself lots of people might respond to it because they might have felt the same way or had the same experiences.

I have never really performed as myself - I'm use to getting characters and being someone else. But I can be someone else and even be myself at the same time. I talked about this with Fran and the group. Even in getting a script and being a different character can be a way to "be vulnerable".

Fran told us about an organization called Youthspeaks.org it helps teens get into spoken word. It gives them a chance to really have a voice and express their feelings, opinions.

I'm using spoken word in my project so it was good chance to hear about her process and actually hear one of her poems. It was cool because the hardest part for me was to get down and write what I wanted to say. Hearing Fran talk about her process of writing made working on my project a little bit easier. I never thought of myself as a writer but in reality if you write something down on paper you're a writer.

Hello, it's Summer

Summer at Zeum can be crazy. Instead of being here one day a week we practically live at Zeum working weekdays also. Oh my God waking up early going to work everyday how BORING!!!! Actually coming to Zeum for my first summer made my summer so much more fun and interesting. Coming into my first work experience ever I wasn't too ecstatic about that I mean I wouldn't get to spend my summer sleeping in bed all day.

Zeum isn't the typical white collar job. Starting my first summer I have to say it was confusing after all the fun and games of the scavenger hunt and games it was time to get down to work. All the exhibits all the buttons. Going through various workshops and trainings I felt like I was going to forget all the things when and why I suppose to push things turn on things.

It was so hard recording people the first time I even forgot to tell somebody to use the microphone at the main gallery and you couldn't hear them on the video. After some bad tapes, changing floppy disks in DW, and learning pretty good animation I can be proud to say I'm a certified expert (there are still slight mistakes here and there) in all the rooms.

This month it will have been one year that I've worked at Zeum.

Yesterday, I graduated from high school. Because of Zeum, I have experience in the work field so that when I get another job (hopefully one as fun as this) I will know the basic groundwork for working.

I also got to use my performance skills at Zeum. Being here helped me develop my talents while working. Having fun while working - I never thought that was a possibility.

So now I want to go to AMDA American Musical Dramatic Theater Academy to study musical theater. for now, I'm going to San Francisco City College to study musical theater - I guess I'm still going to stay in San Francisco for a while.

Now that this is my last summer at Zeum I plan not to totally forget what I have learned. I know that now once I get in front of a camera I'll be prepared for what do thanks to the production stage. Excellent.

Happy Birthday Michelle!

Angee swears she can't help making this face in every single picture.











There's nothing like chocolate cake in the animators studio at the end of a busy Sunday at Zeum. These pics are from Michelle F.'s birthday cake eating festivities.

Poetic Heroes

Hero.

"A woman/man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for their brave deeds and noble qualities. The principal female/male character in a story, play, film, etc."

Well, that's how Webster's dictionary defines hero. But for me a hero is more than someone I admire it's people who help me make up what I am today. There are many heroes in my family that I love and respect but to go deeper, my more personal are people who I admire in the industry that I hope to go into, media.

For my end of the year project at Zeum I am working on Media and my self image - how people in the media have affected who I am and inspired me to go further with whatever I chose to do. Like Gaby's but different. The people who I feel closely connected to are Oprah Winfrey, Queen Latifah, and Will Smith, not only are they successful in the roles they play on screen and on stage but being African American they have became respected in anything they choose to do.

There are so many people that I could look up to, why are these people what's so special? Will Smith and Queen Latifah are both singers in the hip hop business and Oscar nominees. They all are able to do a wide variety of performances like from comedy to drama, to musicals. They're all entrepreneurs. Oprah is a great inspiration because she also came from a background of severe poverty. These are people who do work for their communities.

To deliver my ideas for this project, I'm going to do a spoken word performance. Now, at first I wasn't so sure about spoken word, it is a type of performance, but not like any I ever done before.

I tend to lean more toward to stage performance where I'm given a script and and I act out a character. Through this project though, I can perform alone, myself - which it's hard to say, but it might be the hardest role I have yet to experience. Kwesi and Ari explained the concept of spoken word and other things I can do with different types of media. I get to learn more about this type of performance and work on being able to get my ideas onto paper and on stage.

No Fear on Stage

Hey this is MICHELLE F.. I want to write a little bit about performing.

I've performed in the plays and musicals at my high school for the past 4 years I am currently in the musical Meet Me in St. Louis.

I've been working here as a zeummaster for about 11 months soon to be a year. That's right. And there are many performance opportunities at Zeum.

Music Production Lab...Production Stage... music is a big part of my life something I can't live without.

I am able to use the skills I've been cultivating at acting at school here by making my own performances in MPL and at the Production Stage, and giving tips to kids who are shy. I come up with ideas on what they can do and even work with them if they need extra help ..so they don't feel so nervous. I like seeing them being able to perform something and really breaking out of their shells and being creative. The visitors have a lot of fun doing performances and are often ecstatic that they can take their work home and show their families.

Oh...and I have ideas for workshops that revolve around performing and making performances.

I think can help visitors learn a little more about what they can do. They can work on ideas for script and even go further and get a little technique like vocal warm ups to get ready for the show and performance technique they can learn a variety of things that can contribute to their video make it more developed then it normally would in a typical Zeum visit.

I have been performing for almost half of my life and it is a great thing. I never really took it seriously till about sophomore year of high school - that's when I decided that this is what I really love and what I want to continue for the rest of my life. Performing means to me being able to express myself. Performing helped me break out of being shy and sculpted me to be very outgoing and like one of the "drama kids" at school. Even when I am having a bad day I can always (even though it may be extremely tedious) rehearse for the current play or musical because on stage I can express my self let my anger out through song and whatever character I am trying to convey.

Performing has changed my life. It's given me a chance to be creative with myself and things around me. I have learned how to be different in a way that suits my personality. Usually with my friends I am the more outgoing and loud one.

I'm not scared to play any character. I'm able to get crazy. Like everything from the female basketball player in "Shooting Starts'' to a trumpet playing entertainer in "Gypsy". I'm learning what's possible, what I can do.