My Artefact....

             When it came to my artefact, I struggled a while thinking what would be best? Who was it aimed towards? How would i present it in a form that keep my audiences attention and deliver it in an informative yet creative manner.
               I've decided that I would make a video for my artefact, its a form that I think is highly accessible to my chosen audience.  Performers use online tools to better their affiliations, they also create a profile of themselves to help sell them as a Performer be it: creating a showreel, their own website, using sound bites, contacting agents & producers, searching for audition, or perhaps putting up their CV's and head shots.
              It is also a form of media I enjoy creating and one I believe will get the information I need, out there to an audience that lives and breathes technology in their everyday lives.

Management Troubles

A common enemy is a common issue shared… When in the face of danger, as humans we stick together, we fight, we succeed better in groups…

So, in the case of my cast & I…Our troubles with our management brought us together and we knew, that if need be we can pull it out of the bag if, we put our heads together…

We had a number of days when our management failed to step up and help us when we needed them most… What could we do? Well we had 2 options; one being we could band together to get the job that was needed, done. Or 2, fail and potentially lose our jobs.

A performers nature is a complex one. We have a desire to be recognised for our work, a desire to achieve greatness & a desire to move/please our audience. We are passionate, highly competitive, and yet rely on each other whilst we are working on stage. We know that working together at any time will only benefit us a team rather than hinder it. What is a horse without his legs??? Not much, he would simply fall and be rendered pretty useless. So, despite our competitive nature we understand our strengths and can put aside our differences to achieve our common goal. Our performance.

In our case, we listened to one another, worked out the best strategy to achieve our goal.. Practised it in our given time and Voila! we succeeded! 

But what would happen if everyone was not on the same page? What would be the outcome of the performance? Do the dynamics with a cast actually affect the final outcome?

I am looking into "How the group dynamics within a cast can affect the outcome of a performance", I'm interested to see what the outcome in the end will be? Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.... :)

Procrastinating....

I have been told I am a huge procrastinator when it comes to things I am wary of. And now the time has come to fight this, so I can pass my Module 3.

Where do I begin?

Well whilst I was on the ship I held master-classes (Focus-Groups). Which were a really interesting way of viewing how the cast works together when under stress, when they feel comfortable, and when they are put with people they don't usually work with. I put people who aren't naturally leaders in a leader position to see how the'd cope if given the chance and how the rest of the cast responded to them. I had them over 2 sessions which were an hour each. My focus was all on team-building exercises, as I wanted to observe what happened in each circumstance. It was an enjoyable experience, and an experience that was worth-while and brought some interesting questions up. To be continued....

Did anyone else have any problems finding the motivation and the discipline to sit down and focus on module 3?

The time has come...Module 3

So the time has come for our final module. I am filled with nothing but excitement, that I am one step further to graduating! I know it's going to be hard work, but I'm keen to start and eager to finish, so I can then plan & focus on the next big step in my career, being a proud owner of a BA (Hons) Professional Practice in Performing Arts.

Where will I go? Will the next big thing be a PGCE, as I had originally planned? Or has my mind been opened to new experiences, and changed my direction? For now, I'll keep that to myself until I finish...

How about everyone else? How are you feeling with the impending start date coming ever so near?

Critical Reflection on Professional Practitioner Inquiry

         Module 2 was a definite increase of workload, but also a challenge I actually enjoyed. I’m looking forward to the outcome of my Inquiry Proposal already. My proposal is now all fully planned out, and I don’t think I’ve ever been this prepared for an upcoming project. I am slowly becoming better at time management, although I’m not where I want to be just yet. It’s been hard to balance work and the BAPP course, one I hope to get better for Module 3.  This module was perfectly set up in order to prepare you fully for the upcoming Inquiry Proposal.

Tasks 4 eased you in with tasks 4a http://john-paulbirss.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/4a-my-questions.html & 4c then encouraging you to challenge your own ideas and improve on them. http://john-paulbirss.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/4c-development-of-my-questions.html.  Task 4b was then to help you expand your world and create a SIG, (Special Interest Group). My SIG address: https://www.facebook.com/groups/456490371087989/. It was called ‘Life as a performer on cruise ships’; so far I’ve had a good response to it, with more people every day joining in. Task 4d was the time to decide on our award title, one that I went back on forth on throughout this whole module before setting on BA (Hons) Professional Practice (Performing Arts). http://john-paulbirss.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/4d-my-award-title.html. I decided this was the best decision as it will help me in the future rather than focusing on old dreams, I can encompass them and expand for my future career decisions.

Tasks 5 was a huge challenge for me as ‘Ethics’ is not something we generally think about on a day to day basis, but we actually deal with them sub-consciously every day. So to actually stop and think what are they? And how do they affect me, was like I said a challenge. Here is a hyperlink to my blog: http://john-paulbirss.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/5b-ship-rules-regulations.html. Task 5 was definitely the hardest for me.

Then it came to the Inquiry Proposal itself, I struggled for a while to find the precise title for my Inquiry. I knew what I wanted to include in it, but I didn’t know how to word it? Sitting down and writing this was actually easier than I had originally thought It would be, as the module had prepared me well for what was to come. Even though I didn’t complete the tasks in reader 6, I still was confident in the end that I could write this Inquiry Proposal. The hardest part was actually finding the right literature to go with my own thoughts and ideas for the economy and the entertainment world within the cruise industry, where I had to go on my own experiences rather than information I could find.

To finish, the final product of my Inquiry Proposal is structured to hopefully enable anyone to follow and understand what I am proposing and what to expect within my title. It will be discussing the group dynamics within a cast and the recent economy changes and its effects on performers. Bring it on!

5b – Ship Rules & Regulations

On searching for information regarding the ethics onboard my cruise ship, I found that we have 2 sets of professional ethics. One is the ‘Code of Ethical Business Conduct’ and the other is ‘Crew Guide to Ship’s Rules and Regulations’. Both are given to each crewmember on their arrival day.

After looking through both the ‘codes of conduct’, the ‘Crew Guide to Ship’s Rules and Regulations’ is very close to what I had written in 5a-Professional Ethics, obviously in a lot more depth than my small list that I had written. Discussing life onboard a cruise ship, the do’s and don’ts whilst working, ship terms, safety training & the 68 NCL rules of conduct. The ‘Code of Ethical Business Conduct’ mainly focuses on as it states, the business conduct that is expected of us and crewmembers and ambassadors of Norwegian Cruise line. This focuses on company property, financial interests, relationships, & confidentiality of information.

So I wasn’t too far off, but reading through the material certainly gave me a bigger insight to all the ethics involved in my own company. I actually enjoyed reading through all the usual jargon they gave me rather than tossing it aside, because I actually got some use out of it for BAPP.

5a-Professional Ethics

So this part of the module was the one that bothered me the most and, I was quite frankly a little hesitant to begin it. As ethics is not something that is discussed on a daily basis, however we actually deal with them on a daily basis whether we know or not? Be it in school, work, or out socially. As quoted from the Dictionary: Ethics are ‘Moral principals that govern a person or group’s behaviour’. So every school, workplace and even society has its own set of rules/policies/standards or conventions that help to guide behaviour and conduct.

So looking at my workplace and my cruise line, I started looking our own “guidelines”. Here’s what I came up with:

•         Provide a good product (show).
•         Attend all rehearsals, shows, & warm-ups.
•         Be 15 minutes early.
•         Dress to impress-look presentable.
•         Be courteous, polite & helpful.
•         Smile & say hello!!
•         No fraternising with the passengers.
•         2am curfew.
•         Passengers come first.
•         Zero tolerance to illegal drugs.
•         Alcohol tolerance, nothing above 0.04% on duty, and 0.08% at any time!
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