Measuring Orchestra Members

Poole Lighthouse Theatre

Emily Hudson measuring orchestra member.

As part of this project we are working and the show will be performed with the assemble Kokoro and they will be costumed for the performance in WW1 uniforms. Today Grace Mortlock, Rose Tyack, Emily Hudson and I went to the Poole Lighthouse to measure a few of the musicians that will need costumes. This was an exciting chance for Emily and I, as makers, to meet some of the orchestra members and gain a valuable experience working with an outside group. We arrived early and set up our space for working. We had measurement sheets at the ready and decided to work in pairs; this way we had someone doing the actual measuring and someone writing. It was a good system since it was fairly speedy and we were able to measure two performers at a time. This was also my first experience working with the film crew that is making the documentary about the performance. I think it went very well. I tried to be friendly and approachable. We made sure to ask them about any special costume needs they may have. For example one of the performers mentioned there couldn't be anything around her neck or on her shoulder because that is where her violin sits. Another mentioned that there can't be anything hard right around her middle because it will affect how her instrument is held. These are easy enough problems to fix or avoid so it is good to get that information now before anything is ordered or altered.

Evaluation:

This was a great opportunity to gain some experience working with performers outside of school. They were all very friendly and I think excited about what's to come. It was useful working in pairs and I think if I was going to measure anyone for a live project I would always take someone with me to assist. Being prepared was also an important factor to making this a successful trip. Having the measurement sheets and measuring tape ready was good, however I forget to get a long length of cotton tape before leaving the school. Luckily Emily had some in her bag we were able to use. I also think I would have taken more photographs because even though I am not making their costumes a visual reference would have been helpful for possible alterations and maybe even for ordering. I can imagine this trip is very common when working on a live production and it was a valuable experience.

Poole Lighthouse picture citation: Poole Lighthouse Theatre. (n.d.). [Online Image]. Available from: http://www.tourismleafletsonline.com/theatres/Poole-Lighthouse-Theatre.jpg. [Accessed 15 October 2011].