Project reflection

  For the project, my group and I have already finished the script, stage effects and the first draft of filming. These combined together took us one week.
  It's really been a tough process for my group, especially at the beginning. Most of the group members were lacking understanding to the movie, and I have to admit that I'm still having troubles comprehending a few parts of the plot. Movies are usually consist of complex scenes, and our chosen work is a great example of that. The combination of flashbacks really made our scene selection process hard. Each flashback moment is related to one of the question that's been asked in the show. There were so many scenes that could be used but we have to gave up some and arrange for the best. Another problem was that it was hard for us to come up with ideas of designing details. We tried to mimic the movie as much as possible, but I still think my group's performance lacks creativity and thoughts. It's hard to describe cultural aspects when we don't know about it. There's a gigantic gap between our performance and the movie. The movie was full of depressed emotions and scenes that make people reflect a lot, while our performance is plain and bored. Lastly, the issue that's bothering us the most is that we are not able to show how the flashback scenes are connecting to the questions. In the script, my group cut too many scenes that might well-explain the plot's logic. For example, one of the questions was "Which U.S president is on the one hundred dollar bill?". The main character - Jamal was supposed to answer the question from recalling memories that appeared in the flashbacks. But we gave really vague explanation in the flashback scene, since it's much shorter than the original scene. Many said that they could not get the idea.
  However, there are a few things that are going well for us.  Cooperating is essential for a teamwork. There's almost zero conflicts in our group and we feel comfortable working with each other. So new ideas are keep coming out and we really are trying to improve this project. The first thing that we have to solve is the comprehension problem. How the audience are able to understand our work? We started to create lines and scenes that can help explaining the connection. For example, in one of the "present" scenes(during the show), Jamal will whispering that "I remember when I took the money.." to connects to the last flashback. Another new line that shows the identity of flashback scene was added in when Jamal says: "I remember when I was little..." And actually turns to the audience and think. I felt like this works better for the transition part.
  For me, individually, I think my acting skills are still not utilizing well during the performance. My group did not practice efficiently before the actual filming, so that's something that we have to make up later. I need to remember my lines better and be more emotional. These are really the most basic things for performing but I'm still doing a horrible job. I can admit that a great part of the reasons that the show is not good enough is because of my wrong attitude.
  I believe that we are going to do better in the rest of the time, since we still have great team spirit and atmosphere. It just take each one of us more time to reflect and improve.