DI Online?

With lots to improve from the previous presentation, we had set goals for provincials. However, with certain circumstances, we would soon find out DI was cancelled by the government. Our PLP class was then going to do it in class and then school was cancelled. Resorting to the final option we chose to present our performance on an online call. Reworking our presentation to fit in virtually served some difficult challenges but they weren’t impossible.

The difference in scenarios was unique and a thing to get used so we needed to rehearse as a group on Zoom. We reviewed the basics of Zoom and our presentation, issuing how to portray our deliverables so they can still be recognizable. On the day we joined the meeting and presented how we planned to. The presentation still followed the same storyline but with a few additions to the lines. We weren’t able to show all the stuff we made because it was stuck at school but we had to use the items at our homes for the same effect.

Once we heard “start” we went right into the action. Usually when beginning Angelo would narrate while we set up but now online we had nothing to set up. When characters weren’t in the scene we would turn off our cameras dividing all the attention to one or more people. Using virtual backgrounds we showed where we were which it worked perfectly. I thought our acting was really good despite not being in the same room. At parts, there was lag which made it difficult to perform and froze the video. Luckily none of the lag spikes came in transitions to my parts so the performance went smoothly.

However, with DI, you can’t forget about the instant challenge, counting for a quarter of the points. The challenges were unique in the zoom call and it was a different experience. We still had roles, all contributed ideas as we would and followed the same principles as we learnt in previous instant challenges.

So what did we improve from regionals to “provincials.” Everything is the answer, all our deliverables required improvement because were only scoring half the possible points. After hearing of the cancellation we could have just slacked off and shown no improvement but we chose to try our best at improving. For every category, we planned how we were going to fix it and then correlated it to a burndown chart to show how much work we had left. We didn’t use this tool that much this time around but it was great having. We didn’t finish everything though, and in the last week, we tweaked minor things to have a finished product.

Our biggest problems we fixed involved the story, TCE’s (team choice elements), props, acting and the snapshot. The story, graded by the appraisers, was not creative, dramatic or any of the subcategories because we received half points for almost everything. We fine-tuned areas and added more dramatic parts for higher grades. Trying to incorporate the main elements of the challenge was made more effective and would flow better. Following the story, we tried to improve our snapshot painting and its effects. In this instance, the work we did was not used and put to waste. According to the appraisers our TCE’s were lacklustre so we modified the music to fit better and added more details to our snapshot background. We decided to add more categories we wanted to improve our acting skills and our props we used. The acting practice helped in the final presentation. Instead of fighting with our groups, the biggest fight came was against ourselves trying to improve.

Rather than repeating the same things as the last post, I am reflecting on the difference this time. As a collective group, we dove headfirst into the problem of reworking our presentation online. I researched 70s houses and found an image for the background. We used Asha’s previous drawing of the snapshot background for when I was outside. Using items in my house I replicated the props in the zoom call. We understand the emotions that are supposed to occur at certain points so it makes acting easier when you know what emotions you need to portray.

This journey has been stressful, chaotic and tiring but in the end, it has always been fun creating something. You feel proud of your work and happy that you finished everything. This year was obviously different than most, being a part of history. Even though DI was cancelled it all worked out and we got to show our final work.