D Zibaee's Online Journal

When we first got our Stimulus. (Lukas Graham – 7 Year old) we read over the song and listened to the song.  We then proceeded to read between the lines and try to fully understand the song and what it is actually about. We know that the song is very emotional to him and that it is about his father and some of his regrets in life.

After we took our time to understand the piece.  We narrowed it down to the ages Lukas sings about in the song, which was 7,11,20,30 and 60.

For each age we planned out what scene could happen.  As we were a group of 4. It was planned very easily and was successful. Aaron was playing a nurse. Darnell  was playing the older Lukas Graham. Burke was playing Lukas’ mother and I was playing Lukas in all the years till 60.

Darnell starts the scene off as an old man demanding things from his nurse Aaron, then calls him over to tell him story and get it off of his chest. Darnell’s story is split into multiple parts for each age group. He says a line about every age set then Aaron and Darnell freeze whilst me and Bruke act it out In front of them. This proceeds to happen until the very end where the age becomes 60. When the age becomes 60. Darnell walks off of the stage and I proceed to sit where he was and carry on the conversation as I have reached his age and my story was told.

Monologue

When I performed the monologue, I performed it in a shocked and appreciative emotion. I spoke slowly to show the audience that I am out of words to say and am lost at the situation. The situation is that someone random comes and asks for a picture of him and my character. My character had a tough childhood and struggled to get to the point he is now. During the monologue multiple times I stop and think about the situation I am in and ask rhetorical questions like “who would have thought” giving an impact to the reader that I cannot understand the situation and that I finally achieved what I was aiming for.

During the monologue I put my hands on my hips and often stare at the ground or into the distance, I think this is a good show of the characters emotions as it shows that I am contemplating what happened and in dis-belief. Multiple times in the play I repeat my words and take deep breaths. Not because i am failing my character, but because that is the characters reaction.

In my opinion the monologue had a good impact on the piece as it gives the audience a separate one on one view of how he feels internally and not how his parents roles changed him. It shows the inner child in him. The highly wanted wish to be famous and recognized. Even after the troubles he had as a child with his family.

I chose to do a monologue because I feel that I can do very well at expressing a characters emotions through just words and facial movement, In my opinion for the monologue I covered all the fields needed. I spoke my words with true emotion and my facial reactions all fit in well together.

Character Development

Character development was both simple and tricky at the same time, i had to act out my character at the ages of 7, 11, 20, 30 and finally 60. The age range is quite wide so there are multiple ways I need to act in a short amount of time.

I started off at the age of 7, for that age I was sat down quietly leaning back and forth playing video games like a child would, my characters mother would come in and tell me things and I would ignore her for the first time as I am heavily distracted by the game, my mother repeats it for me and I just tell her to go away and that I do not care about what she says and that video games are better. I say this firmly but also childishly as I cannot speak badly. I do not make eye contact and just carry on playing.

My next age is 11, at the age of 11 my character is smoking herb and drinking burning liquor, something which should not be done. My characters mum comes in whilst my door is closed and I am doing the things I should not be doing. My mother knocks on the door concerned and I carry on doing what I want without listening to her. I keep her locked off. In the scene I just slouch in a chair and do the actions of smoking and drinking. Whilst smoking I fake a cough which made it seem even more realistic. My voice is very careless and I speak very rudely to my mum and tell her to go away and that she cant see me at the moment.

I then go on to act the age of 20, at this age I am successful and have been going well in my life. The scene starts with me getting recognised in public and asked for a picture by someone random, the scene freezes and I have my monologue, in this scene I am very natural and do not have any special attributes.

At the age of 30, I am a father and I tell my kids some things about my life, some of the things they should do in life, some of my mistakes they should avoid. I act like a stereotypical dad caring about my kids, my body language is normal and the way I say things is very normal with nothing special being said, just some deep breaths to give the scene an impact.

I then become 60, at this point I replace Darnell on the stage as we are one character, I do not have many words here. I just slowly go to Darnell and take his seat and thank the nurse for listening as the lights fade off.

I chose to do Character Development as I think I can change personalities very quickly and very believably. I think that I covered all ages well and my age was obvious through each scene. I knew that I could improvise from an age very well so I decided to be the actions of the piece. In my opinion the words and actions I made for each age was appropriate and fit in well, it did not make the audience confused about what age my character is. I knew that I could portray the character in the correct way to make the audience enjoy the piece

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we have had to defer the external performance of your “Oh What a Lovely War!” piece until Tuesday 19th of June (a one week deferral).

You will now be timetabled in lessons as normal tomorrow.

Our apologies for the lateness of this notice.

In our performance, we focused on corruption, and how easily someone can be bought over and put the lives of his men on the line, it shows how people profit from the war.

The planning of this performance was very complex, we had to make sure each character had around the same time and was relevant, the general and the business man had to be slightly reduced in terms of lines as the conversation could have went on for much longer, Dillon and Lethanial had a long talk with each other about the things they miss at home, originally their conversation was much shorter but we added in some words so that the audience will like the characters making the story more powerful, lighting and sound was quite difficult to plan, in some scenes we had to mix lightings and in some we improvised, at one point I have a monologue which gives the performance a more powerful story and understanding, and we could not decide a reasonable lighting so we stuck to normal white light, in other scenes however we proceeded well with it, the scene in which Dillons character gets shot we flashed the white light in complete darkness and faded in the red light with lethanial going over to try save him, the red light gave a good image and idea of death in the scene, the sound for the performance was difficult yet simple, there was not really that much sound needed, just some gun fire at perfectly timed intervals, which is quite difficult to explain to a sound guy and not someone in your group.

Originally we planned on lethanial walking into my office, whilst in a hand shake with the business man handing me money, lethanial filled with rage and anger from his brothers death would then walk infront of us, put his hand where his gun would be and the lights would black out right on that time, with just a gun shot and a flash to end the performance, however we came to realise that such an ending would require very good timing, we were recommended to just fade out the lights when lethanial walks in giving the audience a cliff hanger leaving them to think what had just happened, through out the play we planned on making the characters having their own personalities and different every time, my character (the general) is caring but can be bought over, a character that is cared by all he is friends with, harrys character, (the business man) is an arrogant person who is very sly, dillon and lethanial are brothers with the stereo-typical relatioship, one is a sore loser, one always wins, the older one always cares about the younger one like a parent, and they both make fun of each other by bringing up old bad memories.

With that kind of relationship between the brothers it makes anyone with a sibling relate and even those without a sibling will start to like them as a character, the death of dillon is will shock viewers and want lethanial to avenge him.

We have studied many things which can help us with the performance, like the ways money is made through war and how it is something which some people like.

This image shows a lot about it, and it relates to our performance a lot, the war would be good for the general, depending on how you think the ending went, and bad for everyone else who is not in a high position, our performance is not exactly based on a single war, and can be seen as being from any war, as at no point do we name a country or year.

Over all in my opinion however, i do not feel the research was insanely helpful, it gave slight helps here and there but nothing extremely different.

My character is the general, the most important character of this performance, I am given a choice to take the money or to face a huge problem with a business man and my higher ups, either way I take will change everything that happens, every move I make in the performance shapes the next, I tell the soldiers to reduce the numbers from 10 to 2 per post which results in the loss of Dillons character.

My character is also one that in usual military bases is one of the most trustworthy, which can surprise most when you I decide to choose money over the lives of my weapons cache and even my men’s lives.

This image is the moment harry (the business man) approaches me and introduces himself with me paying very little attention until he mentions war business.

This is the moment, the business man offers me money to do the dirty deed, my reaction is clearly shock and anger as seen in the image, My facial expression gives both anger and surprised reactions but my body language is definitely anger, im pressing down on the desk leaning over in an aggressive way.

This is the moment the business brings up the price, making me (the general) interested, as seen in my facial expression, i relaxed my shoulders from the previous scene of anger and give a thinking yet lost facial expression as i am not understanding fully what is happening but the money is tempting.

This is the scene in which i call in my men and tell them the fake news that the enemy has retreated, and that the soldiers will be reduced to 2 per post rather than 10, I am giving an upset, confused and uncomfortable look, my body language is uncomfortable as I do not know what and how to say what i want to say, it is not something easy to tell my men, i am practically leaving them to possibly die with a lie, my facial expression is confused and upset, i rarely look at my men in the eyes, i look around the place as i cannot lie like that to them,

This is the scene in which the job has been complete, dillon and lethanial are in another place but are left in the background to give impact to the performance, me and the business man are congratulating each other on a successful deal and are about to give each other the money, which whilst that is happening lethanial would barge into the room and the lights would fade, in the image harry is pulling out the money whilst i wait, both of us seem pretty good with the outcome, both standing high and not insecure.

These are some of the propaganda posters used during world war 1.

The images are do not show the horrors of the war, they show it as something normal making people want to enlist.

With the theme of world war one there are many props we can use, the guns during the war were not modern and most weapons that you could carry by hand was semi-automatic, the pistols were not advanced and are the iconic symbol of pistols even today, for a prop we can print of a large image of a colt maybe and stick it onto the side of a cardboard cut-out, the helmets used in world war 1 is also a helmet many will recognise, a very inefficient helmet but known by many, and the strap of bullets around the shoulder or waist.

Satire is  the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

Dear Mrs Hopkins,

I came across your piece in my English lesson. I was amazed at how you got away with what you said. You are very obnoxious. You talk about the migrants/refugees like they are meaningless and have no value to the world. I see your opinions as completely irrational and cruel.

You see these people as opportunists and not people who are fleeing for an actual reason. These people are escaping a war which has changed the lives of millions for the worst, they are seeking a better life, somewhere safe. Away from a life that they have to be worried that they would be killed. Somewhere they can be safe with their family. The things you say are shallow and you are not seeing things the way they have it.

Even though their situation is tough enough, migrants and refugees go through a very tough process to make it to the country they end up in. Most of the time, if they go as a group, they lose people. Families losing each other. As if life was not hard enough, they are losing close friends and family. With that said, you still call migrants ‘cockroaches’.

With very simple research I quickly found out even how more wrong you are about the migrants, I found out that migrants bring in more money than they take out. They have contributed £25 billion to the UK’s economy. They work hard but they earn less than any average person from the United Kingdom. Since 2001-2011 migrants have paid 34% in taxes than benefits. Migrants do all of this but are treated worse than others. Even with such a hate towards them. Many of the things we have would not have been available without the migrants, many of the UK’s doctors are from a foreign country. The primary sector is done by migrants, the factory workers are mostly migrants too. Clearly without the migrants, the UK will not be in the good state it is in now.

With migration increasing, the idea of having more nationalities and cultures is not so rare. It brings multiple cultures to one place making the opportunities for new things and methods to be discovered very high. Many times has it happened that migrants have done something for Britain. The migrants that can be taken in to Britain can shape the society for a better way, they can show us different ways to do things. It will also show that Britain is very caring towards other nations and its civilians in its time of struggles.

Britain takes in very few of the refugees. This shows that the false information which has been fed by journalists by you is shaping the nation for the worst. You try to refer to the refugees as migrants to make yourself seem better. You try to hide some of your harsh words from the public which does not give a positive impact for the future, closing the doors to those in need. The bias media coverage from people like you is what makes the country worse, not some migrants and refugees.

After WW1 and WW2, Germany, France and England were in no state of recovery. The countries being in that state meant that people had to migrate away. Most of the migrants travelled to America, which ended up well for America clearly. America became a superpower during those tines, and had many advantages due to the many new nationalities. Lessons can be learnt from those occurrences.

Safety is something all people deserve to have. No matter what country you are from, actions have consequences and one day you will be put in a situation where when you ask for help, backs will be turned towards you. You will be left to face your problems alone.The race of the person seeking help should not matter. As human beings we should be able to happily help each other. That is the point on in which I will leave you on. Use your power in journalism wisely, Miss Hopkins, do not waste such power on opinions like such. Use it on helping form this country to be a better place.

Daniel Zibaee

During drama we have been looking at many images related to war and the stories that could have happened related to the picture, we did a stimulus of poisonous gas, it was a line out of a poem, and we proceeded to silently act out what it would be like

Dear Miss Birbalsingh,

I am writing to tell you why I disagree with your opinion that the London Riots is because of black peoples apparent violent and angry ways. In this letter I will tell you why I disagree with your article.

You start the article by asking, ‘what colour is Mark Duggan?’ By saying this, you automatically show that your article is going to be based around the fact that Mark Duggan is black. You then proceed to say that when you saw the photo you knew ‘instinctively’ that because it is about violence, it must be from someone with darker skin. You then say ‘black youths have once again set London alight’. This suggests that you think the black community have committed crimes to this extent before, and that it is only to one race.

In your next paragraph you say “I’d like to know what they’re angry about. Mark Duggan is dead. He was shot by the police in a shootout.” You show little respect for someone who has been killed with a case which was not solved at the time. We now know that the case ended with the verdict that it was an unlawful killing. Naturally, then, this goes against your argument that Mark Duggan is to blame for his own death. With that you show that you are cold hearted. You use the word ‘dead’ like its a small temporary injury, and not something which changed lives for the worse. 

In the next paragraphs, you talk about someone who was asked about Mark Duggan. She says her words and you say ‘She makes it sound as if the police are killing black people every other weekend and finally someone decided to take a stand’ You basically say that this one killing that has been done is acceptable, and that its not something that happens often, so it should not have a retaliation as such. This does not make any reasonable sense and you are taking the police’s side for no reason.

333 black people have died in police custody without any convictions or suspensions since 1998, this even shows how corrupt their inspection board is (IPCC), they are covering police brutalities and covering the Metropolitan police no matter what the case. Black people are always treated differently, they do not get the same treatment as someone with a lighter skin colour, they are 17.5 times more likely to be stopped and searched by an officer. With all the sly favouritism to light skinned people it is not something to be shocked at when riots break out.

The way things are going, living conditions for black people are getting worse and worse, with an unemployment rate of 8.8% which is almost double the national average, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. This riot did not happen because of only 1 death, this is anger built up over time due to many reasons. Black people seem to have been living under hate and an unfair dislike for a long time, it is predicable that a riot would happen, they have to stand up to racist people and stereotypes and gain justice.

With the retaliation happening, the reasons you give to defend your statements, that black peoples natural violent instincts started the riots. Do not add up, they just show that you are ignorant. You yourself are not white, you are a woman of Asian decent, yet you choose to accuse black people as minors when you are one yourself.

Peace, silence, abnormality and unnatural. All feelings I have standing in this empty stadium right now.

I see the stadium illuminated perfectly, every edge lit, I smell the perfectly cut grass and it gives me an urge to want to run onto the pitch, I feel anxious, though there is nothing happening and the game finished hours ago, it just has an anxious feel to it.

I know it is empty a lot of the time but for some reason it doesn’t feel right. I imagine scenarios in my head of what can happen in the game and what has actually happened; I imagine an amazing goal being scored and the crowd all around me going ballistic, but that’s all an imagination.

Though it’s a football stadium I can still think of many things and remember many memories, as people say an open road helps you think. The same can be said about a stadium.

It doesn’t seem right it being empty but to some its sometimes better like this. Silent yet loud, empty yet crowded.

I look around and see the people on the tour around me and the tour guide speaking but I am sure everyone is listening to their own thoughts and imagining their own image in their head, blocking out all sound without knowing it.

I see the docent slowly leading us to the changing rooms in which we’ve only walked through so far. I and the rest of the group follow along.

I stand in the changing room looking at all the player’s shirts and for some reason I can almost feel the confidence and even nervousness that the players have before the game.

I can smell the room having the champagne scent in it from the players celebrating their courageous win and enjoying it in the changing room, though it was cleaned almost instantly after they left, I can smell it and it puts a smile on my face as it was my team that finished off being the victorious.

The docent then led us to the trophy cabinets and is showing us trophies, I look at each trophy with a newspaper article about it from the time that was published and I imagine the roar of the crowd as the team lifts up the trophy with might, the look of disappointment still on the faces of the team who have lost and the smug look of overwhelming supporters for the team who have won.

I see people looking at the trophies smiling all clearly seeing their own memory of the moment, I hear the people whispering to each other silently to not disturb the silence of the hall.

The docent is now leading us towards the pitch again but this time it was clear we all had a different approach, as if somehow we are motivated and inspired for the game which wasn’t about to take place, the changing rooms and trophy hall have shown their clear purpose and reason in which why they are built in that position of the stadium.

We stood and stared at what is…the mighty Old Trafford.

Daniel Zibaee

As I make my way down Palestine street, I see 40 people crowding a coffin…all crying, hearts broken, lives ruined. This is just a fraction of whats happening in my land….

The streets I always walk down, abandoned. Now a ghost town… the people I always walk by and greet, just walk past me and do not even make eye contact. The mosque which always prays at certain times is now silent, leaving the wind and distant artillery shots to break the abnormal silence.

The buildings I always admire are all scarred with bullets. The school I would always walk by is now smashed and abandoned with the colourful street games now buried in dust and debris.

The bazaar…the place I have walked through everyday for the last 3 years…changed, I do not see anyone I recognize, it is now a beggars shelter with a horrid smell with people squeezing in for security fearing for their lives. A once peaceful joyful area brought to its knees.

Every once in a while I would see something that would take me back to 13+ years ago when we had peace, I would see children skipping in the street and playing football all happy. But that is because they are in shock and are too young to understand. Their eyes wide open like a window to the soul.

I walked down the road to see a lady limping, I place my hand on her shoulder to ask her if she needs help and the second I touched her she put her hands up and froze. Giving a look to me of fear, I was frozen from her stare, my country and my people are suffering. This is not right.

I walk into a coffee shop and see the news talking about my country. Showing my people in its worst state since 4 years ago. Children injured and families all screaming and living in tents. Their homes destroyed and no country to help us. All against us. The TV showing American helicopters shooting down on our buildings, bringing it down like it was a card house. This is my home…I cannot handle this.

Its not fair. We are civilians and have no say, we are not cared about. We are ignored. We do not need to be part of this war and never wished this, yet every day goes by and we still lose close friends and our buildings.

I enter a Mosque and see people crying their eyes out holding on to each other. Praying for this disaster to end, for the daily suffering to stop, for the innocent to not die unnecessarily. I see blood across the floor. I feel grief and powerless. I do not feel like I have a say even in my own country.

As I made my way down Palestine street, I do not feel like I am home.

Daniel Zibaee