MYP: Melodrama
Key concept: relationship
Related concept: audience, presentation, expressions
Global context: fairness and development
Statement of inquiry:a hero saves the day in Melodrama to ensure that justice and peace will overrule the destroying plans of evildoers
Inquiry question: •will the hero always destroy the evil plans of the villains to save the day?
•will melodrama always have a happy ending
•must all stories have a happy ending?
• will good always win against evil?
•. How can the world become a better and more peaceful environment for all?
Homework
My first homework in the topic melodrama was choosing 3 different stocks from melodrama characters and post an annotated still image of ourselves costumed as them then explain why it makes the picture be the character. I did the villain, the maiden and for me, maiden was the easiest since I could manage to imagine what to use for myself to be the character. When I was doing the villain, I had to borrow my fathers tie, jacket, and I had to remake the hat since I couldn't find any tall hat that makes me look villainy.
Villain 
The picture above is the villain. I made myself look villainy by putting on the make up which is a big mouth and dark circle around my eyes. I have also added a touch to a hat to make it look taller since most of the villain had a tall hat which is black and has red line around it. The first image that came up in my head when I think how villain would look like, it was red black. This is the reason why I only used those two colours for my costume. I used freaky fingers to frighten the maiden.
Henchman 
The picture above is the henchman. I wore the bow tie since villain wears
the tie. At the same time, henchman does the work for villain, that's why I am holding a bomb to show as if I was doing the work for the villain. Next thing is the hat. The sidekick doesn't wear a tall hat for most of the time. In addition, the henchman is a bad guy, but not as much as the villain is. This is the reason why I did not use the colour such as black and red for the sidekick. I tried to make my face look even a little villainy but because I never made a face like that before, it was difficult.
Maiden
The two pictures above is the maiden. Since the maiden is usually fashionable, I wore a dress, wore high heel shoes and carried a bag that suits the colour of the dress. Only for the maiden , I used a filter (Chrome) since the colour was vague before I used them. I wore a light lipstick. The maiden was probably the easiest one since I could imagine how I should dress and use immediately when I was told about the homework. The picture that I have imagined for this situation was the maiden before knowing about the evil plan of the villain.
Train Track Terror
I chose to do Nadia's group's performance.
The group's good points are: -they used overreaction (voice) to show that it is a melodrama.
-the characters fitted very well
-they memorized most of the script in a short time.
The improvements that could be made is: -give more gestures to show the audiences clearly.
-Not to be quiet when they made a mistake in the act.
-Give some sound effects of the train coming.
Props that may be used is: -bright coloured cape for the hero
-tall hat for the villain
-dress for the maiden
Although I have made some improvement points, I think their overall standard of the performance was very high. They projected their voices very well, and they thought of the way to do a performance with 3 people, although they needed 4 people for this task.
Drama reading comprehension task
Which century did melodrama develop?
-Melodrama developed in 19th century in France
Why is it called melodrama?
-It is called melodrama because the word 'melo' came from music/melody to heighten the emotional impact off the audience.
Why was melodrama so popular?
-It was popular because it was a mixture of violence, romance and sentimentality which was short but full of action
List three segments of melodrama and what action does each involve?
-The three segments of melodrama are provocation, pangs and penalty. Provocation includes initial cause for setting action. Pangs include consequential sufferings of the good and innocent characters. Lastly, penalty includes last minute twist of fate. Wicked characters have their plan failed
What are some conflicting themes a melodrama usually explore?
-violence, romance and sentimentality
Are the characters life-like or stereotyped?
-It is rather stereotyped since it was not meant to be life-like
What is the difference between faithful servant and maid servant?
-Faithful servant provides comic relief and does dirty work where as maid servant flirt with the faithful servant.
What is aside?
-Aside is where any character speaks directly to the audience to reveal the plan or thought.
