IB THEATRE Independent Project Portfolio (IPP) - Hints & Tips Sheet

IB Theatre THE INDEPENDENT PROJECT PORTFOLIO

PLEASE NOTE: Most of the advice below applies to students following IPP Option A

1. INTRODUCTION I recommend writing an introduction of perhaps 3-500 words to state the objectives you have for your Independent Project. In fact I ask my students to do this well before they even start on any practical work it serves as a sort of pitch and helps focus your objectives. Also, if you dont state your objectives you cant reflect later on whether or not you met them! Specifically I think you should clearly outline the three most crucial, interconnected aspects of your IP, any one of which could have been the starting stimulus for your project but all of which are fundamental to it and need to be expounded: 1) What is the specific theatrical role you are tackling for your Independent Project (ie Director, Writer, Performer, Designer, etc), why are you taking on this particular role and what skills do you think you will need to develop? Is this an area of theatre youve become particularly interested in during the course? Is it an area you feel wasnt particularly well-developed on the course and youd like to explore for yourself? What are the skills you think youll need? Does it give you the opportunity to combine and synthesise several different skill-sets youve acquired throughout the course, as well as acquire new ones? 2) Why are you tackling the particular project or subject matter youve chosen, what attracted you to it and what do you hope to learn? Is it in an area of special interest or relevance to you personally, ie cultural, psychological or social affairs? Perhaps its something youve seen or been involved with before and felt you could do better? NOTE: If youre working on a published play dont bother with a plot synopsis as this takes up far too many words. But do be sure to state clearly which version or translation you are using and why you selected that particular one. 3) Your chosen Theatre Practitioner or Practice (HL only) Your IP (at HL) MUST be underpinned by a theatrical practice - this needs to be fundamental to the whole reason you are taking it on, and not just something you bolt on retrospectively after youve finished the project. Explain why you think this practice fits with, or even deliberately clashes with, your IP material.

International School of Geneva ~ La Chtaigneraie Theatre Department

Page: 1 of 6

IB THEATRE Independent Project Portfolio (IPP) - Hints & Tips Sheet

2. SECTIONING THE PORTFOLIO Its important to think early on and carefully about how you want to divide up your IPP into sections, and this might be quite different depending on what sort of role you are taking on; a design Portfolio is probably going to have quite different section headings to one that covers acting or directing. However you choose your sectioning, remember that examiners are looking for evidence of Preparation, Action and Reflection in each section. If youre stuck on how to differentiate Preparation from Action start asking yourself What did I need to prepare/ design/research to get this job done?, and then How did I actually execute it? For example, if you are directing for your IP then your Preparation might include a detailed rehearsal plan for several workshops with the actors on Meisner technique, whereas Action might include some photos of the workshops and a description of how you altered your blocking and characterisation as a direct result of what came out of your workshop. Reflection also needs to run throughout every section of the portfolio and not just lumped into a single discrete section at the end - see the separate paragraph on this below. Dont be afraid to use sub-sections - even use a whole fresh page (or sequence of pages) for each sub-section (ie if youre directing you might have a whole section on working with the designers and then one sub-headed page on set-design, one on lighting etc). Its much easier to edit and update (as well as mark!) sections too if theyre sub-divided into discrete pages.

3. INDEPENDENCE Its worth saying a word about the obvious requirement for the Independent Project to be, well, independent work. In a situation where students are just following orders for an IP - ie where their Theatre Practice is handed to them on a plate by someone else and they are basically told where to stand and what to do throughout the project - it becomes very difficult for them to show genuine independence and score well in Criteria A. Personally, I believe that an IP cannot and should not be a project directed by their teacher; facilitated yes, but not directed, and certainly not given artistic guidance. To a student doing a setdesign IP I might facilitate by saying You cant put an entrance there because it will block the theatre fire exit; but I wont direct by saying; I think you should have another entrance there to balance the flow of stage traffic. The more independent the Project is, the more it produces Portfolios that have reflective depth and show development of skills.

4. ACTION PLANNING Examiners are very fond of Action plans and these can indeed be very helpful in demonstrating a coherent approach to your chosen task. Using an action plan to fully express the sentiment behind: Ill need to get this job done by then and will involve these people, also gives you rich opportunity for reflection when things dont quite go according to plan. Things rarely do in theatre, but figuring out why it turned out differently from what you planned - either positively or negatively - is a healthy part of the assessment criteria. There are many examples of how to draw up good action plans online.

3. INSPIRATION For inspiration include absolutely everything that may have inspired you and any part of the work youre undertaking for your Independent Project - be sure to reference everything meticulously. Obviously in most
International School of Geneva ~ La Chtaigneraie Theatre Department Page: 2 of 6

IB THEATRE Independent Project Portfolio (IPP) - Hints & Tips Sheet cases at Higher Level your chosen practitioner should be the primary influence on most area of the project, but there are always other influences that you will want to combine with this: historical, cultural, fashion, literary, films, visual art, etc. With that said, be wary of over-crowding your Portfolio with influences - too many can dilute the central paradigm of your chosen practice and result in a loss of focus and depth when you already have so much to reflect on.

5. RESEARCH Remember there are two different kinds of research in theatre: a) Preparative/Academic Research: Research into the actual topic your piece deals with, ie Bosnia during the war in 1992 Research into the practitioners you might be referencing in your work, ie how Brecht used Epic Theatre to parody the rise of Fascism b) Actionable/Physical Research can mean something different but just as valid in artistic terms; theatre research can also mean research into your own physical capabilities, or that of the ensemble - trying out theories/ideas in rehearsal is research. Grotowski called his theatre group a Laboratory and its often helpful to think of your research, and indeed your whole IP in these terms.

6. REGISTER OF THE PORTFOLIO Dont write an essay! This is a Portfolio. Pictures are worth a thousand words and, what is more, brief captions of visual images give you the opportunity to describe things much more concisely without eating into your word-count. Your portfolio should be brimming with drawings, labelled diagrams, side-bars, colour/fabric swatches, caption boxes - anything visual is always helpful! (Notwithstanding that this is often difficult for students opting for a playwrighting IP.) Number all your images Fig. 1, 2, 3 etc - this makes referencing in your text clearer to follow, for example On the raised area of the set (see Fig. 34). Use your body text mainly to justify your decisions rather than simply repeat what can already be seen in an image. For example, if youve included a sketch of a set design dont waste your precious word-count by simply repeating: My set will be in the round with the audience sitting all around; instead say something like: Setting this piece in the round (see Fig:21) will enhance the impact of the message by bringing the audience much closer to the action.

7. ALTERNATIVE IDEAS Examiners are very keen on seeing evidence of concepts, design ideas and themes that you rejected on your way to settling on the ones you accepted - for example, three different set design sketches and captions explaining what was good/bad about each and why you selected the one you did. [Note: The professional world works like this too - showing a director a portfolio that includes how you arrived at your final design is much more likely to get you hired than the design itself; he/she wants to know if youre the sort of open-toideas person they can work with.] Evaluating and selecting from a range of alternate ideas this shows how your thought process and decision-making matures during the IP. Modern examination culture perpetuates the belief that students are somehow obliged to show the perfect right answer to everything all the time. As artists we know of course that this does not and should not apply to theatre, and there are points available in the IPP grading for demonstrating that a range of creative options have been considered before one is selected - this also helps greatly show the development of ideas that is so important throughout the portfolio.

8. REFLECTIONS
International School of Geneva ~ La Chtaigneraie Theatre Department Page: 3 of 6

IB THEATRE Independent Project Portfolio (IPP) - Hints & Tips Sheet These really need to be as deep and personal as possible and should run through every section of your Portfolio. Its not enough just to write a list of how The Rehearsal or The Show actually went, what went wrong/right, how brilliant or disastrous your contribution was and what the audience thought of it, although all this can certainly be discussed. You need to reflect in depth on what resulted from each decision you made in any given section and what you skills you acquired along the way from the process that led to that particular outcome. You wont get extra marks in a Maths exam for solving an equation and then reflecting on how you felt while you were solving it but in Theatre this is gold-dust! A comment like: I could feel myself improving as a Director as I introduced more structure to my rehearsal process, is likely to weigh heavily in your favour as it shows both personal reflection and development of skills. Try to keep your reflections on Theatrical topics. You may indeed have felt frustration/disappointment/anger/ joy at various stages throughout your project but you dont necessarily score points in the IPP assessment for emoting all of this at length. It was really annoying when Sam didnt show up for rehearsal (again!!!) because he had a basketball game scores no points; Printing a detailed rehearsal schedule in advance would have helped with cast absences, does score points. What you do score points for is a self-assessment of how you are growing into the role you took on, what you are learning along the way about that role, and how the project feels in the context of the whole IB Theatre course. Another important thing to include here is how coherence is achieved (IB Guide, 2007, p30) - a core learning outcome of the whole IB Theatre Syllabus is an ability to see how all the pieces fit together into a whole. So in addition to discussion on how all the individual elements of your Independent Project worked or didnt work, consider how they all fitted together and whether or not this made the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Did the lights fit with the costumes? Did your chosen acting style work with the text? Did the space help or hinder the action? If you are reflecting on an Independent Project that has been performed in any conventional sense (ie Option A) then I think you simply must do some research on getting feedback from the audience that can help you evaluate how successful you were with your goals. I dont think its enough to express only your own thoughts on how it went. A Question & Answer session with the audience afterwards can be very helpful in this regard - especially when its you who ask the questions! Ask the audience what they thought about your performance concept, Did they get it? Did the costumes work with the apparently contradictory time period? etc. Your Independent Project is unlikely to be an entirely solo effort - youve almost certainly had to collaborate with other people at some stage, and so you should certainly include an assessment of the collaborative process in your reflections.

9. CONCLUSION Perhaps it helps here to think of the whole IP process a bit like a scientific experiment, and indeed the process of theatre can often be usefully considered in this way (think of Grotowskis Laboratory again). Youve planned the experiment (Preparation) collected all the data that came out of your Independent Project (Action), analysed it all (Reflection), and now need to prepare a summary statement (Conclusions). With this in mind, your conclusions might: revisit the objectives you outlined and/or theories you wanted to test out in your introduction and discuss whether they hold or not (for example: In conclusion, Stanislavsky can work with Beijing Opera under certain conditions, etc...)
International School of Geneva ~ La Chtaigneraie Theatre Department Page: 4 of 6

IB THEATRE Independent Project Portfolio (IPP) - Hints & Tips Sheet Summarise the skills youve developed along the way - you yourself are also the subject of your own experiment for the IP, so you need to clearly express how you changed/grew into/improved/rose to the challenge of your adopted role attempt to identify links youve found both within the project itself and to other experiences youve had or research youve done in the course draw conclusions about the impact or validity of the work, both on you and the world at large discuss how your work might be adapted, developed and improved at some stage in the future by you or someone else

I think Conclusions is also a good place to reiterate (as youve already mentioned it in the intro) how your Independent Project fitted into your IB Theatre course as a whole - this is a direct requirement of the Assessment Criteria and must go in somewhere.

10. PRESENTATION Use colour! Portfolios that make good use of colour are almost always more illustrative and dynamic than those that look like they could be a black & white photocopy. When numbering pages be sure to write for example Page 3 of 6 - this is better than a single number Page 3 because then the examiner (and you!) knows there arent pages missing at the end after youve submitted it. Number every page including diagrams & sketches. Dont forget a separate page near the front with a Table of Contents on it. Your name and candidate number should be on EVERY PAGE! Put it all into a decent-looking folder with a nice inside front-cover that includes what the project is, what role youre taking on, the name of the theatre practice/practitioner youre using (HL only), your name, school and IB candidate number. As your project is likely to be sent off for moderation youll get a formal IB sheet to fill in that will be attached to the front cover itself so theres little point in decorating the front cover as its not the first thing the examiner sees.

11. APPENDICES The employment of appendices in the IPP meets with varying degrees of (dis)approval by IB Theatre Teachers so I recommend using them only if youre really sure on what they should/shouldnt contain. The key thing to remember is that there are no marks for what goes in to your Appendices, they should not be used to introduce new information that would be better placed in the main Portfolio, and the examiner is in no way obliged to even look at them. With this in mind, in my view appendices can be a useful repository of supplementary material that the examiner may consult for further clarification of certain elements of certain portfolio types. A good example of this might be a page/scene of script (if youre a playwright) that would otherwise devastate your word-count, or some critical research on your practice that helps places some of your choices in context and that would be too unwieldy to include in the main Portfolio. Remember there are no marks for what goes in to your Appendices and the examiner is in no way obliged to even look at them. Appendices should be numbered separately: Appendix 1, Appendix 2, etc.

12. WORD COUNT If you go even one word over the word-count you consign yourself to scoring a maximum of 4/10 in Criteria D. All external references (textual, published interviews etc.) do not count towards the word count. Bibliography, appendices, footnotes and brief captions do not count towards the word count. All materials produced by you
International School of Geneva ~ La Chtaigneraie Theatre Department Page: 5 of 6

IB THEATRE Independent Project Portfolio (IPP) - Hints & Tips Sheet (past writing, journal entries, quotations from class etc.) are considered part of the word count.

13. REFERENCING Reference everything. Pure and simple. Use a consistent referencing system, that covers texts, internet, images, ideas, quotes, the lot.

FINAL THOUGHTS - KEEP AN IP JOURNAL AND TAKE LOTS OF PHOTOS! If you havent kept a detailed Journal throughout this assessment task you are going to be scuppered from the start. The reason for this is that the primary objective of the IPP (note I say IPP not just IP - the Portfolio is the important bit) is to show your personal development as a theatre practitioner over the course of the project. If you arent journalling your reflections as you go along you will never be able to write those in retrospectively with any sort of credibility; it may be months after you started on the IP that you write the final IPP and your journal is the only source you have of feelings you recorded at the time. A comment like The technical rehearsal went well and I could feel myself improving as a Director because... is gold-dust and your portfolio should be littered with such statements. Photograph everything every step of the way as well - even things like a photo of a production meeting show you collaborating with others and thus acquiring skills that are entirely valid for this assessment task. If youve kept a good Journal throughout the duration of the IP, compiling the Portfolio really should be a relatively straight-forward exercise in selective editing.

DISCLAIMER I am not an IB Examiner or connected with the IBO in any direct capacity, so please use this document and the advice contained therein at your own risk. 90% of the document is compiled purely from practical observations of my own students and assessing the difficulties theyve faced in tackling this task. For the remaining 10% I have been extremely thorough in my research, both from poring over IB Theatre subject reports and gleaning choice kernels of advice from selected higher authorities on the OCC IB Theatre Forum. I have updated the document continuously since 2010 when the first draft appeared in order to keep it current and accurate. All of which is to say that this is advice given in good faith and not the word of authority, so please treat it as such. Good luck! (James Lehmann, Geneva, 2012)

International School of Geneva ~ La Chtaigneraie Theatre Department

Page: 6 of 6