Stage Fright: Backstage (Settings, Guidelines, FAQ's, OOC, etc)

Okay, so many people have come to know the RP Stage Fright from EliteSkills.com RolePlay. It had indeed failed (Three times) but has been revived by popular demand on The Habitation. Hopefully this will be the final time it will be introduced. I am skeptical about bring Stage Fright back again, but a bit of me is clinging on to the possibility it will make it this time.

To old members of Stage Fright: Welcome back.
To the new: Good luck, and have fun.


This thread here is for OOCs (Out of Context Notes), Settings, Guidelines, Character Profiles, and the like. I'm confident we won't need this for FAQs, but they go here as well, if need be. So without further adieu, let's get started.

An out of the way building, a dim room. The red curtains swayed softly,
welcoming the comforting breeze into the empty audience rows. This was
the real stage... It all happened here, in the light of it all. The
world was a spotlight. Behind the scenes the actors were working. Not
on scripts, but on paperwork on the show; what They will be watching,
as the world is watching them. For they are acting on stage, yes. But
as they speak the lines performed at each gathering, their eyes dart
around the room. Watching, waiting. For what? That's exactly what there
is to find out. Human analysis has come a long way; the best at this
open profession can detect every lie, every uncomfortable twitch. But
what about the unopened area of this? Yes, we have come far, we see the
development of our social, mental, and emotional aspects as humans
living and breathing in our daily lives. But as you are being watched,
observed, you can feel your palms sweat, your heart pound, with the
inevitable fact that you know you are observed. Have you ever had the
feeling that you are being watched? You're not alone. The fact is, we
know that people act different when the light is shining; we try our
best to behave, to be decent in the public eye. We hide our thoughts,
our emotions. But now, you may never know if you are the watcher or the
watched. Disguising yourselves; yes, we've all done it. But do you
really know what it looks like when the sun goes down, when all is
before you? So as we set each place upon the stage, take heed: we are
all actors. We all play a part in this choreographed performance,
improvising what parts we don't know with ideas of our own. We act each
role, persuading others to believe what we want them: that we are who
we say, this character. This way, they can go on watching the play
without notice. And act like nothings wrong. Act as if we are normal.
Normality is not a factor. The deepest secret, the newest crush, the
indescribable thoughts, all are about to take a bow on the stage of
life. The Stage is dark until you are thrown into the spotlight. Don't
be afraid, for you have rehearsed. We are all actors.

How will you act when the world is Watching?

This Roleplay can cover the basics on most genre. It can be a Science Fiction, an action. Romance would be easy to pull off in this particular environment. But we'll just have to see where it leads. It can also change. Remember, this can be a play within a play. The actors must perform, as well as observe.

Now, there are just a few -- And I use the word "few," lightly -- basics I would like to pressure into action. First, we're going over the rules that are in the Rules section of
StoryTelling. (For more information, see said section.) They are as
follows:

- Minimum of FIVE sentences a post. And make them good sentences please. (I walk in. I ate the toast. The toast was on the table.) That's not very exciting. Try to make them detailed.
- NO CYBERING. I cannot stress this enough. Romance is fine, but we really don't need to know what happens behind closed doors. And other people will read this (Hopefully) so make it appropriate. However, sometimes situations like this occur and the story needs to go that way to continue. If the characters involved all agree, make a time skip.
Imagination can do the rest.
- TimeLine. Okay so we're hoping this gets somewhere right? Right. So in order to do that we need a time line. The TimeLine For Stage is a bit iffy. It should go from the first auditions, all the way to the final performance. The year will be modern, and take place in an older town theater.
- GodModding. This is the evil of all RolePlay Kingdoms. This means you are controlling another character that is not your own, and/or using powers that are not acceptable (i.e. Then he burst in and took out his flamethrower and set the building on fire, killing everyone, then jumped out the window of the 100th story and lived.) Ugh. Don't ever do
this. If someone is gone, we can find a way around it by not controlling them. And if the story's slow, killing everyone won't make it go any faster.

Now just a few things of my own I'd like to add:

- Be careful when posting; some scenes may take longer time or use more detail. Be considerate and aware of this.
- Try to make your characters as real as possible. I don't mean that they must be human. I mean, have faults. Pasts. Thoughts. Make them your own. It adds detail and friction to the RolePlay. Try to let us in on what your character is thinking as well as doing. Use facial expressions, background stories, and even direct thoughts. Make your character real. Give thoughts, emotions, faults, and memories.
- I'm not going to say you have to ask in order to join, or not. But please, do not come in for just two posts, created from boredom, then intentionally leave. I'm hoping this RolePlay will go far, and that could alter the story line. I especially stress this because this is the fourth attempt of Stage Fright, and I'm not making it again.
- Please use detail in the posts of this Roleplay. As you can see, detail is very important
for the progression of this, and if we want to make this the best we can, we need to be sure that we use detailed posts. If not, the progression will become vague and uninteresting, and may not end well.
- Please be literate. Please please please. Please. We really don't need web speech in this. Know the basic rules: No double negatives, run-ons, and accents. If your character has an accent, that's fine. Just make sure you specify such and make sure it's readable.
- This is a huge peeve of mine. First Person; Don't do it. (I walked in and sat down.) Act as if it's a story for the author's point of view. You are the author of your character, and you are telling their story. (Damien ran through the streets heading home. His breath was heavy, but...) You don't have to use the name every sentence, but don't just say S/He all the time. Play around with it.

I know this may seem very restricting to some, but as I said, I'd like this to last awhile.
If you have an issue or concern with any of the listed, or if I forgot to mention something, feel free to contact me.

Thank you for taking the time to read through my guidelines, which I admit are rather hard to compromise with. I offer my gratitude, and appreciate your dedication. Everyone that has decided to make Stage Fright worthwhile means a lot to me, and I do know you all out of character, and have talked to personally; you all are wonderful people.
With that being said...

Welcome to Stage Fright.

Okay, so here we must do the character profiles of the RP. Now this part I'm going to be a lot more lenient on, as we got so far without them previously. That, and I'm not sure if anyone's noticed, but I really hate describing what Will looks like; don't ask me why, I just do. But we still need other things, so I guess Profiles are a good thing. Anyway, this is the basic outline of what details to fill in for your character:

Name: (If you have an alias, put it in [brackets] to avoid confusion.
Potential cast placement: What the character wants to do, such as Lead, Design, Setting, etc.
Appearance:
Picture: Optional.
Quirks: This part is important is this story, which was a weak point in trials past. These are attributes such as nail biting, foot tapping, etc.
Background:

I want to add that I was going to begin this quite some time ago, but halted for awhile: I became discouraged on the RPing scene. BUT I must continue Stage Fright today, for one particular reason: Today is the one year birthday of the SF project. I know, it's so exciting right? Well, for me it is, so I am celebrating.

But I need some participation help from the Habitation: Who wants to give it One final try?

Name: Jack Smith
Potential cast placement: Secondary Character
Appearance: Jack displays a full head of long, blonde hair and a simple bone structure, with nothing exceptionally "beautiful" about his features. His neck is long and often bare. He has wide shoulders yet his body slims as your progress further down. His long legs widen slightly at the ankle and form into his feet.
Picture:
Quirks: Some usual habits of his include biting his tongue, using the old saying, to stop him from speaking out of turn, both on the stage and off and placing one foot behind the other and tapping it lightly.
Background: (I'm not sure about this. Do you want the background of the actor or the character he will be playing. I read the whole 4 posts and I'm still hazy on the details, sorry + I'm not really the person you were expecting, I imagine.)

Kio, I can't tell you how thrilled I am that you joined. I actually gasped out loud, to be honest. :] I really really love this RP, and hate to see it fail.

We aren't sure as of yet what the exact play will be. The background is of your character: Why they are here, what sort of childhood they had, etc. I should be having my post up soon as well.

Thank you.

I'll work on the background when I know of the play. Thanks.

Name: Wynter Isabella LaLage [Will]

Potential Cast Placement: Manager, Lead Role.

Appearance: Delicate frame, but strong composure. Tall, slender, with long blonde hair. Large, bright green eyes, with no highly distinct features. Hair is always up in a bun, kept up with a pencil. Thin scar just under jawline. Very small feet. Voice is very smooth and "flowey".

Quirks: Very clumsy and scattered. When nervous, scratches cuticles, and when stressed, places finger in hollow behind ear. Chews on her tongue. Always walks with hands behind back when empty-handed.

NOTE: I believe I will strike "Background" from the profile setup. Afterall, discovering the character is half the battle, yes?

A few things I would like to add. Most of this is information from the previous, as well as changes from such.

First, cast members do not have to stay at the theater. Before, I created that theory so that posts may be quicker, but it turned against my favor. In fact, we never really got anywhere because Will had to direct everyone where they were staying. However, if you liked that concept, you may stay there, as Will will also be. (I hate typing Will twice. )

Also, Will actually has a name this time, if you haven't noticed. She always did, I just never told anyone what it was. :] But she''ll still go by Will in everything she does (sending letters, curtain calls, etc.) The cast doesn't need to know her name anyway.

I liked the idea of the Dream Theory I ran by a few of you before. It never was seen in the prior attempts of SF, but this time I would like to give it a shot. I will let you know what that is when necessary.

Before, we weren't exactly sure on a time period. I was thinking modern day, in this case. It makes the theater that much more special, as well as avoids the need of everyone talking Shakespearean. :]

You have to talk Shakespearean. XD Just kidding, but really you have to. I was thinking of doing the play as a Shakespearean play because:
1: We are all familiar with it.
2: It is easy to get direct quotes if need be.
3: I am NOT writing another play for Stage Fright. (In case you didn't know, I actually did write the play last time, and it took forever.)
4: I don't want to use the same play I wrote because I wrote it to fit the characters in the story, and I don't know who all will be in it this time.
5: It's much more cultural than The Brothers Grimm or Fractured Fairy Tales.
6: Who really just Hates Shakespeare? Okay, so a lot of people, but too bad.
7: Other reasons I don't want to think of right now.
We may even do more than one play, if we are lucky and this goes far. So we'll try to do something a little different in the future.

Again, we have to think of Genre. In the past, it has been Romance Mystery. Mainly because it's easy and fun, and nearly everyone can do it. Of course we'll have action, and all that. I'll even try to make sure we can have a gory death scene somewhere if we fancy it. :]

If anyone has any questions, always know you can ask me here, or PM if you don't want to post here. Always remember to check in Backstage (that's here) for updates, conversation, etc.

To be, or not be....that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of three failures, or, to restart all over again and show The Habitation what Paradox is really made of. <_<

Name: Kestrel Sebastian Townsend
Potential Cast Placement: Secondary Character; Some design work if needed
Appearance: Shoulder-length raven black hair. Green eyes. Average height, neither tall nor short. Has a Caesar-like nose. Slim and quite agile.
Picture: Fie! This section shall remain desolate.
Quirks: Somewhat distracted, often goes into a daydream-like daze. Has a pet raven that is with him almost constantly, usually sitting on his shoulder. Sometimes he is unable to finish what he starts, and therefore likes tasks of short duration. Loves the sound of the organ (especially Hammond and Church organs). Is shy and reserved around most women.

I could probably think of more quirks, but I think that's good for now. What do you think of it?

Fantastic. As always with you. Welcome. :] And I too hope to show that persistence is a great thing.

Woot. I can't wait for this to get going.

It certainly better get going. *shakes fist menacingly at other Hab members* COME ON, LET'S DO THIS. O_O

Haha, I hope so... I'm not waiting too much longer though. :]

Any thoughts on the play?

I thought you had a play already picked out. o-o

I suggested Shakespeare, but I don't know which one yet. :]

I was thinking either Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Othello, or Hamlet. But any will do really.

It really just depends on what genre we want.

Hamlet pls. o-o

Seriously? Awesome. I had to memorize that soliloquy in middle school. :] I think we can just start and have people jump in as we progress. I know Erin's in though.

Hamlet is the shit. That, and a Midsummer Night's Dream. Those two are his best (in my opinion).

Although Macbeth is good too. But outside of those three, I'm not really a Shakespeare fan.

Bump for literary justice.

Okay, this thing needs to live. I want to see this happen for two reasons:
1) DR has worked hard on it before, only to see it fail 3 times before. SF needs another go, and hopefully we can all make it a success.
2) I created a character especially for this, and I want to be able to be that character.

COME ON PEOPLE! SUPPORT STAGE FRIGHT! LET'S BRING IT TO LIFE!

Hahahaha. Thank you thank you. :] I'm very happy to see your CAPS enthusiasm.

I suppose I will just get it started. I'm sure other people will join in, so let's get trend-setting, shall we?

Maybe we won't do Shakespeare... Hm... I don't know, It's too cliche. I'll figure that out later. I'm posting now though.

We so need to do a play from the 60s. >_>

Hahahahahaha. Wow,. Like what?

No Exit would be a much cooler play... But... There's only 3 characters if you don't count the usher