Week 32

Monday 16th September 2024

warm style activities 

We started off the day by doing a chair activity: this included being given a chair and having to turn it into anything but a chair. The whole point of this activity was to be spontaneous and to act without thinking or worrying- eliminating that element of panic when being told to devise a piece of drama. Personally I find myself worrying or thinking to much when being told to think of ideas, so really loved this activity as it allowed me to just go straight to my creative thoughts instead of stoping myself thinking that my ideas won't be very good. 

We then moved onto simple warms ups for example WA, just getting people in the headspace to work. This then led into a vocal warm up that I lead today, focusing on a bit of stretching as well and incorporating this into the vocal- using it as a way to show the importance of the body when using the voice. Some of the vocal warm ups that I did were ones I learned at collage, but I also added in some newer ones that I learned when doing my first professional job, teaching there effectiveness ad how they've helped me when warming up vocally and physically. 

Tongue Twisters 

After this we then moved onto some tongue twisters, all being put into pairs and then separately breaking down the Tonge twister. In my pair we decided that it would be easier to learn the tongue twister by adding actions to it- almost kind of Turing it into a dance. This made it easier for the lounge twister to stick in my head personally, but then also made it more fun to do. We also had to learn the other groups tongue twisters, which was helpful because it showed me what vowel sounds I need to work a lot more on. This is something I am going to strive to practise regularly. 

Tuesday 17th September 2024 

We started off the day in the LRC, focusing on outside task such as personal statements- blog, monologues etc. we then had quite a short session today, starting on one of our units (duologues) getting into pairs and selecting which duologue we wanted to take on from "Dear Even Hansen". Me and my partner were stuck between two, so decided to print them both out so we have the option to look over both of them. 

I've been staying back at collage most days after class, going over monologues with some of my fellow acting students- so stayed back today to continue on that as well. I personally find it really effective to work in a small group or pair who are also very focused when it comes to rehearsing monologues, because it allows me to get better at performing it in front of a small panel, whilst also allowing me to openly break down difficulties I'm having with it, with other people who are striving for similar goals when it comes to deadlines and outcomes.  

Wednesday 18th September 2024

Got into groups for a globe related activity, exploring the element of fear and what's deemed the scariest and most fear provoking in a horror tour environment. To do this we all walked around the room with 4 people walking around normally as themselves, and everyone else with the intention of trying to provoke fear within the the 4 people presenting normally. We collectively tried a few different things as a group to create a scary and intense atmosphere- one that worked well was when everyone held harsh wide eye contact, whilst walking towards the people that were just walking around. Some of the other actors also started humming a nursery rhyme inspired tune whilst doing this, adding an element of surrounding to this which I think personally made it feel eree. There was also a random sudden scream that someone added which was a really good addition because it continued to build on the atmosphere that surrounded the audience. This was then moved into a different format, of the audience being fixed in one place and the actors surrounding them. This was a good example for us as actors of were the audience would be, because for a lot of the tour they stand still when they approach another section of the tour- so by putting the audience in a fixed position we were able to see how much more effective it would be, but also what could be added to make it more scary in this format. 

We then moved onto specific characters within the ghost light tour, getting into pairs and groups depending on the character you were looking into, and doing further research and on them. For me this was Nurse Rachid- going over some new things with this character, such as her walk, posture and vocal tone- along with her eye line and how she makes eye contact. Facial expression is such a big part of nurse Rachid and how she keeps her control with the ward, having quite a still physical stance, but such striking yet discreet emotions- which is something that makes her such an intense and difficult character. 

We then had our movement/dance session, focusing half of the session this week on nutrition and physical health, and why that's important as an actor. We also continued with the dance routine we started last week, adding on more sections to it and running it through. I'm really enjoying the dancing element of our moment sessions, for me dancing is something that I've already been required to do, and will continue to need- so find focusing on my dancing ability very helpful to myself in the long run. 

Thursday 19th September 2024 

Friday started with our Shakespeare session, learning more information about the plays our monologues are from so we can understand the terminology and character a lot better. Shakespeare is quite difficult to get your head around in a modern day setting as it is, so not knowing the actual plot line of what you're discussing makes it ten times harder- so having time in the session to focus on subtext and plot was very helpful. I then worked with my tutor to break down the monologue and open myself up to re direction from them as an example in our session. I found this to be an amazing to push my physicality within my monologue forward as we focused on the emotional changes within the monologue- using other actors in the session to help me envision what it was she was feeling, and who she was talking to. 

We then moved onto directing and all the elements that come with that, getting put into groups and assigned the roles of actors and directors with our group. I was an actor in our group, so for me this activity was mainly about communication with the director and understanding the difference between good communication and bad communication- working on listening and understanding direction. This is a small piece that we will continue to work on and improve 

We also had our first proper look at some of the Pinocchio songs: