Unit 3

Acting 30/10/18

In acting today we looked at a monologue from Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare. We went through the monologue in a group line by line to familiarise ourselves with the piece. We then went through it changing person every time there was punctuation that caused a pause.  This helped us see how Shakespeare intended the piece to be read. We then picked our favourite line and had to shout it out.

Acting Skills

Acting 20/11/18

For our warm up this week we went around in a circle and shared our own warm ups. My warm up was one I created to warm up the face and voice. I call it the Dory warm up. In Finding Nemo when Dory is trying to contact the whale, you do the same thing but really exaggerated.

We read through an extract from 'The Diary of Anne Frank' and looked at Emotional Memory, created by a man named Stan Islavski. He introduced this whole system to make acting more alive on stage. You have to think about a time where you relate to your characters emotions. We spoke about how this can also be quiet dangerous if you let it go into your personal life off stage. For example, Heith Ledger played the joker and in order to play the joker effectively he wouldn't sleep and he eventually drove himself mad and killed himself.

W experimented with emotional memory using the text. I read out the line "And now I've gone crazy about everything to do with nature". I related this to my new hobby, baking. The feedback I got was amazing as people said they didn't realise I'd said my line as it was acted so well and went along well with what I had been talking about before hand. For example, I was speaking about why I related to the line and what I thought about whilst saying the line which meant once I got to the line they thought I was still talking.

Acting 27/11/18

Me, Ella and Rina went through the Anne Frank extract line by line together to try ad help us memorise it and apply emotional memory to different lines. When this didn't prove as effective for applying emotional memory, we decided to pick out random lines from the piece and attempt to relate to the lines we found it harder to directly relate. We started out by beginning a conversation that would later work into that line. For example, if I was to start by saying, "are you saying I have to be orthodox" then Rina or Ella would be able to easily work into that line as they would be more present in the line.

Cinema Italiano Review

1. How did it made you feel to perform it?

Before performing I felt a little nervous but also excited because I knew I had worked hard and would give it my all once I got on stage. During the performance it felt almost unreal because I really got into the dance and enjoyed myself, surprised at how I was able to keep up the majority of the time and remember what was about to happen without thinking about it too much.

2.Something that surprised you with your performance.

I was surprised at the improvement I had made performance wise since 'One Short Day' in which I didn't seem to use my body much or facial expressions whereas, in Cinema Italiano I put more energy into the dance by using my body, projecting and using facial expressions. I was also a lot louder when it came to my solo line and it sounded better than I thought it would.

3.One thing you thought you did well.

I think I did well in moving my hips a lot more as I am not used to dance, especially this style of dance so it was all very new to me and my classmates had to help me on my hip movements.


4. One thing you could improve on.

I found the fast sections of the dance difficult to learn and keep up with. I went through them multiple times in rehearsals and at home so I could try and improve it but although I could do it slow, When it came down to it I was unable to do it as fast as I was supposed to.

5. How well did everyone work as a team on stage?

Everyone was very aware of the lack of space we had in the theatre compared to the dance studio and we all adapted to the space well as a team, working out how to make it work so that we wouldn't bump into each other during the performance. We made sure to keep within our own spaces whilst performing so that there wouldn't be an accident and made sure to look out for each other.

British Museum Risk Assessment

National Theatre Tour

-In what year did the National Theatre open?

The NT opened in 1976 however, the National Theatre company had its first performance in 1963.

-How many seats does the Olivier theatre hold?

1160 seats. 

-How many degrees is in peripheral vision in the Olivier?

118 degrees angled seats. This is the average peripheral vision. This makes the Olivier theatre inclusive, easy to view from every seat and helps the performers to perform to everyone equally without having to turn their head much.

-How many theatres are there in total?

There are 3 theatres: Olivier theatre, Lyttelton theatre and  Dorfman theatre.

-What different possibilities do the 3 theatres present for performance and what type of work does each of them show?

The Olivier theatre tends to show classic plays such as Greek tragedies.
The Lyttelton theatre would show more traditional theatre, such as fourth wall breaking.
The Dorfman theatre would show more contemporary styled theatre.

-What was your favourite prop and why?

We werent able to see many of the smaller props as we didnt go into the main prop making workshop however, we were able to see some of the larger props which had been used in previous shows such as the horse puppet from War Horse.

-What is the part under the stage called in the Olivier theatre called?

The drum.

-What different departments did you visit backstage? What does each of them do? What job roles are involved?

There were many different departments backstage because the National Theatre makes all their own props and sets unlike most other theatres. They had a construction area where they created the sets for different shows. They had an art area where people would make props, costumes and paint the sets.

Backstage Jobs in Theatre

1.

-What is the job title?

Theatrical Makeup Artist.

-Where might you be employed?

In any theatre.

-Who would you be responsible to?

 The performers who you are doing makeup for.

-What salary does the job attract?

About £45000 a year.

-The job:

Being a makeup artist for performers on stage means you have to know how to make makeup bold and bright (depending on the show) that can be seen by audience members under the different lighting. Stage makeup is also different to the normal makeup you might apply on a daily bases so you would need to know the right amount to apply and how to apply it correctly.

-What you need:

You need to have a strong knowledge in makeup and be able to apply it in many different styles. You can also get qualifications within makeup and beauty which can help you in having a deeper understanding and furthermore help you get a job. You also need to have skills in makeup.

-Would you be interested in this job?

I think I would be interested in this for a job however, not now because I would need to develop skills in makeup. 

2.

-What is the job title?

Scenic carpenter.

-Where might you be employed?

A theatre, warehouse or studio.

-Who would you be responsible to?

The performers, theatre workers because you would need to make sure it was safe and reliable.

-What salary does the job attract?

A yearly salary ranging from £15000-£40000 depending on your rank.

-The job:

The job would include create sets for shows on stage. You are responsible for making sure the sets are safe and sturdy so that they don't collapse and cause an injury.

-What you need:

You need to be experienced in carpentry. It's wise to have taken a course in carpentry so that you understand the health and safety aspects, but also so you understand how to do everything.

-Would you be interested in this job?

I would not be interested in this job because I don't have an interest in carpentry.

Acting 04/12/18

We learnt the Anne Frank extract and tried to apply different techniques such as, emotional memory, body language, eye contact, projection. We had to walk around the room reciting the extract and practising with different techniques.

We then all had to choose one technique to focus on whilst we watched each other perform.

We performed the piece individually to the group and gave feedback to everyone regarding what we had focused on. I focused on emotional memory.