What progress have you made in your final week of rehearsal? In what areas have you made the most improvement? In what areas do you think you still need to make growth before your performance on Monday?
Now that I am at the final week of rehearsals I am feeling really good about where the monologue is at; considering the better use of props and stronger memorization. I am feeling very strong and feel great improvement on my use of make up while performing, along with understanding the material in the script. However of course there are still areas I could use a lot of work, mostly on the presentation of the script - I feel it could be stronger or even clear to what my character feels.
In regards to my improvements I really like where I am now. I was thinking too much when I was acting with the props but now I feel I am really using the props as I would if I were actually using them. I am taking my time and really just enjoying the moment of being annoyed while touching up my make up. Also being clear about what certain lines mean was very helpful thanks to Angie. It is quite embarrassing not knowing what "Can I get a hit off that number?" actually stood for; yet now that I do know it completely changed how I said the line and how it was presented.
Although I am very happy and proud of the improvements what really needs to be looked at is the way I present the script as Nealla. I am nervous that although I know what my character is feeling and why she is doing what she is doing/ saying what she is saying I am not sure I am giving off the vibe I get from my character. That scares me; because that is my job, it is to express to my audience the characters nature and mood, but if I can't even get the state of my character out of myself how will the audience feel it?
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Monday, April 13, 2015
My Monologue
How are your rehearsals for your monologue going? What have you done to memorize? How much progress have you made? How well have you incorporated action and blocking into your monologue to date?
Rehearsals for my monologue are fantastic! I love my monologue - Alana and I have the same one so we are working on it together.
Very interesting because I like the way Alana acts and Angie said at the end these monologues will be different but I am a tad worried they are going to be similar. *NOTE: Make sure that does not happen*
I have been reading my lines over and over again and that is working very well. I am also going over my lines randomly in my head and out loud and that seems to be working also. I think memorizing lines are easier for monologues than scenes with other people because you can rehearse by yourself and not have to count on anyone else.
I have been a bit slow when in comes to using the props (action) and blocking how I am going to do the scene. I have a general idea, such as looking into a compact mirror and using make up, but I have yet to practice with it and when the props will be used during the scene. However, I have lots of ideas and once I start playing with them I have a good feeling about the scene.
Rehearsals for my monologue are fantastic! I love my monologue - Alana and I have the same one so we are working on it together.
Very interesting because I like the way Alana acts and Angie said at the end these monologues will be different but I am a tad worried they are going to be similar. *NOTE: Make sure that does not happen*
I have been reading my lines over and over again and that is working very well. I am also going over my lines randomly in my head and out loud and that seems to be working also. I think memorizing lines are easier for monologues than scenes with other people because you can rehearse by yourself and not have to count on anyone else.
I have been a bit slow when in comes to using the props (action) and blocking how I am going to do the scene. I have a general idea, such as looking into a compact mirror and using make up, but I have yet to practice with it and when the props will be used during the scene. However, I have lots of ideas and once I start playing with them I have a good feeling about the scene.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
My First Scene
Evaluate your performance in your first scene. Were you happy with your performance and the audience reaction? How well do you think you created a physical performance for your character? How well did you and your partner work together? How successful do you think you were about establishing clear tactics for your character? What would you do to improve your performance? What did you learn that you will apply to later assignments?
This past Monday we performed out first scenes in class. Many groups did very well and I was very impressed and entertained with the scenes. My scene partner and I were lucky enough to go second and I was expecting it to go very well, so I wouldn't say I was nervous or upset at going second. However the performance was not what I expected it be - which happens and I am more than understanding when things get twisted - yet when you know the scene was down packed and a third of the scene is gone, that is a bit different.
Unfortunately, working on the scene in the beginning weeks of rehearsal was difficult because my scene partner was sick. Yet, the last week and a half before scenes were due we really stuck it out together. We went over lines, get props together, thought about placement - everything was falling well into place. There was some pushing on my end to really get everything together but my scene partner was very open and understanding that we had limited time and had to get things done. In the end I feel if we rehearsed together more than alone we could have been a bit more prepared and less rushed. Although I felt very confident about how everything was turning out my scene partner may have felt a bit more intimidated because I was throwing lots of information at her in a short period of time.
As for myself I thought I got into character fairly well. I knew what my character was about, who she was, what she was going through, how she acted and how she acted towards other people. Yet, I do feel I could have portrayed the character a bit more, or be more consistent in who Billie was in the scene. My final scene definitely did not show all of who Billie was due to lines I was unable to recite, however in everything that was recited Billie was revealed. My tactics were there, yet, I could see if one would think they were not clear. I would play around with how I said my lines often so the way they were said could have changed from the original tactics I wanted to apply.
Aside from being clear and consistent to my tactics I believe I could work on keeping up with lines and working on how to come back into a scene when something is off. Something I thought about after the scene was how I could come back in once I was thrown off. What I did for the first half of the scene was memorize both my lines and my scene partners lines - this helped me know what was coming next. If I had done this with the whole script I would have had an easier and better way of coming back into the scene to help both my partner and myself. This strategy I feel works for the two things I need to work on - when I say work on keeping up with lines I mean knowing both mine and my scene partner. Giving yourself ways to come back into the scene is necessary for any situation because it is easy to depend on the other person, but not when the other person is depending on you.
Otherwise, the performance was alright. I know it could have been 100 times better, because we rehearsed it 100 times better. I wish I knew what the audiences reaction really was, because I know for me it was very uncomfortable. I only hope the scene was clear and made sense and that what did come out of the scene was done well and what was confusing in the scene was minimal.
This past Monday we performed out first scenes in class. Many groups did very well and I was very impressed and entertained with the scenes. My scene partner and I were lucky enough to go second and I was expecting it to go very well, so I wouldn't say I was nervous or upset at going second. However the performance was not what I expected it be - which happens and I am more than understanding when things get twisted - yet when you know the scene was down packed and a third of the scene is gone, that is a bit different.
Unfortunately, working on the scene in the beginning weeks of rehearsal was difficult because my scene partner was sick. Yet, the last week and a half before scenes were due we really stuck it out together. We went over lines, get props together, thought about placement - everything was falling well into place. There was some pushing on my end to really get everything together but my scene partner was very open and understanding that we had limited time and had to get things done. In the end I feel if we rehearsed together more than alone we could have been a bit more prepared and less rushed. Although I felt very confident about how everything was turning out my scene partner may have felt a bit more intimidated because I was throwing lots of information at her in a short period of time.
As for myself I thought I got into character fairly well. I knew what my character was about, who she was, what she was going through, how she acted and how she acted towards other people. Yet, I do feel I could have portrayed the character a bit more, or be more consistent in who Billie was in the scene. My final scene definitely did not show all of who Billie was due to lines I was unable to recite, however in everything that was recited Billie was revealed. My tactics were there, yet, I could see if one would think they were not clear. I would play around with how I said my lines often so the way they were said could have changed from the original tactics I wanted to apply.
Aside from being clear and consistent to my tactics I believe I could work on keeping up with lines and working on how to come back into a scene when something is off. Something I thought about after the scene was how I could come back in once I was thrown off. What I did for the first half of the scene was memorize both my lines and my scene partners lines - this helped me know what was coming next. If I had done this with the whole script I would have had an easier and better way of coming back into the scene to help both my partner and myself. This strategy I feel works for the two things I need to work on - when I say work on keeping up with lines I mean knowing both mine and my scene partner. Giving yourself ways to come back into the scene is necessary for any situation because it is easy to depend on the other person, but not when the other person is depending on you.
Otherwise, the performance was alright. I know it could have been 100 times better, because we rehearsed it 100 times better. I wish I knew what the audiences reaction really was, because I know for me it was very uncomfortable. I only hope the scene was clear and made sense and that what did come out of the scene was done well and what was confusing in the scene was minimal.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Objectives, Tactics and Beats
How easy or hard has it been for you to identify objectives, tactics, and beats for your scene? What do you and your partner still need to work on for this scene?
Objectives, tactics and beats have been an on off subject for me in the class. I feel pretty good with the objects and tactics -to an extent; however the beats I somewhat feel like I am not guessing - rather estimating - with the scene.
I don't know if my partner really understands, or if she really does agree with my opinions on where beats belong and such. So that makes me feel unsure of what she feels and what she really wants to do with the scene. Therefore I want to say we need to work on her objectives and tactics - and then confirming whether she really agrees with the beats I assumed worked.
Objectives, tactics and beats have been an on off subject for me in the class. I feel pretty good with the objects and tactics -to an extent; however the beats I somewhat feel like I am not guessing - rather estimating - with the scene.
I don't know if my partner really understands, or if she really does agree with my opinions on where beats belong and such. So that makes me feel unsure of what she feels and what she really wants to do with the scene. Therefore I want to say we need to work on her objectives and tactics - and then confirming whether she really agrees with the beats I assumed worked.
Help from Script Analysis?
How has the script analysis helped you prepare for your scene? How are you putting what you learned about your character and your scene to practice in your rehearsals?
While working with the script and including the script analysis in my own script I see how important it is for one to be able to do this. It reminds me a lot of annotating text in books that were/are very important and knowing it would be material one would work with in the future. This is what script analysis is like to me; it is notes, specific notes that will help me understand the material and work with it in the future. It is also good because this allows you to play with the text, and the way it is being delivered.
I actually feel like now I know more about my character when playing with it in rehearsals. It has been somewhat hard rehearsing alone but when we finally got a rehearsal in, the moments were better and stronger than I expected them to become.
Aside from this I am looking at the setting and responses of my character and partner to really develop an accurate and interesting scene within rehearsal. Something that I think would benefit would be to just keep going through the script like 3 - 5 times without discussing anything and just seeing how we do the scene the same or different. Otherwise it is coming along.
While working with the script and including the script analysis in my own script I see how important it is for one to be able to do this. It reminds me a lot of annotating text in books that were/are very important and knowing it would be material one would work with in the future. This is what script analysis is like to me; it is notes, specific notes that will help me understand the material and work with it in the future. It is also good because this allows you to play with the text, and the way it is being delivered.
I actually feel like now I know more about my character when playing with it in rehearsals. It has been somewhat hard rehearsing alone but when we finally got a rehearsal in, the moments were better and stronger than I expected them to become.
Aside from this I am looking at the setting and responses of my character and partner to really develop an accurate and interesting scene within rehearsal. Something that I think would benefit would be to just keep going through the script like 3 - 5 times without discussing anything and just seeing how we do the scene the same or different. Otherwise it is coming along.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Scenes and scene partner
I am really excited about the scene I am working on with Brittany. It is called Ladies in Manhattan and we are two very different characters with a fun friendship.
Working with Brittany shows me.how talented she is and how I need to step.my game up to make sure this scene turns out and good as it can be. She has a southern accent and I am supposed to have a New Yorker accent which is awesome. But whenever I try perusing the New Yorker accent it fades and I want to dip into the southern accent. With that it makes the scene a bit more difficult to accomplish well.
I am hoping that once I have the lines memorized the accent will be easier to add into the mix.
Otherwise we haven't had much rehearsal time yet, hopefully Wednesday and Friday we can really get this done.
Monday, January 19, 2015
How can you use the skills from your Physical Life Inventory to your acting practice? How would it help you as an actor more generally? How can you use it for a specific character?
In general, being aware of ones physical attributes helps give a more versatile repertoire of people to work with when working on a character. For example, looking at 5 different people over the age of 60 is more beneficial than having a general idea of how an older person acts in different situations.
In general, being aware of ones physical attributes helps give a more versatile repertoire of people to work with when working on a character. For example, looking at 5 different people over the age of 60 is more beneficial than having a general idea of how an older person acts in different situations.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Opinions on Acting
How would you describe "good" acting? What experience have you had as an actor? What skills would you like to work on this semester? What kind of feedback about your acting would you like from me as we move through the semester?
To determine ones acting skills, one might say it is ones' opinion; however I disagree. I believe in order to be a "good" actor one must be able to communicate any message to their audience. Having only done a few plays in grammar school and two theatre classes at DePaul University, I feel there are a lot of areas to work on in regards to acting. Those places are: staying in character, truly feeling the emotion that is being portrayed to the audience and becoming versatile in material (comedy, drama, fairy tales, etc.).
Something that can be very distracting is the when a person is not in character or not delivering the lines as they were intended to be delivered. For these examples will prohibit an actor from being "good". Therefore an actor who can make you feel exactly what the actors character is feeling, is doing a good job acting.
With that, things I want to work on and be corrected on are related to my own connection with the audience and how I communicate what my character is trying to communicate.
To determine ones acting skills, one might say it is ones' opinion; however I disagree. I believe in order to be a "good" actor one must be able to communicate any message to their audience. Having only done a few plays in grammar school and two theatre classes at DePaul University, I feel there are a lot of areas to work on in regards to acting. Those places are: staying in character, truly feeling the emotion that is being portrayed to the audience and becoming versatile in material (comedy, drama, fairy tales, etc.).
Something that can be very distracting is the when a person is not in character or not delivering the lines as they were intended to be delivered. For these examples will prohibit an actor from being "good". Therefore an actor who can make you feel exactly what the actors character is feeling, is doing a good job acting.
With that, things I want to work on and be corrected on are related to my own connection with the audience and how I communicate what my character is trying to communicate.
Friday, January 9, 2015
First Blog Ever!
Hello my name is Tasiana and this is the first time in my life I have ever blogged!
It seems pretty cool.
The purpose for this blog is for my Acting 1 class at NEIU, so until I look at the directions for my first assignment, I am just posting to say hello.
Okay, now talk to you later!
Tasiana!
It seems pretty cool.
The purpose for this blog is for my Acting 1 class at NEIU, so until I look at the directions for my first assignment, I am just posting to say hello.
Okay, now talk to you later!
Tasiana!
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