Festival Ideas

Story so far....

Streets album
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmUwYrjtC4M

Gathered stories from potential audience

Ullyses - the impossibility of....
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4300/4300-h/4300-h.htm

Peter pan

please look at writer Oliver Lansley some lovely plays. Look up on Amazon and read synopses.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oliver-Lansley-Enfants-Terribles-Collected-ebook/dp/B00AKFORZO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1415126830&sr=1-1&keywords=oliver+lansley



more ideas please post here....

Self and peer evaluations- TV and Film

Self And Peer Evaluations- TV And Film

Self evaluation

When I started TV and Film I was completely out of my comfort zone. I hadn’t done any work on the subject before. Initially I was too theatrical in my acting technique. I learnt very quickly that with film acting I needed to be less theatrical and more natural as if I was engaged in everyday conversation. This is because I have to appear solely as the character and not an actor. This is true in all acting but I think more so on film. It picks up on the nuances of the performance what the actor is thinking so you must always be in the character. I learned quickly that you have to try to inhabit the character.

A technique to try to help me with this was to approach the script in different ways. For example my monologue was called Tusk Tusk by Polly Stenham. This is a stage play and I have only ever known this monologue to be done for stage. I was unsure how to approach it for acting on camera. After my first session on Film and TV and after being in front of the camera for the first time it completely highlighted my theatrical way of thinking. One issue I found with my performance was that my breathing was very ‘actor’ like. I also found I was thinking too much about the whole performance. How I think it should be done. To worried about doing it right. I needed to learn to let the performance come more naturally.

I tried to improve my Film acting of the monologue by using a physical scenic action.  I wrote a shopping list for the amount of £30 which is referenced in my monologue. This helped me get my mind off the words and avoiding over thinking the performance, making it more natural and adding an extra element to the acting. After trying this I felt that I lost some of the the emphasis I had on the words. In particular I felt I lost the anger which was key to the piece, I was directed to look at my words differently so instead of my dramatic pauses I tried to say the words more snappily, like a real argument. This helped bring back the anger and made the performance feel and appear a lot more natural. It didn’t look as forced. After watching my auditions back it did show that it looked more natural.

To help with characterisation for the piece we got asked to ask ourselves questions on our characters such as who, what, when, where and why are we doing what we are doing? What stops you from getting what you want? What would you be if you where a substance, animal, colour or piece of furniture? To help our pieces physically we put a physical scenic action to our piece. This keeps your mind off your words making your piece more natural.

My character work-

Who am I?- I am Maggie a young girl in her teens

What am I doing?- I am consulting my brother about him being silly about the situation we are in. I am fed up with the way he is treating the situation and have decided to try to take charge to stand my ground. I am subconsciously writing a shopping list while talking to him for the amount of money we have left to live on (£30).

Where?- I am in the living room of our flat

Something that stops you from getting what you want- I don’t think anything can stop her she is determined to make him see and come to his senses as she has put up enough with him for long enough.

What would I be if I were a substance?- I think Maggie would be some sort of see through plastic. I think this because Maggie has been flexible throughout going along with her brother even though he can quite clearly see right through her and what she is actually thinking. I also think this because plastic is hard to break and she will not back down or shatter under any circumstance she is strong and waits for her moment to make things right.

Furniture- This might not count as furniture but she would be a clock. She is always on the ball with how much time they have. She’s very strategic.

Music- She would be like an Ed Sheeran type of song something that sounds calming but really the words mean much more than you think.

As well as my Tusk Tusk monologue I got sent another one to learn for the last Film and TV lesson. The monologue was from the movie Sliding Doors. The character is called Lydia. I had lots of mixed feedback on this piece and watched a clip of the movie and saw the actress played it completely different from how I thought it would be played. However, I decided to stick to my instincts and perform it how I thought best. I learnt from my weeks of acting for camera that you should stick to your gut feeling although taking feedback into consideration. This will result in a more natural performance. The feedback for this Sliding Doors monologue was that my anger was realistic but I needed to tell the story more. The script is a metaphor for anger. I needed to play the character more final on her decision rather than her angry and distressed about it. This would help with the metaphor and story feedback. Because of my tendency to ‘actor breath’ this made the performance uneven which made me lose the intensity of the scene.

My feedback for my final attempt at the Tusk Tusk monologue- Again with this piece I started it too angry. This meant that there were not so many places to go with the performance and led to drops in the text and energy of the piece. To help this I got some feedback telling me to watch people acting anger as this would show me there are no dips in the delivery. I was advised to try acting the piece in a different way, for example exhausted. This was extremely hard for me as my energy is naturally high. I need to look at acting without this high energy. As far as my breathing goes I need to stop actor breathing. This has been apparent to me from the start of this unit. I have tried to keep it under control but I can still see there is a lot of work to do in regards with my breathing. This breathing adds to the drops in my piece which makes the audience less interested. I have struggled to stop this but looking back over my audition pieces it is getting better. I am going to try my hardest to improve it.

An overall note and feedback for my acting is that I need to stop worrying about what I am doing. This worrying makes my pieces not as natural as they could be. I have learnt a lot from this process of acting for camera and it has highlighted many aspects in my acting that I am going to work to make better. By learning to be less studious, as Joe put it, and let things flow and be natural this will improve my acting.

I completely agree with all the feedback. Every time I performed my monologue and watched them back I found I brought a new element to it. I have learnt not to limit myself to doing a piece in one specific way but to try out different techniques when approaching a text. I can definitely see now what I need to improve on.

Peer evaluation

Anna- I think Anna’s performance was one that had most changed throughout the process. I liked the fact she tried out different approaches to the text and didn’t limit herself to one way of acting her piece throughout the process. Some parts in her auditions were great such as her diction has improved and the emotion of the piece has also. Some lines at points in the monologue where a little rushed. I feel like at some points she could have showed thought process more through facial expression and maybe delivery of lines such as finding it hard to say some words as the subject of the monologue was pretty deep. I loved the emotion to the piece and thought she done well to sustain the emotion throughout.

Cody- I think her second audition of the last auditions was much better than the first one she done because it was sharper and more so responsive whereas the first was a little slower. I loved the British accent to Cody’s performance and I think she made it sound effortless. The diction was great and she was able to be heard clearly throughout. Her facial expressions were very clear and well done and I loved the ‘tennis match’ nature of the piece which I think she played well using her facial expressions and physicality by turning away from the other character then snapping back adding to this ‘tennis match’ nature. She showed status well in this monologue and there were clear parts where the status would change and this was shown well through her voice and facial expressions. The character I think was suited well to her.

Jordan- The first attempt of his piece he acted it slow and confused which although was good and how I would have thought to play the character. It wasn’t very gripping to me I found myself not as interested in parts until certain bits where he would suddenly demand the audience’s attention. Although I wanted to listen to every word because it is an interesting monologue there where points where I lost interest and were the piece lost energy. I felt the facial expressions where very good and clear though.  I much preferred his second performance of the DNA piece he done. He acted it very fast paced which was in my eyes great for the piece and completely different from how I thought it would be acted. Acting it in this way brought the energy back that it needed and the energy it lacked in his first audition. This pace made it more engaging and interesting to watch.  He completely changed the character from his first performance from being almost sad and confused to still with the confusion skittish and all over the place. I have never seen it acted in this way and I think this is what made it so interesting and intriguing to watch.

Shivvy-I think Shivvy has improved a lot throughout our time working on the Film and TV unit. I think the less he thinks about a piece and the lines most importantly the better his acting is so the more he lets it come naturally to him and doesn’t over think about it the better.  In his earlier auditions I thought some lines he said were a little forced and rushed I think this came with the over thinking of the lines, what is coming next and what is expected for him to show from these lines. Once he stopped this and relaxed into a scene he done really well. He had good diction throughout his piece. I think the last London styled monologue suited him best and came most naturally because it seemed like he let it come more naturally to him and didn’t think about it too much. It was like a normal conversation.

Jakko- I liked the way he approached his piece. It felt like every time I watched it I was watching it for the first time which was great. This was because of the delivery of the lines I felt he always tried to bring a slight difference to his lines every time. The sarcasm to the piece was great and I thought he had a real sense of character and was quite natural. At some points it lost this natural nature but it would always snap back into being natural. I think the only reason it lost its natural flow was because he was thinking about what was coming next and how to say each line at points which showed on camera. This was very rarely but did happen sometimes. I liked the eye contact he gave while performing it made you feel more a part of the performance like he was really talking to you which drew the audience in.

Georgia- in Georgia’s piece her facial expressions were good and she gave a real sense of the character. I think the anger to the piece has got better and the last time she performed it I thought it was very good. I think she nailed the sarcastic nature of the piece as well. At times the words were just being said but I think again if she forgets about the piece and stops thinking about the lines it will cause the piece and character to be more natural and flow better. I think she suited this character well.

Dan- in Dan’s performance I felt like once he stopped thinking about the delivery of the lines it was great. Like most of us in the class I think he needs to stop worrying about the piece itself and the delivery of lines and just let it be natural because if you don’t do this it comes across as being overplayed Once he did do this such as in his last attempt at the monologue it was the best I had seen him act. In his earlier auditions it felt like he was just saying his lines and again worrying on how to say them but by his last audition he sorted this and I liked his sense of character in his last audition because it seemed like he stopped over thinking.

 

Shivvy's Self and Peer Evaluation

Feedback for Everyone

I just want to say well done to everyone, you have worked extremely hard throughout the unit. In the audition process everybody was very determined when it came to rehearsing their monologues, everybody was very motivated and it impressed me.  What I noticed is that when it came to watching back the videos for some, the second takes of the monologue were better. I have to say in comparison of last year, everybody’s diction has improved a lot and that is one thing to be proud of.

Victor

The thing I like about Victor is when he performs, his voice, he has very clear diction, also he can emphasize his voice really well. The tone of his voice can go high and low and it is very useful when it comes to playing a character he has an advantage. I think Victor thinks about his voice a lot, more than character because his vocals are good, his pace it’s natural not too fast, not too slow it was just perfect. When Victor spoke his monologue I noticed that he struggled to get into character, perhaps nervousness may have gotten to him but his second take was better. He was relaxed, his character improved.

Me

The monologue Joe wanted me to do was the Harry Brown duologue he gave me. When I first performed it I didn’t like it, I felt nervous and my pace was fast. I really liked my second take than the first one because I was much calmer thanks to Joe’s feedback. Originally I wanted to do it different from how Ben Drew (Plan B) played the Noel character. I wanted to play the character angry, vexed but it didn’t look good. Joe told me to be disinterested as to how Noel was in the Harry Brown movie.

Jordan

With Jordan’s first monologue I understood the character he was trying to play, but the outcome of it was different. Jordan’s first take I felt it the pace was slow, dragging. It was hard to understand what he was saying because of the character he was trying to play. The character he was trying to play was to be concussed, zoned out, and scared. His second take was better I felt, the pace was neutral and he used facial expressions to express himself. His second monologue I thought was great, it seemed very natural, more lively.

Jack

With both monologues Jack’s focus was great, I liked how he used his character to actually roll up a cigarette, I thought it was a good decision to make, it worked for him. For his second monologue, I previously did the monologue and it was interesting to see the difference between mine and Jack’s. I took the approach of been a deep lover and Jack took the approach of doing drugs. I thought that approach was unusual because I would never have thought of it. It was creative that he had thought of it. 

Charlotte

I liked her monologue and I liked the way she performed it, it stood out for me, she was really energetic. I think Charlotte struggled to show her emotions but each time she did it, she got better. There was one time when I thought it was great she improved it a lot that eventually it became natural. The emotion she was trying to portray was anger and with anger you have to control your voice otherwise you are just shouting. This one time she controlled her voice really well and I thought she was really angry and not pretending. I say this because I have never seen her like that before, it was a first and because her cheeks were blushing red. Your cheeks naturally become red when you are angry and that’s what happened.

Facebook alumni

Hello all, have a look at facebook alumni page.

Also, this Friday industry morning with lots of guests. In the afternoon workshops with Wet Picnic. Very very exciting.
Remember what Sam said today about making the most of time and space and support to make work this year.

On Wednesday and Thursday you are on the Transformers' project with production but i need to steal you a little tomorrow or Thursday to talk about Festival.

Jack, shall we do a little blurb on your idea to chase rights to the album just in case we go them?

Me and peer evaluation acting for camera and auditioning

Me and peer evaluation acting for camera and auditioning

Jordan: Jordan’s progress as an actor for TV and film audition was very interesting he showed us a varied view on how his character could and should be portrayed, and his performance of Adam from DNA was very entertaining and in contrast with his other monologues show versatility. His research on being concuss showed through his performance with slow eye movements and the use of voice that was used. The text was mined well and the techniques he used for example his slow rotating head contributed to his use of voice.

Cody: I thought that her ability to understand and learn monologue/duologue, at a fast rate to a degree where her performances look real and natural show a very professional level of skill. She had a different monologue/duologue almost every week and was able to mine the text to understand all the big questions for acting e.g who what when where why, her character objectives and super objective, what is the main goal this character is trying to achieve. Her on camera skills were good she quickly grasped where and when she needed to look places and had a clear understanding of how to act in front of a camera in contrast to theatrical acting.

Myself: I have found this unit very useful and interesting I will be able use these when I where I can, I now find it easier to analyse film and TV script and get the concept of what the director/ writers are looking to find, and how to develop my own character  from scratch using that information as raw ingredients. I found on my final performance didn’t go as well as I wanted it to go, I believe the physicality is important for me I should furthered my character in that aspect to get more of a feel for the characters personality. But I believed I was able to grab a vast understanding of how I wanted to play the character throughout what I read from the text. I did a monologue by Phil in DNA by Dennis Kelly. From my research and from what I understand Phil is a high functioning autistic school child trying to formulate a plan on the spot for his fellow school mates because one of his school mates has died in a forest, they think. I think although I grabbed the concept of what my characters objective and super objectives, I think I could work more on the physicality of my character.

Research on online lurker for essay,essays!

This is some research I did on Lurkers to contribute to my essay.

Online Lurkers

• Online lurkers are people who anonymously observed the online community and social media’s without actively contributing to it.
• They make up to a lot of today’s social media community.
• Constant lurking can lead to loneliness and extreme apathy and distantness.
•  Lurking can benefit to learning or E-learning.
• Overly Lurking can lead to desensitization or emotional distancing.
• Lurking is a type of free riding to take from a community and not contribute.
• Lurking online can also be positive for finding information fast and to understand the world quick by seeing what’s for example trending on twitter.
• Lurking can help who struggle to communicate gain perspective and further understanding on social situation.

 

 

 

 

 

Links to websites used for information

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lurker

http://www.think-progress.com/uk/en/tech-trends/mining-social-media-newsfeeds/

Self and peer evaluation

Self and peer evaluation

 

Me: I have evaluated my progress throughout the unit in my other written work so I’m going to focus on my final performances. For my first monologue I was playing a concussed Adam from DNA I felt I had taken on the feedback from joe on previous takes of the monologue and had tried to play the character more naturally but I felt in the first run through I overplayed the concussion to often which slowed the pace of the performance and I feel that using the concussed moments less frequently would of increased the impact of those moments and made the whole performance seem more realistic. On the second run through I had feedback to up the pace and to be constantly looking around and never focusing on one point for too long. I felt by doing this my performance looked much more realistic and the injection of pace made it much more interesting after looking back on the video I noticed that by not layering the character with different set movements or reactions I naturally found the character which made for a much more interesting and realistic performance. Overall for that monologue I felt if I took some of the elements from the first run through of doing it and combined it with the second run I feel that the performance could of being much improved realistic and interesting. My second performance was a monologue from the film Traffic and I was portraying Seth. In this performance I tried to get the energy of the character and maintain that energy inside my body and really try and embody the character and then just deliver the lines this worked effectively as it made the performance natural and I felt being able to hold the same energy as the character enabled me to deliver the lines in a way that was true to the script. I got positive feedback on this performance so only performed it once.

 

Cody: One of the great things I felt Cody did was to try out a wide range of monologues and experiment with different accents. I feel she really came into her own on her final duologue she captured the physicality of the character very well and she managed to master the way her character would pronounce her words. What I found most interesting was how her delivery of lines changed to suit the conversation as her character changed status and her intention’s changed she reacted with the perfect pace of delivery for the lines and her whole characterization would change depending on the situation her character was in I felt this made her performance very believable as I felt she was always moving in character and never felt that she lost focus and fell back into being Cody. Another performance that impressed me was when she performed a monologue about having a conversation with a captive and discussing what nipple she was going to cut from the captive. I enjoyed watching the development of this scene as when I first saw it Cody was delivering the lines very fast possibly because she was trying to hold an accent but I felt when she re performed this monologue she had slowed it right down whilst still holding the accent she also added the slow repetitive movement of painting her nails all of this made her much more menacing as she seemed much more controlled in the situation and I felt the slowed down pace suited the scene perfectly.   

 

Charlotte: What was great about charlottes monologue where she was arguing with her brother was that I got to see it develop over a number of weeks into a really intense emotional scene. When she first started developing this scene I felt although it was very emotional it wasn’t quite believable because she was overplaying it rather than feeling it but as she developed the scene I felt she started to internalize the anger which made her outbursts really meaningful and really made an impact with the audience.  She tried different ways to physically embody the character from delivering the lines whilst standing still too constantly moving in her final performance I think she got the perfect mix by using the anger to judge when to move I think it added impact and meaning to the movement and overall performance. I felt that her final performance was very impressive her ability to get emotion through her voice was incredible, But I feel her best performance of this monologue was when she showed it to me and I was the only audience member as I feel it allowed her to focus her emotion on one point in that performance I felt truly part of the performance and got the full impact of the emotion charlotte put into the performance. I feel this monologue is probably best for stage rather than being performed to camera but saying that I felt charlottes final performance was very close to getting the same emotion through the performance as she did when I was watching her face to face which is very impressive.  

I was impressed with both Cody and Charlottes diction throughout the performances as Cody delivered her lines clearly whilst maintain accents and Charlotte showed emotion thorough her voice whilst still maintaining good diction and delivery.