Approaching Your Script ; Tusk Tusk

Work out your character’s given circumstances, create a list of what you know about your character using evidence from the text. Separate this list into what people say about you and what you say about yourself. Then separate this research into a new list stating which are facts and which are opinions.

Facts:

My mum has gone missing isn't going back : page 78 "to think what?..... What? ,,,, That's she not coming back?"


My mum was a nut case always taking drugs!; Page 79 "what do you think those pills were? Maltesers? she was on anti-psychotic drugs."


I think my brother is wasting the money on stupid things: page 91 " bet you spent it on her, didn't you? I bet you spent our money. Our food money on getting her pissed"

I didn't care about if the social services found about me and my brothers when Finn hurt his arm I just wanted Finn be go to the hospital and be okay; Page 62 " I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. but we need to take him. Look at him. Look at him Eliot. We'll get away with it somehow. We'll say she's on holiday. They wont ask too many questions-"

I have to make sure we don't miss a phone call it could be mum!; page 19 " We cant a call. We have to have them with us all the time."

Opinions:

I just want some to care of me for once; Page 91 " where's my big brother? Who's always been taller than me? who's always led the way?"

I'm jealous of how my mum as looked after Finn and Eliot but never me; Page 111 " She was so different to you, Eliot. she thought the son shore out your mouth. She worshipped you." 

my brother keeps wasting the money on stupid thing; Page 28 "You cant get a takeaway at eight in the morning"

Admitting the truth about what really happened before mum left felt horrible as its my fault she went missing; page 111 " Maggie's shakes her head..... I told her to do it and she has. she has"

I'm just fed up of waiting for mum to come back we cant keep lying forever we have to tell someone; page 95 "you cant stop them coming here. you cant stop me telling them. its over, Eliot. its too serious now."

1. Ask Questions: You’re an actor approximating reality. So use any acting skills or techniques that you have at your command to create this reality. And ask as many questions as you can to make an unreal situation real for yourself, including:        Who am I? Reconstruct the character’s life and make it your own. “I” instead of “he” or “she” when you talk about them. Prepare a written autobiography so that I could define for myself my character’s education, occupation, income, religion, likes, dislikes, age, weight, height, health, physical handicaps, behavioural characteristics, family life, customs and habits of the era in which s/he lives or the society in which s/he moves.
I'm Maggie and I'm 14 years old. I've just moved in to my new flat in London with mum and my two brothers. Finn who's 7 and Eliot (or Ellie as I some times call him) who's 15. Its seems alright all right it has a garden and school is round the corner. So I guess I have to go now. schools alright year 9 kind of awkward year because your just in the middle your the youngest or the oldest you just blend with everyone. but I guess I have to go if I want to get out of this hell hole. My mum hates me! and I'm mean actually hate me! She's looks afters the Eliot and Finn though. Well she tries when she isn't popping pills down her throat. But she's not at home as she down another runner. but this time she hasn't called us. I hate when she does as I have feel look after Finn and bunk my last lesson at school so I can go and pick him up. and Eliot and have to cook meals and when I mean this I mean a bag crisps for breakfast. which actually the thought make me sick. Also, I have pretend that everything is normal for Finn so he doesn't accidently tells someone at school what has happened. and its not like my brother cares as he's to busy numbing the pain by fucking other girls. he's currently on to a girl called Cassie. Don't really know her but looks a bit like a slag but she seems okay. so yeah my family falling apart and the only one trying to do something is me. I mean it started when my dad died of cancer when I really young and from then on I don't think mum has been right ever since. As she off god know where's , Eliot with Cassie and Finn just thinks mums on holiday.








b. What is the present situation? What did the character come here to do . . . what does the character want . . . what is the character’s intention? Portraying a strong intention may be all you need to do to make the character and the situation real for you. It helps to express this intention as a “to . . .” verb. You might also want to know your character’s physical condition: tired, hungry, cold, ill. And their mental/emotional condition: aware, confused, angry, calm, drunk.


My character came to here to look after Finn and Eliot as I think she embeds the mum figure while their mum is gone. As she is controlling what they spend and how they spend it. I think Maggie does as she has natural to look after herself as her mum has never been their for her. this is made mature faster than Eliot as Eliot doesn't admit what his mum was really like. My characters wants to tell someone/ anyone about the situation that they are in as Maggie knows this isn't going to end well and knows they cant lie forever. My characters intentions are to make Eliot see that we cant live like this that we will soon run out of money or soon have to the rent man but Eliot doesn't care and just wants to wait on this forever. 


My characters physical condition is to changes though out the play as it foreshadows everything that happens at the end of the play when Maggie finally admits to why her mum left.


My characters psychical conditions for each scene;


scene one; scared then changes to worried
scene two;  control  then changes playful
scene three; scared changes to happy/ funny then to control but worried as well as she's just a kid
scene four; confused but quickly changes to calm and to look after then anger
scene five; excited then suddenly disappointed, then to open and scared. 
scene six:  tension, telling off/ control, 
scene seven; down/depressed, to look after/control
scene eight;




c. Where am I? Define the environment . . . the place . . . as a force in your script: era, year, season, time of day, temperature, humidity, weather. You may also want to substitute an actual place you know, like your bedroom for the character’s bedroom, to help you. You can do this in a snap with sensory work, one of the foundations of Method Acting. Creating all the specifics of the place stimulates your sensorial reality and adds dimension to your script.    


the environment my character is in Summer time of 2009 in London this properly means it was August time during this time their was heat wave and therefore Maggie would properly shorts and t-shirt. this means most of the scenes would be in light day time as in August the nights are shorter. this will have a huge in impact on my character as if Maggie was cold it would effect her behaviour and her movement. As Maggie is a similar age to me and I have an older brother I can relate to her as I'm guessing her house would be quite similar to mine. Also, I live in London as well so her environment would also be similar. 

I can imagine her bedroom would like this small but girly and due to her being in control thought-out the play I can imagine quite tidy. Also, I can imagine this being her bedroom as it is a modern play Maggie would just have a normal bedroom. 

 

D. Working in costume. Bring the relevant clothes for your character to help you get into your role.
Draw some in costume get pictures from magazines
Personal reflection


due to the play been set in 2009 the clothes they would wear would quite similar to today and as Maggie 14 and I am 15 I think I will find it easy to find a costume that relate Maggie. the play is just in their house and if I'm just at home I would properly just wear leggings and t-shirt as I'm not going out anywhere. also, I properly wouldn't wear trainers just comfy socks with my hair up in bun. I think my character would be similar to this as she isn't going out and seems to be just a normal teenage.
I think something like this would suit my character quite well as it comfortable and realist. Also, Maggie come across as a loud confident which you relate to fashion.

2. Explore the circumstances of what came before I’ve seen so many actors start scripts with no clue of why they’re saying what they’re saying. And it shows! They usually hit their stride about halfway through the script. By then, they’ve lost me. The character has had a life before that point in time. You need to create that life for your character before you say a word. You can go over it in your mind before speaking. Do whatever works for you. And, as in all acting, make strong or unusual choices.

Where were you before each scene?
What was happening?
Doing this means you enter the stage with energy and focus; you bring something on with you!

 Before my monologue scene Eliot was blaming Roland for the disappearance of her mum as he was blaming him for dumping Maggie mums and Eliot thinks this is the reason why Maggie's mum took off.  Maggie's was too scared though out the whole to tell Eliot why she left however she eventfully does and this is when monologue happens. In addition to this, Thought out the play we don't realise that this is what to Maggie and it was really shocking to me when I read the play as I didn't expect. This means I walk on stage with my state of tension at a 4 and the monologue goes it increase and drops.

 

 

 

Skills Audit- Areas To Improve

As I'm a young actor I think I have a lot to improve on but I'm fine with that's as that why I'm at Brit School to help improve. The main I have noticed that I need to improve on are:


Speaking With Sharp Articulation ( speaking at the front of my mouth):  This is properly one of the biggest for me to over come as not just an actor but when I'm talking to friends and family. For an actor in theatre you have to have a loud strong voice and say every letter and sound in the word this is how you gain sharp and strong articulation.  to do this I can do tongue twister ever day to use the muscles in my mouth that I don't use.


Working Three Sides Of The Audience:  I learnt this technique last term for TTWCT and I think did okay with this method however I think I did at times only perform two sides. To improve I think I could use the sword method Mr Rennison suggested and practised using ways to move my body so all three sides can see me clearly. Also, I found it quite to work three sides as it felt quite unnatural as in real life I don't make sure all sides can see I just naturally walk or turn in director however as an actor I need to adapt and practice this therefore I can do this technique naturally.


Playing My Character Without Caring: This sounds such a basic thing and I thought I grow out of it as I'm 15 but I do still care what people think of me. However, I do need to break habit as I'm in rehearsal I'm only performing to class mates, so what do I have to loose? Also, I think if I don't care my acting will look more realistic and I will fur fill my objectives to 100 per cent.

Skills Aduit - Have You Gained any skills elsewhere?

I have gained skills other some acting techniques such as:


The Brecht Alienation Effect: this effect is a clever technique that has been used for hundreds of years in theatre. Its a technique that makes the audience distant themselves emotionally from play by the reminders of the artificiality of the performance. they can do this in many such as allowing the actor to come out of character, reminding the audience they are a theatre and by set designs not representing the location in detail of where the play is set. For example I went to go a Much A Do About Nothing at the Old Vic last year and the set was just a brown wooden box on stage. When I leant the alienation I realised this is what the director and the set designer probably wanted as they to try and use the alienation technique. This method I think is really clever as its stops the audience getting to attack to characters and to have emotion throughout the play. Also, I think it is clever as when I read books/plays that have this effect for some reason they make me compare the storyline and the characters to todays society's and my opinion based on the book/play.


Dancing:  As I dance outside school as a extra curricular I this is has improved my acting as well in some way. Because as an dance the beat you adapt your dancing is the music and as a actor the beat is your breathe which you adapt your lines, your character and your physical movement too. This is why your breathing technique is so important as you have to allow your body to listen to the beat which is your breathe. However, I do think dancing can effect your acting in a bad as dancing everything has to be one time. But with acting you take can as long as you need to say the next line or play the next objective because you have control over your beat of your breathe.  Move over, dancing has helped me to feel what I'm dancing too and to fully understand my movement.


Alexandra Technique: is  a technique I found myself to help me improve my voice, posture and breathing. This technique is should help me break my habits I do everyday such as speaking from the dimples of my cheeks, breathing from my chest not my belly and leaving on one leg when I stand.  The technique I think has helped my improve my position I think as I have started doing yoga at my local gym I feel my back is more stretched which makes my chests and lungs feel open. When I practiced doing this at home its felt open and relaxing but when I went out I kind if felt exposed but as the I have been practising more often my have more comfortable doing this in front of people and hopefully when I performance my back bend like it did before to make my shoulders sink.


Inner Creative State:  This method helps as sometimes I don't feel mentally fit to play some one else so my acting just looks fake and planned. however learning this has helped me gain how important it is warm up into my character as playing your objective mentally is just as important of playing it physically. Also, your inner creative state can be effected by you playing your objective in the same way so you just don't feel the objective any more. Furthermore, your inner creative can  be effected my your attitude towards the character you play for example, if you play a racist you obviously don't have views as that character and this can make you have a negative emotion on your character. However to over come you have to find your inner racist (if that makes sense) to try and understand my characters views.

Notes From todays Lesson 22/09/14

In today's lesson I leant a really good rehearsal technique. It was to act are objectives. At first I found this really hard as I didn't really know how to over act my objectives with out thinking of it however when I started working with Samantha in a pair I started to realise what Mr Rennsion meant by not getting the monologue right but living though the objectives.


Living though the objectives has helped me to express my characters emotion which out me mentally making myself and telling myself to play that character. also, it makes me feel more confident when I perform as I know I am getting the monologue wrong but I am getting the objective right. when you have got the objective right you can move to the next objective and the next objective and from this point you can sort out of your transactions in to the next objective from here. Living though the objectives has effected my feelings towards my monologue as I have now experimented with some of my objectives however the ones I have experimented aren't right. I'm not concerned or worried due 90%  of the time my objectives will be wrong and that's so okay as I'm only experimenting. Furthermore, you cant be good all the time and its okay to go grey but then be technical. As I'm still learning and I will properly do this the rest of my acting carrier. Also, watching other people practice their monologue and this has helped me know how hard I have to play my objectives to allow me to physically live throw my objective. In addition to this, living though the objectives kind of felt like jumping through hoops and even though I don't have my objectives thoughly sorted out yet I gained a lot from this lesson and I can find my objectives in my own time. Exploring the extremes of my objectives has definitely helped me with my monologue as I how know much energy and passion I need to fully fulfil my objectives and how tiring I am after. Finally, To improve I think I need to experiment with more objectives and to find news ones to practice with.


Furthermore, also I have learnt you can get your energy from anything or anyone. Learning this has helped me explore new ways to express the objectives I practiced and to help me live though the objectives. this technique can help me for the future as it has allowed to explore more in my beats, thought tracks and objectives. Also, learning this technique has helped to understand why and how professional actors can change their what they do in their scenes because they can change the way they play their objectives and change where and how they get their energy from. I hope to able to do this one day as I'm still learning more about energy and how to control it and how to play with my energy and different energy levels  Finally, to improve I think I fully need to start over using my energy because if I have fully go their I can break all the habits I have about caring what people think of me. Also, I can practice in my monologue different types energy and using the 7 states of tension method and exploring new ways of getting my energy from.


In addition to this, I have leant to realise my instinct through my physical objective. This is an important as I knew before that action over rides the lines however I didn't understand how to do embedded it into my performance. Also, learning this method has helped me to develop more understand of my objectives as I have been trying out different objectives.for example to paced and to admit. Trying out new objectives from this has helped me think more creatively about my character and improved my acting. Finally, learning about my natural instinct work though the objective has allowed me to take more risks as actor and to be more confident when I'm performing.

Skills Audit Notes

Last lessons looked back on what we have leant do far. As an Actor this is really important as this is a on going that will continue for the rest of my life. Also, it is important to go back and look what I have leant and what I need to improve.


When we did this I didn't realise how much I have leant and how much I have improved as an actor. The acting techniques and methods I have leant are;


Rehearsal Skills- this method has helped me Analysing and truly understand the purpose of the text and this has helped me and if your on stage you don't understand what your doing or saying how is the audience meant to. Rehearsal skills I have leant are also give circumstances which is the environment and situational conditions which can effect human behaviour and therefore we have to understand what our characters given circumstances are. this technique was from the Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski's. Finally, Objectives is a really important technique as it has based think more deeply about my character. However, objectives are just to help you understand your character which you can change at any time.


Discovering Your Objectives: are really important part of being an actor as it allows your mind to mentally understand your character. If you allow this to happen the physically for your character will come because you understand the emotion.


Working Ensemble: Was one of my favourite techniques I have leant so far from doing Blackout as I loved working together as a hole class.


Evaluating: other peoples performance and myself is really important as I'm still learning as actor and you can learn from other people mistakes. Also, it has educated me as you have to research what you evaluating.


Understanding and Responding To Pacific Audience:   For TTWCT we had to adapt our ensemble performance to the suit the audience which were children. I really like learning this method it is an important method to learn as your target audience have to understand what's happening in the performance.


Allowing any to happen: this is a really important technique as if you act the same feeling and emotion to many times in the same way you will look like your acting and not living. this is make you look like a robot and not a human being. As a human we have a natural instinct to plan and prepare, epically for me as I'm such an organised person I have to plan everything. Therefore, this is one on my weakness that I need to improve to be more risky and to look less like I'm acting.


Space all Awareness: Is such an important technique as you have to your surroundings to very small detail while your performing. As this can effect your instinct while in you don't know your surrounding.


Energy Levels:  we leant this is term 5 of year 10 when we were doing TTWCT.  As we had to perform to children are energy levels had to be high. This is because children are so over active and they wouldn't understand the story line. Also, I think I performed this technique and I am confident to perform to again.


Breathe Exercises: Breathing is such an important part for acting as you have to spend your breathe wisely so the audience can hear you speaking but heavily breathing (unless need to for your scene). we have done exercise such as where you stand up with good posture and closing eyes pretending that their is a warm bowl of oil in your belly. this encourages you to deep breathy and to fill your lungs properly.


 Warm up My Body and Mind: Warming mentally is just as important as warming up Physical as you have believe you are that are that character. Also, now I have understand to warm up my mind mentally and physically I understand how much research depth actors go into to fully understand their characters.


Spending The Emotion And Allowing The Breathe To Leave Not Mind: this is technique has let me take control of my breathing and to allow my emotion to explored out of me and to rapidly change unrealistically though my performance.


Multimedia: This is properly my favourite skills I have leant this year as it is something I have never done before and I loved using and setting up modern technology. And I would love to do a term like this again.


React To Other Actors: This is such an important skill I have leant as you cant just prepare what the other actors have done in rehearsal or wise the performance will look planned and their will be no real connection or energy going to the audience.


Director: I really liked directing in term two when we were had choreograph and director some parts of Blackout. This opened up my creatively and made me think more deeply about the play as to be a Director you have to understand what every line and every word of the play.


Every Scene is a Chase Scene: I leant this is term one this is important as it increases the tension in the scenes. also, if the actor learn this is make them keep giving and to keep playing their objectives.


Action Overrides The Lines : is another word for saying actions speak louder than words. this skills is so important when you are performing with other people on stage. This is because your physically expresses your emotion more than the lines you have.


7 States of Tension: come from a man called Jacques Lecoq as he wanted  to help actors adapt their character around 7 levels of tension. I found these technique hard to understand at first however when we got to level 5 I started to understand of the purpose of this technique and why it is important for actor to learn it.

What is my Casting

On Mondays lesson we had to get into pairs and tell each other our Castings are and what roles we look like. I was with Lauren. Lauren gave me lots if different casting such as;


* Under aged single mum
* The naughty party animal at school ; Lauren said she could see me in Waterloo Road
*  The movie St. Trinians
* Mean girls
* Playing characters aged 14-19
* Smart student at school
*Troubled teenage


Lauren also mention that if I was blonde again I could play more parts such as, Legally blonde etc. As I have just dyed my hair brown and I have started wearing glasses for school Lauren said I could play parts as boss or secretary as I look more grown up and therefore I could play older parts.


This exercise has shown me what kind actor people see me as and it makes think what kind of characters I can play. Some of the characters I don't think I would want to play such as a main character in Mean Girls as that's not the kind of actor I want to be when I'm older. However characters like a under age single mum I think I would love to play as this is a big issue in todays society and actually has some importance. Characters like this can effective other people views and behaviour and these as the characters and plays/ Film and TV shows I want to be part of.

Casting Notes from todays lesson

In todays lessons we learnt what casting agents lookout for and what they want in an actor. the two things are Casting (what you look like) and cast ability  (your talent/ abliterly to play the character).


For casting you can change the way you look in many different ways such as, hair colour, contact lenses  , glasses , weight , make up , the way you dress etc. these will determine if you get the role or not as if the character has blonde hair they aren't going to higher someone with brown who wouldn't suit blonde hair. A casting is very important and it determines on the another character in the play as well. for example, if directors were trying to find a family for four they would find actors that have the same facial and body features. you can also adapt your casting to your character for example if they have hurt their leg you can could limp while you are performing your monologue so you look more like the character. You could also research the type of injury your character has so you have more understanding and to make your performance look more realistic so it doesn't look like you are acting. This will effect your cast ability as your acting may not suit this character or this will give you an advantage due to you may play the part really well.


Cast ability is a spectrum of the character you can play as you can improve it by many different ways. for example to broaden my spectrum I need to learn to speak at the front of my mouth as this is one of my major targets as an actor. Cast ability is about your talent as an actor for example if you can do lots of different accents this will increase your chances of getting different parts as lots of actors cant do many accents. Your cast ability can depend on your posture of your body and breathing as well as you need to breathe from your belly and drop the shoulders to open your body so you can play characters like this but also when you need to you can play lazy characters with bad posture. I think this is another target I need to improve as I have bad posture which closes my body language. Finally for a your Cast ability you need to realise your strengthens and weakness as you can work on your weakness to make you become more confident as an actor and to know what you are good so you know what work to audition when you are just starting out as an actor.

Monologue from Find Me by Olwen Wymark

Page 24:Jean:


What are going to do? Dear God, what are we going to do? Managing! Perhaps it would be better for all of us if we couldn't manage . then they'd have to do something. Maybe if I became an alcoholic...I could. My God I think I could sometimes. when I go next door to Suzanne's some nights and we sit and get tight together on the whisky and I talk about all sorts of things and laugh-just for little while I can forget. the thoughts stop going round and round in my head. the relief of just feeling like an ordinary person. The relief. Supposing when Miss Everitt social services came round today she'd found me dead drunk on the floor "Dear me, Mrs Taylor, you're not managing wonderfully well today." Imagine your own child driving you to drink. Your own child that you love. I don't even know if I do love her. I don't know what I feel. Pity-oh pity for her. why did it have to happen? Poor Verity. poor poor baby. But fear too. she seems to like to frighten me- enjoys it. she never does it to Edward. I really think sometimes she hates me. and he's good to her-so patient and kind. all those holidays he takes her on. he doesn't talk much about them afterwards but I know, I know she crucifies him. and I feel mean and cowardly because I don't go too. and guilty. Did I do it? Was it my fault? when I was pregnant with her- all those weeks when she was inside me I thought she was so safe. Nothing could hurt her and yet all the time...was it me? Did I contaminate her? Oh God... she was so beautiful when she was a baby. even now sometimes I wish she ugly. Deformed or crippled. something people could see. then they would pity her too. Instead of getting nervous and embarrassed and moving away from us as if we were lepers. Oh God, will nobody help us? cant anybody help us?




I love this monologue because I think its powerful and meaningful as it letting Jean really express herself about how she really feels about her child. this part of the play made me feel sorry for Jean as she doesn't know if she loves her child which must be the worst feeling a mother could. I loved reading the play as ever page I understood more and more about Verity life (Jeans daughter) and how no where will take her and how this effects her family and this makes me feel sorry for them epically Jean as Edward (Verity dad) is closer to Verity than Jean and I think Jean gets effected by this as generally the mother is closer to the daughter. this is why I would love to do this monologue for this as I think on of the most important things about acting is emotion and if you don't really emotionally attached to the character/ play then I don't believe you can properly be the character if you don't understand what they are going though.

Imrpoving My Vocal Techinque

One of my targets for theatre is to speak from the front of my mouth as I speak from the back for my mouth however as an actor it is very important I learn how to speak at the front so I can project my voice better. these are some tongue twisters to help me.


Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?


Bobby Bibbit bought a bat. Bobby Bibbit bought a ball. With the bat, Bob banged the ball,
Banged the ball against the wall.




Also, to speak from the front of my mouth I have been trying to teach myself the Alexander Technique. The Alexander technique helps you:

Gain and maintain poise no matter your activity.

Prevent habits of excess tension.

Increase breathing efficiency.

Move with greater ease.

Speak with a clearer, stronger voice.

Achieve a permanent feeling of openness.

Break performance habits.

Reduce the chance of vocal, back, and other injuries related to posture and poor movement.

Their are 5 ways to improve my vocal technique that I believe I help me not just this term or for the career in acting but in day to day life:

Vocalizing:

To do this method you have to speak as if a hood is going over head and think of your voice coming from the top of your head. At first I struggled with this so I put on my hoodie and every time I spoke I would put hood over need as it ways controlling my voice. I found this helped a bit however I do need to practice more in order for me to improve my voice technique. Try not to speak from chin when do this, I didn't realise but I do this in everyday life and it is such a bad habit I have picked from friends as I have never realised how when you are around others you tend to start to speak like them.

Breathing:

Another really important method is breathing which I didn't realise this until I was researching vocal technique and a lot of breathing was evolved. you to able to breath efficiency you have to enjoy exhaling as this can help you breath for longer and not in short bursts. this will help with my monologue as it is just me on stage the examiners will be able to know if I am out of breath during the performance. If I do become out of breath I am effectively breaking character in my opinion as my character has no need to be out breath. Also, you need to make sure you are not focusing on the inhale as this tends to shorter the exhale. Therefore, you need to get to know your breathing to fully make breaths effect on stage.

Posture:

Posture is a really important as one of the basic positions of acting is neutral and you need good posture for this. I leant that the Alexandra method uses a metaphor by describing your body as  fountain and how the a fountain is open. this made me feel taller and more open which felt wired as I don't stand like this normally how I need to get use to it and this is the basics of being an actor. I think to improve my posture I could do yoga on a weekly basic so when I'm in neutral its feels more normal.

Ease Of Movement

At first I didn't really this technique however reading over it a couple of times and trying out for myself made me understand it a bit. to do this method you have to think as if your body as bow or spring so it bend more to make you feel lighter. I think this skill is going to be the hardest for me as I'm going to have to change my habits in how I stand and how I walk.

Feeling Grounded:

To do this you have to place your feet together and try to feel as if you are rising up from the floor. I think at times I do this while we warm up and sometimes in character how I need to be able to do this without thinking about it.  

Overall I don't really see the Alexandra Technique as a 'technique' in a way as I think its a way of life as an actor should do all these things naturally without thinking about it. I think this technique will take some time to learn and I will need to do more research in it to understand it in depth

 however, with time and practice I think I will able to do these techniques with thinking about it.

I leant this from a website called: http://www.freeyourneck.com/acting-the-alexander-technique/

Monologue From Otherwise Engaged By Simon Gray

(From page 57 Act 2)


Beth; 


You know the most insulting thing, that you let me go and on being unfaithful without altering your manner or your behaviour one-one- you don't care about me, or my being in love with some else, or my betraying you, Good God! least of that! But you do wish I hadn't actually mentioned it, because then we could have gone on,  at least you could, pretending that everything was all right, no, not even pretending, as far as you were concerned, every-thing was all right- and - and- you've- you've - all those times we've made love, sometimes the very same evening as Ned and I- and yet you took me- in your usual considerate fashion , just as you take your third of a bottle of wine with dinner or your carefully measured brandy and your cigar after it, and enjoyed it all the more because I felt guilty, God help me guilty and so tried harder for your sake - and you admit that, no not admit it, simply state it as if on the difference made by an extra voice or something in your bloody Wagner- don't you see, don't you see that makes you a freak! You're -you're - oh, damn! Damn. Damn you. Oh, damn.


I would love to do this as my monologue for this term because I have read the play and I really enjoyed reading it. I really enjoyed reading the play as it made me really feel something for Beth and Simon as Beth knows their is a problem in the marriage and wants to divorce Simon for another man however Simon thinks this is normal to live like this and would much rather live like this than live alone. I think I would really play Beth well, as I can understand where she's coming from. and I really feel for her.

Why Are Objectives So Important?

Objectives are so important as an actor as its gives you more of a purpose to be on stage and playing the role more effetely. the purpose can help you lead into the character better as it can give you a more depth understanding for you and the audience of the character you are playing. Move over, it is an affect way to join dialogue and action as if you play the objective well the audience won't question what you are doing on stage and why you are doing it.  Furthermore, with objectives you can use your instinct while you act so you the scene looks more realist and it wont look like you are a Robert just saying the lines without meaning. Furthermore, I think one of the most important reasons why objectives are so important because it gives the text true meaning and emotion so if you are playing the objective well enough you can feel that emotion. In addition to this, its makes you live in the given circumstances so your reactions look more naturist and with more meaning. Also, objectives are important as if someone has the same scene as you it gives you the actor more identity as some else will play the objective differently to me or a completely different objective to me. Also, its allows you the actor to improvise while being on stage which I think is very important to keep the performance always looking like this is the first time you have performed it.


Objectives are important as they are the fundamental for understanding of the your character and the play. Leaning this is so important as if you don't understand the character  you playing the words you are just saying just turn into sounds. As I believe the way you say a word defines how you say it. For example, if I was to say the word "shut up" I could say it in a funny jokey way or I could say it in a rude nasty. 


Now I have leant about objectives I feel I can grow more as actor as my confidence   has grown from learning about objectives as I feel I have more of a purpose on stage. furthermore, objectives have made me understand how much you need to know about the character you are playing and the history behind the play. Finally, objectives have improved my acting and my knowledge about planning a performance as they have given me a deeper meaning to act.

What Is An Audition?

 

An audition is proving to someone your ability to act and how you act can benefit their company, TV show or performance. Also, an audition is a test to show how creative you are as an actor as you may be asked to do improvisation. Another skill you may be tested on is how you work as a team because directors are only going to hire people who they enjoy working with and who is good at working as a team.  In addition to this, you might be tested on your physicality to express your objectives and lines. They do this to make sure you fully understand the character and the storyline to see if you are the right person for the role.  There are three different kinds of acting auditions such as, TV/ Film, Theatre and Radio.

 

For TV and Film it is important you have a character breakdown this can be you organising clothes for your audition to suit the character. This is important for an audition as it shows you have come prepared, looks more professional and shows you have some understanding for the character you are playing. Furthermore, you need to do research as you might be asked to do a screen play and if haven’t done the research the lines you are saying will just come out as sounds with no emotion and wont look like you understand the character well. Move over, for a Film/TV auditions you to have good facial expressions as most camera shots are taken from your face not your whole body. Also, if you use too much physicality in your performance you may be moving too much which could make your face move and  out for the camera shot. This is important for a Film/TV audition as the director/ producer might find this annoying and give them a reason not to cast you for the job.

 

Another different type of acting audition is Theatre. For a Theatre audition you have to research about the your character and play as they might ask you what do you know about your character or play and you have to be prepared to talk about this. In addition to this, Theatre is very physical and therefore you should warm up your body before an audition so you are prepared for anything. Also, actors who perform who are auditioning for Theatre must have a strong, sharp voice with good articulation so your voice can fill large Theatres so the whole audience can hear you. Also, from having a these element in your voice you can adapted to suit the character you are playing which will make the audition a lot easier for your voice.    

 

The last type of audition is for Radio. For Radio you need to prepare a show reel of your best work which could include adverts or news report. For this type of audition you don’t need any physicality however your voice has to be loud and strong at all times as this is the only thing the audience would so you have to make your strong like a theatre audience to make sure the energy is high when you are speaking.

 

Finally, for an audition in general it is important not over act as this can look fake and look like your trying to hard. This will make the director not want to hire you as you are not planning the character well. Also, in an audition it is important not to show every emotion you can play as it’s a sign of overacting and is unrealistic as you wouldn’t burst into tears then 30 seconds start making jokes and laughing.