1. Sound and Silence
In my scene there isn't really any silences or pauses. As there is a bomb about to go off Callum is very anxious to get Sephy out, and Sephy doesn't know what is going on and is quite scared so they don't have time to pause. They are constantly shouting to each other and hurting about.
2. Pitch
When Sephy says "Callum where did you spring from?" her voice gets higher as the sentence goes on, because she excited to see him but is also asking a question.
3. Pace
The pace is very fast a lot of head turning as one of us speaks then the other. But when Im doing direct address towards the audience at the beginning my pace isn't as fast, however it isn't really slow, there still aren't any breaks or pauses.
4. Intonation
When questions are made the pitch goes up. For example Sephy says "whats going on?" a lot, so her voce goes higher as she's asking a question but is also shouting.
5. Volume
The voice is most loud when Callum is arguing at Sephy shouting "Don't argue. Out! Come on!"or when Sephy shouts at Callum "Callum, enough!"
The voice is most soft when Sephy at the beginning is talking to the audience and says " I sipped my orange juice, grateful for the time alone", but there is still some annoyance in her voice.
6. Tone Colour
The quality of the voice is mainly cold and abrupt, and aggressive and hot. This is because they are both shouting at each other and Callum doesn't have much patience with Sephy as he wants to get her out of there quickly. An example of this is when Callum says " never mind you ruddy drink. You have to leave NOW."
7. Emphasis
Callum uses emphasis on the word "now" when he says "You have to leave NOW." He does this because he wants to make clear that they have to leave immediately.
Another example is when Sephy shouts " Callum, enough!" and emphasises the word "enough!" because she wants to make clear that she's annoyed and wants him to stop.
Sunday, 28 September 2014
Long Term Target
My long term target is to become more in touch with my emotions on stage. I want to make the audience feel something when they watch me. I want to be able cry if necessary and bring the character to life. Im quite good at comedy parts but not so much serious roles. Which is a problem since I've heard Brit only do serious plays! But i am going to work so hard on this. Im going to audition for any parts that really push my abilities. And finally I'm going to listen to what the teacher says, take it all in and use it. I'm going to watch other people use what I think is good. This is very important to me so I hope i can by the end of the year write down on this blog that I have achieved this and I have made someone really feel something when they watch me.
lesson 3
25th September 2014
What I found really fun was the Rugby chant (Hacker) exercise. It involved us making up a chant in groups and going opposite another group and shouting it at each other. I really liked it because we got to work as a team and have a laugh in class. But it did have some reflection to the play. Naughts and Crosses are 2 different groups and are against each other, so by doing the chant it made us think that even though Sephy and Callum are friends they are on 2 different sides of a war.
As usual we started of by doing a warm up. Starting with body, we stretched and moved our mouths, imagining we were chewing gum. By warming up our body it helps us go from ourselves to our character more easily. Then we moved to our voice warmups, we worked on projection and articulation. We need to do this at the beginning so that when we go to rehearse we can make sure were loud enough but not shouting. And also so that the audience can understand what were saying. We after worked on breath control, this is important because we need to be able to say a whole sentence without stopping and have enough energy to do a whole performance.
After the warmup we worked on the sex scene. In this scene we are using the whole class. We each say a line from the script. This is a better way of performing this scene than just having 2 people, because it won't be that awkward for us and the parents watching, but also its a lot more effective and looks a lot better and interesting. We are still trying to get the order right, everyone is getting confused but I think were get it soon, we just need practise.
What I found really fun was the Rugby chant (Hacker) exercise. It involved us making up a chant in groups and going opposite another group and shouting it at each other. I really liked it because we got to work as a team and have a laugh in class. But it did have some reflection to the play. Naughts and Crosses are 2 different groups and are against each other, so by doing the chant it made us think that even though Sephy and Callum are friends they are on 2 different sides of a war.
For the rest of the lesson we worked on our scenes. I have achieved my target of learning my lines and staging it. I think the main target now is to really get the characters emotions into the scene and show how much they love each other and how scared they are. Because in this play Sephy and Callum can never feel safe or protected, through their whole lives they have been trapped in a society that won't let them be together. In this scene I think they finally realise how dangerous and scary the world they live in is. And what I want to do is show that fear and realisation of the world they come from. Because from this scene after they live their lives knowing this divide and the real horror it actually is.
Saturday, 27 September 2014
Direct Address
In my scene I use direct address two times. The first time I'm walking up and down the middle of the stage looking to both sides of the audience making eye contact with everyone. This is good because when i look at the audience they feel more involved and more of a connection with the character.
Still Moments
Still moments
Still moments are when the actors freeze on stage and the audience really get a chance to properly reflect on what the characters in the play are feeling and doing.
We use it my scene, when Callum is pulling Sephy out of the mall and they freeze when Sephy is explaining what they are doing as well as after when they are running and talking. We obviously couldn't run in the scene because we would be running into the audience, so by freezing but still talking we can make it seem like were running by using are voices, but also the audience can hear us properly and see what are facial expressions are. If we were running it would be harder to project are voices and the audience wouldn't have time to see our faces.
Still moments are when the actors freeze on stage and the audience really get a chance to properly reflect on what the characters in the play are feeling and doing.
We use it my scene, when Callum is pulling Sephy out of the mall and they freeze when Sephy is explaining what they are doing as well as after when they are running and talking. We obviously couldn't run in the scene because we would be running into the audience, so by freezing but still talking we can make it seem like were running by using are voices, but also the audience can hear us properly and see what are facial expressions are. If we were running it would be harder to project are voices and the audience wouldn't have time to see our faces.
Traverse Theatre
Traverse Stage facts
1.The Traverse theatre can fit a lot of people.
2. It is a form of theatrical stage in which the audience is predominantly on two sides of the stage, facing towards each other.
3. The stage is also commonly known as an alley or corridor stage.
4. In some traverse stages, one end of the stage space may also end in audience
5. The ends of the stage are much larger than the traverse stage itself allowing for more space for actors, sets, and scenery
What is good about it
1. Greater projection of voice
2. Every action is visible to both sides of the audience
3. Intimate staging and allows the actors to use the audience for effect
4. Audience can see actors facial expressions clearer
5. Audience feel more involved
6. Gets the audience more involved
What people say about it
Disadvantages for the audience:
---Once an actor walks past one part of the audience, the actor's back will be to the audience.
---It's not really convenient to place scenery on the stage. So, very minimal and small pieces of scenery can be placed on the stage.
Disadvantages for the actors:
---Very minimal and small pieces of scenery can be placed on the stage.
---Traverse stages are usually high off the ground. So, the front row audience might not be able to see very well.
Advantages for the audience:---Intimacy between the audience and actors.
---The audience can see the actor's entire body and hear the actors clearly.
Advantages for the actors:---Intimacy between the audience and actors.
---Scenery can be placed on the back wall.
How we use Traverse Staging
In my scene, me and my partner stand opposite sides of the stage. This will make the audience be constantly looking from one of us to the other. This is good because it gets the audience more intrigued, and they will be more concentrated to the scene.
It is helpful for us as actors, because we have to concentrate more on facing the audience. I have to do this when I am directly addressing the audience.
By using Traverse staging in our running part of the scene we can make it easier for the audience to see us as well as making it look a lot more interesting.
Examples of Traverse Staging
1. fashion catwalk
2. 1991 The Derby Playhouse Community Theatre mounted a large scale production based on the events on Christmas Day in the trenches of World War 2 in 1914. The German and British armies (composed of a cast of hundreds) faced each other across the stage.
1.The Traverse theatre can fit a lot of people.
2. It is a form of theatrical stage in which the audience is predominantly on two sides of the stage, facing towards each other.
3. The stage is also commonly known as an alley or corridor stage.
4. In some traverse stages, one end of the stage space may also end in audience
5. The ends of the stage are much larger than the traverse stage itself allowing for more space for actors, sets, and scenery
What is good about it
1. Greater projection of voice
2. Every action is visible to both sides of the audience
3. Intimate staging and allows the actors to use the audience for effect
4. Audience can see actors facial expressions clearer
5. Audience feel more involved
6. Gets the audience more involved
What people say about it
Disadvantages for the audience:
---Once an actor walks past one part of the audience, the actor's back will be to the audience.
---It's not really convenient to place scenery on the stage. So, very minimal and small pieces of scenery can be placed on the stage.
Disadvantages for the actors:
---Very minimal and small pieces of scenery can be placed on the stage.
---Traverse stages are usually high off the ground. So, the front row audience might not be able to see very well.
Advantages for the audience:---Intimacy between the audience and actors.
---The audience can see the actor's entire body and hear the actors clearly.
Advantages for the actors:---Intimacy between the audience and actors.
---Scenery can be placed on the back wall.
How we use Traverse Staging
In my scene, me and my partner stand opposite sides of the stage. This will make the audience be constantly looking from one of us to the other. This is good because it gets the audience more intrigued, and they will be more concentrated to the scene.
It is helpful for us as actors, because we have to concentrate more on facing the audience. I have to do this when I am directly addressing the audience.
By using Traverse staging in our running part of the scene we can make it easier for the audience to see us as well as making it look a lot more interesting.
Examples of Traverse Staging
1. fashion catwalk
2. 1991 The Derby Playhouse Community Theatre mounted a large scale production based on the events on Christmas Day in the trenches of World War 2 in 1914. The German and British armies (composed of a cast of hundreds) faced each other across the stage.
Friday, 19 September 2014
HOMEWORK 2 (warm up)
Lesson 2Why should an actor warm up their body and voice?
An actor should warm up their body, because they use it a lot in theatre. If they do not warm up their body they can pull a muscle during the performance. As well as not getting their bodies prepared for the activities they will be facing, so they will get tired a lot quicker then they normally would if they hadn't of warmed up.
An actor should always warm up their voices, because thats what they use they most. They have to get their voices exercised and prepared for all the talking they will have to do. They also need to get their breathing under control so they are able to perform whole sentences without having to stop and gasp for air before they carry on.
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