18 - 22 September 2017
This week we have been focusing on our individual voices. We made a presentation about our voice and the things we like about it and the things that we want to change about it. We started looking at duo radio plays, and other people's voices. We delivered our presentations to the class, we also learnt how we can analyse a script to pick out key moments for the voice to help the character. I would like to improve my vocabulary, stop using terms like "ummmm" and "you know when". Extend my research on what makes a good host. Make sure to listen to criticism from my teachers and peers and work on their feedback to improve the use of my voice. My partner and I went though the script a couple of times so that we could annotate each line to decide when we would emphasise and certain word, pause, add more emotion, and speak louder. I suggested the idea that our script would be read in a very relaxed conversation as when I first read through it, it seemed to be quite relatable to a conversation that two people in real life would have. If I could change anything I would extend my radio play further so that I could add more detail and dialogue to the story.
The Archers:
25 - 29 September 2017
This week we continued working on our radio plays. Specifically the famous radio show 'The Archers'. We found out about 'The Archers' and I adapted the evaluation of the use of my voice in a script by reading through the script several times and annotating each of my lines to decide where I would add emphasis, pauses, change my tone etc. I also researched my character and found out all about who she's linked to in the show and some things about her background and what kind of character she is. Me and my pair worked thoroughly to produce a well spoken and well presented performance of our specific scenes. In terms of leadership and ideas I bought some research to do with our characters and the show in general. I also put forward a lot of ideas when it came to our choices for our vocals such as emphasis, tone, volume, emotions etc. We both decided to copy the accent as we were confident that we were able to do it. If there was anything I would have changed it would be to have put some more emotion into the piece however I do think that could have only been possible if the extract was longer. However, overall I think we were very successful and I was very happy with the outcome of the recording.
1 - 5 October 2017
Last week we began to look at an audition workshop for our class play 'Hope Springs'. We were introduced to the play and we learnt what it was about and how our work of our voice could help us as it can be used in our audition setting. It was interesting to take part in an audition workshop and to learn the different ways and techniques to be able to have a successful audition. To further improve I would add more detail into my analysis of my script. I would look closer into the background of my character a little more and the volume, tone and pitch of the character I auditioned for. During the workshop we all listened to each others monologues before we auditioned and we gave each other advice on how we could improve. For example adding more emotion, more expression, our pace, pronunciation of words etc.
My audition extract and video:
In my audition for Hope Springs I auditioned for the role of the Principal. I felt that I spoke clearly and with good articulation, at first I read it quite calmly and not with a lot of emotion to it , however after hearing my first interpretation of it Luke, suggested that I say it in a more over the top way as the principal is trying to sell a school/correctional facility that is a really awful place but obviously she would never tell the parents that as she wants parents to send their children there. When I said the extract a second time round I spoke with more emotion, better diction and made my volume louder. I didn't move around that much as I felt like the character looked better with not too much movement. I paced a little but apart from that I didn't really use my movement. I felt confident when answering the questions in the second part of my audition. I knew what I wanted to be asked and some of those things were asked however I also liked having different types of questions asked. I think my answers were good and understandable. I think I had the right idea about the way I spoke and the different levels I suggested to show the difference of status when it comes to the characters. Overall I think my whole audition was very successful and I was happy with how it went.
9-13 & 16-20 October 2017
Over the last two weeks we have been working on the structure of our staging and we have begun to block the play itself. I have started to work on all of my individual characters, especially focusing mostly on my main role as the Principal. I read through the information we were given about the play and this helped me to understand some of my characters background and it helped me to understand the feelings and motivation behind my character. This also helped me to make all the different vocal choices, including how I wanted the principal to sound. We were successful in blocking Act 1 and we were all able to bring ideas into certain scenes. To improve I need to begin working on my lines so that I can focus mostly on my voice and the vocal choices I want to make for each of my characters. I would also like for us to try and work as a group a little more so that we can work on reactions and interaction so that we have others to work with rather than just reading our individual lines. This will help us to add the correct expression in our lines and it will also help us to speak to the right people and out to the audience when necessary. We have worked well as a group as we have spent a good amount of time working out how the stage will be laid out. We also helped each other in terms of blocking to make sure that it would work well and not effect our vocals on stage for example, making sure that we could be heard in every place we were on stage.
6th - 10th November 2017
This week we have been working on act 2 . We successfully blocked act 2 and finished/went over the blocking of the whole play. The blocking of act 2 was very successful we were all able to bring different and unique ideas in the scenes. We were also successful in terms of bringing the interpretation of all the pupils as a group in act 2. It was structured well including the use of successful unison when doing the island voices. We worked on saying the lines all as a group to make sure we used strong volume and diction. We spent a lot of time working on the last scene of the play to make sure that the blocking worked as there was quite a lot of movement when it came to getting the pupils off the island and into the boats, the only problem we had was we still wanted it to look slightly non - naturalistic but not to let it affect our pacing or volume when it came to our dialogue. During the blocking sessions we also made sure that we didn't lose focus on adapting our individual characters, this meant we had to make sure that we kept our dialogue true to our characters individual personalities. This was to make sure we didn't lose our characters attitude even in the end of the play. To improve it will be good to keep going over lines to be able to learn them as quickly as possible and to especially know the cue lines so that we don't have gaps where people should be talking especially as it's an ensemble play. I also want to make sure I keep my characters personalities and attitudes different. For example I don't want to use the same tone, pace, or pitch for pupil 10 as I do with the Principal, as the Principal is quite stern and serious where as Pupil 10 is quite sarcastic and cocky.Lesson 13th November 2017 - Parent Scene Duets
For the parent scene in Hope springs we decided to do duets like in a physical theatre style. Our original idea was to do it just with the single family doing it whilst they said their dialogue. I really liked this idea as it looked quite good with just the singular family in a spotlight, doing their duet on their own. Once we tried the first idea we decided to try it with two families performing each others duets. I didn't really like this idea as I thought it looked a little strange with just two families doing each others as I thought it would be better to have just one family doing it or all of the families doing it together. After the first two ideas we tried every family doing each others at the same time. We all taught the other trio's our duets and we all learnt each others. I really like this idea as I thought it looked good to have all the families doing the same movements at the same time as it gives the scene a very robotic, puppetry, and abstract kind of look. I also really like the direct link between movement and dialogue, I feel that it really added to the non - naturalistic style of the scene. The first piece of music we used for the scene was a freak show type of track. I liked the way this type of music worked as it really added to the creepy, puppet like atmosphere the scene already had. It made the whole scene more abstract. The second track we used was a piece of music from the band Linkin Park. It made the atmosphere a lot more angry but in a strange kind of way, as we were supposed to be angry as the parents and the children however the music style just didn't seem to fit with the puppetry feel we were going for. Therefore I did not like the piece of music for the scene. The final track we used was a steady heartbeat. I liked the way it sounded however I wasn't sure if it fit with the scene as we had to slow the whole thing down for it to fit the beat of the heart. I like that the duets show the different opinions of each parent and the contrast to their child's opinion. We are trying to show the audience the conflict and difference between each parent. We are trying to show the politics of a family and the different personalities of parents e.g. old school parents or down to earth and understanding parents.
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