Tuesday 15th March

Music

Today we were practising our pieces. After everything was prepared I was first placed on a newly added instrument to the piece: A tambourine. It didn't quite fit with the piece so I inquired about the rap part, and if I could have a try at it. The outcome was apparently good so it is now my designated spot. The other songs by the other groups were of good quality, Seb's being an incredibly catchy tune and Imogen's having deeper meanings.

ICT (1)

This lesson was spent on continuing planning, devising and creating adverts. As half the group were required for other projects elsewhere. I spent the time adding to the mind map to make it more complete.

Drama

In the music computer room we tried to get Frankies script to work on the computer, but for some unknown reason the computer was unable to read the file. As Frankie and Abi were somewhere else doing something for dance, we were unable to inquire about it. So instead, we completed the timeline.
When we moved to the drama studio me and Olly began to practise the song before Abby and Frankie arrived. When they did, there was a small fuss over the script being unable to open and so we improvised a begging scene for it. I didn't quite get the actions of the characters I played right and added a line in last minute to try and make the character of the wolf seem more sexist, but the sudden addition of a line confused Abby and so didn't quite work. Abby seemed to have her character down pretty well, and Olly was too "sexist and know it" rather than "accidentally sexist". Frankie did well in her role and not much improvement was needed for her. The other groups performances were good as well, but theirs were all based on their final script. Tom's, Fran's and Seb's was a good performance, using a "family portrait" or "family album" style actions to create an impact on the audience, Seb's monologue being broke up to allow the audience time to think. Courtney, Beth, Emily's and Imogen's performance was also a good on, using metaphors to get their story across and having the characters speak like who they are. The only real negative feedback they were given was that their vocabulary may be too formal for the age range of the target audience. The lesson gave much to think about on how we could improve what we did, but what we did may not be anywhere near to how the final script is going to be.

ICT (2)



In this second ICT lesson we began on making an image for a poster or flier, having half of "Little Red's" (Frankie's) face and half of the "Wolfs" (Mine) face, with Olly and Abby bantering like they do in the proper piece. Done correctly this could turn out well, but it may turn out looking a bit shabby if the faces aren't aligned properly or if the image quality is lost. The camera was rather fiddly and Photoshop ain't the easiest thing to use, but we can only do the best we can with what we've got and how we know how to use it.

Compilation of Work

Hotseating

Hotseating is a technique where an actor answers questions given to them in he role of their character, this allows the actor to gain experience with his role and to understand how their character would act in certain situations, giving them better knowledge of their role. We used this in the drama lesson for the same purpose, to better understand our character and to make it more naturalistic.

Role on the wall

This is a similar technique to Hotseating, but instead of being in character and being asked questions real-time, you draw an outline of a person, and write what they feel their like on the inside, and peoples views of them on the outside. This is another way of gaining better understanding of a character, and how the audience should react to them.

Group Evaluation

I believe that my group is able to function correctly, but with an unequal balance of power and workload. Currently, Abi and Frankie are the ones doing the ordering and making the piece, while me and Olly sit back, pitching in here and there, and doing what they ask. Really, we are working for the group instead of with the group, this may be because we feel they have a greater work ethic and are able to produce better quality work within a shorter period of time. But, to pitch in with ideas at this stage may upset the flow of the performance as the script styles clash and characters may change behaviour notably, which would detract from the quality of the performance. Overall, the group is working well, even if it may appear that me and Olly are not working as Miss. Woofinden expected the groups to work.

Book Quotes - Voice and the Actor
By Cicely Berry - Published by Virgin Publishing Ltd in 2000

"Technique as such is a myth, for there is no such thing as a correct voice. There is no right way - there are only a million wrong ways."

"The voice is the most intricate mixture of what you hear, how you hear it, and how you unconsciously choose to use it in the light of your personality and experiences."

"Now the image you have of your own voice is often disturbingly different from the way it actualy sounds to other people. It often does not tally with how yuo think of yourself."

"I think one of the greatest fears of the actor is that of not being interesting. This really need never be a fear because everyone is interesting in that he is himself. When  you get to the point  which says "This is me; it will change, and perhaps improve, but this is me at this moment', then the voice will become open."

"A great deal of voice work is done on what, to my mind, is a negative basis - This is, 'correcting' the voice, making it 'better', with all the social and personal implications of that word, somehow making it seem your not quite good enough."

My Skills

I have varied knowledge of drama conventions and have performed in many. I have previously performed in a main role in youth performance in the Shakespeare Schools Festival in the West Yorkshire Playhouse. I can bring energy to a performance with my voice and believe I am good at doing voice overs. I have a very active imagination and can visualise the performance as a real life experience. I have a good understanding of the English language and am able to write scripts, but they may be too complex or unable to be performed due to technical limitations. While I can direct, I am not a good leader and find it hard to bring my image to the forefront of a groups collective mind.