In today’s lesson (25.09.2014) we leant about subtext, subtext is your character’s unspoken thoughts. To help us understand subtext we got in to our scene groups and we acted out the scene, after we were finished we then performed the scene again but instead of saying our lines from the script we said what our character was really thinking when he/she said their lines. This was a good exercise for us to do as it meant that when we went to rehearse the scene in our groups we used a lot more emotion behind the lines and some people change the way they where delivering the line if they thought the emotion they were using before wasn’t really how their characters were feeling.  

There is my script, in blue highlighted lines was where I wrote my subtext, because you can not see the writing click clearly I will type out the subtext that I wrote.

 

A. original line: You killed- you murdered all those people.

Subtext: Tell me you're lying please Jude you're not a murderer, you can't be.

B.  original line: You don't, you could of said no, you should of said no.

Subtext: You have a family to look after how could you do this to us.

C. orignal line: sorry? well he can say that to all the families of all those people he's murdered.

Subtext: Don't be stupid Callum, sorry will not make any of this better.

D. orignal line: and what about all the noughts you just killed? it wasn't all crosses, you know, you killed your own as well.

Subtext: Are you hearing yourself you're sick

E. orignal line: In that case we have nothing more to say to each other, I want you out of this house and I want you out of this house by morning.

Subtext: Stop it Ryan please tell me this is a lie tell me you don't mean what you're saying.

A. orignal line: I'm not arguing with you Ryan. Just pack your bags and go.

subtext: I can't cope with this Ryan I just need to be alone.

B. orignal line: Jude, you're a child. You don't know anything

Subtext:Just shut up Jude.

C. orignal line: Then you can both leave.

subtext: Jude no, you're my baby I need you.

A. orignal line: Someone better tell me whats going on because we're not leaving this room until I know the truth.

Subtext: Please Ryan tell me it wasn't you  I can't deal with this, not after Lynette.

Character Profile

Name: Meggie Mcgregor. (Nought)

Age: 45

Relationship status: Widow to Ryan Mcgregor

Children: Lynette, Jude and Callum

Occupation: I used to work as a maid, but I have been out of work for a long time.

Characteristics: Family orientated, supporting and stressed

Likes: Staying at home and spending time with my family

Dislikes: Conflict and discrimination

Accomplishments: To tell the truth I do not feel as if I have accomplished anything. I feel as if I failed my family because my husband and both my sons were involved in the Liberation Militia. My daughter commits suicide and my youngest was hung and my husband died escaping prison. 

Life advents:

Born-1955 Married Ryan Mcgegor-1975 First Child- 1980 Second Child- 1983 Third Child- 1985 First Child dies- 2000 Became widowed- 2000 Third child dies-2004

About me: I have always lived in a small under developed part of London, it’s summer time at the moment so the weather here is pretty nice, summer time is probably my favourite time of year because I love the smell of flowers as it reminds me of when me and Ryan met.

I live in a very small two bedroom house we do not have a lot of furniture, as we have some money worries. However we do have a personal item which is a family photo before my daughter Lynette had the accident; I love this as it reminds me of how happy we were.

 As a child my family did not have much money and we were also caught up in the conflicts between nought and crosses and I am trying my best to make sure my children don’t end up with a childhood like mine. I also have never had a proper education as I didn’t get the chance to attend school when growing up, that’s why I am determine that Callum will do well and Heathcoft High.

What do I need?

In my life all I wish for is my family not to get involved in the conflict between the Noughts and Crosses and for then not to join the Liberation Militia. This is why I try to keep my head down and do not cause any arguments between crosses.  Also it’s why I got very angry and kicked Jude and Ryan out of my house when I found out they helped the Liberation Militia bomb the Dundale Shopping centre.  

Why do I need it?

The reason why I feel so strongly about this is because my eldest Lynnette was attacked by nought men for having a cross boyfriend, this destroyed our family as it left her mentally unstable. Therefore I don’t want my family involved as the segregation between noughts and crosses have already destroyed my family once, I don’t want it to happen again.

 Why do I need this now?

The reason why I want my son and Ryan to stop being involved in the LM now and not later is because the longer they stay apart of the LM, more things can go wrong and I don’t think I can cope with something else tragic happening to a member of my family. This is why I told Ryan and Jude to leave my house for good because if I could not save my husband and son Jude from being brainwashed by the Liberation Militia then I would at least try and protect my youngest Callum from being brainwashed by the Liberation Militia because I know if Jude and Ryan lived under the same roof as Callum they would end up forcing him to join the Liberation Militia.

Unit 3 Acting Skills: DATE: 18.09.14

MY LONG TERM TARGET IS…

My long term target is to improve on my body language when performing. For example to become more connected with my character so  I stand the same way as them and use all the hand gestures they would use. This is my long term target as I want all my characters to be as realistic and believable as possible.  

Unit 3 Acting Skills Audit: DATE:

Throughout your blog you will be marked on:

P2 Present an on-going review of acting skills, describing strengths and areas to develop

M2 Present an on-going review of acting skills, describing strengths and areas to develop, setting achievable targets for improvement and reviewing progress

D2 Present an on-going review of acting skills, describing strengths and areas to develop, setting achievable targets for improvement and evaluating progress

Workshop and rehearsal observations:

Which acting strengths have you been able to demonstrate today? How?

During today’s lesson (18.09.2014) we worked on our scene in our groups. During this exercise I was able to demonstrate some of my acting strengths.

For example learning lines, this is because in my scene I have to use physical theatre when I slap Oliver (who plays Ryan). This help me learn  my lines in a very short space of time as it was very difficult for me to slap him when I was holding my script, therefore I had to memorise my lines and put my script down do I could perform the scene well.

Another acting strength which I demonstrated today was tone and vocal colour. This is because in my scene my character Maggie, goes through several emotions, for example, in the beginning my character was quite angry and upset, therefore I had to use my voice to show Maggie’s anger and upset. Then not long in to the play, my character is in shock when she finds out that Jude and Ryan planted the bomb at Dundale Shopping Centre. This meant I had to change my voice to show Maggie’s change of emotion, which demonstrated use of tone and vocal colour.

Coordination is also a skill I demonstrated today when I pretend to slap Ryan across the face. This demonstrated use on coordination as I had to make sure I was not too close to Oliver (Ryan) otherwise the slap wouldn’t look realistic. I also had to use my coordination skills as I had to be very careful and use control to make sure that I didn’t really slap Oliver (Ryan).

Finally I had to use my characterisation skill when playing my character. This is because I have never been through anything similar to what she is going through in my scene. Therefore I had to really think about how I would react if two people very close to me,lied  about something very serious and put my family’s life at risk. Then I had to apply that to my character and how she would react judging by what we have read about her when reading the play script. I feel this demonstrated characterisation skill as I put myself into her shoes and made choices that I think my character would of made in the scene.  

Some key words: 

articulation      

projection      

breath control      

learning lines   

pitch, inflection and modulation 

tone and vocal colour        

phrasing             

pace                

use of pause              

gesture  

facial expressions     

characterisation         

staying in role             

balance                   

coordination 

movement memory       

spatial awareness       

weight placement        

focus and control 

relaxation                              

pace, energy and dynamics 

Which acting skills do you need to develop based on the workshop today? Why?

The acting skills I need to work on based on the workshop today is gestures. As when we were running through the scene today I found that I wasn’t sure what to do with my hand and how to stand, especially when my character changed her emotion which I feel she does quite frequently in the scene. Therefore I feel I need to work on my gestures as I want the scene to look as natural as possible.

Another acting skill that I feel needs development on is facial expressions, because when I was acting out the scene today I only felt confident that my facial expressions, when my character was angry were clear. Therefore I would like to develop my facial expression so I can portray more than one emotion. Also because I want the audience to be clear on how Maggie is feeling based on more the just my voice as I feel it will make the scene more interesting to watch.

  

I also need to work on articulation skill as when I was working on the scene in the workshop I found myself losing my words and not pronouncing all the words properly.  I feel articulation is something that I need to develop as if my lines are not fully understood by the audience then I think the scene will lose its impact and the audience would lose interest as they would be trying to work out what I am saying.

Set yourself  three targets:

1.

      Learn my lines and be able to deliver them confidently for next week’s lesson.

2.

      Understand more my characters objective and make it obvious when I am acting.

3.

       Become more connected with my character and to understand more of what she is going through and it to be shown through my acting.  

Reflect on the targets set:  Have they been achieved? How? 

1.       My first target was to learn my lines and be able to deliver them confidently. I achieved this as when we were started rehearsing I was pretty confident that I knew my lines and only had to check my script a couple of times. Then as we rehearsed more the lines became more fluent, and I was confident that I was saying my lines correct. Also I felt this made me perform the scene better as I didn’t have to think about what line comes next, I could focus on playing my character well.

2.        

       My second target was to understand my character objective better, and to make it obvious when I am acting. I feel I achieved this in the lesson because when I had time alone when the rest of the members in my scene were rehearsing their other scene, I studied the script and tried to work out what my character wanted when she delivered the lines. Doing this help me achieve my target as when I was performing the scene I feel I had more emotion behind the lines, and I had a better of idea on how to deliver them.

3.        

        Finally my last target was to become more connected with my character and to understand more of what she is going through and it to be shown through my acting. I think I achieved this target as before I started every scene I got in to her frame of mind and really put myself in to Meggie’s shoes. I feel this helped me achieve my target as in my opinion when I was acting I felt as if my performance was more believable as when I was acting I was feeling all the emotion I would be going through if I was actually in Meggie’s position.