Unit 3 Acting Skills Audit:                                                                           DATE: 25.09.14

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?

In Thursday’s lesson (25.09.14) an acting skill that I was able to demonstrate was facial expressions. I demonstrated facial expression as when I was acting I used my expression when I was reacting to something that has happened on stage; also I used my facial expression to show my character’s emotions throughout the scene.

Another acting skill that I demonstrated in the lesson was projection. This was because in the scene I used my voice a lot to show the emotion of my character. For example at some points in the scene I raised my voice when I get angry with Jude and Ryan. This meant I had to use projection, as when I was delivering the lines I had to make sure I was not screaming. I was projecting my voice as if an actor screams on stage, instead of the correct projection, some of the words are not clear and it can be unpleasant to listen to.

In the lesson I also demonstrated use of Pause. I demonstrated this when the stakes were higher in the scene to hold the tension. I also used it to show my character was in shock as I wanted it to look as if my character was lost for words. This demonstrated use of pause as in the scene I would pause at certain points to hold the tension and to portray emotion. 

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?

 An acting skill that I need to develop based on the Thursday lesson is spatial awareness.

This is because when I was rehearsing the scene with my group I felt like when we were going through the scene we would end up too close together. Therefore I feel like I need to develop my spatial awareness skill as the stage becomes very cluttered and sometimes one person is not visible from an audience point of view as there are people covering them. This could result in lines not being heard, which isn’t good because then the audience may lose interest.

Another acting skill that I need to work on is my physicality, what I mean by this is that I need to make sure I am also holding my body like my character and I walk like my character. This is because, when we were rehearsing the scene in the lesson, I found myself standing how I would stand and walking how I would walk and not like my character. I want to develop this skill as when I am performing I want to be as similar to my character as possible so when I am acting, the audience don’t see me but they see Meggie McGregor.

Set yourself three targets:

1.

My first target is to have our scene properly blocked out so I know where to stand during the scene and to use the space around me better.

2.

My second target is to become more physical like my character.

3.

Finally my last target is to become more connected with my character. I know I set this as my target last week and I do feel I achieved it, however I still feel like I am not fully connected with my character, therefore I am setting it as my target again as I want to continue to connect with my character.

Reflect on the targets set:  Have they been achieved? How?               Date of review:02.10.14

1.       I have achieved my first target as in Mondays lesson (29.02.14) we staged the scene with the teacher and then me and the rest of my group, then rehearsed it the way my teacher staged it. This helped me achieve my target as I am now confident that I know where to stand in my scene.

2.       My second target was to become physical more like my character. I feel I have achieved this as at home and in the lesson I thought about how my character would stand and walk, then when rehearsing the scene on Monday I focused on my physicality, and when I performed it on Thursday I felt as if it came natural to me when I was acting.  

3.       My last target was to become more connected with my character. I achieved this target, as throughout the week I was going through my script thinking about Meggie’s objective, the emotion she is feeling when she said each line, and when I said my lines out loud I thought about my subtext. Doing all of this helped me achieve my target, as in today's lesson we had to do an exercise in which we had to stand like our character and getting in to my character mind set. I found doing this easier then other weeks as I really felt the feeling Meggie feels in my scene and I didn’t have to think too much about how she would be feeling or how she would stand, it came naturally. Therefore I feel as though I achieved my target.