Acting- week 1

Nige-
Our main focus in this session was improving our ensemble skills. Firstly we
had to organise ourselves in order of, for example, surnames without speaking
this helped us with our non-verbal communication such as using body
language to show a person what the first letter of your surname is.
After a few more of these exercises we moved onto more of the ensemble
skills activities, I found all of these really fun and felt they helped me develop
and understand my ensemble skills. At the end of the class we all put together
a personal hierarchy of skills with our best two at the top and our worst two at
the bottom.
Improvisation
Eye-contact/spacial awareness
Communication
Adaptability
Channelling energy
Open mindedness
Multitasking
Alertness
Focus and concentration.
For me improvisation is a strength as I feel I can think and make do when
under pressure especially when acting. I am also used to using improv in
dancing as well.
However, I put focusing at the bottom as I feel that I cannot concentrate very
well if Im tired. Im going to try and get enough hours of sleep to conquer this.
In Beths session we focused on imagination and creativity. We were set the
task of creating a photo based on a key word such as celebration this task was
quite difficult as we had to think on our feet and not copy others. Creativity is
an important aspect of drama as it allows us to improvise freely and
imaginatively.
In our second session with Beth we were given
a section of the play by Martin Crimp called
attempts on her life it is about a girl in
different situations. It all a matter of how you
interpret the scenes.
Martin crimp is a practitioner he is notable for
the astringency of his dialogue he uses a tone
of emotional detachment, a bleak view of
human relationships. None of his characters
express love or happiness.
The piece we were given the occupier was
quite hard to split up and understand but we
managed to create an effective piece of drama.
By spacing everyone out we made sure
everyone was seen and heard. We also used
different levels which made it clear that I was the focus
of the scene.
The main thing I learnt was that I need to work on my
focus and concentration for my ensemble skills and I
need to work on thinking creatively as I found it
difficult in the lesson.
One thing I found challenging was keeping up with the
work load. This was mainly because I didnt know
where to start with the website but after the recent
review session I have more of an understanding on
what I need to do
My targets for next week are to not miss the bus and to get
enough hours sleep so I can concentrate more