Evaluation of the work this term.

Over the past few weeks, I have been developing my acting skills for the part of Callum in Malorie Blackmans, 'noughts and crosses'. I worked on many skills ranging from body language to spatial awareness. At the beginning of the unit I had very little knowledge of the techniques used to perform in front of an audience, now at the end of the unit looking back, I have improved significantly over the few weeks I've been performing.

I've improved upon my interactivity with others in a group, developed my vocal skils and increased my knowledge as a performer. All of which were very useful information to an actor. With the techniques and skills I have learnt, I will be able in future to take the information taught with me to any other performance I perform in and be able to act at the best of my ability. Having learnt of great practitioners such as Stanislavsky, I now have an understanding of inhabiting the character rather than just speaking my lines and that becoming the character can alter your thoughts and perspectives of the world from the roles point of view. Learning this, I have now been introduced into a new exciting area of theatre that I am looking forward to exploring.

Final performance.

After weeks of rehearsals, Today I finally performed my piece in front of parents. I was very nervous about performing, but using the breathing exercises learnt in lessons, I was able to keep calm and perform easily and without problem. I had rehearsed on adding realism to my character and also worked on my spatial awareness in my scene. After working on the techniques and performing them in front of and audience, I have successfully achieved my self reflection targets in which were need to improve.

6.
Monday 13th October 2014

Today's lesson.

What did we do in lesson?

In this lesson, the class decided to hold a small fictional debate on whether we were for or against racial equality. Some very strong and interesting points were made. I took these points on board and tried running through my scene with these points in mind. I found that the points that were given were very helpful for me when playing Callum. The points were very real and true. They added realism into my performance (which I though was lacking) and made me more engaged.

We also did an exercise in which we closed our eyes and visualised ourselves entering a workplace and discovering that all the white  and black people had been separated and that even the people we were friends with were ignoring us. We were asked, 'how does seeing this make you feel?'. In that scenario I felt very confused and angry that the divide was taking place and in the manner it was dealt in. I then realised that the emotions I was feeling were of the same nature that Callum felt for the divide in the play. I took these emotions on board with the character and my head seemed full of emotions that I thought were exactly what Callum would've been feeling at that moment in time and also the feelings he felt towards the subject matter as a whole.


Character Development

This was along the same page as what I
visualised Callum room. Except Callum
had posters of the universe and had an
actual raised wooden bed.

Today I worked on my character development. I was in need of a
refresh in my mind of what the character actually is e.g life outside of Sephy and school. Who is Callum as a person?  What sort of home does Callum live in?

These points made me reconnect with the character and made me understand the characters points of view. For example, Callum states that his school only had a few computers and textbooks and that Sephy's school had luxuries that Callum could only dream of.
This made me think that Callums family could only afford him to go to a lower class school and were not really available to a higher class lifestyle.


Targets

• Improve on vocal skills (don't be monotone) and show emotion through your voice.

• Work on body language. Be responsive to Sephy.

• React off of Sephy more. Show how you feel when certain things were said or how she's making you feel at that moment in time.

Have they been achieved? How? Date of review: 25th Sept 2014

I have achieved these targets by working on my vocal skills, mainly pitch to not become monotone. I have achieved this by using the vocal techniques taught in my lessons. I now have a range of pitch and inflections in my vocals. I also have improved my body language so that I can easily respond to the actions of Sephy. This allows my scene to flow smoothly. Finally, I have worked on feeding off of Sephy more. I realise that the piece becomes rigid when you do not react off of your partner so I have gone away and developed my emotional responses and physical responses. 

5. 

Thursday 9th October 2014

What did we do in lesson?

In this lesson, the class rehearsed the play entirely including our all class scenes.

We also did an exercise where we went close to a wall, eyes closed, and whispered our lines.
We then would take a few steps backwards and would say the lines again. After a few steps backwards, you notice that your voice has to be project more audibly for the line to be received.

Another exercise we did was about spacial awareness and your vocals. The class moved around the room, moving into the space. We had to pretend that there was an ant that you had to say your line to. Depending on what was said, you either had to whisper your line to the ant or you had to say your in a variety of other ways.

These exercises have helped me improve my spatial awareness, projection and pitch. These techniques have been transferred into my scene and have helped my scene substantially. I was lacking somewhat in my spatial awareness in my scene and my projection. I now know what level I should project at and understand the space even more, thus helping the performance of the character seem fresh and realistic.

Targets

• Work on creating subtleties which show the character. e.g body language 
• Improve the urgency in the scene and the pace and energy.
• Be specially aware when moving around the room with Sephy. 

Have they been achieved ? How? Date of review: 11th October 2014

I have achieved my target as I worked on my spacial awareness when coming to the climax of the scene. I also worked on creating subtleties to the character, for example I added that Callum always check his watch because of his urgency and I made my body language quite open to show that I'm trying to keep Sephy from being worried. Finally, I worked on the pace and the energy of the scene. I improved this by moving quicker around the space and projecting my voice louder across the room at Sephy to show that my need is important.

In this lesson I also was able to write a bit of a short diary entry for Callum. I chose to write about the scene where Callum and Sephy make love. This is my writing:

Today I realised something. I realised that even though the world is divided by colour, no matter what happens, Sephy and I can be one. Just her and me. Together. We both connected today. We finally were seeing eye to eye. We understood each other and worked in harmony as one. It was if the universe froze and the only things left untouched, unscathed was us. Before we connected, I beat her and treated her like dirt. All because my brother said so. All because of him and his stupid lifeboat party. I just hate this world. But today all the problems drifted. And all the things that made the world beautiful took flight and the world seemed perfect. I now know I love Sephy.

My original draft. Written in lesson.

4.
Thursday 22nd September 2014


In this lesson I made sure I had all the necessary things set in stone to help me develop my character. I did this by setting myself targets for lessons to come and my out of lesson work. These targets would help me keep track of my development over the rehearsal period. Also in this lesson I worked on the subtext behind my scene, scene twenty. 


What is subtext?
Subtext is the meaning behind the lines. For example, your script may be written as 'Would you like to meet up with me', but the meaning behind that line would be, 'I really like you, let's go on a date!'. 

Did this help?

I found that my scene was very hard to find a subtext as the scene is very much focused on the objectives. My subtext was very simple and very close to what the lines written were. This shows that in this scene Callum says what's on his mind and doesn't hold back as he is so desperate to make Sephy evacuate the shopping mall.

Even with a few subtexts added to my script, I found that by discovering the motives and meanings behind the lines, I as the character, developed a better understanding of Callum as a person and in which his mind operates.

My self assessment targets.

My notes on my lines.

My notes on my staging and movement and other techniques.

I also had to assess another person in the class and provide what grade I thought they were performing at. Here is my peer assessment sheet of Matteo. He played Callum in one of the final scenes alongside Alabama. 

Here is what Matteo had to say on my performance. Matteo helped provide information on which I could improve and I have been working towards achieving the targets given in my feedback.

2.
Thursday 11th September 2014 

In this lesson we began to work on short extracts of the play 'Noughts and crosses' by Malorie Blackman, including the two main protagonists, Callum and Sephy.
We started by pairing up into two and working through the short scene:

------------------------------

ACT 1 SCENE 4

Sephy Callum don't look at me like that. What would like me to say? I said I'm sorry!

Callum I know.

Sephy It's just a word!

Callum Just a word.

Sephy Sticks and stones Callum! It's one word that's all

Callum If you'd slapped me or kicked me or punched me or even stabbed me, it would've stopped hurting sooner or later. But I will never forget what you called me Sephy. Never. Not even if I live to be five hundred.

Sephy I didn't mean it. I didn't mean you. I was trying to help!

Callum Sephy.

Sephy Please! I'm sorry!

Callum Maybe we shouldn't see so much of each other any more.

Sephy Callum no! I said I was sorry!

Callum Promise me something.

Sephy Anything.

Callum Promise me you'll never, ever, use that word again.

Sephy I promise.

------------------------------

Once my partner and I devised our version of the scene, we then watched others perform their versions of the extract. Other takes on the scene varied from subtle to big and both ways seemed to have conveyed the message very clearly. I wrote notes on these pairs particularly. Here are my notes:

Rory and Shianne:

• Showed clear understanding of the meaning behind the text.
• Great body language. The use of levels was used well to convey differentiating authority. 
• Vocal projection was very clear and I could hear them at the back of audience.

Aaron and Nina:

• Characterised well. I could believe their characters.
• Facial expression was subtle, yet believable.
• Worked of each other well.

Both versions I enjoyed and were both different but still captured my attention.

Acting Ability Audit

I think that these are my stronger points:

• Accents
• Facial expression
• Proxemics
• Solo work e.g monologues
• Characterisation
• Sight reading

I need to work towards becoming better at the following:

• Group work - I need to not get nervous around working in groups and show more energy towards group work.
• Body language e.g levels, status
• Vocal projection