Acting Workshop

I found today to be an interesting workshop. One of the most important things I learned is the difference between lines, as-if's and how you imagine a scene to be in your head or what you think the scene is suppose to look like. I found watching the transitions between Kadambari and Sabrina with the differences between their as-if's and trying to apply them to the lines, but when already having that picture of what its suppose to look like becoming generic. I also felt the book is a good thing to have read to go along with the workshop because if you read it, it has most of these techniques in it.

Book Reactions

A Practical Handbook for the actor -

I found that most likely a year ago I would've found this book to be very helpful. When I was seriously considering acting to be my future this would've been the book to read. Now I found this book to be very helpful, yet somewhat boring like reading a textbook. Filled with accurate information yet dull and lifeless to read. It reinforced ideas from the intensives last year we were taught by Luke and reading most of the book reminded me a lot of what I've learned in STAC.


The Monologue Audition: A Practical Guide for Actors -

This book I found to be much more interesting, I found it to drag on a bit as well, but I learned a lot of new information. For instance the whole six by six square trick, being myself I find body language fascinating and it's something I try to improve on as an actor. I liked reading all the tips and tricks on how to present yourself because reading this book lead me to the light and showed me a lot of what I had been doing wrong. The number one thing I had realized is that one of my biggest problems is myself. When doing improv in class or acting in a group or auditioning I am always trying to do something to be remembered, something to stand out, something to make me an individual. I've come to realize its one of my biggest downfalls and here's why. When in a scene with someone else you have to work off of what they're giving you, I usually try to internally think of something cool I myself can do to top them or be funny. Another thing is memorizing my lines. Its not that I am bad with memorization by its that I don't spend enough time focusing on the lines and that's where a great deal of mistakes happen on my part. In this book it said to para-phrase is an insult to the writer and I find that to be true. This is what I find myself to do a majority of the time, due to lack of memorization and stress. Overall I found this book to be very enjoyable but sometimes it moving slow.

Lost

I am lost. I am not motivated. I am confused. Last year when I joined STAC I wanted to be an actor when I grew up. A lot can happen in a year and whatever happened to me has made me very different. I now don't look foward to the exciting things in STAC anymore or the workshops or anything for that matter. I am unmotivated to work. I do not enjoy singing anymore, even though it was not something I worked on improving in STAC, I don't like to do it anymore. Sing? Yes, I do enjoy to sing when I am home alone but for myself, and not for others. I don't love to act anymore. It's something that scares me because it leaves me with no planned out future or passion. My identity is changing and I am unaware of what to do or where I'll go, or for that matter who I am anymore. To myself I dont know who I am. I am trying to find myself again and it's hard. I guess some could say I am going through a phase, but to me it seems to be permanent. I don't like that I am falling away from the arts, because even if that were to happen, no other passion has replaced it. With the new assignment given to us I decided to do fashion photography, but I am not sure its something I am going to enjoy. But whats the point of art if you aren't enjoying what you're doing?

Getting Work Done

Today in class we had a discussion about the grading system. I am not sure if my previous post about the acting workshop went up but blogger told me it has so I'll assume it has. When Katherine was just messing around doing the cup song from the movie Pitch Perfect. It gave me a quick idea for a STAC live commercial and with the help of Julian and a couple extras all the footage needed for it is done, tomorrow we just need to edit and then as well tomorrow we will defiantly be filming two more commercials possibly three if we have time. We also changed the "Mommy Mute" to "Mean Girl Mute" so we can film it at school and get more done.

Audition Response

Pre-Audition:

1. I did not prepare in all honesty.
2. I picked a 'character' and after last year reading this one script as an argument when it turned out to be a love scene, I choose a slightly as I had thought unique approach.
3.No I did not research.
4. The actually script itself I found to be pretty bland so I found that I would have to add life to it with the character

Audition

1. I ALWAYS mess up my words during an audition and this time was no different, instead of saying something along the lines of, "No, I don't see how that's going to help you get into med school." I said middle school, of course and slurred many words the first time, but I thought I dressed spot on.
2. I envisioned a specific person when talking to the other girl in the script and applied the different character she wanted me to go with.
3. I feel that with both my tapes the second one was a mass improvement after I was given a certain direction and followed through. Saying that I feel that I would not get the part but would be told to come back in a year or two and try again for something else after I've improved