Week Seventeen Part 1: Shakespeare

The Script Work

20th January 2014

The beginning of this week started with us developing our script work, mainly with learning lines and understanding the plots and characters.  At the end of last week, our teacher set us some homework to learn our lines, from our chosen scene from one of the three Shakespearean comedy plays.  Using a new method to learn our lines by adding no emotion or inflection.  I thought this was a very useful technique, as it helps vastly with your muscle memorises, as speaking with no emotion relies on lip movement not acting and tone of voice.  Therefore using this technique over the weekend helped vastly, because usually I would read the script repeatedly with my own tone of voice, and sometimes it could take up to a couple of weeks for me to learn my lines.  Whereas using this technique it took me just under an hour.  Because I simple had a low, emotionless, tone of voice and repeated each line after line, until I managed to learn the first section of my script.  So I would say learning a script using no emotional response, to begin with, and no inflection is extremely helpful and gives good results.

     After the lesson began and we demonstrated our improvement in learning our lines, another key factor in the Shakespeare assignment was to demonstrate our understanding of the plot.  The script being Shakespearean language it can be quite dificult for some members of the group to understand what the meaning is.  So the next task was to read the whole part of our own scripts, abnd take it bit by bit and see what we understand from what the script says.  Again some people struggled to understand it, however our teacher introduced us to a very useful website which assists in translating the scripts from Shakespearean language to modern day language.  The website had every Shakespeare play included, but we focused on our plays and our scenes.  This assisted us in getting a proper understanding of what is happening in our individual scenes.  It assisted me because it showed me what is the meaning of Valentine's and Proteus' conversation and what will it escilate to later in the play (Two Gentlemen of Verona).

     From this I have managed to understand my character of Valentine a lot more.  I have unstood that this character has a good and solid friendship with Proteus.  Which is shown through the lines in which  Valentine shows his true trust in Proteus to assist him in escaping with his true love.  Which then leads onto the fact that my character is deeply in love with a female character called Silvia, who was introduced before my selected scene.  Valentine also confesses in the script that he would never love again, although that has changed now he has met Silvia.

     Understanding the scenes script and the plot can assist and prepare us for when it come to rehearsals.  Because with our script learning being emotionless, we can add the emotion in  rehearsal judging on what we know of the character and the scene, giving an acurate reaction based on the characterisation.  Therefore I know that Valentine trusts Proteus and is in love with Silvia, then these facts may help me with creating the character.

     Finally as the lesson drew to an end, my imput was presenting what I had learnt from my script and showing what I understood in my script, before we were introduced to the modern day translation of the script.  But what I felt was most engaging was the understanding of the character for when it comes to our main rehearsal and we will begin to add characterisation to the script and our performance.

Week Sixteen Part 2 Shakespeare

Learning Preparation

14th January 2014

Todays lesson began with an introduction to a new learning technique, the soul purpose of this technique was for us learn a new way to learn our lines.  Once the lesson had begun, after a few warm up exercises, we began to discuss our individual methods of learning our lines.  A number of different methods were told, from simly reading aloud repeatedly, to a method I started using by reading the script aloud and recording with a dictaphone giving you time to memorise the script.  All this methods were useful and handy, however our teacher gave us a new method.  This method required us to simply read our script aloud repeatedly, except our teacher didn't want us to read it with enthusiasm, hense beginning to add characterisation to the script, we had to read it aloud in a boring robot-like voice.  The purpose of this was because if an actor was to read aloud in a certain way, they would memorise it in the way they spoke during their own rehearsal.  So when it came to the actors main performance they would speak in the way they spoke in rehearsal, which might not be the right way for the character to pronounce their lines.  Whereas using the slow speaking method it allows the actors muscle to memorise how to say the words, so hopefully they would be able to say the lines immediately without hesitation.  Again the actors would have to speak slowly and have pauses inbetween lines to show that they know when the other character is speaking their part of the dialogue; the actor would speak slowly until they have memorise their part of the script so when it comes to a main rehearsal they can add characterisation to their dialogue, to bring the script to life.
     In the lesson our teacher wanted us to try this method, to see if we could remember the first four lines of our script.  I thought this method worked extremely well, because usually it would take me a while to learn a few lines from a script, but using this technique I was able learn the first four lines in under ten minutes.  I thought it was a very helpful task and I use it more often, for when it comes to learning lines.
     The purpose of this lesson was to focus on our preparation for the assignment, hence the reason for our teacher giving us the new method of learning lines.  Which then leads to the question: How important is an actors preparation?  When an actor recieves a role in a play and has a time limit until the production it is essential for the actor to be fully prepared.  An actors preparation should begin with simply learning their lines, so no matter how long it takes until the main production the actor would know all their lines in case they event came sooner, rather than later.  The next step is for an actor to develop their characterisation, so once the actor has learn their lines the could maybe do some reshearch into the characters origins, then they can work on how they can create this character and bring it to life for a stage audience.  Finally for an actors preparation there is rehearsals, if the individual actor knows all their lines and the whole plot of the play, that is acceptional, however it is better to rehearse with a set/stage and cast, rather than picture the whole play in the mind.  So rehearsing with a set and cast would allow the actor to fully understand what the plot would visually look what the other actors have to bring to the play.
     As the lesson drew to an end our teacher introduced us to another helpful technique which would help us in acting, it was called the Meisner technique.  The Meisner is a technique which assists an actor to develop an emotional response to the scipt/dialogue.  Another similar technique, known as method acting, has the actor get into character and remain in character for the entire time of the play.  Method acting also requires the actor to bring forth any personal memories that are relatable towards the character to make it more convincing for the audience.  However some would protest towards method acting because if the character is required to have an emotional break down, then the actor would look back to personal moment in their lives which would bring a tear to the eye, and some would protest to this beacuse the actor could have an emotional break down themselves, and might not even recover from it.  So method acting focuses on the one character and the actor to create this.  However the Meisner technique is "all about the other person", where the actor understands the character, from their past, present and future as they know how the play ends and what comes of the character.  So the actor can make their performance more convincing by reflecting on the characters emotional side, rather than the actors own origins.
     So to conclude, what I felt most engaged with during this lesson was the new learning techniques which I think will come in very handy for when it comes to learning scripts, and developing characterisation.  I will definately use these techniques for when it comes to the uncoming assignment, and future assignments/roles.  

Week Sixteen Part 1: Shakespeare

The Iambic Pentameter

13th January 2014

Today's lesson began as usual with a couple of warm up exercises.  Just like last week we started with a warm up that focused mainly on our body, to get up prepared for the physical side of the lesson.  Next came a vocal warm up exercise.  The purpose of this lesson was to focus on our speech pattern for when it came to the pernounciation of Shakespearean language.  Using short phrases we were to look at many different ways in which we could pronounce it; such as a calm voice that is confortable for the speaker, then a stage voice which would be loud and understandable, as well as a deep voice to focus on the deeper and darker characteristics.  As a result of these warm up exercises we were all prepared to the physical and verbal halves of the lesson.

     Once we had started the lesson, we came straight into the main topic of the lesson, the Iambic Pentameter.  The Iambic Pentameter is a method which focuses on the speed and pronouciation of an actors speech.  A key part of learning this is using a phrase with similar sounds towards a heart beat, (de dum de dum de dum de dum de dum).  The method is to pronouce words in the same pattern with the same amount of words to have a similarity; a ten word sentence, where every other word is spoken louder (so the 'de' is quiet, and the 'dum' is louder.  An exeample of this would be in the sentence 'the more my prayer, the lesser is my grace'.  So the 'the' would be the first 'de' and the 'more' would be pronounced in a louder tone, as being the first 'dum'.  The 'de' and 'dum' would be a repeating pattern, repeated five times over a ten word sentence.  Although if the sentence has nine words, like the example above, then the Iambic Pentameter would be split into one word, depending on how many verbs there are in the word.  So in the example above the word 'lesser' has two verbs, therefore the 'less' would be a 'dum', because the word before was a 'de', and the 'er' would be a 'de', to repeat the pattern.  So the end result would be the speech to be louder on the 'less' and return to be quieter on the 'er'.

     After getting a decent idea of how the Iambic Pentameter works our teacher gave us a task.  Our teacher placed us into groups of two and gave each of us a senareo, where we would have to create a script and then later add the Iambic Pentameter.  For my script I had to keep each characters lines to have at least ten words in each line.  In the end I thought that this was an intersting task as it allowed us to demonstarte our understanding of a new and even more interesting method of acting.

     I also thought that the Iambic Pentameter was a useful method which I think would come in handy with any acting performances.  Because if you were writing a script and you wished to use the Iambic Pentameter then it would allow you to focus on your writting, in the sense of writting in a short and detailed fashion.  As well as the method assisting in the actors speech pattern, because it can help highlight the important words in a short and detailed speech.  A pronouciation using the Iambic Pentameter could also be useful in a singers performance because it also focuses on the tone os voice, which assists in making the speech sound clearer and detailed. 

Week Fifteen (Part 3)

The World of Nature in Physical Theatre

8th January 2014

Today's main lesson we moved aside our main Shakespeare assignment, and we turned to a side project in Physical Theatre.  The key factor in our Physical Theatre lesson was to focus on the world of nature and expore the details in animal movement.  The purpose of this is to explore an actors methods of being able to transform their movement and see if they're capable of changing character by walking/moving as someone or something else, in this case the movement of an animal.  Our task this lesson was to create our own animals and explore what kind of movement would this animal do, what kind of habit it would live in, and why?  I felt this was an interesting task as it allowed us to explore our own movement and create a unique form of movement.

     Another part of this lesson was our teacher giving us a posibility of what type of animal we were, based on our own movement.  This was also interesting as it made us more aware of our own movement, as well as setting us homework to do some reasearch into how we could individually present the characteristics of our animal.  This would all become very useful in upcoming lessons as we would be able to expand our understanding of animal movement and become our own unique creature.

Week Fifteen Part 2: Shakespeare

Shakespeare Assignment Day Two

7th January 2014
The second day back, another introduction to Shakespearean plays.  In our second lesson, on our new assignment, we were introduced to three play all from the comedy genre; 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', 'The Taming of The Shrew', and 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona'.  These three plays became a crucial part of the assignment, as we would come to perform extracts from certain scenes, which include a comedic conversation by at least three characters on stage.  The idea is to have the three scenes, from different Shakespeare comedies, and have all on stage together to make it seem as if they are all part of the same world.
     However many of us in the tutor group didn't know much about the plot of these three comedies, so to ensure that we understood a basic idea of what the plot was our teacher gave us a task.  This task consisted of several pieces of paper with a key points in the play, and we, in three groups one doing each play, had to simply put the pieces of paper in order.  In my group we had to put the key scenes, from the play 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' in order.  To begin with I thought this was going to be an easy task, as me and my group knew a lot about the play, except the task was a little more challenging.  This made the lesson more intriguing and interesting.  In the end we all managed to get a decent understanding of the plots of each of these plays.  Once that part of the task was over, we came to the next part, to get a decent understanding of the characters in the plays.  With another sheet of paper we had the names of the characters on one side, and the part they played in the play, and our task was to match the character with their role.  This was all very helpful as I knew little about two of the three plays and with these tasks I was able to get a decent understanding for uncoming lessons. 
     Another great task of the day was to perform our understanding of the plays in the form of a trailer.  Again we were put into two groups and we had to summarise two of the plays ('A Midsummer Night's Dream' and 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona') using the key moments in which stand out the most and turning it into a trailer giving a decent understanding of the plot.  For example in my group we did a trailer for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', and our idea was to highlight the different group of people, in the play, and present an understand of what they do in the play; such as the group of lovers and how they fight for their loved ones, and the actors in company.  For the group of lovers, we briefly highlighted the fact that they are under a spell and they fight to win their hearts.  Whereas for the actors in company, we wanted to highlight the fact that they are truly rubbish at performing.  Another part we mentioned, in our trailer, is that there are fairies and what part they play in the performance.  Again this task was helpful as not only did we demonstrate our methods of acting at a faster pase, but it also help us present our understanding of the play we were given, and the other group help us get a better understanding of their play.
     So in summary of today's lesson, I felt it was very engaging with the more practical exercises and allowed us to explore more detail into the three plays which are a key part of the Shakespeare assignment.  This lesson also allowed us to demonstrate our use of improvisation and fast pase acting, with the trailer exercise, along with getting a decent idea of the plays plots and characters. 

Week Fifteen Part 1: Shakespeare

New Year, New Term, New Assignment

6th January 2014: Shakespeare

To begin the new term, we started with a simple warm up exercise.  This warm up consisted on focus, beginning with all of us focusing on our breathing, looking at the speed we breath and how deeply we breath to ensure total relaxation and concentration.  The next step was focusing on our body strength.  Due to us all returning from the Christmas holidays, most of us were tired and exhausted, so the purpose of this exercise was to warm up our muscles to physical work, which would also awaken our entire body to be ready for the days lesson.  The warm up of the muscles was to stretch the arms from the sides to the air, whilst entailing and exhaling our breathing.  I felt this warm up was very helpful as it prepared us for a whole days worth of work.

     Once the warm up exercises finished we straight into the main task of the day.  Our new assignment's topic is Shakespearean Plays, so to begin with we looked up some interesting facts about Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Era.  With a task our teacher set us, and some research using the internet, we found out many facts to do with the life and career of William Shakespeare himself and what an impact his work in theatre had upon the world and history.  We learnt of where and when he was born (in Stratford-Upon-Avon, in 1564).  Who he was married to (Anne Hathaway) and how many children he had (three).  Along with learning how his plays broke away from the traditional theatre, as well as his use certain elements became a huge development in the English theatre.  Just name a few facts upon many.  I felt this was a perfect way to start the assignment because many, but not all, of us in the tutor group knew quite a lot about Shakespeare already, but this task implanted more details we didn't know about the famous playwright.  Also we were able to categorise what genre each of Shakespeare's thirty-seven plays.

     Therefore I think of this lesson as being very interesting and engaging, as well as a great start to a great assignment focusing on possibly the greatest playwright's who ever lived.  My imput to the lesson was simply introducing what I have experienced in the subject and how much I knew.  As I have performed Shakespeare monologues and researched into many of his plays, I feel very positive about the entire assignment and I look forward to unpcoming lessons.