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27.09.24

After completing the formative, we were given feedback from Chloe. This allowed us to analyse exactly what to improve on from the formative. This was also the last full rehearsal before the summarise performance so it was crucial we iron out and identify all present issues.

Rehearsal Focus:

It was important for us to discuss the points made in Chloe’s notes as we were eager to polish everything as quickly and thoroughly as possible. I especially wanted to focus on my levels of tension and my emotional journey, considering those were the points i was marked down on in the formative.

Process & and Exploration:

We began by com paring and contrasting each of the notes given by Chloe, giving each of us an impression of points to work in each area of the scene. We then progressed to several run through which were then observed by Chloe who gave us extensive notes and help.

Breakthroughs & Challenges:

I had a major breakthrough when i decided to put more passion into each of my lines, glaze over each consonant in order to sound more garbled and slightly juvenile. Chloe also made a very helpful suggestion that i stand on one foot as my character to throw me off balance.

Character Development:

I realised in this particular rehearsal that the creature has a bigger sense of humour than i originally thought. I was also able to finally come to grips with the fact that he feels enormously sorry for Elizabeth and regrets that he has to kill her.

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23.09.24 - catch up from rehearsal I’d missed and nail it

Todays rehearsal was a chance for us to perfect the peroformce before the formative. I also needed catch up because I had missed the rehearsal of week four due to being ill.

Rehearsal Focus:

We needed to have a polished and clean performance, with lines learnt, blocking finished and props, lighting and costume. That was the objective.

Process & Exploration:

We then payed out all props and lighting and did a technical run through. I also had to stand in for a different group because they were missing their creature. It was crucial we get the technical side ride. After we did tech runs, we ran through the play backstage, learning lines and picking up on sharper cues.

Breakthroughs & Challenges:

During this rehearsal we found that it was important to overlap on certain lines to make a shaper performance.

Character Development:

After watching Frankenstein online practicing the voice technique, I felt that my voice for the creature had drastically improved. However I still felt that I had not spent enough time working with my character which I felt was affecting the performance.

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13.09.24 - attempting to block more ourselves

Today was mainly about continuing the progress we’d made on the 6th and getting the blocking firmly cemented in our brains. I also took some time in this rehearsal to out the technicalities on my script; blocking instructions, emotional journey, etc.

Rehearsal Focus:

I put the focus on trying not to actually kill Mia in the process of launching her onto the bed. This was imperative because we had slipped up a few times already. I was also going to try and focus and a more clear and calm tone for the creature. Learning lines was another priority and after the rehearsal and concluded, I attempted to help Dawson with his RP accent for Victor.

Process & Exploration:

We began with another read through and gave each other notes for what to work on from the previous rehearsal. We then progressed to the blocking and once we arrived at Elizabeth’s death scene, Mia and I ran through the lift about four times. We were then given notes by Chloe.

Breakthroughs & Challenges:

Mia and I successfully completed the movement for her death, with help from Chloe. Chloe was also able to give feedback on my voice, which was still robotic had become to articulate. She kindly gave me a tip on closing my throat to sound more strained and a link to watch Frankenstein online.

Character Development:

This was an incredibly useful rehearsal because it gave me an understanding that although I knew a little more about the creature’s motivations, I still had not grasped his voice and physicality. This was valuable material for me to work on for the next rehearsal.

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Sense Memory - emotions drawn from the senses

Today, Chloe taught us about touch, smell, sound & taste. These senses were excellent at evoking emotional or nostalgic memories in each of us. I was really excited for this workshop because I literally had no idea what to expect.

Workshop Overview:

We were first introduced to the sound part of the workshop, where we mediated on the floor, listening to all sorts of evocative sounds (including Boris Johnson). We then sat in a circle and began to smell, touch and taste different objects and foods being passed around. While doing this, we were completing our own table with individual answers for each category.

Key Takeaways:

This was surprising as I didn’t expect to feel so sad when tasting some of the food, such as honey, which I realised I haven’t tasted in years. The session with lying on the floor listening to Boris Johnson demand we all stay at home because of COVID also made me intensely sad.

Challenges & Growth:

I found that it was challenging to remember things from certain foods I really didn’t like or had never tasted before.However, I found that bringing these memories to mind was healthy in terms of creating a natural response to something, especially in regard to nostalgia.

Application to Future Work:

For future work, if I have to tear up at any point, I think this would be a very useful exercise. I was almost brought to tears at one point listening to the covid announcement because of the tough time me and my family experienced.

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03.06.24 - our second ever run through

I felt like this was an important rehearsal because I had to leave early during the first one, which left the other two run through their scene together and collect notes. In this rehearsal in needed to properly go through the blocking for the creature and Elizabeth, with feedback from Chloe.

Rehearsal Focus:

The main focus was to run the blocking as smoothly as we could, considering this was the first time we were all together to run the blocking. We also wanted to push through, no matter how hard it would be with scripts in our hands. For me, I was focused on trying to get the physical scenes with Elizabeth nailed as early as possible, in order to prevent any future accidents.

Process and Exploration:

we began with a full run through, with both halves of the scene. Mia was able to get me up to speed on exactly what the creature needed to do during his murder spree. There was also a video posted on Teams which helped. After the first run through we did a second, with each of us giving notes when we weren’t performing. We felt it was important for us to gain an audience perspective too. Chloe was then able to come over and give us feedback when we ran through it again.

Breakthroughs & Challenges

A real challenge was the timing and pausing that Mia and I displayed in our scene, which was a note given by Chloe. Another note was that my voice sounded quite robotic in tonality and tempo, which I fully understood. The biggest challenge I faced in this rehearsal was voice development for creature.

Character Development:

For the creature, I understood during this rehearsal that his limitations do not prevent him from making cohesive and human sentences. I learned that I was going to have to change my approach to his mannerisms and personality, in order to make this an effective portrayal.

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Subtext - What’s Really Going On?

Today, Chloe introduced us to subtext. I was especially excited for this workshop because in already had a rough understand of subtext but I never really understood the technical aspects. I was really wanting to learn about certain facial expressions that might contribute to show a deeper meaning.

Overview of Workshop:

The workshop began with having a small discussion about subtext, although it quite a simple topic to explain so this didn’t take very long. We then watched a brilliant scene from Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts, where she’s pleading her case to a panel of snobby lawyers. We were asked to identity how Julia Roberts and the other actors showed a deeper meaning behind their own actions and to the overall scene. We then filled out a form on Teams with partners, listing each of the deeper meaning voiced (but not voiced) in the scene.

Key Takeaways:

More can be said with one eyebrow raise than a whole page of dialogue. It was fascinating to see the subtle changes in Roberts’ tone, facial expressions and posture and how they contributed to her dominance in the scene.

Challenges & Growth:

It was a real challenge not look away from the screen in Erin Brockovich, but it also made me realise how important it is the subtext is never voiced in a performance. Or at least not voiced too often, otherwise the power and significance of the subtext is snuffled.

Application to Future Work:

I think just as with many films, not just Erin Brockovich, subtext is best shown when characters may be slightly insulted. In future, I will endeavour reveal a character’s deeper message through such subtleties as eyebrows raised, a change in tonality and possibly the inner/outer tempo.

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Tempo-Rhythm - The Performance on the Inside and Outside

Today’s workshop filled me with a great deal of intrigue beforehand because I’d never heard of tempo-Rhythm before. My initial thoughts were that this topic would cover the speed of a scene, however I discovered there was more to it than that.

Overview of Workshop:

Once again, we started off by having a group discussion about tempo-rhythm. We were asked by Chloe about our own inner and outer tempos and how they present themselves to the rest of the world as to us. We were then split off into pairs and given a scenario to rehearse; in my pair we used a rucksack to mimic a loved one leaving a marriage. Chloe would direct us on the different inner and outer tempos - whether they were strong or slow - and the scene would be performed multiple times in front of the class.

Key Takeaways:

One of the most impactful moments of this exercise was the lack of cohesion between the inner and outer tempos. One tempo could be utterly wild, while the other could be totally calm simultaneously. This brought a challenge with regards to performing.

Challenges & Growth:

As I said, I found the aspect of acting two different tempos difficult. However, I found that when I gained control of my physicality on stage, I could do the same with the tempos. In the divorce scene with the rucksack, it was important to me that when I played the individual who was telling the other to pack their bags and leave, I remain mostly still. However, I twitched my hands and my shoulders to show that even with the calm outer tempo, there was still a raging inner tempo.

Application to Future Work:

In future, I plan to use my tempo and rhythm to play characters who have highly conflicting emotions. This will give me a great insight to the lives people who often cannot control their emotions and eventually breakdown. I will draw on physicality and stuttering tonality to play such characters.

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Action/Reaction - What do Audiences See on the Outside?

Today, I had the privilege of attending the workshop on Action/Reaction led by our lecturer, Chloe Christie. This was something I was very excited to learn about, due to the fact that before this, I had never actually tried performing a reaction to a shocking piece of before. I was very keen to learn what to do with my eyes.

Overview of Workshop:

We began the workshop by watching clips from films and TV shows (Euphoria, The Handmaid’s Tale, etc) where characters would show a clear moment of action and reaction. This was followed by a group discussion on where these moments were and how did the actor effectively perform them. The workshop continued with being split into pairs and performing lines from open ended scripts, which would lead into an improvised scene of entirely our own choosing. We then performed these to the rest of the class.

Key Takeaways:

When we were working on the open ended scripts, it was clear to me that the actor is forced to examine their own inner feelings when faced with a real situation, which is was my partner and I created as we improvised a scene together.

Challenges & Growth:

The biggest challenge I faced with this workshop was continuing the dialogue with my partner once the we no longer had any scripted lines to support us during the scene. In order for this scene to work, I managed to focus on exactly what my partner was doing; their reactions to my statements, the growing levels of stress and tension they exuded. Ultimately, I was able to use that focus as my own individual action to support my character’s reaction.

Application to Future Work:

For any future work, this will be an excellent skill to put into action, considering it is the easiest route to performing the most realistic reaction possible. I will try and implement this technique when I perform future scenes with high levels of tension, which I’m sure will be very exciting.

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03.09.24 - Introduction to Elizabeth’s Death Scene

Today’s rehearsal for Frankenstein was an overall introduction on getting to grips with the scene blocking, the characters and the scripts. Going into this I was eager to find out about the highly physical aspects of the scene especially, when it came to my urgent mannerisms at the start of the scene, playing Victor Frankenstein.

Rehearsal Focus:

Today’s rehearsal was split into two sections; the class rotated from working on our scripts and ‘character-on-the-wall’ sheets to running through the blocking with Chloe in the theatre. Both of these exercises were crucial because they gave me a thorough understanding of speed, tone and physicality of this particular, where Elizabeth is murdered by the creature.

Process & Exploration:

As said, the tasks were split between groups backstage working on scripts and character sheets and working with Chloe in the theatre. These were especially important as they gave me and my fellow cast members the chance to read through the script together for the first time, allowing us to come to grips with each character. The character-on-the-wall sheet was also a useful task because it allowed me to analyse the emotions flowing in and out of my character. At this time, I was playing Victor Frankenstein however, Chloe then requested that I play the creature, which I was more than happy to do.

Breakthroughs & Challenges:

A particular hurdle that me and my two group members had to tackle during this rehearsal was the general tempo of the scene. I found it all too easy to speed up my words during our read through, which led the scene far too quickly to Elizabeth’s murder. After our third read through, we managed to get control of the tempo by completing our character-on-the-wall sheets. My sheet allowed me to understand the exact emotions playing in Victor Frankenstein’s head at the time of his entrance into the bedroom. I was also able to watch another group perform the blocking with Chloe which was useful for technical purposes; physicality, tone, etc.

Character Development:

Once I had be re-cast as the creature, I was able to watch another group doing the same scene with Chloe. I was struck by how violent the creature was with Elizabeth, which gave me a sense of his utter hatred towards Victor Frankenstein and how far he’s willing to go to strip his creator’s life of anything good. The section at the start of the creature’s entrance where he grasps Elizabeth by the mouth also showed me exactly how dominant he is in this scene. He holds all the power with his voice, his erratic movements and general persona.

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Seven Levels of Tension - Variations of Intensity

During today’s workshop, Chloe took us through the seven levels of tension to give us an understanding of how to react to different situations under varying levels of pressure. I had heard of the seven levels of tension before this workshop, however I didn’t gain a full understanding until after we completed Chloe’s exercise. I was hoping to get a good understanding of movement, facial expressions and tone of voice.

Overview of Workshop:

Today, we began with reading through the slide Chloe had posted on teams. We took turns to read each paragraph. After this, we began out exercise of pretending there was a bomb in the middle of the room. To kick us off, Chloe got us to walk around the room at different speeds, depending on the number she shouted out; 1 was slow and 9 was very fast. She then put her handbag in the centre of the room and told us there was a bomb inside. Our task was to rummage around for a while until she showed bomb, at which point we would run to all four corners of the room, going from a 4 to a 10. After this we were placed in groups to perform a small scripted conversation in varying levels of tension.

Key Takeaways:

Something that really stood out to me was the genuine fear I felt, whilst looking through the handbag. I was fully aware there was no bomb, yet the thought of everyone scrambling to get away terrified me for some reason. This challenged me to dig deeper into the handbag when fear was replaced with curiosity. As the bomb was declared, we turned into animals, running into and over each other to save our lives.

Challenges & Growth:

One particular challenge I face with this task was making the different levels of tension look realistic. When there was nothing in front of me to make me energised I found it especially difficult to force a terrified energy into my movements. However, as the Worksop continued I found it easier to experience very real emotions towards these situations, which was helped by the bomb scenario instilling actual fear in me and everyone else.

Application to Future Work:

For further, I think this is an incredibly useful technique to put into action, especially when engaging with naturalistic roles. In a similar way to objectives, I think the seven levels of tension provide a purpose for a character which will give me the motivation to gage a characters emotions in a specific scene; is this character happy, worried or terrified.

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Given Circumstances/Magic If - What Are Your Instincts & Reactions?

Today, Chloe was kind enough to take us through the topics of given circumstance & magic if. I had some prior knowledge of given circumstances but i knew nothing about about the second concept. I went in with mixture of uncertainty but also excitement; I was keen to understand how these concepts would benefit my physical movements onstage to allow me to react appropriately.

Overview of Workshop:

We began this workshop by sitting in a circle reading that Chloe had kindly uploaded to Teams for us. We then went round each person in the circle and spoke about our own given circumstances. After this, we acted out a scene where we would spot a Bear coming towards us, thereby exploring both our given circumstances and the magic if.

Key Takeaways:

One major thing that I learned in this workshop was that acknowledging a characters past and present, it gives a scene a highly broad level of context. During scene I enacted with the bear, the magic if was able to condense this fake scenario into a real life threatening situation, where I could imagine my own reactions to this kind of scenario. These concepts can be useful, almost technical, methods for an actor to use in order to understand a scene and the role.

Challenges and Growth:

I found it very difficult to imagine that there was a bear in front of me. It seemed the best way to make real was to utilise the magic if, to get a sense of my own very real panic when faced with danger.

Application to Future Work:

In future, I shall use the concept of given circumstances to broaden my understanding of my characters story and journey. I will apply the magic if when trying to deeply connect with scenarios in front of me onstage.

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Objectives - Discovering What a Character Wants to achieve

Today, we began our first exceptional workshop with our Lecturer, Chloe Christie. I was given a detailed insight into how actors apply objectives to their characters’ motives and storylines. This was incredibly useful, as I was keen to understand why an actor would alter certain parts of their voice, posture, emotional journey, etc.

Overview of Workshop:

The workshop was centred around the topic of Objectives and Chloe started us off by letting us read the summary slide on this acting concept. We then worked in groups to add the verb and action onto a selection of statements provided on teams. Our final task was to improvise a scene in pairs where the sentence with the verb would correspond with our character’s objectives.

Key Takeaways:

I found that it made me think of future characters a might play being driven by something stronger than an actor being in the headspace of “I want the scene to look good”. Above all, I realised this is the most useful technique to find a purpose in a scene. I thought about this when looking at the list of verbs Chloe provided, which gave me an insight into the wide range of motivations an actor could apply to a character. During the improvised scene, I found it easier to show my characters intentions by gesturing towards objects and moving about the stage.

Challenges and Growth:

Again, trying to apply the correct verbs to an objective was difficult because it forced me to look at the deliberately incorrect statements and find a much deeper meaning to them. This gave me a much greater understanding of why a character might do something and the benefits a certain action could bring.

Application to Future Work:

I plan to apply this concept to every script I am given in the future, allowing me to grasp the motivations and inner emotions of my character. I hope this will not only benefit my character’s emotional journey but also give me a new routine with every script. “I want to fight this animal in front of me to protect my family. I will do this by forcing it away from my home.