Live theatre has alot of different positives and negatives that come with it. Theatre can be really good because it helps lots of new and upcoming actors show their talents and advertise themselves. This is good because it help people who maybe want to go onto film and TV time and space to learn and also advertise themselves. Live theatre, also helps people gain experience and training as it can be quite repetitive and can help with more exaggerated acting and movements. If you are in a long term contract in live theatre, its really good because it means you have a consistent job and you can have a consistent income. Theatre can also increase your personal growth. This is because you are always with other actors, you work mostly in a group and you have to have really good teamwork skills. However it defiantly helps improve your personal developments. There are also bad aspects of working in live theatre. For example, movies and TV shows are starting to be based of alot of musicals which is an issue because it means that theatre is rapidly loosing demand. This means that shows might not have lots of attention or love because of tv and film shows. This also difficult because most if income in theatre comes from ticket sales and box office. This means that depending on how well a show sells you might have less income that month. They will also most likely take that show of sale and start something new as it isn't popular. You also have to be very flexible with theatre as you never know when they will want you to jump onto something else or cover for someone. You also have to have a vast set of skills and this means flexibility with what you can and cant do. Theatre can be really repetitive and get quite boring at times which can be bad because you can get tired of doing the same show over and over again. You will most likely loose your social life and not have much personal time. You also need to have very good time and money management because you will need to manage your time wisely and take care of any money and savings if a show gets taken off or you don't have work for a while. I do really want to go into live theatre because i love performing live and doing live shows with an audience in the stand. I love doing exaggerated acting and performing live. This is something that really interests me and i would love perform in live theatre in the future.

We also talked about higher education in this weeks lessons. Higher education is when you move towards getting more experience and opportunities using universities or drama schools. As performing artists, there are different types of places we can go for our higher education. One of these places is university. This is where we can take a performing arts, acting or theatre, course and progress our higher learning from there. Universities offer lots of different courses however they may not offer a range of different acting courses depending on where you choose to go. Another higher education opportunity is drama school. Drama school offers a more diverse range of performing courses for you to explore. This is because drama schools are there for performing actors and musicians to further develop their skills and education under a microscope and really focus on their future opportunities. However there are always positives and negatives to exploring higher education. We explored some of these in class with Liz. I think some of the outstanding positives of attending higher education, whether it be drama school or university are, gaining more education and knowledge about the industry. This means you are more likely to get opportunities and employment in the future. The more experience you have on the industry and the subject the more likely you are to be chosen for a call back or an audition in future employment. It also looks really good on your actors website or cv that you have been to higher education and taken that extra step. Students that attend higher education also gain more confidence in themselves and a larger understanding of them self. This can help with understanding what you would like to pursue in the future and discover what profession or speciality you would like to progress in. One last positive aspect of following the path of higher education is that you can have support and guidance towards the next stage of your life and career. This can be really helpful because it means you can go to someone for help and guidance regarding future opportunities and choosing your speciality. However, moving onto higher education can have some negative aspects too. A major disadvantage of going to higher education is that it can cost a lot of money. For example, in the uk, universities on average tend to cost around £27,750 pounds over the duration of their degree. This is a substantial amount of money and some people may not be able to afford this or may not qualify for student finance. This is a big con for higher education and can turn a lot of people away from getting their degree. Another negative to higher education is that drama schools are very competitive. Most of the time you will be auditioning and competing against other actors and performers who want the role or position just as much as you do. As many people know, the performing arts industry is a very competitive industry and there can be a lot of negativity around student opportunity in drama schools specifically. Some people also believe that going into higher education means you wont get a head start to your career by going straight down that path. This means that other people who didn't choose to do higher education will progress more efficiently and go further while you are still studying. I personally do want to attend higher education because it means i will get more knowledge and education on my chosen speciality. This is important to me because i want to do the best i an in the future and i believe going into higher education will give me better opportunities in the industry in the future. I also want to gain more understanding of the industry and have guidance on my next steps going forward. I think this will help me understand myself more as a person and really understand what i want to do in the industry going forward. 

In the future, i want to work in theatre and perform live shows. I have always wanted to go into theatre and live performance because i think that having a live audience and the rush of being on stage is one of the most amazing feelings ever. I love acting and i especially love live theatre. I think that the makeup, costumes and different acting styles that come with live theatre are so interesting and innovative and i love over exaggerated acting. Unless you are doing a Stanislavsky naturalistic performance, most of theatre is normally very over acting compared to film and TV. This is one of the reasons that i love it. My goal for the future is being a part of theatre production and performing live shows in theatre. One of the ways i could achieve this goal is by going into higher education as it would give me the resources and experience to help me find a pathway toward a theatre company. I think if i progress into higher education i can really help my live theatre skills and have assistance along the way. I know i will be guided and supported with my goals whilst also being pushed and pressed to work as hard as i can. 

This week in my personal project i decided that I wanted to focus on my facial expressions and build and develop certain expressions relating to certain emotions. I want to showcase and improve a lot of my my expressions. This week i decided i wanted to do a unique monologue that would be different from the rest meaning that i would have lots to build on and i could be more creative and have lots of freedom with this project. I think that with a more unique monologue i could experiment with facial expressions a lot and really challenge myself with that skill because coming out of my comfort zone and doing something that i wouldn't normally do will help me push myself with acting and therefore push my facial expressions in the monologue. I am focusing on my facial expressions because of the peer feedback i received last week.

Why have you chosen to improve your selected skills? How will it support you in your future goals and aspirations?

I have decided to focus on my facial expressions for this weeks project because, facial expressions are vital to live theatre and performance. You cant have a live performance without showing emotion and feeling through your expressions. This is really important because throughout my career i will have lots of contracting theatre roles and characters that i will have to commit to. Whilst playing these characters i will have to be on point with my facial expressions and make sure that i am expressing myself in the correct way. If you don't use facial expressions while acting it is extremely difficult for the audience to understand what you are feeling and what you are thinking. This is why its really important to improve them to the best of your ability. They are a very important skill for an actor to learn and develop if they want to have a successful career in theatre and acting in general.

What activities, tasks or exercises are you using to developed your chosen skills?

To develop and improve my facial impressions i will make sure i am recording myself and the progress i have made with the performance every day. I think that this is a great way to develop my skills because i will be able to criticise my skills by watching the videos back and seeing or spotting things that i can develop and do better. I will also be showing my classmates and liz every few days what i have done and asking them to give me feedback so i can develop from there. Another activity i will be doing along with recording my rehearsals is taking pictures of different facial expressions and seeing how they fit with my performance, this will help me gain confidence as well to really experiment with my facial expressions.

What is your vision and give an overview for your project. Consider starting points such as themes, stimulus and style.  

My vision for this performance is to have people question what they are watching and wonder what is going on. My performance is very unique and different from what you would normally watch. This is why i love it so much. I really think that because my performance is so different and unique it can make people who haven't watched or seen much theatre view it in a different way. This is my goal for the performance as i really want theatre to be viewed in lots of different ways. The theme around my performance involves a demented deranged demon and all he emotions she is going through. Its very much horror based and its supposed to scare people and make people really uncomfortable so they don't really know how to react. Something that inspired me to work on this monologue was definitely the challenge around it and the difficulty of the lines and character. I really felt as if i could bring this character to life and portray her in a really interesting way. I also really like the show American horror story and i think the uneasy unsettling feeling that you feel in the show is what i was trying to achieve with my character the striker.

Your target audience is Higher Education audition/interview panels. Include research around your target audience. How will this impact the development of your piece? 

My piece is suitable for higher education and audition panels because it doesn't include any tech or props at all and it is unique and different to other performances. It is a contemporary piece of theatre which most universities and drama schools want to see. I think that my performance is also very theatre based and fits within the criteria of most universities and drama schools. For example, the Arden school of drama requests a contemporary theatre piece for auditions and so does LMA in Liverpool. these and just a few options although i know many have this is their audition criteria. I have also made sure that the performance is under three minuets but over 2 minuets so it fits the monologue criteria for audition panels. This is important because i want my performance to be something that could be shown to audition panels from the get go and tick all the boxes and criteria. Because live theatre and higher education is where i want to progress in the future it is important to me that my performance is suitable and correct for my desired audience this week.

What are the unique selling points for your project? What is of interest to your target audience? 

Some of the really interesting selling points of my performance are that it is so different and unique. I feel like my performance is really diverse and shows a lot about theatre that most people wouldn't expect. this is why I think people will be really intrigued at my performance and really like it. It is a really eerie and creepy performance so i hope people enjoy that and like the horror themes I've included in my monologue. I also think a really good selling point for my performance is that its very physical and you wont get bored watching it. I think that because I'm always moving and and stretching my body into weird ways it doesn't really get boring or uninteresting to watch and people will be entertained. This is also really good for my target audience which is higher education because i think that my monologue is very out there and something they probably wont see everyday. It really takes me out of my comfort zone and I believe that it will capture the attention of an audition panel at drama school or a university.

What are the constraints you may face in the development and realization of your project? 

Throughout the week i have been practicing and devising my monologue in all of my lessons however, some things that have made it difficult for me to perform are, the spaces that are provided for us. I think that to properly rehearse my monologue i need some more space. However having 9 of us all in the same room whilst some of us are singing, dancing and talking, it can get quite overwhelming and difficult to rehearse. I also think that something that has made it quite difficult to perform is how self conscious I felt about this performance. I think because it was so out there and different from what everyone else was doing, I felt quite embarrassed and self conscious to perform at first. This made me not want to rehearse in large groups of people. It also made me worry about showing back to my classmates. I also think that it was difficult to learn my monologue and i struggled to learn all the lines I one week as it was quite difficult and wordy. The lines aren't in proper sentences so it was harder to learn and made me panic that I wouldn't finish learning them in time along with my physicality. 

What future opportunities have you explored in session? (Recorded Performance and Freelance) 

This week we have been learning about freelance work in the industry and creating our own self tapes and learning more about recorded performance. This week, throughout our lessons we have been learning about what it is like to work for yourself and manage your own finances, like taxes, and find work in the industry. We watched many videos and clips of actors working freelances and they explained and told us what its like in the industry and the daily and weekly tasks they have to do to keep on top of their work and bills.

What is Freelance?

Freelance is working individually rather than working with a company or organisation. This means that you work for yourself and people who work freelance do different jobs for different people and are paid per project, not as a full-time employee.

What are the pro's and con's of Freelance?

Freelance work has a lot of different positives and negatives that you have to consider when deciding if you want to work for yourself. Just one of the positives of freelance is the fact that you can choose your own hours and work from anywhere, giving you more control over your schedule. This is really good because it means you can choose when you do work and when you don't. You make your own hours and decide what you want to do with your time. This is so important and one of the best things about working freelance. When you work freelance you can also choose what work you do. You can choose what work you would like to be a part of and what projects you do. This is really good because i means you can have more control over your schedule and only choose or accept work that you want to take part in. This is another big reason people want to do freelance work. This also means you get to work on different projects with different clients, which can be exciting and help you build diverse skills. When working freelance you are also your own boss, so you have more control over the kind of work you do and how you do it. You have much more control over everything you do which is really good and means you only take jobs you really want. Something about freelance that people really like is the fact that since you set your own rates, freelancing can sometimes lead to higher earnings than a traditional job. You choose hoe much you charge for your services and you choose how much your time is worth. This can lead to you getting paid more for a job than you would have if you were with a company or organisation. Finally, with more control over your schedule, it can be easier to balance work with personal life. As an actor you dont really tend to have much time to yourself or have much time to spend with family but when working freelance you have that time that you can choose to spend however you like. This is so flexible and you have much more control over your life.

Working in freelance also has negative things that might change your decision in working for yourself. One of these cons is that freelancers don’t have a guaranteed pay check, so income can be unpredictable and may vary from month to month. This is bad because you dont know how much money you will be making each month. This means it can be hard to keep track of bills and finances going out of your account. This also means you have to be extra carful with your pay check as you dont have a steady income. This is the main reason people dont want to work in freelance. Another reason is that freelancers often work alone, which can feel isolating or lonely without the social interaction that comes with a traditional industry job. They also have to handle all the bills, health insurance and taxes alone which can be very overwhelming if you don't have anyone to help you. You’ll also need to find your own clients, negotiate rates, and handle contracts, which can be time-consuming and stressful. One last negative of working in freelance is that there’s no job stability or job protection, sometimes you might have a lot of work and other times you might struggle to find any. This is scary and can make people turn away from freelance because its unknown if you will have work or not.

Do you aspire to work Freelance? Why?

I believe that if you are working in the performing arts industry then you will at one point or another have to work freelance and work for yourself. However, if i can i would like to avoid working freelance as much as i can as i just think is not for me as i feel much better having a stable job and income for a long period of time.. I am happy working freelance if i need to and i know it comes with a lot of benefits and means you have more control over what you do. This is why i would be happy working freelance but will avoid it if possible.

What is Recorded Performance?

Recorded performance is when you are performing a show, monologue or scene Infront of a camera and recording it. Recorded performance is tv and film in the industry and it is used for, films, tv series, self apes and voice recording.

What are the aims and objectives for your mini project, what are you trying to achieve? In other words, what skills from your audit are you focusing on? 

When doing this project i would like to develop skills that will help me be successful in freelance work. I would also like to develop skills that will help me in recorded performance. This is because i normally just do theatre performance so im not used to doing recorded performances and would like to gain more experience and knowledge about it. During our recording performance mini projects, I will be focusing on improving my eye-line based on feedback that i received from last week from my peers and tutor, Liz. I want to improve my eye-line because i think eye-line is a very important skill to have in all types of acting. It can be used in a lot of different ways and can be very powerful if used correctly. Eyeline is used in a lot of different scenes. Its used to communicate with the audience and it can be used to express emotion in a lot to different ways. When an actor uses the technique 'inner monologue' eyeline is used a lot to express that inner voice and show the audience how the character is really feeling inside. Eyeline can also be used to control emotion in the scene and make some parts more emotional or different arts more nonchalant. This is why i have chosen this skill to improve on as i think its vital for an actor to have.

What activities, tasks or exercises are you using to developed your chosen skills?

To improve my selected skill, eyeline, i decided that i would choose different monologues from different try different eyelines to watch the emotion in the scene. For example i tried out the Women Monologue from the barbie movie. The actor America Ferrera performed this in the barbie movie and it really inspired me. I chose this for my monologue on my self tape as i thought it had amazing opportunity for eyeline and to show my developed skill. Something else that i decided to do to help develop my skills was record myself. i know that this helped me in the past with developing other skills like my facial expressions so i know that this will help me look back and see what i could do to improve. Doing this also helps me give myself constructive criticism and show it to my peers so they can view it and give me feedback. I love this method and it really helps me develop my chosen skill.

What is your vision and give an overview for your project. Consider starting points such as themes, stimulus and style.  

My vision for my project is to create a self tapes with captures my acting style well. I think that the barbie monologue is a great way to do this because i feel i act best when there is relatability and emotion in the scene. While i like stepping out of comfort zone i thought that for this project i would stick to what i know as we are showing the film students out self tapes so they can choose who they would like for their music videos. This is why i have chosen the barbie monologue as i think it holds alot of emotion and vulnerability in the scene and i think it works well for me. My vision for my self tape is to let the film students know what im best at so they can cast me in the right role. I also want my self tape to improve my eyeline so i chose a monologue where the scene has alot of people around so i could develop that skill whilst also showcasing my acting. I also really liked this monologue because of the style its written. It is very powerful and i believe that when i monologue is emotional and raw it can be performed in so many different ways and you can show so much from just performing it. I wanted to show the film students that i could perform of camera whilst also showing them how powerful the monologue i have chosen could be.

Your target audience is casting directors. Include research around your target audience. How will this impact the development of your piece? 

This week our target audience is aimed at casting directors and for out project we are creating self tapes and showing them to he film students do they can cast us for their music videos. When filming and creating these self tapes we had to think about the professional standard that is expected when we make a self tape. We had to focus on the setting of the self tape, which means finding a suitable background and device to record on. We chose to record the self tapes on a clear blocky background with no distractions in the background. Examples of distractions could be posters in the wall behind or wallpaper, windows or visible marks of the wall or background you are choosing to work with. This is why we recorded our self tapes with a clear pink wall which has no posters windows or stains. This is up to industry standard and is perfect for casting directors. To film our self tapes we decided to use a phone/ipad stand as it would make sure the tape was still and didn't move or wobble as it might do if youre using your hand to record the video. This makes the video more professional and helps the casting directors and people viewing the video focus on the acting and not the camera moving around. These are things that help your self tapes alot as they are industry standard and helped me develop my piece.

What are the unique selling points for your project? What is of interest to your target audience? 

My self tape appeals to collage students because its a very well known monologue, the barbie monologue is everywhere in tv and film and its very popular and famous. This means they have most likely studied it before and it is familiar to them which makes it of interest to them. It is also a very relatable monologue if you are a woman. This is interesting and something they will like to see. It also wont be unfamiliar to any of them as the barbie movie was the biggest movie of 2023 and they will definitely know it. This means they aren't confused and know my intention in the self tape. It is also a very long monologue so it meant i could cut it up and put the most interesting and unique parts of he speech in my self tape with it still making sense. This is appealing because i made sure everything i was saying was so powerful and entertaining. It will also appeal to their age range as they are 16-18 years old and its a very teen based movie. This again means they are familiar with it. It also means my monologue is hitting my target audience.

What are the constraints you may face in the development and realisation of your project? 

One of the things that i might struggle with while doing this self tape is that we don't have much time to do it. I think that because we are showing them to the film students on Tuesday afternoon it is a short amount of time to find a monologue and learn it in two days. This is something that i know will be challenging for me. I also think it might be quite challenging to interact with the media and film students as i know i can be quite anxious. This will impact my performance because i wont act to my best ability around them because of nerves. Something that is also quite difficult for me is the fact that i'm not really a screen actor and more of a theatre actor. I've never filmed a self tape before and i think i struggle being on screen. That's why i think it will impact the recording of my performance because im not used to being on screen.

What future opportunities have you explored in session? (Self-Creative Material and Apprenticeships) 

In class this week, We have explored self creative materials and apprentiships in the industry. these include creating your own scripts, show reels or recorded performances.

What is an apprenticeship?

An apprenticeship is an opportunity for a student or learner to work in their industry and learn and train in their art while also getting paid to do so. This means that they will get experience and knowledge while also learning their work and craft.

What are the pro's and con's of an apprenticeship?

There are many pros and cons to an apprentiship that ultimately help you make your decision on weather you want to take one or not. One positive of doing an apprenticeship is that while learning about your industry you can also get paid for thework you are doing. This is why alot of people go into apprenticeships because they balance out learning and working so you can make money. Another reason why people like them is because you might get further ahead as you are now in the industry and have connections to people and places so if you decide to work freelance in the future you have ore of an understanding on how the industry works. Something else that is quite good about working in the industry as an apprentice is that they know they are in a secure place and can stay there for a while. This is really good because it stops the worry of not knowing what to do or struggling to find work as you already have it and are also leaarning at the same time.

A con of working as an apprentice is that although you are getting paid, the pay rate is very low and you dont get paid very much. This means that you could struggle to support yourself and not have the money for necessities in life while working. Another negative ebout being an apprentice is that you have so much responsiblity and that you have to take full accounability if anything goes wrong due to a mistake you make. Its not like higher education or collage because you are working so everything you do you have to be weary its the right desicion or you might have to face consecences for your actions. This can scare people away beccause they probably having had that sort of responsibility in their lives before. Making a mistake could also cause you to loose your connections in the industry and give yourself a bad name which can limit you from getting work in the future.

Do you aspire to progress into an apprenticeship? Why?

I think in the future i wouldnt mind working as an apprentice because you learn alot about the industry but you also get paid to do so. However, in the future i would like to move onto higher education so i dont think this will be a possibility for me as after that i would like to go straight into work.

What does it mean to create your own material?

Creating your own material is interesting because it means that you create a peice of work from scratch, this could be a performance, a monologue, a script or a song/dance. You make this material by yourself which means, producing, directing and performing it on your own.

What are the pro's and con's of being a theatre-maker/producer of your own work?

There are many pros and cons to creating your own work and material in the industry. A pro of this would be that you have alot of freedom to be creative and exlore ideas as it is your own work and you alone are creating the idea. This really draws people in because they can experiment how they want and create something tat is truly theirs. This leads onto the idea that people like it because they know its their own work and they appreciate the time and effort they have put into it. Everyone is proud of their own work and feel a sense of content when they know the work they have produced is all theirs. If you sucseed and manage to make it far in the industry creating your won work, then the pay is very high and you can make alot of money from doing so. This is really good because it means you are getting paid alot for work you have created.

A con of creating your own work and material is the fact that you can get ready bad writers block and struggle to create any more material. This puts a roadblock in your work and can limit you from making content. Its also very hard to get started in the industry because its so big and competitive you will struggle to get your work out there as its really hard to share what you have created. Its also really hard to get noticed in the industry and this can be really challenging because you have to really push yourself. Unfortunatly, in the industry its also really difficult to be good enough for your work to get out there. There are so many people writing and creating content and because you are one in a million your own has to be outstanding for it to go anywhere.

Do you want to be a creative content maker? Why?

I would love to create my own content and material in the future because i think i have some really bright ideas and i know i could create really interesting concepts and plays in future. However i know its a very competitive industry and i might struggle in the long run. I know that to be bale to create my own material and it to get out in the industry that i have to push myself really hard and make sure im doing the best i can be. I should never give up and keep creating material that is my best work.

However i did create my own original monologue while i was absent and recorded it for this weeks task, video down below;

https://youtu.be/3IaAn_tLacI?si=LHvptjS733u_2sog

For my personal project i have decided that i want to focus on live theatre and acting as my goal is to go to drama school or university. One of the first steps to entering a school or university is performing a live theatre monologue therefore developing live performance skills are crucial. I am intending to produce two contrasting monologues as when applying to university different places have different audition requirements, for example, LMA only require one 2 minute monologue from a published play. However the Arden require a contemporary monologue play post 1980 and they also give you text and ask you to interoperate it in any way you like by showing off how creative you can be. These two contrasting ways of audition interested me and i have decided that for my main project i am going to do the 2 minute monologue from LMA and then the creative interpretive text from the Arden. For my Arden monologue i will use the options they have given for auditions this year and use one of those to showcase this monologue. I want to do this to showcase my creativity and show how i can interoperate texts and make them my own personal piece. Using what they have provided as a guide means that i am following their guidelines and showing that i can follow instructions and the expectations of their establishment. A skill that i really want to focus on for this performance is my creativity because i have alot of opportunity with this monologue to showcase lots of different things and make my performance piece really different and unique from the rest. For my LMA piece i will perform a section of the play the skriker which is a performance that i did earlier this year and really enjoyed. I will use this to showcase some of my acting skills and physical theatre. The skill i want to focus on improving during this monologue is my composure and discipline as this piece is very different and during the last performance of this i did, i found it really difficult to keep my composure and not break character and laugh. This is something i really want to achieve and perfect. With my main project i really want to help myself prepare for auditioning for university and the requirements i need to meet. Im hoping that with this project i will give myself more knowledge on how to audition and some of the things i will have to do during the process. For both of these pieces the skills that i want to develop and improve focusing on physicality and voice are flexibility and breath control. These are important because i want to challenge and push my physicality to extremes and both my pieces are unique and not naturalistic i will be using pace and volume consistently throughout to create a unique stylised performance. therefore breath control is vital to keep control of my voice during the performances.

Some of the exercises that I will use to help develop and improve these skills are listed bellow. I will be practicing these skills every day to help my performance.

-stretches

-yoga

-body massage

-daily vocal warmups

-Diaphragmatic Breathing

-lip trills

-simple breathing

Discuss your vision and give an overview for your project. Consider starting points such as themes, stimulus and style.  

The vision that i see with my piece involves unique performing and creativity. Something that really interested me with The Arden's piece is that i have such control over what i am doing and so much freedom with what i can do. I want to expand on accents, voice and different characters within my piece and have different characters for different lines. Im really interested in this and i feel really compelled by creating a performance that makes people question if this is one character if ts multiple people or as a whole what the performance is about. I want people to ask questions and be confused. I have been doing some research onto the mental illness DID, Dissociative identity disorder, and have decided that my Arden performance will be performed by one character, with multiple personalities. This can range from different accents, different ages, different genders and different personalities and physicality. The text that i have chosen from the arden is instructions on how to tie your shoe laces,

Cross the right lace over the left lace halfway up the laces. Take the end of the right lace and put it over the left lace.

Now poke it underneath the left lace. Hold on to the ends of the laces and pull tight. The cross should now be close to the shoe.

Take the right lace and make a small loop, or ‘bunny ear’. This bunny ear should have a long tail.

Take the left lace and make a small loop, or ‘bunny ear’. This bunny ear should also have a long tail.

Cross the middle of the right bunny ear over the middle of the left bunny ear.

Take the top of the left bunny ear and put it over the right bunny ear.

Now poke it through the hole. Put your fingers inside the ends of the bunny ears, then hold on and pull tight. You’ve now tied the loops in a knot.

The shoelaces are tied

I have an idea that for each of these lines or instructions,my personality will change and i will become someone else. At the start of each line i will be confused and question whats going on. Towards the end of the speech i will visibly start to get more and more frantic and upset. I know that this will be a challenge but i am exited to test myself.

For my LMA audition for my performance. I will be doing a monologue from the play the striker. I have actually already performed this extract before and really enjoyed being creative with it. Doing this for my personal project makes me really excited to see how i can further develop and adapt the extract even more. With this piece i really want to focus on my physicality and really push myself to levels i would otherwise be uncomfortable to go. The vision i see with this performance is to make it very unique and different to what anyone has seen before. I love the character so much and i want to really develop her and crate emotion within what she is saying. I want people to feel like she is angry, like she is in pain and hurting but also filled with rage and pure euphoria at times. The skriker is also a really good performance to do for live theatre as it is very strong and it is really good for auditioning for higher education as it is a unique performance and is very theatrical.

Identify the target audience for your piece, include research around your target audience. How will this impact the development of your piece?  

The target audience for my performance is university and drama school audition panels. I will keep them in mind bt generating material that is sutible for their requirements and needs. For example i am using their provided material from previous years to accommodate my performance and use it for my speech. This is good because it is something they have provided meaning i am staying within their guidelines and demonstrating skills that would be appropriate for their institute. To be mindful of my audience and respectful i want to make sure that there isn't any offensive or inappropriate accents or physicality that could offend others or be deemed as racially unacceptable. To make sure i do not offend or upset anyone with this i will choose accents or physicality that will be fitting for my ethnicity.Because i am focusing on theatre and live performance will tend to stay away from musical theatre monologues and focus on acting. This is good because you want to pick something that shows your talents and showcases talents that relates to the course you want to go into or that you are auditioning for. When thinking about my target audience and the guidelines given LMA, who i am basing on of my performances auditions on, i want to make sure that i am hitting all my targets including time lengths and the length of my performance. LMA say that the monologue you audition with should be at least 2 minutes long. I have to think about this during my performance because i need to make sure my performance is at least 2 minuets long and that i am following their guidelines. This means i am thinking about my target audience regarding my performance. I also recognise that one of my performances will have song effects and lighting included. Whilst this isn't traditionally used in auditions i would argue that since 2020 it is much more common to send in a self tape of you auditioning instead of going for an in person audition. I think that because of this i can add things like sound and lighting tone of my monologues because this can be done by sending in a self tape to my desired drama schools of universities. My other monologue is also acceptable to perform in person or on a self tape so i have a monologue for both options and both performances.

What were your lesson goals this week? Why were they your goal? 

My lesson goal for this week was to know my Arden monologue off script and for it to be be nearly fully developed. I wanted this to be my goal because i knew i was more unfamiliar with this monologue and wanted it to be my main priority so i could focus on getting it right and perfecting the piece. I wanted to achieve this in the first week because then i would be ahead of my schedule and have the last week to perfect and add any finishing touches to my work. I knew i needed to work on this performance first so if i struggled with it or had trouble devising something it wouldn't be at the last second and i could spend more time on it in the coming weeks if needed.

What techniques and routines did you use in sessions, and how are they related to improvement and your own interests? 

Some of the techniques and routines i applied and practiced in this weeks sessions included, flexibility and breath control exercises. This was really important because these were skills that i really needed to improve for my piece. I started off trying to improve my flexibility and follow in depth stretch and warmup exercises to improve it. I watched one of these videos a day and followed all the techniques they were showing me. This helped me not only warm up my body for the day but also slowly increase my flexibility for the whole of my personal project. I also tried breath control exercises once a day to improve my pace and control i have when performing a monologue or a scene. This was good because it helped calm me down and relax my mind before i started rehearsing and it also helped warm up my voice so i could push it during rehearsals. During this week, i also carried on videoing myself during rehearsals as i found that during my mini project this helped my so much. This technique because routine for me this week and really helped me develop and give myself criticism when rehearsing.

Have you made changes to your schedule and plans? Why? What changes have been made? 

I did actually make some changes to the schedule this week as a lot of out rehearsing time was taken away because people at collage were doing exams and we needed to come in later. This impacted my rehearsal process and made it difficult for me to practice on these days. Therefore i had less time to rehearse and practice my monologue. I also changed my arden performance monolouge idea. I decided that instead of basing my performance on people with DID i would created an AI performance based inspired by Dr who and robots. Artificial intelligence is so big these days and i wanted to create a performance that would make people think further about it. I didnt make too many changes and i think that overall i stuck to my schedule and followed all my plan and things i needed to do.

Are you following your schedule practically? Describe what you have done this week.

This week i have read over my arden monolouge and started to block on stage where the performance will be. I have also started thinking about accents and props with my performance such as handcuffs and sound effects. These are really important in the development of my project ad link it to my main target for this week which was to follow and develop my Arden piece. I have also followed all of my activities this week on my plan and made sure that im following every warmup and video correctly twice a day. I think im following my plan practically and checking back over it to see if i have anything else i need to focus on that day and session.

Have you improved on some of the skills you identified for yourself? Where can we see evidence of this in your video footage?

I feel like this week i haven't developed my skills in my performance that much as have been trying to develop them outside of the performance first. However i think that my improvement of the skill breath control is shown my my start point evidence video. You can see i apply the skill breath control at the time 1:10 when i stop myself my speaking and show that i cant talk. Then i try and continue and carry on stopping and starting. This takes good breath control because you have to go from speaking with amotion to not speaking at all. I also think my composure is developed a lot because in this video apart form explaining to the audience what is going on, i feel i don't laugh or break chanter once. This is something i really wanted to improve and am glad that over time is starting to get better. Apart from that, you cant see any of my developed skills in the video as i haven't applied them this far yet.

How have you developed? Which exercises, tasks or activities have helped? Which have not?

I think that one of the main things that has helped me this week is recording myself rehearsing and watching it back. This activity really helps me when i rehearsing anything and i feel like it always helps me change things and and improve things that need to be improved. I also think that the breath control videos and warmups really helped me this week as they helped me start of the lessons really calm and relaxed and in a good mindset which is really important. They also warmed my voice up for the performance practice.

What were your lesson goals this week? Why were they your goal? 

My lesson goal this week was to memorise and relearn the skriker script and develop the monologue with my flexibility. I have already performed this monolouge before and i have already shown it to my peers, however this time around i wanted to develop it either further and make it alot more characterised and emotional than it was before. I aldo want to push myself to far limits with my flexability and really play around with my character as the Skriker and make it more diverse and different than it already was. This week i really want to rediscover my love for the monolouge and perfect it as last time i performed it i wasnt totally happy with the result of my performance. I also wanted to get it fully finished this week as i want more time to focus on my other monolouge, shoelaces, as i am alot more unfamiliar with it and want to make sure i know it really well and am happy with it for when i perform. This is why i want to get it fully done so i have more time to focus on the one i am less familiar with.

What techniques and routines did you use in sessions, and how are they related to improvement and your own interests? 

In sessions this week, i did a few different things to try and help me develop my skills and help me when rehearsing. First of all, i made sure when rehearsing to record myself and watch the performances back to see if there was anything i could do to improve and make my piece better. This is something i try and do with all my performances as i found it really helps me discover things that would or could be very good in my performance and it also helps me see if im developing my skills well and doing at good job in the scene. This technique is really benificial to me and is part of my daily routine when rehearsing. Something else i have been doing, is watching and following breath control and flexability videos where i can warm up my body and voice so i dont hurt myself while rehearing or performing. These videos have been helping me alot and i feel like it sets me up for the session or day when i watch them. The breath control videos especially help me calm down and relax before performing and they help me focus when doing a task.

Have you made changes to your schedule and plans? Why? What changes have been made?

I have actually added to my schedule this week. I have been quite worried about completing my arden monolouge, shoelaces, and have been thinking about how its hardly developed and that i need to finish blocking it on stage and memorising the script. Therefore each day this week i have been using a session to focus on that monologue instead as im much less familar with it than the skriker one. This has been really helpful and has actual helped me progress and develop the other performance in time for the show next thursday. However, that hasnt stopped me completing all the tasks and checkmarks on my development plan that were originally set for this week. I have just been fitting them in other places and hitting these targets when i can. This is really great because it means im staying on track with both monolouges and making sure that i have both pieces ready and perfected for thursday.

Have you improved on some of the skills you identified for yourself? Where can we see evidence of this in your video footage?

I think that i have been improving the skills i identified this week and i think especially this week, i have done really well and developing them alot further. In the video above you can see the skill flexibility used alot as i have tried to incorporate it into alot of this monologue. During certain words i use, like when i say raw into raw you can see me really display my development with flexibility. You can also see the skill breath conrol being applied when i scream 'cheer up' this just one example of me using my breath control when screaming during the performance but i do use it alot as the performance is wuite vocal and loud at some parts. I really think ive improved this skill as it doesn't hurt and strain my voice when i do it anymore and i think this is a result of the exercises i have been doing. I also think my flexability have been devloped alot because before this week, i couldnt do a backbend and really struggled when moving my body in different ways. In this video you can see me use this skill alot. This doesnt hurt my body or my muscles as i make sure to warm up before every rehearsal and performance.

How have you developed? Which exercises, tasks or activities have helped? Which have not?

I think that the biggest thing that has helped me this week was defiantly recording myself and watching it back. This always really helps but this week it has in particular as it helps me look back at my work and really discover little things i can add to make the performance even better than it was before. The flexibility warmups have also really helped this week. They have helped me warm up my body and muscles when i am about to rehearse and make sure i dont strain or push my body too far. they have also been helping me gradually push my body so i can move it into weird and strange positions during the performance.

What were your lesson goals this week? Why were they your goal? 

My lesson goal this week was to have both of my monolouges fully completed, developed and finished, ready for the performance on thursday. This was my goal because at the end of the week we had out final showcase and i needed both of my monologues to be completed to show people on that day.

What techniques and routines did you use in sessions, and how are they related to improvement and your own interests? 

Like the past two weeks i have been doing and using the same routines and activities to help me develop and apply my chosen skills to my performance. The main part of my routine was to record myself after rehearsing and performing and then watch it back to see if there was anything i could add or improve on. this also helped me see if i was applying my skills well enough or if there was anything else i could do to show my chosen skills anymore in the performance. I also watched and followed videos on warming up my voice and body before rehearsing my performance. These videos were about flexibility and breath control and really helped me calm down and unwind before rehearsing so i could focus more on my tasks and not on other things around me. These three things have really become daily routines for me over the past three weeks and have really pushed my development in my chosen skills.

Have you made changes to your schedule and plans? Why? What changes have been made? 

This week my schedule has changed quite alot as i have been mostly focusing on the arden monolouge and getting it perfect for thursday. I think i spent one day this week on my skriker monolouge and the rest on my arden monolouge as i knew the skriker would be fine and i was confident in performing it. I wasnt so sure about the shoelaces monolouge through and i knew that in order for me to feel happy and confident with it i had to spend alot more time on it this week. Apart from that i have still been doing all the exercises that are in my plan and making sure that im hitting all my goals and marks i have set for the week.

Have you improved on some of the skills you identified for yourself? Where can we see evidence of this in your video footage?

I feel like my skills are fully developed this week and that i have achieved my goal for the project which was to improve my flexibility and apply breath control to my performances to help my voice during a scene. As the video above showcases my final performance, i will say few things that i have used these skills for throughout the project. With my flexibility, i use it alot during the striker monologue and its primarily used when im showing my phyicality on stage. This is used alot because i really tried to show her character with her physicallity in the performance as it helped the audience feel scared and confused when they saw her. I learned how to do a full backbend and scream at the same time. This uses both of those skills and is something that im really proud of in this performance as i wasnt sure if i was able to do it. This is shown during he line 'raw into roar' which is one of the most powerful lines in the performance. I also use my flexability when doing the arden monolouge as i struggle alot and move my body without taking a step or moving my feet from the position that they are in. Breath control is shown many times throughout both monologues and throughout the performance as a whole. In the arden monolouge i use it alot when i am trying to talk and my hand is stopping me. I pause alot and panic when i cant talk and this skill is used a throughout the second half of this performance alot. This is also used during the skriker when i project my voice and scream. There are 4-5 times during the performance where i scream and shout and the skill breath control was really useful here because it helped me control my voice and know when to stop screaming as to not strain or damage my voice but also give the right amount of energy in the scream.

How have you developed? Which exercises, tasks or activities have helped?

One of the main tasks that helped me develop was recording myself every day and looking back to see the progress that i had made. This was really important because once again it helped me look at my performance and see what could and needed to be developed and improved. this was the main help for me throughout the weeks and defiantly pushed my performance further. Along with the daily videos i was watching to improve my chosen skills. These activities helped me so much over these three weeks and i will defiantly be using them in further rehearsals and to help myself when performing in the future.

G Greek Chorus 1   

G Berkoff A   

G RK   

G workshop audition   

In lessons we talked about a few different skills that we could use and develop. One of these skills was, pace. You need pace when performing live because you will most likely be moving around a lot and doing a lot of physical work. This also means you have to be physically fit as you will always be doing face paced movements and gestures. This can get quite tiring very quickly and can cause pulled muscles and shortness of breath. This is bad because you could encounter one of these issues when you are doing a live show and then further mess up the performance. This is why controlling you pace and knowing the right pace to move at is really important. Pace can also be important when speaking. This is because you may have a monologue or a set of lines that you need to read out and you may say them very differently to how a director or teacher will have perceived them. This is when you may need to change the pace of your speaking to see a difference in the character. Pace is very important physically and vocally to support a performance. Another skill that we learned about is diction. Diction is very important because you need to be able to communicate what you are saying. This is important in theatre because the scene wont look good if your words aren't articulated and it will all mesh together and be hard to understand what you are saying. This is why you really need to have good diction so your lines can stand out and be understood. We also looked at facial expressions, facial expressions are very important because they visually tell the audience your emotion. Facial expressions, especially exaggerated facial expressions are really important and used a lot in theatre to make a scene bigger. They can also really help build character on stage and give some perceptive on how the character is really feeling. For example, they could be saying something in a happy tone but then turn the the audience and have a disgusted look on their face. This shows the audience how they are actually feeling. They can also reveal a characters inner monologue which can be extremely effective in theatre. Facial expressions also create the vibe and feeling of the scene and they are really useful for controlling the scene overall.

All of these skills that we learned are really important because they all play a really big part in theatre acting. All of these skills are essential for stage acting and can really help you progress overall in theatre and acting in general. 

1. In video 2, titled G berkoff A, you can see me applying the skill pace at the time starting 0.35 seconds and finishing at the time 5.00.

I applied this skill because berkoffs style is very over the top and shows the ugly in people making the hole scene slow was so over dramatic and really showed the audience each and every greedy expression and look in our faces. We knew that the whole scene being controlled by pace would be really effective and help the audience really see whats going on.

2. In video 2 ,titled G berkoff A, you can see me applying the skill of facial expressions at the time starting 3.54 seconds and finishing at the time 5.03.

I applied this skill because berkoffs style is very over dramatic and exaggerated meaning your facial expressions have to be massive and awful. His style is supposed to show the worst of people and really show their ugly this is what i was trying to use this skill to show the audience. Throughout these two minuets you can see that i am always over exaggerating whether i am getting ready for the race and looking disgusted or whether i am celebrating and holding my middle fingers up to the other contestants. This what i was trying to get across to the audience.

3. In video 3 ,titled G RK, you can see me applying facial the skill of expressions starting at 1.04 seconds and finishing 1.11.

I applied this skill here because in the scene the character that i was playing was getting agitated and scared about her mother. You can see in my expressions that this is what i was trying to communicate with the audience. I started speaking faster and that made my face crease up leading to me looking scared and agitated. My character was leading up to this section throughout my monologue and so i wanted my facial expressions to be really effective.

4. In video 3, titled G RK, you can also see me applying the skill of diction starting at the time 1.48 and finishing at the time 2.51.

I was applying good diction in this scene because i was trying to communicate with someone that is hard of hearing. Therefore at points i had to raise my voice and speak louder and more prominent to get it across to the person. You can see in the video that i kept going from speaking regularly to turning to my side and raising my voice to the person. This was done to show to the audience i was speaking to someone who couldn't hear me very well. Focusing on my diction here was really good because it showed the audience what i was trying to do and i think it was clear that i was speaking to someone who was hard of hearing.

Looking back at my peer feedback throughout this week, i know that there are some things i can improve or even some things that i can make more advance and expand my knowledge and skills on. In the video named G RK, i know that i could've expanded my facial expressions a lot more and that the scene had a lot more potential and space for me to develop my facial expressions. I think this was an issue for me because i was reading a script i had only just received so i was trying to focus at knowing the words and also not looking at the paper too much. This really through me off and therefore i didn't provide the facial expressions that i could've. I think that i can improve on this by giving myself a script to learn and practising different exaggerated expressions while reading it. I think just focusing on the fact my expressions should always be transparent when acting is a good way of teaching myself and i believe that practice helps you learn and progress.I also feel like this week my pace wasn't as good as it could've been. I feel like this because during video 2 when we were learning the style of Berkoff. I kept wobbling when trying to run in slow motion. This was difficult because although i already have a bad knee, I found it hard to slowly release my leg and put it down. This is something i can definitely improve with practice and teaching ,myself balance and consistency. I think i could improve this with exercises and stretches beforehand or trying to get into a routine. I also need physically therapy on my knee to try and fix this issue. I really found the balance hard in this task and it was really difficult trying to control my body like this. However i found it really interesting and it made me realise that you really do need to be physically fit to act like this and control your body so well. Something else i could defiantly improve on looking back on myself and my peer feedback is my composure. I tend to laugh or break character a lot during the rehearsal process. While i know that even though during the actual performance i don't break character, it would be really good if i could stop doing it while rehearsing. This is because it would give me more time and thought to concentrate on my physicality and expressions in a a scene. I could improve this by trying to rehearse a scene over and over until i have my composure. I also think concentrating more will work and help me focus and keep my composure.

To continue developing my skills in audition technique the city academy suggest that i read the work my audition speeches come from, do my research around the role, lean the lines, have your own opinion and the final piece of advice is to be confident, i believe my confidence will grow with experience.

Some really unique selling points about my project are how unique it is. I think that because my pieces and performances are so different from regular monologues and out of peoples comfort zone it pulls peoples attention. This is really interesting because people will be shocked and intrigued with my performance visually instead of just hearing me speak and do a monologue. Because my performance is quite visual and there is a lot going on onstage you have lots to look at and i would say that my performance is far from boring in that way. I have quite a lot of physicality during my performance so it catches peoples eye and makes people question what is happening on stage. I want my performance to stand out and different from the rest and i will do this by pushing my physical and facial expressions to the max. This will be shocking to the audience and catch their attention. Something else that is really unique about my project is that both of my performances are very different. one of them is a scripted monologue and then the second one is very original based on text provided. These are very different monologues and they contrast quite a lot so its very different and unique.

Consider and discuss the constraints you may face in the development and realization of your project? 

During the development of my project i will most likely run into some difficulties and issues that i will have to overcome. One of these is getting distracted. Because i am in a room with my peers it will most likely be quite distracting and therefore i will have to make do with what i have and try and work in the space provided. I also have to learn 2 performances without 3 weeks will will be difficult for me to do as its not that long of a time period and i know i will struggle fitting it all in.

https://youtu.be/P9fff5W6EkA

Where in the video evidence, can we see you applying your chosen performance skills?

My chosen skill for this week is facial expressions and applying them to my performances. In this performance i applied them alot and i think i developed my skill really well. Some points where i applied this skill are:

0:24-0:31

i apply the facial expression skill here when i look annoyed and agitated at what im talking about

1:07-1:16

i apply the skill facial expressions here when i am flicking through emotions in the scene

2:26-2:33

i apply the skill facial expressions here when i scream 'then ill take her' and look at the audience in an uncomfortable way

Why did you apply them? What was your intention/purpose/reasoning for applying them in this way/at this point?

I applied the skill at the time 0:24 to let the audience know that i clearly dont like the person is situation that im talking about. Im letting the audience know that i really dislike whats going on and that im really agitated and annoyed. This portrays my emotions to the audience very well and shows a good understanding of what the skill can do.

I apply the skill at the time 1:07 to show the audience that i am struggling to understand emotion and that im slowly going insane. I think that my facial expression in this scene created an eerie unsettling feeling among the audience and creates an uncomfortable environment for them to be in.

I applied the skill at the time 2:26 because i thought it would make the scene really powerful and show how strong the character is. I think that using facial expressions during this scene was vital as i was trying to once again create an uncomfortable environment for the audience and show that my character is going insane. Especially after the scream i know my facial expressions created the environment i indented to.

Using peer feedback and self-reflection, did you succeed in developing your selected skills? What are your other strengths and which skills require improvement and refinement?  

When looking at my peer feedback and self reflection i do believe that i succeeded in developing my chosen skill. My peers said that my facial expressions showed my character very clearly and showed what she was thinking about during certain scenes. They also said that i executed my scream really well and that when performing i made sure i was performing the best i could. Callum said that my performance felt like he was watching a real life theatre show and that it was very realistic and scared him when i screamed. This is good because it means the intended purpose of my skill worked and made the e audience feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. I was also told that my confidence and line learning skills were excellent and that i did fantastically at remembering my lines and portraying the character. Overall i think that i developed and showed my selected skill really well and that i managed to complete this weeks target.

I think that something i could improve on is my composure because during the performance i broke character and had to turn to the door and look away as i smirked and laughed. I know that this skill could defiantly be improved and that i need to focus on being consistent in the performance. I know that improving my composure will help my performance massively and i wont break character or ruin the eerie environment by laughing.

How can you improve and develop your identified skills long term? Include research findings to support your suggestions.

Long term, to improve my composure i know that performing Infront of more people during the rehearsal process will really help me because it means im more used to doing it Infront of people. I think that the more i get used to performing Infront of others, the more comfortable i will be and eventually i will be able to perform without smirking or laughing. I also think that something that improved my facial expressions which i will defiantly try again was recording myself when i perform. This helped my look back at the performance and see what i liked and dint like to then correct it in the next rehearsal. I really thought this method worked and i will be defiantly picking it in the future. I don't think taking pictures of my facial expressions work through because i didn't see a point in just taking pictures. I wont be using this method again because it felt pointless to me. However i will be using voice and warmup exercises because i think it really helped me warm up my voice and it defiantly increased my flexibility during the performance.

https://youtu.be/X1hjyfrb0iY - SCRIPTED DUOLOUGE 1

https://youtu.be/YGnHd6wQLtM- SCRIPTED DUOLOUGE 2

https://youtu.be/ivOWXP71ObI- BACKGROUND PERFORMANCE

https://youtu.be/XkU6eG6iQpw- SCREEN TEST

What skills did you explore/develop/identify in sessions? 

This week we were focusing on freelance and recorded performance. I selected three skills that i could improve on during this week and focus on in the mini project next week. One of these skills would be realism as i struggle, especially in recorded performance, to tone down my acting and make it less theatre performance and more tv and film acting. I struggle with this because my acting style is very overdramatised and big. This is why i think that i could defiantly improve this skill and help me develop in recorded performance. Another skill that i explored and identified in my sessions was My eyeline. I discovered during one of our activities that i could improve my eyeline during recorded performance. I found this from peer and teacher feedback and when looking back at the clips can tell that my eyeline can be developed even more. The last skill that i identified was my composure. I discovered this during the activities we were doing in class. When i am infront of a camera i tend to get anxious and laugh or break character. This is something i can develop in further sessions.

How will the above skills support you in your future goals and aspirations? 

The skills eyeline, realism and composure are really important to have as an actor. Even though i dont plan on going into recorded performance its still super important that i learn and because very good at these things because they are also very important in theatre as well. Eyeline is needed to express and show emotion and intent to the audience. Having composure helps you concentrate and also makes the performance much better because you are being consistent and staying in character. Realism is also a very important skill because you never know when you might need to tone down a performance or be asked to work a job where you have to use realism either in theatre or in the freelance world of work.

How can you improve and develop your identified skills? 

I can try and develop my eyeline by recording myself perform which has proved to be a really effective method for me before. My composure can be developed by me focusing more and getting used to being behind a camera in the future.According to backstage magazine, i should recognise my triggers. For example if there is a scene or a moment that makes me laugh i can dedicate more rehearsal time. It goes on to suggest concentrating i felt less humourless to help black myself from laughing. Lastly, my realism can be improved with practice and training to improve my recorded performance skills. I need to keep recording myself and choose monologues that maybe don't have much drama or emotion in them so i can learn to be less dramatic when im acting. I could also use a range of Stanislavsky methods which is also supported in a backstage article which suggests i should 'identify with my character'. I could achieve this through, inner monolouge, emotional memory, circle of attention.

Which activities and exercises worked/helped with your development? Which did not?  

Some activities i think worked best with developing recorded performance were the scripted duologues because it pushed me out of my comfort zone and straight into the camera. i feel like this made me really think about what skills i was using and trying to focus on at the time. However an activity that i thought didnt work so well was the background performance where the whole class was acting in the background and Paige and Georgia were talking to each other. I didnt think this worked well because i got distracted and lost my composure which meant that i didnt focus on any of my skills and this activity didnt help me develop anything.

https://youtu.be/IKL5HppECB8

Where in the video evidence, can we see you applying your chosen performance skills?

My chosen skill to develop this week was my eyeline.

In the video above you can see me apply these throughout the whole video however these are some distinct points.

0:04-0:10

In this section i am looking up and down at the person i am talking to creating a line of tension between me and the character. This also shows my eyeline with the person im talking to

0:22-0:49

In this scene i am looking around at other people in the scene. I Know that in the original monologue America is looking at all the other barbie dolls so i wont to incorporate this into my self tape. This shows good eyeline because im acknowledging the people around me.

0:39-:49

In this section i am staring straight at luca(the person im talking to) im maintaining eye contract and not getting distracted when i speak. Even when i make hand gestures i keep my contact and this shows great eyeline because im focused on the conversation im having.

Why did you apply them? What was your intention/purpose/reasoning for applying them in this way/at this point?

My intention for using the skill eyeline in these different parts was to communicate who i was talking to. I also wanted to make the scene more powerful and making sure my eyeline was kept on luca and the others around the room expressed my emotion.

Using peer feedback and self-reflection, did you succeed in developing your selected skills? What are your other strengths and which skills require improvement and refinement?  

When talking to my classmates and teacher ive gotten a few bits of feedback for my self tape;

28 seconds into the video i need to slow down my eyeline because even through im looking around at everyone i need to go slower so you can see my intention when using the skill.

Some peer feedback that i also recieved was that i paced myself really well throughout the video and that i use pace to my advantge really well. This is really good because it makes the performance really good to watch.

I made the work 'complaining' into a question and this worked really well in the performance and sounded really effective.

Overall i think that i kept my eyeline really consistent and i created a wider world in my self tape. This means i hit my goal and target for the week. I think ive developed the skill i chose really well.

How can you improve and develop your identified skills long term? Include research findings to support your suggestions.

Even though i feel like i really did develop my chosen skill this week, i feel like over time in the future there are ways i could develop it even more. I think that long term to continue to develop my skill of eye line there are a few things that i could work on or be helped with. One of these things is maybe have more people behind the camera when performing to get me used to looking and talking to different people. Even though i had luca behind the camera i still fee like i could've been speaking to more people and moving my eyeliner around effectively. Something i could also do is move my eyes slower when looking around. This could be really helpful because instead of darting my eyeline everywhere the audience could actually tell im looking at something or someone. After doing a bit more research online, the backstage website suggests things like, using emotional pictures behind camera during emotive scenes or recording yourself when practising lines so you know what you will do in the real recording. Overall i think think long term there are many ways i can improve my eye line and focus on making it look better and more effective for the audience watching.

There are many pros and cons of working in the recorded performance industry. I think that a massive positive of recorded performance is that when performing in front of a camera you can always re-do a scene or a shot that you wouldn't have been able to live. If you mess up and forget a line or forget to do something you can always re-do it and make it better. This is really good because it means you can make the scene your bets acting and perform to the best of your ability until you get it right. Voice acting also falls under recorded performance and a big pro to voice acting is that you can have the script Infront of you while you act. This can be super helpful and means you only have to familiarise yourself with the script and not properly learn it if you don't have the time, you can also dress comfy and sit down when you are acting which means you have a comfortable setting. When doing a recorded performance you can always check the script in between shots and see what your lines are if you have forgotten them. While its ideal you don't have to do this its also an option if you need to. This means you can get it right every time and not have to worry about messing up or doing something wrong during a scene. When working in recorded performance another big positive is that you can use cgi to your advantage and create a whole world around you when there isnt one. This is great because you can really get into the script and your character when you know that there is a world being shown around you. One last positive about doing recorded performance is that you act naturally and with realism. This means you don't have to be overdramatic and you can act naturalistic which is alot better for people and they enjoy it alot more than theatre acting. people find this way of acting alot easier and much more simple than other types of acting.

However there are also negative things about working in recorded performance. One of these things is that you cant just be in the moment and get it over and done with. As an actor you are always looking for things to improve on and if you do that through every scene it can be really overwhelming and take a long time.

Along with this, there is also Alot of waiting around and you have to be very patient as during auditions there is alot of time between waiting to see if you got a a role or even accsepted to the next stage and auditioning. This measn you have to be patient and learn to wait around for answers.

With recorded performance, you also have to be aware that there will be alot of repetive refilming and redoing of the scenes. This is important to know as it can be quite frustrating filming a scene over and over again until you get it right. This can make the process quite boring and make you get bored easy when filming. You also have to keep in mind that actors can reveive their script days in advance for the film which means they will have to learn lines quickly and make sure they know what the scene and episode is about before going onto set. One last negitive about recorded perfomance is that you have to respond to direction on the spot when doing a scene. Which means you might have to quickly change a line or an emotion or the way you are saying something. This is important to know because you have to be quick thinking and be able to respond to this feedback and change on the spot.

Do you want to work in the recorded performance industry? Why?

I personally want to focus more on theatre and live performance rather than working in the recorded performance industry. This is because i much prefer stage acting and being Infront of an audience. However that doesn't mean i don't want to do it at all. I am interested in working on movie sets and exploring that part of the industry in the long run. For now i will be focusing on stage acting and live theatre as that is what i feel i am strongest at and enjoy the most.

What are your future aspirations? How can you achieve your goals?

My goal is to work in the theatre and performing aspect of the industry and progress to live theatre and performing on stage. Theatre and performing is what i personally feel suits me best and what i can really progress to in the future. i also think that to further achieve this goal i just need to keep training and learning more about it. This can also be done through recorded performance as it all helps me practice and continue to learn and grow my skills within the industry.

• Which skills still need to be addressed? How will you continue to improve? Do you need to modify you schedule and rehearsal plans to help your improve skills that you listed on your development plan?  Consider including a copy of your updated schedule here.

• What have been the challenges and issues in using your development plan? 

• How have you applied your knowledge and understanding of your chosen area of the industry to the personal project?  

• How have you applied relevant skills to your personal project? 

• What are the aims and constraints of your project? 

• Are you behaving in a professional manner in sessions? What are your strengths and weaknesses in rehearsals and performance? 

• Analyse and evaluate the Start Point video footage. What can we see in the video? What was your intention behind key moments in the video? What are the strengths and areas for improvement?

Which skills still need to be addressed? How will you continue to improve? Do you need to modify you schedule and rehearsal plans to help your improve skills that you listed on your development plan?  Consider including a copy of your updated schedule here.

• What have been the challenges and issues in using your development plan? 

• How have you applied your knowledge and understanding of your chosen area of the industry to the personal project?  

• How have you applied relevant skills to your personal project? 

• What are the aims and constraints of your project? 

• Are you behaving in a professional manner in sessions? What are your strengths and weaknesses in rehearsals and performance? 

• Analyse and evaluate the Start Point video footage. What can we see in the video? What was your intention behind key moments in the video? What are the strengths and areas for improvement?

• Which skills still need to be addressed? How will you continue to improve? Do you need to modify you schedule and rehearsal plans to help your improve skills that you listed on your development plan?  Consider including a copy of your updated schedule here.

• What have been the challenges and issues in using your development plan? 

• How have you applied your knowledge and understanding of your chosen area of the industry to the personal project?  

• How have you applied relevant skills to your personal project? 

• What are the aims and constraints of your project? 

• Are you behaving in a professional manner in sessions? What are your strengths and weaknesses in rehearsals and performance?