Research:

• The anatomy of the voice: Vocal Tract and Vocal Folds

• Breathing Techniques

• The Alexander Technique

Practitioners to research:

• Kristin Linklater

• Cicely Berry & Shakespearian Acting

• Patsy Rodenburg

Other research:

• Shakespeare

TITLE THE MEDIA WITH THE DATE AND WHAT THE EXERCISE IS. This will help link to your voice diary section.

Title each entry with the date.

Include;

• What you have learnt in the session

• Techniques that you will be applying to future acting work

• Feedback you are given

• What your Strengths and Weaknesses were in the session

• Any independant study/research you are tasked to complete

• I have an accent that is a mix between Irish, English and Australian, making it quite unique.

• I have gotten better at conveying different emotions when acting.

• I have a wide range but I am particularly good at lower ranges.

  
  

Weaknesses:

• I do struggle with accents other than my own, such as American or standard English.

• Sometimes I talk too quickly or quietly, and so the audience can't understand me.

  
  

Opportunities:

• Opportunities in voice-over work in advertisements.

• Potential to do animation, video games, and audiobooks.

• Further vocal training to enhance range and versatility.

  
  

Threats:

• Risk of vocal cord damage or other health issues affecting the voice.

• High competition in the industry leading to less role opportunities.

• Risk of being typecast into specific roles based on voice type.

• AI in the future could lead to less need for human voice actors.

• HNC INDEPENDANT STUDY:  

• In addition to watching the videos already in Vocal Anatomy column, do further research that will help you understand the anatomy of the voice when leading your Vocal Development Programme. Add all your findings and notes to Vocal Anatomy section, and include anything you want to write about in your Vocal Development Programme.

BOTH LEVEL 3 & HNC:

• Research The Alexander Technique: Where did it originate? What are the benefits? How will practicing the spinal rest position ‘semi-supine’ help you with your performances?

You should draw from your own research of methods, practitioners, and anatomy to create your exercises in your programme.

You should be able to lead the programme confidently, with the knowledge that all your exercises are going to help with Vocal Progression for students. You should have great knowledge of the voice, and WHY you are doing each exercise... students WILL ASK YOU QUESTIONS!

Part 1:

• Relax & Breathing work

• Stretch and Posture

• Releasing Tension

• Lip Trills, Sirens

Part 2:

• Projection

• Articulation & Diction

• Inflection & Intonation

• 
  

A strength of mine during our lesson, was that I used pauses well and spoke at a good pace throughout the monologue. I did this because I was trying to do RP which meant I was more conscious of the speed I was talking and how I was saying the words. I did struggle with my voice actually sounding the RP, and it didn't really come out well, but I will make sure to practice the accent weekly until it becomes natural.

My tasks for this week, are to add photos of my feedback and the monologue we did, to the practical skills section, and to finish my SWOT analysis and goals for this term.

A strength of mine from today was that I was very good at controlling my breath and breathing out for a extended period of time. This means my speech will be more fluid and less breathy. Something I struggled with today was the tongue twisters, espe3cially the ones where your tongue touches the back of your throat a lot. This is something I will get better at with practise over time.

This week, we have been set the tasks of researching the Alexander and semi-supine techniques.

People usually attend 1-1 lessons with someone who can guide you and help to align your body better. You usually have around 20 lessons, one a week.

F.M Alexander developed this movement technique in the early 20th century. He combined vocal clarity and body movement. Author Kelly McEvenue wrote a book called ‘In the actor and the Alexander Technique’ in which she explains how actors can use this technique to be more natural on stage. She includes warm ups and exercises, such as balancing, spacial awareness and ‘centre’ exercises. Productions that have included this technique, include the musical version of ‘The Lion King’.

Semi-supine is a position where you lie on your back with your knees bent and hand on your stomach. You have to consciously think about breathing in and out through your diaphragm. Breath in for 4 and out for 8, in for 5 and out for 10, in for 6 and out for 12 ect. While doing this, you must clear your mind and feeling your surroundings and notice all that is around you. This technique is very grounding, and helps to clear the mind. It is helpful for actors because doing just 15 minutes can help to get into character and change your mindset.

I will use this technique when acting, by researching and thinking about how my character would stand, walk and sit. I will think about each part of my body and how to align it in the right way to make my character believable.

• The Complete Guide to the alexander technique (no date) The Complete Guide to the Alexander Technique. Available at: https://alexandertechnique.com/ (Accessed: 26 September 2024).

• (No date) NHS choices. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/alexander-technique/ (Accessed: 26 September 2024).

• (No date a) Google books. Available at: https://books.google.com/ (Accessed: 26 September 2024).

• Semi-supine (no date) Semi-Supine | The Definitive Guide to the Alexander Technique. Available at: https://alexandertechnique.co.uk/learning-it/semi-supine (Accessed: 26 September 2024).

  
  

I had some peer feedback today and was told that my tongue twisters were very creative and tricky to do, but with practice they can improve fricative sounds.

Strengths

A strength of mine from today was that I have discovered I am better at ‘th’ sounds. I can do those sounds easily compared to others.

A weakness of mine from today was that I struggled quickly moving between the ‘ss’ and ‘sh’ sound. I’m not sure if it’s because of my accent, but I plan on practicing all the tongue twisters that I have learned so far.

I will practise the tongue twisters and diaphragmatic breathing again this following week, which will help to improve my voices capabilities.

During our lesson we went through a vocal warmup, then did semi-supine, to relax our bodies and regulate breathing. We then did some tongue twisters and worked through poems. Some feedback I was given today, was to make sure that I pronounce every word and consonant properly. I also need to make sure that I slow down when saying difficult tongue twisters, so that I don't mess up the words and phrasings.

A strength of mine from today was that I made sur to warm up my voice at the start of the lesson. This meant that I didn't strain my voice while talking, and then it had a full range of motion. A weakness of mine today, was that I struggled with pronouncing words in RP. I will work on my RP this week, and hopefully will improve on it by next lesson.

One of these techniques was the use of rising or falling at the end of a sentence, which could either make it a question or a statement. I got some peer feedback that I tend to perform to myself and I need to make the audience feel more involved.

A strength of mine from today was that I had good breath control and I had a good pace. I knew when to speed up or slow down my words to suit that moment in the scene. Something I need to work on is my focus and projection. I was looking at the floor a lot, which ment I forgot to project my voice. To work on this, I plan on finding a spot in the room before i perform, and making sure I look at it when appropriate.