TV/ Drama by Kennedy May Gardiner

Audition Process

x_xkennedyx_x — 2018-04-29 12:01:04 UTC

When wanting to be into acting on television there is of course an audition process, actors need to be able to portray certain characters as close to the directors vision as possible. Therefore as part of our TV drama course we had to audition for roles in a number of different dramas created by film students. A week prior to the audition we got sent the scripts by email, altogether there were 4 scripts;
Loss
Dangerous Affections
Smile
Tension
We were to read through the scripts and pick out characters we would like to audition for.
The character I chose was the lead 'Sherrie' in the script, Tension. She was described as a young smiley, naïve character. I made sure I read through the script so I was prepared for the audition in the precaution they might ask me questions about my character.
As audition day arrived we were to wait in the waiting area, we all got asked who wanted which parts so the director knew where to put all the applicants. We then started with the actors who wanted to be in Tension, we were asked to read certain scene's from the script with our opposing character for me this was the character 'Jim', the audition was very short, this surprised me. As a performer who usually partakes in auditions for theatre plays and musicals where the audition process can be very long and intimidating, for example, you have to stand and introduce yourself followed by a song you have learnt, a monologue from the play your auditioning for or sometimes both, there is then call back procedures were you will act out with other character and act out characters lines you may never have dreamed of auditioning for. However as for the TV audition it was very smooth and quick, we read a few lines and acted a scene in front of a camera, we then talked about the drama with the directors and talked of our experiences which then completed the audition. A week later an email was received revealing the cast list the role I had received was Sherrie in Tension the part of original choice. Happy with the outcome the lines began to be learnt ready for the filming date.

What is TV Drama

x_xkennedyx_x — 2018-04-29 12:01:20 UTC

TV drama, is usually a televised genre of narrative fiction, this can be filmed as a movie or a series, a series is when there are a number of episodes aired on television usually once a week, each episode will be left on a cliff hanger to leave the audience excited for the following episode. Television drama has specific technical techniques used in order to portray a certain story (Burch, 1973). There are many forms of TV drama, such as crime and horror ranging to your typical romance and comedies.
Filming for Television started with the BBC who screened their first television drama production which was a adaptation of the Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello's short play 'The Man With the Flower in His Mouth.' This drama was first aired July 14th 1930 (Jason, 2000). The importance of TV drama's is to portray a from of realism, programmes and movies on TV especially nowadays are extremely realistic, they are shot in real environments, such as towns, pubs, shops, homes, streets anywhere you go about your daily life TV drama film in those locations. (Anon, n.d.) quotes;

     "Realism is what we expect to be the basis of any fiction... Art must replicate life in some form."

Viewers get hooked on programmes and movies because of how close to reality they are, the audience can connect to the drama emotionally as it may be a topic that affects them on a personal level, although it is close to reality its also a great escape from reality (Anon, n.d.).

Screen vs. Stage:

x_xkennedyx_x — 2018-04-29 12:01:35 UTC

1. Facial Expressions and Physical gestures;

One of the main difference's between acting on stage in a play or musical to acting in front of the camera for the TV, is the location of the audience. In a theatre, the stage tends to be a fair distance away from the audience. The actors need to emphasize their facial expressions and gestures so every single audience member can see their movements, this is very important as it shows the emotion and clearly shows the storyline of the show (The Theatrefolk Blog, 2018). For example an actor cannot physically show emotion with just a simple little tear when performing on a stage, this is were the contrast to acting on TV appears. If you were to act an emotional scene for a TV drama there would not likely to be any audience members other then the directors and the team involved in filming. You would also have camera's filming all around at different angles, they can zoom in and out and catch every single expression right down to one single tear drop. Because of this close-up perspective when acting on film actors must really minimalize expressions and gestures as you would not want it to appear over the top as this would take away any realism the script holds (The Theatrefolk Blog, 2018).

2. Dialogue & Volume

When performing in theatre, all shows are live meaning actors have one chance and getting it right, meaning no forgetting lines, your voice needs to be looked after so its clear and strong (The Theatrefolk Blog, 2018).

However when acting for the screen actors have multiple opportunity to give it another try, you can retake a scene as many times as possible until everybody involved is happy to move on. This however can also be extremely tiring, with constant cuts and re-do's to film from a different angle or to change the way of acting the scene and deal with technical issues it can become a very long process.

3. Preparation and Performance

When involved in theatre, stage actors have lots of preparation involved before the show, including all the rehearsal process, the development of their characters' personality traits and quirks, they also have to spend lots of time memorising every single line as they can not afford to be unsure of their lines during a performance (The Theatrefolk Blog, 2018), forgetting lines does not just mess up yourself but can also mess up the person acting alongside you as they would be waiting on a certain cue to come in with their line and also people backstage waiting on a certain line to be on stage on time. With theatre there is many things that could possible go wrong such as forgetting certain props, technical problems, missed cue's, sickness or wardrobe malfunctions. Whatever the problem may be the show must go on, you have audience members sat waiting for a show they have paid for, they mustn't know of any problems you are faced with (The Theatrefolk Blog, 2018).

In film however performances do not flow from one scene into the next there is continuously stops and starts giving actors time to refer to their scripts. A disadvantage to TV filming preparation is they are given little rehearsal time, unlike theatre you don't have rehearsals with the cast every week, you have to try learn your lines on your own, you don't get to run through them until your all on set together, which is usually filming day, this could also be hard for actors who have intimate scene's, in theatre at least you have the rehearsal process to get to know each other and become comfortable working with one and other, because when filming you could all come from totally different areas this means you don't meet up till the day of filming which could make things slightly more daunting and awkward.

4. financial differences

One of the main differences between TV acting & Theatre acting is the pay.

"This huge pay gap exists not because of the difference in their work ethics but because more people watch movies than plays." (Anon, 2018)

Theatre holds a natural disadvantage because you can only show so many people a live performance. Movies, for example are everlasting. Not forgetting the money they make from DVD sales and cinema tickets.

(Singh, 2018) has statistics to show what a west end performer would earn;

"Equity minimum rates for West End actors, singers and chorus members currently range from £518-£633 per week, depending on the number of seats in the venue."

(Anon. 2018), Shows what Movie stars can make;
Actors such as Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, are paid 15million for a movie which is not accounting for the percentage in profit.
For just one movie;
"DiCaprio made over 50 million dollars for Inception," (Anon, 2018).

Filming day in the Green Room

x_xkennedyx_x — 2018-04-29 12:02:20 UTC

How did the filming go?

x_xkennedyx_x — 2018-04-29 12:02:43 UTC

The filming process on a whole for Tension went extremely well, we were in the studio for 3 hours which is very good going. We had a variety of stops and starts (which to our benefit gave us chance to check our scripts) with only slight hiccups along the way but nothing a group discussion and some ideas couldn't solve. As a group we all worked extremely well together and got on great, we all took direction well and hopefully performed the way just as the director had envisioned his piece to be portrayed.
I was overall happy with the experience of being able to act in front of the camera which is a brand new change to someone who is trained and so used to performing on stage in a theatre production. If I were to do filming again in the future I would take even more time on learning my script this way the whole production would run smoother and quicker. I would have liked to have been able to act some scenes in real environments to get an even better feel of the acting for a drama experience.

References;

x_xkennedyx_x — 2018-04-29 12:03:47 UTC

Anon, (n.d.). Realism - All The Tropes. [online] Available at: https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Realism [Accessed 2018].

Anon, (2018). [online] Available at: https://www.quora.com/Why-are-theatre-actors-paid-lesser-than-movie-actors [Accessed 29 Apr. 2018].

Singh, A. (2018). West End performers ask for pay rise after record year. [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-news/11018664/West-End-performers-ask-for-pay-rise-after-record-year.html [Accessed 29 Apr. 2018].

Darling-Wolf, F., Gates, K., Mayer, V., Mazzarella, S., Nerone, J., Parameswaran, R., Scharrer, E. and Valdivia, A. (n.d.). The international encyclopedia of media studies.

Nelson, R. (1997). T.V. drama in transition. Basingstoke: Macmillan.

The Theatrefolk Blog. (2018). Stage vs. Screen: A Comparison of Acting Techniques. [online] Available at: https://www.theatrefolk.com/blog/stage-vs-screen-a-comparison-of-acting-techniques/ [Accessed 29 Apr. 2018].

Uktheatre.org. (2018). Rates of Pay & Agreements - UK Theatre. [online] Available at: https://uktheatre.org/theatre-industry/rates-of-pay/ [Accessed 29 Apr. 2018].

x_xkennedyx_x — 2018-04-29 14:21:44 UTC

Photo shows, me as the character Sherrie and Luke as Jim getting notes from our director.

x_xkennedyx_x — 2018-04-29 14:22:14 UTC