Organization vs. Messiness

Although I am pretty organized, I find that I do have a bit of messy brain. I tend to not want to throw things away. I find myself keeping things that other people would want to throw out. Small items that seem meaningless can be special to me for whatever reason. It's the first time I did some activity and I had a funny memory about it and I'd like to keep it. Messy brains can be a good thing if you know how to use it correctly. If not, well it's not exactly helpful. Being too organized is not good too, you may get to high strung so a balance of the two is optimal.

http://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/learn-to-embrace-your-messy-brain

I Have a Foreign Accent?

Over the past few weeks, I've been told I have a British accent. Now, since I have relatives that are from the United Kingdom, I know for a fact that I have an accent. I still am not entirely sure why I have been told I have an accent but I believe it's because I pronounce every consonant clearly. I don't chop of letters or have the typical Brooklyn/Long Island accent. It doesn't bother me that people tell me I have a British accent. I simply find it funny how I could possibly have one. I don't sound the slightest bit British, in my opinion. But if it means that I have proper diction, I'll take having a "British accent."

Evil R2-D2?

A new robot created for security? A new invention was created after the shooting at Sandy Hook. This could put security guards out of work and violate people's privacy even more. But if it's more secure, is it worth it?

http://bigthink.com/1000-words/meet-r2-d2s-evil-twin-security-guard

The Harold

The Harold was a very interesting form of improv. I never considered improv to have form or rules, if you will. Having two four part sections to an improv is something I'm not used to but at the same time it was a new experience and something new that I now know how to do, somewhat. Our instructor said many acting classes spend weeks learning and practicing the Harold and we learned and practiced in about 2 hours. So, we're obviously no where near masters at it but we have the basis of what it's about. It's long. Maybe too long for what I believe improv is but I don't have anywhere near enough knowledge be the judge of that. It's a little more difficult to follow since everything is done in parts but overall, after more practice with it, we'll be able to comprehend it better.

A Cure Finally Found?

I'm not exactly the one to be interested in science, but this is truly amazing. I think this is finally the world's cure to the most deadly disease.
http://www.upworthy.com/doctors-take-a-long-shot-and-inject-modified-hiv-into-dying-girl-the-reason-why-will-amaze-you

Kiss Me Kate Closing

Hello Blogger, it's been a while.
Last weekend, Kiss Me Kate closed. They were three fantastic performances. Everything went smoothly. Of course, there were a few mistakes here there. I stuttered a few times on the first night and I switched around some lyrics, but I kept going. Lyric mistakes are only things that I will notice, the audience won't. I couldn't focus on it, I was in the middle of a song so I had to just push through. Everything felt very natural, nothing was pushed. Certain things were pushed but for a punchline to work, that's fine because it has to be done on purpose for the joke to make sense. I ad-libbed a few times for some mistakes that occurred. One night, the meal in the second scene of Act II was missing and half of that scene revolved around the food so I had to go on a tangent about how pissed off I was and then the other actors I was with joined in and kept the scene going. Sure we jumped all over the script but we kept going. The audience didn't notice it and it worked. I was extremely proud of all of us for making that work so well. Ad-libbing can be nerve wrecking but it can be a ton of fun and that was so much fun. It felt extremely natural too, which is my big focus. Being in the moment was something I struggled with because I had years of training of this "acting"that wasn't natural. I'd like to say I have made a considerable amount of progress. Overall, Kiss Me Kate was a wonderful experience and the shows went very well. Congratulations to all those that were in the production!

Myths

I find myths to be extremely interesting. Listening to two men talk about it for an hour and a half, not so interesting. Everything the two said was very insightful and true but I simply cannot engage into a film that's an interview or Q & A with monotone voices. It was pure torture especially since I like myths. The one thing that I found truly interesting was how we shouldn't merely read myths but we should experience them. That is truly powerful as anyone can read something but if you put yourself in the hero's position and imagine that's you in the same situation, suddenly everything becomes alive and it's a lot more interesting. Reading something is looking at words and not retaining them. Putting yourself inside the myth is engaging in another world and that's absolutely fascinating.

Manipulating Your Environment

I found this article on manipulating sunlight very interesting. I've always found the Earth's "relationship" with earth, for a lack of a better word, very interesting. How the poles will either get 24 hours of sunlight or 24 hours of complete darkness just baffles me.

http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/bringing-sunlight-to-windowless-rooms

Shakespeare Workshop

Today, I had a Shakespeare workshop. I learned about the invisible musical undertone of Shakespeare, how there are certain things to emphasize. You can emphasize words as you coloquialy would and it would work, but emphasizing the proper words hinted by this invisible musical undertone makes the line or sonnet much more powerful. I really loved how interactive the workshop was. Everything was very loose and the environment was very friendly. What I loved was that everyone was having fun with the Shakespeare. Sure, everyone was a bit nervous, but we all did it and took the instructor's advice well. The best part was that the instructor was having fun which allows us to feel free and have even more fun. I really hope we have this workshop again soon.

Positive vs. Negative

The media tends to focus on negative things. As do I. I'm not the most optimistic of people, I see things realistically, usually the more negative side of that reality. I wouldn't say I'm a full on pessimist though because I do have positive thoughts as well. I found this page interesting because maybe the reason myself and plenty of other people focus more on the negative side of reality is because the media, which surrounds us all at every moment, focuses on the negatives.

http://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/why-good-news-is-worth-reporting-too

The Wicker Man

After seeing both the original version of "The Wicker Man" and the remake, I can say that I did not like either of the movies. I usually find most movies that involve some blood sacrifice something along the lines of that boring and predictable. They always end in the same way. You can start watching the movie and figure out what's going to happen in the end. I feel if the movie continued with the murder mystery instead of going onto a blood sacrifice scheme, I would have enjoyed it more. Each murder mystery movie is different. The mystery is different every time so it's not predictable, for the most part. There's still something that grabs you into the conflict of the movie. I really was into the conflict towards the beginning of the movie, the parts pertaining to the murder mystery but the very second sacrifice was mentioned, I disengaged in the movie. The conflict died there for me. And so did the rest of the movie.

Kiss Me Kate Update

This past Saturday we ran through the first act. I unfortunately caught an illness called nasopharyngitis, an infection of the throat where the throat meets the nose which is essentially the inhalation/exhalation passageway. This prevents me from speaking, especially with projection, and from singing. Although I knew all my lines and lyrics, I could not speak or sing by orders of my ENT. So someone read my lines and I mouthed the words to all my lines and I was spot on. Maybe I'd miss a "to" or "from" in the Shakespeare parts but I'd consider myself pretty accurate for my first time doing Shakespeare. What was upsetting though was not everyone knew the lines. It was made very clear that by the Act I "stumble" through or run through, that everyone was to have their lines/lyrics memorized. It's very difficult to do scenes and run through them fluidly. I'm hoping this does not happen for the Act II stumble through as that will happen very close to Hell Week and by then everyone needs to know what they're doing inside and out.

Why Continue Working if You Hate Your Job?

I've always wondered why people choose to work jobs that they know they hate. This article really caught my eye as it goes into this. Why would you willingly go into something you know you find uninteresting and hate it so much that it actually damages your heath because you don't even feel like waking up in the morning? That's why I want to pursue musical theatre. I know I love it and I enjoy every minute of it.

http://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/how-can-you-stand-to-do-what-you-do

From Good Movies to Terrible Movies: The Unfortunate Revenge

For my American History class, I had to watch the movie, Recount. I have never been so bored watching a movie in my life. Now that I said that, that is likely to change but anyway, they made something boring even more boring. The movie was about the Florida recounting situation in the Presidential Election of 2000, George W. Bush running against Al Gore. It shows in depth the things that happen but the shots were boring, the tone for the most part was boring and only two of the actors were good. Kevin Spacey and Dennis Leary made the movie, ultimately saved that movie from being anymore boring. If those two were not in the movie, I would have turned off my television and just researched the topic.
I am a firm believer that the actor makes the movie. If that actors are bad, the movie was bad. But if the movie is bad (shot wise, topic wise, and many other factors), the actors can't do much but make the most of the role they're playing.

Oh, the Stress!

I found this article to be very interesting. I am always stressed about the smallest of things and I never really thought how babies would be stressed. We can communicate, they can't!

http://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/the-simple-way-to-encourage-a-growth-mindset

From Good Movies to Terrible Movies

Although slightly delayed, last week I watched a horror film called Chernobyl Diaries. I have never been more disappointed in a movie before in my life. I predicted the ending of the movie when I was half an hour through the movie. As usual, it was a zombie story! *Spoiler Alert* Everyone dies to zombies. That's the plot of nearly every single zombie movie. It's too predictable. Zombies are essentially unstoppable as there are more dead people than living so more zombies to kill than people to "kill" zombies. How do you kill the dead? They're already dead! That alone reveals the ending right from the start. Even though you don't see any zombies for a good part of the movie, you can assume; Mysterious deaths near Chernobyl's malfunctioned nuclear reactor that exploded leaving radiation for who knows how many years? Radiation=zombies. Plain and simple.
After watching the original Frankenstein series in STAC and seeing this catastrophe of a movie, it's saddening because even though the Frankenstein series was made in the late 1920s to the early 30s and their special effects was basically none at all, was scarier than Chernobyl Diaries and we have modern technology for special effects to make truly terrifying films but this was truly a disaster.

Kiss Me Kate Update

It's that time of the rehearsal schedule where to have to start memorizing lines, blocking, music, choreography, etc. for the first act. I'm really looking forward to this as once we have the scripts out of the way, we're no longer limited. We can be free acting wise and vocally too. You're able to fully engage yourself with your scene partner or fully engage in yourself, if you're singing a song alone on stage. This is where everything feels more real. Yes, you can have that feeling of something being real with a script but it's not going to be the same as without the script. Although I am slightly nervous as I have a lot to memorize, I know it will all be worth it.

A Slightly Disturbing Story

It's truly saddening that people are so absorbed in their cell phones they are not aware of their surroundings. Sometimes, awful things happen from that and this is exactly that.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/10/tech/san-francisco-shooter-phone/index.html

A Word or Two on Change

http://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/the-only-sane-response-to-change-2

This article speaks about change and journalism. I find the change aspect of it very interesting as many people fear change. I feel that sometimes, we need to embrace change for it could bring something better and more beneficial to man kind. In other cases, maybe change is not the best route but we have to at least evaluate the pros and cons of whatever the change may be.

Practicing Too Much

There is such a thing as practicing something too much. Today, I realized that and I learned it the hard way. I'm constantly singing songs from Kiss Me Kate so I make sure I know my vocals and sometimes I push myself. I sing the high notes too many times because I don't like the quality or I'm not holding it out long enough or I hiccup in the middle of the high note. Overall, pushing yourself to practice is a good thing but to a degree. You don't want to exhaust yourself. If you're already exhausted from something else, it doesn't help either. I was exhausted from merely surviving the day at Herricks High School, which is rough since we have one of the longest school days on Long Island and singing too much definitely did me no good and did absolutely nothing good to my throat. So, my throat is killing me know and I am going to take it easy.

A Note on Terrorism

Terrorism is a huge problem in society and this article addresses where the world is headed with all of these attacks. It also compares terrorism to Earthquakes which is an odd comparison as one is a natural disaster and what is simply a disaster.

http://bigthink.com/endless-innovation/why-do-terrorists-blow-up-shopping-malls

Kiss Me Kate Rehearsal Update

Today, I had my third rehearsal for Kiss Me Kate. We worked on "We Open In Venice" and the rehearsal was fantastic. We learned the song very quickly and we all had a great time while working on it. The Pit Orchestra happened to be rehearsing and happened to be practice the same song and we practiced together and it went really well. I had my doubts about it going well, but surprisingly, we were in sink and it was fun. I can't wait for the next rehearsal!

Looks May be Deceiving

http://bigthink.com/dragons-and-pandas/no-quick-fix-corruption-in-china

China may be economically doing well but the people on the other hand, are not doing as well. It goes to show you that even if a country is doing well overall, the people inside the country may still be struggling.

Kiss Me Kate Table Read

The table read went smoothly, as they usually go. I was told I did well reading the Shakespeare parts for the first time, I pronounced most of the words correctly which was a surprise to me. I have a better feel for the role of Fred Graham now as I have spoke all of the lines. Now, it's a matter of rehearsing everything, memorizing it, and having it flow naturally. I am looking forward to this show as it is an operetta and will most likely be challenge and I will hopefully learn something new!

Crowdsourcing Research

Branding: Part I http://www.nbcnews.com/science/wildfires-expected-double-2050-west-warms-8C11122981?ocid=msnhp&pos=1

Each logo is very distinct from other companies’ logos yet all the logos under Google have a very similar style so they all “Google-like.” They are all kept very simple, modern, and quirky which makes the logo appealing, recognizable, and memorable. Some logos are symbolic and some are literal. So, based on this, the STAC logo should be simple and visually appealing.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Google-Visual-Assets-Guidelines-Part-2/9084309

The icons should represent what their purpose is. For example, “liking” something would be a thumbs up, saving something would be a floppy disk, etc. This will allow the user to know what the icon is without having to scroll over it and wait for it to say what its purpose is. Ultimately, this link says that things should be easily navigable.

Branding: Part II http://www.palantir.com

“Engineering Culture”

This is very visually appealing to people, it’s colorful, friendly looking, full of pictures, both of drawings and of smiling employees so it makes you want to delve into what the program is all about and what each person does. The colors are all bright and fun. They talk about their mottos and use inspiring quotes. People aren’t exactly into reading about work but when it looks colorful, fun, and adds a hint of inspiration to keep you wondering about what life is like there, they’ll be reading.

“Life at Palantir”

They make everything sound very adventurous as they say you will make your own adventure. They describe Palantir life as very relaxed and laid back. They mention gym memberships, three luxurious meals by executive chefs, doctors, chiropractors, and showers all on the site. They mention special guest speakers for Palantir Live Night events. They don’t actually mention much about the actual JOB at Palantir. They ony mention the fun, relaxing, beneficial, interesting things. Basically whatever people want to hear/read, is there, and what they don’t, isn’t. Everything is extremely colorful, once again, the logos and texture of the page, very distinct and filled with happy faces of employees at these special relaxing events.

“What We Do”

They make their job sound like the most important one in the world. They exaggerate everything, how building their software will change the world forever, how they combat crime, stop hackers, and a bunch of other things that may or may not actually be happening. They do not mention a single negative thing they do, for one, and they make everything on this page, colorful and fun as well. It gives the effect that what they do is important, but really fun at the same time. They make everything seem really amazing and really important is the main thing I get from this page.

Crowdfunding: Part I http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/11-tips-for-crowdfunding-how-to-raise-money-from-strangers/

This website makes crowdsourcing seem very simple, easy, and fun. It gives helpful tips and out of them all, I feel knowing your target audience is the most important (besides actually pitching your idea). You can pitch your ideas all you want but if you pitch it the wrong way, no one will like it. If you’re trying to pitch something to children, it’s going to be fun, colorful, and friendly. If it’s adults you’re pitching to, it’s going to be a totally different animal. All of the other tips I feel are common sense. Pitch passionately, plan ahead, etc are things that you should know instantly but pitching appropriate to age group is something that is commonly forgotten.

http://gogetfunding.com

You don’t even have to click on a link to start feeling something on this website. The pictures and they’re little captions immediately catch you. A picture of a baby that has some disease and needs help funding an operation, an old person that needs help funding an operation, someone needs money for an abroad education program, etc. This entire page is about getting to your emotions, making you feel bad or making you feel happy and you want to help give them that happiness.

http://gogetfunding.com/project/fund-s-for-beautiful-miracle-emily

I decided to actually click on a link from the gogetfunding.com and as I predicted, was an immediate appeal to your emotions. The idea is to try to get you to feel sad or sorry for the person, and make you feel like you can do so much by donating and helping. Of course, I picked on something sadder and more serious but the other links are full of aspiring students who need an education or someone who wants to make a major movie but the point is, they make you feel powerful and that your donation will go into something productive.

Crowdfunding: Part II http://www.kickstarter.com

Colorful, full of pictures and near success kickstarter events. Each event has a picture, of course, colorful and a little caption pitching their idea. It’s not too much information so people won’t get bored, and it’s not too little that they don’t get the purpose of the event.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1835178575/the-will-of-captain-crown-a-hardboiled-pirate-comi?ref=home_spotlight

This gives you every single aspect of what your money is going into. Not a single detail of the project is left unsaid. It’s full of pictures of the project, videos of the starters and the project itself, etc. It’s essentially every way you could sell your idea all on one page.

Crowdfunding: Part III http://www.gofundme.com

I’m not very fond of this website set up. It gives you a bunch of links to click on but very little information on all of them. It tells you the project, and how many have people have raised the amount of money listed. It doesn’t make me want to click on anything. It leaves me hanging in a sense, almost as if I am going in blind, searching for a worthy cause.

Abbot and Costello "Who's on First" with Accents

For the talent show/presentation this upcoming Friday, Brian Brew and I will be preforming Abbot and Costello's "Who's on First" in a Russian accent (Brian as Abbot) and in an Italian accent (myself as Costello). We have figured out which portions of the script we would like to do as we have a small, limited time period and there are many different versions of this scene. So far, Brian and I have our accents down. Now it's a matter of letting things happen naturally and getting the script down without questioning a beat. And if you do question a beat, make sure we know the basis of that part so we can cover ourselves appropriately.

Worried about Failing? Well Worry Less!

http://www.businessinsider.com/26-successful-people-who-failed-at-first-2012-7?op=1

Here is a link to 26 stories of people who have been through many, many failures and came to be some of the most successful people ever. Never stop chasing your dreams! I'll never listen to those who say, "Be careful in the theatre business, it's too rough!" I'll always chase my dreams of becoming a Broadway actor and eventually branch into film as well.

Them Heavy People

They clear the windows that were always fogged
They guide me through glory and hell
They test my mind and break my will
We all are tempted to go through

Artist's Biography

            Andrew Greiche was born in New Hyde Park, New York on May 21^st, 1997. He lived in Fresh Meadows for three years then he moved to New Hyde Park.  Greiche first picked up acting when he was in Kindergarten when he went to Disney World, Florida with his parents where he participated in a children’s production of Beauty and the Beast as Gaston.

            Later that year, his parents, Kathy (a high school World Languages Chairperson), and Michael (an auditor), signed him up for acting classes and participated in various classes from 2002-2011. When he was seven years old, he landed his first job as Harry in Dirty Laundry which starred Loretta Divine. When he was eleven years old, he discovered his passion for singing in his elementary school production of Surviving the Applewhites: the Musical as Swami the Guru. Greiche has acted in numerous college films at NYU, New York Film Academy, and SVA. At age twelve, Greiche worked with Morgan Spurlock as Jake Williams in Spurlock’s documentary of the book Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt. Throughout Greiche’s time in Herricks Middle School and the time he’s had at Herricks High School, he’s played as Harold Hill in The Music Man, Captain Georg (George) Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls, Motel Kamzoil in Fiddler on the Roof, Lieutenant Joseph Cable in South Pacific, J. B. Biggley in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Adolfo Pirelli in Sweeney Todd. In 2013, Greiche participated in the NATS Competition (National Association of Teachers of Singing) in the lower high school division for both musical theatre and classical singing and won first place in both categories. He was also a semi finalist in the classical high school division in the Classical Singer competition that same year.

            Greiche’s philosophy for his passion is to keep trying and never give up on your dreams and he has to thank his parents for their support and encouragement throughout the years. Currently, Greiche is studying voice with Tammy Hensrud, a professor at Hofstra University and a professional opera singer. He is also studying acting with Luke Delalio at Herricks High School in a program called STAC (Student Television Arts Company) which is a multidisciplinary program for students passionate about the fine and performing arts. Greiche is also studying dance at American Theater Dance where Natalie Portman also studied dance. Greiche plans on pursuing musical theatre and film acting as a profession in the future and wishes to major in musical theatre when he goes off to college. 

Paradise Lost Scene Update

After working with the scene today, I feel like the movement we added really helps the flow of the scene and makes it more natural. I feel as if I get into the scene more when I am moving around because moving around requires you to focus more as you are doing more than one thing at a time. I feel as long as I keep working on the scene, it will continue to improve. It's getting in better and better shape.

Acting Update

I feel like my scene from the Good Woman of Setzuan is getting better. It's starting to feel more natural. I don't know how to add the drunk part in though. If I don't feel drunk, how would I act drunk? I'm not so much worried about the flow anymore because I feel like that's been figured out. It's the drunk aspect  mainly. I want to know how to fake something well and not change the natural acting part of the scene.

Monologue Update

This still needs a lot of work and probably won't be ready for STAC Night. It seems more like a work in progress as I've been focusing more on scene work as there isn't a time where I'm unable to work with my scene partners. Memorization wise, I'm alright. But acting wise, I'm not. I still have to figure out how to block the scene and how to not fake what I'm doing. A lot of what is said in the monologue seems so farfetched and something I'd never do which makes it slightly harder to relate to as when you're acting, you're using your experiences as a basis but since I've never had experience with drinking or bar fights or sneaking out of my house, it's slightly harder for me to do. So, overall I feel like this will be a larger learning experience as I've never seriously worked with a monologue before so this is like a test run. Scene work is easier now since I've done some serious work with scenes in the past year but since this is the first time I'm working on a monologue in depth, it's not as easy.

The Good Woman of Setzuan Scene

I feel like there's a lot more work that needs to be done with this scene. After trying out the scene in different ways, I feel it works a lot better for me when I act drunk. It works in the context of the play as Yang Sun is depressed, feels like a failure and wants to kill himself. The other ways I've tried to play it, mainly a sober depressed guy, it doesn't work. I don't feel any connection and it feels fake. Acting drunk adds a whole new level of something to work with and it makes the scene work better and overall a lot more fun to be in. Since it's a long scene, I'd say right now my biggest problem is knowing the order of things and since we haven't had much of a chance to work with it since I'm in a few scenes, it's still a problem. So, overall it just needs to be worked on more.

Paradise Lost Scene Update

I feel like this scene has been going well. Trying out the scene in different environments and in different styles has really helped me a lot. It's helped me learn that your environment changes the way the scene plays out and the emotions that you feel. If you're in a more serene environment, that is going to effect your mood and change the way you act. The different surroundings is going to make your react differently to certain things because there is a different place for you to move to or a different way for you to sit. Ultimately, I feel like the scene is going well. I feel like I understand the scene and it feels natural every time I go through it.

The STAC Script

I have begun writing a script. I do not have a goal for the script. By this, I mean I am writing for the sake of writing. Next to acting, singing, an dancing, writing is something I truly enjoy. I like creating another reality. I dive into a whole new world and that I lead. It feels somewhat like the role Ed Harris had in "The Truman Show" as a comparison. Right now, I haven't had much time to write in STAC since my acting major takes up most of the time so I only have roughly 5-6 pages which is nothing. It took so long to write these pages because I am writing everything with meaning. Everyone's name has a meaning behind. It's sort of like Sondheim. All the character's names have a meaning. Nothing is done for no reason.

Acting Update

I started another scene in Friday and I feel like I'm off to a good start. I found out the key moment that drives the scene for me. I let everything happen naturally. Nothing seemed unnatural or too over the top. Each time I start a new scene, I feel like it gets easier to not "act" and just be myself. I finally feel like I'm improving! 

Acting Update

I worked on a scene yesterday and I felt like it went well. I was told I needed to be more active at certain parts. Not like active as in exercise, but more "bouncing around."  My problem is I don't know how to do this without faking. Yesterday I was physically and mentally exhausted beyond belief. I could have faked the bouncing around but it would be very obvious. So all in all, I think what I'm trying to ask is if I'm supposed to act how I feel in a scene, how do I act what I'm not feeling without faking?  

STAC Trip

Last Friday, I attended a STAC Trip. I sadly had to leave early because of a rehearsal I had to attend. I was able to see the exhibits at the Guggenheim. Nothing really caught my eye at the museum. Nothing jumped out at me and said, "Wow, that's really cool!" and dragged me toward the art. The main thing that interested me was the tubes filled with colored water down the center of the museum. It jumped out of me because it's something that you don't usually see everyday. That, and it was huge and glaring at you in the face. But for some reason, it caught my eye. Some things are simply interesting and words can't quite explain why.

Acting Inquiry Update

This is a slightly delayed post. Last Thursday, I started to reflect how the skills I've learned were being applied to the new scene I was assigned. I feel like I was applying them well. Doing the scene felt very natural, nothing was too over the top and I wasn't trying to become someone. I was simply myself in the script's situation. I would like to learn more about not having this sense of character because my plan is to possibly apply an accent to when I speak but I would have a different accent which means I have a sense of character but if I'm myself, there is no character, it's just myself. That sentence confused me so it must be confusing to read which shows that this idea of character is unclear to me.

Acting Inquiry

After presenting a scene from Clifford Odett's "Golden Boy," I feel accomplished. My acting skills have improved a lot and that makes me joyful as I'm improving at what I love to do. I'd like to do something very similar to what we did in 3rd quarter and maybe branch off what we learned. I feel like I need to work more with playing with the script . I didn't do anything very daring. I could have done more with my scene. What I did wasn't awful, but it could have been more creative. So all in all, I'd like to something similar to what 3rd quarter gave us.

Acting Inquiry Update

I've made a lot of progress from the beginning of third quarter to now. When I ran through my scene from Clifford Odett's Golden Boy, I felt like a lot of it was working out. The emotions were real and I was connected to my partner and captivated in the scene. I could play around with my part more though. I was serious for most of the scene but there are different ways I could play the scene out so I have to experiment and see how things play out.

Acapella Group

It's funny how quickly we forget certain things and how quickly we can remember them again. The STAC Acapella Group had not practiced the song they preformed at STAC Live in months and after a few rehearsals and listening to our recording, it all came back. I found it interesting how we were able to remember everything we did months ago. Of course it wasn't perfect but for not practicing it for months, it was pretty good! It could have been a lot worse.

Update

I was able to apply what I learned from my Acting Inquiry today at my audition for the musical Sweeney Todd. I read for the Judge. Before I even started the scene, all of the things about beats, tactics, and the skills acquired from the repeating exercise went through my head. I let everything naturally while at the same time making character choices. I find out either today or tomorrow the part I get. I'm hoping for Sweeney Todd because he's the most interesting in my opinion but the Judge or Anthony are great parts too. Almost all of the male parts in Sweeney Todd are fun.

Quarter Four Plans

For my major area of emphasis, I'm going to focus on my film/drama acting studies. I'm more exploring the aspects of these types of acting rather than having a finished product. I envision the end result to be me having a greater knowledge of a a film/drama acting. I'm not sure if I'm working alone or collaborating. I'd prefer to collaborate as exploring new waters alone is quite dangerous. My community will be the actors that focused on the film/drama type of acting during Quarter Three. Right now, I have a smaller knowledge about a film/drama type of acting. I plan to have a greater understanding of these types of acting by the end of the quarter. The five criteria that I will be graded on for fourth quarter are (note that these are subjected to change as I have little knowledge how to grade someone's acting endeavors, this makes little to no sense to me) by following the seven point blog system, having a scene/monologue presented at the end of the quarter, having evidence of script analysis, by pondering what does and does not make sense and by updating where I am and where I hope to be.
My minor project will be writing a script that I've been hoping to write for a while. I'm writing this script because writing for leisure calms me down and helps me de-stress, which is also why writing this script will be useful for me. It will be fun because I've been meaning to write for a while and haven't had the chance to. I have no plans of this script being put up as a film this quarter as there will not be enough time because of my major area of focus.
For my biography, I plan to read about Nathan Lane. He is a very well known musical theatre actor and  I feel like I would enjoy reading about him. The following link is a link to the book's description.
http://www.amazon.com/Nathan-Lane-Handbook-Everything-about/dp/1486468969/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366076009&sr=1-1&keywords=nathan+lane I look forward to reading about him as he's part of two hilarious musicals which I'm fond of. Those two are "A Funny Thing That Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "The Producers."

Quarter Three Analysis

            I started Quarter Three with a full cup of knowledge on acting that wasn’t necessarily very advanced or professional. Most of my knowledge of acting is more musical theatre based and not so much film acting or drama acting. I want knowledge of each type of acting so I have more options open to me in the future. The more I know about the different types of acting, the better actor I will be. At the end of Quarter Three, I explored a film/drama type of acting and my skills have improved greatly. I’ve learned numerous techniques and methods to act and make it seem like real life. Acting is essentially an actual conversation but with scripted words. I have a much better sense of what film/drama type acting is.

            This journey learning how to become a better film/drama actor was not an easy one. I've learned that one of my main problems is that I'm too focused on being correct. I was not letting things happen spontaneously in a scene. I was searching for a particular way for something to be done and that simply doesn't exist. Every scene is done differently. Everyday you will bring something different to the scene. A different director may have a different view from another director. There are so many variables that there can't be one set way to do something. Part of me has always wanted to make sure I'm doing whatever I'm doing correctly and since there is no correct way of doing a scene, it made learning this film/drama type of acting very difficult for me. But I must say I’m proud of myself for sticking through all the problems and moving forward. Once I was taught how something should look, I went off and explored the lesson. I practiced a lot.

Eventually, I had a breakthrough. I started listening more closely to my scene partner. This greatly changed the way I act as it's much more like a real conversation. Acting and real life have one main difference; acting has the words all planned out and most of the time in real life you do not. The other breakthrough I felt I had is acting more like myself. I was not trying to be someone else. I was reacting as I would in the scene and bringing something to the scene rather than attempting to be something else. Of course as one problem is solved and a breakthrough has been reached, another problem opens up so the learning continues.

Going and practicing what I learned really helped. Also, pondering on my practices and what I was learning really helped. I need to analyze new things that I learn so I can remember the concept in the future. I regret being so stressed over learning these new types of acting. I stress over everything and that definitely does not change when it comes to learning new acting methods. But my dreams to pursue a career in acting inspired me to go further. Even though I find musical theatre the most fun for me, I know learning an film/drama acting will greatly benefit me in the future.

For fourth quarter, I plan to continue practicing film/drama type acting. I will most likely study another scene and analyze it for beats, objectives and tactics as I did this quarter. As I’ve said, the more you practice, the better you’ll get and I want to be the best I can be. I studied a play this quarter so maybe next quarter I’ll study more film scenes than drama scenes. I plan to make the most out of my last quarter as a high school sophomore.

Page One of Scene Analysis

Page Two of Scene Analysis

Page Three Analysis