Repeating Exercise Struggles

Today we did the repeating exercise and I was completely off on what I said yesterday. I have no idea what I'm doing. I am completely lost. I'm lost in trying to explain why I am lost. That's how confused I am and it's frustrating me. I'm told I'm close to not acting in the scene and acting like myself. I don't know what that feels like when I'm in the scene. I can't tell. If I can't tell when I get it, how will I know when I've succeeded? I'm a very organized person. I always know what I need to do get from Point A to Point B and I know when I've reached Point B. There is no Point A or Point B here. I don't know how to get there and I won't know when I do so this is why it's extremely frustrating. I expect to get more and more frustrated in the upcoming days and even though I'm close to this next breakthrough, I won't know when I do. From what it seems like, it's so simple that when I actually get it, it will feel like nothing so again I won't know I did anything. This frustrates me even more. Essentially, all of this is really frustrating.

More of the Repeating Exercise

I've learned why this exercise slowly gets more and more tedious and boring. I've finally reached that state. But even through the boredom, the exercise still helps. I continued the exercise again today with my partner and it went very well. It came very easily and I'm understanding the concept of it. We applied that to our Odets scene. We went through the scene and if we felt that our partner was either acting or simply saying the line, we repeated what they said until they got it right. I found this extremely helpful. I started to realize even more the difference between actually feeling an emotion going off that as opposed to acting an emotion. This is another major step in my film/drama acting breakthrough.

Bad Art Project

I decided to change what I'm doing for my Bad Art Project. My original idea was to cut up the Foreigner lyrics we were given and put them into a hat and use them in an Improv. The line you picked from the hat would be the only thing you could use in the improv but I wasn't feeling it would work out too well because not everyone enjoys improv. So I decided to change it to a video. The video will be me speaking in the perspective of someone video chatting with another person. I will rip off the audio so you can't hear what I'm saying and in the background, the Foreigner song will be playing. You will be able to tell whether I'm happy, sad, etc based on how I look rather than by the words I'm saying which ties my Acting Inquiry and the Bad Art Project together perfectly as this helps me learn that in a drama/film, the words are nothing but words.

Repeating Exercise

Today, I experimented with an acting exercise. It's the repeating exercise. The exercise is two people talking but they have to repeat what the other person says. After a certain amount of time, you switch what's repeated. The goal of the exercise is to always be listening and really connect with your partner. This is very useful so your acting doesn't feel fake. This is more of a drama/film technique since this exercise you really have to say what you're saying the way you feel. If you feel bored, you say it with boredom. You're not trying to hit a punchline like in musical theatre where things are bigger than a drama or film. I felt like I was getting the hang of it. Even though the exercise can get really boring and tedious, especially at the end of a long day, it's still a helpful exercise.

Acting Exercise: Conversation Roles

Yesterday's acting exercise came really easy to me. I was able to have an actual conversation with a particular role, point of view, and opinion on the topic even though I knew all the emotions people felt weren't really "real." By real, I mean a person may not actually believe in what they were saying but they actually felt angry about something and defended what they didn't believe. I found this to be a very easy exercise to do to get a feel for how film/drama acting is. The words really do not mean anything but over the course of a conversation, you start to actually feel the emotion rather than display it like in musical theatre. Although I prefer musical theatre because I find it a lot more entertaining and fun, being able to do film/drama acting is still a great tool to have.

How To Succeed: Rehearsal

Today was slightly better than yesterday. We did a whole run through of the show with a lot less stopping. There were still people who would not cooperate and stay silent backstage but that's to be expected in a high school production. There were some mistakes in scenes but the actors worked with it and continued on as if nothing happened because that's what would have to happen during the performances. Regardless, I'm still slightly nervous about the show. I'm not worried about knowing my lines or things like that; more so the show staying fluid and looking smooth. Tomorrow is our only official run through where we are timing it. I'm not used to having the official run through of the show the day before opening night. Hopefully all will go well!

The Film/Drama Acting Inquiry

Today I felt as if I had minor breakthrough in what film/drama acting is. It's not something that really stands out and shouts, "Yes, this is it!" It actually doesn't feel like you're doing anything. I said the Pledge of Allegiance in the manor of however I was feeling. It came out naturally, nothing was forced or added. It all came from me. Obviously if I was the one saying it, it came out of my mouth but that's not what I mean. I mean it came from whatever I was feeling. I wasn't trying to feel angry or feel happy. I just let the words flow out of my mouth. It may not seem like a breakthrough but knowing that is it's simply a matter of being myself makes me feel as if the Film/Drama type of acting won't be as stressful as I thought it would me.

How to Succeed: Hell Week

     It amazes me how close the show is. Today is March 5th, 2013. The show is March 8th; opening night is only three days from now. We have not yet done a full run through of the show. We are still nit picking certain things. It amazes me how some people are so oblivious as to what's going. I find it very frustrating that people are talking backstage, not paying attention, not listening to the directors, getting in the way of stage crew, and missing their queues. During hell week, rehearsals run for a very long time and it is expected that you will get hungry but it's not fair to the other members of the show to be working and having someone else sitting down eating a meal. We are all hungry so we eat a quick snack like a granola bar or something along the lines but to be ordering out is simply rude, especially when people miss their queues because of meals. 

     Time is one of my fears. There never seems to be enough time. People go through life as if they have all the time in the world but you have a finite amount of time. We have two more rehearsals to make this show the best it can be. It's not a lot of time and it's astounding how people do not realize this. We've worked months preparing to present this show to the public and it's just around the corner now. It feels like this is taken too lightly. We have to get our acts together to put this show together. Of course it will all work out in the end like all high school productions do, but we don't want it to be a typical high school production; we want it to stand out and be utterly speechless. 

The Block Caused by Being Sick

I felt so terrible and so sick today, words cannot even explain. I didn't want to do anything. All I wanted to do was go home and do nothing. Honestly, I had no passion for the things I most enjoyed. I've noticed that your emotions really play into what you want to do. If you're in a good mood, you're going to want to do the things you love. But, if you are sick and tired or overall not feeling well, you don't want to do anything. It's disappointing because I really wanted to participate in the Improv today but I felt so sick. Feeling lightheaded, nauseous, and suffering from sleep deprivation completely changed my actions. I know that seems obvious but some don't really recognize how your emotions or health affects them. You can't control your emotions and you certainly can't control whether you feel sick or not. So, all in all, being sick ruined my day. Being sick makes everyone grouchy and upset so I'm not too surprised.

 

How to Succeed

How to Succeed is pulling together! We are having our tech rehearsal tomorrow. We have come a long way and the show is going to be fantastic. Of course, there are some things that need to be fixed but that is to be expected during hell week. I have an exact idea of who my character is and I feel fully prepared for this show. This has been a fantastic experience for me. What lies ahead is the timing of the show so I can figure out how long I have for my costume changes. I'm really excited for this show!