Unit 9 - Burn Evaluation
When we were first handed the script for Burn I was slightly displeased as I thought it was quite easy and would've rather been handed something more difficult. After reading through it I then looked online for a video of it being performed in a theater to see how it was performed live. This then allowed me to gain a better understanding of the characters and how the actors thought they should be portrayed, this would then help me and give me more ideas for when I tried my interpretation of the characters. I was immediately drawn to the character of Birdman as it was clear he was the lead role and I wanted to challenge myself as best as possible and due to the script I was given I knew the best way to do that would be to choose the main character. It would also mean that I would better myself with the ability to perform lead roles effectively and in an interesting way.
Over the weeks of rehearsal it was quite clear that some of the people were not as prepared for a full script and not dedicated enough for their roles. As well as consistently being late or not turning up, people were not able to learn their lines which made it difficult for myself and other actors to pick up on their cues which would then lead to scenes having to be re-run multiple times. This meant a lot of time was wasted on the actors that did not really care as much as others, I think this was quite clear because on the actual day of the performance actors broke character and could not remember lines. Aside from that there were other things that drew the attention of the audience away from the acting such as a baby crying, a phone going off and general chatter from behind the curtains.
The performance could've been much better if the actors in our class were more dedicated to their roles and took the production more seriously, this would've meant that we could've spent more time making the scenes better rather than spending lesson time helping less dedicated people learn their lines which was meant to be done in their own time anyway. It could've also had been better if people played their production roles more effectively, for example the lack of communication with the Costume department meant that people had no idea what to wear and had to end up either bringing in their own clothes or using whatever was left in the costume room after actors chose their outfits. I feel like the hair and make-up was done very effectively as they managed to transform every actor into their roles in such a short amount of time, which was even more impressive as our teacher failed to order most of the products they requested so they had to make do with what they had.
Although this play did not agree with my personal preference it was somewhat decent. The skill of the dedicated actors meant that the improvisation when lines were lost was better than if people had actually remembered their lines, it was clear that the audience enjoyed it as there was a lot of laughing throughout the performance and everybody clapped at the end and upon exiting the theater audience members kept coming up to myself and other actors to congratulate us on the show.
Monday, 26 June 2017
Friday, 23 June 2017
UAL Level 2 Week 33
Monday 19th June
At the start of the lesson we had to watch our performance back from last Friday so that we could write an evaluation for it on what we thought worked well, what could've worked better and how to improve in the future. We also had time to work on our blogs so that they would be finished and up to date.
The lesson was then cut short due to A/C failure.
Tuesday 20th June
Continuing on from the previous day we continued working on getting our blogs up to date mostly focusing on the most recent unit we worked on, Unit 9. We did this for the whole day which is useful as it is allocated time to actually work on blog which is useful as towards the show I spent most of my time practising and rehearsing my role as Birdman.
Wednesday (No Lesson)
Thursday 22nd June
We spent all of the time in college working on our blogs so that they would be ready for the examiner on the 30th.
Friday 23rd June
Spent all of this time working on our blogs in order to get them complete for when the examiner looks at them to grade us.
Monday 19th June
At the start of the lesson we had to watch our performance back from last Friday so that we could write an evaluation for it on what we thought worked well, what could've worked better and how to improve in the future. We also had time to work on our blogs so that they would be finished and up to date.
The lesson was then cut short due to A/C failure.
Tuesday 20th June
Continuing on from the previous day we continued working on getting our blogs up to date mostly focusing on the most recent unit we worked on, Unit 9. We did this for the whole day which is useful as it is allocated time to actually work on blog which is useful as towards the show I spent most of my time practising and rehearsing my role as Birdman.
Wednesday (No Lesson)
Thursday 22nd June
We spent all of the time in college working on our blogs so that they would be ready for the examiner on the 30th.
Friday 23rd June
Spent all of this time working on our blogs in order to get them complete for when the examiner looks at them to grade us.
Thursday, 22 June 2017
UAL Level 2 Week 32
During this week spent all of our time in the theater working on our Burn production using lighting and sound, costume, hair and make-up and props all to make our show as best as possible and be as prepared as we could for the final performance Friday.
Monday 12th June
On this day we painted the floor of the theater completely black so that it would look as best as possible for the show. We then practiced monologues and scenes whilst we were waiting for the paint to dry. After that we then got familiar with the layout of the rooms backstage such as the dressing rooms, costume room and props store room. Once we were done with all of that we were allowed to go home but were reminded the importance of coming in tomorrow as we would be doing the tech rehearsal.
Tuesday 13th June
Today we did the tech rehearsal which was everything from lighting changes and sounds changes to scene transitions and set layout. This was the most important thing as thus would be when everyone needed their cues to line up with the lighting and sound changes meaning that everybody needed to be present. This was let down as a few actors did not bother to show up which would mean that we would have to spend time later in the week filling people in rather than working on the things we need to do at that point in time. When we were done with all of the tech run through we were allowed to go home.
Wednesday 14th June
Run throughs of certain scenes, some time was wasted by characters getting into costume and doing their make-up even when it was not required of them. Once all scenes had been practiced one by one we then did a full run through with all of the cues we had gotten from the tech rehearsal on the day before. We then got feedback from the teacher on ways to improve with the cues and lighting, for example rather than at the beginning standing in the dark it better for me to stand in the light to make myself the center of attention. Once we had finished with the run through and were given all of the feedback on ways to improve movements and make things better we were then allowed to go home but were told to bring in interpretation for idea for character costumes for the dress rehearsal the next day.
Thursday 15th June
Today we did the dress rehearsal with every actor in their character's costume and the lighting and props all in accordance to the scenes that they were required in. This was like the actual performance so everyone was focused and in role and fully prepared to perform it. When everyone had their hair and make-up and costume on it was the best run through we had done, I think this is because everyone wanted to do better as it felt more like the real thing. Once again after the run throughs we were allowed to go home after we had been given the feedback from our teacher.
Friday 16th June
Today was the day that we actually had to perform Burn, we did one performance for the college staff and students at 2pm and then later would then have to perform it at 7pm for parents and other people who would pay to come in to watch. Before the show I saw that a lot of poeple were nervous so I tried as best as I could to help them with anything that they needed, for example small line reading activities and warm-ups to get more focused and relaxed. Once we had started everyone got focused and the both performances ended very well with good feedback from both audiences.
During this week spent all of our time in the theater working on our Burn production using lighting and sound, costume, hair and make-up and props all to make our show as best as possible and be as prepared as we could for the final performance Friday.
Monday 12th June
On this day we painted the floor of the theater completely black so that it would look as best as possible for the show. We then practiced monologues and scenes whilst we were waiting for the paint to dry. After that we then got familiar with the layout of the rooms backstage such as the dressing rooms, costume room and props store room. Once we were done with all of that we were allowed to go home but were reminded the importance of coming in tomorrow as we would be doing the tech rehearsal.
Tuesday 13th June
Today we did the tech rehearsal which was everything from lighting changes and sounds changes to scene transitions and set layout. This was the most important thing as thus would be when everyone needed their cues to line up with the lighting and sound changes meaning that everybody needed to be present. This was let down as a few actors did not bother to show up which would mean that we would have to spend time later in the week filling people in rather than working on the things we need to do at that point in time. When we were done with all of the tech run through we were allowed to go home.
Wednesday 14th June
Run throughs of certain scenes, some time was wasted by characters getting into costume and doing their make-up even when it was not required of them. Once all scenes had been practiced one by one we then did a full run through with all of the cues we had gotten from the tech rehearsal on the day before. We then got feedback from the teacher on ways to improve with the cues and lighting, for example rather than at the beginning standing in the dark it better for me to stand in the light to make myself the center of attention. Once we had finished with the run through and were given all of the feedback on ways to improve movements and make things better we were then allowed to go home but were told to bring in interpretation for idea for character costumes for the dress rehearsal the next day.
Thursday 15th June
Today we did the dress rehearsal with every actor in their character's costume and the lighting and props all in accordance to the scenes that they were required in. This was like the actual performance so everyone was focused and in role and fully prepared to perform it. When everyone had their hair and make-up and costume on it was the best run through we had done, I think this is because everyone wanted to do better as it felt more like the real thing. Once again after the run throughs we were allowed to go home after we had been given the feedback from our teacher.
Friday 16th June
Today was the day that we actually had to perform Burn, we did one performance for the college staff and students at 2pm and then later would then have to perform it at 7pm for parents and other people who would pay to come in to watch. Before the show I saw that a lot of poeple were nervous so I tried as best as I could to help them with anything that they needed, for example small line reading activities and warm-ups to get more focused and relaxed. Once we had started everyone got focused and the both performances ended very well with good feedback from both audiences.
Wednesday, 21 June 2017
UAL Level 2 Week 31
Monday 5th June
Blog Session:
I spent all of this time going over my script, testing myself to make sure that I knew all of my lines which is what I had been practicing for weeks for.
Acting Lesson:
This was the first lesson in which we started to use the show props for rehearsal, this was good as it allowed actors to practice with the things they would be using with their character, for example we got a small orange fish to practice 8 with which helped actors more rather than having to mime it as actors had difficulty with.
Tuesday 6th June
Acting Lesson:
Like yesterday we spent our time working with the props and changing the layout to see what would work better in accordance to that scene, for example we tried moving the riverbank around but decided that it would be best if it just stayed on the left side. Certain actors also had to practice catching the fish and passing it around as they had difficulty doing it while we were running the scene, this was wasting times instead of rehearsing actors had to practice throwing a prop fish around.
Movement Lesson:
In this movement lesson we spent time helping actors practice catching the fish rather than spending time running scenes. After spending a considerable amount of time throwing a prop around we moved onto actually rehearsing the scenes that needed to be practiced like the ensemble scenes still as we do not have it locked down even though its such a short time to the performance. We then rehearsed until the end of the lesson to try to fine-tune the physical movements to make it more life-like.
Production Lesson:
Wednesday (No Lesson)
Thursday 8th June
Friday 9th June
Monday 5th June
Blog Session:
I spent all of this time going over my script, testing myself to make sure that I knew all of my lines which is what I had been practicing for weeks for.
Acting Lesson:
This was the first lesson in which we started to use the show props for rehearsal, this was good as it allowed actors to practice with the things they would be using with their character, for example we got a small orange fish to practice 8 with which helped actors more rather than having to mime it as actors had difficulty with.
Tuesday 6th June
Acting Lesson:
Like yesterday we spent our time working with the props and changing the layout to see what would work better in accordance to that scene, for example we tried moving the riverbank around but decided that it would be best if it just stayed on the left side. Certain actors also had to practice catching the fish and passing it around as they had difficulty doing it while we were running the scene, this was wasting times instead of rehearsing actors had to practice throwing a prop fish around.
Movement Lesson:
In this movement lesson we spent time helping actors practice catching the fish rather than spending time running scenes. After spending a considerable amount of time throwing a prop around we moved onto actually rehearsing the scenes that needed to be practiced like the ensemble scenes still as we do not have it locked down even though its such a short time to the performance. We then rehearsed until the end of the lesson to try to fine-tune the physical movements to make it more life-like.
Production Lesson:
Wednesday (No Lesson)
Thursday 8th June
Friday 9th June
Tuesday, 20 June 2017
UAL Level 2 Week 30
Monday 29th May
Blog Session:
Spent this time updating our blogs on the most recent work I had done in class.
(No Acting Lessson)
Tuesday 30th May
Acting Lesson:
Our regular teacher was absent today which meant that a woman training to be an acting teacher oversaw our lesson, this was useful as it was a new person coming in to give ideas on how they thought it could be improved as an outside perspective is always good to have. Unfortunately this was let down due to a lack of people turning up for the lesson which meant that present actors either had to fill in or line read for actors that were not present. This also meant that we could not practice scenes 8 & 10 which was the main focus of what that time was supposed to be used for. Even though more actors showed up later into the lesson they were not focused which meantthat they did not work as much and the work that they did do had little effort put in. Overall this lesson was a waste of time due to the lack of dedication and focus from some of the other actors in the class.
Movement Lesson:
In this movement lesson we spent the time trying to imrpove the physical side of the performance, for example the movements and body expressions used by the charcaters, for example Sal (palyed by Carla) is 9 years old so we spent time thinking of ways to get her to stand and move about in that character role, we did this for as many people as we could until the end of the lesson.
Production Lesson:
To begin with we had another Production Manager meeting around the table and to make it fun I thought it would be a good idea to play a few games of Hangman which got eveyone engaged, focused and ready for the lesson. Ater we were done playing games I asked everyone for more of their work that they wer supposed to have updated, only a few people gave me their updated ideas and I told the rest of the people that if they did not put the effort in now then further dow nthe line there won't be tiem to change anything so it would be best to give it to me as soon as possible. After this I worked more as Manager and walked around offering help as best as I could.
Wednesday (No Lesson)
Thursday 1st June
Acting Lesson:
In this lesson we had to work on scenes 8 and 10 due to the failure of peole attedning and being dedicated for the allocated time on Tuesday. This meant more time wasted practicng scenes that should've been perfected weeks ago rather than spending time fine tuning the whole performance. The main concern is that a majority of the actors in the class still do not know their lines and it is getting clsoe to when we actually have to perform it.
Friday 2nd June
Acting Lesson:
We tried to do a full run through off all the scenes without using a script but this did not work as many people did not spend their time learning their lines, this meant that we were still behind as people were not supposed to have a script at all. The lesson instead was spent with call-outs missed cues and lack of dedication again. I feel at this stage that then performance will not end to going well if the other actors do not spend their free time working on their scripts. We then did practiced scenes that were not as strong as the other for example yet again the ensemble scenes, scene 8 and 10.
Monday 29th May
Blog Session:
Spent this time updating our blogs on the most recent work I had done in class.
(No Acting Lessson)
Tuesday 30th May
Acting Lesson:
Our regular teacher was absent today which meant that a woman training to be an acting teacher oversaw our lesson, this was useful as it was a new person coming in to give ideas on how they thought it could be improved as an outside perspective is always good to have. Unfortunately this was let down due to a lack of people turning up for the lesson which meant that present actors either had to fill in or line read for actors that were not present. This also meant that we could not practice scenes 8 & 10 which was the main focus of what that time was supposed to be used for. Even though more actors showed up later into the lesson they were not focused which meantthat they did not work as much and the work that they did do had little effort put in. Overall this lesson was a waste of time due to the lack of dedication and focus from some of the other actors in the class.
Movement Lesson:
In this movement lesson we spent the time trying to imrpove the physical side of the performance, for example the movements and body expressions used by the charcaters, for example Sal (palyed by Carla) is 9 years old so we spent time thinking of ways to get her to stand and move about in that character role, we did this for as many people as we could until the end of the lesson.
Production Lesson:
To begin with we had another Production Manager meeting around the table and to make it fun I thought it would be a good idea to play a few games of Hangman which got eveyone engaged, focused and ready for the lesson. Ater we were done playing games I asked everyone for more of their work that they wer supposed to have updated, only a few people gave me their updated ideas and I told the rest of the people that if they did not put the effort in now then further dow nthe line there won't be tiem to change anything so it would be best to give it to me as soon as possible. After this I worked more as Manager and walked around offering help as best as I could.
Wednesday (No Lesson)
Thursday 1st June
Acting Lesson:
In this lesson we had to work on scenes 8 and 10 due to the failure of peole attedning and being dedicated for the allocated time on Tuesday. This meant more time wasted practicng scenes that should've been perfected weeks ago rather than spending time fine tuning the whole performance. The main concern is that a majority of the actors in the class still do not know their lines and it is getting clsoe to when we actually have to perform it.
Friday 2nd June
Blog Session:
I used this time to look over the most recent work I was given on tuesday for my Production Manager role, this was good as I managed to get copies of the updated work.
I used this time to look over the most recent work I was given on tuesday for my Production Manager role, this was good as I managed to get copies of the updated work.
Acting Lesson:
We tried to do a full run through off all the scenes without using a script but this did not work as many people did not spend their time learning their lines, this meant that we were still behind as people were not supposed to have a script at all. The lesson instead was spent with call-outs missed cues and lack of dedication again. I feel at this stage that then performance will not end to going well if the other actors do not spend their free time working on their scripts. We then did practiced scenes that were not as strong as the other for example yet again the ensemble scenes, scene 8 and 10.
Monday, 19 June 2017
UAL Level 2 Week 29
Monday 22nd May
Blog Lesson:
Completed more entires for the work we had been doing recently and looked over some of the work I had done previously in my role as Production Manager.
Tuesday 23rd May
Acting Lesson:
In this lesson we went through the fine-tuing that we had been doing in lesson and the reasonig behind why it was so important. Everyone sat in a semi-circle and went through what was written on the board and then tried to apply it whilst we spent the rest of the lesson practicing certain scenes and beginning with scene 8.
Wednesday (No Lesson)
Thursday 25th May
Acting Lesson:
To begin with we practiced the scenes where most of the actors were on stage which was scene 8 and scene 10, even after multiple times practicing the scenes and with all the time over the weekend it seems that the weaker actors were still letting the rest of the class down as they did not know their lines or ques which slowed down the lesson and more time had to be wasted going over the same lines many times trying to get it right for a run through.
Friday 26th May
Blog Session:
In this time I went through the things that I had written down for my charcater Birdman on hoq to play him more effectively, for example I wrote down his relationship to Sal and Aaron as they are related so I thought it would be best to start with the difference in attitude towards either of them. Then once I was done with that I worked more on my blog until the end of the session.
Acting Lesson:
We intentionally began this lesson by wanting to complete a full run through of all the scnes from start to finish but this was unfortunately not the case as when we got the the first ensemble scene (Scene 8) it was clear that the majority of the people did not know their lines and so could not pick up on cues meaning we had to stop and play an acting activity called yes or no which is a simple concept, you are asked any question but are not allowed to answer yes or no. This meant that for the next lesson where he would be absent, we would have to spend that enitre lesson practicing the ensemble scenes so that they were fine tuned and flowed all the way through till the end.
Monday 22nd May
Blog Lesson:
Completed more entires for the work we had been doing recently and looked over some of the work I had done previously in my role as Production Manager.
Tuesday 23rd May
Acting Lesson:
In this lesson we went through the fine-tuing that we had been doing in lesson and the reasonig behind why it was so important. Everyone sat in a semi-circle and went through what was written on the board and then tried to apply it whilst we spent the rest of the lesson practicing certain scenes and beginning with scene 8.
Wednesday (No Lesson)
Thursday 25th May
Acting Lesson:
To begin with we practiced the scenes where most of the actors were on stage which was scene 8 and scene 10, even after multiple times practicing the scenes and with all the time over the weekend it seems that the weaker actors were still letting the rest of the class down as they did not know their lines or ques which slowed down the lesson and more time had to be wasted going over the same lines many times trying to get it right for a run through.
Friday 26th May
Blog Session:
In this time I went through the things that I had written down for my charcater Birdman on hoq to play him more effectively, for example I wrote down his relationship to Sal and Aaron as they are related so I thought it would be best to start with the difference in attitude towards either of them. Then once I was done with that I worked more on my blog until the end of the session.
Acting Lesson:
We intentionally began this lesson by wanting to complete a full run through of all the scnes from start to finish but this was unfortunately not the case as when we got the the first ensemble scene (Scene 8) it was clear that the majority of the people did not know their lines and so could not pick up on cues meaning we had to stop and play an acting activity called yes or no which is a simple concept, you are asked any question but are not allowed to answer yes or no. This meant that for the next lesson where he would be absent, we would have to spend that enitre lesson practicing the ensemble scenes so that they were fine tuned and flowed all the way through till the end.
UAL Level 2 Week 28
Monday 15th May
Blog Session:
I spent my time making my blog more visually pleasing, for example I added pictures where i could in reference to the work I was doing at this point in time, this is better as then there is more evidence of quality work.
Tuesday 16th May
Acting Lesson:
Most of the people in the class were either late or absent which made it harder to work as we required people to play other roles in scenes where the aren't supposed to be. This meant more time juggling actors around to do parts rather than the people we actually need practicing their set roles. I had to make a note of this due to my production role as Production Manager.
Wednesday (No Lesson)
Thursday 18th May
At the beginning of the lesson a majority of classmates were missing which meant we had to start practicing our performance later meaning we had less time to work on it. As more time passed and still not enough people showing up we decided to do an activity called hot-seating, this is where an actor sits in a chair in their character tole, for example it started with Nerissa who plays Linda, to start with she was asked question like "What do you think of Birdman", "What happened down the allotments?" and "What do you think of your friends". This is a good activity as it allows to you delve deeper into the thoughts of your character which means you then have better ideas on how to play that role.
Then it was my turn to hot-seat in my role of Birdman and was asked questions like "Why are you so interested in Linda?" "What do you think of everyone?" and "Why are you in care". All of these questions were very useful as they were things I had never considered for my character before. Soon after my hot-seating more people turned up and we then continued practicing the scenes with the feedback from the teachers as we were going along, my feed back was to speakup towards the back of the room to better direct my voice and make it more clearer to hear.
Friday 19th May
Production Lesson:
A Level 3 production performing arts student came into our class and each department had to sit down with her and go through their initial ideas for what they had come up with for the production so for example for me I had made portfolios for everyones work and had gotten everyone to print me out paper copies of their work so that I would have them there ready for anyone who needed to use them, which was convinient as they needed them.
Acting Lesson:
The main focus in this lesson was to do with our voices with things such as articulation and pronunciation, both of these should be well practiced as it is important that the audience can hear everything clearly no matter where they would be sitting, it is also good to practice as we will remember it for the actual performance.
Upon finishing going through certain scens our teacher gave us feedback that people needed to practice their cues as they were not on time and needed to be sharp so that they scenes flow continuously. Then after that we were told to play more in the moment and to see the poeple we are acting with as their characters rather than them, this would then help to stay in role which would mean better focus in the scenes as you would already be in character. To finish the lesson we were reminded by our teacher that next week we would be working completely off-script so the people who do not know their lines would have to work especially hard over the weekend to learn them.
Monday 15th May
Blog Session:
I spent my time making my blog more visually pleasing, for example I added pictures where i could in reference to the work I was doing at this point in time, this is better as then there is more evidence of quality work.
Tuesday 16th May
Acting Lesson:
Most of the people in the class were either late or absent which made it harder to work as we required people to play other roles in scenes where the aren't supposed to be. This meant more time juggling actors around to do parts rather than the people we actually need practicing their set roles. I had to make a note of this due to my production role as Production Manager.
Wednesday (No Lesson)
Thursday 18th May
At the beginning of the lesson a majority of classmates were missing which meant we had to start practicing our performance later meaning we had less time to work on it. As more time passed and still not enough people showing up we decided to do an activity called hot-seating, this is where an actor sits in a chair in their character tole, for example it started with Nerissa who plays Linda, to start with she was asked question like "What do you think of Birdman", "What happened down the allotments?" and "What do you think of your friends". This is a good activity as it allows to you delve deeper into the thoughts of your character which means you then have better ideas on how to play that role.
Then it was my turn to hot-seat in my role of Birdman and was asked questions like "Why are you so interested in Linda?" "What do you think of everyone?" and "Why are you in care". All of these questions were very useful as they were things I had never considered for my character before. Soon after my hot-seating more people turned up and we then continued practicing the scenes with the feedback from the teachers as we were going along, my feed back was to speakup towards the back of the room to better direct my voice and make it more clearer to hear.
Friday 19th May
Production Lesson:
A Level 3 production performing arts student came into our class and each department had to sit down with her and go through their initial ideas for what they had come up with for the production so for example for me I had made portfolios for everyones work and had gotten everyone to print me out paper copies of their work so that I would have them there ready for anyone who needed to use them, which was convinient as they needed them.
Acting Lesson:
The main focus in this lesson was to do with our voices with things such as articulation and pronunciation, both of these should be well practiced as it is important that the audience can hear everything clearly no matter where they would be sitting, it is also good to practice as we will remember it for the actual performance.
Upon finishing going through certain scens our teacher gave us feedback that people needed to practice their cues as they were not on time and needed to be sharp so that they scenes flow continuously. Then after that we were told to play more in the moment and to see the poeple we are acting with as their characters rather than them, this would then help to stay in role which would mean better focus in the scenes as you would already be in character. To finish the lesson we were reminded by our teacher that next week we would be working completely off-script so the people who do not know their lines would have to work especially hard over the weekend to learn them.
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