4/28/11 Journal

Today was a workday for the class. Kailei and I worked on the benches outside of class. We went through our scene several times in order to be more fluid with the dialogue. We went over the blocking that we have been practicing as well. Our scene has come a long way since last week. We meet with Rafi on Tuesday at 12:30 pm and we perform next Thursday May 5th!

4/26/11 Journal

Kailei and i performed our scene today. Our scene is from the play Stop Kiss by Diana Son. I portrayed the role of Sara and Kailei played Callie. The play is about to women that have a meaningful friendship that develops into love for one another. In the scene little indicators of their feelings for one another can be seen. And sexual tension builds in the scene. Especially in the part of the scene where Callie accidentally walks in on Sara changing her shirt. I really enjoy this scene because I think it enables Kailei and I to do a lot physically. There is a lot of props that can be used, the blocking is diverse, and we can truly explore our phsyicality within those characters. Although the scene is outside of mine and Kailei's comfort zone we are both pleased that we decided to work on this scene in class. Our notes when we presented it were that we needed to show the sexual tension more and flirtation between Sara and Callie. I need to let my body be relaxed. I wanted to go to that place but I stopped myself.

Kailei and I do our final performance for the scene on may 5th. We will be meeting with Peter and Rafi in between that time, so hopefully the work we do with them will show to the class.

Gabriel and Rosanna performed after Kailei and I. I enjoyed their scene but I felt that Gabriel over acted his character at parts. Rosanna was great in her character but could've amped up her volume more. The scene was interesting to me but I would've liked to see Rosanna stand up or move at certain points as opposed to remaining seated throughout the entire scene. Overall they did good work and tey just have the little things to work on.

Brabte and V performed their scene. The lines weren't completely down but I do see potential in their scene. I forget the name of the play that the scene is from but I did study the play last year in my Acting 1 class.

After scene work Shane worked a monologue that is perfect for him. About how he is the "nice guy" to girls and doesn't want to be constantly put in the friend zone. He did very well with this monologue, he had some minor physicality issues with hand placement but other then that he did great work!

This class meeting was very interesting and I am glad I was in attendence. I feel that I have seen my classmates blossom and grow as performers.

4/21/11 Journal

During this class meeting Jessica and Jeremy performed their scene. I unfortunately did not get the chance to see the entire scene because I arrived late to class due to a meeting that I was at prior to this class meeting.
I do look forward to Jessica and Jeremy's final performance, I have seen them work diligently on their scene and am excited to see the result of their dedication.

Aeriel and Nadia also performed their scene on this day. Their scene consisted of two young babysitters that get tied up together by the young boy that they are babysitting. They struggle in the scene to work together to get free from their restricting perdicament. The scene was funny but I would like to see them do even more with it. They had great chemistry with each other but I would like to see more structure to their blocking...I don't want to just see them lay on the floor the entire scene screaming at each other. The blocking needs to build and rise with their scene. But they did great work and I look forward to seeing the finished version!

This scene reminded me the importance of having a good variety of movement within the blocking of a scene. They had great chemistry with each other but chemistry isn't enough to make the scene complete.

Also, on this day we did stretching exercises in class which really helped me to loosen up my tight back muscles. My abckis what gives me all of my trouble and that could affect how I stand on stage, so I really should utilize the exercises that we did in class to my advantage.

4/19/11 Journal

During this class meeting as a class we played an acting game and did various exercises that encompassed that acting game. We were given a few sentences of dialogue and were asked to incorporate various situations to those sentences of dialogue. We played it as though person A were sick and person B did not want to help them. We did a scenario where person A was to propse and person B was to deny the marriage proposal. We even were asked to acquire our own circumstance to this acting exercise. I was partnered with Shane and we adjusted the exercise to fit into a situation where he was teaching me how to "do the stanky leg."

Overall this acting exercise was fun and taught me how to move through different characters and their circumstances. This exercise was fun and ultimately broadened my horizons a bit more as an actress.

4/14/11 Journal

Ariel and Danny presented their scene today in class. Their scene was set at the beach. Danny played the role of a young homosexual man and Ariel played a heterosexual young woman. In the scene their characters were discussing, or checking out, the other people on the beach. The scene was very conversational and had comedy to it. Danny and Ariel had good chemistry between each other within the scene but the levels that they were on were different. They weren't completely matching as scene partners, but that will come with time and practice. Peter gave them some ntes about physicality. He mentioned that Danny should find some more moments where he will get up more or do something more with the towel in the scene. Overall, watching this scene and listening to feedback made me remember the importance of chemistry between actors and the physicality of characters.

Sammie and Morgan also performed their scene on this day of class. Their scene is between two girls that go on a rant about talking viciously about another girl that goes to their school. The first run through was a little bit ruff since the lines weren't entirely memorized on Morgan's part, but the scene does have potential once minor details are resolved. Peter had them play it like they were drinking and sneaking into the gymnasium perhaps. Adding the playing of the music on the ipod during the dialogue of the scene also added another flare to the scene. Good work so far with this scene. I look forward to seeing the final performance.

Both scenes were done well during this class meeting, and both scenes reiterated the importance of chemistry between your scene partner and the importance of physicality.

4/12/11 Journal

At the top of class Anna and Adam both showed their scene from the odd couple. They had really good chemistry as scene partners and I thought that their scene was funny. I could tell that they had done some work on their scene. They seemed prepared, and I look forward to seeing the entire scene in the near future. But so far I see some great things happening within the scene. Then Sammie presented a monologue that she is considering performing for General Auditions at the top of next school year. She did well with the monologue, but I would like to see her do something that contrasts her other monologue more. Following her monologue a few of my peers from class engaged in a discussion regarding a video site where auditions can be posted for the theatre department and film department to see. Some felt hesitatnt by the idea though. Following the discussion we played the name game and Aeriel and I were the last two. She won the game and I now need to send her a piece of art!

4/7/11 Journal

Unfortunately I was not present during this class because I had a Doctor's appointment that I had to go to.

4/5/11 Journal

This was our first day back in class after spring break. In this class period Rafi lead the class. We did some vocal exercises as well as warmed up our bodies in order to prepare us to work. We walked around the room while Rafi played music in the background. He asked us to imagine we were being born into the character and developing as that character. We had to understand how this character breathed, moved, felt, etcetra. We then were paired with our scene partners and were talked through various scenarios in which we had to work with one another. For example, one scenario was one where we had to imagine ourselves in a freezing cold forest with suspicions that we were being hunted.

Overall I found the exercise useful because it got me thinking about getting into the mind and physicality of the character I will be portraying in the scene that I am in. It can be challenging to imagine yourself in various scenarios in the way that we were asked.