Thursday 18 September 2014 (Naturalism)

We explored Stanislavsky's ideas on naturalism and some of the Want, Do, Feel theory

(I want something, so I do something inevitably feeling something.)

To discover what your character really wants you must answer the 8 W's

Who (Am I)
Where (am I)
When (is it)
Where (have I come from)
What (do I need)
Why (do I need it)
What (will happen if I don't get it)
What (must I overcome)

Who am I? - I am Jasmine Hadley, a newly single mother of two, Minerva Hadley and Persephoney Hadley, my ex husband is the deputy prime minister and has left me for another woman named Grace. He was hardly ever home, always on 'business trips', so I guess I should have seen it coming. And I know that Sephy resents me for it, she must think that I drove him away, but she is too young to know anything that is above her head. I am a Cross who lives in a very large house with a private beach nearby that is disconnected from the rest of the world with a fence. I am a depressed alcoholic probably because my husband left me and my youngest daughter rebels against me repetitively so instead of facing the challenges that life throws at me, I turn to alcohol to numb the pain that has been inflicted upon me. When I have an argument with my daughter, I drink, when my ex husband is trying to ruin my life even more, I drink, when begin to remember my past, I drink. Honestly at this point its just a way to fill the gaps of time that people usually spend at work or with their family. Well that and shopping, you can never have too many shoes right?

Where am I? (in my scenes) - 1) I am watching Sephy swing on the garden swing, well twist more than swing, from the kitchen window. Just watching her waiting for the right time to tell her that she must see the father of her best friend die, and deciding of how to say it. I'm not even sure why we even have that swing anymore, it's old and ugly and no one even uses it properly anymore, but Sephy wants to keep it. God know why, probably because of some sort of nostalgic feeling she gets because she and Callum always used to play on it, when life was good. The rest of the garden is empty, just a couple of trees and some flower beds along the side, now it's just freshly mown grass with gaps where children used to laugh, to play. The door to the wine cellar is right next to me and it is taking everything in me not to bring a glass but no, I must keep my chin up and my head high, for not only my sake, but for my families image.
2) Me and my family are in the dining hall of our huge house, sitting on a large table for nine but populated by four, picking at our expensive food, me drinking my wine and everyone sharing awkward glances and trying to engage in conversation while the butler is setting out more food that probably won't be eaten. The room is large and furnished well but seems empty, probably because we are such a small family and this house is meant for at least seven, but it's not just that. It feels cold, unused, so many colours and trinkets but boring. but maybe thats just because my ex husbands in the room, he tends to have that effect on things, leeching them until they're dry, dulling them. I feel sorry for Grace really, she will just end up like me, a shell of what used to be filled with life and energy. But when I think of her properly, I think she's probably just in it for the money.

When is it - 1) It is 2014, it is early spring, the sun lightly brushing the blades of grass, illuminating Sephys skin with the makings of a happy picture if only her eyes weren't so sad, it is around 4:15 and I really need to get her inside soon or we will be late.
2) Still 2014 but now coming into Summer around 6 with the light still shining through the windows.

Where have I come from - 1) I was just putting finishing my wine so that I would not be noticeably drunk for the cameras when I decide to call Sephy in only to find her sitting on her old swing set, just twisting. I do not want to disturb her right away, she'd look so peaceful if it wasn't for the pained look on her face.
2) I was just sitting at the pool, trying to get as tanned as possible in the summer sun, contemplating how Sephy will feel about the news of boarding school when the butler calls me and tells me that my ex husband has arrived and that I should get ready for dinner.

What do I need? - 1) I need to make Sephy look nice quickly without her finding out where she is going so that she will willingly go.
2) I need to comply to what Kamal thinks is best for Sephy and try to break it to her gently so she doesn't flip out and run away or do something she will regret.

Why do I need it? - 1) because if Sephy shows up not dressed for the occasion, and if we show up late, it is sure to get noticed by the press and they will jump at the chance to make us look bad.
2) Kamal can make my life even worse than it already is and I really don't want that to happen because it will not only effect me, but my children as well.

Why do I need it? - 1) because if she doesn't show up or if we show up late and looking like naughts then the press will make fools out of us and that would be terrible for my image.
2) because if Kamal gets irritated with me he may cut us off and that would not be good for my children or me.

What must I overcome? - 1) I must go to the hanging myself which will be difficult because I do still love the Mgreggors but I must do it to support Kamal especially since everyone thinks that we are still together, it would seem awfully odd if we didn't show. It will be terrible but I have to do it.
2) I must try to overcome the fact that I don't want Sephy to be upset but I also want whats best for her and if Kamal thinks that it is this then so be it, though I do not want for my own daughter to hate me even more, this must be done, for her safety otherwise God knows what will happen.

Thursday 18th September 2014 (Character Profile)

This is Jasmine Hadley's profile on Facebook, it is all open to public view so you should be able to see it when logged onto Facebook without being friends. Tell me if you can't then I'll take screenshots and put them on instead:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007266408570

you couldn't put dislikes on Facebook so I'll just put it here, she clearly dislikes being challenged or being wrong as when Sephy keeps asking her why she has to get dressed up and where they are going she always just brushed her off or changed the subject. And when Jasmine tells her to put her dress on, and to be down in 5 so they aren't late, she is doing it so that they don't make a bad impression to the public. She clearly hates her husband because she gets very irritated with him when he starts to leave even if she does sometimes feel intimidated by him, but I also think that she hates herself just a little bit as well otherwise she would have sobered up by now for her daughters but she hasn't so she is clearly thinking of something that is more important to her than her daughters (herself).

Jasmine Hadley favourite ______ is...:
food - steak
drink - wine

colour - blood red

clothes - anything from Chanel

place - France 

film - up in the air

actor - George Clooney 

book - Jane Eyre 

music - classical

animal - panda bear

Thursday 11th September 2014 (status)

People I Am Evaluating

1) Alex & Sarah
I think Sarah as Callum portrayed him as most of us did, angry and hurt at the same time. However Alex did something that was a bit different than most.

Mainly, people portrayed Sephy as being very apologetic to Callum because she wanted her best friend back but Alex dug a bit deeper into Sephy's character because she made her really obnoxious and annoyed which I thought was interesting because the words were apologetic but the tone was almost angry at the fact that Callum was not accepting her apology and was even trying to defend herself by saying 'I was trying to help' as if it excused her words and had her arms crossed for most of it as a sigh of irritation. This shows that even though Sephy is clearly in the wrong, she is still trying to take control of the situation and make it about her, not the fact that she had just hurt her best friend.

The way she came onto the scene was pretty good because the only ones (that I can remember) that made Sephy come looking for Callum whereas the rest started with them already sitting together.

Sarah also used her voice and facial expressions in a good way to show that she was angry but trying to contain it by speaking slowly and taking pauses and closing her eyes to show that Callum was trying to clear his head and not do something that he would regret.

The way that they were sitting clearly showed that there was tension between the two as when Alex sat down she sat quite far away from Sarah.

However the fact that they started the scene looking for Callum indicates that he had probably ran off from her straight after she said that which could confuse some people because Sephy is saying that she has already apologized.

2) Harmony & Mateo
These two were one of the only ones that stood up for the whole time which I think made it look like they had just started talking, but if they were sitting it would have looked like they were talking for a while because they felt the need to take a seat to rest.

The way Mateo portrayed Callum's feelings towards Sephy was very different from the others because he raised his voice and got in Harmony's face a lot more than others which showcased his anger a lot more than others, but you could still see that he was hurt because of the words that were being said and his facial expression was almost disgusted at the sight of her. Mateo's voice captivated the audience from his first line because it instantly boomed around the room and caught everyone's attention in seconds. Everyone had their eyes on them.

It really was a great contrast with Harmony having her voice meek and backing away slightly afraid of Callum and his aggression and Mateo having the deep voice he does just added to the impact of his whole view on the way he thought Callum would react.

I also liked the fact that Mateo was clearly dominating the scene because in most of the others, there was that point in the play where Sephy does try to take over by saying she was trying to help the situation, but even when those words were said I still felt that Callum was in control of the situation because Harmony was leaning back ever so slightly out of fear of both Callum and the fact that she may loose him.

Even though Mateo's voice was intense and a different approach from others, he could have pulled back at the last part when he is asking Sephy to never say 'that word' again because it ever so slightly took away from the meaning and hurt behind those words, and the fact that he simply didn't vary the tone enough.

3) Benji & Rosebe
My personal favorite thing about their performance was the fact that at the beginning, Rosebe used just as harsh and loud a tone as Benji to show that Sephy is extremely stubborn and doesn't give up easily and blurs the lines of who is really in charge at that point, but when she sees the fact that Callum may actually be slipping away from her, in seconds, she changes her tone to almost a whisper and becomes very timid giving the upper hand to Callum to say what he really wants to happen.

I really liked the way the way they were seated at the beginning but when Callum has that speech about how even if she physically hurt him that it would not be as bad as what she did, he started to stand up to regain control of the situation and to prove his point to her that he was genuinely hurt and angry because she clearly wasn't getting it.

The facial expressions were spot on for their scenario because for the first part Benji was looking more upset than angry and Rosebe looked very annoyed like she had Callum wrapped around her finger and that she was sure she would win him over in a heartbeat. However when Callum finally snaps his face turns so intense and angry at the way that Sephy is treating him and only when he calms down and thinks about his actions a bit, his face returns to a blank canvas, not showing any emotion but concealing it from Sephy. And at that same point Rosebe changes her facial expression to scared (because she may loose her best friend) and just a little bit shocked at the fact that Callum is standing up to her.
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Overall

Not many people actually had contact with one another and everyone had their own interpretations of the scene and you could really that the characters had some sort of tension between them from the proxemics. Be it them being far apart and not looking at each other or them being close and Sephy pleading while Callum is turned away having them close but not looking at each other and in Harmony and Mateo's case, having them close with Sephy looking away.
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Tasks

Task 1:
Complete the following questions:
•We started the lesson with a physical warm up. The first exercise was called Clear The Space, inspired by Frantic Assembly. How did this exercise help you to warm up?

- This helped me warm up because it helped me concentrate and focus on what was happening around me such as balancing the space and being aware to others and where I can go to not collide with another, also just making things a bit more free between us because we are still a bit awkward with each other. It made me feel more ready to start the Monday.

•Why do actors need to warm up physically before a rehearsal?

- Because it reduces tension and stress and tension and stress that can stop you from breathing, feeling, thinking and responding properly. It also helps you become more aware of your surroundings making you more relaxed, energised and ready to fit into any role or character that is necessary for your rehearsal.

•Explain how your body felt after the warm up?

- My body felt much more relaxed and kind of tingly, especially in the face area because we focused on that quite a bit. I also felt a bit more energized because I was quite tired and it woke me up a bit. It felt a little bit like how I imagine yoga would feel.

•We explored warming up our voice through a series of exercises. Why is the voice an important tool for actors?

- Because if you use your voice too much or if you speak too loud for long amounts of time then your voice will be strained and may cause it to become sore and it will be difficult to speak. It is good to both stay hydrated and do vocal warm ups for the same reasons that athletes do, because if you go all out without preparing your body then it will become stressed quickly. It also can help your breath control, vocal range and can extend your pitch.

•Explain how your voice felt after the vocal warm up?

- My voice felt pretty similar to my body, all tingly like and I felt like I could do more with it and for longer periods of time because it felt literally warmer than it did before, giving me more control of how I used it.

•We then explored STATUS. What do we mean by status?

- When we were looking at status, we looked at it in the way that shows who is in control of the situation and who has power throughout the scene. Not necessarily power as in who is more important but power as in who would be able to do something to one character that the other could not do back. In our case, Callum could have very easily used his anger as an excuse to hit Sephy or un-friend he. He did not but it was clear that he could have if he wanted to but if she did, she would have had no way to justify it.

•You explored the 'Hello' scene with a partner focusing on how you could show status. Explain the scene you created with your partner. How did you show status successfully?

- (I was in two and was B both times)

1) Djed and I - because I was in both, we looked at this one first and it did seem pretty clear that B had the higher status as they say 'no I don't think so' when they are asked if they were going, also, A approaches B showing that B probably wouldn't do that in return to A. Also the fact that B hardly looked at A showed that B really did not think very highly of A as they were not eve with looking, I also tried to look as bored and annoyed as possible by Djed's presence to show that I did not like him. 

2) Jake and I - because we looked at this after the first one, we did not want to do the same thing by giving B the higher status, so we switched it and we showed that A had the higher status and even though Jake still approached me, we tried to make it look like he was rubbing it in my face, the fact that I could not go to the thing and he kind of smiled at the fact that an could not and he could. And when he shook my hand, he wiped it in his jacked afterwards to show that I was not at the same level as him and could have given him some sort of disease. Also I had arched my back slightly and avoided eye contact, not because I was bored this time but because I was slightly scared and intimidated by his presence. 

•How did other pairs show status successfully?

- I think that most partners did the same thing as Djed and I because that is the obvious status to go by but you could think of a different scenario for each one for example, to me l, with Jamie and Mateo, it seemed as if Mateo was asking Jamie out and she rejected him but because Mateo walked up to her full of confidence, so sure of himself, it seemed as if he had the higher status, but when he got shot down, the status shifted to Jamie and you could see that Mateo's character was embarrassed. And I think that was the only one where they both had status within the scene. Most, if not all of the rest (I think) had B as the one with higher status. 

•Finally you explored a scene between Callum and Sephy. You had to take it from page to stage using the skills developed in the exercise before. You were asked to focus on status. Which character had the highest stays in the scene and why? How did you show this?
Explain how you played the scene.
You were asked to think about your character's objective (what they wanted/their aim). What was your character's objective? How did knowing this help you to play the character successfully.

- In our scene, mine and Will's, we had Callum having the higher status because we thought, because of the words that Sephy was saying, she was pleading to him and because when Callum asked her to do something for him, she said 'anything' in a heartbeat which in itself clearly shows that Callum could have gotten her to do anything for his forgiveness. There was hat one line in the play where Sephy starts to gather some confidence and says 'I was trying to help' as if she was saying that she was not in the wrong and was implying that Callum was just standing there, not doing something about the situation. However Callum quickly retrieves the higher status as he continues in a harsh tone and Sephy gets scared and instantly goes back to her pleading state allowing Callum to keep the higher status. Sephy's objective is pretty clear, get Callum back to being her friend, and some people made Sephy annoyed by the fact things were not going her way but I made her really beg for Callum's forgiveness because I wanted to show people that even though she may had taken him for granted before, only when she might loose him does she realize that she does really need him, not only as a friend but as something more, so I think that it is in this scene where, maybe without her realizing it, Sephy's feelings for Callum both grow and change into more romantic ones. However, talking about my characters objectives seemed to make it easier to relate and act her out. It really helped to develop her character because I had initially thought of maybe making her a more obnoxious character but when I started saying stuff out loud, it really helped me to think more and more about what she would actually do if she was about to lose her best friend.

• Throughout the sharing you were asked to write some notes on other pairs work. Type/photograph these notes and put them on your blog.

- They are above.

•Finally, what acting skills have you developed in this session?

- I learned how to develop my character a lot more and I realized that I did not usually try to develop my character, I would just go with the first thing that sounds right and isn't bad, but now I see that it actually helps me to understand the character some more when I say the words out loud because in my mind they are running through very quickly and I do not really have the patience to develop them all but when I say them aloud, I take my time and really think about them and realize that an idea that I may have thought was good, I no longer do anymore.

Task 2:
Themes of the play.
Please do some research on 'Naughts and Crosses'. What are the themes of the play. Your research could include:
Videos
Pictures
Articles
Poems...whatever else you find and want to include.
It's important you know the world of the play. We will continue to discuss this as the term unfolds.

Some of the themes are:
Racism - Naughts call Crosses 'daggers' and Crosses call Naughts 'blankers'
Love - The love between Sephy and Callum
Terrorism - The LM
Hate - The hatred that Naughts and Crosses feet towards one another
Unspoken Segregation - they say that everyone is equal when they all know that it really isn't.

a poem that I think perfectly describes the play

I was wondering what inspired Malorie Blackman to write naughts and crosses and luckily I found the answer to that exact question:

There wasn’t any one thing. It grew out of a lifetime of experiences. Some of the racist incidents in the book were based on real events from my own childhood. And I also wanted to play with the idea that ‘history is luck’ to a certain extent. What if Africans had invented trans-oceanic travel and colonized Europe and America? Or what if the Aztecs and Incas had ‘beaten Cortez to the punch’ and converted the Catholics in Spain and Portugal at the point of a sword? You put all that together and you have the germ of an idea which led to Noughts and Crosses. - See more at: http://www.malorieblackman.co.uk/index.php/category/malorie/qa/#sthash.euCSPnjr.dpuf

The question is number 11 (sorry if this is inconvenient in any way. I could not find a way to get it here without writing it word for word)

There wasn’t any one thing. It grew out of a lifetime of experiences. Some of the racist incidents in the book were based on real events from my own childhood. And I also wanted to play with the idea that ‘history is luck’ to a certain extent. What if Africans had invented trans-oceanic travel and colonized Europe and America? Or what if the Aztecs and Incas had ‘beaten Cortez to the punch’ and converted the Catholics in Spain and Portugal at the point of a sword? You put all that together and you have the germ of an idea which led to Noughts and Crosses. - See more at: http://www.malorieblackman.co.uk/index.php/category/malorie/qa/#sthash.euCSPnjr.dpuf

Thursday 4th September 2014 (Acting Audit)

Accents:

British (obviously)

Irish

American (standard)

Australian

I can pick up accents quite easily because all of those are because have either a friend or someone I admire with the accent so I hear them speak a lot and I therefore pick it up. However there are the really obscure accents like Alaskan that are a tad more difficult to get so I am really looking forward to learning more about speech, not only accents but how to portray emotions with my voice and project more consistently throughout a performance

I am comfortable working both alone and in a group and will be able to take and instruction and follow it through well like learning lines for a specific date or changing the staging to my scene. When it comes to things like improvisation, I enjoy things like 'the bench scene' and I think I do that quite well, or if someone forgets to say a line, I feel as if I could improvise with them for a while until they remember where they are, but if it is a real, proper scene that I need to improvise on the spot, I find that more difficult. I think that I am decent in being able to pick up a script and running lines to an alright standard, so I would like to improve on that as I get lost sometimes and miss some words out.

I feel as if I can be naturalistic in my performances but I struggle with exaggerating my performance which in some cases is better so I would like to learn how to do that a lot better than I can now. Also, most of the time, I try to feel what my character is feeling by remembering a situation similar and bringing that into my character but I feel as if I then make the character more like myself than a character.

Even though I am not perfect, I like that because that is why I am here, I have space to learn, to improve and to hopefully have fun doing that.