That's a lovely quote from one of my favorite shows, Greek.
Wow, I've been gone for a while! But I'm back and ready to fill in the world.
So, I had a beautiful Thanksgiving vacation working on homework, spending time with family and friends, and relaxing for the first time since Boji.
I came back to school refreshed and ready to speed through the last 3 weeks. Monday I had a 10 page paper due in Shakespeare Lit about the morality of the East vs. the West in Antony and Cleopatra both in Shakespeare's time and at the time the actual events took place. It was crazy to write because it was hard to find historical evidence, but I got it done and presented it to the class on Wednesday. I received an A, which is all I could ask for.
Tuesday we worked on 'On-Camera' auditions in Nuts and Bolts. I volunteered to read a scene in class and it was a lot of fun. Thursday we did mock auditions with sides that we had 2 days to memorize and prepare. I watched my audition on Friday and Professor D said I did very well, especially in a technical sense. However, I didn't think there was anything that stood out about my audition, and that's the key to getting cast. You have to be interesting and special. So, for a first time it was a productive audition, but I'm very excited for next semester when I get to learn how to do it better.
I learned that occasionally I make my eyes too large, or move my eyebrows too much. I think my 'listening' face is bland, personally, so I'm going to work on that. I also need to learn to make bigger choices for my characters. It's difficult to know how big is too big when on camera, because I don't have enough experience yet.
Wednesday I performed my dramatic contemporary monologue for Professor B in our last monologue class. I did a good job, and she told me I could definitely add it too a package. This Wednesday we have to go in and tell her the package we'd like to perform for our final. We pick two contrasting monologues that show off our personality and ability best. I'm thinking I might do my Restoration (18th century) comedic and my contemporary dramatic. Professor B encouraged us to stick with contemporary because that's what we're most likely to be cast as for a while, because that's where most of the work is for younger actors. Good advice!
We also had a Warehouse Board meeting to decide which director would receive the 'Off-the-Wall' Slot. Once a year, we allow an outside director to perform in the Warehouse space, but we have to listen to presentations to make sure that their vision fits with our vision for the Warehouse. It was a close call, and all the presentations were great. Erin ended up winning. Her idea was 'Women Fight Against', which is a show based on combat and monologues and sketches where women will fight against different people, situations, and ideals. It's going to be really cool!
I watched my commercial audition on Wednesday, and Professor D showed me some things I need to work on. He told me that when you finish an audition you should always keep your eyes on the camera, don't look back up at the casting director. That leaves them wanting more when they watch the tape. He also told me that it's always interesting to watch someone push through mistakes. I messed up one of my takes, but I kept going, and he said that's exactly what you should always do. Personally, I didn't enjoy commercial auditions because of the improvisation, and because I didn't have a strong relationship with the product, but I know now how to do better with them in the future.
Watching myself on camera is an interesting experience. I rarely think I look good, I either appear bored or too excited, and I'm unaware of how to make my personality come across. However, I look forward to learning everything I can about film acting. Even though I have no idea what I'm doing, I'm having a great time figuring it out. I recently shot another film scene for the film acting practicum I'm taking. It was a scene written by my student director, and it all took place inside a car, which we drove around a parking garage for the entire shoot. It was interesting to be so close to the camera for the entire shoot, and to focus not only on the things in the car, but on the cars outside of my car (because I was looking for a car). Kylie drove the car, so she had to work on saying her lines and being an attentive driver. She thought it was very difficult, and we had a near collision. This is, I'm sure, why car scenes in TV and Film take place in a car that is NOT moving. Stay on the safe side--don't act and drive.
Thursday after the TV auditions, my Ethics class was cancelled. I went out to lunch with Gillian, and then spent the rest of the day working on designing my personal acting website. It's coming along quite nicely, if I do say so. I've spent a total of 15 hours in the past week watching videos and figuring out my new programs through trial and error. I got some Adobe software over the break: Dreamweaver and Photoshop. I've built and designed my own template and entrance page, and now I just need to link the rest of my pages. I'll have it up and running soon if everything goes smoothly! While I've enjoyed creating it, it's still only a first try and I can tell that I'll be redesigning it over winter break just for fun. It has to be better the second time, right?
I had Shakespeare rehearsal Friday morning. Professor R watched our Richard III scene and gave us some great pointers. We're performing it in the basement of Senior Hall, which is dark, leaky, and loud with old machinery. We're working hard to be louder than our surroundings, and we've brought in our own light and we're playing it like an interrogation scene. I'm really excited about it, and I think it's going to be great. We dressed the scene on Monday and Professor R has mostly technical things to point out. He told us to watch our dramatic pauses and helped with some interpretation issues. I've really enjoyed this class this semester and I'm sad to be nearly done with it. It's been so much fun to work on classic material, and I think I've found I have a passion for it. I would love to do more classics in my future, or possibly earn a graduate degree in classical acting.
Kaitie and I watched Macbeth (1979) with Ian Mckellen and Judi Dench last night. It was so good! The set (or lack thereof) was weird and the lighting was distracting, but I understand it was a stylistic choice. What I loved was the acting. Mckellen and Dench are some of the most renown actors in the world, and they're so respected in England for their work in the arts. I could list the credentials but they would be too long. But if you're interested you should look them up.
I also saw Meet me in St. Louis this weekend, and it was great! It must be a 'last year in college' thing, but I feel so proud at every performance I've attended this year. I've grown with my class and we've been through so much; I feel so much pride every time one of them is cast and they have the opportunity to light up the stage. I remember 1st year and STI when we were so fresh and mold-able. Everyone has come so far and learned so much. Everyone did such a great job, and the characters were so heartwarming and charming. I might go see it again, I liked it so much!
Our auditions for Sense and Sensibility were supposed to be Monday, so I prepared my monologue over the weekend. However, Professor B (the director) has moved them to January, so I have some more time to prepare, I guess. It's one less thing on the plate, that's for sure.
My directing scene is completely blocked, and now I need to memorize it. We perform Sunday. I think my last day should be Wednesday, and then I'm on the road again!
No comments:
Post a Comment