Take a Bow

Music: The Mile - Dead Letter Circus.

Alright so I shall complete a check list…

[√] Showcase
[√] Sac
[√] Exam

So clearly that shows that I have OFFICIALLY finished Unit 1 Drama. Woo. Which is in fact a little freaky cause that means it like 6 months till the end of the year and my 3/4 exam and yeah… shoot me.

Ok so the showcase went really really well. While there weren’t that many people who actually came and watched the performances, the people that did had a very positive feedback for it all which really boosted all of our confidences.

My solo went a lot better this time than when I performed it for assessment. I’m not sure why, although I do believe I am more comfortable performing to people I don’t know/ and a large crowd rather than performing to a small intimate friend network. But I was a lot looser and my movements and gestures were more noticeable, as were the distinction and contrast between my primary and secondary character with the use of facial expression and gesture.

The sac. The sac was alright, considering we did it the day after performing and we had to analyse some of the performance and stuff like that it was quite easy to recall all of the information that I needed to. GRADE, absolutely SMASHING :]
Although it was disturbing that during the sac I was blowing my nose like it was a trumpet and I distracted a few people doing it, but hey! i had/have a cold. leave me alone =P

The exam. Long, quite long. At one point I needed only TWO more dramatic elements and then I would have the full twelve. I read over my stuff and started tapping my fingers and im like ‘hey cool rhythm’ inside my head and then it clicked… i had forgotten rhythm.
and then I dunno, i was sitting there going over them in my head and i’m like… have i done climax… no! yay all twelve!!! :] quite happy, quite happy.

All up, this semester with Cashy has been brilliant. Learnt a lot from him.
THANK YOU Cash for everything you did for us this semester. MUCH appreciated.

Music: Under My Umbrella - Incubus.

Music: Sexxxy - Gyroscope. [can’t wait to see them live — BUT SINCE I WROTE THIS FOUND OUT THAT ITS SOLD OUT AND I WONT SEE THEM LIVE JUST YET]

Sorry this post has been WELL overdue. It’s been a rather hectic couple of weeks and I think the working like 3 - 4 times a week is really taking its toll on me. That is why I said I am not working for the next couple or weeks [that and exams are then.]

To begin, Top Acts. OH MY GOD! They were like, I have no words to describe how much I loved Top Acts, and I think what made the night even better was the fact that one of my friends, Kathleen, got into it for Theatre Studies and was on the cover too. Such a lucky girl that one and so damn talented - even Mez said it to us before.
All of the performers at top acts did such an amazing job, no wonder Jess is like in love with the gossip =P.

Alright, if I go on about top acts then i’ll just ramble and that is not what this blog is all about. this is an academic blog that shows that i am a drama student who has no gramatical abilities. haha.

Ensemble.
Or in French… ensemble`.

Our ensemble was FINALLY finished in Tuesday’s class the other day and we were all so relieved. Unfortunately it only goes for like 8 - 9 minutes when it was said that it could go for a lovely 15 minutes but that didn’t happen.

Well we were able to stick to our original idea of technology through the decades which was a bonus and finally came up with scenes for each.

Intro - TV stuff
1900s - Automobile
1910s - Titanic
1920s - Cinema
1930s - Airmail
1940s - Atomic Bomb
1950s - TV
1960s - Breast Implants
1970s - Pong
1980s - Boombox vs. Ipod
1990s - MSN/Computer
Outro - Power blackout

We have started to refine it with the help of Cashy and it took so long but we will get their eventually with the help of Cashy and everything and will hopefully get some things done fine tomorrow

We have started to incorporate expressive skills into it now and should have it refined for monday when we not only perform it for a crowd but also get graded on it.

Ok… solo.

I have in fact tried my solo again recently and lets just say i’m freaking out about it a little bit. Yes i do have like a weekend but I just need to remember everything and making it better than what it was is proving to be a difficult task…
We’ll see how tomorrow afternoon goes.

Cutting it short.

Music: You’ll Go - Sneak.

Music: Favourite Things - Incubus.

Woah, its been quite a while since I last posted. And I noticed that Maddi told me to write a blog that was better than the last one where I was stressed and everything. But we are getting better so onto ensemble stuff…

Well creative arts the other night I spoke to Cashy and he told me that our group just had to stop thinking about it so much. Which was true. So on Thursday we started to just not think that much about the actual ways and script writing of ensemble and we came up with some good opening scenes which we will continue to work on and improve a lot of.

It begins with focuses on TV and the technology and then flashes back to the 1900s, and still goes through the decades and everything like that which is what was our original idea.
We also found that it is a lot easier to work from the beginning to the end of an ensemble rather that backwards where we got stuck on some things because we were working backwards.

The 1900s scene is on the automobile and the first one made or close to first made called the Model T by Henry Ford. It then goes onto a scene where we talk about Titanic and have newspaper advertisments. We are yet to work on the rest and Maddi, Jess and I miss tomorrow’s class as we are in fact on an excursion but we are making up for it on Wed afternoon by having an afterschool rehearsal where hopefully we will work our bums off.

We also need to start looking at the stagecraft elements, dramatic elements and expressive skills and incorporating them into what we are doing so that we don’t leave all that type of thing until the end and then start stressing about it.

~*~

Just like to say a massive congratulations to the girls who did creative arts and especially to the ensemble group who performed and did an excellent job and highly entertained the audience and to Jess for her fabulous MCing and Jac for her beautiful singing of Sometimes and Jess and Jac for Cause of Distraction. Brilliant performance guys!!

Cheers,

Music: Sweet Dreams/Hell Outro - Marilyn Manson

Music: Life is a Highway - Rascall Flatts.

Ok. To start off, I would just like to say I am totally screwed, in everything at the moment. I am forgetting things I shouldn’t and feel so bad about it (i am SOOOOO SORRY ms lewis!!!!!!!!!) and I don’t sleep and I’m feeling sick, and i’m stressed about EVERYTHING. So if this is brief or bad…

Well Tuesday’s class wasn’t very productive because we are struggling to get things done and get them the way that we want them. We are having MASSIVE MAJOR problems with comic everything and considering the four of us are sick and just blah at the moment we aren’t coming up with anything and that makes us even more stressed which then makes us worried and sicker. So it’s a LOVELY little circle at the moment.

We also haven’t even begun to look at the dramatic elements to put in or expressive skills, but we do stagecraft as we go in each scene.

The only bonus that has been working for us in the group has been the scrapbook we have kept with everything about our ensemble in it including any jokes or lists of research. But the research doesn’t help us when we can’t come up with storylines that are funny.

Anyone with ideas for decade comic stuff for us would be appreciated.

Cutting it short.

Music: Baba O’Reilly - The Who. 

Music: Wait… its a change over… No More Sorrow - Linkin Park. Off their new album. So different but so good…

Moving on.

I was reading Maddi’s post just before and yes there are some aspects of what she was saying that I do agree with. Sorry I haven’t been there for one of the lessons. It was Tuesday and literally couldn’t drag myself out of bed except for the doctors appt that I had. But if I had been well enough I would have come.

I did hear that some things were done in Tuesday’s lesson which progressed some of the scenes that needed tightening of such. Which was good in a way, but it was also said to have been quite an unproductive lesson from the word that I heard… (De La A.P is NOT drama Jess and Leah!) It would have been better if maybe some more scenes had been done on Tuesday but what will be will be. So we move onto today (Thursdays) lesson.

Alright, we were missing Leah today, which was a shame as she was sick and couldn’t be with us and rehearse with us before we show Cashy what we have in order to even have a chance at Creative Arts.

We managed to come to some small conclusions, after quite a while. We came to the conclusion that Maddi can’t play a guy … shes just too much of an English woman. So proper. Haha, and she acknowledges that too. And that Jess may need to not be in the 1960s scene as to allow her to be in earlier scenes and balance out the distribution of the scenes.

Maddi and I stayed in the drama rooms at lunchtime to rehearse and organise our script and such. I was feeling awful by this stage… I was sick, leave me alone.
But we sort of sorted a little bit of stuff out and came to some conclusions about some stuff.

Hopefully we will get some work done early in tomorrow’s class and tighten some stuff so that Cashy can be impressed by us. haha. sorry…

We have rough ideas for the 50s, 40s, 30s and 20s now which works. But we’ll see what Jess and Leah think of what Maddi and I have discussed and come up with and take it from there.

Cheers

Music: Last Train Home - Lost Prophets.

Music: Simple Design - Breaking Benjamin.

Sorry about the lack of posts this last week. Usually I am better than this but I worked Wed, Thurs nights and I’m really sick, i feel like I’m coughing up my lungs at the moment,  so mum cracks it when I’m on the computer. You know what mother’s are like.

Anyway, we have made quite a bit of progression in the last two lessons for our ensemble. I love it, I just hope that it is funny enough as the criteria asks for.

We have now managed to complete 4 out of 9 scenes. And our 5 scene is pretty much getting there, just needs to be majorly tweaked and put with movement and such and it will be good. So we have been working backwards actually, we began with our 2000s scene and have completed (without perfecting them yet) the 2000s, 1990s, 1980s and 1970’s and we have been working on the 1960s which will hopefully be good and funny.

We are yet to focus on any of the expressive skills or dramatic elements, so we will eventually begin for work these into our performance once we have gotten the script and scenes down to what we want them to be like and then we can enhance it all.

Sorry, short post. I can’t be bothered typing much. Sorry if it’s not up to standard.

Cheers,

Music: The Mile - Dead Letter Circus

Music: I don’t know… let me check… I know its Incubus - Out From Under.

Alright. So we have finally begun to work on our Ensembles which is good because it will help us to use a range of dramatic elements, and expressive skills in a different way and working with people rather than in a solo where it is on your own.

So I am in a group with awesome people. Maddi, Boxy and Leah. And we are all pretty disverse in our acting abilities and strengths so that will be a massive bonus for when it come down to impro and script work, as some of us a comic and some dramatic.

We have a theme of Technological Revolution (Cashy I better not have to say that at any time… I can barely type it without feeling fatigued after. Although I learnt a big word today… 8 syllables. Institutionalisation. And NO it was not in reference to my mental health either…)

After having an inital idea of contrasting the 1920s with present day Tech Rev, we realised we wouldn’t be able to come up with a strong enough plot and so we talked to Cashy who helped us and now I think we plan to have the contrast between the different decades of Tech Rev. Eg. 1920s = Airplanes.

We are still researching at this stage, but next lesson we already have a few ideas that we can start to work with and impro and script and work to get a comic (as it has to be) interpretation of the theme.

Anyway. Best be off…

Can’t wait to get really into it.

Cheers,

Music: Bling - The Killers.

Music: Behind Blue Eyes - Limp Bizkit. (Wow, old school)

Today were the final two performances for our solos. Both girls did a lovely job at their own personal portrayal.

Jacqui: I loved the concept of New Mother. It was a talented piece of script which you were able to emphasis with the pauses. The silence also created tension and there was a lot of contrast between your character at home and when she was around other people. All up, a very well done performance.
I don’t know why you were worrying before hun!

Chloe: A classic example of a nerd. You use of script was good in the emphasis you made of the differences that occur within a nerd life. Your character transitions were good but occasionally I had to think about who you were, but I did understand them. You did a good job. Well done.

I would write more about it all, but its midnight. I’ve had a very draining day (physically and emotionally) and I should go to bed. AND I’m working tomorrow. Brilliant…

Cheers,

Music: Consequence - The Butterfly Effect.

Music: Wanted Dead of Alive - Bon Jovi (oh this song remind me of ryan. =(  )

Well done to everyone that performed yesterday (Tuesday). They were entertaining and quite well done. Who was first… oh thats right… it all come back.

Tara: A very well done portrayal of a vegan. Your character transitions were well done and your script was detailed so that your character was understandable and the storyline carried your character.

Felicity: A portrayal of a hippie I haven’t ever seen before. Your used costume and props very well to emphasise what you were trying to get across. Interesting, and slightly risky, use of technology but in the end it worked for you.

Laura: Haha, I liked it. I didn’t know what a street urchant (is that even what you did… i think it was…) was until you performed. Your detailed script and use of character transformations and expressive skills allowed your character to grow.

Adri: A novel in the making. A very well done performance of band geek. You’re use of props and costume was well done and I thought your use of the recorder was brilliant. Hehe. Some very well written and creative thought about script.

I’m spent.
I just worked, and yeah… limping around work is annoying.

Cheers,

Music: Lonely Day - System of a Down

Music: Imprint - DoubleDrive

Alright, so Thursday was the day that we performed our solos. Well, some of us did. And they were all done amazingly and I congratulate all the girls on the effort that went into them and the fantastic use of the (chosen) 12 dramatic elements and expressive skills and stagecraft elements that were seen throughout.

Perko: A wog. Classic and done fantastically well. You kept your focus really well and showed a great skill in the comedic fashion while still managing to hold the focus even when people were wetting themselves laughing. You script was detailed and allowed for your character to grow.

Maddi: A very realistic version of a nerd with a very skilled ability to enhance the performance with non-naturalistic techniques. Your use of contrast aided the performance and gave Albert and his story depth and detail.

Boxy: You really portrayed a teenybopper the right way. Loved the dancing scenes which brought a comedic and light hearted feeling to the performance.

Nadia: A very well played greaser. You used the dramatic elements well to enhance the performance and engage the audience. You were amazing in your ability to change between characters. You had the most effective and brilliant symbol. I loved it.

Leah: Cheerleaders were totally stereotyped in yours and it was incredibly effective. A bit disappointed that you didn’t end up doing your cartwheel but your movement, use of space and timing were well done and enhanced your cheerleader position.

Merca: Your bogan persona was incredibly effective and you used comedic timing and use of language and detail within your script to build an awesome performance. You seriously were too good a bogan not to be Australian.

…Me…
Hmm, well personally I didn’t feel as if I hit the target of what I wanted to achieve in the end. When I was on stage I felt as though the performance was very short and something was missing, I just can’t pick what it is… or was. So metalhead was indeed a hard subculture to portray and while when I practiced in my room, or kitchen, or toilet, or rumpus, or frontyard, it seems that I was covered all the criteria but I still feel as though I missed something. That and I still believe that my performance was amatuerish. (but then again… that conclusion was after watching top class and top acts from last year)
But I tried my utter best with it and what will come out of it, will come out of it.

So, away from year 11 solos now.

Friday and Sat, we went to Top Class to see the three sessions (11am and 2pm and 11am) of the drama students that received full marks on their solo performance and then got through the audition to get to top class, blah blah everyone probably knows that already.

We were told that it would freak us all out. It hasn’t really freaked me out, its just made me kinda go… I need to work my butt of to get to even half of what those people were able to achieve in their solo. So hopefully it will give me motivation rather than make me run in the opposite direction.

They were absolutely amazing performances. There were some people whose characters I didn’t understand or I didn’t like the way they did the performance but they obviously covered everything that they needed to in order to get full marks so I watched happily. They used their props so well and covered all the dramatic elements they need to, plus more and so their solos were so brilliant. Some of them were hilarious and really provided a great comic relief.

Genelle did so well. Even though the audience was clapping in the middle of her performance because of one of her lines, she never lost her focus and continued brilliantly.
And, I’m spent.

Cheers