Welcome to the blog, Fall 2012 Drama I!
As I mentioned in class, you should make every effort to keep your information on here limited - no last names, and no identifying information.
You should be able to reply to a post without having to sign in (choose the "anonymous" feature), but be sure to include your name at the beginning or end of the reply.
All blog replies should be in complete sentences and should demonstrate your ability to write clearly and thoughtfully. This is a great place to work on your skills of analysis, evaluation, and communication, as well as a place for you to apply new knowledge.
And now for your first assignment!
After reviewing the National Standards for Theatre Education, explain one skill that you wish to work on and explain why. Describe at least two activities that might help you develop that skill, and explain why those activities would be helpful.
I would like to work on developing my acting skill because creating characters or personas seems like a cool skill to have. Two activities that would be helpful in developing this skill would be ensemble work and improv. Ensemble would be helpful because through acting out movies or the like in a limited period of time could mean playing different characters at the same time. Improv encourages thinking on ones feet and doing a wide variety of things from word games to guessing games but in a theatrical way.
ReplyDelete-Logan
Hi Logan,
DeleteThanks for your thoughtful reply, which definitely correlates to one of our National Standards. As you know, we'll get to work on both ensemble and improv this semester, so you will definitely get to hone this skill!
One skill that I would like to work on would be script writing because I think the people behind the scenes that help put everything together don't get enough recognition for there awesome work. Two activities that would help would be to go over previous scripts and analyze them for the style used and how the characters were depicted; another activity that would help would be to read different style scripts like those written in different time periods and such because that would give another good perspective of writing styles.
ReplyDeleteTory<3
Hi Tory,
DeleteYou will get do a some minor scriptwriting this semester and there will be more in Drama 2. If you can't wait, let me know and I have a couple of great books you can borrow and peruse!
I would like to work on my confidence and being more outgoing so that I can become a better actress. I have always wanted to be involved in the drama department and I am so glad that I finally am!
ReplyDelete-Devon
Hi Devon,
DeleteThis class will certainly help you with that and we're so glad to have you in the department! What I'd love to know is what skill on the Standards handout would you like to work on (which may relate to what you've written here), and what are two activities that you think will help develop that skill . . .
Thanks!
One of the skills that I would like to work on is character development. It's important because even though you may have a minor role, you could have a very stong character that could pull the play together. Also, if you play the same character every time, or hardly any character at all, it makes your character dull and boring. Every character is like another piece of the puzzle to the play, without a stong one, the play is not complete. A couple activities to help me develop this skill are improv and analyzing my script. Improv is a good activity for this, because you are forced to fully develop a character in a very short period of time. Even if you are halfway through, and you have your character all planned out, out of nowhere someone could say something and change the plot of the story, and your once strongly developed character is back to a zero.(Which is both fun and irritating!) Plus, you never are limited to just one character, whenever you are engaged in a new "theme" your persona is completley rearranged. Having to make up a character on the spot makes developing a full on character over a longer period of time much easier! Also, another good activity, (well, activity more or less,) is really paying attencion and reading through the script of the play or scene that you are in. Analyzing the stage directions and interpereting them in your own way can really help make your character more interesting. Something as simple as holding your head up or fiddleing with your hands while crossing over to center stage could develop your character.
ReplyDeleteClaire Bear :) :) :)
Claire,
DeleteHave you taken my class before? You make a lot of excellent points that we will discuss more in this semester and next semester's Drama 2 work (which is the acting intensive focusing on methods of Sanford Meisner and Uta Hagan). You are absolutely correct that being in the moment and having to respond to someone on stage can blow your preconceived notions of character out of the water - and that it is FUN! It's scary but exhilirating to know who your character is, know what you have to say, but to go out on stage each night and react in the moment trying new tactics (which reveal character) to get your objective.
Thanks for your very thoughtful reply!
Um... i dont know
ReplyDeleteDear I don't know -
DeleteCome see me and we can go over the assignment to help you out!
One skill that I would like to work on this semester is creating a character. Whenever I do it, I tend to add to many overarching details that often conflict with one another. I would really like to learn how to build a solid character from the ground up. An activity that I think would help is improv. In improv, if a ridiculous amount of detail is added, especially if those details conflict, it leaves an actor or actress floundering. This might help me to simplify the characters that I create. Another activity that may help is just creating a character, writing a short backstory, and sharing it with the class. Critique and feedback would be given by the class as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI'm really looking forward to this class and learning more about acting!
-Jean
I would like to work on researching culturul and historical information. I think that knowing acting techniques from older plays would be helpful to applying them in acting today. Two activities that would be helpful are: reading older plays plus pinpointing the character development along with other skills. Understanding older pieces of work will be contsructive to building characters. Reading through other plays and different characters would be beneficial to mastering character motivation. Learning from history helps us to move forward into the future.
Delete-Calista
Hi Jean,
DeleteIt looks like Calista put her reply as a reply to yours so I can address both of you at this time . . .
Jean - What you talk about is a common problem that actors have. We spend a lot of time in our heads coming up with elaborate backgrounds and all sorts of interesting stuff, but the problem occurs when we walk on stage and try to execute all of that. Often, an actor will indicate some of that inner obstacle or background. This where going after objective and having tactics can be helpful. You choose your objective and your tactics based on all of that character you create, and then all you have to worry about is executing those tactics, which will reveal your character to the audience without you having to indicate it.
Of course, if you're speaking more from a writing perspective, this applies but not quite as much . . .
Calista,
DeleteI love that you are interested in the cultural and historical context of theatre and how you can use that knowledge/awareness to grow. Without a doubt, the more we understand about others' experiences and pasts can help us grow as individuals, which will help us grow as actors. One thing you might want to start looking into (because we won't have time to cover it in class) is theatre from other cultures, such as Noh and Kabuki from Japan, which provide a fascinating insight into their cultures and their people.
Well, i would love to work on my cofidence, i am not very good at getting in front of an audiance and speaking. I think some activities that would help me is some talking around big groups and maybe some skits, becoming familiar with the class and some stuff like that.
ReplyDelete-j. king.
Hi J -
DeletePlease delete this post and repost using only your first name, and no last initial.
I like your ideas, but unfortunately they don't address the prompt, which is to discuss one of our skills from the National Standards handout and activities that would help you develop that skill.
Last but not least, please proofread your reply and use proper punctuation, etc. This is a great opportunity to work on your writing skills!
I, personally, would love to get used to being infront of people. I don't have the comfort on the spot like other people. In groups i am fine, but once we get to a crowd i loose all sense. I begin to get shy and quiet. This year i will face my fears and stand out
ReplyDelete- Grace
Hi Grace,
DeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts. I would love it if you could broaden your response to address a skill on the National Standards handout, and also if you could be careful about proofreading your reply for punctuation and writing style, etc. This is a great place to work on academic writing skills!
Thanks.
I would personaly like to work on being confident infront of a crowd. I would love trying to be a charcter and work on getting that charcter as best as i can. some activitys that would help me be able to do this would be having an assigned character to try to work on, to help me be a confident actress in the theater world. I enjoyed writting and practicing the play on friday i wish i had a little more time.
ReplyDelete-L.Hilton
Hi L,
DeleteI'm going to just copy what I wrote to J . . .
Please delete this post and repost using only your first name, and no last initial.
I like your ideas, but unfortunately they don't address the prompt, which is to discuss one of our skills from the National Standards handout and activities that would help you develop that skill.
Last but not least, please proofread your reply for spelling, fluency, and use proper punctuation, etc. This is a great opportunity to work on your writing skills!
One thing I would like to work on is my acting. I feel that I can act without being cheesy, however I would like to feel more confident in front of large crowds with the role I am playing. I believe that doing more of those skits that we did on Friday would help me overcome this. Also maybe some improv.
ReplyDelete-Hannah
I would like to work on my play writing,and naturally, my acting. I find, that an activity in which we all write one-act plays would educate the class in the importance on natural dialogue.
ReplyDelete-Collin
This semester, I would like to learn the professional terms and ways to do everything when it comes to theater. I have taken part in many productions before and had large roles but the director was very casual. I know that there is a more professional way to do things and I would like to be exposed to that in case I participate in productions when I am older.
ReplyDelete-Mikaela
This semester, I would like to learn to incorporate dancing into theater as described in content standard 6. I have been a dancer for many years and these past 3 years I was involved in many plays, but I never really had a chance to perform both skills at once. I love both and I believe that, when performed together, they enhance each other really well.
Delete-Mikaela
I would love to work on my speaking skills. I hope this year I'll achieve to be able to speak confidently in front of a crowd of people. I want to be comfortable with whatever I'm doing. And also work on my acting, imagination and my creativity.
ReplyDelete-Ralf
I would like to work on being confident when i am performing on stage. I would like to work on pronouncing my words so that everyone is able to hear and understand me and not stutter. I think that exercises where you speak clear and loudly infront of an audience would help this. Also i think that Improv, such as making up words on the spot would help with being conferrable on stage.
ReplyDelete-Peyton M.
i wish to work on performing on stage. i also wish to be more comfortable being who i am in a group.that's why i believe working in a group will help me bring out my personality. plus performing in front of the class will help my stage fright :)
ReplyDelete- Anna
this year i would like to work on stage work. i love being on stage but some times its overwhelming. i would also like to work on working with other people im very out going but am not that good at working in a group.
ReplyDelete-belle
this year i would like to work on stage work i think this would be content standard #2 i would like to do this because i love being on stage and would like to be the best i can at it
Delete-belle
This year I would like to work on acting on stage and out in front of people. I am shy to talk to infront of a large group of people. I hope to achieve this goal by having multiple oppurtunities to speak in front of peole and grow out of my public speaking fear. I think a activity that will hep]lp me is improv, because it'll give me a chance to get up in front and speak in front of the class
ReplyDelete- Kelli N.
Kelli this is a friend reminding you to just put your first name.
DeleteI would love to work on my writing skills because I do a lot of stand up comedy work and I would like to learn how to make things seem less choppy. Something I can do to achieve this is to maybe be given a topic and write a script or monologue on it and read it aloud to the class. By doing this I would not only have to write a script of some sort but I would have to share it and take mental notes of what my audience does. Another activitie I could do is write a script with a group that way I can take in and be inspired by other peoples ideas.
ReplyDelete-Skylar
Dear Ms. Peoples,
ReplyDeleteThis year I am anxious to learn about traditional theatre, and how it has changed over the years(Content Standard 5). I would like to learn about this because I find the evolution of theatre interesting. I feel that knowing how people enjoyed acting in the past can help me to better understand and enjoy theatre today. It is interesting to me how things have changed, and how some things have left the theatre experience. I think that studying the Greek theatre in class and writing the papers will help me to grasp why theatre is the way it is. Personal research will also help me as I explore these topics.
I am hoping through this class, to learn new things about past and present dramatic styles, and get a feel for what it is like to be an actor. I am grateful for this oppritunity that I have been given and I hope it all works out. Thank you for everything you have done!
-Chara
One of the skills I would like to perfect this year is the ability to syncronize/integrate dancing with traditional theater because my footwork isn't the greatest and it would help improve my performance in the "Fiddler on the roof" musical. Two activities that would help develop this skill would be exercising (to help build my strength and stamina) and something that involves hand-eye coordination (to improve my technique while dancing).
ReplyDelete-Yours truly, Brandon
I would like to imoprove my improvising and slow down my speech when in front of larger groups because I've been told that they are my weak points. Anything could help slow down my speech and making up a monologue or a similar article could helo with my improvising. Elena.
ReplyDeleteHi Elena,
DeleteThis is a nice start - I would love to see you further develop how you could improve your Content Standard One "script writing thorugh improvising" by writing monologues. One idea might be to write a series of monologues from different characters' points of view regarding the same incident they observed.
On a nitpicky note, please take a look at the prompt again: I'm asking for one skill, and two ideas. Your reply has two different skills with one idea each. Again, very nitpicky but I find these are the types of details I used to skim over that would lead me to write an essay answering the wrong question.
I would like to work on immersing myself in the role thatI'm given. I think that I often think too much about whether I will forget my lines or mess up while I should focus on how to portray what the character is truly like. I could be showing what the character feels and thinks instead. And as I do this, I can overcome the any stage fright or shyness that I have and just throw myself into the role. Thinking about me playing the character and not really being the character is something to work on. An obvious way to improve on this, of course, is improv. Being abruptly thrown into a storyline will make my acting better each time I try. Another way of improving would be to practice thinking about what the character would be thinking and feel the emotions they do. I would spend a lot of time trying to get into character instead of thinking about it from a removed perspective. With this, I can be a better actress. --Catriona
ReplyDeleteRe-post.
ReplyDeleteI would like to work on comparing and integrating art forms (standard 6). I feel that when you compare or integrate what you are learning about, it helps you more to get into what you are doing, or the role you are playing. Also, It is always a good thing to understand what you are going into (this being theater) and so by comparing and integrating we would be able to understand more about the styles of theater. I think two activities that may help would be doing some sort of research paper, or doing a group learning time about some theater forms.
-Hannah
I would like to work on my speaking skills. I get nervous speaking in front of others and hope to overcome this. Ensemble is helpful to me because it encourages me to speak up in front of others. Improv encourages quick thinking and new ideas to present to others and I would like to use it to me advantage.
ReplyDelete-Haley
I honestly wish to improve my speech. I often stutter or get toung-tied for no specific reason. Hopefully preforming onstage will be me rid of this problem.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I simply hope to improve myself as an preformer as well as a person.
-Grant H.
I would like to improve my public audience speaking. With my group of friends, I am very comfortable with saying whatever is on my mind, or really doing anything in front of them. However, in class, whether I'm giving a speech, presenting a book report, performing a skit, etc., I get extremely nervous and my hands start to shake and my voice quivers. I'd like to improve that by getting more comfortable in front of the audience.
ReplyDelete-Rhiannon N.