The Wardrobe Blog 3: Rehearsal updates and The System (Updated)

Scene 5:

Further developments:

The scene is getting better each time we rehearse it but unfortunately due to finding out that we only have about 2 weeks until our show we have decided to go back to using English for the scene since it will be easier to learn. While this is useful I feel that it will lose an interesting dynamic and some intrusive about what's actually going on but we do have to compromise. I mentioned this last week but we've made up our minds and even though we don't like it that much we have to in order to do the scene. We are getting better at remembering lines but for me it's more getting better at remembering the cues for my admittedly very few lines. The choreography is improving, it's getting more fluid and less awkward looking thanks to the help from students and just general practice. One example is my character getting out of the head lock at the beginning, that is looking much better than it started off.

Teamwork:

Like when other people who had spare time during our last rehearsal, mike helped us out with the choreography of the scene to help it flow and to help Chloe make it look like she was hurting me without actually doing it although this time it was a bit more helpful. He specifically showed her how to do the choke hold in the opening of the scene and he even gave advice to me such as wriggling to simulate a realistic struggle.

Strengths and weaknesses:

Strengths: I got a lot of rehearsal time with Chloe on scene 5 so this means we can developed it further and try and improve it. Quite a bit of this has been in class so students have helped or at least watched and it's been getting a lot of focus so it has improved massively because of this. Also when we got to show the scene to Karen when she was in and she loved it. She was very impressed and had little criticism of it but to be fair I think it was due to her having little time so we'll most likely show her again with her giving more criticism.

Weaknesses: Two weaknesses have been that since this scene has been getting the attention my other scenes haven't been getting much and though it's partially due to scheduling, it's still a downside to the rehearsals of the show in general for me. However the other weakness of the rehearsals this week has been due to Karen not being in and the class being somewhat unfocused. For example Sam was in and we hadn't practiced in ages and needed to do readings but he was with other people and whether or not they were working i don't know but he never seemed to want to work. this somewhat goes for the others as well besides Chloe because me and her practiced our scene a lot like I said. Another thing is that while we have been practicing lines and choreography quite a bit, we still haven't done much in terms of actually thinking about the characters themselves yet or at least I haven't and that's due to me not having many lines and prioritizing my other scenes in terms of character but I will give this character some focus at some point before the show.



Scene 9 and 12:

Problems and solutions:

My other groups have either been busy working with their other scenes or have been unfocused with in the time Karen has been away which to me is the problem but I can still benefit my self by doing scene 5 in class and simply rehearsing my lines in my free time so I'm still getting some work on the scenes done instead of just leaving them until Karen is back.





Last week we learned about Stanislavski's system, a series of techniques that actors use to help with naturalism in their performances so it can add believability to what they are doing. A few examples of the techniques are:

Emotional memory: This is where an actor will use a real life memory to create empathy for the character, put them in the characters shoes and try to express the emotion more realistically. So if they had to play sad, they would think of a sad memory to make them feel sad and they would display it. While this can work it's usually not recommended to do because it can back fire sometimes such as with the example i gave someone can get too upset which may distract them or if they have to change their emotion again it may be a lot harder to do.

Method of physical actions: This is about trying to express an emotion through a believable action. so to show anxiety or agitation you can simply pace up and down or rub your hands together or even twitch your fingers slightly. subtle and believable movements that reflect an emotion can go along way although you must still portray the emotion in your face otherwise using the elements separately doesn't work and can seem unnatural or just bad,

Subtext: This is trying to understand the intention or meaning of the script or even just specific lines. This can help understand how something should be portrayed or how a line should be said so that it doesn't contradict the message or intention of the writer.

The magic if: This is where the actor would imagine how they would react in a certain situation and apply it to the text or stimulus and try to get a somewhat realistic reaction out of themselves. This is similar to Emotional memory but you're making it up instead of remembering it. So if you have to be sad you would act sad due to sympathy and not empathy so while it may be somewhat less effective depending on the person it';s generally a lot safer.

Objective: This is where an actor considers what the character is trying to achieve in a scene or production. For example if the character has the objective of wanting to leave a room and the actor knows this then it will come across in the performance because while they're talking to another character they could be adding some subtle movements showing that they want to leave and it'll stick easier because they've thought about this. For example my character in scene 12 has the objective of wanting to get his out of the wardrobe and so he initially wants to get out of the as quick as possible so he may lean towards the door, act with energy or just look in a rush until he starts to want to help his his friend then his objective changes to wanting to help or comfort him so he may seem more relaxed or speaking more softly to seem comforting.

Considering these things can really help develop a character into acting as naturally as possible. This will make them believable and sell any emotion portrayed in it if done correctly.