Acting for screen
PROJECT BRIEF
For this section of our B4 unit, we looked at the technique of naturalism and its importance in screen acting. Through this technique i could learn how to adapt my performance to become suitable for screen acting. I also looked at the importance of characterization and the impact this has on my future performances.
I researched a script "Unspoken Truths, which was a short scene between two characters Emma and Adam. We were only given the script and a short description of the character. My character of Emma was vulnerable, concerned and anxious. I learnt this when analyzing the script and the dynamic between the characters, which helped to create a better performance for my audience. After familiarizing myself with my character and using various techniques to become her, I was asked to produce a short duologue scene.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
As mentioned before, my character is very hyper-independent. I relate to my character hugely as I would say I'm a very determined and independent person. To sophistically develop my character I had to use my emotional memories of times where I was under pressure. Using these memories I was able to incorporate those reactions and response into the character of Emma.
I analysed my script to help me gain a better understanding of the dialogue. For example, the phrase "You're immensely talented" shows that Adam is a reassuring friend who is worried about his friend which gave me an emotion to bounce off.. Another example of my script analysis was when Adam said "How's it going?" which helped set the tone for the scene and gave me a better understanding of my own characters emotional state.
Within screen acting, there are many genres and styles of entertainment, such as dramatization, comedy, soaps, sci-fi and romance. Depending on the style this effects our performance, for example, if I was acting in a romance, id must open myself to playing feelings of vulnerability, infatuation and sexual tension. To do this I used my emotion memory alongside improvisation. I learnt to adapt myself to my character’s objectives to create a naturalistic performance.
I also looked at the different stages of film production and roles and responsibilities on set. The five stages are development, pre-production, production, post-production and distribution. Some roles work more within a specific stage of film production for example, makeup artists would work through pre-production and production whereas a director would work in development, pre-production, production and a little in post-production. It was important to learn about the different roles on set as this ensures team cohesion and a guided workflow. I studied some terminologies on set such as “quiet on set”, “rolling”, “standby” which I didn’t know before. This gave me insight into what happens behind the camera and helped me to understand my cues as an actor.
I would say that all my new knowledge allows me to incorporate and critique my performance. Now that I know the different responsibilities and roles on set, I can understand the importance of how my role plays hand in hand with the others but also how I can ensure that my performance is at its very best by using different techniques to bring my character to life.
SCREEN ACTING WORKSHOP LOG
CONVENTIONS AND TECHNIQUES USED IN REHEARSAL
When approaching rehearsals, I started of by reading through my script and making notes on on my characters objectives and given circumstances. This helped me to visualize my characters responses including facial expressions and body language. I discovered my character had depth. Emma was not only passionate but also emotive and dependable. I used Stanislavski's questions, especially "What do you want?". This technique worked really well for me as it helped me visualize my surrounding and my objectives. I also tried other methods such as hot seating, where I put myself into the character and answered questions as the character. Another was dog/fish where we replaced the dialogue with the words "dog" and "fish" which helped me with the emotions and connecting with the characters needs. The Hagen method interlinked with Stanislavski's questions and I was able to incorporate the two methods into my work, allowing me to have a emotionally effective performance.
FINAL SUBMISSON AND REFLECTION
Evaluative Reflection
Last week I completed my first B4 performance skills project. Overall, I found that it went well. At first, I was nervous because it was my first assessment as BOA so I was worried that I would mess up my acting or that I would forget my lines. However, it turned out completely the opposite way. I worked well with my partner, and I was able to get into character well. I also found that the techniques I used for my character preparation worked very well for me.
Some of the highlights include the emotional effect on the audience. Through Stanislavski's questions I was able to portray my concern and love through facial expressions and body language. Uta Hagens questions, in particular "What surrounds me?" supported me in my reactions with things other than my scene partner.
One of the main things that helped me a lot was using emotional memory. This was one out of the three-character preparation techniques we used. This was helpful to me as I felt like I could connect to the characters emotions better by thinking of a time, I felt a similar emotion. The other technique we used was objectives. We asked ourselves questions such as ‘what do I want’ and ‘how do I feel and answered hem as if we were our characters. This really helped us put ourselves into our characters shoes. I remembered to focus on all different aspects of my performance, specifically my vocal, facial and bodily language. For example, at 00:52, you can see that I shrug my shoulders - I felt that this was a very natural action to show how my character is feeling devastated and exhausted. At 01:10 I used my facial expressions to portray vulnerability and desperation for help. The eye contact with my partner helps to reinforce this. Vocally I remembered to use pauses and manipulate my volume to show her nervousness and inner loneliness - this is evident at 01:44. Overall, I thought our choice of character preparation techniques was an advantage and helped me and my partner not only connect to our characters but also with each other.
Although I felt our performance went better than expected there was an obstacle I faced. During our recording I had forgotten one of my lines. I knew all my lines and I was confident in them, but I got nervous, and I almost froze for a second. Luckily, I was able to overcome this weakness quickly by improvising. As I was so indulged in the scene, I just said what I thought my character would say. By doing this, it kept the flow of the scene going and my partner responded quickly enough to make it seem natural and realistic.
Based on our final piece, I’d say my partner and I used the conventions successfully. We used the Meisner technique dominantly and we found that during rehearsal it helped us connect to the script and emotional shifts. However I think we could’ve improved our use of conventions by using a larger range of them and experimenting with new ones as it would let us try to become our characters in more than one way.