Final Review Outlinegradshowcase.academyart.edu/content/dam/Grad Showcase/School… · Acting...
Transcript of Final Review Outlinegradshowcase.academyart.edu/content/dam/Grad Showcase/School… · Acting...
Joanna Mills Academy of Art University MFA Candidate in the School of Acting Final Review Book April 30th, 2015, 3 PM
Table of Contents
Cover Letter and Autobiography ........................................................................................ 1
Self-‐Critique ............................................................................................................................... 3
Business Card ............................................................................................................................ 4
Resume ........................................................................................................................................ 5
Headshot ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Poster for “A Long Distance Love” ............................................................................................... 7
Publicity Shots for “Forever/360” ............................................................................................... 8
Final Project Concept ............................................................................................................. 9
Theme ................................................................................................................................................... 9
Development and Artistic Influences ......................................................................................... 9
Challenges ............................................................................................................................................ 9
Acting Reel ............................................................................................................................... 11
Marketing Plan ....................................................................................................................... 13
AAU Events ............................................................................................................................... 14
Proofreader ............................................................................................................................. 14
Directed Study Journals ...................................................................................................... 15
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Cover Letter and Autobiography My name is Joanna Mills. I am a 24-‐year-‐old woman originally from New
Boston, Illinois. Growing up in such a small town, I did not have a lot of exposure to the arts. The little experiences I had performing, including singing in church and performing in my high school musicals, as well as some advice from my father that I should, “do something [I’m] passionate about; something [I’ll] enjoy getting up each day to go to work and do”, he convinced me that acting was my passion and I would do anything I could to be the best actor I could be.
My parents were definitely nervous when I told them my career goals, but they have always been wonderfully supportive. They even allowed me to attend a 3-‐week acting for film course in New York City with the School of Cinema and Performing Arts (SOCAPA), connected with Long Beach University when I was 16. This was definitely an eye opener to so many different ideas about acting and art in general to which I had never been exposed. It only strengthened my desire to learn more. However, it did convince me that I wanted to go to college a little closer to home.
I went to Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota for my undergraduate program where I received my Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts with an emphasis on performance, and a minor in Dance. It was through this program that I was fortunate enough to study abroad in London with the Rose Bruford College for a semester as well as attend a 2-‐week intensive study at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland, under the direction of Patrick Sutton. Immersed in so much theatre, I was incredibly inspired. We were even fortunate enough to be able to put on a production in London and then tour it to Dublin as well. It was a great taste of what a touring show might feel like as well as learning to rehearse in a different space and only getting to rehearse in the final space perhaps a few days before opening.
As graduation approached, we began thinking about where we would go and what we would do with the rest of our lives. I felt like I had so much left to learn that I was afraid of settling down in one area with no knowledge of how I was going to make it. I decided to audition at URTAs in Chicago and found out about Academy of Art University. With a possibility to go back to school and continue to grow, specifically in performance, I jumped at the chance to continue my education.
In my time at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, I have been exposed to many different things in my work towards a Master of Fine Arts in Acting. Through this program I have been exposed to many new techniques with which I was only vaguely familiar. From Meisner and Alexander work to the actual process of working on a real film set and learning about all the work it takes to do voice over, this program has truly helped me grow as an actor as well as an individual person. I have not only learned more techniques and tools to use, but also have learned more about myself and how I tick.
For 3 years, I had teachers telling me to try not to be so perfect and be ok with messing up or to make a strong choice, even if it was wrong. I have in no way mastered this, but I feel that I have definitely taken huge steps forward in this area. And without my voice over class with Elaine Clark, I may not have ever realized how
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much I do enjoy that portion of acting and the freedom it gives me to choose where I will live instead of having to settle down in a big city. It is more difficult than I expected, but it is a lot of fun and I can’t wait to do more of that work in the future.
I also truly enjoyed my voice and speech classes with Rebecca DuMaine Miller. Getting to learn about the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) was like diagraming sentences when I was in 5th grade all over again, it was so much fun! And our accent work was probably one of my favorite things in all 3 years. I love working with accents. Applying our IPA knowledge to the learning of accents has actually come in handy in helping out some friends back home as they were learning Southern dialects for a play.
I enjoy performing in all aspects. I love the opportunity to dance and sing in musicals, the pain you can feel and elicit in dramas, and the laughter you can produce in comedies. I find comedies more difficult, as so many performers will agree, but other than the added difficulty I still enjoy the challenge. When it works, the ultimate payoff of knowing an audience has found amusement in it is incredibly rewarding.
By the time I graduate I will have a full demo reel to send to agents, as well as a voice over demo that Elaine and I will have put together. If there were anything I would change about my thesis it would probably be time management. If I had been able to get my scenes performed sooner in class, I would have been able to go over all of my scenes for my demo and get everything turned in earlier. I would have felt more confident and less stressed about the entire ordeal of making a demo reel. My next goals are to move home and start the process of finding an agent, work, and to take more classes to continue learning since everyone has their own style and concept of what works. It is interesting to see what resonates and what doesn’t for me. I would also like to get back into dance since I have not had as much opportunity to keep up that portion of my life the past three years.
My plan right now after graduation is to move back to the Quad Cities area of Illinois/Iowa. I’m hoping to do voice over and theatre in the area while working to get an agent in Chicago, who would send me voice over work and any day player, film, or commercial work they may find for me. It is only a 3 hour drive to Chicago from the Quad Cities, so it should be easy enough to get up there for auditions and work with a little notice. I also have the opportunity to find work in a wide radius, as the Quad Cities are centrally located between Chicago, Illinois and Des Moines, Iowa; and St. Louis, Missouri and the Twin Cities, Minnesota. And the added benefit of voice over work is that I can look for other voice over agents in New York or Los Angeles and still be located closer to family in the Mid West. Hopefully in 10 years I can have at least 1 agent and have the ability to be paying my bills through acting as my sole job. I would also like to be a member of SAG/AFTRA by that time and hopefully, consistantly working with the freedom to choose the projects on which I will be dedicating my time.
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Self-‐CritiquePrior to entering this program, I had a base knowledge of several acting
technics, though mostly focused on Stanislavski’s method. I was able to psychologically get into the idea of the character and their words. I was also relatively good at hearing and mimicking accents and dialogues. However, I found myself getting hung up on trying to be perfect or right; trying to show the director or professor exactly what I hoped they wanted to see. I knew that I was comfortable with my body in dance, but I felt disconnected from it in my acting. I wanted to learn how to bring the ideas of the character together with the body so that I would be able to think, feel, and move completely as each of the characters I would get to play. Also, I knew that I could listen and respond to what the other character was saying, but after a few weeks of rehearsals, I would find myself drifting during a monologue or long period where I was not required to “show” a reaction to what was being said. I wanted to learn how to stay present in every moment that I was onstage.
During my time at Academy of Art University, I have definitely seen and felt myself grow as an actor. My first year here, my constant note from all of my teachers was that I was trying too hard to be “right” and “perfect”. Through Meisner I was able to find a wider range of emotions towards the anger and sadness side of my personality as well as to get into the habit of really listening to my partner. I loved learning about IPA and accents and just the feel of words and sounds from our Voice and Speech classes. Alexander helped me to see my body in a new light and gave me a way to more effectively use my instrument. Acting for Performance 1 really enforced for me the truth of doing the homework and how the emotions are not what drives the performance but are instead an effect from the performance. On the reverse side, Monologue Techniques helped me to tap into those emotions for certain pieces and bring them to the surface more readily. I loved getting to be exposed to more plays through Culture & Identity in Modern American Theatre and Play Reading & Script Analysis. It was actually a joy to be able to sit and think about a play in a more scholarly way than I had been practicing so far. It was very similar to what I had done in undergraduate, but with exposure to many new plays. My voice over class was an eye opener, but a pleasant one. It showed me how much more work goes into voice acting than I had originally thought, especially since we had to do our own editing. But it was surprisingly fun getting to learn how to do all the technical bits. And of course, part of the reason I chose AAU was the chance to learn about Acting for the Camera (1-‐3). All of the directors I had for class pushed me in different ways. Whether they were focused on the performance or the look of the whole scene, it gave me more experience as well as the ability to learn how to take different forms of direction.
From here, I know I still have things to improve. I need to make sure I’m doing what I’ve learned and making sure I’m listening and responding truthfully. I need to continue to breathe through any emotions that pop up so as not to hold onto them and become flat. I would also like to keep taking voice over classes and expand my versatility in that field. Vocal coaching and dance classes would be enjoyable as well, but not quite as critical, more in preparation for auditions or jobs.
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Joanna Mills Actor ! Dancer ! Singer ! Voice Over Artist
Height: 5’5” ! Eyes: Hazel ! Hair: Chestnut ! Voice: Mezzo
Film Broken Bonds Principal Independent Short Dir. Shuntien Jiang Valerie Principal Sapphire Films Dir. Dominic Stevenson A Constant Rehearsal Principal Independent Short Dir. Christian Ramos Forever/360 Principal Independent Short Dir. Christian Knight To Be A Big Liar Principal Academy of Art University Dir. Shuntien Jiang A Long Distance Relationship Principal Academy of Art University Dir. James Long We Own The Sky Principal Academy of Art University Dir. Dominic Stevenson
Theatre Hair Tribe Member/solos Academy of Art University Clark Houston Shrek Blind Mouse/various Countryside Community Theatre Christina Myatt 5 Women…Dress Mindy Academy of Art University Clark Houston Cinderella Dance Captain African American Shakespeare Co. L Peter Callender Les Misérables Fantine (US) Countryside Community Theatre David Turley Playboy…Western World Widow Quin Saint Mary’s University of MN Patrick Sutton 25th Annual…Spelling Bee Rona (US) Saint Mary’s University of MN Gary Diomandes Robin Hood Maid Marian Treasure Village Children’s Theatre Deborah Clark
Other Bundlematic Meltdown HumbleBee Academy of Art University Voice Over Wirefall Summer Academy of Art University Voice Over Le Corsaire Various Roles MN Conservatory for the Arts Dance Evening…Benny Goodman Jazz Piece MN Conservatory for the Arts Dance Nutcracker Party Parent MN Conservatory for the Arts Dance
Education/Training Academy of Art University, M.F.A. Acting Graduation Date-May 2015 San Francisco, CA Saint Mary’s University of MN, B.A. Theatre, Dance Minor Graduation Date-May 2012 Winona, MN Acting
School of Cinema and Performing Arts 3 week Acting for Film Coarse New York City, NY The Gaiety School of Acting (2 week Intensive) Patrick Sutton Dublin, Ireland Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance Tony James London, UK
Voice Voice One (voice over classes) Elaine Clark-1 year San Francisco, CA Private Voice (musical theatre) Judy Myers-2 years Winona, MN Private Voice (classical) Katie Matzke-1 year Winona, MN Private Voice (classical) Delene Mcconnaha-2 years Muscatine, IA
Dance Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts Ballet (4 years), Modern, Pointe (1 year) Winona, MN
Tap, Jazz, Musical Theatre (1 semester) Myrna Rae’s Studio of Dance Ballet (1 semester) Aledo, IL
Stage Combat Unarmed and Armed (2 semesters) Mike Speck Winona, MN
Special Skills Able to move each eye independently from the other; Musical Instruments (flute, guitar, piano); Horseback Riding (Western, English, jumping); Knowledge of basic power tools; Proficient and quick sewer (hand and machine); Dialects (British, Irish, Cockney, Southern, Russian, French)
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Final Project Concept Theme
The final review for Acting Majors is our demo reel. We have been working towards this goal for the last three years. I have been compiling film scenes since my first semester at Academy of Art. In our camera classes, I have tried to show a variety of genres and characters to give the most versatility in my demo reel. However, in scenes outside of class that I was asked to act in, I was most often cast as the attractive female love interest or the nice best friend. So my thought is that with my demo reel hopefully showing an ability to have an acting range, I will be able to obtain roles other than just the nice pretty girl or the sexy home-‐wrecker. But physically, that would probably be the niche in which I would most likely be stereotyped.
Development and Artistic Influences I was fortunate enough to have my scenes approved by the instructor. I would choose scenes to try and fulfill what I thought I was lacking in showcasing and Bruce, Warris, Diane, and our substitute professors would make suggestions based on their ideas of what they would like to see and what they thought worked as a good scene. I also had a few professionals in the industry look at a few of my scenes after my first semester in camera and commented that I was performing “too big” for the camera. So I worked to simplify my movements the next two semesters.
All of my instructors were incredibly helpful in my growth as an actor. But if I had to choose, I would say that Peter was probably the most significant in my acting development. We had him for our first two semesters and he really helped to set the foundation of my experiences here. Everyone else has added to the building blocks he helped to put in place. Meisner was incredibly difficult for me, but at the end of a full year of it, I could tell the difference and growth I had made. I have definitely grown since then and have developed with each class and professors’ instruction. But Peter helped open the door that has led to so many other discoveries while at this school.
For most of my on-‐camera work, there was not a great deal of rehearsals. We had occasional rehearsals outside of class and usually ran lines before the actual day of shooting in class, but in general there was not a lot of rehearsing for our film scenes. I think my level of confidence and ability to reach my goals has come from working with the group of talented actors I was able to call my classmates the last three years. We have all grown together and gone through these same experiences while in this program and know that we can count on each other to do the work and offer any help if one of us is having issues. So it all comes down to being able to trust your scene partner and classmates. Thankfully, our group of five was able to stick together for most of our time here and we were very comfortable together. This last semester has been shaken up a little with the early graduation of the boys, but it’s allowed me the experience of learning how to be comfortable with a new scene partner much quicker. However, when I did get the opportunity to have rehearsals for scenes I shot outside of class, it did help with that level of trust in the
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other actor. It gave me the opportunity to let go, relax, and have more fun; to trust in my foundation and craft, and work off of the other actor more. I think when I had the opportunity to do that, I definitely felt like I was able to more easily achieve my goals for myself in the scene.
Challenges Each scene you do is different and will present it’s own challenges to you. For me, my biggest challenge is in finding the truth and not trying to show you what I think the character should be feeling. I have no problem memorizing lines, choosing costume options and so on, but going deeper than just saying the lines like they sounded the first time I read them in my head is a challenge I continue to face. This is where my training has come into play. With the different techniques and approaches I have been taught over my educational career, I have a plethora of tools to use. The most difficult thing is deciding which tool works best for me in each project. For example, in doing one of my scenes where I had to play a character that is awakened from death and told she has about a minute left to stay alive, I was able to use a lot of the given circumstances the director and I worked out to find the emotional truth of what that really meant to me instead of simply playing the scene for laughs or being cute with the dialogue. It really helped me to feel more grounded and real when dealing with her lines.
It also helps that I have had some amazing directors with whom I have worked. Some have been more challenging to decipher what they were saying into a way that made sense to me so that I could translate it into an action or heightened circumstances. There have been a few student directors that were more difficult to work with and hard to put my trust in for the final product. But as a whole, I have worked with some very talented directors that have guided me towards their vision for the scene or film and I have been proud of the work we have created together.
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Acting Reel *ALL SCENES MAY NOT BE INCLUDED IN FINAL CUT*
As I began working on my demo reel with Boris, the editor, we discussed looking for several different things when choosing what would go in the final cut. One of the things he talked about getting was several different looks for a montage at the beginning that would give a quick visual of different hairstyles, makeup, and so on that I was able to pull off. We decided that there were some good shots in three of the short films I had done outside of class: Bang’s Cine 3 Final, Forever, and Illuminate. They each had several different hairstyles and lighting to them to give the different feels. Bang’s Cine 3 Final was shot on a beach and goes through the process of me putting on lipstick, so you’ve got a before and after image. Forever had several different kinds of lighting to give it a very warm feeling or a colder, more somber feel. I had less dramatic makeup than in Bang’s Cine 3 Final and my hair was down and wavy. Finally, for the clip we used from Illuminate, it was in black and white with virtually no make up on and my hair in a messy bun falling around my face. I am sadly looking out the window in this shot and at the end, make a decision that makes me smile. After the montage, Boris added different scenes that showcased additional differences for me. The scene After the War was added to show a more 50’s style of hair and makeup. It also showed my comfort and ability to use the Russian accent. Miss Firecracker also showed my comfort with using an accent; in this case a Southern accent. It also allowed me to use some physical comedy that was a little larger than some of the other comedy scenes I have done. Another comedic scene for my reel is Afternoon Delight. In this scene, I was able to have a lot of fun with the balance of the comedic lines and my straight delivery of them. I was able to show my ability to, as Boris put it, “act with my mouth full”, one of my favorite ways to act. In Corporate Villain, I also interacted with food props, specifically pouring and drinking liquids. This scene gave me the opportunity to be very powerful and in control of my environment. A different kind of power I was able to portray was a more immature struggle for power in Closer. I came across as a young woman yearning for and holding on to power with all of her might. It also shows me in a different look than any of my other scenes with long, straight hair; low, tight top; and tight, short skirt. Another of my different looks was achieved in To Be A Big Liar. This short, shot in black and white, has a very old Hollywood glam feel to it. From my hair and makeup to the lighting and camera angles, this short feels incredibly glamorous. I was also able to show some anger, but it is a sad and frustrated anger more than an enraged anger. You see it being held back and bubbling just below the surface. The ability to move through fight choreography was showcased in Safe Haven. I was also able to embrace moments of pure fear, a difficult emotion for me to embrace. Along with difficult emotions comes pure, gut-‐wrenching grief. I think I was able to capture this and fully embrace it for Dreamer, although a more contained grief was equally shown in my monologue from Kin. They were two very different kinds of grief, but each with their own struggles to conquer.
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The final side of me I hope to show in my reel is the softer, happier side. In general, a lot of my time at the Academy has lacked a bit in this area. But a wonderful example of it would be the joyful and laughter-‐filled delivery of the monologue Look Back in Anger. Pushing Daisies was a chance to see the cute and sweet side of me that hasn’t been showcased in many of my scenes. It is dark humor but has an air of innocence about it as well. And my final scene I used was Wonder of the World where there is such a nice moment at the end. It is so caring and gentle as I break the poor man’s heart. However, this scene also allows one to see me playing the comedy straight and working through a fair amount of dialogue in story forms. Boris and I were able to find a nice variety in my scenes, both in looks and in emotional acting range. I have done a lot of work in the past 3 years and it was interesting to look at my growth from my first few films to this final semester. We started in editing with 90 minutes of film (which was not even everything I had shot) and have managed to get it down to about 3 minutes. I am very pleased with my reel and feel it properly displays who I am and what I am capable of. I am so thankful I now have such a wonderful and professional reel to submit to agents.
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Marketing Plan
As I set out to begin my life as a professional actor, I have come up with a path to help me manage my career. My goal is to focus mainly on voice over work. I have contacted a local voice over actor from the Quad Cities who has been working for over 20 years in the business, both locally and nationally, as well as having been the talent director for voice over and on-‐camera projects in the area for several ad companies. He said he is always looking for voice over help. I will also work to get an agent in Chicago who will be able to send me voice over work. Ideally, that agent would also be able to represent me in other acting areas as well, such as getting me auditions for Day Player work, Film Auditions, or Commercials.
I have looked over the SAG/AFTRA list of agents and have narrowed the ones I believe would be the best fit down to four: Actors Talent Group, Big Mouth Talent, Gray Talent Group, or Paonessa Talent Agency. I talked with an agent from Star Talent Agency in San Francisco, did some research, and decided these four looked like they would work well with what I want out of my career. They do both on-‐camera as well as voice over work. I liked the layout of their websites. They each had different things that sparked my interest, such as being selective of their talent list but passionate with good contacts. I plan on sending them my demo and voice over reels once I am closer to the area.
If everything goes right with the plan to do voice overs, I would ideally have time to work on going to auditions and rehearsals for the different theatre companies in the Quad Cities. I already have quite a few contacts in the Quad Cities theatre/acting community as well as in the Chicago theatre community should I end up moving closer to Chicago at some point. Elaine Clark has also given me a great deal of advice on getting an agent with my voice over reel and the different sites I can use to do “pay-‐to-‐play” projects to gain more experience.
Until I can get my acting career up and going, I have a friend who has asked me to apply for a job with her insurance company as an office assistant. With the money and benefits from that job and the flexibility of doing voice over work from my home studio, which is nearly complete, this position would work as a good survival job.
Upon graduating from this program, I believe I will be very well prepared for following this career path in order to achieve my goals. I have a full demo reel to send to agents along with a voice over reel. I have had Laura Henry’s coaching on nailing the audition and showcasing my talent. I have made many talented contacts and friends between my teachers, classmates, and directors. I have a good foundation in my education, technical abilities, and creative talent, as well as a strong support system from family, friends, and artists. All together, I believe this will help me in my pursuit of work in the world of acting.
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AAU Events • Auditioned for “Directing Actors for Film and Television” class all 3 years• Auditioned for the open production 5/6 semesters• Auditioned for Grad Student Workshop of Anna in the Tropics• Participated in “Directing Actors for Film and Television” class in 2 scenes• Participated in Vocal Workshop with Jessica Berman• Attended seminar with Judy Kerr• Attended both seminars with College 2 Career Acting• Attended casting calls placed on 466 Townsend’s call board• Performed in 5 Women Wearing the Same Dress• Performed in Grad Student Workshops of Working and Big Mistake/Multiplex• Performed in multiple short scenes for different MPT classes• Performed voice over work for several advertising students’ finals• Attended AAU’s production of I Hate Hamlet• Attended AAU’s production of Holy Days• Attended AAU’s production of Seminar• Attended production of Vagina Monologues• Attended AAU’s production of Lend Me A Tenor• Attended AAU’s production of Candida• Attended AAU’s production of Hurly Burly• Attended Graduate workshop of Anna in the Tropics• Attended AAU’s production of Bengal Tiger at the Bagdad Zoo• Asked to participate in portfolio review• Helped out with URTA’s auditions 2 years• Nominated for Best Actress in a Scene at Epidemic Film Festival 2 years• Have never missed a class in my three years at AAU
Proofreadersv Karen Millsv Kris Brewerv Andrea Gerlachv Katie Meehanv Polish My Writing polishmywriting.com
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Directed Study Acting Journals
Week 1 (Play Production-‐Hair) – This week was just introduction week. We talked about what Clark expects from us in this production and Maggie talked about costuming things. Mostly don’t touch your hair for the rest of the semester unless she tells us to!! We discussed what Clark wants to hear for auditions next week also, then jumped right in and started learning music. We went over part of Aquarius and I Got Life. I think this is gonna be really fun. I think I’ll audition for Sheila and put down that I’m open to anything. That way I can audition for the biggest female role and hopefully be considered for any of the others. Also, Easy to Be Hard has the most opportunity to make Clark “feel something” and show acting ability, which is what he wants. Man this is a weird show! Definitely a new kind of experience. Week 2 (Play Production-‐Hair) – We got our librettos today! Unfortunately they are the funky kinds that only have the vocal line of music. Not ideal, but doable. Auditions went all right. I got called back to sing Aquarius. Everyone else sang it in a mix, so I decided to just go for it and belt it. Made a noise I’ve never made before on one of the notes coming down, but in general it was a fun audition. We also went over other songs at the beginning of class, like Flesh Failures, Eyes Look Your Last, and Walking in Space. The cast list came up on Friday and I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get a name character. However, Katie pointed out that I’ve got a solo in Ain’t Got No and am one of the back up singers on Air. Clark did say he was moving some of the solos around to different people. No matter what, it should still be lots of fun. I can’t wait until the choreographer comes in!! Week 3 (Acting for the Camera 3) – I shot a scene from Pushing Daisies this week. Throughout the week, I worked to make sure my lines were memorized and my costume options were put together. I did all the technical preparations, including emailing everyone and turning in the production request. Then I tried to get into the character a bit more. The hardest part was that she wakes up in this environment and seemed to be reacting to situations and lines given to her by the other character. I decided my best bet would be to try and simply not have any preconceived notions about what the lines should sound like and put all of my focus on listening to the other actor and his lines. When we got into class, we had Harry Weiner as our substitute this week. I had never met Harry or worked with my fellow actor, so was a bit nervous but resolved to do my job as best I could. As we began to talk about the characters, Harry told us that we had the pacing and tone of the scene correct, but needed a deeper layer and understanding underneath. As he talked to the other actor about his overall objective, I struggled again with what my objective might be. The best I could come up with was a need to experience life while she could, but as this had little to do specifically with the other actor/character, I was unsure. When Harry and the class began to talk about my character, we decided that my instincts had been correct, but that we would tweak them to involve the other actor/character. In the end, my overall objective was to get as much meaning out of life as possible. This fix really helped me to find the smaller beats in this amusing scene and to make it more truthful and real instead of
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simply amusing and cute. For instance, the part where he asks me to tell him who had killed me; and my response, “That is so sweet! I just want to put you in my pocket!” became much more meaningful as he was giving the next 38 seconds I had to be alive some kind of meaning. The hardest part overall of the shooting day was the close-‐up of my eyes and face. Between trying to hold still, keep my mouth closed but relaxed and pleasant, not move my eyes, try not to have my arteries pump too noticeably, and wake up and be afraid of him was EXCEEDINGLY challenging; especially showing the fear. In the end, I asked Harry if I could try a really over-‐the-‐top expression of fear. He said to go ahead and when I did, it still wasn’t enough!! So I went even bigger and we finally got the shot. Another prime example of “it’s better to try and go too big and get pulled back than to go too small and have to have it pulled out of you.” Week 4 (Play Production-‐Hair) – This week in class, we continued to learn more of the songs the tribe sings in. As it’s almost every number in the show, it’s taking a while. We also got to meet our choreographer this week. Alex had us do some movement based on the Laban Movement Analysis (LMA). It was very similar to the movement we did in Dyan McBride’s vocal production class including float, glide, and flick. I would consider it more movement than dance, but Alex had us do the 8 different movements in groups and some of them actually looked choreographed. So, though this is not a “dance show”, I am still very excited to get to work with her next week. At the end of class, we discussed with Clark the time period that Hair is set in. We talked about his experience and first hand knowledge of the time surrounding the Vietnam War and what was going on in America. He encouraged us to think about what we might be willing to stand up and protest for. Personally, I would be more inclined to try and petition or have a committee meeting with higher officials than to protest. To me, protesting is a way to get attention, whether that ends up being the attention of the people you want to enact the change you seek or simply the attention of annoyed citizens and police officers is not always certain. I tend to be more diplomatic and would rather go through channels and meet with people to work towards the change I want to see happen. We also had a classmate (Maria I think?) do some research about the song Three-‐Five-‐Zero-‐Zero and told us it was based on a poem talking about the death count coming out of Vietnam. So as I was trying to memorize lyrics, rhythms, and notes this weekend, I also took the initiative to look up some of the references I sang about and did not understand. For me, this was specifically in the song Hashish with all the drug names. Dexedrine, Benzedrine, and Methedrine are all amphetamines that were used in the 70’s as diet aids and stimulants. They also create a stimulant high that caused many people to use them recreationally. Benzedrine was the brand name of an inhaler that was sold and later replaced by Benzedrex. Methedrine is a brand of methamphetamine. Week 5 (Play Production-‐Hair) – This week was a bit unsettling. We did a little music at the beginning and I was feeling confident because I had worked on getting 2 of the 3 songs we went over memorized the previous week. Donna wasn’t quite as good as I had thought it was. Then we worked on dance. That part was fun, but I’m a
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little worried that my dance background might hurt me in this production. Alex wants more pedestrian movements and less “dance” movements. The problem is that a lot of my pedestrian movements look “dance-‐like”. So need to work on that. We also only got 1 of the 3 dances learned that she wanted to teach us, so we’ll have to really book it next week. The biggest problem I think is that there are 35 people she is choreographing. That is going to take longer than teaching 15 or 20 people the same thing. Finally, we did a read/sing through of the whole show. Man do I now feel unprepared!! Having mini panic attacks that I won’t be able to memorize all the songs and dances in time. Right now I’m definitely more focused on just getting the correct words and notes. I was so frustrated that I couldn’t find the correct notes on some of the songs that I’ve always been able to. Why is it that last semester I felt confident about being a graduate student ready to finish and go off into the world and this semester I feel like I am failing at everything? I did however find a website that took all of the references in Hashish and explained them, so now I know what I’m saying in this song. It has actually helped in memorizing as well. Hopefully this trend continues and I can learn everything much quicker. Week 6 (Play Production-‐Hair) – Ok, this week was much less dramatic than last. I’ve been going over my music and I’m feeling pretty confident about it. I keep checking songs off of my list that I feel comfortable with and my list of things I need to work out is getting shorter. I still need to look through the script and learn my text, but since most of the tribe’s text has to do with responding to the leads, I don’t feel too worried about that. We were also able to learn Donna and Hashish. Donna is a lot of fun with good energy and I get to lift Christina, which makes me feel strong and manly. Hashish was a bit more difficult to learn, but that was mostly because we were all still making sure we had all of the words and didn’t have a karaoke track for it so our timing always seems off. I’ve got the words down, but it takes me a few seconds sometimes to remember what comes next. Clark talked to us about not having extensively defined characters in this show and that means we have to bring even more of ourselves than we normally would into the character. So over the next few rehearsals as we begin to block the show (hopefully), I will begin to focus more on what I bring into this character, especially since I’m feeling more confident with the songs. Week 7 (Play Production-‐Hair) – This week we learned the choreography for Hair. It’s kind of crazy! Over half the cast had terrible headaches by the end of learning it just because the entire song is us whipping our hair around and basically throwing out our necks. If I thought Donna was high energy, it is nothing compared to Hair. But after dinner when I’d given my neck time to recover a bit, I felt much better. Hopefully only doing the dance once will keep the neck/head pain down to a minimum during the run. We also got to start blocking the show, which was actually really fun! Clark kept warning us that it would go fast and we needed to not just wait for him to tell us what to do, but it wasn’t nearly as intimidating as he made it out to be. I get to climb on the scaffolding and sing from the top for Ain’t Got No, which is so cool! When we got to Ain’t Got No Grass though, I had a bit of an issue. As we were running through what Clark had just given us (running up and down the
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stairs around the audience), I totally slipped and my foot went between the stairs ant the railing! I’ve got some scrapes and what will no doubt be incredibly impressive bruises but mostly I just laughed and shook my head that I would be the first one to get hurt at rehearsal. Everyone was very nice and concerned about it though. Shona took good care to bring me ice and make sure it was elevated and Clark didn’t make me sit for too long before asking if I could come back onstage to do more blocking. It was a good mix of being taken care of but still asked to do my job, which I was more than happy to resume. The only nerve-‐wracking thing now is that we’ve got spring break and then about 5 more rehearsals before we open the show! Not very much time when we’ve only blocked about a quarter of the show so far! Week 8 (Play Production-‐Hair) – This week was all about characterization. We blocked up through about the first half of Act 1 and choreographed I Got Life and Three-‐Five-‐Zero-‐Zero. Alex and Clark both told us to add our own groove to the movements and make sure to have an action and real characterization. Clark also told us to make sure not to play the mood of the show but play an action. So this week I worked on fleshing out my character a bit more. I also took a piece from our Audition Techniques class and decided to do a “I need you to admit/agree _____” for each of the song numbers. So far, I’ve come up with: My name is Josie. I’m 24, a tomboy, and I’m all about love and breaking stereotypes. I left my home in the Midwest (Joy, Illinois), when I was 16. I hitchhiked to New York City and met Jeanie who introduced me to Claude and the tribe. I am very spiritual but wasn’t convinced there was only one way to worship like I was brought up to believe. Hence, the age of Aquarius/New Age thinking was so attractive to me. However, I am disappointed that all of New York isn’t as open-‐minded as I expected or hoped it would be. The Tribe has become my family and we just want to convince people to entertain the idea that there’s more than one way to do or go about something. I’ve got “I need” statements for songs 1, 2, 4, and 5 so far. I’ve also been working to just have all of the music, blocking, choreography we’ve done so far memorized. I feel like once we get the blocking all down, books out of our hands, and our costumes, it will help us to get our characters more fleshed out, especially for a show like this where the characters are less defined by the script. So, I’ll keep working on adding to everything we’ve done and keep everything straight in my head and physicalized in my body. Week 9 (Acting for the Camera 3) – The scene I shot this week was a short scene but took a lot more prep work. I did some research into the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” act and found out it was repealed in late September of 2011. Also, the military would not send notice of death to a fiancé at first, but they would eventually be notified and would be recognized at any funeral services. So I rewrote some of the final paragraph that was the official letter from the military, since we made it into a two female scene. I also knew that having to do such a gut-‐wrenching scene would take a lot more emotion from me to make it real and the last thing I wanted was to have it look fake or pushed. I did an emotional recall like Melissa had taught us in Monologues 1. It worked wonderfully at my apartment, but I had a little more
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trouble accessing it in class. However I did manage to break through my reserves and tap into that emotion without having it feel forced out several times. It was a new and good learning experience for me, although I was once again reminded that I have no idea how to be fearful on camera. So my close ups and extreme close ups were a little more difficult. Not quite sure how to prepare for next week when I have to be terrified of my abusive husband most of the scene… Week 10 (Acting for the Camera 3) – I was so nervous for this week! When I submitted the scene from Safe Haven, I liked the idea that I would get to play a character that gets to stab someone. The physicality involved in the violent “choreography” of the scene appealed to me as well. However, as I began preparing for this week I realized that a lot of the emotion behind it was one I knew would be a challenge for me. I’ve spent the last 3 years basically working on embracing anger and power that to try and find the reverse was a little daunting. I found myself thinking how much easier it would be for me to play the part of the abuser than the part of the abused. As I told Katie, “It’s ironic that I’m terrified of being able to show I’m afraid”. It is a delicate balance to not show people what you’re feeling but not hide it so well the audience doesn’t see it at all. I did a lot of research into Stockholm syndrome and why people stay in abusive relationships. I also was able to recall certain emotions and feelings from my own personal experience with similar situations. By the time the day of filming came around, I had done my homework and decided to do what all my acting teachers talk about it and try to let it go and trust in my work. The first few takes were a little shaky in getting the nuances correct, but once I found the right level things seemed to go pretty smoothly. Especially once we got to the actual violence. I knew that physicalizing things for me helped to bring out anger and grief, but I guess it hadn’t really dawned on me how much physicalizing can elicit other emotions as well. Once the adrenaline of getting thrown around the room began, the fear was so much easier to tap into. In fact, everyone thought the scene would take the entire amount of shooting time but we finished everything up 2 hours early! It felt good and everyone said that it looked very good and convincing from the monitors. So hopefully it turns out well and I can use some of it in my final reel. Week 11 (Play Production-‐Hair) – In the theatre, there is a wonderfully difficult, rewarding, and stressful week called “Hell Week”. In this production, I think “Hell Week” is being stretched into 2 weeks since we get so few rehearsals. We added costumes on Monday and mics on Tuesday. Adrenaline was super up, at least for me, on Monday so I pushed a little to hard and ended up blowing out my voice on my first solo in the first act. So Tuesday I didn’t go as full out. It was fun to have the mics, but our sound levels were a little off. So there were times when the singers were not quite on beat with the piano. But I figure that will get better when we have all of the microphone levels set and the full band there. The costumes on the other hand are amazing! I was a little unsure about my costume at first, but it’s definitely growing on me. And everyone else looks really amazing. They are slowly adding different elements to our costumes like jewelry, flowers, etc. It is really helping bring character out of each of us. And Clark talked to us on Tuesday about Ain’t Got
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No and the point of view we should be having about what we’re saying. It was heartening to know that I was on the correct path. This show can be taken so many ways that you just have to choose one, go with it, and see what the director says. I think our two final tech/dress rehearsals next week will be a little crazy, but I think we’ll be ready for opening night. I feel really good about where we are as a cast and where I am with my own character development. It’ll be a good show.