Merry Christmas Eve Eve!!

As it's Christmas Eve Eve, I thought I'd start your day with a funny little video from the Talking Animals Channel (klaatu42). I've watched this over and over again and I can't stop laughing! I love it! So here it is and I hope you enjoy it, even if you don't celebrate Christmas! :D 

I want to take this opportunity to say Thank You to all the people that have supported me up until now, and Thank You to all the people yet to come :D I really enjoy writing to this blog and knowing you guys like my stuff makes me happy :D I wish you all a very Merry Christmas (or a Happy Holidays) and I hope you keep supporting me into the New Year :D

Blogs: What are they really for?

This is a debate that I've had in my head for a few months now, and I think I can only understand it now that I have my own...What are blogs really for?

There are several types of blogs that I've come across:

1. The self-help blog
2. The agony aunt blog
3. The informative blog
4. The opinionated blog
5. The ranting blog (or slagging-off blog)

Now, although these are all perfectly decent ways of voicing your opinion and/or helping people online, there's one blog that I don't agree with (and to be honest, I'm finding it hard not to fall into the trap of it with this post): The ranting blog.

Every now and again, bloggers like to rant, and so does every human being, but the ranting blogs that I'm talking about are the blogs that are FULL of it. Every single post is a rant about something, but it is disguised in a way that tries to give advice to people or tries to look like you're getting something out of it when really, it's just full of bullsh*t. Each paragraph near enough contradicts the last one, then the conclusion gives some sort of advice or moral to it's audience. I find it really difficult to read them.

What's even more annoying is that these are the blogs that get a stupid amount of views for something that requires not much skill at all. Ok, yes I'm ranting now, but I can't quite understand why these blogs get so many views for basically nothing. With some of the things you can read in blogs, you might as well meet up with your most gossipy mate and listen to them ramble on for a good half hour, at least in this way you're getting out of the house.

Ok, back on track....

The thing about the ranting blog, it always has a theme. It can be that it gives advice or just generally talks about school or something, but at the end of the day, you know that the person writing it has been pissed off by someone and they just wanted to slag that person off on the Internet but in a way that it wouldn't come back to them.

I know I fell into the trap of ranting about this but at least I'm not slagging someone in particular off. I read a lot of blogs to find inspiration or information about a post I am writing, but nine times out of ten I come across these types of blogs. My advice to people is to stop slagging people off on the Internet, gaining hundreds of views that boost your already massive ego, and buy a journal, that you actually write in....with a pen! (shocker!) and keep your slagging off to yourself. If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all :D

(See what I did in that last paragraph? Oh dear, I've become a hypocrite....meh, they need to know...at least most of my posts are information not opinions :D)

Sorry for the slightly hypocritical ranty post. I'm in a lot of pain and this topic was annoying me. I actually hope you have a good laugh at it :D If you have any ideas/topics for me to explain or talk about, email me at sophiimaria@gmail.com or tweet me at @SophiiMaria :D

The future of the character

I've said before how important it is to use Stanislavsky's methods of using your emotional memory to become the character but this is in terms of being in the moment. As well as knowing your character's past and present, you must know what they want for the future. Don't get mistaken for knowing what is going to happen to your character, but more about what your character's goals are, what they want in life, who they want to see etc.

Here's a quick, fun exercise you can do to help you think about your characters future:

Make up a character; give it some given circumstances, who are you, what have you done before now, who is your family, who means the most to you, what have you done recently?

Now place yourself in a prison. You have committed a crime. What is the crime?

You have fifteen minutes of time in the exercise yard. What will you do? How physically fit are you? Do you like the time in the yard? You cannot speak to anyone.

With the last five minutes of the time, you can do what ever you want. What is the first thing you want to do? You cannot speak to anyone during this time or you will be shot by an armed guard.

You find out that some letters have arrived at the prison. Is one for you? How will you react if you have a letter? What does it say? Who is it from? Who did you want it to be from? How do you feel? What if you didn't get a letter? What is your reaction? 

You are allowed to write to your loved one. Take 3 minutes to write everything down what you want to say to this person. How are you feeling? What is on your chest? Are you sorry? 

You hear that half of the prison are going to be freed. How do you feel? What will you feel like if you are freed? How will you feel if you have to stay in the prison? Who do you want to see the most?

Doing this makes you realised how much you look into the future without realising. You need to know your goals for the character to blossom. Do this for other characters that you are playing. Find out what they want from the events or people in the play. What is there ultimate goal? Do they reach their goal?

Sorry again that this is a short one! But it is really effective! I love this which is why I've posted it! If you have any comments on the exercise or want more information, please comment below, or email me at sophiimaria@gmail.com or tweet me at @SophiiMaria

The Power of Social Networking

A lot of us believe that social networking is a good way of staying in touch with friends, family, and celebrities. However, the power of social networking can extend to much more beyond that, as I have found out recently. Networking sites like Twitter and Facebook can have huge effects on your career, whether it's a job you do on the side of your actual job, or a dream that you are trying to achieve. 

Recently, I have been much more active on sites like Twitter because of this blog! And I can tell you, the effects are extraordinary! Simple things like retweets are an excellent way to recommend things to your friends, family and colleagues, and get your ideas around the world. Since becoming an active twitterer I have gained so many more followers; not just people that are interested in my blog, but high-end twitterers like West End producers and agencies have started following me. It makes me think that my blog is doing something right! But the absolute power of this is emphasised with how long I have been on twitter and blogger: I only started my blog at the beginning of November and I now have over 120 followers on twitter (which is a lot for a student with a blog!).

NOTE: I have just checked my twitter followers and I have over 140 now! ...crazy!

When I post a new blog, I post a link through twitter, facebook and myspace, just to get my blog out there. I only get views from my family and friends on Facebook but through myspace and twitter I can get my blog out to the public. Now I know Myspace is rather unpopular nowadays, but seeing as I have my old account, and a fair few "friends" on there, I thought why not! The more people that see my blog, the better!

Now twitter is the ultimate social networking site in my opinion for people with public blogs or companies because you can get your content out there to the public really easily. By adding hashtags and words that are in the trending topics, people all over the world can find your links and look at what you have to show the world!

The best way to get your content out there is to post your links on every social networking site there is, especially twitter! Get your posts labelled with trending topics and other links that can help get your links get noticed but don't spam! There's nothing worse than getting a load of spam in your timeline!

Sorry this was a short one! If you have any comments or experiences with social networking please comment below or email me or tweet me at the information at the top of the page!

:D

Here's some Christmas Cheer to brighten up your Friday afternoon!

Now it's getting to that frustrating time of the year: you want to have a break, you want Christmas to come (or Hannukah, or Kwansaa, or anything other holiday you celebrate at this time of year), and it gets harder to be happy whilst working. What am I trying to get at? We need to have a little break every now and again, so sit back, relax and enjoy this funny video! It doesn't matter if you don't celebrate Christmas because this video is just too funny! 

Have a look at some of Rhett and Link's other videos and skits! They're rather funny! And you may recognise them from pre-show entertainment of certain arena shows around the 

country! (I love their work! Always puts a smile to my face!)

I hope you enjoyed this and it made your day a little brighter!

:D

Voice of an Angel

The voice is the primary tool for the human being; it allows us to communicate to let others know how we are feeling and to give commands etc. It is essential for us in day to day life but we are able to extend the voice to beyond its natural boundaries for entertainment purposes, whether it's singing or vocal techniques in acting. The voice includes the whole body! So make sure you warm up your body as well as your voice before you try any speech!

To be able to be good at acting, or singing, or being a good public speaker, you need to have a good vocal range. This means you must be able to work through all the different scales in your voice, and try to extend them if you feel you are quite monotone. If you constantly talk on one level, it becomes boring, and it's not entertaining for anyone watching you. The voice should be fluid and interesting, so changing pitch naturally is a good way to keep people interested in what you are saying. And the chances are that if you are interesting to listen to and sound fluid in what you are saying, you are more likely to be believable and the character and the text show through rather than your process.


You also need to have good resonance in your voice. This is the volume of what you are saying. A lot of inexperienced actors fall into the trap of shouting their lines rather than projecting them. Sometimes you need to say something quietly, but loud enough so the audience can hear; using resonance exercises can help you with this. There are a lot of exercises out there to try, so have a look at a few that deal with resonance. If you have problems with being too loud, however, you may frighten or annoy people in the audience because, although they can hear what you are saying, the way you say it won't be very natural and will start to look amateurist. It's good to be loud sometimes, but if there is no change in your voice, the piece will become very boring.


You also need to be able to breathe. Sounds stupid, but there's a reason for this. If you learn to breathe between the thoughts of the text you are performing, you will be more believable because unfortunately, a lot of the time we breathe at the end of a line (especially in Shakespeare) rather than at the end of a thought. You breathe between the thoughts in real life without even thinking. Try to break down the thoughts, and keep reading through the text slowly. Eventually, piece together everything that you are saying so it is fluid, is believable and the audience is more likely to see the character, not you.


Always take care with any exercises you find on the internet to do with your voice. Only do what you are comfortable doing and make sure you drink LOTS of water when you do. If you find your voice is getting sore, drink hot honey and lemonade, it tastes gorgeous and is very helpful for sore throats! Also, it is known that pineapple juice is good for the voice (I forget why). Avoid drinks like tea and coffee when practising your voice and don't eat a lot of chocolate either (but you can as a reward afterwards ;D). 


Sorry this is a short post but I have been very busy today! :( Bad times... But I will do more on the voice at a later date! Put comments below with any sort of exercises you know or any tips and tricks you could tell us all! Thanks for reading 


:D

#Project 100: A Huge Thank You!

This is just a little post to say a huge Thank You to all those people who clicked on my site yesterday! I cannot thank you enough. Just doing this helps me gain more exposure so I can achieve my dream of becoming an actress! 

Apparently, there is now a campaign on call #Project200 so if you would help me out by just re tweeting mine and @glazingblogger's tweets about this site that would be fantastic! Also recommend me to your friends or family or anyone you know in the entertainment industry as this would be a big help to me and my audience because every single page view motivates me more to work hard at my degree and my blog!

Thanks again and I hope you like what I write :D

Nirvana for Xmas No.1 in the UK

We all know too well of the horrors of the Xmas No. 1 Single Spot going to the manufactured Xfactor winner, but what happened to the race to become Xmas No. 1? 

Since 2005, the Xfactor has been wrongly grabbing the Xmas No. 1 Spot, with covers of songs sang by (debated) manufactured singers, which to be honest, aren't that great. But why do we always buy them every single year?

It's the way the public is so gullible that makes us want to buy the Xfactor single. We are presented with a show full of (ahem) "talented" vocalists that takes over most of our weekends, not to mention the unintelligent ramblings of the "Xtra Factor" that we are encouraged to watch, which to be fair, I would rather watch a monkey pick at it's own bumhole...

Yes, I have a grudge against the Xfactor...so what...

...but it's the way we give in to social pressure of buying the utter crap that the Xfactor produce as the Xmas No. 1. 

So why are we so bothered?

Admit it, the Xmas No.1 has never been the pinnacle of musical talent, but it's the traditions we got used to that make us want to buy the Xmas No.1 Single. Since the introduction of the UK Singles Chart in 1952, the Xmas No. 1 has been known to musicians as a very prestigious 'award'. A lot of the time, the Christmas No. 1 spot has been home to charity singles, novelty songs or songs with a Christmas theme. Doesn't sound very appealing, but we do eat that up! In my opinion, the Christmas No. 1 should be something with meaning, or something for the kids! It's nice to have a jolly, alcohol related sing along to the Christmas No. 1 on Christmas Day!

In 2009, we broke (yes, I was part of that Facebook movement! :D...meaning I bought the single several times! :D) the Xfactor Xmas No. 1 streak with Rage Against the Machine's Killing in the Name Of after a successful Facebook campaign lead by Jon Morter. Finally breaking the Xfactor shit streak. But unfortunately, last year, Matt Cardle got the Xmas No. 1 again with that God awful cover of Biffy Clyro's Many of Horror (which was annoyingly renamed to When We Collide...excuse me while I vomit...).

The campaign was critiqued, saying that it would never work, and Simon Cowell wouldn't be bothered if Rage Against the Machine got to No. 1 because they're both under Sony Music Entertainment (Epic Records and SyCo) and lets face it, Cowell probably had shares in the company so he wouldn't necessarily lose out on money anyway, but this wasn't the point! People were fed up with being drip-fed the same crap from the Xfactor, and musicians were/are annoyed that such an important honour was going to manufactured 'artists' that hardly worked for it. The campaign was also raising money for charity, which is what the Christmas No. 1 should do! After all, it is the season of giving!

The new campaign currently underway is "Nirvana for Xmas No. 1" supporting the charity Rhythmix. The choice of charity seems natural after the row between Rhythmix and Simon Cowell after the makers of Xfactor named a girl band on the show with the same name as the charity (see story here). Now it is has come to the media's attention that thousands are behind the charity and are supporting Nirvana for Xmas No. 1 (see story here). I think this is an excellent campaign and I could not support it more! Not only do we want to see Nirvana kick Xfactor arse, but we would be supporting a major charity in this country that deserves a little more respect after it's name was tainted by the Xfactor.

Even if you don't want to support Nirvana for Xmas No. 1, please support Rhythmix as it is one of the UK’s leading music charities, delivering a large range of music making opportunities for young people across the South East region. Since 1999, Rhythmix has worked with more than 40,000 young people, enabling their creative activity through music and developing their personal and social skills. It is a fantastic charity!

If you know of any people supporting this charity, or have views against the campaigns, or just generally want to give your opinion on this, please comment below! Everyone has views on this and it would be fantastic to see what you guys think! I read every single comment so please get posting! 

Also, if you click the links above, you can support the campaign and Rhythmix by going to their websites! Please donate, because as we all know, every single penny counts! 

:D

Something to put a smile on your face...

Here's my end of the day post to put a smile on your face after a hectic day! Or maybe you stayed in bed all day...but still this will make you laugh! 

 

Guest Post: University from the other side...

University for me is a struggle! But you never know what it feels like from the other side, so I asked my lovely boyfriend, who most of you know as the Double Glazing Blogger (@glazingblogger), to write me a guest post of his views of university from the other side. The other side being the ones back home that are hours away from university...

If you have an experience you would like to share from either the student side or the other side of university, please comment below, email me at sophiimaria@gmail.com or tweet me at @SophiiMaria :D

DoubleGlazingBlogger:

I’ve wondered all day today how to start this post. The subject of this particular blog post is about university and what it’s like for the other person while their loved one is away there. I’ll just ramble on a bit and hope it all makes some coherent sense as I’m writing it!

First a quick background catch up. Me and Sophii met roughly six weeks before she went back to do her second year at university in Aberystwyth. Before now I had known Soph on and off for about 3 years. We had met at parties, and we’re part of the big group that went to festivals. We never really talked that much. We met in August of this year through me inviting her to a local gig (technically it was through her asking if anyone had a Google+ invite she could have, I gave her one, and the conversation naturally moved on to gigs!).

The next six weeks were some of the best weeks I’d had in years. We always had the best fun when we were together. She had done something which I thought wouldn’t happen in quite a while - she showed me that there are some genuine, nice people left in the world!

Saying goodbye to her as she left to go back Uni was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. We’d connected so strongly so quickly, I never appreciated how difficult it would be, not being with her. Obviously I can see her at weekends and she can come home at various points, but unlike other relationships, we don’t get to see each other as much as we would like.

Relationships with university involved are different to standard ones. University has a reputation of being a promiscuous breeding ground, with people flitting about. For a person who is having to say bye to someone leaving for uni, that is a huge thing to accept and get used to. You have to put your utter trust and faith in that person to do the right thing, even if the surrounding environment doesn’t make that easy. Obviously that person at uni has to trust their partner at home too!

Then there are other issues. Money is one of the biggest. Students struggle notoriously with money. Part time jobs barely cover their living costs. Almost all of their loans go on student accommodation. Speaking from the point of view as someone who works, has a steady job and is living relatively comfortably, it’s gut wrenching to see my loved one struggle for money. It’s frustrating having to see her buying the cheapest of cheap food, having to budget literally by a single pound.

One of the biggest wrenches is having to face up to the fact that you can’t be round him/her as much as you would like, looking out for them, making sure all is well. You hope that the people they live with will treat them with respect, help each other out, include them in whatever activities might be going on, support them when they need help. But you also hope that they respect your loved ones boundaries too. These are all things you just have to trust will happen.

For me, the biggest frustration is not being able to help in any physical way as I’m more than 3 ½ hours away. I’ll probably never be able to get used to it, I just have to learn, and I am, how to deal with it better.

That’s the negative stuff out of the way!

The result of having a loved one at university is that when you do see him/her, that time together is made so much more special and important. Maybe one of the downsides to a normal relationship is that the spark sometimes goes if you see that same person every day. Those at uni and those who have a loved one there don’t get that luxury. But it does make you appreciate the time spent together.

Some people may be sceptical of the amount of money and time it takes out of your life to go and see someone if they’re at university far away. But this depends on how you feel about that person. If you truly believe that you have met someone special, and that he/she could be the one, then driving nearly 4 hours and into another country is nothing to you. It’s nothing to me. Personally I’d drive to the tip of Scotland to see her. If you believe this, then university won’t cause a single issue.

I was worried about university and how it would affect the relationship between me and Soph, especially after so many negative comments from friends. But in all honesty, it has me us stronger. We trust each other completely; we both appreciate the time we get to spend together. We talk on Twitter, Skype etc. all the time which does also make things easier.

They key to a university relationship from my point of view is trust and communication. Talking keeps fears at bay. Trust in each other keeps you both relaxed and able to focus on your day ahead without tearing your hair out. Look forward to your time together when you get to see each other. We do, and we love each other all the more for it!

Phenomenology (pt.2)

Trying to understand phenomenology is hard! This is why I wanted to this blog post in two halves. This analytical approach isn't something you should try to do on it's own, it is better to use this approach to push your analysis into another analytical approach, such as semiotics. 

To understand this approach, you must learn how to use it. If you are analysing an object onstage, you must look at how you react to it, without using many adjectives...

...yeah, I know!

Generally, if you eat a lemon, you would say it is 'sour' or 'bitter', but this wouldn't be a entirely phenomenological approach. You could say, however, how you reacted to the tasting of the lemon, even if you just make a noise. The next challenge is to transform this reaction into language, as close as you possibly can to the real reaction. Avoid using adjectives as these are only signifiers to your emotions or reactions, rather than the correct way to describe this. 

If you are to write about an object and your phenomenological approach to it, you would describe how you felt around it, what it feels like in weight, texture, the smell of it, the taste of it, everything to do with your senses that you instinctively react with. 

There is no right or wrong answer to your own phenomenological approach and this makes it difficult to be of use to other people around you that read your phenomenological analysis of a performance, however, it is very useful in conjunction with other analytical approaches. Finding how you react to something, then getting into the nitty gritty of what this means and the semiotic approach to it is a far more effective way of analysing a performance. Nevertheless, you shouldn't dismiss phenomenology, but don't get too bogged down into the meaning of it.

I could go on and on about how to write about the phenomenological approach to something, but I find that all research on phenomenology is very repetitive. In a sentence, phenomenology is the build up to a very effective analysis of a performance, and can be used in conjunction with other analytical approaches.

I know this is a very hard subject, and it can relate to many other industries and subjects of interest, but it is very hard to discuss this without over-complicating. If you have any questions at all, please leave a comment, email me at sophiimaria@gmail.com or tweet me (@SophiiMaria), and I will try to answer your question as much as I can; after all I am here to help you understand! If you have any examples of this, please leave a comment or if you just want to say hi! again, please leave a comment. 

:D

Phenomenology (pt.1)

Until recently, I thought phenomenology was more complicated than it actually is! Rather than being an analytical approach to find the meaning of a certain object on stage, like semiotics, or an approach that digs into the extraordinary circumstances of a play (like the themes, techniques or approaches to the making of a production), it is simply a way of analysing what is in front of you and how you experience it. 

Phenomenology looks at "the world as it is lived rather than as it is objectified, abstracted and conceptualized." (Stanton B. Garner, 1994) This means if you are looking at an object onstage, you look at the way you experience it, don't try and find a meaning to it! If the object is an apple, analyse what the apple looks like, feels like, tastes like, etc. instead of finding the hidden meaning like the forbidden fruit, for example. 

It would seem that semiotics and phenomenology would go hand in hand and yes, you're right. You can successfully analyse a performance using the analytical approaches of phenomenology and semiotics because you are analysing the object and what it means to you in the way you experience it and the meaning behind the use of this object (or lighting design/scenery/performance style etc.).

I know this is a very simple way of looking at phenomenology, but I wanted to guide you in before I go all guns blazing into this topic so have a look out for the second part of this blog next week!

Also, coming soon will be a Glossary page for all those words you don't quite understand! This will be an ongoing page that will update frequently as I discuss more and more topics! :D

Finally, if you have any ideas/theories/approaches/techniques/gossip/music releases etc. that you want me to cover, email me at sophiimaria@gmail.com, tweet me at @SophiiMaria or comment on any of my blogs. I will happily research into anything you want me to cover on the entertainment industry!

:D

Drama Queen!

A lot of people who study drama often have to put up the so-called "Drama Queens". The people that have to be the centre of attention all the time so talk utter rubbish to get in the limelight. Not to be confused with the earlier topic on Drama Snobs, the Drama Queen doesn't necessarily have to study or be involved with acting. We all know that one Drama Queen that drives us up the wall...

We all have a little bit of a Drama Queen (or King!) inside of us, but how often that part of us shows is what describes a person to be a full on Drama Queen! Personally, I believe there are more Drama Queens in the acting world than any other industry because we are constantly trying to get 'discovered' so we need to be a bit full on, but sometimes, it can get out of control.

As far as I know, there are two types of Drama Queen: the first being the full-on "it's all about me!" type who constantly speaks up with their own opinion and displays emotion to the fullest when it suits their fancy; the second being the subtle type who find a talent that they milk without anybody else (except a few) realising it. 

The first type are known to be friends with everyone, but at a certain point, all hell breaks loose and you either don't want to know them at all, or get shoved out of your little clique after a huge bust up on a day out with everyone. 

The second type are known to be a little more sneaky. They use social networking sites to promote their views/opinions on other things, or people, and often have a talent which they abuse to get attention. This sort of people aren't always malicious. They probably just get a lot of attention from the things they say online because they are too scared to say it in public, but it's still a bad habit to get into.

I know this is mostly my own personal opinion and experience but there will be the Drama Queen at some point in your lives. How do you deal with these kinds of people? What can we do to relax and not want to be in the spotlight all the time? I know I can be a Drama Queen sometimes, I admit it! But I'm pretty sure I'm on the scale of just wanting to have a little bit of attention to make me feel good, rather than the full-blown bitch a lot of people fall into. Let me know what you guys think! 

Sorry this is a rather negative and a bit ranty. But these kinds of people annoy me, and I'm sure they annoy you too. I just wanted to get it off my chest and see what everyone else thinks. Even if you're not in the industry, tell me about yours! I really do read all comments and I will publish!

:D

Framing

I have recently discovered how the framing of a performance can be translated into real life. I was talking to my boyfriend on how I don't really like going out anymore when I am at university because the atmosphere around the night life of a university has a different frame to the night life of, say, my home town. 

The atmosphere around university campuses are very "out-to-pull" sort of environments. Girls are constantly being hit on by drunk guys and the girls that are up for it are writhing around with two or more men. This is the atmosphere I don't really like. I used to enjoy a cheeky dance with a guy on a night out, but now I have someone very special in my life so these sorts of environments don't appeal to me anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to go out with my friends and have a laugh but when you're in that sort of environment, you get sick of the atmosphere. 

However, if I went out with the same group of people back home, it would be a very different experience. Because in the past I have only been out in town back home with my friends for birthdays and celebrations, I find that there is less pressure on everyone, men and women, to go out on the pull. Back home, the atmosphere is more about enjoying your night out with your friends, not finding someone to 'get off' with. 

Now how does this relate to theatre? Well the framing of a performance depends on the atmosphere of the space that the performance is being. If a performance is held in a theatre, then there is a certain type of framing to it. You are expected to sit in the auditorium in a quiet and respectable manner, and not leave until the end. If a performance was held in a public space, however, such as a town square or a plaza, you wouldn't necessarily have to watch the whole piece. Now, I know these are only simple examples, but because there is a different attitude to both of these situations, the framing is different for each. In a public space, you are probably there for a purpose, so you may want to fulfill that purpose and not watch the performance, but in a theatre, you are there to watch a production, therefore, you watch and enjoy it (as much as you can). This is similar to a night out: in my experience, you go out in university for a purpose - to pull; at home you go out to celebrate something, and maybe if you pull, thats a bonus, just like a public performance.

Obviously, this is just my opinion and only an example but have a go at finding something similar to the framing of a performance in your life. Maybe there are situations at work that you could compare this to? Or even at school? Have a go and leave a comment below.

:D

It's nearly December!!!

A little something to brighten up the end of your day :D 

And if you get chance, watch more of ImprovEverywhere's videos! They're a really good example of a company that produces work in public spaces (linking with the post I did earlier :D). I love watching their videos. Even if you're not into all this drama malarky, they're really fun to watch without analysis :D

Space: where everyone can hear you scream...

What do we define as a space for a performance? What types of spaces are there and what is considered appropriate? How easy is it to transform one type of space into another?

If a performance is any action we do in life (I will write a blog all about performance at a later date...WARNING: that will be a long one! ;D), that means that the spaces all around us are part of a performing space, whether it's in a bathroom or a theatre, space must be any location where action takes place. 

In a performance called Entitled by the company Quaratine, we saw onstage the creation and disassembly of a performance. This took place in a theatre; the performance space. When the director was asked about the meaning behind this creation and destruction, he explained that the performance was about the space in which a performance happens, whether its the audience space, performers space or a collaboration of both. He also stated that one of the chairs in the production was the original chair from the first rehearsal session they had! The chair originally inhabited the rehearsal space, but then crossed over to the performance space where the object suddenly became part of the peformance and not a tatty old chair that was outdated.

We know it is possible to create a performance in any sort of space due to the creation and increasing popularity of Flash Mobs, but how do we know we are watching a performance when any space can become a place for performance? 

Performances produced in a theatre are framed by the space so we know we are watching a performance. However, creating a performance in a space where day to day life happens without much throught leads us to ask questions when we see a possible production. Is what we are watching real? Do I intervene in what is happening? etc. 


How do we define a space for performance? If you have any ideas let me know. Sorry this is pretty vague but this is still a subject that is still being questioned and I am confused as to how to describe it! Leave comments below of your ideas!

Bloggers vs. 'the law'

A lot of people think that Bloggers are just people voicing their opinion and don't actually make a difference to issues that are happening. Well one boy from Wales (yay! Wales!) took on a Texan Medical Clinic and WON after it claimed success in unproven medical treatments.

The full story is here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/29/schoolboy-blogger-us-clinic

What I think is amazing about this story is that even young people that blog can make a difference. This clinic were charging thousands of dollars for unproven medical treatments for terminal cancer patients. Dr. Burzynski and his clinic claimed that they had a cure for cancer, aids and malaria. Obviously, someone is going to find out that they are exploiting ill people and stick up for them, so why threaten a schoolboy just because you think you are better than them? 

The Texan medical clinic obviously felt threatened by Rhys Morgan because the things he was saying were true, however, I think it is disgusting that the man representing the clinic felt it necessary to take a picture of the boy's house on Google Earth, and send him it in an email. This was an attempt to intimidate the boy into giving up on his argument against the clinic and the threats against him. I suggest you take time and read rhys' blog about the threats from the man representing the Texan medical clinic as it is invaluable information for bloggers all over the world!

Link here: http://rhysmorgan.co/2011/11/threats-from-the-burzynski-clinic/

Mr Marc Stephens claimed to represent Dr. Burzynski and his clinic but never actually gave Rhys a copy of what the clinic found offensive and untrue. He didn't even tell him who he worked for, and Morgan couldn't find any records of a lawyer in the US under that name. Clearly a lack of professionalism here. And the fact that Mr Stephens undermined the intelligence of Rhys Morgan was clearly a mistake. 

If anyone tries to undermine a blogger, remember, we are much more intelligent than you might think!

Sorry this wasn't a normal type of blog but I just thought this story was a fantastic example of why bloggers take time in what they are doing. If it wasn't for Rhys Morgans actions, several other bloggers would have faced 'legal action' by Marc Stephens.

Racism Shame

Today, my dear @glazingblogger (www.doubleglazingblogger.blogspot.com) told me to watch a video on youtube of a disgusting 30-something year old woman who sat on a London tram giving a racist slur for two minutes. You think this is bad enough? The thing that disgusted me even more than this poisonous woman ranting about "her Britain" was the fact that the tram was filled with small children AND SHE HAD A TODDLER ON HER KNEE! 

Now, I don't know about you, but the thing we definitely do not need is the worlds children picking up on these disgusting behaviours and thinking that racism is acceptable. Unfortunately, that child is most likely going to grow up with the same behaviours as it's psychotic mother. 

What this country needs is an army of young people against this sort of behaviour! Gone are the days where people could speak about migrant workers as being below them. This is an era of political correctness. Yes, there are cases where political correctness has gone mad, but racism is hurtful, and in rare occasions, fatal. 

Who is to say that white people are above all other races? This is a thing of the past and equality is the way forward. We, as human beings, are all the same on the inside, so why do we judge on the colour of our skin?

We should be teaching our children that racism is wrong. No one should be judge on the colour of their skin because, when you really think about it, it's ridiculous!

I could go on and on about skin colour and homelands but, to be completely honest, you've heard it all before. What I think we could do as a nation is help those in need. If you see any one being the victim of a racial crime, ring the police. If it is safe to do so, stick up for the person being victimised! If this is happening in schools and your child has been the cause of the racial bullying, EDUCATE YOUR CHILD. Make sure that this is stamped out! 

If you have any opinions on this, please leave a comment! If you think against this, again comment.

The importance of knowing your script!

Now I know a lot of drama students (and professional actors) hate performing Shakespearean texts because of the flowery, poetic language that is sometimes difficult to understand, but for the few of us that adore Shakespeare (like myself!), the language is just something to get our teeth stuck into. 

I have just come back from a mini rehearsal with my duologue partner and I could not rave about the importance of knowing your text more than what I'm about to! We are doing Act 3 Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet (where the Nurse tells Juliet of Romeo's banishment and Tybalt's death) and we didn't know what the hell Shakespeare was on about when we read through it a couple of times. Then we thought, right, let's go through it, line by line, and try and decode Shakespeare's language. 

You would not believe how much you do actually understand of Shakespeare's texts! If you go through each line - make sure you are not reading the lines as they appear, but as sentences (so forget about the line break and just take notice of commas, full stops etc.) - you will actually be able to get a jist of what he's saying. For example, "What devil art thou that dost torment me thus?" simply means, "Why are you tormenting me and not telling me the truth?" 

Yes, it takes up a lot of time, but understanding what Shakespeare is saying helps you discover what the characters thoughts and feelings, helping you understand how you should play the scene. 

The next thing you should think about is where there are shifts in thought/emotions/goals. Where are the cues that tell you when to change emotions and physical memories? Go through the lines again and mark where these are! All the time you should be reading this over and over, making sure you make sense of what is being said and what your emotive memory should be picking up on so you can successfully portray the emotions needed for the piece! 

Even when you've done this for one scene, or only your scenes in the play, you MUST go through the rest of the play and create character profiles. Character profiles are a collaboration of every single detail about your character. Go through the play and write down all the things that have been said about your character, all the things that your character has said about themselves, and all the things that your character says about other people. 

Once this is done, collect all the given circumstances. These are all the details that are given to you in the text about the scenes, the places, the staging, the characters etc. Everything that is written is a detail about something. Character profiles help with this, but still, go through the text grabbing every single detail about the play, whether it's in the dialogue or the stage directions (obviously there are limited stage directions in Shakespeare but this works for any play too). Shakespeare gives a lot of information about the play in the dialogue so pick through EVERYTHING.

I know it's a lot of hard work but STOP BEING LAZY! If you want to successfully play Shakespearean text you have to put the work in! Work out what is being said, interpret the emotions involved (there may be several ways of going around this too so try them all!) and produce your own interpretation of the text. 

If you have any more tips and tricks on playing Shakespeare, please share them in the comments section or email me at the information at the top of the page! Also, let me know of your experiences with Shakespeare or anything else you find interesting in the world of theatre, film and TV.

:D

P.S. If you find on YouTube clips of the BBC's version of Romeo and Juliet, don't watch it, it's not as good as you might think! (I thought it was absolute rubbish because Juliet is a wimp!)

Drama Snobs

I don't know about you but I get really annoyed by those overly confident types that are instantly classed as the "Drama Snob". No, this is not a hate speech about these kinds of actors, but more of a critique of their style of acting.

Like all stereotypes, there is a general list of common behaviours of this kind of person, including: an overconfident personality, the ability to throw themselves in any sort of acting situation, a smiley attitude, ability to take criticism, a good posture and a generalised British accent to name but a few. 

The thing that annoys me most about this sort of person is their acting style. Don't get me wrong, I am so jealous of how much confidence these people have! To be able to be confident in yourself and throw yourself into any situation is fantastic! I wish I could do it! But I'm sorry, to me the way these people act is not realistic enough. In my opinion, theatre and film should be as realistic as possible (unless you're acting in a genre that doesn't require a lot of realistic acting, i.e. comedy or presenting), but this sort of person has only one or two acting styles that crop up every single time they act. Sometimes, you get the odd person that is just naturally talented and can mould to anything, but this is once every now and again! 

I think this type of actor needs to break out of their habits of being "generally good" at acting. These are the types of people that would benefit hugely from Stanislavskian theory and methodology. If you have the potential for being an amazing actor, why just stick with what you've had since GCSE/A Level Drama? Please boost yourself! Make yourself more realistic because that's what's annoying, the fact that these people are really good, but not realistic enough!

I think it is more important to be realistic in your acting than to be confident. There's nothing worse than watching a performance, whether its TV or film, and cringing at how unrealistic and amaturist the acting is. Again, this is not a hate speech, I'm just stating my opinion. I'll say it again, I am jealous of these people, I just think their acting style could do with a little tweaking! 

If you agree or disagree please leave a comment. I know this will offend a few people but don't take it to heart, I just think some people can do loads better. Let me know what you think!

:D

What the hell is dramaturgy!?!?

Dramaturgy! That one word that sends shivers up the spines of Drama Students. What the hell is it?

I will try and explain as simply as possible...

Dramaturgy is the composition or structure of a play and the process of making theatre. It covers all the elements of the text in hand including: the context of the play, the history of it's adaptations/translations etc.,

Dramaturgy is not a fixed process, it is a development of a play from text to stage. There are many things to think about when considering the dramaturgy of the play: the stage space, the spectator, the live performance text vs. the original text, etc. The list is endless; from scenography to performance style, all this is part of the dramaturgy. 

To create a successful performance analysis, you would have to consider the dramaturgy otherwise you would be creating a review of a performance rather than an analysis. You can analyse the dramaturgy of a performance in terms of the play, which includes the text, context, scenography, acting style, etc. Then you can analyse the dramaturgy of the performance in terms of the spectator, which includes how the audience interprets the play etc. And finally, you can analyse the dramaturgy of the performance in terms of the framing of the play, which includes the space in which the play is produced, the theatre, etc.

Basically, dramaturgy is all the elements of a performance that you can possibly think of and how they contribute to the final performance.

Baby-faced

It is no secret that in the entertainment industry that there are thirty-something year old actors and actresses taking up roles for characters aged sixteen to twenty. But how beneficial is it for an actor/actress to look younger than they are?

We as a society try to look as young as possible to try and hold onto our youth, but eventually, biology gets the better of us, yet there are that lucky few that stay looking young well into their thirties. 

Production companies obviously prefer actors who look younger than they are; minors can only work for a certain amount of hours per day, education must be supplied for them and they must have someone to look after them on set. Getting an actor who looks young, but is legally an adult, save the production company a lot of time and money.

It is also a major convenience if you employed an actor that as they grew up, stayed relatively young so you could drag out the storyline and make a year span a couple of years in a series.

However, does being baby-faced give you more opportunities to be an actor? I don't think so. Yes, production companies prefer it if you look younger than you are so they can use you for younger characters, but you still have to fit the bill. Instead of giving you an advantage of getting more acting jobs, you're just put into a separate category, i.e. adults that look like teens, adults, old people, children. 

So, it is helpful if you look younger than you are (for production companies) but you still have to burden of being asked for ID everytime you go to a wrap party! :)

I'm sure there are people who have a different opinion, so please leave a comment and tell me what you think!

Here are a few trivia about actors that are older than they look! :D

• Luke Perry was 24 when he started playing 16-year-old Dylan McKay (Beverly Hills, 90210)
• Michael J. Fox was 24-29 when playing 17-year-old Marty McFly (Back to the Future)
• Cory Monteith is currently 29, playing 18 year old Finn Hudson (Glee)

:D

Game Theory

I recently read a blog from Double Glazing Blogger about "Why Advertising Does Not Work", and if it is plausible that two companies that are advertising for the same product/service cancel each other out when it comes to advertising.

I have studied advertising and the techniques it uses to gain customer attention in the past and I know there are flaws in every theory or technique you can use in an advertisement. 

When advertising for a small business, it is important to understand your target audience, clarity of what you are trying to sell and where you want your ads placing. Pretty simple stuff, yes, but is it worth understanding the rules of Game Theory so you don't fall into the trap of another business 'stealing' your customers.

The theory goes; if two companies were advertising at the same time, spending roughly the same amount of money, any advantage gained from that advertising will cancel each other's out. If that company had never advertised in the first place, the market would remain unchanged - no worse off, and that company would have saved all that extra cash, and their business would be in roughly the same place anyway. - Double Glazing Blogger, 2011

 
Having a lot of advertising is obviously a good thing because you're gaining lots of exposure to get the company name out there, but when you start having to think about the amount of money this is costing you, is it worth it?

It is possible that you can have too much advertising, especially when there are more than one company that provides a similar service/product? People get annoyed seeing the same adverts over and over again, so while having lots of exposure is a good thing, too much can have a negative effect. 

Companies should look at different ways of gaining exposure, such as a website, word of mouth, an online presence etc. Whilst this is still advertising, most of it is either cheap or free! 

Advertising is good for new customers, but I find hearing good reviews of a company from someone you know is much better and feels more reliable.

This is more relevant for small businesses that are trying to gain exposure rather than huge companies with franchises etc. Obviously there are more variables to consider why advertising does or doesn't work, but this is something to consider.

Let me know what you think! I will talk about other advertising techniques at a later date!

:D

Family Theatre

I don't know about you but have you noticed the lack of children's theatre at seaside resorts in the UK? I know when I was younger, there were lots of small sideshows for family entertainment, like Punch and Judy and Magic Shows. 

I think of everywhere I have been over the summer I have seen two shows, one at Land's End where there was a magic act for children and a guy doing football tricks in Leeds City Centre. I know this is not what you would class as 'serious' theatre but every performance that you see is important in some way, especially for children of a young age. 

Young children respond well to bright colours and simple, educational story lines. It helps stimulate the imagination of these young minds and develops their creativity. They like to laugh and join in with magic shows and similar talent acts; but where are all these disappearing to? 

As well as the decline of children's street theatre, I've noticed an increase of children's cinema, which is all very well and good because as a society we need to develop but we all know that watching TV all day is not good for you so starting this from a young age can't be good can it? Yes, it helps the learning development of young children and helps parents control a busy household by putting on children's programmes so they have something to do but really we should be promoting healthier options, like going out to the theatre or seaside and finding sideshows to watch.

I might just be naive and there are still lots of acts like this around the UK, but I do know that there aren't as much as there used to be when I was small. It's not as if I have been ignorant and haven't noticed these around because I have two cousins which are quite young and I like to find things for them to experience. 

Should we produce more street theatre for children and families? Is media taking over theatre? Let me know what you think. Sorry this is a short post.

:D

Download 2012

So, two out of three headline acts have been announced for Download 2012, and to be honest, I could not be more excited!

First to be confirmed on Radio 1's Zane Lowe was Metallica, by Lars Ulrich. The band will perform The Black Album in its entirety and three songs never performed before: The Struggle Within, My Friend Of Misery and Don't Tread On Me. They last performed at Download Festival in 2006, and before that at Monsters of Rock in 1985. 

Now, I don't know about you but I am over the moon! I am going to witness one of the bands I have grown up with since birth play live at my favorite rock festival! The distinct gravelly voice of James Hetfield, the talents of Lars Ulrich, classic rock songs performed for thousands! 

"For me, coming back there is very special," - Lars Ulrich

Second to be confirmed is the one and only, Black Sabbath! WITH OZZY OSBOURNE! The band have played Ozzfest with Ozzy at Download for several years, but this was never an offical. Their setlist has not yet been confirmed but no doubt they will be playing classic songs like Paranoid, War Pigs and Iron Man. 

I have always wanted to see Black Sabbath play, and I've always wanted to see Ozzy play, so having these guys back together is absolutely f***ing fantastic!

As well as the reunion of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne, the group are recording their first album together in 32 years since Ozzy was fired from the band in 1979. Their are currently no rumours of what this will be named but the album should hopefully be released in 2012.

Pause for Thought

My workshop today informed me that we must take time to pause after each thought. So when we started this I thought, well, yes, it's common sense to pause after each thought. We were given this extract from Electra - Sophocles:

ELECTRA: Sometimes she would let me stay while she undressed. Sometimes she would sit here while I brushed her hair. My mother. She would let me open jars and bottles, sniff and touch, she would let me uncover close things from drawers, treasures, and tell me where they came from. 

Tell me stories of a life before. Sometimes she would hold out her hands for me and I would rub them with oil, taking the rings off, one by one, feeling the deep lines on her knuckles, shifting her skin, gently, over veins and bone. I wanted to climb back inside her, always, and settle down behind her heart. 

As we started reading through the dialogue, our tutor started shouting out more things to think about. 

• What can we gather from the words we have just spoken?
• How do I feel after saying this phrase?
• What is my relationship with the person I have just spoken about?
• How would I react to this memory?

Now when I started getting into this, I completely conjured up a situation that I hadn't ever been in, but still I was feeling emotions towards this situation. After every thought, I revelled in what I had just said, thinking out every possibility. It was quite nice to be forced into thinking about the text in hand, finding out every way you could interpret it. 

Once we had thought about our own little story, we performed them to the whole class. What was interesting about this was that no two stories were the same! Because of the gift of imagination, we were able to think of so many possibilities for this extract that we didn't repeat ourselves. This is why I believe it is important to use your imagination when interpreting a text. 

Normally, when reading a play you look into the given circumstances, which tell you the facts about the characters and their histories, but we were given a lot of freedom in this extract, and we were not expected to know the back story of Electra. If you are ever privileged enough to be able to do this please try what I have just done! 

1. Separate the thoughts in the dialogue
2. Really think about the possibilities of each thought in terms of emotion and physical movement
3. How would you react to these thoughts?
4. Revel in a moment of thought after you say the phrase
5. Stay in these moments throughout the dialogue
6. Repeat this over and over until you have your own story, whether made up or coming from your own experiences.

You may find that you have shifts in thought throughout your dialogue. THIS IS GOOD! Real emotional memories contain shifts in thought and this is the key to keeping the audience engaged and touched by what you are saying. 

All these techniques revolve around Stanislavksy's methods, using absorption, concentration and focus; engaging your imagination and separating your thoughts. Use your own emotional memory and use the words to engage with your own emotions, rather than manufacturing them. Be honest to the text and keep present in the moment rather than thinking ahead. Whilst using your emotional thoughts, find the impulse that makes you want to say the words you're about to say. 

I hope you find this useful! I did which is why I wanted to share this with you all! If you have any comments or questions about this, please comment below! Also if you have any other methods or exercises which you would like to share, again, comment below! If you don't understand any of the words or phrases I will be adding a Glossary to my site in due course which I hope you find helpful too! 

:D