Monday 6th October 2014 

       What I have done in Mr Atwell's acting lessons so far

So far we have covered what acting is.We discussed the meaning of the word 'cathartic'. It means, 'providing psychological relief through the open expression of strong emotions', in other words an emotion that you've felt once in your life. When you act, you may have to become a character different from yourself in a naturalistic way. You're aim is to make the audience believe you're the person you're trying to be. Acting is also a form of self expression. 

You need your imagination to put yourself in the shoes of the person you're playing. Past experience would help to create the scene and emotions more. As an actor you will need to have a good memory to remember your lines and stage directions. You also need to be open minded and have experience in acting. Overall, acting is a form of art that expresses emotions, ideas, characters or situations to an audience, through physicality, voice and imagination. 

In the next lesson, we were taught some physical skills such as: Grasping both hands together and shaking them, which releases tension in the jaw; co-ordination to get the brain thinking, tensing and releasing the shoulders and shaking the body to warm up and keep the mind energized.

Some vocal skills we were taught were: 'yarring'. This is when you make a 'yar' sound by grasping both hands together and shaking them, this is also under physical skills. A gentle quiet siren moving the larynx up and down, saying your plosives (P D G) and saying your fricatives , (when the air in your lungs goes through a smaller space in the mouth) 'ffff' 'vvvv'. 

The things I need to improve on:

- I need to learn how to move around the stage and use as much space as possible, if needed.  (Physical skills)

- Use emphasis on different words to connect with the audience. For instance, different dynamics such as loud, quiet, quick and slow. (Vocal skills)

- When I get my monologue, I would observe it and find ut the meaning of it. I would build up a character so I can connect with the monologue. (observational skills)