I think my performance turned out decently. Though I had been pretty packed during the week that I was supposed to perform, I gave it my full effort. I think my rehearsal time was somewhat limited however, and I could've taken the time to rehearse maybe once or twice more than I did.
I think the emotion that I portrayed through my performance was one of my strengths. Some audience comments said that the emotion I portrayed made them feel the sadness, the depression, and the grief themselves. I felt that I truly put myself into my performance, and put myself into the place of the surgeon, and that was a reason why emotions came through so strongly and people could feel the emotion. I think another one of my strengths was how I blocked out my performance. I focused on three certain spots of the stage for my blocking. I used the actor's stage right for the surgery room, stage middle for the family waiting room, and stage left for my personal office. I tried to keep my position in a place where it was easy for the audience to see what was exactly going on during my performance, and I also think that helped my performance do well.
One main thing did not go as I had planned. Before my performance, I had planned out timing for everything I had to do. (i.e. 20 seconds for this, 10 seconds for that.) However, while performing my silent scene in front of the class, I seemed to speed everything up by a lot. I had planned out my performance so that it would last for the full span of the song, but I ended a lot earlier than planned. It seemed as if nerves had made me unaware of how fast I was doing everything. Mrs. Weil noticed and she said that it was as if I rushed everything. It was a little irksome that I let my nerves get to me, since I knew I would be nervous and I had taken the time to plan what would happen in my scene.
One of the things I did the first time I performed my silent monologue was I didn't allow the full time for the impact of what was happening in my scene to sink in with the audience, and allow them to truly process what was happening, so if I had the chance to perform again, I would change that. I would try to slow down everything that happened, to achieve the full impact of the serious emotion that was occuring within my performance.
Overall, I believe my performance turned out decently. Mrs. Weil gave me a 48.5/50 points which was an A. However, I do believe I could've improved if I had not let my nerves get to me.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Silent Monologue Assignment: Performance Prediction
Tomorrow, November 17th, 2009, I will perform my silent monologue. Because I have had a lot of other things to do this week, I hope I have not been to preoccupied and my performance will turn out decently. I've practiced several times tonight, and I think I know my routine quite well. I think my performance, as with anything, there will be the positives and the negatives.
I think my strengths will come through my method of portraying emotion in this scene. I've worked in Speech and Debate on dramatic scenes before, so I think that will help a lot. My dad watched my performance and said the emotions, such as depression and grief, came through very clearly. I also think another one of my strengths will be my performance story. I think my story line is creative and different from what most people would expect for the song I chose. It would be expected that I have a typical relationship story, but I did not want to do that, and I wanted to do something different, which is why I decided to go with the surgeon story line.
I think one of my main challenges will be nerves. I usually don't have trouble with public speaking; I feel quite comfortable when speaking in front of a crowd. However, this isn't exactly what I would call public speaking. I have everything timed and rehearsed, but I'm scared that nerves will cause me to make a mistake on performance. I hope I will be able to calm down so my nerves won't be as big of a problem.
I think my strengths will come through my method of portraying emotion in this scene. I've worked in Speech and Debate on dramatic scenes before, so I think that will help a lot. My dad watched my performance and said the emotions, such as depression and grief, came through very clearly. I also think another one of my strengths will be my performance story. I think my story line is creative and different from what most people would expect for the song I chose. It would be expected that I have a typical relationship story, but I did not want to do that, and I wanted to do something different, which is why I decided to go with the surgeon story line.
I think one of my main challenges will be nerves. I usually don't have trouble with public speaking; I feel quite comfortable when speaking in front of a crowd. However, this isn't exactly what I would call public speaking. I have everything timed and rehearsed, but I'm scared that nerves will cause me to make a mistake on performance. I hope I will be able to calm down so my nerves won't be as big of a problem.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Silent Monologue Assignment: Story Analysis and Plot Summary
For my silent monologue assignment, I don't want the lyrics of the song to dictate what my performance will be like. The lyrics of the song seem to discuss a relationship that may be experiencing some turbulence and troubles. However, I want to create a scene that truly ponders the idea of life. I thought of the idea of the surgeon, through the idea of when life may be in danger, many head over to the hospital. I want to portray the idea of how fragile life may be, and the hardships that may be difficult to cross over, and the idea of how the choices you make can affect the state of life.
My basic plot line will be the surgeon who is just beginning to feel comfortable during a procedure, who has worked her whole life to achieve this goal, receives a patient, a young boy of about five, who suffers from appendicitis. She has performed this procedure before, so she is feeling fairly confident. However, things go deathly wrong in the procedure as the appendicitis bursts, and the young boy's pulse decreases until it no longer exists. She is stricken with depression, sadness, anger, and pain as she lets the family know what has happened. She then progresses to her office, where she strides around and sobs as she thinks about what she believes is her responsibility. She decides it is only right if she takes her life as well.
At the beginning of the song, during the instrumental part, she eagerly preps for surgery. Though she may feel absolutely terrified on the inside, on the outside she attempts to put on a demeanor of calm. She puts on gloves, a face mask, and a hair net after washing her hands.
The lyrics begin as she heads over to the operating table, on the actor's stage right, and asks her assistants if they are ready, and for the first neccessary tools. She makes the beginning incision and makes her way to the appendix to have it removed.
After about twenty seconds, she hears a beeping noise and looks at the computer screen to find the little boy's pulse is falling, and falling quickly. Frantically, she yells for her assistants to get her various materials as she tries to save the boy's life.
After another twenty seconds, it is now too late. The child has died. She is beginning to realize what happened, and takes some of her emotion out on her assistants as she throws her face mask to the ground and lets the grief overtake her for ten seconds.
For twenty seconds, she walks out of the operating room, pushing the double doors open, and knocks on the door of the family waiting room (middle of the stage). The family opens the door, and instantly knows it is not good news from the demeanor of her face. She quietly tells the family what has happened as she excuses herself, sobbing as she leaves the room.
Walking towards her office now, stage left and partly middle of the stage, she opens the door, closes it behind her, and sinks down to the floor and just cries for about thirty seconds. She then gets up, heads over to a cabinet, opens it, and takes out a photo album of pictures of all of her previous patients. She looks at all of the lives she had saved, and then thinks of the one she didn't, and overcome by emotion, she throws the photo album on the ground after about twenty seconds. She then takes her diploma off the wall and stares at it for about twenty seconds wondering if she really deserves it, and throws that on the ground as well.
She then cannot deal with the pain no longer and takes a gun out of the drawer in her desk that she kept for emergencies. She stares at it for about twenty seconds, decides it is not the right way to go. Then for ten seconds, she reconsiders it. She takes the gun out again, holds it up to her head for about ten seconds, and shoots.
Through this story, I want to portray the idea of life, and what life exactly may be.
My basic plot line will be the surgeon who is just beginning to feel comfortable during a procedure, who has worked her whole life to achieve this goal, receives a patient, a young boy of about five, who suffers from appendicitis. She has performed this procedure before, so she is feeling fairly confident. However, things go deathly wrong in the procedure as the appendicitis bursts, and the young boy's pulse decreases until it no longer exists. She is stricken with depression, sadness, anger, and pain as she lets the family know what has happened. She then progresses to her office, where she strides around and sobs as she thinks about what she believes is her responsibility. She decides it is only right if she takes her life as well.
At the beginning of the song, during the instrumental part, she eagerly preps for surgery. Though she may feel absolutely terrified on the inside, on the outside she attempts to put on a demeanor of calm. She puts on gloves, a face mask, and a hair net after washing her hands.
The lyrics begin as she heads over to the operating table, on the actor's stage right, and asks her assistants if they are ready, and for the first neccessary tools. She makes the beginning incision and makes her way to the appendix to have it removed.
After about twenty seconds, she hears a beeping noise and looks at the computer screen to find the little boy's pulse is falling, and falling quickly. Frantically, she yells for her assistants to get her various materials as she tries to save the boy's life.
After another twenty seconds, it is now too late. The child has died. She is beginning to realize what happened, and takes some of her emotion out on her assistants as she throws her face mask to the ground and lets the grief overtake her for ten seconds.
For twenty seconds, she walks out of the operating room, pushing the double doors open, and knocks on the door of the family waiting room (middle of the stage). The family opens the door, and instantly knows it is not good news from the demeanor of her face. She quietly tells the family what has happened as she excuses herself, sobbing as she leaves the room.
Walking towards her office now, stage left and partly middle of the stage, she opens the door, closes it behind her, and sinks down to the floor and just cries for about thirty seconds. She then gets up, heads over to a cabinet, opens it, and takes out a photo album of pictures of all of her previous patients. She looks at all of the lives she had saved, and then thinks of the one she didn't, and overcome by emotion, she throws the photo album on the ground after about twenty seconds. She then takes her diploma off the wall and stares at it for about twenty seconds wondering if she really deserves it, and throws that on the ground as well.
She then cannot deal with the pain no longer and takes a gun out of the drawer in her desk that she kept for emergencies. She stares at it for about twenty seconds, decides it is not the right way to go. Then for ten seconds, she reconsiders it. She takes the gun out again, holds it up to her head for about ten seconds, and shoots.
Through this story, I want to portray the idea of life, and what life exactly may be.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Silent Monologue Assignment: Character Analysis
My basic character for the silent monologue assignment will be based off a middle-aged, but experienced surgeon. She will be in her mid-30s, just beginning to feel comfortable in the surgery room. She is just reaching the state where she is beginning to feel confident about her abilities in the surgery room and she is expanding her scale as a doctor, a surgeon, and a hero. She wants to be able to save lives of those in need, and give families that may have been stricken with sickness, something to be grateful about. She wants to be able to help those who need it, and in the process help herself become a better person. At the beginning of the performance, she is anxious to start the surgery procedure that must be performed to save a young child's life. She is taking deep breaths and trying to look happy as she preps for the job. She has spent her whole life aiming towards becoming a surgeon. And now that she has achieved her goal, and has just started to gain respect among her fellow surgeons, she does not want to mess anything up. She believes she must put absolutely two hundred percent of her effort into every surgery, and she hopes that everything for the rest of her career will run smoothly. She will try to make everything work.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Pantomime
The past two days in drama have been focused on the idea of pantomime.
I found this unit very interesting.
On Monday, we focused on pantomiming movements by playing a hand-off game and a game called "What are you doing", where we got to pick what an opponent had to pantomime.
Yesterday, we had to watch a movie on pantomime. I found that very interesting as well.
I found this unit very interesting.
On Monday, we focused on pantomiming movements by playing a hand-off game and a game called "What are you doing", where we got to pick what an opponent had to pantomime.
Yesterday, we had to watch a movie on pantomime. I found that very interesting as well.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Silent Vacation Scenes
Today, we performed some Silent Vacation Scenes. The assignment was to create five snapshots of a vacation trip, and take one snapshot and create a silent "home video."
My group was Alice, Hannah, Jared, and Eric. We decided that our vacation scene would be Japan.
Scene #1: Experiencing turbulance on the flight from China. Emergency landing in Japan.
Scene #2: Being followed by Japanese school girls.
Scene #3: Japanese school girls turn into samurais.
Scene #4: Sushi food fight!
Scene #5: Flight to China, turbulance, and ending up in Singapore, where Japanese school girls were detained.
I think we could've worked on our story line somewhat more. But, I think our blocking and our ideas were strong.
My group was Alice, Hannah, Jared, and Eric. We decided that our vacation scene would be Japan.
Scene #1: Experiencing turbulance on the flight from China. Emergency landing in Japan.
Scene #2: Being followed by Japanese school girls.
Scene #3: Japanese school girls turn into samurais.
Scene #4: Sushi food fight!
Scene #5: Flight to China, turbulance, and ending up in Singapore, where Japanese school girls were detained.
I think we could've worked on our story line somewhat more. But, I think our blocking and our ideas were strong.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Silent Monolgue Assignment: Basic Information
The past few days have also been days where we've worked on the movement unit with exercises and some comedy improv.
We have also had the chance to see the school play, All in the Timing. I really liked the play and the way it was set up!
Today, we received our next project. It is a silent monologue performed to a song of our choice. Mrs. Weil showed us an example today, and her silent monologue was so powerful and moving.
I'm thinking I am going to perform my silent monologue to a cover of Apologize by OneRepublic ft. Timbaland, by Ryan Narciso, CJ Torralba, and Matthew Torralba. I have a deep connection with that particular version of the song, and I think it will be very easy for me to emotionally and physically connect to it. It was a song that helped me through a spat that happened in my family, so I can truly connect with the song. I feel that the lyrics mean something, and truly hold a meaning and a lesson to life. The idea of it being "too late to apologize" is one that many humans hold. Humanity as a race can be stubborn and unforgiving. However, sometimes, it is neccessary to forgive and forget so life can continue its course.
Apologize One Republic ft. Timbaland --- Songwriters: Tim Mosley and Ryan Tedder
I'm holding on your rope,
Got me ten feet off the ground
I'm hearing what you say but I just can't make a sound
You tell me that you need me
Then you go and cut me down, but wait
You tell me that you're sorry
Didn't think I'd turn around, and say...
It's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late
I'd take another chance, take a fall
Take a shot for you
And I need you like a heart needs a beat
But it's nothin new
I loved you with a fire red-
Now it's turning blue, and you say...
"Sorry" like the angel heaven let me think was you
But I'm afraid...
It's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late
It's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late
It's too late to apologize, yeah
I said it's too late to apologize, yeah-
I'm holdin on your rope got me ten feet off the ground...
We have also had the chance to see the school play, All in the Timing. I really liked the play and the way it was set up!
Today, we received our next project. It is a silent monologue performed to a song of our choice. Mrs. Weil showed us an example today, and her silent monologue was so powerful and moving.
I'm thinking I am going to perform my silent monologue to a cover of Apologize by OneRepublic ft. Timbaland, by Ryan Narciso, CJ Torralba, and Matthew Torralba. I have a deep connection with that particular version of the song, and I think it will be very easy for me to emotionally and physically connect to it. It was a song that helped me through a spat that happened in my family, so I can truly connect with the song. I feel that the lyrics mean something, and truly hold a meaning and a lesson to life. The idea of it being "too late to apologize" is one that many humans hold. Humanity as a race can be stubborn and unforgiving. However, sometimes, it is neccessary to forgive and forget so life can continue its course.
Apologize One Republic ft. Timbaland --- Songwriters: Tim Mosley and Ryan Tedder
I'm holding on your rope,
Got me ten feet off the ground
I'm hearing what you say but I just can't make a sound
You tell me that you need me
Then you go and cut me down, but wait
You tell me that you're sorry
Didn't think I'd turn around, and say...
It's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late
I'd take another chance, take a fall
Take a shot for you
And I need you like a heart needs a beat
But it's nothin new
I loved you with a fire red-
Now it's turning blue, and you say...
"Sorry" like the angel heaven let me think was you
But I'm afraid...
It's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late
It's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late
It's too late to apologize, yeah
I said it's too late to apologize, yeah-
I'm holdin on your rope got me ten feet off the ground...
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