Voice Portfolio Entry 4: Posture - Use Of The Alexander Technique

Posture - Use Of The Alexander Technique

Introduction To Posture:

Before we can Breathe, Sing, Speak or just walk around, we need to create good posture in our body. Good posture is demonstrated when your body is standing straight up with no "hunch back".  To create good posture, imagine standing or walking whilst balancing a book, or any other object, on your head, this will create the effect of good posture.  This type of posture provides a few positive things for you.  The most important result from doing this is an open Lower Abdominal Cage, so you can consistently inhale a full breathe and an Erect stance that communicates with others that you are both confident and positive.

Correct posture, even if they don't know it, is a very important thing that people look for in others, especially in the Performing Arts Industry, where posture is one of the things that can describe an actors personality and also show how a character in a script is portrayed without the use of words.

A Description Of The Alexander Technique:

To achieve good posture, a person must remain focused and draw all of their attention to their mind where the building point of good posture begins.  With this being said, there is a good posture building technique used frequently for actors in the Performing Arts Industry called the Alexander Technique.

The Alexander Technique is a way of learning how to move mindfully through life. The Alexander process shines a light on inefficient habits of movement and patterns of accumulated tension, which interferes with the body's innate ability to move easily and according to how it was designed.  It's a simple, yet powerful approach that offers the opportunity to take charge of one's own learning and healing process, because it's not a series of passive treatments, but an active exploration that changes the way one thinks and responds in activity.  It produces a skill set that can be applied in every situation.  Lessons using this technique leaves one feeling lighter, freer and more grounded.

When I performed this technique in my 'Developing Voice For The Actor' lesson, I had this exact feeling filled throughout my whole body and I had described to my teacher how I was feeling this way much more than previously when I had never experienced it before.  It helped me discover a new balance within my body since I had released unnecessary tension.  I found it to be an intelligent way to solve my body problems.

Excess tension in the body can cause a variety of unpleasant symptoms and it can interfere with the body's ability to perform activities well.  Therefore it is not surprising that actors use the Alexander Technique because they are in physical pain (backaches, sore neck/shoulders etc.) and/or because they are performers, much like myself, who want to increase the quality of their singing, playing, acting or dancing.

For the 'Developing Voice For The Actor' lesson during Week 3 of the Level 3 Acting Extended Diploma course, we had studied and delved into a technique used by many professional actors called 'The Alexander Technique'.

The Process And Effects Of The Alexander Technique:

The process of the Alexander Technique is very much like a form of meditation and had involved the use of my whole body in order to recieve the benefits after having performed it.

• To start off with, my teacher had wanted me to lie on the floor, with my knees bent, facing towards the ceiling of the room.
• My teacher had then asked me to focus my mind onto my feet, I was to then release any unwanted tension that would of been in them to result in making them fully relaxed.
• My teacher then wanted me to move up my body to then focus on my thighs and repeat the same process that I had done for my feet, release any unwanted tension to make them fully relaxed.
• Afterwards, I was asked to focus on my shoulders and release any unwanted tension from there doing the same thing as before with my feet and thighs.
• I was then asked to move and focus on the whole of my upper body, but instead of releasing any unwanted tension straight away, I was to tense the whole of my body which was to actually release the tension and make my body more relaxed overall, which it had done.
• Having released any unwanted tension from my body, I was to crawl up into a fetus postion and stay there until I felt comfortable.
• When I was ready, I was to leave the fetus postion and be on all fours (knees and palms of hands) and perform a reverse spinal role with my head being the last thing to be balanced within my now correctly formed posture.

Explaination Of Experience:

This technique is along the lines similar to the meditation exercise that our teacher had instructed us through in previous lessons, doing both had relieved my body of unwanted stress and tension, but doing the 'Alexander Technique' had made my body and voice feel much lighter in terms of weight.

This was more obvious to me compared to my voice overall, since I have quite a deep voice, and whenever I spoke, to me, it just felt a lot more lighter and easier to talk than it did prior to performing the 'Alexander Technique'. I presented this experience to my teacher and she replied saying that my explaination is natural and means that I have correctly performed the 'Alexander Technique'. Our teacher suggested that we all should perform this technique at least 3 times a day, as this will improve our posture and vocal potential as an actor.

When looking back to the relaxation process of the Alexander Technique, and when I thought that my voice was a lot easier to produce, I never really sat down and tried to realise what may have made this happen.  Now that I have done the Alexander Technique once more, I think the reason that my overall voice production is a lot easier to develop is because my body is in a full relaxed state, much like when I'm sleeping.  To further evidence this point, in the past, there have been occasions where I've heard one of my family members talking in their sleep, and when listening to their voice, it had sounded much more lighter and well developed than normal, when they are fully awake.  This may have been the same possible effect that I've experienced after having done the Alexander Technique and it makes me realise that if I do this more often in the future, following my teachers instructions to perform it at least 3 times a day, I'm sure that my overall voice production will result in improvement, long term, over the course of my career as an actor.

Analysis Of How And Why Exercises In This Area Can Help Improve Vocal Performance:

Perhaps the main challenge facing actors and performers, in general, is stage fright. As the fear increases, the breathing of the individual becomes shallow, and the body also becomes tense and fixed. The Alexander Technique is a form of stress management that generates an inner calm, and a capacity for coping with performance anxiety without freezing. The technique also heightens the ability to incorporate character roles, and enhances stage presence.

The Alexander Technique originated as a practical method to sort out Alexanders personal voice problems. Today, the same technique is still used to eradicate breathing difficulties, avoid vocal strain, generate resonance and improve tonal quality. Vocalists often overexert themselves in an effort to achieve results. Through the Alexander Technique, they learn that less effort brings better results.

The Alexander Technique is a system based on the premise of psycho-physical unity. Our minds and bodies are really part of the same unified psycho-physical self. So, emotional struggles are evident in our postural behaviour, and harmful postural habits in turn generate poor emotional functioning. Muscular distortions can serve as a filter against psychological pain and distress. During Alexander sessions, pupils become aware of this mind-body link and become more able to reduce this filter. This process includes emotional insight, and can lead to psychological growth and healing. The ability to handle stress and anxiety is enhanced and the Technique can also be described as an effective means of stress management.

This information was gained from this web-link: http://www.alexander-technique-london.co.uk/alexander-technique-faq/

Voice Portfolio Entry 3: Respiration - Getting To Know Your Voice

Respiration - Getting To Know Your Voice

Introduction To Respiration:

Vocal Delivery is just one of the many tools available for an actor on stage.  At no point should the holistic nature of performance be forgotten.  It is, better all, the use of movement and gesture as well as voice that creates and communicates meaning into an actors performance.  An actor should understand how his/her voice is produced and identify personal areas for improvement.  The whole body determines the overall quality of the voice an actor produces; the way in which an actor uses his body with physical, intellectual and emotional responses to the material that they are engaging with.

Exercises Carried Out Within Lessons:

• Deep Inhaling and Exhaling (w/Beats):

For this exercise, I was given the task to inhale a large amount of air for a selected amount of time and then hold it for several beats, starting from 4 to 8, to then exhale the Carbon Dioxide.  I had carried out this exercise 3 times within the lesson to help gain benefits towards my Respiration.

Performing this exercise had enabled me to intake much more air for the later exercises within this session.

•  Finding Our Diaphragm: 

For the purpose of this exercise, I was to find the location of my Diaphragm within my body and then perform the same exercise that I'd mentioned before.

When performing this exercise, I could definitely feel my Diaphragm moving up and down for when I was breathing in and out.

• Humming a Still Tone:

For this exercise, I was required to hum a random still tone which was both best suited for my vocal cords and for me to be able to execute for the longest time.

For the purpose of this exercise, I had chosen to do a deep sounding still tone, since this is the register of voice that I have, resulting in me to be able to go the longest due to being used to that pitch of voice.  I had performed this exercise twice with the second time doing a different still tone that wasn't suited to my vocal production.  For this, I had chosen to do a high pitched still tone, which had cracked at some points, resulting in the air that I'd inhaled to be wasted since I didn't expect it to happen.  Doing this did give me a weird feeling in my throat also after I had performed it, which could mean that my vocal cords either didn't like me doing it or it was trying to get used to that pitch, and due to it vibrating much more, it started to give a weird sensation.

A Description & Explaination For Respiration:

Respiration is the act of breathing that follows two steps: inhaling (inspiration) is the act of taking in oxygen and exhaling (expiration) is the act of releasing carbon dioxide.

The Human Body has a system involved with the act of breathing called The Respiratory System which is made up of the organs involved in breathing and consists of the mouth, nose, pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi and the lungs.

Oxygen enters the Respiratory System through the mouth and the nose.  The oxygen then passes through the larynx (where speech sounds are produced) and the trachea, which is a tube that enters the chest cavity.  In the chest cavity, the trachea splits into two smaller tubes called the bronchi.  Each bronchus then divides again forming the bronchial tubes.  The bronchial tubes lead directly into the lungs where they divide into many smaller tubes which connect to tiny sacs called the aveoli.  The average adult's lungs contain about 600 million of these sponge, air filled sacs that are surrounded by capillaries.  The inhaled oxygen passes into the aveoli and then diffuses through the capillaries into the artificial blood. Meanwhile, the waste-rich blood from the veins releases its carbon dioxide into the aveoli.  The carbon dioxide follows the same path out of the lungs when you exhale.

The Diaphragm:

The Diaphragms job is to help the Respiratory System pump out the carbon dioxide contained in the lungs and to pull in the oxygen to fill the lungs with clean air.  The Diaphragm is a sheet of muscles that lies across the bottom of the chest cavity.  As the Diaphragm contracts and relaxes, breathing takes place.  When the Diaphragm contracts, oxygen is pulled into the lungs.  When the Diaphragm relaxes, carbon dioxide is pumped out of the lungs.

The Intercostal Muscles:

There are two types of muscles for this system: The internal Intercostal Muscles and the external Intercostal Muscles.  The internal Intercostal Muscles are placed perpendicular to the external Intercostal Muscles.  Both the internal and external Intercostal Muscles work differently.

The internal Intercostal Muscles, or the Inner-Cartilaginous Muscles, stretches the ribs so that they are pulled up and higher volume for the lungs is created, due to this happening, the lungs can be filled with more air.  During the working of this, when the muscles shorten and contract, the ribs are lifted.

This working can be compared with the Traverses Throacais Muscles.  The only thing of difference is that the internal Intercostal Muscle escalates the ribs, whereas the Traverses Throacais Muscles performs the work of depressing them.  The internal Intercostal Muscles, which are present in the bony rib part, is better known as the interosseous internal Intercostal Muscles.  These muscles perform the function of counteracting the activity of the external Intercostal Muscles.  When these muscles shorten or contract, the ribs come closer, this creates a positive air pressure which is developed between the lung air and the air present outside.  The internal Intercostal Muscles are hence associated with the functioning of exhalation.

The external Intercostal Muscles also performs its work by shortening and contracting.  When the muscles contract and shorten, the rib is raised, thereby enhancing the lung volume, which creates a negative air pressure to build up.  The external Intercostal Muscles are known to help the lungs with inhalation.

With the help of the Intercostal Muscles, Humans can register their voice within three classes: High, Medium and Low.  People have different sounding voices because the Intercostal Muscles have a Muscle Memory.  This means that the muscles choose a class of voice that makes them work to their best potential.  In my case, I have a Low class with my voice since it's so deep and more distinct.

Since I have such a low voice, I don't need to contain much air in my lungs to be able to project my voice, whereas someone with a much higher voice class will need to build up more air to project theirs.  This could explain why singers with a high voice will breathe repetitively whilst singing a song, this is so they can reach the highest notes contained within the song with their voice.

Below, I will include an image of the Respiratory System:


Analysis Of How And Why Exercises In This Area Can Help Improve Vocal Performance:

Any person can benefit from improving their Respiratory System, especially Actors, by going through the exercises that I'd previously mentioned.

For those with diseases related to breathing, this can mainly be actors and/or athletes, coordination with breathing can help:

• Reduce symptoms of asthma COPD, Emphsema and Cystic Fibrosis
• Improve Vocal Quality for performance
• Improve athletic ability
• Reduce Insomnia
• Improve systolic blood pressure
• Improve general pain management, including back pain
• Flatten your stomach

Improving your Respiratory system helps raise your Diaphragm.  This allows for more room for your Internal Organs and also, as previously mentioned, flatten your stomach.

Level 3 Acting Week 3: Performance Homework - The Devising Methods Of Frantic Assembly Essay

Nathan Stokell

The Devising Methods of Frantic Assembly Essay

Introduction: Who Are Frantic Assembly?

Frantic Assembly is led by Artistic Director Scott Graham, Scott formed the company with Steven Hoggett and Vicki Middleton in 1994 and continue to collaborate with many of today's most inspiring artists.

The company was formed with the desire to bring something different when it comes to theatre and they have definatley presented that in the 20 years that they have been performing.  Frantic Assembly was formed together with the inspiration of other theatre companies such as Volcano Theatre Company and DV8.

Frantic Assembly, in the beginning, were desperate to channel their raw energy to emulate the visceral quality of both of these inspirations with the idea that they were portraying something much different in their performance but they didn't want to disguise the fact that they had very little clue as to how they could take their performances to the next, professional level.

Frantic Assembly, since 2002, has been funded by the the Arts Council England which distributes public subsidy which is provided by the Department of Culture Media and Sport. In 2012, Frantic Assembly became a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO), this brings support for all of the company's funding's such as their productions and core costs. Core costs include wages, national insurance, insurance, office overheads, storage, I.T, business rates and even window cleaning.  Frantic Assembly is neither a profit organisation or a charity group, it is governed by a board of trustees, all of whom are experienced arts professionals.

The Devising Methods:

Frantic Assembly's unique physical style combines movement, design, music and text all together to create a flued and dynamic performance that grips the audiences eyes to the stage to watch the whole performance from beginning to end.  Frantic Assembly is a very athletic type of theatre group that brings the physical theatre type of performance to it's highest potential by having one or more actors being capable of performing stunts themselves without stunt doubles and or sky-hooks.

They create thrilling, energetic and unforgettable theatre and their work reflects a lot of contemporary culture whilst creating a dynamic and vivid style of performance alongside to strike the audiences interests.  Frantic Assembly are not as Physical as many other theatre companies such as 'Complicate', but they chose to waver along a line between Physical Theatre and Verbal Theatre.

The Stimulus of Frantic Assembly is that all the members in the group take inspiration from each other, they discuss before-hand how they should perform a scene and they can agree or disagree to an idea and further develop it to become an even more effective and engaging piece of theatre that brings meaning to every moment in that scene.  Frantic Assembly also try to develop scenes in different ways to give a much more entertaining and much less repetitive performance.
To accompany this, they will produce all the elements of theatre, arts or technology, to assist the audiences imagination so they become more familiar with the scenes from the plays being performed.  In terms of the technological elements, Frantic Assembly will use Lighting to bewilder an audience which will make them more perplexed and confused as to what's happening on stage and will make their eyes become 'Glued' to the scene, this is all followed by the audience to become baffled by what has happened in the next scene and this creates the the image of an effective performance and shows a powerful method of devising.

Frantic Assembly are one of the many theatre companies in the UK that have generously shared their process of devising with the public and Directors who have been inspired by their methods.  They run workshops all around the world with people both who have had no experience with performance or have done it before and would like to develop their skills.  Acclaimed by their audiences and critics for their highly innovative and adventurous theatre, Frantic Assembly have created playful, intelligent and dynamic productions for over 20 years.

Frantic Assembly, in 2009, released a book titled 'The Frantic Assembly Book of Devising Theatre' to help students or upcoming actors/directors learn about their methods of devising theatre with more logical flavor.  It is the first book to reflect on the history and practice of this remarkable company and includes:

* Practical exercises

* Essays on devising, writing and choreography

* Suggestions for scene development

* An anthology of Frantic Assembly productions

* An eight page colour section and illustrations throughout
This intimate and personal account offers an accessible, educational and indispensable introduction to the evolution and success of Frantic Assembly.

Quotes of Interest:

The Guardian Newspaper's review of Frantic Assembly's performance of 'Stockholm':

"Up there with the best of the year so far...played out with brilliant controlled recklessness...terrifyingly erotic and haunting."

For their performance of 'Stockholm', the actors of Frantic Assembly use a narrative tone of voice to describe the current events and project it with physical movements.

The Times Newspaper's review of Frantic Assembly's performance of 'Lovesong':

"It builds beautifully into a touching meditation on loss and separation through death.  You may well not leave it dry-eyed."

One of the main features within 'Lovesong' is that the directors have choreographed it so that the old and young variants of the couple Bill and Maggie would sometimes be on stage at the same time, but the younger Bill and Maggie don't give any notification of the older variant of themselves because they view it as a flashback.  Although there are moments in the performance where one of the older variants would interact with the younger.  These moments were introduced as a form of dance.

Level 3 Acting Week 3 Synopsis Blog

Monday 22nd Of September 2014 Blog Entry:

Synopsis Of Day:

Lesson 1 & 2- Physical Theatre And Contemporary Theatre:

For the start of this week, we returned to some more Physical Theatre.  In this lesson, our teacher had instructed us to perform a series of physical exercises which required the use of our whole body to complete them.  These exercises did bring up a sweat, with me especially, as after we had done them, I was one of the only people in the room who was actually sweating, but maybe I was trying to hard.

After we had done these exercises, we moved onto another exercise which required the use of a partner to accomplish it.  This exercise was called 'Chair Duets'.  The exercise was as simple as this; there were two chairs for both people in each group, our teacher had instructed all of us to perform 3 movements using any part of our body then the next person would do 3 movements and so forth.  We had to do this until both people equally had performed 12-18 series of movements to complete the performance.  Whilst devising what our movements will be, our teacher had told us that our performance, the first time we do them, must not show any story between the 2 characters and for the second time we perform, we will all have to keep looking at our partner all the way through the performance.  Our teacher also instructed us to practice performing our movements as fast and fluently as we can as that is what we are all going to try and do later on in the lesson.

After a little while of practicing, our teacher had us all sit in the audiences perspective to view each groups performance.  She had made it so that 3 groups at one time would perform and whoever was in the audience at the time would review each group and say what they could of done better to improve the performance.  Each group had to perform their movement 3 times but it had to be different each time.  As our teacher had instructed us all to practice beforehand, we had to be able to show no story, be able to stare our partners in the eyes for the whole performance and to be able to accomplish each movement as fast and fluently as we could.  The three showings of each groups performances had happened in this order.  Me and my partner were in the second series of the 3 group performance and we were able to perform all 3 tasks that we all had to accomplish in our movement.

After completing and reviewing each groups performance, we had all moved into a different room to watch the two Frantic Assembly performances 'Lovesong' and 'Stockholm'.  Whilst watching both performances, we were to write down notes to help our Frantic Assembly Essay that we had to type/write up to hand in later on this week.  For this session, we had finished watching 'Lovesong', and having watched this performance before, I still received the effects from the performances' powerful ending.  For 'Stockholm' however, we did not finish this performance, but hopefully we will return to this in one days lesson as I quite like this performance since it's a much more different atmosphere than 'Lovesong'.

Conclusion Of Day:

After watching both performances, our day at college had ended.  I had learnt a lot today about use of movement that we may look at for our first production, '13', and I have also gained more knowledge to include in my essay for Frantic Assembly, which is turning out to be a very detailed document giving its 1000 word limit.

Wednesday 24th Of September 2014 Blog Entry:

Synopsis Of Day:

Lesson 1 & 2 - Principles Of Acting And The Historical Context Of Performance:

After my study day for improving and finishing my Frantic Assembly Essay, we had all returned to college to carry on our rehearsals for '13' and to also block certain scenes in the play.  But before we got to all of that, our teacher had made us perform some of the exercises that we had performed on Mondays lesson. Doing these exercises did get me more in the mood for rehearsals as it did relieve some of the tension in my body at the time to help allow me to portray my character more effectively during a blocking session for my scenes.

Since my character in '13', Martin, didn't have too many lines, I had asked my teacher in a previous lesson to allow me to perform as another character in '13' so I can be in the performance more.  For doing this, I had gained the character called Paul and for today, I will be blocking scenes for both Martin and Paul.  This also gives me the time to discover how I should perform as a different character, since performing as 2 completely different characters should allow me to discover different traits between the two and to project that into my own portrayal of the characters.

After a little while of rehearsing and blocking our scenes, before we reached the end of the lesson and would head off to our lunch break, we had a group session where we all sat in a circle in the room and we all talked about our hobbies and interests outside of college.  Many people had different things they wanted to say and through doing this, I had learnt more about the people I will be working with for the next two years on this course and how I could interact with them in conversation.  When it came to me to tell what my hobbies and interests were I had stated that I like to go out cycling and to also run when I can to keep myself physically fit, I said that I practice playing the Harmonica in my spare time when I'm not working and I also told everyone what TV shows I'm interested in.  These shows are ones like The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Game Of Thrones, The Big Bang Theory, The Simpsons and also Marvel titles films or TV again such as Marvels Agents Of Shield.

Lesson 3 - Performing Arts Business:

After we all had our lunch break, we returned to our 'Performing Arts Business' lesson where we were all to present our findings for the given job role in the Performing Arts Industry as a presentation.  Unfortunately for me and my partner and a few other groups, we had run out of time for the lesson to present our findings on Set Designer and other job roles, but in next weeks lesson, we will return to give our presentations at the very start of the lesson so we could all move onto another task.  Since we were running out of time however, we still did have 15-20 minutes left for this lesson, but this section was for another task our teacher wanted to look into.  For this task, we all looked at examples of a good and bad CV for an actor and we were all given the opportunity to develop our own CV if we hadn't yet done one.  I had already done my CV prior to this lesson, but I have yet to create my actor's CV which we will all look into for next weeks lesson after showing our presentations.

Lesson 4 - Developing Voice For The Actor:

After another break, we all returned to our 'Developing Voice For The Actor' lesson where we all delved our minds into 'The Alexander Technique'.  This technique is along the lines similar to the meditation exercise that our teacher had instructed us through in previous lessons, doing both had relieved my body of unwanted stress and tension, but doing the 'Alexander Technique' had made my body and voice feel much lighter in terms of weight.  This was more obvious in terms of my voice overall, since I have quite a deep voice, whenever I spoke it, to me, just felt a lot lighter than it did prior to performing the 'Alexander Technique'.  I presented this experience to my teacher and she replied saying that my explanation is natural and means that I have correctly performed the 'Alexander Technique'.  Our teacher suggested that we all should perform this technique at least 3 times a day, as this will improve our posture and vocal potential as an actor.

Conclusion Of Day:

After a brief discussion, our day had ended. I have learnt a lot more about our first production for this year, '13', for blocking some of my characters scenes and also having time to read the script and I have learnt more about specific job roles behind the industry such as where each job role may have developed their knowledge/skills for stage and/or film and there is also my discoveries in performing the 'Alexander Technique' which I will try to continue in my own time away from college.

Thursday 25th Of September 2014 Blog Entry:

Synopsis Of Day:

Lesson 1 & 2 - Tutorial And Performance Workshop:

For today we had all returned to another day of rehearsing and blocking scenes for our first major production, '13'.  We had, again, performed the exercises that we had learnt previously this week to get us in the correct mood for performance.  Not much more was discovered in today's lessons as me and any other people in the group had to try and block scenes ourselves since other members of the group needed to have their chance to block their individual scenes, but hopefully next week our teacher will try to come to a solution as to how she can try to block all of our scenes before our final performance in November.  For this session, I was mostly just reading the script, since I had not read all of it yet.  I had accomplished a significant amount of reading before the lesson had ended, I had read up to nearly the end of the play during my time at home after Wednesday and in the time span of this lesson, so I know a lot more about the story of '13' and, in my opinion, it's a very interesting read. Doing this helps me discover my characters lines and stage directions and it also helps me with my character development process for both of my characters in '13', Martin and Paul.

Level 3 Acting Week 3: Business Homework - My Five Year Plan: Course Option 2

Nathan Stokell's Five Year Plan: Course Option 2

How Do I Get There (University/Drama School I Want To Study At)

2. Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA)

Course Name: BA (HONS) in Acting (3 years)

What Modules Do They Offer?

The three year BA in Acting (validated by King’s College London) is a Vocational Training course designed to provide a thorough preparation for a career in a wide variety of media, including theatre, television, film and radio.

The programme includes the development of individual skills in the areas of acting, voice and movement, and their application in a variety of projects and productions across the three years. Work is continuously assessed and students have regular feedback sessions with teachers. The aim is to train actors with a high degree of technical facility and flexibility, but also, individuality and imagination. The course includes work on contemporary plays and styles and classes in camera and microphone technique.

Training Includes:

* Stanislavsky-based rehearsal exercises and project work

* Improvisation

* Contemporary and classical text

* Performance projects on Greek Tragedy, Shakespeare and the Jacobeans, Restoration Comedy and contemporary writing

* Acting for camera and microphone technique

* Voice Training, including dialect training, individual and choral singing

* Movement training, including mask, dance and stage combat

Throughout the course professional development sessions introduce guest speakers from across the industry.

Students first perform to the public at the end of the summer term of their second year. This will a production that tours schools. The third year is spent mainly in rehearsal and performance of productions for one of RADA's three theatres. These productions are attended by agents, casting directors and industry professionals.

Entry Requirements:

* Candidates must have complete fluency in the English language.

* The minimum age for admission is 18.

* You will need to demonstrate an intellectual, creative and practical ability to undertake degree level training.

Entry Fee:

£9,000 (in 2014/2015), may increase within coming years.

Within the completion of this course, an agent will be recommended to you by the college to pursue any given role in performance.

Is This Course For Me And Why?

This course is designed to help talented actors develop a high level of technical facility, flexibility, individuality and imagination.  They help to develop skills in all the areas of acting, voice, singing and movement.  These skills will be applied and assessed through projects, productions and recorded media.

With the ability and knowledge I have achieved throughout my career so far in the Performing Arts Industry, I feel that this course is also right for me as it will help further develop my skills in performance and I will also get to meet famous actors on the course who have also studied here to help gain developed knowledge and personal development on certain areas for the course.

* I feel that RADA would be a great choice for me to decide because of its fantastic facilities, the projects within the subject and knowing the successful outcomes from its successful students.

* Through choosing this institute of study, it would also allow me to further explore and increase my overall understanding in more of the practical and academicals sides of the acting industry.

* I will be able to expand upon my current skills, and also train towards gaining new techniques and skills in performance, all of which will be given through opportunities where I would have to present through stage, screen and radio productions.

* I would have opportunities to meet and work with past graduate students and professionals working within the performing arts industry which would, once again, allow me to extend my understanding in the acting industry and show how much more I can learn and train towards gaining professionalism in the performing arts industry.

What Skills/Requirements Do I Need To Get In?

Students wishing to apply for RADA have to be fluent in the English Language and be over the age of 18.  This institute, surprisingly, does not ask for their students past qualifications.  This is because when asking for entry into RADA, they require that students should be able to demonstrate an intellectual, creative and practical ability to undertake degree level training.  

Students will still have to undertake an audition process, but they can enter if they know full well what they are signing up for. 

The audition process consists of four stages:

* Preliminary Audition

* Recall Audition

* Short workshop

* Workshop Day 

The purpose of the audition process is for the students that wish to apply to fully demonstrate their abilities to the adaption of what the entirety of the course work consists of within this degree, as well as demonstrating the students current skill's and techniques within the subject and be offered, by lecturers, any areas of development which is needed if they are to take part in this course.

    

I personally think that both the institute and course are another good option for me:  

* It has good facilities to offer for all of their students

* There have been good outcomes from previous students, whom have become very successful

But from the majority of skills that I have already gained through my acting career, as well as experiences in both singing and dance movement, I feel confident with the presentation of my techniques in each forms of performance.

Post Training

    
If I was to go down the road, for this course, within my Five Year Plan, the Post Training would be a definate improvement towards my skills within the industry. 

Throughout the workshops within this course, students take part in the multiple media forms of acting, such as stage, screen, and radio, which would result in extending their performing skills and strategies.  This would allow me to become recognised around my local area, and hopefully, later on, around the world, where I will be able to have the chance to take part in many major productions. 

This would also allow me to present my current, or newly found skills from the course, to other theatre groups/companies, and allow me to begin the first steps in a potential professional career in acting.

Level 3 Acting Week 2: Business Homework - My Five Year Plan: Course Option 1

Nathan Stokell's Five Year Plan: Course Option 1

How Do I Get There? (University/Drama School I Want To Study At)

1. Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts

Course Name: BA (HONS) in Performance - Acting Diploma in Professional Acting (3 Years)

What Modules Do They Offer?

Year 1 & 2: The focus of the first two years is on practical exploration of the many skills required of an actor. Students work in small groups exploring the full potential of their natural abilities and expanding their range of physical, imaginative, intellectual and performance skills.

Training includes regular classes in:

Acting | Screen Acting | Actor & Text | Animal Movement | Clown Work | Dance | Improvisation | Movement | Radio Technique | Sight Reading | Singing | Stage Combat | Verse Speaking | Voice

Students work on a number of performance projects across these two years including contemporary writing, Shakespeare, European and American drama which are presented to colleagues. Students also have the opportunity to devise and create original work.

Students receive feedback on their work throughout the course, with performance strengths and weaknesses examined and advice offered on areas of future development.

Year 3: Public performance is the focus of the third year and students present a range of productions and a professional showcase to agents, casting directors and other industry figures as well as the general public. Roles are cast to highlight individual talents with students given a range of different-sized roles over the year. Opportunities to engage in film work and a musical are included in the final year’s repertoire to prepare students for a diverse performance career. Third year students also create a show reel and work closely with Mountview’s industry liaison team to hone their CVs and prepare for agents’ interviews and auditions. Qualification assessment is based on the final year’s performances. Students are also marked on a working notebook in which they reflect on and examine their practice. Students who receive a Dance and Drama Award, funded by the Education Funding Agency, will follow and be awarded the Trinity College London Diploma in Professional Acting. They will additionally complete the BA (Hons) in Performance. 

Entry Requirements:

* One Shakespeare monologue

* One monologue from a modern play (written after 1979)

The monologues chosen must not last no longer than two minutes each.  Be from published plays and should not be extracts from poems, novels, films or television scripts.  Must Involve a character chosen from your own gender and close to your own age.

Entry Fee: 

£11,950

Within the completion of this course, an agent will be recommended to you by the college to pursue any given role in performance.

Is This Course For Me And Why?

"No one learned to be a good actor by reading a book: experiment, practice and performance are key."  This is one of the quotes that follow upon this course to tell candidates what they are getting into.

When I first looked upon this course at this Drama School to further my education in my Acting career I was instantly hooked.  I have heard many good things come out of Mountview by certain Actors I have come to watch.  This course in particular, is an engaging and thorough training in the arts that will prepare students for work in contemporary theatre and its associated industries.  Study for this course is carried out through direct engagement in practical work.

For the 3 year duration on this course, lecturers will be looking at each candidate to discover their skills in the arts of performance and will build upon them so each Actor on the course has their own unique attributes and traits.

With the grades I have already achieved through my educational years, I feel that this Drama School would accept my prior education in the arts and will help me become something I have dreamed to be for several years, a professional actor.

* I feel that Mountview would be a great choice for me to decide because of the research that I've gone through for both the Acting course and the whole institution.  Through the research, I know that Mountview offers brilliant facilities for all of it's students and that the training within the course I wish to study here is heavily related towards my already achieved skills and expereinces within the performance industry.

* Through choosing this institute of study, it would also allow me to further explore and increase my overall understanding in more of the practical and academicals sides of the acting industry.

* I will be able to expand upon my current skills, and also train towards gaining new techniques and skills in performance, all of which will be given through opportunities where I would have to present through stage, screen and radio productions.

* I would have opportunities to meet and work with past graduate students and professionals working within the performing arts industry which would, once again, allow me to extend my understanding in the acting industry and show how much more I can learn and train towards gaining professionalism in the performing arts industry.

Having seen some of the performances from the previous students of Mountview, I feel even more confident that choosing this institution of study will lead me onto a good path within the Performing Arts Industry and also towards my professionalism as an Actor. 

What Skills/Requirements Do I Need To Get In?

Students wishing to apply to Mountview should have past knowledge with Contemporary Writing and should also have experience's with all of the listed modules included on the course.  Strangly, students don't need any past qualifications to apply to the course, but having some experience in the performing arts industry would help a ton throughout the duration of the course.

Students wishing to apply should know full well what they are getting themselves into since having little to no abilities in the performance industry would leave them struggling.  Luckily for me, this is not the case, and I'm sure Mountview won't hesitate in enlisting me on this course.

The audition process for this course, which requires the student to perform both a Shakespearian and Modern monlogue, should include some useful acting skills and techniques which would of been gained from past studies in performance from College education.  With the knowledge and skills that I have achieved through my education as an actor at South Downs College, I feel confident that I'll give an outstanding performance by not only presenting the lines from the monolgue, but also interacting with the improvised environment and using physical emotions to deliver an even better performance.

With the modules that I'll be partaking in whilst on this course, I'll be further developing a range of skills, to which I already have experience, within my performance as an Actor.  This will all hopefully lead me onto a good path to becoming a professional actor and have a good standing for the rest of my career.

Post Training:

Once I have completed this course, if I choose to apply for it, I can see myself being set on a good self leading path for my career as an actor within the performing arts industry.

I'll come out of this course with an agent, which is recommended to me by the institute, to be set on my way to major productions being presented in the area or elsewhere.

When the time comes to picking a next place of study in my education to becoming a professional actor, Mountview is going to be one of the higher choices for me to decide on, and I'm sure many other successful actors have done the same when encountered with their decisions.

Level 3 Acting Week 2: Business Homework - My Five Year Plan

Nathan Stokell's Five Year Plan

What Accomplishments Do I Currently Possess In My Career?

Current and Past Courses

2013-2014: Studied and completed the BTEC Level 2 Acting Diploma at a Distinction Star grade.

2014-2016: Will be studying for 2 years on the Level 3 Acting Extended Diploma.

2014-2015: Will be studying for my retake of GCSE Math.

What Grades Do I Currently Have?

Secondary School: Grade C in Drama, Grade Pass (2 C's) in BTEC Science, Grade C in Information Technology, Grade C in English Language.

South Downs College: Grade Distinction Star in BTEC Level 2 Acting Diploma.

What Have I Covered In College?

Whilst on the BTEC Level 2 Acting Diploma I had partaken in a range of modules to do with the Performing Arts Industry. These modules where things like how much salary an actor makes in his/hers life, learning about the business overall and how things are managed, having a developed understanding into what each role in the Performing Arts Industry delivers, having the knowledge of who influenced theatre in the past to make what it is today. Alongside this, I had my rehearsals for my main performances which I was later graded on thanks to a camera recording each one and came out with the highest grade I could achieve on the course. I also had singing and dancing lessons which I got the highest grade for.

What Skills Do I Have?

1. I have the ability to get the best grades I can possibly achieve on a course through hard, detailed work and handing such work in on a scheduled deadline.

2. I have the confidence to stand up in front of a small/large crowd of people and perform efficiently to achieve the best performance I can deliver.

3. I have the ability to learn and memorize a large number of lines from a script for a performance and develop on these lines in my own time or in rehearsals to show both expression and emotions to give a more professionally detailed performance.

4. I have a working knowledge in the Performing Arts Industry as a whole and I am patient and willing enough to know more through college coursework.

How Does This All Relate To The Course(s) That I Wish To Be Applying For?

With both the modules that I've covered during my time at South Downs College, and the skills that I've discovered about myself over the years, I can feel comfortable to say that it all relates very well to what I'll be covering during the course at my chosen Drama School.  I say this because the lecturers at each of the chosen Drama School's have stated that their students are recommended to have all of these expereinces covered prior to applying for the course which was given by a quote on the main page for these courses.

Looking over, once more, through what skills and experiences I already have through College study, I feel confident that when applying for these courses later on in life, after I have finished my College education, that I'll be accepted into them with all of these in my lecturers' mind's when I have presented my audition to enter.

What Are My Career Aims/Aspirations?

What Do I Want To Do When I Leave College

When I leave college after completing my 2 year course for Level 3 Acting Extended Diploma, I would like the chance to be accepted into Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London to further develop my skills as an Actor through hard, persistent work and then after make myself known to the world by having auditions for a number of shows be it Theatrical or Film. This will all involve me to become a very hard working man, much more than what I am currently. It will require me to always be on the move to get to the auditions early as if it was my main priority and, if I'm lucky enough, I'd get recommended by another Director to be allowed onto shows that I'd audition for, which would be constant I'd imagine.

What Skills/Experience Do I Need To Do This?

By being on the Level 3 Acting Extended Diploma course, I have the opportunity to further develop my acting skills through the performances I will be delivering with a group of other actors to a public audience for the next 2 years. I realize that I have to be much more dedicated to my acting course, much more than last year on the BTEC Level 2 Acting Diploma since I can picture me and my group, in the future, rehearsing for big plays with a lot of lines to learn, much more than what I had done on the previous course. By doing this, it gives me time to think a lot about my future in my acting career and where I will be in the upcoming years. To this question that I've asked myself, I think I will have a very successful future as long as I keep working my very hardest to achieve the best I can through detailed and precise work, both written and performed.

How Do I Get There? (Universities/Drama Schools I Want To Study At)

1. Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts

Course Name: BA (HONS) in Performance - Acting Diploma in Professional Acting (3 Years)

2. Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA)

Course Name: BA (HONS) in Acting (3 Years)

3. London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA)

Course Name: BA (HONS) Professional Acting (3 Years)

What Parts Of The Course Appeal To Me And Why?

Since these are all courses specifically intended for Actors, I feel very excited to be reading into these courses, and what appeals to me the most is the specific modules that are brought into each of these individual courses. 

Through the experience that I have gained already through my education at South Downs College, I already know that I'll be able to perform each of the required modules with much ease, having done them before, and it gives me a chance to show off my skills in each of these modules to the lecturer's that will be evaluating me.

How Will This All Help To Develop My Skills In Order To Become An Actor?

Since each of the courses that I've researched into has three years of study within them, I feel confident that when performing in each of the modules that the course brings forth, I'll be able to perform at the best of my ability, and over the years that I'll be studying in each of the modules, I already know that I'll be graduating from the course having become a, hopefully, near professional in each of these modules which will result in a good path for the rest of my career to becoming a professional Actor.

Level 3 Acting Week 2 Synopsis Blog

Monday 15th Of September 2014 Blog Entry:

Synopsis Of Day:

Lesson 1 & 2 - Physical Theatre And Contemporary Theatre:

To start off the day, we had our Physical Theatre lesson, where we looked once more upon the 'Uncle Vanya' scripts we were given on the previous week.  For our first task we only had to keep rehearsing more on what we had done last week, and in later lessons on Wednesday and Thursday, we will be adding new things to the script to make it more of a challenge to perform.

After a short period of time with the 'Uncle Vanya' scripts, we moved onto our next task which was to receive the name of our first play for our first main performance for the Level 3 Acting Extended Diploma course.

The play we will be performing is titled '13'.  At first, I felt confused as to what the number 13 could mean for this play, which was then followed up with our teacher asking the whole class what it brings to mind.  One person stated that it may be a biblical reference and that is exactly what it was.

The play '13' is along the lines the same kind of story as the one with Jesus and his 12 disciples. Jesus died leaving his followers and friends abandoned with no leader, and after a period of time, Jesus resurrected from the grave.  The play '13' has the story of a character called John.  John has a group of 12 other friends that he regularly communed with.  One day however, John had died with reasons unknown to both the other characters and the reader.  All 12 friends of John's had gone to his funeral to say their last goodbyes.  Then, somehow, after a long period of time, John has come back from the grave and started visiting all his old friends who are both angry and confused as to why he has come back.  John then rallies a large group of protesters to fight against the political and democratic parties to help bring a brighter future to the rest of mankind.

Conclusion Of Day:

We had spent the rest of today mainly looking at '13' and planning as to how we may perform it in November, which isn't very long away.  Our teacher suggested that we may have to cut out a lot of scenes since this play has 5 acts with a lot of scenes and lines in them, excluding the 5th act, which only has one scene but with all 12 characters, excluding John, presenting a large monologue.

Wednesday 17th Of September 2014 Blog Entry:

Synopsis Of Day:

Lesson 1 & 2 - Principles Of Acting And The Historical Context Of Performance:

After having our study day on Tuesday, we had returned to College to pursue our second 'Principles Of Acting' lesson where we had once again looked at naturalism and Stanislavski, but we had also looked at Frantic Assembly's performance of a play called 'Stockholm'.

This play was very well presented and was very narrative in terms of the tone of voice that the actors on stage were giving.  This play was unique with this narrative tone of voice as the actors had used their Physical Theatre skills, in Frantic Assembly fashion, to project what they are talking about with very dynamic and fluent movements.  We didn't get the chance to watch all of it though since we ran out of time for the lesson after 52 minutes of watching it, but we will return to it either in tomorrow's lessons or next week.  Our teacher also said that we will look at another one of Frantic Assembly's plays, which I had seen before in the BTEC Level 2 Acting Diploma course.  The play is called 'Lovesong'.

This play is a very interesting watch, it has an intriguing story that grips the audiences attention since there is so much going on with the actors on stage.  I can't wait to continue watching 'Lovesong' in future lessons since it'll help me learn more about how Frantic Assembly present their use of Physical Theatre which is known famously throughout the world as something much different than normal Physical Theatre groups.

Lesson 2 - Performing Arts Business:

After our lunch break, we returned to our 'Performing Arts Business' lessons where we were hopefully going to be doing more productive work about the Performing Arts Industry.  Our teacher had given us all a task to complete during the class and if we didn't finish it we do it as homework.  The task was to complete a career path for a selected job role in the theatre industry.  For this task, we had to work with a partner, and we were given strict instructions to not work without them.  For me and my partner, we were given the job role of 'Set Designer', so we went right at it and started researching different courses at selected Universities/Drama Schools for this role and how the career could expand in later life.  For this task, my partner had created and developed the task on a power point presentation whilst I was accomplishing the same but on a word document to give a more detailed narrative when it comes to our turn to present our findings in next weeks lesson.

By the time the lesson had ended, me and my partner had not finished, but we came with the decision to come in early on Monday morning to finish the work as we both don't have Microsoft Word/PowerPoint on our home computers.

Lesson 3 - Developing Voice For The Actor:

After another break, we came to our 'Developing Voice For The Actor' lesson where we were all going to learn more about our breathing pattern and discover exercises that will help give us all more control with our breathing.  Our teacher had a presentation, that was set up on Moodle, about the Respiratory System.  This presentation had diagrams to show us specific areas in our Respiratory System that will help us develop our breathing so we can project our voice more when it comes to performing.  Throughout the lesson, we had all taken down notes to help us with a Portfolio document that we will all do later on in the coming weeks to show our teacher what we had learnt in these lessons.

Conclusion Of Day:

To end the lesson, our teacher had done the same meditation exercise she had done on the previous week to help relieve any unwanted stress and tension we had filled in our bodies.  I had learnt a lot in this lesson about how I can improve my breathing pattern so I don't have to give pauses during any dialogue when I speak, either in real time or on stage when I'm presenting a Monologue.

Thursday 18th Of September 2014 Blog Entry:

Synopsis Of Day:

Lesson 1 & 2 - Tutorial And Performance Workshop:

To start off with today, we had our second tutorial lesson where we had watched part of Frantic Assembly's performance of 'Lovesong'.  As with each of Frantic Assembly's performances, they always present something different for each one they perform.  For this performance in particular, they have implemented the feature of having the older variant of the couple Bill and Maggie with their younger counterparts performing alongside them, but they view it more as a flashback and have no interactions with them.  There are moments in the performance however where one of the older variants, either Bill or Maggie, would interact with the younger Bill or Maggie, this moment would be viewed as a sort of dynamic dance where the actors on stage would dance with fluency and ease.  For these moments especially, Frantic Assembly have implemented many elements of theatre.  These elements are things like the use of Lighting and Sound (Music). 

After watching about 45 minutes of 'Lovesong', we moved onto looking more into our first production for Level 3 Acting Extended Diploma, the play called '13'.  For this session and the next, our teacher had picked out several scenes from the play and had made each one of us perform as characters from that scene to see if we 'fit together' with their made up personality or have developed it so that we have several on stage at once to give a more entertaining performance.  Not much more was discovered in these lessons for today, but at the end of the day, our teacher had decided as to what roles we were to perform as for '13'.  I was given the character called Martin whom, from my short time reading part of the script, is some sort of security official for the Prime Minister.  I had made it so when I performed as Martin to my teacher as a practice rehearsal, I had made him give off a comedic vibe.  Since '13' should be the genre of Tragicomedy, I thought that this would be a perfect opportunity for me to show off my comedic humor in a performance.

Conclusion Of Day:

After receiving our roles, my second week on the course had ended.  I have learnt a lot from this week about both Frantic Assembly and our first production for this year '13'.  I hope that next week we can start doing rehearsals as I think it will be a lot of fun with my new classmates and I can have the chance to finally get into my characters shoes to see how he performs.

Voice Portfolio Entry 2: Voice Assessment Of Family Member And Celebrity

Observations Of My Dad's Voice:

 

Tone of Voice: My Dad has a Strong Tone of Voice.

How Fast or Slow does My Dad speak: He speaks at a Medium Tempo.

Does My Dad pause a lot in his speech: He briefly pauses when thinking of words.

Does My Dad find it difficult to project his voice: No.

Does My Dad properly articulate his words: Yes.

What Pitch is My Dad's voice placed at: Low Pitch.

Does My Dad emphasize certain words: Yes.

Does My Dad speak in one tone of voice: No.

Does My Dad have difficulty pronouncing words: No

Do I like My Dad's voice: Yes.  My Dad's voice is Strong, Clear and understandable.

Is My Dad's voice loud/voluminous: In certain situations, Yes.

Is My Dad's voice quiet: In certain situations, Yes.

Is My Dad's voice deep: Yes.

Is It a High or Low voice: Low.

Is it a Strong Voice: Yes.

Is it a Crisp voice: Yes.

Is it a raspy voice: Could be.

Evaluation For Voice Of Chosen Family Member:

• Using all of the pointers listed in my observations, I would think that My Dad, overall, has a very distinct voice.
• Since he is an Area Manager and Head of Security for a shopping mall in Newbury, my dad having a strong, clear and understandable voice does benefit towards his job role for when he may need to instruct his lower employed workers.
• In the past, my dad has presented meetings for a security company called V.S.G, and in these meetings, he has been complemented on his use of words that he has presented, whcih was very punctual and articulate words, which had later resulted in him to climb the promoting ladder in a quick succession.
• As a father, my dad has a very strong tone of voice for when we discuss family matters and it tends to sound very ordering when I'm in conflict with him.  Due to this, I know that my dad is as strong vocally as he is physically.
• Since my dad was enlisted in the British Navy when I was younger, he is, pretty much, at the peak of his athletic ability.  He can consume a large amount of air before he needs to breathe again, as evidenced by when we go swimming and we have a 'Holding breathe under-water' competition.

I hope that as time goes on in my life, I would grow up to have a very similar voice as my dad, since I find it to be a fantastic voice to have, even if he may not realise it, for the time when I may become a father as well as when I may have to present monologues in auditions for productions later on in my career as an actor, and having this voice for that would be amazing.

Observations Of James Earl Jones' Voice:

 

Tone of Voice: Strong.

How Fast or Slow does James Earl Jones speak: His voice ranges from a Slow - Medium Tempo.

Does James Earl Jones pause a lot in his speech: From witnessing Interviews, Briefly Yes.

Does James Earl Jones find it difficult to project his voice: No.

Does James Earl Jones properly articulate his words: Yes.

What Pitch is James Earl Jones' voice placed at: Very Low Pitch.

Does James Earl Jones emphasize certain words: Yes.

Does James Earl Jones speak in one tone of voice: No.

Does James Earl Jones have difficulty pronouncing certain words: No.

Do I like James Earl Jones' voice: Yes.  James Earl Jones' voice is very Strong, Clear and, in my opinion, is a God given gift!

Is James Earl Jones' voice loud/voluminous: Yes.

Is James Earl Jones' voice quiet: In certain situations, Yes.

Is James Earl Jones' voice deep: Yes.

Is it a High or Low voice: Very Low.

Is it a Strong Voice: Yes.

Evaluation For Voice Of Chosen Celebrity:

Much like my dad, I would think that James Earl Jones, overall, has a very distinct, as well a punctual and articulate, voice.

• When watching movies staring the actor, I always find his commentary to be delivered with excellency due to it's punctual and articulate manner.
• As the 'Star Wars' francise is one of my favorites, and this actor stars in it as one of my also favorite villains, I can't help but worship his voice when it is being delivered through his character, Darth Vader.  I had found an audition clip of James Earl Jones when he wanted to be cast as Darth Vader all those years ago for Episode 4: A New Hope, and his voice was delivered with a very powerful tone of voice, which is probably what got him the role as well as him being one of the most famous actors in Hollywood at that time.
• When watching interview clips of the actor, he answers each question with a clear and punctual way of speaking.  This was probably the best interviews I've witnessed from an actor due to this fact.

When compared to my chosen family members voice, I would love even more to have a voice like James Earl Jones', but I think that kind of voice wouldn't suit me at all for when I would be speaking and I can imagine me having more of a voice like my dad instead.  James Earl Jones' voice may be a once in the lifetime thing for me to hear from a singular person, but for anyone that will have a voice like his in the future will and absolutely must become an actor in his life since he will get all of the best roles in productions due to the voice being delivered.

Voice Portfolio Entry 1: Voice Personal Assessment

'Developing Voice For The Actor' Personal Voice Assessment Overview:

To begin our voice work as an actor, we all had the task of rating our own vocal ability and talk about the problems we have with our voices and to discuss solutions as to how we can improve that specific problem.  The rating system we had started with 1 being the lowest or labeled 'Strongly Disagree' and 5 being the highest or labeled 'Strongly Agree' and we were all given a few minutes to test and decide what we should rate ourselves honestly.

Question one asked if I have a good, clear voice production.  To this, I answered and rated myself with a 4 out of 5, so I agreed with myself that I have the ability to produce a good, clear voice.

Question two asked if I think I have good articulation.  To this, I answered and rated myself with a 4 out of 5, so I agreed with myself that I can correctly pronounce words.

Question three asked if I think I have a good pace with my voice.  To this, I answered and rated myself with a 5 out of 5, so I strongly agree that I can produce a voice with a fast or slow tempo with control and fluency.

Question four asked if I think I have a good variety of tone and pitch with my voice.  To this, I answered and rated myself with a 5 out of 5, so I strongly agree that I can produce and create a strong, powerful, loud voice with control and I can also create a good tone of voice alongside.

Question five asked if I think I have a good breath control.  To this, I answered and rated myself with a 5 out of 5, so I strongly agree that I can have a large amount of breath control when speaking so that there are no pauses in my dialogue unintentionally.

For all of these questions that I have answered, I gave myself very honest high ratings.  I did this because I have never seen any problems with my voice other than the exception of a sour throat.  I have a very strong, clear and understandable voice, much like my father, and, in my opinion, I think we both have this unique kind of vocal ability because we are both very quiet men that don't speak very much.

Some people may agree that this a bad thing, but in reality it is not.  Because what I think is that me not speaking very often saves my voice for certain situations such as shouting so it becomes a much more effective voice than anyone else's.

Obviously we have all had the experience that if we had spoken for a large period of time then our voice seems to decay and cannot produce to the same standard as before.  For my case of not speaking very often, I consider this a strength in my vocal ability, since I save my voice for more important encounters such as rehearsals for a performance or a meeting of some kind instead of wasting it in a one time conversation with another person.

This may make people instantly think that I'm very shy person that has nothing to talk about because I wouldn't have the same interests as them.  In my case again, this isn't necessarily true.  I have a lot of interests that are similar with a lot of people I gather with but I choose to stay quiet because I'm more inclined to hear their opinions about certain things and I may come out with an agreement after they have presented it.  Having nothing to do with vocal ability at all, this reveals to me that I have the trait of a good listener.

After having this 'Developing Voice For The Actor' session, I have learnt a lot about myself with my personality entirely.  This may not have been the point of the lesson but it makes me think about how I got to where I am today.  I say this because I'm on the Level 3 Acting Extended Diploma course after achieving a Distinction Star grade, with Distinctions in all the criteria, on my BTEC Level 2 Performing Arts course.  When I got this grade, I was obviously very happy with myself and celebrated with my family but I never thought about how I got that grade.  And after this session, it made me realize, perhaps, the reasons why I got that grade overall.  This ties in with the singing I did alongside the Acting course for BTEC Level 2 Performing Arts, I had achieved a Distinction grade overall which is the highest I could achieve in that area.  That whole time I was singing, I thought I was mediocre, I wasn't the best singer in the room in my opinion.  But at the end of the year, I turned out to be one of the best, which left me confused when I got my Distinction Star certificate.  And until now, I now realize why I got that grade, it's because of who I am personally.

I hope with the upcoming sessions for this lesson that I can discover more about myself personally along with improving my voice overall for performance.

Level 3 Acting Week 1 Synopsis Blog

Monday 8th Of September 2014 Blog Entry:

Synopsis Of Day:

Lesson 1 - Physical Theatre:

To begin the day we started with Physical Theatre, but rather than a large space environment we instead had a classroom one.  This gave our tutor the opportunity to ask the whole tutor group what they know about Physical Theatre, be it from a historical standpoint or if they have had any experience with it.  To begin with, our tutor wrote the words 'Physical Theatre: What is it?' on the white board and the whole group had to give answers to make one big mind-map at the end.  Most of the group believed it to be a team working activity using physical actions more than words to create and describe a story and that it helps an actor push their own boundaries in performance.  The group came up with many explanations as to what Physical Theatre is in their own perspective, below, I have included all the things that we came up with:

* Mime
* Use of Environment
* Engage the Audience more in performance
* Using our bodies to express/describe a story
* To promote Spacial Awareness
* To push an actors boundaries in performance
* For actors to act using more physical motions more than vocal
* To show an actors trust between others in the room
* To get an actor out of their comfort zone
* To present more emotion to a scenario
* To reform/reshape stress into movement

After presenting all of our ideas to our tutor as to what we thought Physical Theatre was, we then after moved on to another task which was to explain to our tutor the origins of Physical Theatre or more performance in general.  Delving down history, we started at Ancient Greece where they had used masks to show the actors physical emotion during performance.  This use of Theatre was used around 400 BC and since then has evolved over a large period of time to what we have today.  After the Ancient Greeks, we had the Romans in 55 AD on wards, Comadia Del'arte in the 16th Century, William Shakespeare in the Elizabethan Era, which was also known as 'The Golden Age', since Shakespeare's idea of theatre made Britain become one of, if not, the richest country in the world at that time.  All of these moments in history has greatly influenced what we call theatre today.

After discussing the origins of Theatre, we moved on to a video made by a very popular Physical Theatre group called 'Frantic Assembly', this video was titled 'Frantic Assembly: A Guide To Devising' which evidently explains what they devise as Physical Theatre which is what has made them become so popular.  Whilst watching the video, we were all tasked to make notes on the words they use to describe their everyday activities which would later on help us with our homework on the origins of Frantic Assembly which we will all hand in next Monday.

Lesson 2 - Contemporary Theatre:

After finishing our Physical Theatre lesson, we moved onto Contemporary Theatre, this resulted in our group moving into the college theatre to begin the lessons task's.  Going back to the video we watched about Frantic Assembly in our Physical Theatre lesson, we saw that during their time whilst rehearsing for plays, they also had athletic activities which involved the use of teamwork to complete.  We began this lesson taking these activities and putting them to the test to see if the group can work together physically.  The athletic activities Frantic Assembly were showing in the video were more or less Relay races, which involved 2 members of two teams to race against each other to a certain goal and tag the next person in their team.  We had the same concept but instead of two teams we had three due to the large group of people we had which is 17. Throughout the lesson, we had completed four different relay races, below, I will give a description as to what they were:

* Relay 1: A piece of clothing at the other end of the room, we had to run around the clothing whilst touching it with our right hand and go back and tag the next person of the team

* Relay 2: Same concept as Relay 1 but before touching the piece of clothing, each competitor had to lie completely flat on the ground to the left of it before touching it and running back

* Relay 3: Run to the other side of the theatre and touch the wall and then go back to touch the piece of clothing with our left hand instead of our right, jump as high as we can before touching the floor with our right hand and then go back to tag the next person

* Relay 4: Same concept again as Relay 1 but this time we had to run around the piece of clothing and instead of tagging the next person we had to grab their hand by putting our own left hand through our legs, this happened until all people were conjoined together to complete the relay

Doing these athletic team working activities, in my opinion, really brought our group together more as we proved we can all have fun together doing something competitive and with the last relay becoming more physical since we were holding each others hands.

After completing the relay's, we moved on to a much more physical activity which involved the same group we had for the relay races.  What we had to do was to create a physical performance of our choosing within a limited space within 5 minutes and then showing it to the rest of the group who will be the audience to each performance.  After my group volunteered to go first, our tutor explained that each group would show their performance three times but each having a different song in the background, the first will be silent, second will be a more sad song, and the third will be more higher paced.  For my groups performance, we had it so me and another member would be running from one side of the theatre to the other which resulted in our path reaching a dead end, this resulted in a group of three people walking up behind us and blocking our escape.  After my partner had given up hope of escaping this group of three, I look back and charge towards them aggressively, this resulted in a slow motion moment where one of the three members grabs me and throws me onto the ground.  This leads to my character to be kicked repetitively until my partner comes with a stranger after calling for help, this makes the group leave the scene after spitting on my injured body.  After the group had left the area, I attempted to get up from the ground and realize that my left leg was broken from the kicking.  My partner and the kind stranger gave me support and carried me off stage whilst I was limping.  After our performance, we received feedback from the audience as to what we could have done to improve the performance overall.  We had mostly positive reviews to our performance and a few things we could of done to improve it, for example, when my partner calls for help, one of the audience members thinks it would of been better if I had shouted "Please!".

After receiving our feedback and watching the other two performances, our Contemporary Theatre lesson had ended, but we still had some time to spare until the end of the day.  This resulted in our tutor bringing us up to the college library where we were given a tutorial as to how we can access different parts of the internet for work at college or at home.

Conclusion Of Day:

After receiving this tutorial, my first real day back at college ended, I've had a lot of fun getting to know more about the people I will be working with for the next 2 years on this course and I hope to become better acquaintances with them in the future.

Wednesday 10th Of September 2014 Blog Entry:

Synopsis Of Day:

Lesson 1 - Principles Of Acting:

To begin the day we started with our first 'Principles Of Acting' lesson which was to teach us more about naturalism and realism within any given performance.  But to start off the lesson, our tutor had instructed everyone in the room to stand in a neutral position which required us to slightly bend our knees and have our arms on our sides with the head facing forward.  After achieving this, our tutor asked the entire group to walk around the room naturally pretending that no-one else is in the room. This happened for a semi-long period of time until our tutor had instructed us to all be able to stop moving at the same time with no notification.  At first, this task sounded a bit tricky, but with high concentration and perseverance, we all managed to pull through and had the ability to all stop at the same time without any given notification.

When achieving this several times, we moved onto the next task which still involved us to stay neutral and walk around the room but this time, at some point, our tutor will give us a scenario that we all have to react to if we were placed in that situation in real life.  The first scenario placed us in a strange city and we had to show how we would all react naturally to this given situation.  I was simply walking at a much higher pace than normally as if I was feeling lost, and to go with that, I was looking around 360 degrees constantly to make sure I wasn't being mislead anywhere that I haven't been before in the strange city since you never know what might be round that imaginary corner.  The second scenario involved everyone in the room to observe each other, but not to see if what they're doing is right, but that the scenario is that one of them may be a murderer on the loose and we all had to be cautious.  For this, I was still walking at a higher pace than before but much more than the previous scenario, and I also noticed that at some points I would have little skips in my movement so I was moving that much faster to stay away from any of the potential murderers in the room.  The third scenario involved all of us to imagine that we're all being held hostage at gunpoint and our tutor would see how we would react to this scenario since it's unlikely any of us had experienced it before.  For this, I was sitting on the floor and I acted as if I had been tied up and I was trying to cut the duct tape/rope loose so I could possibly escape from the criminals.  In this scenario, I noticed how much my breathing pattern had changed and that it was much higher than before.  The final scenario required everyone in the room to think of a potential love interest and our tutor would see how we would all react to this feeling.  For this scenario, I was walking around the room with my hands in my pockets and I was, at times, looking up as if I was picturing me and this female partner together and having a good time which resulted in me giving a little smile to show joy and that I'm happy.

After all the scenario's were completed, we moved onto a brief breathing/stretching exercise before moving onto the next task for today's lesson.

The next task, again, involved the usage of scenario's, but this time, we had a partner to perform with whilst the rest of the group shall be the audience to the scenario given to the pair.  Whilst I was sitting my turn to volunteer in the audience, our tutor had explained the rules to how she should give the scenario's to each pair.  She decided to tell one person in the pair what the scenario would be whilst the other person will be placed outside the room having no idea and to find out with the use of body language used by the other member since we weren't allowed to speak until our tutor says so to finish the piece.  When it came to be my time to perform, I was the member to be placed outside the room and I had no idea what I was going to be walking into.  When I got called in, I looked straight at my partner and immediately I could tell he was sad by the use of his body language. All I did at first was that I simply smiled and waved to him and he returned it but then after he fell into his sad moment.  Not knowing what he was sad about and the fact that I couldn't speak made the scenario very awkward and that I didn't know how to act other than look around the space and at times I would look at my partner trying to come up with something to say to him.  My partner was actually the first to speak and he told me if I remembered a friend named Alex.  To this, I gave an image of me trying to recall anyone named Alex that my character knew and replied "Oh, you mean the Alex you went to primary school with?".  My partner confirmed this and mentioned that me and him seemed to get along well, to which I agreed.  Then my partner goes on to say that Alex had passed away from a car crash earlier on in the day.  My reaction to this situation was difficult to decipher as I hadn't ever experienced this feeling personally in my life and I didn't know how to show it.  Within a limited time for me to think of a reaction, I gave a deep sigh and after said the words "Oh my god..." and then go to say that I was going to meet with Alex in the next couple days to catch up since I hadn't seen him in a while and wanted to catch up.  The scenario pretty much ended there and it was time to receive feedback from the audience.  All of it was generally positive other than one person thinking that I wasn't giving a believable reaction to the friend dying.  My tutor also picked up on this and asked me if I personally thought that it was a believable for me.  To this, I replied saying that I had never actually experienced this scenario before and I had no idea how to react to it, which resulted in me thinking that it may have not been a believable performance but in the end I gave it my best attempt.

After the second scenario's task, we looked towards the whiteboard where our tutor was asking us what kind of words she was using to describe both of the scenario's tasks.  Below, I will include the words we came up with and also a short description to go alongside to explain:

* Relaxed Actor:
- Stand in a neutral position and remain to be like that for the whole period
- Leave yourself open to everyone by not crossing your arms to create a barrier

* What If...(or more commonly known as 'The Magic If...')
- To be placed in a random scenario whilst in a neutral stance and perform giving realistic reactions

* Imagination
- Imagine the scenario given and compare to a moment that may be similar that actually happened to you in your life and bring in the same emotions to make the performance more believable

* Emotional Memory
- Thinking of similar emotions that matches the scenario

* Solitude In Public
- How the actor would react in public eyesight if the situation arises

After our tutor had written these points down, she brings up a Russian actor called Stanislavski who had used these words to create his own system of acting which is what is mostly used today by many actors around the world.  This system of acting that Stanislavski created, which he simply called 'The System', has changed the way the world views performance and staging methods since the 19th century.

After a brief talk about Stanislavski's system, which was later going to be the starting topic of our next lesson, our first 'Principles Of Acting' lesson had ended.  I had definitely learnt a lot from this lesson and throughout the rest of the day, I was still willing to receive more knowledge about Stanislavski's system and how he came to be.

Lesson 2 - The Historical Context Of Performance:

After a short break, we started our first lesson for 'The Historical Context Of Performance'.  For our first task in this lesson, the group had continued to develop their knowledge on the well known Actor/Director/Practitioner Stanislavaski and his own system of acting which he refers to as 'The System'.  One of the first things we had learnt about Stanislavski is that he created the famous 'Moscow Arts Theatre' which had made certain playwrights around the world become more popular by showing their plays there.  One of these playwrights was a man called Anton Chekhov.  Chekhov trained and worked briefly as a doctor whilst pursuing a Journalism career in his early life.  By being a Journalist, Chekhov had published short stories in newspapers which had brought a lot of audience and through this he had moved on to publish full length plays.  Unfortunately, Chekhov was not gaining much audience for his performances, it was so bad that only one person had arrived to watch one of his plays.  This would of made Chekhov unhappy obviously, but just when he thought he had lost all hope and would have to stop writing plays, he looks upon Stanislavski's 'Moscow Arts Theatre' which had just opened to the public recently at that time.  This gave Chekhov a unique opportunity to get in contact with Stanislavski and later on make a partnership in 1898.  When Chekhov had joined The Moscow Arts Theatre, his plays had become so much more popular and by this happening, he had been recognized to become one of the leaders of naturalistic drama writing.

Naturalism was a big thing for Chekhov since it means he had wrote plays to mirror real life events with real people.  Also throughout his plays, Chekhov's characters would have given a dramatic pause.  Chekhov made this pause as a device to reveal truth in an actors speech, this pause was one of the most vital things to consider when watching Chekhov's plays.

After a lot of time putting down notes about Stanislavski and Chekhov in my notebook, our first 'Historical Context Of Performance' lesson had ended.  I had learnt much more about Stanislavski and his system of acting in this lesson, as well as learning about Chekhov and how he became a much more popular playwright thanks to Stanislavski and his 'Moscow Arts Theatre'.

Lesson 3 - Performing Arts Business:

After my lunch break, I had returned with my group to another new lesson for this year called 'Performing Arts Business'.  What me and my group may have done in this lesson is self explanatory, but we actually didn't do much work as I had expected for this first lesson.  Instead, we had all partaken, as several teams, in a 'Pub Quiz' that our lecturer had made up and the questions for this quiz had much to do with the business behind Performing Arts.  Some of the questions in this quiz had been a bit of a task to accomplish but my team had come second out of five teams so I think we did fairly well.

After completing the 'Pub Quiz' our lecturer had challenged us with, we received our first set of homework to complete for this year which has to be completed and handed in by next Wednesday.  The homework was to complete a sheet that was to list our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats within performance.  We were also given another sheet titled: 'Five Year Plan'.  For this 'Five Year Plan', we had to, in detail, complete sections of the sheet relating to what skills we have as an actor in performance and we also had to look ahead from college to where we would all be in the next five years.  When looking ahead, we had to research three different courses from three different Universities/Drama Schools to help our decisions in where we may end up going after completing and receiving our final grade for Level 3 Acting Extended Diploma.

Having received this weeks homework, our first 'Performing Arts Business' lesson had ended.  I learnt a mediocre amount from this first session since we did a Pub Quiz and not much was explained when the answers were given but I'm sure we would all become familiar in the next lessons we have for this year.

Lesson 4 - Developing Voice For The Actor:

Having another short break, we had come to our final lesson for today and this was also a new lesson called 'Voice For The Actor'.  For this lesson, our first task was to split into three different teams and put together a word and the description of the word to help all of us learn about that certain word and how it will also help us develop on our vocals.  This was an easy task for me as I know much about the voice work for an actor and I also had the chance to help educate my fellow actors as to why this will all help them create a voice ready for performance.

After completing this task, we moved on to some basic breathing exercises that will help us breathe more calmly either when we were performing or just in general day to day life.

After doing that we moved on to a sort of meditation exercise which required us to lie on the floor and listen to a peaceful set of music whilst our lecturer would give us certain instructions to help remove tension from our bodies as this affects our voice heavily.  This meditation exercise had definitely helped me remove some unwanted tension in my shoulders which did, in my opinion, make me more lively with my movement and I could project my speech more when casually talking with my group.

Conclusion Of Day:

After doing this meditation exercise, our first 'Voice For The Actor' lesson and our day at college had ended.  I had learnt much from this lesson about how to remove tension in my body to help improve my voice and I'm sure we will learn more exercises in next weeks lesson.

Thursday 11th Of September 2014 Blog Entry:

Synopsis Of Day:

Lesson 1 & 2 - Tutorial and Performance Workshop:

To begin our third and final day at college this week we had a task which had our tutor give us all scripts for a play known as 'Uncle Vanya'.  This play was written by Anton Chekhov and we had heard mention of it prior to this session.  We all had to divide into groups of 2 people (for me it was a group of 3 since there are 17 members in this group).  When this was accomplished, we were all given a part of the script which gave us all different scenes, although some groups had the same scenes because our tutor wanted to see 2 different performances for the same scene to witness what 4 student actors can do to portray 2 characters from the same scene of a play.

My group had Act 3, Scene 1 of 'Uncle Vanya' and I was to perform as a character called 'Voinitsky' whom is Uncle Vanya but I presumed this must of been his first name.  Our tutor gave us all time to get used to the scripts we had and to choreograph physical activity which will be shown in an upcoming performance to the whole group.  When we performed these scenes, we did them in chronological order, so we started with the earliest scene and ended with the latest.  My group was in the middle of all this when it was our turn to perform.  The performance we gave, along with everyone else's, were average, of course it will get better once we have more time to develop our knowledge with this play and get more used to the characters we have to portray.

To end the lesson and day, we had a couple games to play which was to get us more acquainted, if we haven't already, with the whole group.  I have already gotten to know most of the group at this stage so it was more fun to interact with them when playing these games.

Conclusion Of Day:

After a session of playing games, our final lesson for this week had ended.  I didn't necessarily learn anything more from this lesson, but we all did walk out with a scene from a script in hand, and by having this script, I will look into more research about the characters and how they act towards each other to give a more 'naturalistic' and 'truthful' performance much to Stanislavski's 'The System' respectively.