Evaluation
´What progress has been made?
I have made progress in physicalization; this is something I often forget about on stage whilst acting, I often tend to remain static and stand still with little to no movement. Using our focus exercises and through practice I have become more mindful of how I look on stage and that from an audience’s perspective, an actor standing completely still whilst delivering lines with an array of emotions must be rather boring and appear quite strange, not giving off the intended effect. Now that I am aware of this, I have gotten better at preparing certain movements and actions to bring my character to life a bit more.
Viva
Year 1 Diploma in Performing and Production Arts
Project 2: A Christmas Carol
VIVA Questions
Name: Ollie Lloyd
- How do you feel this project went? I feel that that this project went very well, especially given the limited time that we had to work on it all together due to absences and the designated slots of time in which level two had to attend Maths and English.
- What skills do you feel you have developed throughout this project? I feel that I have developed greater patience, co-operation skills, physicalization/characterization skills and set building skills.
- What were your key strengths in project 2? I believe that my key strength in project 2 was my characterization; usually if I cannot find a way to link my character to one of my special interests, I struggle to get into character, but I believe I have improved on this. I found that truly trying to react to all dialogue presented to me as if I was hearing it for the first time and reacting on the spot helped develop my character further than just a two dimensional being.
- What were the weaknesses in project 2? One of my weaknesses in project 2 was script memorization. Even though I had only a few lines, some of them were sort of chunky paragraphs and I struggled to remember what I was supposed to say and when, especially under the pressure of the spotlights. I worked around this however by using improv with my fellow actor; whenever one of us would miss out a line by mistake or freeze up when we forgot what to say, we would play off of each other and went with it as if it was intentional.
- How effectively did you manage the overall process?
- Can you discuss any key research sources which have supported your process? Oddly, something that really aided my process was re-watching the Muppets’ rendition of A Christmas Carol. It was the perfect mix of serious and in-tune with its source material and context to support my research and humorous enough to keep me engaged.
- How effectively did you apply the research? I applied my research to assist the development of my character, gaining new perspectives on the effects of poverty on the people of England during the Victorian Era and how desperately they needed donations from people like my character’s charity.
- What have you learnt from this project which you will take forward on to the next step of your own personal development? I have learned that physicalization is often vital to a performance and that co-operation is key to any successful company.
- What have you learnt about the topic of scripted theatre? I have learned that scripted theatre involves a lot of repetitive/underlying themes that carry the message along the show and that a lot of roles are played by the same actors, but not for scarcity of participants, but for the very same reason as the latter discovery; it helps carry the narrative and push the underlying message.
- What can you do now that you couldn’t do when you started the course? At the beginning of the course, I struggled greatly with my mental health, especially my anxiety. I still do, however building trust with so many people and expressing myself on stage greatly assisted me in finding ways to fight against it and push myself.
- Why is learning this important? Learning this is important because it is a vital skill to develop for performing arts fields.
- If you were to do the project again what would you do differently? I think if I were to do this project again, I would take a more active role in developing the show now that I have more confidence in myself and my abilities.
- How will you effectively apply this within your next project? In my next project, I hope to be more active in the process of performance development and try not to hold back at all when it comes to acting and spitballing ideas.
- Did you enjoy the rehearsal process? I did enjoy the rehearsal process; I found it engaging.
- Set yourself 3 targets for project 3:
- I hope to have a more active role in developing the performance.
2) I want to challenge myself with a role with more lines.
3) I want to try to improve my attendance so I miss less time on rehearsals.
- Set yourself a target for your scrapbook for project 3:
- I hope to write more for research and context.