jeudi 28 octobre 2010
vendredi 22 octobre 2010
Here we go again!
A new year of English, acting, acting in English, Englishing in acts and French in between has started!
And, as usual, TT will write the first summary of what the Froggies had to go through on the first two sessions until another froggy volonteers for the following session.
So...here we go again!
1. Monday the 11th October : the trial
During that very first session of the year, we focused on introducing the acting course to the newcomers in terms of organization (to sum it up : be on time!!!!), shows during and at the end of the year as well as the actual work that is done during a 3-hour-session. And because showing is far more interesting than talking, we started working straightaway.
The warming-up
TT has been insisting for years on the importance of warming-up to relax from a tiring day and get ready to work. So we warmed up the body as well as the voice, listening to our new hit song (imposed by TT) : Home/Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
introducing ourselves
A series of exercices to get to know each other and have fun :
- In circle. Everyone, one after the other, gave their names and described themselves in a short sentence. ex : Hi, I'm Anna and I have big hair. Then the whole group repeated the sentence as a unique voice. Jumping was an interesting way of repeating the sentences we found out.
- The musical chairs: everyone on a chair in a circle, except one person standing in the middle. That person said something about his/her tastes or things he/she was wearing, Those who had the same tastes or wore the same clothes had to get up and exchange chairs while the person in the middle tried to steal a chair, etc...
Discovering the space and being together
Everybody walked in the same space, without bumping iton each other, everyone walking at their own pace but knowing exactly where they were going:
- at the top, everybody had to go to their closest neighbour, say hi, shake hands or hug, feeling a specific way : happy, sad, angry, in love...
- when one person stopped walking, all the others had to stop. When another person decided to resume walking, everybody had to resume walking, at their own pace.
How we felt : laughing was the most difficult feeling to express. Also, stopping all together was difficult first but at some point everybody was focused and listened to the others and could stop at the same time as everybody else.
Improvisation
In groups of three or four people, everybody had five minutes to prepare a scene including an old person, the feeling of joy and dancing.
How we felt : interesting how with the same rules every group created something totally different. A great sense of imagination too. Listening to each other, again, is the key. Also, silence is very interesting. And taking our time.
Texts
Dialogues taken from everyday-life situations
We worked on playing while expressing different feelings.
Neither of the two actors of each scene knew what feeling his/her partner was supposed to express.
How we felt : the same scene with the same text can create totally different atmospheres depending on the feelings of each character. And here again, listening is the key to know how to react to someone's way of acting.
To sum up : being on time and listening are the two main rules for acting!
2. Monday 18th October : going further
This was supposed to be the first real session of the year since the previous monday was a trial. But we were lucky enough to see the newcomers all come back as well as a new froggy! So we can consider that session is the extension of the first trial session. We tried to explore everything we did last week and go further in that exploration.
warming-up
Compulsory and necessary!
This time listening to a more quiet music from the same band (yes, i know...) : Brother/ Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
We also focused on breathing from the stomach and not the shoulders, to relax and project the voice without shouting.
games on names
Again, games to remember names:
- in circle, one person had to propose a movement and say his/her name. The next person had to repeat the same movement and name and add a new movement as well as his/her name. Etc...
-in circle, one person had to stare at another person, say the name of that person and exchange places. Etc.. First, walking normally than faster and faster or adding a specific feeling.
Discovering space and listening to each other
- First, everybody walked in the same space at their own rythm, listening to Home/Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and trying to suggest something with their body. After a while, if some felt like it, they could follow someone doing something interesting and try and do the same.
How we felt : a very easy and difficult exercise at the same time. You don't HAVE to do something, only if you feel like it.
- Walking in space, at the top, everybody had to describe the space around them at the same time. Then, one after the other, everybody had to give a word describing the space in a negative/positive way. Then a positive/negative sentence.
- Still walking, we had to think of a place we really liked. Then, William described his favourite place and made everybody follow him through the woods, go next to a river. Then a complete improvisation took place without TT saying anything!
How we felt : from the rather plain and quite ugly place we work in every monday, we were able to create a completely different place using our IMAGINATION. Also, adapting the rules is quite liberating and interesting, as long as everybody is listening to everybody. Some can be leaders, other just listen, as long as we are connected to each other. Also, silence is not a threat. We can just enjoy it or create something out of it, like an improvised improvisation, which was amazing!
Texts
We continued working on the same dialogues as the previous week.
This time, we worked on defining the aim of each character when the scene starts. What is the objective of my character? was the main question. We tried different objectives
What we learnt : feelings are important to create a scene but having an objective in mind is far more creative. Because everything is possible, the imagination is wider. Ex : "my objective is to get him to do everything i want means" : I can be nice, or bossy, or mean, or angry, or try different feelings to achieve my objective.
To sum up : use your imagination, listen to each other and find your objective!
And that's about it for now!
And, as usual, TT will write the first summary of what the Froggies had to go through on the first two sessions until another froggy volonteers for the following session.
So...here we go again!
1. Monday the 11th October : the trial
During that very first session of the year, we focused on introducing the acting course to the newcomers in terms of organization (to sum it up : be on time!!!!), shows during and at the end of the year as well as the actual work that is done during a 3-hour-session. And because showing is far more interesting than talking, we started working straightaway.
The warming-up
TT has been insisting for years on the importance of warming-up to relax from a tiring day and get ready to work. So we warmed up the body as well as the voice, listening to our new hit song (imposed by TT) : Home/Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
introducing ourselves
A series of exercices to get to know each other and have fun :
- In circle. Everyone, one after the other, gave their names and described themselves in a short sentence. ex : Hi, I'm Anna and I have big hair. Then the whole group repeated the sentence as a unique voice. Jumping was an interesting way of repeating the sentences we found out.
- The musical chairs: everyone on a chair in a circle, except one person standing in the middle. That person said something about his/her tastes or things he/she was wearing, Those who had the same tastes or wore the same clothes had to get up and exchange chairs while the person in the middle tried to steal a chair, etc...
Discovering the space and being together
Everybody walked in the same space, without bumping iton each other, everyone walking at their own pace but knowing exactly where they were going:
- at the top, everybody had to go to their closest neighbour, say hi, shake hands or hug, feeling a specific way : happy, sad, angry, in love...
- when one person stopped walking, all the others had to stop. When another person decided to resume walking, everybody had to resume walking, at their own pace.
How we felt : laughing was the most difficult feeling to express. Also, stopping all together was difficult first but at some point everybody was focused and listened to the others and could stop at the same time as everybody else.
Improvisation
In groups of three or four people, everybody had five minutes to prepare a scene including an old person, the feeling of joy and dancing.
How we felt : interesting how with the same rules every group created something totally different. A great sense of imagination too. Listening to each other, again, is the key. Also, silence is very interesting. And taking our time.
Texts
Dialogues taken from everyday-life situations
We worked on playing while expressing different feelings.
Neither of the two actors of each scene knew what feeling his/her partner was supposed to express.
How we felt : the same scene with the same text can create totally different atmospheres depending on the feelings of each character. And here again, listening is the key to know how to react to someone's way of acting.
To sum up : being on time and listening are the two main rules for acting!
2. Monday 18th October : going further
This was supposed to be the first real session of the year since the previous monday was a trial. But we were lucky enough to see the newcomers all come back as well as a new froggy! So we can consider that session is the extension of the first trial session. We tried to explore everything we did last week and go further in that exploration.
warming-up
Compulsory and necessary!
This time listening to a more quiet music from the same band (yes, i know...) : Brother/ Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
We also focused on breathing from the stomach and not the shoulders, to relax and project the voice without shouting.
games on names
Again, games to remember names:
- in circle, one person had to propose a movement and say his/her name. The next person had to repeat the same movement and name and add a new movement as well as his/her name. Etc...
-in circle, one person had to stare at another person, say the name of that person and exchange places. Etc.. First, walking normally than faster and faster or adding a specific feeling.
Discovering space and listening to each other
- First, everybody walked in the same space at their own rythm, listening to Home/Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and trying to suggest something with their body. After a while, if some felt like it, they could follow someone doing something interesting and try and do the same.
How we felt : a very easy and difficult exercise at the same time. You don't HAVE to do something, only if you feel like it.
- Walking in space, at the top, everybody had to describe the space around them at the same time. Then, one after the other, everybody had to give a word describing the space in a negative/positive way. Then a positive/negative sentence.
- Still walking, we had to think of a place we really liked. Then, William described his favourite place and made everybody follow him through the woods, go next to a river. Then a complete improvisation took place without TT saying anything!
How we felt : from the rather plain and quite ugly place we work in every monday, we were able to create a completely different place using our IMAGINATION. Also, adapting the rules is quite liberating and interesting, as long as everybody is listening to everybody. Some can be leaders, other just listen, as long as we are connected to each other. Also, silence is not a threat. We can just enjoy it or create something out of it, like an improvised improvisation, which was amazing!
Texts
We continued working on the same dialogues as the previous week.
This time, we worked on defining the aim of each character when the scene starts. What is the objective of my character? was the main question. We tried different objectives
What we learnt : feelings are important to create a scene but having an objective in mind is far more creative. Because everything is possible, the imagination is wider. Ex : "my objective is to get him to do everything i want means" : I can be nice, or bossy, or mean, or angry, or try different feelings to achieve my objective.
To sum up : use your imagination, listen to each other and find your objective!
And that's about it for now!
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