The Definition of Crazy

Its interesting that ian early in the class defined crazy as "repeating the same action and each time expecting the result to be different".

This led into a talk about tactic and the discussion that characters pursue a different tactic at least every page if not every line.

If you, as an actor, do not do this your character will look crazy...and not in the good way.

Real, sane people change tactics all the time...so do real, sane characters.

I Stopped Counting the Days...

Everything's starting to look really good! The polishing today went great, and we got a lot of stuff neater and clearer. The class this morning was so helpful! Good job to everyone that put themselves out there to do their monologues! They were all AMAZING! :)

Day technically 9: I've been Jiggly Puff-ed!

Today I came home and told my mother I'd been Jiggly Puff-ed, which confused her terribly. It was very soothing though, and were it not for Harper touching me to wake me up in the scene, I might not have. I was tired, and that was nice.

The master class today was very cool to watch. I did find myself a little bored at times (sitting for for ever makes me tired as well), but I enjoyed seeing those who went and the progress of perfection on their monologues. Great work.

So, we're a little more than halfway there, you guys! I find myself conflicted for emotions if I am happy or sad about that, because working with you all is just great. 

Alright, I've decided to post one of my favorite songs- it just makes me feel happy, and the video is so fun! 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4sfh2u8cgU

See you guys tomorrow! 

-Emily Rose 

Shinigami apple dance!

Hey guys. Despite another headache and some panic problems for reasons aside from y'all, today was fantastic. I loved the master class and I took away a lot from it. I have a lot of appreciation for how far we've gotten! We're done blocking and now one third completely polished. I am so happy that we're looking good! Can't really say much else that hasn't already be said.. But again I wanna say sorry for the moodswings! A lot of stuff as been going on so I've tried to suppress it while I'm at rehearsal but it's sort of not working. So I'm sorry to all of you who saw me sad or saw some of my bitchiness.. I love you all and I promise it has nothing to do with any of you! Daisuke. Shieru Fantomhaivu

Other thoughts on acting / language...

Sometimes acting teachers will repeat the same ideas in different words, other times acting teachers will have unique ideas that may seem to come from left field and never to be repeated by anyone else.

"In Shakespeare, never stress the negative."
"But is the most important word in Shakespeare."
"Never sing Sondheim in an audition."
"Never mime objects in an audition."
"Never yell in an audition."
"Always wear your heaviest shoes in rehearsals."
"If you ever say 'oh, God' your character is always directly addressing God personally."
"Any time you have a list, just say it as one long German word."
"Whenever you are acting, never walk on the line.  Plant yourself while speaking."
"Don't speak unless you have the eye-contact of the person you are speaking to."
"The soles of your feat are the key to your body as an instrument."
"We want to see the actor on stage as much as the character."
"Every motivation you have will be caused by love."

Make a list of these off-beat "rules" and file them away, whether or not you like them.  These rules will eventually start to contradict each other (I had one Tony-Award-Winning director tell me never to make eye contact with the person to whom I was speaking) and some of them will even seem ridiculous (an acting coach I once had told me never to wear purple in rehearsal) but if they are important enough for one person to hold as a tenant, there's likely some amount of worth in them...maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon...and once you figure it out it will serve you for the rest of your life.

Ray dooley and alan in action.

Same idea / different words

As you are starting to see with our various master classes, the ideas behind acting in this country  are all the same but each artist uses slightly words to describe these ideas.

Ray dooley never used the word "beat" but when working worth mia he was breaking down her monologue into beats.  He used the word "transition" instead of beats, but its the same thing.

Whenever you hear the same idea described by two or more acting coaches in two different ways...you know its important!  Whether you call it a transition or beat, its important to break down every thing to a small atoms as you can and understand why one atom is different from the other.

He used the word "pursuit" rather than "objective", "playing the action" rather than "tactic", & "specific goal" rather than "perfect future".

Whenever you hear a new terminology try it on, use it , see how it effects you.  I rather like the idea of "pursuit",