Unit 2 Engaging With An Audience

Pantomime

The new term opened well, we had just finished ‘Opening Doors’ and we were all looking forward to some fresh tasks. The term began with a strong feeling of Christmas and we started looking at the pantomimes that we would be working on. Kelly proceeded to put the class into two different teams, as this was a kind of competitive task. But really it was so we could see what different teams could come up with to make these pantomimes different and enjoyable. Following on from this Kelly handed out three different short pantomime scripts, we were to direct and perform these ourselves in teams of ten or less. This was our first time ever looking at pantomimes, especially for me, as yes, I had seen pantomimes in my youth, but this was quite a long time ago. I found that this was definitely a new challenge for me. My own self-doubt creeped in; I may not be dramatic or exaggerated enough for this, I generally try to be a much more realistic actor and therefore pantomime is very out my comfort zone. Yet, this could only be a good thing, as it would definitely help me to branch out and broaden my skills.

Due to COVID-19 we could not execute a big Christmas Movie, which was a shame. Nonetheless these pantomimes would be something small and fun to accomplish. Our teams put in a lot of time and effort into our performances, we spent weeks rehearsing them; so, we knew our lines; what we were doing and so we could become comfortable with our characters. Only one of our team was familiar with performing pantomimes before, so we all had to put a great deal of work and effort into perfecting these shorts. When it came to the day that we filmed, we worked with the Second Years, they had just finished their own pantomime and therefore more about how they worked and how the final product should look like. Furthermore, they could help us with makeup and when it was time to physically start filming, they could also help us with camera angles and so forth. The help of our Second Years was invaluable, having their presence alone in order to reassure us that our performance was good and that if we needed any advice the knowledge that they would be there to help was very calming. By finishing the pantomime shorts we were able to add to our repertoire’s and ranges as actors, it is this fact that will really help toward all of our futures.

 

Copycat Scenes

In addition to the pantomime’s in our winter term we were given the opportunity to perform some copycat scenes from famous films and TV. These shoots were something that allowed me to become really excited and show my passion, as my love of filming has only grown since starting College. Personally, I was excited to try and be in as many of these copycat scenes as possible. This would allow the Film and Tv students to know me and my abilities and thereby trust in me to do my job, be punctual and try my best.

So that, I could audition for these scenes I had to pick from different casting notices outside of our studio. Upon further examination I knew instinctively that there were some scenes and parts that I was either not suitable for or not ready for. For example, there was a scene from ‘IT’, to perform as ‘Pennywise’ and also from the TV show ‘Luther’. I had never really thought of playing in a horror film and did not know enough about ‘Luther’, I felt to do such a piece justice. Do not mistake me, I would eventually love to perform something of those natures, but not quite yet. One casting that did immediately catch my eye was a ‘Star Wars’ scene, which I was incredibly happy to attempt. I had loved Star Wars’ for such a long time and had watched all the films many times before. I looked further at this casting for information on how to be apart of the scene. It was straight forward, I simply had to message a certain number. Upon sending the message, I proceeded towards the scene that was picked repeatedly. Analysing the scene over and over again, to feel the emotions behind it, as it was a very expressive scene with both fighting and screaming. The prevailing feelings of betrayal, sadness, and anger.

The whole shoot took about three hours. This seemed like an awfully long length of time for one scene. However, between trying to obtain different camera angles and re-takes, filming can be very time consuming, but is also necessary. At one point in the filming, we were missing the other actor and had to improvise and use a member of the film crew to say the opposing lines. This was to help me be able to perform to the best of my ability, so I could react accordingly. During filming we had the black room to record in and some specific lighting to make the scene feel bright and clear. The level of technology we had available to us was vast and amazing to work with.

Star Wars Scene

A different copycat scene I was involved in was from ‘The Godfather’. The chance to have this role happened quite by happenstance. Another person of my class already had the role but had concluded that he could just not quite get the accent right. So, upon hearing my own accents had asked me to take over. After a few conversations with the director this was made a reality. There weren’t too many lines in this scene, yet I did not care. I wished to be in as many of the copycat scenes as possible. I wanted more experience and to put forward my name and reputation. I have to take hold of these opportunities when I can. As I know that the more written side of things is not my strong suit, instead I have to put myself out there.

 

Adverts

What’s more I starred in two Greggs adverts. (Not real ones, but in the course as examples) The first one was set in a classroom and I was to play a student. Not a massive jump from reality really. During filming what we had to do was wait for the camera to pan across to us and bop our heads in time to a beat that was playing. I was one of the first students to be panned across, so I needed to get my timing right.

The concept of the advert was quite different, it was based around a drink that had started talking to a student whilst he was already having a drink from Costa. The idea behind this was that the drink was so mesmerizing that it was taking over his brain. Filming this advert was exceedingly fun because I had the opportunity to work with different directors once more and see how different directors did things in another way from each other. Also, I gained further experience, I may only have been bobbing my head, but it was my facial expressions that needed to be used. That in particular is what I liked, being able to focus in on different parts of my acting, everything I do is to help me for my future.

Additionally, the second Greggs’ advert was similar in nature. Instead of a drink talking, this time we were focusing on the voice of a sausage roll. Even so, this advert was far from anything I had ever done before. This was because it was a voice over, rather than focusing in on my facial expressions I had to put all of my skills into my voice. I had been cast for this advert at the last minute but vowed to still give it my all. The voiceover was filmed inside one of the classrooms in the College and I was joined by two other actors, who were playing a couple in a therapy session. I had to decide on a voice and its nuances and react accordingly to what the other actors were saying. By the end of the read through we had the sense that the sausage roll I had been voicing had been eaten alive and was the therapist. Therefore, I would have to start screaming out load as I was being eaten. This isn’t something I had a lot of experience in, I’d never had to scream on set or whilst I was acting before. In fact, I don’t think I’d ever really screamed properly before that point. This would yet be another skill I could put under my hat and a shoot I could put my name too. Just to add to this I found it fun to do as well.

Greggs Voice Over

Finally, the last advert I was in was for John Lewis. During this I was once more in a classroom, as the main child, and I was to feel sorry for the teacher, because she was struggling with money for Christmas. Due to feeling sorry for the teacher, I was to buy a present for her for Christmas in order to make her feel better and to say thank you for everything she has done. We had to make this clear through facial expressions and body language because we were not to talk during the advert. We had to know our characters. There were some very funny parts to the scene; I had to throw paper balls at someone else’s head. I had a great time filming this advert and working with my fellow actors in the piece that we put together.

John Lewis Advert

I loved the distinctive shoots we did for each piece. From the adverts to the copycat’s scenes, it was all new and wonderful experiences. From the way each piece was filmed, to whom we worked with to film them.

 
National Theatre Audition

My audition for the National Theatre was one of the scariest, yet greatest moments of my life. At the beginning of the new term, when we were with Kelly on our first Thursday back, she told us about the opportunity that had arisen and how we could all be apart of it if we wanted too. I knew I had to take this opportunity with both hands, so I signed up. Of course, we had been though the play and understood its key themes etc. Before the audition I put in a lot of work, I looked at the play to try and understand every character and the story, basically just trying to gain a firmer understanding. We had all been given a booklet with a monologue that we had to learn for the characters we had chosen to audition for. We needed to create that character in our own way for the audition. We needed to be that character, we needed to prove that we could bring this character to life. I was determined to show my best performance, be unique, be memorable. I started off by reading all of my characters lines and trying to understand him as a person and how I wanted to portray this man. This would-be leader of the city, that he was campaigning to be mayor of. He is a meant to be an important figure to everyone in the city, he is person that everyone looks up, he has to be powerful, he has to be strong for the people. Yet, I also picked up a sinister side to him, somewhat of a manipulative side to him. So, when I was thinking about how I would portray this character, I would be thinking of the words he said and particularly how he said them. 

To ready myself for the audition I was constantly rehearsing my piece of dialogue. Recording myself so that I could listen to it back, to try and improve upon what I thought I could have done better. This helped me a lot, it highlighted to me what I still needed to work upon and what worked for the character. I was resolved to get the best out of myself.

As the big day came creeping ever closer, I was feeling increasingly worried and anxious, but I just had to keep going. When the day of the audition came, I was extremely nervous, this was my first real audition and I of course was the first to perform. I kept repeating my lines and could not keep still for the life of me. Everything I had planned for my performance was in my head as clear as day. When the time came to enter the room with Kelly (and another woman, unfortunately I cannot remember her name) I stated my name and started. Initially it seemed to be going well, but sadly my nerves did get the better of me and I started to mess up my lines. My mind went blank with the pressure. To say the least I was unhappy, stopped and asked if I could start from the beginning. I was allowed to do so and managed to finish my performance. During the second time around, I predicted that I had done quite well, I was sure my posture was correct and was using hand movements to emphasise my points. I tried my hardest to bring the character to life and whilst I had a little hiccup at the beginning, overall, I was quite happy. My voice, presence and character building were all there. The only think I would day needed the most work was my confidence. That will only come through time and experience though.

Self-Tape

My self-tape was an interesting experience to say the least. It was very entertaining to do, as this was something especially important to have. This could help us with the film crew in the future, if they want an actor, they can look at it and make decision on which actor they would like to pick for the performance. To properly prepare for this I practiced, read, and rehearsed my lines numerous times and was trying to develop my character anyway I could. One new thing I did was that I requested help from one of my fellow actors to watch my performance and provide me with advice. Consequently, he watched my performance and was able to tell me what was working or what I could improve upon to help me when it actually came to performing.