My Ted Talk

We were given a task to make 2 Ted Talks, one about acting in genral and one about Practitioners. So i decided to merge them both into one. At first I came up with ideas about acting and researched practitioners to make wirting a script easier. After writing the script I made a few alterations then I was ready to start filming. This task was quite difficult becaise it was unlike anyhting I had done before but I enjoyed the challenge and the experience. Here is my end result-

Lockdown Laughs

During the third locdown we had to go back to online learing which was hard because we are all used to acting face to face. We came up with an idea for a sketch to do via zoom and upload it to youtube with a lot of help from the Film and Tv students. Our idea was to do an online version of Educating Yorkshire, "Educating Teeside". To help us with the concept of our sketch we all watched some of Educating Yorkshire which helped us understand the different types os students in a school. After this we allocated characters to everyone and read through the script. The next few days I spent learning my lines and thinking about how my character would react to situations in the script. We then made a zoom call and went through the script in character ready for it to be reccorded. We had to record each scene a few times to make sure it was how we wanted it and then I had to film my sepearte bit where I speak to the interviewer. We then wtached through our filming and sent it to get edited and uploaded. I am happy with how our sketch turned out and really enjoyed doing it and coming up with ideas for my character.

Evaluation and Reflection

I tried to get involved with the business side of the compamny as much as I could by coming up with social media ideas to keep our audienece interested in what we had planned, and I helped look for costume ideas for each of the characters. At the beginning it didnt seem real until we got our first idea of what we were going to be doing then it all took off from there. Looking back now I wish I got involved more because it was a really good experience since it was unlike anything I had ever done before. I also tried to help others practice and learn their lines to make sure that everyone was ready for rehearsals and flming. For my lines I had to learn them pretty much over night but i was proud that I could do it and it took a lot of stress off the rest of the cast considering someone had to drop out. Another thing i have gotten better at since the start of this business is acting and showing emotion through my facial expressions. I have learnt a lot throughout this experienec such as how to start up a business and how to get people interessted in what we are selling them, and how to portray a cahracter much younger than I am. This was hard because I had to work on a range of different things such as pitch, tone and facial expressions in and out of college to make sure I was doing the best I could. Feedback from another member of the cast. -Izzy I was amazed at how quickly you learnt your lines. After finding out you had to step in for another actor and take over their role, you had memorised every single line by the next day! This helped us loads because it meant we could get straight into rehearsing, so I'm thankful you managed to do that! Also, every time we filmed a new scene,I saw your confidence grow hugely, meaning that ever single scene we filmed together got better and better! Your acting has improved so much during this Panto, and it's all down to the hard work you put in! For future productions we need to think of other ideas that will keep our current audience engaed but also attract a new audience so we can continue to grow. We will use the money we have earned from the Pantomine to make our next performance even better by using it for costumes, set etc. I also can not wait to see what the first years do with the company next year when we leave.

Production Diary

Tuesday 17th November 2020 Today was my first day filming and I had a call time of 12 to get costume and makeup done. The first scene I filmed was in Sherwood forest when Robin and his Merry Men find Pip and Penny asleep. We had to work quicly because we only had between 1pm and 4pm to film and it was quite a long scene with different camera angles needed. It was also very cold but I managed to stay in character the whole time, when we werent on camera me and Izzy decided to play noughts and crosses with sticks and rocks. This helped us keep in the mindset of being children and keep our minds off how cold we were! Wednesday 18th November 2020 This scene was the meeting in Sherwood forest and it was really cold this day so we all made sure to being coats to put on wherever possible. In this scene we had no lines we were just background characters which gave me and Izzy the idea to play child games at the back of the meeting and pull faces at the Merry Men. It was nice to work with the first year actors and what they brought to the atmosphere of the scene was great. Wednesday 25th November 2020 Today we filmed the school scene which was inside so it was nice and warm for a change! By the time i came in Izzy had already half coloured the sheets for the classroom so i helped her finish those off before getting makeup done at about half 12. For this scene we needed a school uniform so we had to go on a last minute hunt for a school shirt, luckily we found one in time. This scene is one of my favourites because its all about facial expressions and the other characters such as Block and Tackle made it so funny even the cast had to try not to laugh! Thursday 26th November 2020 Today we filmed the very last scene for the Pantomine where Robin and the Sherrif fight. It was a very stressful day because we had a lot to get through and we eneded up satying late to make sure we got the perfect shots for the final scene. This was filmed in the theatre so we got to use things such as different lighting to make it look better. Wednesday 2nd December 2020 Today we filmed one of my favourite scenes where I have the most lines. It was the scene where Block and Tackle take us into the forest and we trick them. It was also probably the coldest we had filmed in because it was December. The camera ran out of battery twice but luckily we got a few good shots which was enough and the scene turned out really well.

The crafty art of Pantomine

Pantomine is known to usually take part around Christmas time and are usually based of a well known childrens story. It is still seen as quite a British tradition although it origniates from Italy. First becoming known in the 16th century but was very different to how we know Pantomine to be today. For example, they used a lot of mime and music to show the audience what was happening instead of speaking. In the 17th century Pantomine started to be known all round Europe and then in the early 18th century it started to appear on Londons stages. During this time Harlequin was the star of the stage being very popular with audiences. Up until 1843 theatre licensing had restricted the use of spoken word in performances, until The Theatre Act lifted the restriction which allowed any theatre without a royal palet to produce a play with spoken dialgue. Shortly after this word play and auidence participation were introduced to Pantomine which both play such big part now in Pantomine and it wouldnt be the same without. By the late 19th century Pantomines could last up to 5 hours in the biggest of Londons theatres and it became tradition that they would open on boxing day. The main charaters in Pantomine are... Principle boy/ girl which is the hero. The Baddie who always get a "Boo" from the audience when they walk on and always get defeated by the hero at the end of the Pantomine. The Dame who is the comdeic part and is always played by a man dressed up as a woman. A Double Act are also a comedic part of Pantomine and often help the Baddie do there work. The Fairy Helps the good happen in a Pantomine and usually speaks in rhyme. Comedy figure normally a friend to the audience to get them engaged with big ambitions which they achieve at the end. Me and my friend Izzy had to take on the role of children because we had a limited cast and could not use actual children like Pantomines normally do. They would cast children that are closer to the age but because we couldnt do that i took on the role of Pip(8) and Izzy took on the role of Penny (6). For a lot of young actors thier first time on stage is a Pantomine and I think it is a really good experience to have from a young age. We didnt have many lines beause we were children and the role is meant for people a lot younger than us so we had to work on our facial expression a lot. Although we didnt have much to say we were still on screen a lot! When we werent main characters in a scene we took it upon ourself to still do childlike things such as when Robin was holding his meeting we were pulling silly faces at the Merry Men who didnt even notice!

Starting a small business

We started our discussion about the company by deciding as a team what sort of performances we wanted to create and what we wanted our companys name to be. Each of us thought of a few names but we couldnt dedcide so we left it as "Unknown" and eventually, we decided it would be good to keep the name because, it shows we can do a range of performances and are not limited to what we can do. After this we allocated everyone a specific role in the company and got out first perfomance idea which was going to be pantomine. We decided to sell it to schools and advertise to other people via social media. My role in the business side was to help find costumes that would suit each of the characters. We spent the next few weeks looking through scripts and editing them to fit our ideas for the final performance. The next thing we had to do was allocate roles for people to play we did this by auditioning for our preffered role. I auditioned for Marion so I choose a monologue from her in the Pantomine script. Originally I was going to play the role of one of the Merry Men but towards the end of rehearsals I had to take on the character of Pip. At first it was hard to switch characters but to prepare for this new role I watched other Pantomines to get an idea of how my character would act, and i also had to work on my accent to make it sound more childlike and less like me. In rehearsals we blocked each scene out how we wanted it to look like and developed our charaters. After a few weeks of reharsals we then spent the next few weeks filming the Pantomine. I think I was succseful in my role of Pip because I used facial expressions to show how I was feeeling even though I wasnt speaking and off camera to make sure I stay in the mindset of my character. I also tried to project my voice louder than I normally would because Pantomines are always over the top and it was really windy whilst we were filming scenes outside. To improve I think I should have worked on my accent more and done more resaerach on the character I was portraying.

 

My full review of Treasure Island

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   By watching this show you get taken back to a time of excitement, pirates and treasure! The original Treasure Island was a book and was wrote by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1883. It was adapted to be a play by Bryony Lavery for The National Theatre. The show was directed by Peter Rowe and was produced by Pieter Kroonenburg Julie Allan. I watched this production on The National Theatre’s YouTube channel, they streamed the show for a week so people could watch it in the comfort of their own homes and get the same experience.

The plot for the show is about a poor girl who finds a treasure map and sets of an adventure to find the treasure. The entire set for this show is based off an 18^th century ship and is constantly moving, changing the scene and location. You meet most of the main characters at the beginning of the show and get to know more about them as the show continues. Even though you meet most of them at the start there are surprising new characters throughout the show.

Characters

                                                               

 

• Jim Hawkins- Patsy Ferran
• Grandma- Gillian Hanna
• Bill Bones- Aidan Kelly
• Dr Livesly- Alexandra Maher
• Squire- Nick Fletcher
• Long John Silver- Arthur Darvill
• Benn Gunn- Joshua Jones

The director was Polly Findlay, the fight director was Bret Yount and the movement director was Jack Murphy. All of the characters were believable but Long John Silver was especially believable because at the start he acted nice and seemed like he was trying to be helpful but in reality he was the evillest character in the whole show. Also, you could hear all the characters clearly so they all had good projection. The characters were interesting to watch because it felt as if we were there with them searching for the treasure because they broke the 3^rd wall a lot making the audience fell as though they are part of the group.

The set designer was Lizzie Clachan and the lighting designer was Bruno Poet. The lighting throughout the show was quite dark which made it look eery, setting the right atmosphere for the audience and the characters. The props looked really realistic such as the swords they used and the map. The swords looked realistic in the fight because they didn’t break and the sound they made sounded real, the map looked old and worn out which made it realistic because most maps have been around for a while and have been used a lot. On the stage there was always enough room for the characters to move about and the set always worked for each scene even though they were in different settings. Costumes represented each character well, poor people wore older and more scruffy clothes, pirates had dirty clothes and richer people wore cleaner and posh clothes. Dramatic music was used during the show to build up the tension before an important moment happened and sound effects were used at the correct times such as things breaking.

-The beginning of the show was not as exciting as the rest for me because there was no hints to what was going to happen in the rest of the show. The middle was all about building up to the climax and getting to know more about the characters and seeing them set off on their adventure. The end was all about the resolution and the characters getting what they deserve, they made a happy ending because the audience love that. Overall I think the show was exciting and I would highly recommend it to people who like theatre or adventures.

My notes on “Treasure Island”

By watching the full live version of Treasure Island, you can really see how much time and effort has gone into the show. Especially through things like set, costume and character portrayal.  Usually I am not too interested by theatre performances but the amount of effort they have clearly put in amazed me. You can really see why the National Theatre has such a big following because of how much they care about each show and how good the actors are. Overall I would recommend that people who are interested in theatre should watch this piece.

	Set

The set was very impressive because it was based off an 18^th century ship which is something that I have never heard of anyone else doing so it would attract more of audience because it is a highly creative concept. It was also impressive that the set could change the scene and location by just simply turning or pulling ropes. The set was dark at all times which sets a sense of mystery which was what the whole show was about and to add to this there was dramatic music to add more suspense. Although all of this makes the set good and impressive for me the best thing about the set was the stars above the ship looked so realistic as if they were actually outside in the night. Another thing I liked was that there was a lot of the places for the actors to enter and exit which made the fact that it was a ship more realistic because there would be a lot of places to move around in an actual ship.

	Character portrayal

The main character “Joe” came across smart and brave across the whole show even though she made some wrong choices she was always trying to do the right thing for her and her friends. I think she would be a crowd favourite because she is a very hopeful character and ends up being a hero when she s

saves her friends. As a character I think she would be quite hard to play because she goes through a range of emotions when trying to figure out what to do and how to save everyone. The pirate from the beginning, Bill Bones, comes across as a leader in the beginning because people seem scared of him and do whatever he says. But further in before he dies he is actually scared himself when he is hallucinating because he is vulnerable and that is probably one of the reasons he dies. Long John Silver comes across as a nice character that is very knowledgeable in the beginning but he starts to manipulate the other characters into doing what he wants and turns out to be the evilest character with the worst intentions.

	Costume

Jim’s costume looks poor which is realistic for the character because she comes from a poor family. The doctor’s costumes look posher because they have a well payed job and are wealthy so they could afford nicer clothes. The pirate’s clothes look scruffy and ruined because they have been wearing them for ages and they would not be bothered if they got their clothes dirty. The blind man who appeared half way through the show was wearing a cloak which is a typical thing for a villain to wear.

Treasure Island is referenced to as being an exciting and iconic title, this makes me excited to watch the performance because it is being shown as being really good therefore I have high hopes. It is also known as being an adventure story and has been said to be only for boys,The National Theatre wanted to make it clear that the story that the story was for both boys and girls. To do this they decided to make one of the main characters a girl which makes me even more excited to watch it because they have made their own original version. Even though they have changed the character from a boy to a girl they have kept all the characteristics the same from the book to make sure that they are not changing the originally storyline. Also they see the fact that the character is now a girl as insignificant and I completely agree because it shouldn’t matter what gender they are plus it opens the show up more for girls who before might have felt they couldn’t watch it. They are also trying to get rid of the cliché when people think of  Treasure Island and it will make more people want to watch it because it is more original than other performances they may have seen. The book was written when Victorians decided woman had not gone to sea so The National Theatre made most of their girl actors pirates to go against what people used to believe and to show that both genders are equal.

 

The staging of the show was quite difficult for them to set out because the novel was vocalised through the characters. This would make it quite difficult because they had to make it work in stage setting and they want it to look good and be an accurate representation of the book. The entire stage functions like an 18^th century ship which is really cool because I have never seen or heard of anyone setting out their stage like this. The characters change the setting and scene in the performance by pulling ropes.

About the National Theatre and its history 

The National Theatre was based at The Old Vic Theatre in Waterloo from its foundation in 1963 until 1976 and is currently located next to the Thames in the South Bank area of central London. There are 3 National Theatre buildings The Olivier Theatre, The Lyttleton Theatre and the Dorfman Theatre. It is one of the UK’s most prominent funded performing arts venue and it was given permission to add “Royal” to the name in 1988 but the full title is rarely used. The theatre’s show multiple pieces such as Shakespeare, classic dramas and contemporary playwrights. Each auditorium can run up to 3 theatre shows in the repertoire and the theatre mainly makes money from its ticket sales.

 

National Theatre live

In June 2009 the theatre began National Theatre live which is a program of live productions that were screened to lots of cinemas across the UK. It’s    first performance that they broadcasted was called “Phedre” which is a French dramatic tragedy that has 5 acts which was written by Jean Racine. Phedre was first performed at the theatre of the “Hotel de Bourgogne” in Paris which was shown in over 200 cinemas worldwide with an audience of other 50,000 people. Since the launch of this program it has been broadcasted to countries all around the world. The third season of broadcasts was launched on the 15^th September 2011 with One man, Two Guvnors that starts Jams Cordon. Followed by Arnold Wesker’s “The kitchen” and John Hodge’s collaborators with Simon Russel Beale. Then in 2012 Nicholas Wright’s play “Travelling light” was broadcasted on the 9^th February then “The comedy of Errors” with Lenny Henry on the 1^st March. In 2019 their broadcasts could be found in 2,500 venues across 65 countries including about 700 venues in the UK alone.

 

Facts on each Theatre

Olivier Theatre

The Olivier theatre was designed in the 1970’s and was named after the theatre’s first artistic director Laurence Olivier. The theatre has an open stage and a fan shaped seating area that can hold up to 1100 people. Its design was made to ensure that the audience’s view isn’t blocked by any seat and that everyone in the audience is fully visible to the actors on stage.

Lyttleton Theatre

The Lyttleton theatre was designed by the architect Denys Lasdun and was opened in 1975 and was named after Oliver Lyttleton who was the National Theatre’s first board chairman. The theatre has a proscenium arch design and can accommodate an audience of 890.

Dorfman Theatre

The Dorfman theatre is on the east side of the National Theatre and is named after Lloyd Dorfman who was a philanthropist and chairman of Travelex group. This theatre is the smallest and most potentially flexible and it can hold up to 400 people. The theatre was formerly known as the Cottesloe which is named after Lord Cottesloe. Lord Cottesloe was the chairman of the South Bank theatre board.

 

For this week we had to learn our monologues and video it. To do this I had to look in depth at the character and her emotions so I could make an accurate representation of how she was feeling. This took quite a few attempts to get it right but here is my final attempt. https://youtu.be/B9rDv9H3JNw

For this week Kelly gave us the task of finding a monologue that showcases our acting abilities best. To find a monologue I used a website called Aceyouraudition.com, originally i found 3 monologues that I liked and printed them off. Then i read through them properly and picked the one that i thought would suit me the most and would show off my abilities the most. The monologue that i ended up choosing was "And Turning Stay" by Kellie Powell, it is about a student called Amy who wanted a relationship with someone called Mark but it turns out they were just leading her on but she doesn't believe that its true. 

I think Amy is very hurt during this monologue because she feels betrayed by Mark because she thought that he genuinely wanted to be with her. Her emotions are heightened because she is hurt and confused and to control her emotions she needs to let it all out. She is trying to make him say that he feels something for her through this speech. Overall i think she seems strong on the outside but on the inside she is barely keeping it together. She is being a bit aggressive at the star because she is frustrated but as the monologue goes on she goes through a range of emotions such as sadness and anger. Towards the end of the monologue she starts to accept the truth and decides to let him go. Which makes her as a character look strong on the outside but on the inside it was probably really hard for her to say because you can tell that she liked him through all of the emotion .

I think Amy would be a pretty average person who wears casual clothes such as jeans and a normal top. She would wear natural makeup but not too much because her parents are strict and don't want her giving off the wrong impression of herself. She has worn down fingernails because she bites them every time she is nervous and she has emerald green eyes but they have a hint of sadness in them when she is talking to Mark.

The reason i want to play this character is because there is a lot of emotion in the monologue and i want to test myself and see if i can play a range of emotion. I think this will be interesting to do because i normally only play characters with one main emotion throughout.

Monologue
Amy: Don't you dare walk away from me! And don't tell me you're sorry! And don't tell me to forget it, and don't you dare tell me to "let it go." God knows, I'd like to. I wish I could, but I can't! I can't forget that we had something, and you're running away. You're running away! Don't you see, Mark? You're running from what I've searched for all my life! Why, because you're scared? Well, I'm scared too, but you and I - we have something worth fighting for. We could make it work, I'm not saying it would be easy, but I care about you. And I know deep down, under this (Spitting out the word.) bravado, you care about me. And that's what it's all about, Mark, don't you get it? It's the human experience. You can pretend all you want, but you're only lying to yourself. You're denying the simple and wonderful fact that you are emotional, and vulnerable, and alive. Can you honestly stand there and tell me that I mean nothing to you? That everything that happened that night was a lie? That you feel nothing? (AMY is crying or close to it. The following is a painful statement that she makes not to attack or threaten Mark but rather, to allow herself closure with the situation.) I feel sorry for you, Mark. I'll move on. I'll find someone else. I'll be all right, because I will know that I tried. That I did everything I could. But someday you will look back, and you will realise what you threw away. And you will regret it always.