2811 Syllabus Spring 2017 WF (23775)-1w4xme5
My experience with Craft of Acting 2811 opened my eyes to all the work that goes behind acting and helped me grow in the abilities and tools I can use as an actor. The format of the class in general forced me to dive into acting and learn by doing. Throughout this semester, this class allowed me to grow in my confidence as an actor and provided me with resources to grow even further.
First, I think I gained an understanding of how dynamic and evolving acting can be. My original perception was that after interpreting the script and understanding the character you simply act and do not necessarily change your ideas or perception every time. However, in rehearsal I was taught to throw out any originally rehearsed ideas and to constantly try to think of new ways to portray a character or deliver lines in a scene. I think I mainly realized that acting and growing into a character is a process that can only come from continuous rehearsal and trying out all your options. This leads me to my second point, I never knew that acting involved so much risk. In plays or productions, I have done in the past on stage I would simply deliver how I always would in rehearsal. However, through this class I discovered that sometimes taking risks with a character and utilizing newfound intentions to guide your actions can produce a better scene. In the process of taking these risks and trying new things I began to be less afraid of making mistakes than I was before. I remember one rehearsal when I performed my monologue and felt so disappointed because I continuously kept forgetting and messing up my lines. In the rehearsal process, I realized that although my performance with that monologue seemed terrible to me it was not that bad to everyone else. After discussing the character more and recognizing the lines I kept missing and practicing a few more times, I gained some more confidence in my performance and became more accepting of mistakes.
Third, through this class I found out how acting is very goal oriented. The class simplified acting to a way where I used the characters goal or objective to drive the scene. This differed from my what I learned about acting before. My original idea was that you just take the context the character is living in relate to it personally and then act. However, through this class I realized in every scene you need to search for what the characters want and needs are. In the scenes you need to understand what is the character’s objective and how to make each line clear enough to be striving for that objective. This technique and coming up with objectives really helped me to understand my scenes better and be able to relate to my character more. These ideas even helped me outside of class when I acted in the play the Laramie Project. For some time, I struggled to portray my main monologue in the best way I thought possible. However, coming up for an objective for my character and listing out her wants and needs allowed me to gain more of an understanding of her and to relate to her more than I already did.
Last, through this class I realized how complex human emotions are and how our context and cultural environment can shape our thoughts. In practicing all these different interpretations of these scenes, I noticed that each one can make sense in the context no matter how different it is from the original text. This is because humans are complex beings with a wide range of emotions, thoughts and ideas; therefore, acting is just one tool to reveal how truly complex we are.
In total, I think this class really allowed me to grow as an actress, have a newfound appreciation for the art form and inspired me to continue to involve myself in acting opportunities in the future.