Ways of Seeing Logbook Week 1

8/10/2019 Ways of Seeing Logbook Week 1

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21 SEPTEMBER 2014 WAYS OF SEEING

That little bit of courage was enough for her to turn her lifearound and feel like she was ready to face this world.

R.M. Drake

Start of the processAt the start of this week, we received our rst brief 'Ways of Seeing'. After that we gotgiven a stimulus, which was an image of a feather. Initially, when I rst saw the image ofthe feather I was a bit disappointed and had no idea what we were going to do with it. Myinitial thoughts were how can we possibly create something from this empty image. Itwasn't until I took some time to really look into the image, that I started to notice all thelittle details. That's when I realised this stimulus has endless possibilities, there is no rightor wrong it is your own interpretation on what you see. From there as a company, we allbrain stormed ideas and words that came to mind when looking at this picture. We allasked ourselves questions like, how does this make us feel? Most of us agreed that thefeather appeared lonely, which then lead us to isolation. What does it mean? We startedto think of different scenarios, to how the feather got to where it was. This then lead us to

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THE FIRST STEP

Credited: Google Images


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the question of where this image was taken. This processwas interesting to me because everyone's individualthoughts always lead to another possibility or meaning.After this, we combined lots of ideas and came up withthe four elements earth, wind, water and re. Im excited

about this process now because I think it has a reallystrong starting point and I believe there is a lot ofpotential for this to grow into something magical.

The next day, my company and I experienced our rstleadership workshop with all the rst years at the MiskinTheatre. I felt that for me, as the newest member of mycompany it was great as I got to know everyone a lotbetter including the other groups at the Miskin Theatre.The rst group we had (the advanced group) went reallywell and we got good feedback from them. However, I do

think that not all of the games were suitable for a rstsession. The rst game we decided to play was the 'I went to the shop' game, so theycould get to know each and every one of us better (the HND's). I noticed that most ofthem got bored and agitated half way though. I believe that this was because there was alot of people and it seemed to take forever. Therefore I noticed that the energy and focusdropped in the room. After that, as a company we all discussed and agreed that weneeded to try something different with the second group (the intermediates). In oursecond leadership workshop, we played the same name game however, we switched itup by adding in a few extra elements (for example a ball) And made the process faster.This was really effective, the game got really intense which made everyone focused andin tune with everything going on around them. From this I have learnt that differenttechniques and different methods work better than others depending on the situation. It'snot what you're doing, it's how you do it. I've also learnt that getting to know the newestmembers of The Miskin and letting them get to know you is really important because willwe be working together throughout the year I also think we can learn a lot from eachother's personalities.

As a group we were set specic challenges to complete and give evidence with either apicture or video. This was called the 'Buddies challenge'. We went round the collegecampus and completed a number of tasks as a group. I think for me this was really goodbecause it was about working together as a team and building that relationship with

everyone.

This week I experienced my rst text workshop. We were all given the same monologue'The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui'. After we read it through a couple of times, we then gotinto pairs and started to concentrate on emphasising certain words that stood out to us. Itwas really interesting for me, I noticed that when you emphasis different words in thesame sentence, it can really change everything. Throughout this workshop I learnt thatthe rst thing you should do after reading your script is to ask yourself, 1. What do youknow? 2. What do you think you know? 3. What you would like to know more of? Thisreally helped me get better understanding of the text.

I think that the Physical skills workshop was really fun. I really enjoyed improvisingdifferent scenarios such as being at a festival and a surprise birthday party. This helped

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Games and Exercises

1. I went to the shop(Remembering names)

2. The beat game (rhythm)

3. Flying Birds (letting go)

4. OI, TAKE IT, NO

5. Cat and Mouse

6. Wink Murder


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me relax and feel more comfortable with my company. I also realised how important it isto always say yes to others around you in an improvisation. You have to imagine yoursurroundings but in a way that there is room for change. It's about working as a companyand listening to one another.

The singing workshop was a new experience for me as I have never sang before or hada kind of training in that subject. We started off with a humming exercise to warm up ourvoices. I found this task hard as I quickly lost focus because I didn't understand exactlywhat was being asked of me. We then went on to sing 'I dreamed a dream' in groups. Ibelieve that I tried my best but I know that I have a lot of work to do.

My rst dance workshop was amazing. I feel that we really got pushed to our limit. I reallyenjoyed the warm up, even though we were dripping in sweat. It made me feel like I wasmaking a difference and improving my bodies tness and exibility. When I wasstretching my leg in the air and pulling it back towards me whilst laying on the oor, Iexperienced lots of shaking throughout my body. I learnt that this meant that you was

working yourself to your maximum ability and that this is when you know you are doingthe movement right. Overall, I did nd this workshop very challenging but I believe it wasvery benecial for me because being t, staying exible and keeping active is reallyimportant as an actor.

At the end of this week, we discussed Shakespeare plays and audition prep with Denise.

As a company we all sat down and one by one we all gave our opinions on what kind ofShakespeare characters would be suitable for us as individuals. I found this really helpfulfor me, as I don't particularly know and fully understand all of Shakespeare's work.Having a second opinion but also the ideas from the other company members was alsoreally good. The feedback that I got from my company was something 'mysterious' or'dark' that's what they thought would suit me as a character. I think this is interestingbecause we are only 2 weeks into the process but yet their opinions are somewhataccurate, I like a challenge and I like taking on mysterious roles. Therefore I will belooking at Desdemona in Othello and also Cornell in King Leila.

I have really progressed this week within The Miskin Theatre because I feel that I am

slowly coming out of my shell and feeling more comfortable and condent within myself

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Credited: Google Images


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and with my other company members. I believe this is from doing many differentworkshops and games with each other.

As an individual artist, I think this week has been a really important week for me, as Ihave just started to get to know everyone including the actors and the directors. I have

also experienced a lot of new activities this week, including a vocal singing workshop andfocus games. These are both new skills that I am now going to be developing. I am reallyexcited and looking forward to developing these skills because the more skills you have Ithink, means more opportunities and wider casting opportunities.

As an active company member I have started to observe everyone's individual strengthsand weakness within the company. I am getting to know my company members bettereveryday by interacting in workshops and with them on a one to one basis. For example,I am starting to get to know people's personality from doing all the different workshops, Ihave realised that everyone has their own strengths and their own weaknesses. This wasvery important for me because as the newest member I did have doubts and worries that

I would not t in or be accepted. However, this is not the case everyone in my companyhas been so welcoming and friendly. I am now really starting to feel apart of the team.

This week I think that my strengths were, my physical and mental ability to push myself inthe dance workshop. Although it was painful at times I never gave up, this is because Iknow that to better yourself and your skills you have to work hard, there is no easy way ofachieving success. Another strength that I noticed within myself this week was simply justputting myself out there, and being open to trying new things. I can admit that 80% ofactives and tasks we did this week are all completely new experiences and things I havenever done before. Therefore, to me this is a strength because I am out of my comfortzone. My weaknesses this week, I noticed were that I was slightly reserved and quietwhen doing the leadership workshops and towards others Miskin company members. Ithink this was because I didn't know any of the games or activity that we were playing. Ireally wanted to be apart of leading the workshops but I just wasn't condent enoughwithin myself to do it. You can't be a leader if you don't know what you are doing so that issomething that I really need to work on and get to know better.

Throughout the rest of the process, I think what really stands out to me and what I needto work on is my leadership skills, my condence, my interaction with others and mysinging. These are all achievable targets, I just need to believe in myself more and focusas well as understand what it is that I'm doing.

This week my other company members have really inspired me to just go for it. Whateverit is, as long as you try your best that's all that matters. From watching them I havenoticed that as HND's we need to set the standard.

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Ways of Seeing Logbook Week 1

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