Don't say "NO NO, don't do it that way." Try this instead, "That was good, but try it this way." Being constructive is key.
Another example, ""Shut the hell up." Is wrong. "Please be quiet and listen up." Is right.
Lastly, "Don't be staggering around" is wrong. "Try to not stagger because..." Is right.
James it looks great.
Lena great work on the singing/song.
Charles I like the movement/blocking in your scene.
If you are in the art gallery make sure you clean up after yourself.
Also, you are responsible for your actors, so if you see someone misbehaving take care of it.
So I can't remember if i was constructive and posative with my comments to my actors today, but me and Dillon have included them in almost every process, and we do value and listen to their input all the time. We actually leave some things up to them and try to allow them to make their character their own whenever possible. It makes sense to me to make our actors feel comfortable enough to voice their opinion, and also to not shoot them down if it isn't what we had in mind. I will try to make everyone feel as though their notes or suggestions are helpful, and maybe we could even stop after every scene and go through to see what everyone thinks is good and what they think should change. As of now I have no problems to report for my scene, and I am amazed at how much fun it is becoming. My day now totally revolves around rehearsals and I no longer care for school work.
ReplyDeleteCharles... I apologize for putting you into that situation the other day. You were right and it was definatley Dillon's and my bad to just switch things up on you so suddenly. I know you have a specific technique and preparation process to the way you do things, and I'm sorry...
Today I asked my actors to write down what I told them. At first people told me that they will do it next time anyway. They thought that its fine not to write it down. So I took out my pen and tell each of them where they need to write things down almost line by line and make sure they did it. I didn't shout or be angry at them because I think that would not help. Plus this way I am sure they write everything down.
ReplyDeleteDuring the rehearsal after they finished practicing the song, people were chatting and I felt tired because I had to say things several times. I was quiet for a moment and they figured out that I was looking and waiting for them to finish chatting, and they soon be quiet and was back to focus the script again. Joe kept running away and said that he needs to go to the bathroom. I told him that it is fine to go to the bathroom but I will count on the time. If he stays for too long, I will probably break through the bathroom.....
And Lena thank you today! I think that Steph improved a lot and raised her voice after we told her. But there was one thing I concerned about. It is that even though they will have the mic later, I still think she needs to focus on her breath more because I feel like her voice is good but she doesn't know how and where to take a breath and it is awkward when I hear she sings? I don't know how to phrase it, but do you know what I mean?
Evonne - I understand what you mean regarding the breathing, and I'm sure Lena will be able to help them with that. A large part of it will be confidence and familiarity with the song, in my experience.
ReplyDeleteMy actors and I came up with a really, really great funny "dream sequence" today, in which Josh dreams of being attacked by CTC and Mr. Gordon appears at the end and tells him he's "been rejected." It's very funny - and I think it would serve well as a premonition to the zombie invasion. I'm going to read through the script and see where I think it would fit well. Dillon, Xander, Lena and Sadat all watched it today, as well as Mr. D and Mr. Moore. I'd love for anyone who's seen it (or even those who didn't see it) to put in your input on where you think the scene would best fit.
I had no idea that perhaps the two best parts of my scene could be the two parts where I didn't write a word.
I'm glad I decided to focus on this choreography before break. Despite having to make up some things on the fly, I think it's important that these non-dancing actors get the opportunity to learn early and have time to review it. Tim will be ok with his song - I've sent him the file and the words and I'm sure he'll sing it well. We're going to do the blocking for it after break, but since it will be more "movement" rather than dancing, I think it's good I gave the CTC movement the priority.
Enjoy your two weeks off, everyone. I can't wait to watch this show come together.
really wish i could have been there today. i especially regret not being able to hear the love song. any ways i really hope things went well.
ReplyDeleteon another note staging the snak bar scene, i think is going to be difficult to stage with out having any ones back facing the audience. any one have any ideas?
i wish we had rehearsal tomorrow, i feel so left out after missing today.
oh and don strangely gave me a bit of lip while we were rehearsing he started being a bit of a diva and not wanting to sing idk it was a weird vibe and i'm not used to having that happen with don...
ReplyDeleteToday was very productive mainly because we had everyone and we also got this whole directing thing sorted. Sasha and Hope worked really well together. However, I do believe I made a mistake in that they kept telling me Sasha didn't need to write down her blocking because Hope had it, but I told them otherwise. I should have checked to make sure they had both had it down and we may pay the price for that. Tristan also said that Sasha was an already a real actor and didn't need to write down her blocking to which I said "Real actors write down their blocking."
ReplyDeleteGenerally they had some good input and we also added this part where everyone takes a step back in unison when I bring up the sword. I also wrote down all the blocking as we went through the script again. i also refined some things like who runs in first and who moves the chairs. Dillon if you want my notes I can prepare a document to show you where they are. I will probably make one anyway to email to the rest of our cast.
Xander, I accept your apology with great happiness. All three of us were in the wrong on this occasion, I was rather inflexible about the whole issue. Your apology signifies two things for me. Firstly is how useful this blog is and secondly and most importantly, how determined we are to see this production succeed.
Finally I wish you all a happy and fun Spring Break. "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Winston Churchill
Coleman, I think if you build the snack bar in an L shape, you can have it so that the "bar" portion is facing stage left for the opening scene, and then turn it so that the audience is getting the view from the back of the room. I don't know if this is explaining it well enough but I can show you tomorrow if you need me too. Bring your script for my scene in class too.
ReplyDeleteToday was honestly one of the best days I've had in all of my time with Pennington drama. There are just so many tiny details that Xander and I have added to our scene that just continue to multiply the humor. It's awesome to see the characters come to life. I think seeing these characters in human form has just given us an infinite amount of space to develop them, and that has provided for the little details we've been adding because we can really understand how they would act in each situation. I loved in the read through when the actors cracked up at Zylox and Jai's lines but I honestly think that the audience will have trouble breathing at some points because they'll be laughing that hard.
Charles, I hope you don't think that I didn't want to direct your scene for any personal reasons or anything like that. It was strictly a way to make things easier, but I completely understand the points that Ms. Houston brought up about an actor not being able to see the stage, making it impossible to direct and I now plan to make your scenes perfect.
"However, I do believe I made a mistake in that they kept telling me Sasha didn't need to write down her blocking because Hope had it, but I told them otherwise. I should have checked to make sure they had both had it down and we may pay the price for that. Tristan also said that Sasha was an already a real actor and didn't need to write down her blocking to which I said "Real actors write down their blocking." "
ReplyDeleteI don't think you made a mistake, necessarily, but rather maybe set a poor precedent. I don't think you need to worry about Sasha, to be honest. She is extremely intelligent when it comes to staging and I do think that she'll remember everything you tell her. It's just who she is. I wouldn't worry about that - everyone has their own process, and in the case of someone like Sasha, I've seen that she remembers her blocking without writing it. There are many people who can't do this, but there are also some who can.
However, if you are making everyone write down their blocking, you may have set a poor precedent if you did not check up on Sasha. Others may be resentful towards her or you, and that would be bad. In addition, there's a lack of respect if you specifically ask someone to write it down and they refuse. Even if they believe it won't help them - they should respect you enough, being in charge, to follow your requests. It's rude.
I don't think you should be having much trouble though in terms of the blocking or staging. I wouldn't be too concerned. I'm sure everything will pick up from spring break looking dapper (that's a British term, right?). Good luck.
"Coleman, I think if you build the snack bar in an L shape, you can have it so that the "bar" portion is facing stage left for the opening scene, and then turn it so that the audience is getting the view from the back of the room."
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an excellent idea. It lets things kind of be on a slight horizontal for the snackbar scene where the kids are buying things, and then lets us "into" the snackbar during the insightful romantic scene. Sounds like a great idea, to me.
Tech went well today, and we are pretty much stuck until we get more material. As for the snack bar a design was already drafted today during tech. I'll show you all during class tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteIn my humble opinion, Sasha should write down her blocking. She won't remember it - at least she won't remember the little nuances of it and Charles is right, in the profession, which is somewhere she wants to end up, she will have to write it down. In my history with her, she doesn't always remember things accurately and it can eat up time. I'm seeing this right now in Advanced Drama especially where she is in many scenes. Her instincts are strong and part of her process is to try multiple approaches - so Charles, you can let her explore a bit. She will eventually settle on the right approach. And she will take direction. So, all of you should require people to have something on paper. It's an important habit.
ReplyDeleteI had another awesome day with my group of miscreants. They all are really getting it seems and today was by far their strongest day. We ran through so quick today that I couldn't believe. Will is beyond determined to figure out his character. I got a bit annoyed because he tried to change too many times because he said he didn't "understand the flow." But once I read for him I think he understood better. I think if he works for Ms. Vander Shaff for 20 minutes he'll be able to rip it up hardcore.
ReplyDelete