FEBRUARY 5th - Friday

SCENOGRAPHY IDEAS DEVELOPED SINCE PROPOSAL

JANUARY 14th - Thursday

SCRATCH PERFORMANCE FEEDBACK: 14/01/16

[VIDEO] Performance influenced and developed by 

Lecoq's 'Neutral Mask' exercise &

Lee Strasberg's 'Personal Object' and 'Private Moment' exercises. 

insert video of performance of scratch. 

Feedback

tempo's 

semiotics

Moving Forward

JANUARY 12th - Tuesday

REHEARSALS: 12/01/16

Task:

Workshop Lee Strasberg's exercises 'Personal Object' and 'Private Moment' to develop believable acting. 

Objectives of exercises:

'Personal Object' -  To develop a sensory response as opposed to an emotional one.

'The personal object is always intended to accelerate the response of the individual. Built into the personal object is a greater degree of responsiveness, meaning, and experiences; therefore stimulates reactions more powerfully. (Strasberg edited by Lola Cohen 2010: 22)

Rationale for exercise - 

I have felt that my acting has appeared false and not nearly credible enough for the subject matter that I am portraying therefore I propose to explore and develop Strasberg's exercise to attempt to bring more validity to my project.  

'Private Moment' -   To help the actor learn to behave as though in private but publicly.

Rationale for exercise - 

As my project takes place in the living room of my characters house what is happening to her is essentially behind closed doors. She experiences isolation from the world therefore I am not only trying to portray her experience and emotional journey,  I am also trying to train myself how to act and behave as though I am in private but publicly to an audience. 

I feel this aspect of my project will add another dynamic layer to the performance as I will not just be mimicking a post-natal depression sufferer but I will be attempting to create an environment of privacy that an audience will be spectating. 

Proposed Outcome

Outcome

[VIDEO] First attempt at 'Personal Object' exercise. 

[VIDEO] First attempt at 'Private Moment' exercise. 

Moving Forward

List of references - 

Cohen, L. (2010) The Lee Strasberg Notes. New York: Routledge

JANUARY 11th - Monday

REHEARSALS: 11/01/16

Task:

Develop movement sequence based around Lecoq's 'Neutral Mask' exercise. 

Objective of exercise: 

'Through the neutral mask, Lecoq is trying to return his student to the precognitive state, where he is free to gather fresh mimic expressions' (Felner 1985: 158) 

The incorporation of the mask eradicates all facial expression therefore forces the performer to heighten and explore their bodies physical capabilities of telling a story. The mask is used a tool for training in mine however I have chosen to use it as part of my performance. 'The Neutral Mask captures a facial expression that is neither sad nor unduly happy but maintains a point of equilibrium' (Chamberlain and Yarrow, 2002: 76) As the mask represents a calm state of neutrality, devoid of expression or emotion, I am going to use it to develop my characters lack of feeling toward her child because of her post-natal depression. 

The mask signifies a change within the scene. When the character wears it she is free from what she feels is stopping her being happy, which evidently is her baby. However she starts to show negative and almost evil qualities towards her baby and this scares her therefore the mask also represent her struggle with her inner demons. 

[VIDEOS] Neutral Mask movement sequence in 2 parts.

PART 1 - 

PART 2 - 

Proposed Outcome - 

By using the neutral mask, not only as a training tool, but within my actual performance, I hopped that the inhibitions I had been experiences in previous workshops and rehearsals would begin to disappear. As the masks purpose is to free the actor, i proposed that this would change my movements and gestures completely. 

I expected to see more use of space, larger and freer movements and commitment and purpose behind every single action within the piece. 

Outcome - 

The outcome of the piece and the difference from other rehearsals and performances was significant. There is a huge change, not only in my literal moves, but in the overall energy of the scene. I appear to be embodying my character far more than I have been and my body is telling the story as opposed to the music or exercise I was exploring. (see log entry DECEMBER 14th for notes) 

The use of the neutral mask has been extremely effective in lifting the barrier I was creating for myself due to nerves. As i have little to no inhibitions within this performance every move or gesture appears to manifest organically and impulsively giving the performance spontaneity. I feel this is important, specifically for my project, as the nature of the themes and issues are fragile and delicate as people really experience them. Therefore it is important that the performance seems fresh and that I am effective in portraying my characters experience. 

Moving Forward - 

The areas of the performance where I am not using the mask still need work. My emotional responses towards the baby crying are not varied enough and there does not seem to be enough urgency or intensity behind how I am reacting.

I had previously took note in another log about introducing an acting practitioner. (see log entry 9th of DECEMBER) My focus is entirely on the physical execution of my gestures and moves therefore my acting is lacking and is not believable. I propose to focus my next rehearsal on introducing and exploring an acting practitioner.  

List of references - 

Chamberlain, F and Yarrow, R. (2002) Jacques Lecoq and the British Theatre. New York: Routledge

Felner, M (1985) Apostles of Silence: The Modern French Mimes. London: Associated University Presses.

DECEMBER 14th - Monday

SCRATCH PERFORMANCE, FEEDBACK AND MOVING FORWARD:

14/12/15

I performed to an audience made up of my class peers. The piece was a short movement excerpt I had been working on and had been influenced by previous rehearsals with Jacques Lecoq's 'Seven Tensions' exercise. The piece involved me attempting to physicalize some symptoms of post-natal depression that my character experiences within my project. 

The purpose of the excerpt was to physicalize and visually represent the effects post-natal depression has on the body. The physical movements and gestures are stylised and abstract.

[VIDEO] Visual representation of post-natal depression symptoms. 

The feedback I received - 

1.   ‘The music did not match or represent the scene.’

The lyrics were distracting and gave off the wrong connotations regarding the content of the scene. As the subject matter I am using is very serious and effects real people I do not want to cause offence or portray an undignified style or performance. Therefore I have to be more careful when using music or songs.  To move forward, I will spend more time finding avant-garde style music or scoring that will compliment my movements and also help tell the story.

2.   ‘Some of my movement had elements of contemporary dance.’

I do not want to incorporate contemporary dance into my project therefore I must evaluate my performance further and work on how I will develop it so that this does not happen. My reasoning for not wanting to incorporate dance into my performance is that I am still very much focused on actor training. The vast majority of my piece is physical theatre and has stylised gestures however I still want my acting to be believable and authentic and by incorporating dance this might then get lost.  To move forward – I will focus on mixing my physical theatre training with my acting training to ensure I am giving an honest and believable performance. Hopefully the dance elements will fade away when my actions become more purposeful and will not follow the beat or lyrics of the music as I will not use music like this again. 

DECEMBER 12th - Saturday

FEEDBACK AND MOVING FORWARD: 12/12/15

Tutorial - 

Having sent videos and notes regarding the previous rehearsals, I gained feedback from my lecturer. My feedback was to develop:

• The body in space. 

‘In the moment in which an actor enters the stage, his body is there. Even if he does not move one finger [. . .] his body is there and the audience is watching it’ (Fusetti 2000)

I need to have more presense when I inhabit my space. Every move I make within my performance has purpose towards telling the story therefore I must be aware of what I am doing and why at all times.

• The changes of tempo and rhythmic states when moving up the 'seven tensions' scale.

‘A movement has no form and no life if it has no rhythm. ‘(Lecoq 1987: 88)

The overall pace and rhythm of the sequence is too similar. There are no enough variations or noticeable changes when I move into a different tension therefore It will be difficult for my audience to read the emotional changes and shifts within the piece.

Changes to be made -

The tensions should be improved by doing the following:

1. Catatonic/Exhausted - I cannot move in this state. I will draw out the symptom of Insomnia by portraying my characters weakened and drained physicality. I will put focus on tiny intricate movements and develop them further as the tension changes.  

2. Laid back - I will have more movements within this section by exploring my space more. Movements will still be very small but will have a distinction of forming and travel in circular motions.

3. Neutral/Economic - The intensity of the movements and tempo will increase dramatically. I will explore moving in straight lines. I will also introduce and explore use of levels.

4. Alert/Curious - I will add more reaction and characterization towards my movements. My focus will be on developing a climax or ending for this short sequence. 

Taking this forward - 

I plan on taking this forward and progressing with my project by really working on developing all these aspects stated above. I plan to do this by:

Re-looking at each symptom and tension I developed within the movement sequence (see video on entry 11th December) and individually working on a small section until I have my desired outcome. I have to exaggerate and commit more for each tension so that the transitions between them have more dramatic impact.   

DECEMBER 11th - Friday

Rehearsal: 11/12/15

[Movement sequence blocked using inspiration from ‘Seven Tensions’ exercise]

Task:

I used the same idea behind my second attempt of ‘Seven Tensions’ exercise (see log entry 9/12/15). I allowed myself to move and perform through my character as opposed to myself.

For stimulus I chose 4 symptoms that post-natal depression sufferer’s experience – Insomnia, loss of libido, low self-esteem and anxiety. I then chose 4 levels of tension from Lecoq’s exercise that I thought would match each symptom.

These where 1: exhausted/catatonic, 2: laid back, 3: neutral/economic and 4: Alert/curious.

I then used the 4 chairs to represent the 4 different symptoms and used this area of stage to represent when my character would experience the symptom and tension.

Every time I move to a different chair the different symptom and level of tension takes over and I react to this. 

Inspiration/Theory - 

I took inspiration from my two attempts of 'seven tensions' exercise and I proposed to try and develop it further to try and improve the outcomes from previous ones.

My focus was on physical aspects such as posture, walking style and weight this time. The idea behind my developed version this exercise was to give myself an open world to explore as my character. The only limitations I would have is that I had to change my symptom and tension when I came into a different space where a chair was. The theory was If I give myself an open world/space to develop and play with my physical training and style of theatre, then I would hold back less because I had no expectations or constraints for myself.

‘The freedom of ‘everything is possible’ will allow the invention of a world with laws other than those of reality’ (Lecoq 1981: 72) 

All of these features I drew inspiration from 'Theatre of Movement and Gesture' by Jaqcues Lecoq. Edited by David Bradby.

Proposed Outcome - 

I expected the short sequence to be very underdeveloped and have projections of myself and not my character. I am at the very beginning stages of my physical theatre training of Lecoq's pedagogy of exercises therefore I know that the initial stages of my rehearsal process will need substantial developments. I assumed that the movements would be clumsy and not make much sense in regards to the context of the scene as I am style exploring the different tensions.

Outcome – 

[VIDEO] My own developed variation of Lecoq’s ‘seven tension’ exercise. 

I surprised myself through the end result of the sequence and what it looked like. There are areas of the piece that portrayed aspects of the symptoms very clearly and I took on a more stylised approach to the physicality of the tension which is something I hope to develop even further in rehearsals. I notice in areas of the video when I am beginning to abandon my inhibitions and beginning to allow myself to totally embody the emotion/tension my character is experiencing. (See video: 35 - 50 secs) However this can go even further in terms of commitment. 

What would I Change? - 

I need to work on each individual portrayal of the 4 symptoms and tensions. I need to look in more detail at aspects such as exploration of space, rhythm, dynamics, fixed points and obstacles. Through further exploration and analysis of these individual features of Lecoq's training I will improve and develop this movement sequence in far more depth so that it better conveys the symptoms. 

 Moving Forward -

By looking into these sections in greater detail my movements will become more polished and representational of Lecoq's style. Right now they are still being affected by my own personal inhibitions to let go and also my fitness levels. This will be something I plan on improving.  

List of references - 

Lecoq, J. (1987) Theatre of Movement and Gesture. New York: Routledge