Emily-Jane @emily-jane1996 - Tumblr Blog

TV and film blog 1

1. What scenes have you watched today? The scenes that we watched were from the films – Sexy Beast – Dead Man’s Shoes and The Wire. These were all the same kind of genre and the same style of film. 2. Technically what did you notice about the scenes you watched? (Camera angles, sound, lighting, costume, location) The things that I noticed technically was how the camera angles were different in each scene but gave the same effect in each if the 3 scenes that we watched. Some of the camera angles were head on and some were from the side. 3. What was most notable in the scenes? (In terms of acting) I noticed that the actors were very good at ignoring the camera that was either in front of them or at the side. It’s like the camera wasn’t there for them. I also noticed that the acting was more minimal and wasn’t as over exaggerated as it is on stage. 4. What genre was the scene? The genre’s for Sexy Beast are – Thriller – Romantic – Crime and Drama. The genre’s for Dead Man’s Shoes are – Thriller – Crime – Psychological Thriller and Drama. The genre’s for The Wire are – Crime and Serial drama. As you can see all 3 scenes have crime in them which shows that they are very similar. 5. What skills/ techniques were used by the actors? The skills and techniques used by the actors were big facial expressions so show the audience and the camera how they were feeling as well as in their voice, you can tell how the actors are feeling through their voice as well. Another techniques they use if the different levels of projection when they are speaking it shows what they mean and how they want it to come across both to actors and audience. Techniques 6. What techniques did you learn today? The techniques that we learnt today how to do some relaxation exercises and how to stay calm and focused so we don’t get distracted by other things. We also learnt a little bit about the different camera and about long shots and close up shots and how to avoid looking at the camera. 7. How might this be useful in film and tv acting? This is useful because i now understand how to avoid looking at the camera when I am acting and I've also learnt that the facial expressions and the body language that we use doesn’t have to be over exaggerated because it’s tv or film acting, the audience can see what we are doing no matter how far away they are. Scene 8. What was the scene you work on? Today we worked on a couple scene, this involved talking about a game called skyrim and dead island. We had about 10-15 minutes to go through it with our partner and talk about what we thought. 9. How did you approach the scene? I noticed that the scene was about a boy or girl who's mum ran away and the friend is trying to help them and talk to them. So I approached the scene by thinking about how the person would feel when their mum left them. 10. How did you approach the character? I approached my character by thinking how i would feel if that happened to me so I put myself in that position and thought about the emotion and body language I could use. 11. What were your thoughts on the scene? My thoughts on the scene were different each time I read it, I first thought that it was a little weird as it’s not something I am use to seeing, but then I thought that it would be a good scene to try and get right with the emotion and body language. 12. What issues are in the scene that you were looking at? The issues in the scene that I was looking at was the issue of the girls mothers left her and how it could have effected her and how she would treat the people around her. This was the main and only issue I picked up on from the script. Evaluating your role 13. What were the strengths of your scene? I think that my strengths were my emotions and how I portrayed them to the camera as well as my partner. Another strength I thought I had was my body language as I thought that my body was the way a girl in that situation would sit and act like. 14. What were the weaknesses of your scene? I think that my main weakness was my vocals, this is because I felt like I could have been louder and showed more emotion in my voice. Another weakness I had was clocking the camera at times as I knew it was there and kept looking at it. 15. Choose a scene performed by somebody else in the group what did you enjoy? I liked what Declan did for his partner work, he showed emotion in both his voice and his facial expressions as well which meant we could connect with his character more and we felt what he was feeling. 16. What did you think they could improve? I think maybe Declan could have been slightly louder when he spoke as it was hard to hear him due to background noise. @samdrama

SOLA Task 3 - Part 3 Actors CV

Name: Emily-Jane Whittaker D.O.B: 12/06/1996 Address: 31 Example Place, Example, Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Postcode: DE56 1LN Mobile number: 07528 165793 Home Number: 01773 759886 Height: 5’5 Hair type and colour: Ombre (Black at the top and blonde at the bottom) mid length. Relevant qualifications, education or training GCSE'S English: E Maths: F Science: Merit Languages (German): D Health and social: B R.E: D P.S.H.E: C Education The Ripley Academy – 2010 – 2012 (Year 10 to Year 11) The Ripley Academy Sixth Form – 2012 – 2015 Chesterfield College – Performing Arts Course Level 3, Extended Diploma. Experience/Training At the age of 3 up to the age of 13 I went to a drama school called Stagecoach. This has all the 3 main things to do with Performing, Singing, dancing and acting, we did a variety of shows such as Peter Pan, All the world’s a stage and Mama Mia. I have also done school plays such as Joseph and the amazing technicolour dream coat and 101 Arabian Nights. I use to help run a glee club with a few friends in sixth form for the younger students who wanted to do Ripley's Got Talent. I am currently working to finish my second year at Chesterfield college on the performing arts course. We are in the middle of a major production called ‘Made in Dagenham' which I am part of the ensemble as this is a new experience for me to be doing such a big performance for the paying public. @suemcgeorge @dooleyk1chesterfield @beckylangford1983

Minutes of meeting - 3 @beckylangford1983 @dooleyk1chesterfield

Meeting of minutes - 2 @beckylangford1983 @dooleyk1chesterfield

Peer review for Joe green @jgreenuniverse

Directing blog 3

1. How productive was the session - did you complete all you had set out to do? Today was a very productive session as I started the group off with a simple body warm up which consisted of neck rolls, arm circles, hip movement, leg circles and ankle circles. I then got them to do some character work which consisted of them being in character and saying a few lines between them and then getting them to stand in front of each other and getting them to say their lines in character. I then asked them to get further apart by stepping backwards, but while they were doing this I got them to show more emotion in what they were saying as well as getting them to use their gestures and facial expressions bigger each time they moved back. This is what I had planned for this session and it was very productive as well as the group being very responsive. I then worked with the group that weren’t being used in the scenes that Sue was directing, so I took them into a separate room and got them to tell me what they had done for their tech roles. I then assigned them each a task within their tech roles and they got on with it. 2. Were you well organised? Had you planned your time well? (Too many or not enough activities). I think that I was very well organised for this session because I had it all set out what I wanted to do with the group and what I wanted the out come to be. I set and planned my time well as I got the group ready and focused for what Sue wanted them to do next. I think that I have just enough activities for them to do during this session. 3. How would you rate your performance as a director? (Were you confident/did you offer enough guidance/ appear organised/ in control/ answer the questions from the cast well.) I would rate my performance as a director about an 8 out of 10 as I was well organised and was ready for what Sue needed me to do next. I was very confident in what I was teaching the class as well as making myself seem very confident in what I wanted them to achieve. While I was working with the group that Sue didn’t need I offered as much guidance as was needed to the group, I walked around the space when I was getting them to do their exercise that I had asked them to do and offered any help to anyone that needed it. I personally think that I answered all the questions that my group had for me with confidence and understanding of what they were asking of me. 4. What were you trying to achieve with a particular moment or scene? Did you manage it or does it need further work? If so what does it need and how will you achieve it? With the exercise I was trying to achieve the emotion that each of the character would feel for certain lines that they had picked out for themselves. I feel like this was achieved with some of the cast but others still need to work on their emotions for their character a little bit more than some of the others. So I think that this could still do with some further work. I think that I need to take some of the characters to one side and get them to truly express that their character is feeling in certain lines or certain scenes. 5. What do you think you did well? Personally I think that the exercise and warm up went very well as the group were very cooperative and got on with what I asked them to do and with some great results at the end of the exercise. I also think that when I answered all the questions that were asked to me I did it in a confident and professional way. 6. What do you need to improve on? Personally I think that I need to improve on being in control of the group when I have them as a whole group or as a little group directing them or giving them certain tasks to do. I also think I need to control the group when they are acting up slightly and not listening or talking over me when I am asking them or giving them something to do. 7. What worked well? (Parts of the session - how and why?) I think that the exercise that I asked them to do worked well as most of the group understood the task and got on with it straight away with no guidance or questions asked as they understood what I had asked them to do. 8. What did not work well? Why? When it came to me asking them to show what they had completed in the exercise that I had given them, some people were very reluctant to get up and share their work that they had done. Some of the group cooperated and got up when I asked them too, but the others didn’t feel like they had to show their work. Also when I assigned them a task to do when I took a little group down to another room some people really didn’t want to do their work or the task that I had assigned them to do which was slightly irritating but I helped them in the end and we got the work that we needed done. 9. Action plan - what do you need to improve, plan or do next session or in preparation for next lesson? What I need to plan for the next session is another warm up and exercise for the group to do at the beginning of the next session so their brain are warmed up and ready to work. I also need to prepare the ball scene for the next couple of sessions as this is the scene that I have been given to direct and look at. @suemcgeorge

SOLA - Task 2 part 2 - personal statement

Performing arts has always been a part of my life since I was 3 years old and has been the way that I can express myself. This is what I have wanted to do all my life and when I saw that Chesterfield College did Performing arts course I was straight there to see what it was like. I am currently studying Level 3 Extended National Diploma in Performing Arts and I have learnt and developed so many skills and techniques that I had before and some that I had no idea existed. I love working with people that want to do the same thing as me and with the directors because they all have their own way of working. My aim to be on stage but also on screen as well. Within my first term at college I was part of storytelling that we devised ourselves. This was then performed in Primary schools in and around Chesterfield to the children aged from 1 to 10 years. We worked in groups of 4-5 people and we had to research all the different kind of children’s books and choose one ourselves and analyse it to make sure it was suitable for our target audience that we had been given. My group had years 5 and 6 so we had to make sure that it was too childish but it wasn’t too old either. So far my favourite role that I have played is Dawn from Jerusalem using Stanislavski techniques. The background and the kind of character was something I had never done before so it was a good challenge for me and helped me to develop my skills. When it came to researching the play and the characters helped me so much and was very rewarding when it showed in my performance and characterisation of Dawn. I have also done a performance of Dick Whittington that we performed to our parents on 2 nights and to different schools over 3 days. For me, I think that the most challenging project was One Man, Two Guv’nors, this was because we had to market our own show and make sure we sold enough tickets for the show to the paying public who we didn’t know. This was very challenging for me because this was something I had never done before, but it taught me so many things that I didn’t know about marketing and I also learnt new skills such as; how to handle money, making/buying set on a budget and it helped with my confidence and people skills when we went out into Chesterfield. When it came to the performances I was so shocked at how our marketing had worked. At the moment, I am currently taking part in Chesterfield College’s ‘Made In Dagenham' which we are putting on at the Pomegranate Theatre in April. This is a new and exciting challenge for me as I haven’t done a musical performance for some time and not on the scale this will be. I am really looking forward to the singing and the dancing aspects of it as I haven’t done this in a long time. I play a character called Kimberly who is one of the factory workers who is all up to go on strike with the rest of the factory workers she works with. I am very excited to see the outcome for this show as again we are marketing it for ourselves and want to make it as great as it can be. Overall all the projects that I have done inside and outside of college have allowed me to learn and develop not only my skills and my techniques but also my confidence as a performer and as myself out in the world. They have helped me to become a better actress and a better person overall, I feel they have managed to push me to my limit and to my best as well as pushing me in the right direction. I am a very hard working, determined, enthusiastic, motivated person who does everything to achieve her goals. @beckylangford1983 @dooleyk1chesterfield @suemcgeorge

Dance analysis 3 - Storm clouds

1. What mood are you aiming to create? Describe the skills you use to create this mood. The mood that we are trying to create is a sad mood as we have just lost our jobs and we don’t know what we are going to do now, were all really sad as we don’t know how long we’ve lost our jobs for, the men have also lost their jobs as well so they blame us women for it. 2. Were you successful in creating the atmosphere for this scene? I think that we were successful in creating the atmosphere in the scene as we all made ourselves think about if we were a mother and we couldn’t afford to feed out children so that we could get that sadness. 3. What do you need to do to improve your contribution to this mood? I need to improve my facial expressions as I don’t use them as much as I should, I also need to improve how I am going to show that I am cold and tired when I am standing on stage. 4. What message does the song send to the audience? How do you enhance the message within the dance? What skills do you use to share this message with the audience? What could you do to improve your contribution to this message? The message that we are trying to send across to the audience is a sad message as we have all just lost our jobs and we don’t know what we are going to do about it. We want the audience to feel sorry for us and to feel what emotions we are feeling. We don’t dance that much with in the song but we have certain movements and walks to show how we are feeling within the song. We use focus as a skill as we have to focus on a spot when we freeze on the stage so that we don’t wobble about or move so we distract the audience from whatever else is happening on the stage at the time, we also use control so that we can control our bodies and control where we go and when we freeze. I could make sure that I freeze fully when I stand still so that I’m not a little wobbly like I have been before, I also need to focus on the person in front of me so that I don’t move or walk into them. 5. Where does the dance take place? Describe how you show this in the dance. Describe how this effects your movement. The dance takes place outside the factory where we use to work and where we have just found out that they have shut down the assembly line. This is shown in the dance as we stand there shivering when the men come out to shout at us as well as when they realise that we are wearing out coats, but also by the way we walk and use the space on the stage to show that we are outside. This doesn’t really affect our movement apart from we have a little more space on stage as nothing will be there so we can use most of the big space we have to show were outside. 6. Describe how your character feels within the scene. How do you show this in your movement? For example, how does this effect your facial expressions and dynamics of the movement? My character doesn’t really know how to feel about this scene as she doesn’t know what will happen to her and her family and her job. She is kind of sad and angry at the same time as she doesn’t know what is going to happen now. I show this in my movement by the way that I walk, I walk with my head down slightly looking towards the floor, and I make my facial expressions really sad. This does affect my movement and my facial expressions and dynamics of the dance by the way I make my character feel and portray the character, for example I use mostly sad and angry expressions to show how I am feeling. 7. Describe three point in your dance which are good and explain why they are effective. 1. I think that my posture is a good point within the dance as I try to keep the same posture thought out the dance so I don’t break character. 2. I think that the way I hold my head and the way I use my hands and other parts of my body to tell the story is good so that the audience can see what I am really feeling. 3. My facial expressions are better in this dance as it comes naturally to me instead of me having to pretend to put the facial expressions on. 8. Target three areas of the dance which needs improving. For example timing, facial expressions and dynamics. List and describe the moments you need to work on and film yourself improving these areas. 1. Remembering my blocking – I need to make sure that I remember all the blocking we did so that I don’t deem out of place. 2. Remembering to sing at the same time as walking/dancing – I need to make sure I remember this so I don’t Sig the wrong part or walk the wrong way. 3. I think that I could do more with my gestures as I don’t use my hands or the rest of my body as much as I’d like too. @beckylangford1983 @dooleyk1chesterfield

Dance analysis 2 - This is what we want

1. What mood are you aiming to create? Describe the skills you use to create this mood. The mood we are trying to create in this song is anger and upset as we have been told were not getting a pay rise and we’re working at C grade which means we’re unskilled. We use a variety of skills in this song from controlling our bodies when we are walking and dancing around Monty to focusing so that we don’t lose where we are or what were doing. 2. Were you successful in creating the atmosphere for this scene? Personally I think that we were very successful in creating the atmosphere because you can tell by the way that we are using our facial expressions and our gestures that we aren’t happy at all. 3. What do you need to do to improve your contribution to this mood? I think that I need to use more facial expressions when I am singing as I don’t tend to use many as I’m concentrating on the singing and movement more. 4. What message does the song send to the audience? How do you enhance the message within the dance? What skills do you use to share this message with the audience? What could you do to improve your contribution to this message? The message that is sent across to the audience is that we won’t work for little money and we want to be equal to the men. We enhance the message by the way that we all gang up on Monty and surround him when we are singing and dancing and pushing him around the stage as a group. The skills that we use are posture and focus so we stand tall and show we aren’t going to be pushed over or work as unskilled workers. As I mentioned before I could miss facial expressions more but I could also get involved more in the group and surround Monty more in stead of hiding in the background. 5. Where does the dance take place? Describe how you show this in the dance. Describe how this effects your movement. The dance takes place in the Fords Sewing factory where we all work, this is shown not only in the way that we dance as we are in such a little space with lots of sewing machines but also with the way the stage is set as well. We make sure that the audience understand that we are in a factory when we are crowding around Monty and making him feel small in the factory. This effects our movement as we have to watch where we are dancing and walking as we don’t want to fall over a table or a chair. 6. Describe how your character feels within the scene. How do you show this in your movement? For example, how does this effect your facial expressions and dynamics of the movement? My character isn’t happy at all with what is going on in the scene at all, she had just found out that they aren’t getting a pay rise and that she is working as an unskilled worker now they have been classed at C grade. This is shown in my movement by the way I move around the stage and how I am showing it on my face and with my gestures, I use my hands and my arms a lot to show that I am not happy with the situation at all. 7. Describe three point in your dance which are good and explain why they are effective. 1. I think that the way I walk into the group surrounding Monty is strong as I make it clear that I am not happy. 2. My stance is also good as I make sure that I stand tall and make sure that the audience know I'm not going to be pushed around anymore. 3. I think that when I am walking back to my space in the song when I am singing “I’m moaning for” shows that I am sick of being pushed around but I’m not going to give up. 8. Target three areas of the dance which needs improving. For example timing, facial expressions and dynamics. List and describe the moments you need to work on and film yourself improving these areas. 1. My timing could be a little bit better as sometimes I am a little off with the rest of the group. 2. My facial expressions could be better as I use them sometimes but I need to use them all the way through the song so that I can show what I am feeling. 3. My dynamics could be a little better as I’m not showing the true expressions and feelings through the dance. @beckylangford1983 @dooleyk1chesterfield

Made in Dagenham blog 3

1. What have you completed this week? If rehearsing what scenes did you work on? This week we completed a lot of scenes and dances. We rehearsed and went over the lines in scene 2 as we have had to add in a actor who hadn’t been with us for while because he was working . We also went over a few other scenes that I wasn’t in. 2. What went well with the scenes? I think that the way that we work well with each other is great as it means that we can have the real chemistry that we have need for the performance. Also how we just get on with the work and directing that we have been given I think this is good. 3. What didn't go well with the scenes? Some people don’t cooperate with the rest of the group and think it’s okay to leave the rehearsal to go and get food or to go and talk to friends. Also when people talk over the other people when they are doing their scene or when our tutors are talking and it takes us longer to get something done. 4. What do you need to do to improve on for next session? We need to make sure that we listen to everyone and also get to grips with getting on with rehearsing instead of talking and walking out of the rehearsals. 5. What songs/dances have you worked on? We have worked on pay day, this is what we want, storm clouds and others that I wasn’t involved with. 6. What went well? We all remembered our blocking and our movements in all the songs that we went through as well as singing all the songs at the same time. Also how we got on with all the directing and getting straight onto what we were asked to do. 7. What didn't go well? Again people walk out and go to see their friends or just wonder off and do nothing and sit. Also I am bad at getting the routine on time and at the same time with the others. 8. What do you need to improve for the next session? I need to improve my timing and my control for each dance because sometimes I feel like I am out of time and I stick out like a sore thumb, I also need to remember some blocking in the dances as well. 9. How are you developing your character?: Physicality, vocals, characterisation (use pictures/videos/sounds to help give a clear picture of your character development) ( link this with your character work done separately) With each scene and dance I am always developing my character because it gives me a chance to explore and develop my character. I am also looking into the original Broadway cast to see how they did it. 10. What ideas do you have for your role and the overall performance? For my character I have been looking into the original Broadway cast as I mentioned earlier in a previous question, so I was thinking about making my character a happy character and she always tries to make everyone happy and keep them in good spirits no after what is happening. 11. What techniques have you used in this session? What effect did you use them for? The techniques that we have used in this session are Stanislavski techniques because we need everything to be naturalistic and as natural we can make them so that we can get the audience involved and also get them to feel what our character are feeling. 12. What feedback did you receive from your director/peers? We have had lots of feedback from both our tutors and our peers as we had a feedback time at the end of the lesson, our tutor gave us good feedback as we did really good in our rehearsal she told us that we did really well and that she is very pleased how far we are getting within the performance. Our peers also gave us good and constructive criticism so that we can improve. I’ve been told that I need to work on the accent as I’m not very good with it and I don’t sound like I’m from Dagenham. 13. What did you think of the feedback? I am always open to feedback that my tutor and peers because I am always wanting to improve and make everything better so I am more than happy to receive feedback whether it is good or bad. 14. What are you going to do in the next rehearsal to improve on the feedback? I’m going to make sure that I practice the accent so that I fit in with the rest of the group and o don’t sound like I’m not from Dagenham. I am also going to work on my dances so that I can be in time with HR rest of the group. 15. Discuss strengths and areas for development and set an action plan on how you hope to meet those areas for development and improve them. Strengths 1. Time management – I always make that I am on time for every lesson and every rehearsal so that I can get the most out of each lesson so I know what I need to do and improve on. 2. Work – I am always willing to step in and stand in for anyone who isn’t there so we can get on with the scene. 3. Line learning – I am always learning others lines so I can step in and I am also learning my lines when I am given them to me. Areas for improvement 1. Dancing – I need make sure that I am in time with the dances and with everyone else 2. Accent – I really need work on my accent so that I don’t sound different to the others. What you want to improve, how you are going to improve it. These can be physicality, vocals, characterisation, line learning, confidence etc. Keep them S.M.A.R.T. I need to work on my accent and also my dancing when I am on stage because I don’t want to stick out. @beckylangford1983 @dooleyk1chesterfield

Song analysis 3 - Payday

1. Make a copy of the song and enlarge. Annotate these! These are on a separate blog. 2. What is the song about? Describe the scene. What happened before this scene to lead to the moment? The song is about us having a good time when we have been paid at the end of the month. It shows that we all manage to have a good time even though we’re going through some bad times. The scene is a great scene as we all have a bit of a dance while we are slightly drunk and the scene happening while we are dancing is a bad scene as Eddie forgets Rita's birthday. 3. What is the purpose of this song? The purpose of the song is to show the audience that we can have a good time even though we’re going through a rough patch with the equal pay and women’s rights. 4. Where does this song take place? How does this affect your singing, movement? I.E. In a car. The song takes place in a pub, this doesn’t really affect our singing apart from when we are singing and dancing at the same time but we are all seeming to manage to do it. 5. Who are you singing to? We are singing to the audience as we are telling them that we like to have a good time when we are paid even though we are APIs less than the men. 6. Who or what are you singing about? We are singing about being paid less than the men but we can still have a good time at the pub with the little money that we have. 7. How do you feel during the song? Plot the emotion change on your lyrics. I feel happy during the song as I have had a few to drink and I'm in a good mood because I’ve been drinking, I’m not worries about what’s going to happen with the pay for now. 8. What are the inner/outer feelings of the character in the song? My outer feeling in the song are happiness and comfort as I am with all my friends having a good time in the pub and we all get on really well and like to have a drink. My inner feelings are I’m still worried about the strike and the pay and what’s happening to our jobs but I don’t let it show as I’ll bring the mood down. 9. What facial expressions will you use to show what your characters are thinking or feeling in the song? The facial expressions I am using to show my character is happiness when I am on stage because my character is very happy even when something bad is happening because I like to try and keep the spirits up high and make people worry less. 10. What gestures will you use to show what your character is thinking or feeling in the song? I use different gestures to show what my character is feeling and thinking, I use my hands a lot as I want to show the audience I am happy and I use my hands a lot to show when I am angry or pissed off. @beckylangford1983 @dooleyk1chesterfield