Last thursday was our final performance of our blogologue sketch in front of the rest of tenth grade. For our group, my individual performance was set to be at the beginning. As we were not using the stage, we performed on the blue carpet. I decided to stay on the far right side of this platform as the acting parts were going to take place in the centre. However, this was a weakness to my performance as a large amount of the audience could not see me clearly and hence, could not see any of the gestures or facial expressions that I was making. I worked really hard to match the montage to my script so that the audience could comprehend my performance better. We had a huge crisis because of the technical difficulties that raised during the first scene. The action instrumental was not playing as the microphone/speakers were not plugged in and we found someone to take care of our montages during lunch, which gave them an unfair amount of time to make sure everything was alright. I think one of my biggest problems while communicating is to talk at a moderate pace. During performances especially, I rush through my words unintentionally, which does not allow the audience to have enough time to get the gist of what I am trying to say. During Hamza's scene, I had to make an entrance as a "nerdy" boy, with a music video playing in the background. I think I walked awkwardly/shyly enough to be considered a nerd and my glasses made it dead obvious. A few audience members laughed during this part so I am drawing the conclusion that my character displayed appropriate physical connotations. My last participation during the sketch was in Ryan's performance. I had to act like a violent child who is a huge attention-seeker and has gay dads. When I started flexing, I could not help but giggle, which drew away from the intentions of my character. I was supposed to seem serious about my flexing. But, I really did try my best to flex properly but it was difficult as I do not have muscles. When Ryan talked about me screaming and crying to get my way with things, we initially planned on me screaming for a few seconds. During the performance, I forgot that I had to and I just crossed my arms, which did not connect with the narration at all. I think my energy overall was at a good level and some tweaks in my verbal communication could really bring out the few skills I have as a performer.
I could have improved my performance in my scene by moving centre stage so that the audience can see and hear me clearly, by practicing my lines with a peer and him/her telling me to slow down when needed, going through the technical details of the performance before hand, and not using a microphone. I did not know that I had to use a microphone till the performance, and it threw me off a bit because I did not know how I was supposed to execute some of my planned gestures. But, it did improve my projection, which took one concern out of the way. I could have improved my performance during Hamza's scene by maybe wearing a tie, and actually mowing the carpet to match the actions in the video. Other then that, I think Hamza's piece went pretty smoothly. I could have improved my performance in Ryan's scene by making serious facial expressions, having a better posture, screaming at the right time, and actually physically holding a knife during the cutting, attempted self-harm scene. Overall, I needed more evidence of purposeful expression and I needed to put myself into an annoying mom's shoes for my individual piece.
We decided to have three recurring characters during the transition bits after our run through, as they did not make our performance flow well at all. Ryan was the child, and Hamza and Mifrah were the annoying parents. So, I did not have a chance to contribute to the making of the final transition bits that were chosen and demonstrated. I did input some ideas during the rehearsals, as we could edit 10% of our script, and we decided to create the transition bits ourselves.
The member I have chosen to critique is Hamza, our assistant director. During his individual performance, Hamza really got into his character verbally, however he had forgotten to wear his fake hair which made it a bit less obvious that he was playing a female role, and took away from the comedy. His lines were not memorised completely, but he overcame this challenge by improvising a whole lot, which actually made it funnier in my opinion. His girly voice was really entertaining and the audience would agree with me. Hamza's posture could have been more feminine and so could his gestures. For example, after he sees the "rapper" or "stoner" walking by, he could bend his arm and waver his hand around, or put his hands on his face and wobble his head around. A bit of physical exaggeration is all that was needed to make it an almost ideal performance piece. He had the right level of confidence and energy. Hamza elaborated a theme to a point of realisation, and his artistic intentions were vivid.
This is by far one of the best set of people I have worked with as a team. We all collaborated really well and were committed to this assignment for the most part. I could not have asked for a better director. Mifrah was really hard working during rehearsals an ensured that we were on track all the time. She could have slowed down a teeny bit while communicating during her individual piece. Hamza got distracted sometimes, but he completed all his work efficiently and he had the largest performing load in our group. Ryan was a really great technical director and he fitted all of our montages into one powerepoint, which made it simpler for our peers to utilise. During his performance, he could have had a bit more eye contact with the audience members. Vanessa performed very well and her physical and verbal communication was effective. In conclusion, this unit has been a good experience for me, and was a fun way to end drama for the year.
I could have improved my performance in my scene by moving centre stage so that the audience can see and hear me clearly, by practicing my lines with a peer and him/her telling me to slow down when needed, going through the technical details of the performance before hand, and not using a microphone. I did not know that I had to use a microphone till the performance, and it threw me off a bit because I did not know how I was supposed to execute some of my planned gestures. But, it did improve my projection, which took one concern out of the way. I could have improved my performance during Hamza's scene by maybe wearing a tie, and actually mowing the carpet to match the actions in the video. Other then that, I think Hamza's piece went pretty smoothly. I could have improved my performance in Ryan's scene by making serious facial expressions, having a better posture, screaming at the right time, and actually physically holding a knife during the cutting, attempted self-harm scene. Overall, I needed more evidence of purposeful expression and I needed to put myself into an annoying mom's shoes for my individual piece.
We decided to have three recurring characters during the transition bits after our run through, as they did not make our performance flow well at all. Ryan was the child, and Hamza and Mifrah were the annoying parents. So, I did not have a chance to contribute to the making of the final transition bits that were chosen and demonstrated. I did input some ideas during the rehearsals, as we could edit 10% of our script, and we decided to create the transition bits ourselves.
The member I have chosen to critique is Hamza, our assistant director. During his individual performance, Hamza really got into his character verbally, however he had forgotten to wear his fake hair which made it a bit less obvious that he was playing a female role, and took away from the comedy. His lines were not memorised completely, but he overcame this challenge by improvising a whole lot, which actually made it funnier in my opinion. His girly voice was really entertaining and the audience would agree with me. Hamza's posture could have been more feminine and so could his gestures. For example, after he sees the "rapper" or "stoner" walking by, he could bend his arm and waver his hand around, or put his hands on his face and wobble his head around. A bit of physical exaggeration is all that was needed to make it an almost ideal performance piece. He had the right level of confidence and energy. Hamza elaborated a theme to a point of realisation, and his artistic intentions were vivid.
This is by far one of the best set of people I have worked with as a team. We all collaborated really well and were committed to this assignment for the most part. I could not have asked for a better director. Mifrah was really hard working during rehearsals an ensured that we were on track all the time. She could have slowed down a teeny bit while communicating during her individual piece. Hamza got distracted sometimes, but he completed all his work efficiently and he had the largest performing load in our group. Ryan was a really great technical director and he fitted all of our montages into one powerepoint, which made it simpler for our peers to utilise. During his performance, he could have had a bit more eye contact with the audience members. Vanessa performed very well and her physical and verbal communication was effective. In conclusion, this unit has been a good experience for me, and was a fun way to end drama for the year.
