Log #2

In this week, Kate and I performed or scene on Monday and then did emotion activity on Wednesday. On Thursday, we did self-checking on reciting the scripts.After I finished performing in front of the whole class, I received emails from audiences that tell me what I did was good or bad. Through other students’ and teacher’s commends, I learned what I need to promote and what I have achieved. Before I perform, I was anxious and didn’t know what I should do. I was afraid I couldn’t express my emotion properly because in the script-reading recording, I was like a emotionless robot. We used to practise in the hallway outside of Black Box, where it is long and narrow, and had never tried to practise on stage. We were not familiar with our blocking because we didn’t add it into our daily practise. When I was on stage, the feeling of standing on the broad stage is so much different than stay in the hallway. When we practiced in the hallway, if Romeo wants to exit then he only needs to walk straightly. However, when I was on stage, I needed to turn to another direction when I walked down. This made me walked too close to the audience and made many mistakes about blocking. Another problem is that I express too much emotion and doesn’t match with my partner’s pace. Since this scene is short, in order to extend the acting time and make the scene realistic, Kate and I decide to make some pause when we read so that the problem of reciting too fast won’t happens.On Wednesday, Kate and I highlighted the scripts that express specific emotions. By color-coding the sentences, the lines leave me a dipper impression and understanding. The lines are no longer words but with emotions and meanings. After highlighting it, I clearly know how my tone and actions should changed through acting. Each emotion should have its own action. One example is that Juliet says: “Wilt thou be gone? it is not yet near day.” The emotion is romantic and sweet. There is no desperate of being apart and no fear of death.
Juliet just woke. The voice should be soft and the speech rate should be slow.       Thursday is our memorization part. By recording my own voice and listen again and again, I can remember all my scripts. I find out a way, which is listening to the recording before sleep, helps me to better memorize. I know how to pronounce each words and where I should pause, but the punctuation is complicated. Some time I think there should be a comma, but actually there is a period. Another thing that the punctuations remind me is that I pause on the wrong place when I recite. For example, I pause at the end of a line, but the line is actually linked with the following line. Or when there is a colon in the sentence, it means following words is related to the previous sentence. If I have a really long pause when there is a colon, that would be wrong.