Good Job everyone!! way to end the semester! i thought everyone did awesome and really stepped it up! these skits looked better than anything that we did this semester. I think we all could be actors/actresses!!

Everyone did a great job today! Im sorry that I was a little under the weather but I still enjoyed watching everyone do their scenes! Good Luck on the rest of finals Everyone...Im really gonna miss this class! Fabio- You were awesome and I wish we all could take this class again! Have a great break guys :)

Today was awesome! seeing all the scenes come together was really sweet. Also, seeing how far everyone has come since the beginning of the semester was unbelievable! I'm gonna miss this class so much!

Final and last whiz bang

I felt we all did an amazing job today on the final. I just hope my writing portion of the final is as good as my scene was...hahahahaha. It was great but sad to get to do one last whiz bang with all of you, but it is a time I have enjoyed none the less. Good luck everyone on the rest of your exams and have a great holiday break.

It is really hard to remeber to blog and i hate it! haha. Working on the plays was fun and I am really glad that we were able to work on them in class to have Fabio help us out. It was such a big help! It should be intersting to see everyone's today and present ours!

Well tomorrow is our final! good luck to everyone! i know we will do great! this class has been so much fun and i wish it was not ending so soon! have fun and good luck on everyones finals from our class to all your other classes that you have! :)

This class has been a completely new learning experience. Through it all I would have to say it has been my most enjoyable class thus far in my time at Ashland. Every class kept me guessing and Fabio, you always made us laugh. I'm so excited to see everyones' finals. This should be my most enjoyable day this week...besides the day I get to go home. Good luck with finals everyone...and break a leg tomorrow! Thanks for a great class!

WOW our last class. It was a great semester and I really enjoyed doing whiz bang and funny exercises with you all. I am pumped for the final and I know we all will show Fabio what we really are made of in it.

wow i cant believe it was our last class either! the time has flown by so quickly! im almost positive i wont have another class that is this much fun or one that you dont have to feel embarrassed when your doing something weird or different. good luck on everyone's finals im sure everyone will do awesome! the skits look good so far and that was just practice. Have a fun rest of the semester and I will see everyone around campus! good luck!

Thanks Everyone

I am unexpectedly moved by what you have been writing about the class. I care a lot about my work and it means a lot to me.

For me, the best result of this semester is that you all seemed to connect with one another. It's one of the great byproducts of theatre. I love that you support each other so much, and that you seem to have become friends.

I hope that you will not make yourselves strangers. I will certainly see you around campus, but also feel free to stop by and say, "Hey," anytime. Also, come see my shows.

It has been a real pleasure each and everyday. I could not have asked for a better class (that goes for the class that comes after you, as well.) It says a lot about the students at this school.

I cant believe that today was our last class! This semester has just went sooooo fast! It was fun getting to know everyone and I will really miss having this class! I wish everyone the best of luck on their final projects! :) See ya Tuesday bright and early!

I am sad that this is the last time that we will ever meet for regular class. I have made some new friends and had a blast with everyone doing all the crazy activities. i hope you all have a god Christmas and see you around campus.

Last Class

I really have enjoyed our classes up til this point even if I am not any good at acting. It has been a lot of fun because we have constantly been doing different activities and Mr. Polanco has made me laugh everyday. I have never had a class where I know what I need to do but struggle doing it so much. Anyways, it has been fun.

Tuesdays class was pretty fun. Special props to Chris and Janice....your scene seems to be pretty sweet. Ben and Jennas is looking really good to. I was surprised by how beleiveable Jenna made the sce3ne, good job!

last class...

Yes tommorow is the last day for our acting for non-majors class...and it is sad. I never thought coming into this class that I was going to enjoy it as much as I actually have. I mean the only thing I haven't liked about the class is the fact that Fabio's a Patriots fan, but everyone has some flawed gene in them. I'm gonna miss the early morning class, and waking up to a little whiz bang action...

So tomorrow is the last day of class and I am quite sad about that. I have had so much fun this semester, and I feel like this class has helped me to open up more. I am definately going to miss it next semester when I have a whole bunch of serious classes. I wish everyone luck with their finals both in this class and all other classes. Everyone is going to be great and I am looking foreward to seeing everyone's act!

Soooo Im really sad that we only have one more regular class together :( very sad! This class has been awesome and I really have enjoyed every minute of it! Although I am sad that this class will be ending, I am pumped to see everyone's scences! Im sure they'll be great! :)

I'm really excited for these finals. A lot of them seem like really dramatic relationship scenes. I'm sure glad we didn't choose to go down that road too because it could get picky with everyone doing it. The lines we received made it hard to think of anything but an intimate relationship though. Regardless, i'm really excited to watch....nervous to perform, but very excited to see everyone elses'!

i think our final is going to be hard. my partner and i did our skit today and have completely new ideas on how we should act. I never knew how incredibly hard it is to match what your saying and how your saying it with a particular word. I think the matching of what our actions are and how we will recite them to the audience.

I have to agree with my fellow classmates. It will certainly be a tough day for me to walk away from this class after the final. Also Stacy and my scene is moving along nicely I hope we can go thursday so we can get all of it polished for next weeks exam.


P.S. Loved Ben's Kramer impression

Ben, I dont care what everyone else thought. I loved the Kosmo Kramer! The goups did well today. Its weird that almost al of these skits are based on a couple in a broken relationship. Its kinda depressing. Speaking of depressing, I cant beleive that we only have potential to play whiz-bang one or two more times.......who all wants to take this class next semester again for no credit?

The final for this class is a little nerve racking. It is not hard per say there is just a lot that you have to consider when you are doing it. The character bio and all that other stuff, all in all though i am still having fun in the class.

So it was nerve-wrecking doing our scene last time. I am definately glad that we did so we could get some of the staging down. I am sad though because thiss class is coming to and end. It is something that I am definately going to miss next semester!

This is a sad week in the city of ashland. WE have only two more regular classes. This has been an awesome class though. Fabio is the shiz and so are all you classmates!

Class on Thursday was a lot of help. It was nerve racking at the same time. I'm confident in our scene, but seeing how hard it was to come up with actions in class, i'm worried whether or not we will be able to do it efficiently on our own. I can't wait to finally do it though. It should be the most fun I have taking a final all week!

We have been working on our scene some now, and finding all the actions has become much harder. I can see how it is really helpful to have all that figured out, because it gives you a purpose as you do the acting, but it is really hard to find actions for every line. I am also having a hard time delivering the lines in the exact way that I want to. But, I am still have lots of fun doing it.

Class

I am very anxious to see how these projects come together. It is a lot of work but it is a lot of fun to do. I am gald we are all getting some help with our projects and I enjoy the activities we are doing that will help us with them. Hopefully everyone is doing well and getting all their work done.

So I was looking at my final project today and I really am enjoying putting actions to all of my lines. It helps you define your character better and put reasoning behind each of your lines! I have not started my paper yet but I look forward to do that as well! Hope everyone had a good weekend :)

I think that it really helped out on our final project when Fabio had everyone create objectives for every bit of dialogue. It made it easier in establishing what actions to do and what tone to speak in.

Funk DADDY and myself... we gonna tear it up. Nuff said... haha. I am excited, this is going to be fun!

Class today was pretty cool, but should I expect anything less? It's always a good time. Today a good competitive game of whizbang got me going. Something about that game. But I really liked that starting activity that we did today. Once we got it down an understood to directly identify the people it was very enjoyable. I also thought it is pretty neat how detailed Fabio wants us to be about the skits. I understand that it is much more difficult knowing all those details. But it changes the whole perception of the skits and the difference it is making it clear in class.

I really feel like my final partner and I are getting far in our project. However it was really good to see others go today and see their's because it help me better figure out how to better attack mine and seeing that my partner still have some way to go.

so i have a swim meet this week/weekend and i cant make any of my classes on thursday and friday...this morning was so different without theater class. my schedule was just not right without theater in my day. weird sounding i know but it was wierd not having the class. I hope everyone had a wonderful class and i will be back on tuesday!

We started working more details of our skit. We have a good back story and have decided a lot about it, but it is really hard to have all of that come out in our skit without saying any of it. I am looking forward to figuring out some more of what we are going to do.

Brady Quinn Commercial

I saw the commercial again today and once again I do believe that almost at the very end of the commercial in the bottom left corner you can see Fabios head. I'm almost 95% sure that it is Fabio, but I could be wrong. And as for Brady saying he's busy on Sunday's, I can't quite say I agree with that.

Brady Quinn or Fabio?

Ther verdict is still out on whether or not Fabio is in this commercial. Some say that Fabio is the first fan to run out in the black shirt. Others wonder if Fabio isnt using his superb acting skills and good looks to actually act as a body double for Brady Quinn on the float. Many say that they actually confuse Fabio and Brady Quinn. A third party wonders if Fabio has'nt used his acting skills to trick everyone in class.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THT_yUbX3wE

Whiz-Bang is definitely getting more intense, and I am going to miss it when the semester is over. I also am enjoying preparing for this final project, and finding that it is way more intense than I thought. I think they will all be fun to watch!

Class was good yesterday, as usual. It helped me to realize how much thought and detail we really need to put into our finals. I think it's going to take a lot of work, but i'm excited to see how everyone's turns out in the long run. The semester's almost over, but every class i'm still surprised by all the creativity. No matter what time was chosen, someone had a different idea of what was done then, so everyone had a different way of showing it.

Class today was enjoyable as always. I'm gonna miss the bi-weekly rounds of wizz-bang. I was surprised hoe accurate we were able to guess most of the times, and i thought it was pretty challaneging to think about not only how you do a task, but how you do it depending on the time.

Class

Class today was tough because everyone had to do a lot to narrow down a specific time and even then it was difficult. This made the activity hard for most of us because we really had to be specific and use generalizations for most people to help the audience better identify a time. This was very helpful though in preparing us for our finals.

Class Today

The activity that we did in class today was interesting to watch because with many of the times people picked they had to add so much detail to reveal what time it was. I enjoyed watching the ones that picked difficult times because they had very detailed actions that they did when acting out their time.

Thanksgiving Break and Final Project

It was tough to come back from thanksgiving break, but with only having 3 more weeks left of school I know I can see this through. Great class today especially with us getting an even better idea of what the final will be like. After seeing and hearing Fabio grill Corey about his exercise I know now that I have a great deal of work to do with my partner on our final.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I definately found it hard to come back! I am looking foreward to our final projects, though. It seems that they are going to be a lot of work, but something that is going to be fun during finals week.

Final Projects

I am suppper pumped for our final projects! Everyone in the class comes up with such creative ideas so I am excited to see what they stir up this time! I think it will be fun to develop such deep characters and create any type of conflict we want!

Thanksgiving

Break was great! I went out to Arizona and Californina to ride 4-wheelers in the Dunes. Definitely something new for me. I'm not so excited for these last two weeks of school....lots of work. Hope Christmas comes soon!!

thanksgiving!

thanksgiving break was awesome! im really glad we had class on tuesday morning though! i think that going through eachothers skits for our final was a very good idea. i liked that we got feed back on what we could do that would make it better. i hope everyone had a good break! i know i did. it was long due for a time of relaxing and i think everyone was getting tired of doing their school work. i hope the break did all of us well so that we can come in ready to act for our next class!

Class

I felt a lot better after class yesterday with regards to our final. We got a lot of insight and help with where are projects need to go. I am looking forward to our finals and yesterday I thought everyone did a really good job in class. I thought Brian's group was really funny and I couldn't tell whether that was genius or bust but either way I was laughing.

I was glad to get my second paper back and see that I did well. Also it was great to get an even deeper insight for our final project. Now knowing what I know I have a better grasp of what I want to do for my character and my scene.

I think that our finals are going to be good times. When we first got the assignment, I thought that they would be easy, but now I know that it is going to involve quite a bit of work on my part, but I still think that it will be the most enjoyable final of college thuss far.

I am really excited for our finals. I think the hardest part is coming up with the story line. We have sort of picked out what are characters are doing and how they know each other, but it is really hard to make the whole thing work. Then after we figure all that out we are going to have to find some way to make it obvious what we are feeling.

Class

I am really pumped for our final. I think it will be a little bit of work but I think it is going to be a lot of fun. I was reminded again of how difficult acting can be and how you really have to put yourself in the right frame of mind to be successful. To really portray sutle gestures and moods I am finding is really very tough for me.

Great class today. I was glad we got to start on our final and I feel that my partner and I are making great head way. Also it was fun to do the door exercise again and it was also it was a plus to make everyone laugh when I did the exercise.

Im really excited to see how everyone's final projects turn out. I have already heard of a lot of creative ideas from many of the goups and I am really excited to see how their final scences turn out. Im glad that we get time to work on them in class. This will be very helpful to those who have busy and conflicting schedules!

So i'm sitting in a hotel lobby in Grand Rapids, MI. It's "study tables" time. Our team is sooo good at studying....more than half our watching Ellen or coloring. Anyway, class on Tuesday was pretty uneventful. I am excited to get started on my final though. Those words do not usually come out in that order very often. Hopefully it turns out good.

in class we just talked about the play which most of us did not like. I did not like the singing. I just liked Ecpecting Isabel too much and the two plays were so different.

I enjoyed seeing the musical. Was a nice way to get out of the dorm room and to see something that was entertaining. i am a little sad that there are no more shows between now and the end of the semester but i am sure there will be plenty of opportunities to see some next semester.

I really enjoyed discussing the play last class. I think I like being a critic, but since this class has progressed I watch acting in a new way. I have a new appreciation for how difficult it is to get a certain message across to an audience. That makes play watching more enjoyable for me.

I really enjoyed the discussion in class today. When I watched the play I wanted someone to discuss the acting and other aspects of the play with, but it just was not there. I kind of forgot about it until I got to class. It was really fun for me to hear other people’s opinions on the play. I can’t wait to get started on our finals it should be really fun.

Class

Class was really informative for me on Tuesday. I enjoyed our discussion on Broadway and was glad to get some more information on our final projects. I liked the Secret Garden but I think it was agreed upon that it was too difficult to follow. Oh and for the record I was not sleeping in class just day dreaming but I heard what Dr. Polanco was saying lol.

The discussion we had today over the secret garden was pretty interesting. I did notice a trend though of Fabio having to defend or explain almost every aspect of the play, which made me laugh a little. The curtain being ripped down was by far the coolest thing. Kudos Blaine and Janice on the hair cut/color

Great class today. I enjoyed getting to hear every one's thoughts on the Secret Garden. Most of which I had the same feeling about. Also I was glad we got to have a little more insight on what we will actually be doing for our final.

Secret Garden

I enjoy when we analyze the plays that we see, I guess I just love being a critic. I also like to here what other students took away from the play. It is funny that we do take a lot of the mess ups and bring them up in class, but I do believe that because when we're there we're not necessarily there for enjoyment, more or less for analyzing. So therefore we do pick up the mistakes cause we are in fact looking for them.

Secret Garden

Not to keep focusing on the screw ups in the play, but something else I remebered was when Mary lost her hair clip accidentally on stage. There is no way she could have prevented or anticipated that. Since I was so close I heard it hit the stage, could see it lying on the ground, and noticed her hair flying everywhere when she was acting afterwards. She did a great job of playing it off and not focusing any attention to it, and I bet most of the audience did'nt even notice. But some of the other actors would look at the hair clip on the ground instead of ignoring it. When she ran off stage at the end of the scene she grabbed it very discretely.

Class was very informative today! I enjoyed talking about broadway and traveling productions because I had a lot of questions. Im also excited about our final projects! Im sure they are all going to turn out very good!

i really enjoyed the activity that we did in class with the door and pretending that we were in a situation that we were really not. It was really fun and it seemed that is what acting is all about and kind of what i was expecting to do when i first came into the class. So it was neat to see some of my expectations that i had for the class to be done!!!! I thought that Expecting Isabel was way better than the secret garden because of the props and the singing!!!!

I saw the Secret Garden on Thursday, and thought that it was pretty impressive. Visually it was cool and that definately contributed to the play as a whole. It took me a little while to understand what was going on because they just jumped right in to a complex storyline, and there was no narrator this time around. Overall, though, I enjoyed myself.

I though class on Thursday was fun. It always is more nerve racking when we do things by ourselves. I had to be mad at my parents and get sent to my room. That has not happened to me in a long time so it was a bit hard for me to remember what it was like. I don’t feel like I make an angry face when I am mad I just kind of walk away and fiddle with my hands. I am really excited for our projects. I think they are going to be really fun, and it will be weird because we have never really practiced for any of the stuff we do. It should be interesting.

I can not wait for the final projects!!! It is going to be a blast to watch everyone doing it. Seeing all of what we have done prior to this, will be incredible. I hope that my partner and I do not disappoint y'all.

Class

I am really excited for our final project. I really think Blaine and I will work well together and I look forward to putting our project together. I liked what we did in class Thursday. The attention to detail is something I am really starting to enjoy because everyone is getting comfortable and starting to improve a lot which is great to see.

our projects

I think that our final project is going to be extremely fun and funny! ever since we got our partners and what our lines are going to be I have been thinking about what to do for the final project. I have come up with so many ideas i dont know where to begin! i cant wait to finally start working on putting everything that we have learned into our final.

I went to see the play tonight! I really enjoyed it! I thought the stage design and costuming was awesome! I was also suppppppper impressed with Mary Allison because she did an awesome job playing Mary Lennox. For those of you that havent seen the play yet its a little long but still very enjoyable!

So today was a pretty normal fun day. Watching rob slide across the floor of his "cave" was really funny. However, acting the part of a new dad was kinda weird. it got me thinking about alot of things. maybe i do wanna be a dad someday...weird! anyway, should be fun to work with Lindsi on the final, good luck everyone!

Class today

Class today was pretty fun, its' always nerveracking, at least for me, to draw things out of the "paint can." I'm always worried that I'm gonna get something ridiculous like Hotel Room Massacre, or what ever that one was. I think it's funny how a lot of us pick violent things, maybe because we're so used to seeing it on tv/movies that we are comfortable acting out the scenes since we've seen them so much. I'm anxious to see how the finals turn out too, I think they can be quite good.

Class was fun today. I agree with Brian, it's nerve-racking to draw an activity out of the paint can. When you get to come up with your own and act it out, you have a predetermined idea of what to do. However, when you draw an activity, it's on the spot, causing a little more stress. I'm excited to get started on our final scenes...and the musical tonight....hope it's good.

Great class today. It was fun to do the enter/exit exercise and really just focus on what happened before. It was little tough for me with having to pretend I had my wisdom teeth taken out since I have never needed them to be.

I was not in class on tuesday, but i heard that walking through the door was pretty amazing! haha....but class on Thursday went suprisingly well! Our track athlete act went well and it was pretty fun! Alll in all by the end of the semester i have to not laugh during acting!

I thought that last class was a lot of fun. It was interesing to me to see what people would come up with for the "coming from one place, going to another" exercise. It is tricky to get the idea in your head of what to do, and to execute it effectively. Something might make sense in your own mind, but may not translate to the audience. I am realling enjoying this recent series of exercises.

Class Tuesday was really fun. I liked seeing what the other students would come up with for the entrance exercise. I found it easy to come up with an idea but hard to figure out how to make it clear to the others what i was doing. Todays class should be fun, I am really looking forward to it.

Class

I really enjoyed class on Tuesday. I had a really tough time coming up with a way to enter and exit though. I don't know why other than for some reason I struggle coming up with ideas for some of the activities we do in class. I really think though we are getting a lot better because everyone understands a little more as to what acting is. I have found that this has been the case for me.

I thought the door things were really interesting. Some people it was really easy for me to see what they were doing and others it was kind of difficult. But, either way I think we are getting much better and seeing where we are and showing the audience because we know where we are. It is funny how strange that would sound to people who don’t know much about acting, but I actually understand that it is important.

Today was another great day. I really enjoyed the Door scenes we did. it felt more real having an actual door to use. i could totally visualize what i was doing and see the walls of the hall way. Special Kudos to Ashley for getting dressed infront of the class 4 times!

Class today was pretty fun. Once I left, I finally figured out what the confusion was with my "exit and entrance." If someone pictures what you're doing in another way, they won't fully understand what you're doing. It kind of ties into what Ashley said. Everyone thinks of different things, so when I imagine leaving the lockeroom, I see the purple door we run out of, take a quick couple left turns and we're entering the gym. If you haven't been to our gym then you wouldn't see it that way. You might think lockeroom door...BAM....gym. Thanks for sticking up for me guys....Fabio, come to a game! :)

I am still amazed at the creativity that everyone has within our class. Every time we do an activity I think that we are all going to think of similar things but that never happens. Its so much fun to just sit and watch all of the different ideas that everyone comes up with. I will have to say that this is by far my most enjoyable class :)

Class was amazing today. I have to admit the highlight of it was when Brian was riding Rob like a horse and he was stabbing people. I hope we can have more of that crazy fun time.

Ohh.......

I'd have to say that riding Rob like a horse and swinging an invisible sword felt amazing. I cant beleive Rob did'nt get too tired and callapse, though. He did good. This class is amazing.

Thursdays class was a blast. it was so cool to do my little play and to see what other people did. I wounder what we will be doing today, if it is anything like the past couple classes it is going to be so cool.

I really enjoyed class on Thursday. It was really strange, because I got nervous to do our scene. I have never been nervous to do something in this class. I think that because we were supposed to prepare and because it was a longer scene. Once we just got up and did it I found it really easy. I really enjoyed watching everyone else do theirs also. It has got to the point where we are actually fun and interesting to watch because the acting is good (at the beginning of class it was funny because it was so strange to everyone). I can’t wait to see what we do next.

I thought that class was a blast today. I went on Tuesday so today I got to kick back, relax, and watch some great acting. I thought that every scene was well done and very fun for me to watch. I liked how just the simple scenario of talking about the neighbors, or being on a family vacation was so fun to watch. This class never ceases to amaze me.

Class

I think everyone did a great job; We have all improved so much since the begining of the year. Also, everyone is able to make it funny and do a good job at following the instructions at the same time and keeping it somewhat realistic. I'm axcited to see Blaine's skit on Tuesday.

It was a great class today. I really enjoyed doing my scene today in class. I guess it shows that I have the potential to really do well in acting. Everyone did really well today and I hope this is something we can do again.

I thought class went well today! It was very enjoyable to watch everyone put what they had created in motion. It was not as easy as it looked but I thought everyone did a great job! I found it interesting how different all of the scences were because when we first started this activity I thought that they would all be very similar. It was awesome how different they all turned out! It just shows how creative everyone is!

Group Activity

I thought all the groups did a really nice job today. Brian and Lauren were really funny and I don't think any of us really forced the conversation too much. I thought that most everyone was aware of the audience and while not all of us hit all the objects I think we all stayed in character even though at certain times things did get rather humourus.

I thought all the groups did really well in class today. My favorite probably when Matt faked the knee injury. It was the first time we really got to see his personality in his acting. He was really quick to his feet in coming up with ways to pick up Jenna. I also liked Ashley and Cory's scene. Their conversation didn't seem forced at all and it related to what they were doing. They really portrayed scene well. Can't wait for Tuesday.....

Place

I really like dealing with place in class, as far as distinguishing where you are at to the audience. I think it's a very necessary skill in acting to be able to portray where you are at, possibly one of the most important. I also like distinguishing relationships, whether it's brothers, friends, or a guy trying to get with a girl. We either have been in those relationships or we know someone who has which helps the audience relate to the scene. Also I actually did like the substance acting today, how we shaped something out of the substance then passed it along, I thought that was pretty cool.

I had a lot of fun last class. I thought creating a scene was actually quite difficult, but I think the used-car scenerio went well. I found that even when I was planning out things to do when I went on stage, they did not happen the way that I planned. I felt that the scene moved quickly and I was just trying to keep up and keep it honest.

Class

I really liked class tuesday. I am glad we are getting to the talking and acting at the same time. I think it is going to be harder but a lot more fun. I really like though how the course has gone because I think the professor has prepared us for this. I can't wait to see the other groups tomorrow and go myself with my awesome partner lol.

I am not to sure how this is going to work with the floor plan exercise. It seems easy but i am not sure how well my partners and mine is going to be. I hope it goes over well and that everyone is able to understate were we are.

So this new exercise where we draw out our own floor plan seems to be pretty fun, its like were creating our own little world and we can put in it whatever we want, whatever emotion we want, and whatever situation we want. it should prove to be a challenge, but a fun one at that

I found it surprisingly hard to pick what space I wanted to be in. We had a lot of ideas, and each of them seemed like we could do a scene with them. But none of them seemed like they would be perfect. We eventually picked one that was pretty generic. Once we picked it I found it very easy to put things in there. It was not hard to pick the objects that would go in that particular room. I am a little nervous for what we will do when we actually do the acting part, but it should be fun.

Even though i did not get to perform our scene I still found it hard to come up with what we would do. I thought it was so hard figuring out what our space was going to be. We could pick from any space that we wanted and when we got the chance my mind went blank. I thought the groups that did get to go were very funny. Their scenes were both different and with a different conversation. I thought that everyone would do something similar but I was wrong. I hope that after everyone performs that we get to do more of this kind of acting so that we can begin to get prepared for our final acting scene.

Class was fun yesterday. It was difficult to remember when I picked something up and then to later put it down. I also had trouble figuring out how to make my clothes seem amazing without saying something directly about them. And P.S. Rob, if a girl that you're trying to get with asks you what you think about her underwear....I'd say something that makes you seem interested. lol jk jk

Used Car Lot

Lindsey did a great job today at the used car lot. It was fun to ad lib the whole bit and make up the dialogue. I could have used the invisible props a little better probably. For a second I started opeing the door the opposite direction as I did earlier. I'm excited to see everyone elses scenes.

Tuesday's Class

Class today went into a little bit more depth then we have gone in previous classes. We are dealing with objects in a room, and dealing with eachother through relationships. The two groups did a really good job showing us, the audience, where they were and how they dealt with objects even though they weren't even there. Brian's and Lindsey's was especially funny also, but at the same time they made very few mistakes, they didn't walk through cars or doors or anything of that nature. Therefore making the scene that much more believable.

I thought that so far both the car lot and the laundry place were both very creative scenes. They were very enjoyable to watch! Im excited to see everyone else's as well. Its fun to see how different a scene can be based upon the relationship that the 2 people have and were they are located. Its also enjoyable to watch all the improv that goes on between the two characters! Hopefully thursdays scences will be just as interesting to watch!

I enjoyed class today. Especially getting to see my grade and then knowing I am doing well in the class. I just hope my scene exercise goes as well as the rest did.

Class is getting better and better every class. I am a little worried as to what the final will be like but with what we are learning it should not be that hard.

class was pretty fun, but dealing with the stretchy substance was pretty difficult for me to do. It was hard to figure out how to deal with it in different ways. Pulling something out of the stretchy whatever it was, was pretty cool too...especially with a partner to help.

I really enjoyed defining where we were. Some parts were funny (people walking through objects), but when we actually did the acting, I found it to be very creative. I also realized how hard it is to define a particular place. The comparison between an office and a den was enlightening. I think that defining a place, without that being the task of the actor is one of the most difficult things to do.

Class

Class today was really different for me. I just didn't feel comfortable dealing with the substance. It was really hard when we worked with a partner because each person had to be aggressive in making the object but had to be very observant of your partner so you didn't get confused. I really liked our other activity with putting objects in a place and then figuring out where the place was as the objects accumulated.

Class was fun today. I really enjoyed working with the substance and trying to figure out ways to manipulate it in a way that was believe able with my partner. The exercise where we had to establish a place was really hard to get a firm grasp on for me since everyone had their own ideas on how to establish a place.

The activity that we did in pairs today was very fun to do. Now that we have been working with the idea of "substance" for a while I think it is getting a little bit easier to work with it on stage.
I thought everyone did a great job at working with their partner and actually visualizing the "substance" that they were working with. The activity that we did towards the end of class was very pretty difficult. It was hard to know what people were doing and what space they actually were in. Im sure if we did that exercise again it would go a lot smoother because we now realize that each thing that someone adds must be simple and communicated clearly to the audience.

class is def more fun when we act vs. meditate...but still we have been acting for a couple of weeks now and i still find it difficult...oh well!

So grabbing stuff out of the primordial ooze was good times on tuesday. I found it hard to work with the object right after I pulled it out of space, but overall I felt that the class did a great job. It is very hard to make the action realistic and honest, but I think with more practice it will become easier.

I enjoyed class. Messing with the stretchy substance was hard. I think it might be from going first, and not having any fresh ideas. But oh well I guess. I was proud of my ring in a box deal.

Class

Class on Tuesday was difficult for me. I mean most of the time I don't do a terrible job with most things but for some reason I lost the substance when I was trying to break through it. I did not seem to make the bat I was using real the first couple times. For some reason I just felt like I couldn't do anything right.

Class on Tuesdays good. I enjoyed the exercises that we did. Trying to think of something to pull out of the substance was really hard. Then once I thought of something it was hard to figure out to get it out of the substance and make it look honest.

I thought class on Tuesday was pretty interesting. For some reason I could not think of something I could pull of the substance. Then when I finally thought of something I did not like it. For some reason it was hard for me to flip through the pages of a book. I do it a lot for writing papers and stuff, but I don’t feel like what I did is how I normally deal with a book. Well I hope I will be more satisfied with what I do tomorrow.

Class on Tuesday

Class on tuesday was very interesting, it's definately a lot easier I feel to go up in front of the class with someone opposed to going up by your self. When you had to go up first and act out something with out using something was just as always difficult. There is so much you have to think about to make it believable. I did a fishing pole and the act of casting and I've casted a fishing pole so much in my life but I still had to stop and think about everything. How I move the pole in my hand, flip the bail open, hold the line with my pointer finger, and then the proper wrist action you use when casting.
When we had to go up and take a piece of the "substance" I found this hard, probably because I felt stupid doing it cause Iwas playing with something that wasn't really there, it just felt weird. But none the less I gave it my best and I played with that substance to the best of my ability. And Janice probably was better at handling the substance because I can't remember then last "silly putty" I played with, I think the last time was, "Gak" that stuff from Nickolodeon!

Relaxation and Substance

I would like to respond to Nick's last couple of posts because I figure more than one of you might be wondering where both the relaxation and "substance" exercises lead.

Relaxation: Relaxation is an important aspect of training for individuals in the performing arts. Through relaxation of the body, actors (and dancers for the matter) are more easily able to respond to their surroundings and the people around them (part of given circumstances). It is also easier for you to control your body instead of having your body control you. If you hold tension in your shoulders then all of your character will have tense shoulders, rather than you deciding which do and which don't. It is also integral to the release of emotion. That is why Lauren became emotional. When the tension was released her emotions were free to flow.

That is just the tip of the iceberg of why relaxation is important. See if you can see how tension effects peoples ability to execute the class exercises.

Substance: The substance helps us begin to deal with space and become aware of the way in which our bodies move through it. It is important for actors to be aware of the way in which our entire bodies move through space because our entire bodies can tell stories. You can tell a story with your foot if you want. Therefore you need to be aware of your body in order to be sure that you are telling to story you intend. Giving space (i.e. air) substance helps to make us more aware of our entire bodies.

In conclusion: These are experiential tools, not intellectual tools. Your body sometimes can learn things on it own. Just like an athlete or a dancer who repeats the same movement over and over. I am just giving you a taste of these concepts in this intro class. Part of what you are learning is what actors do and what is important to the craft. These things take years to master and become seamlessly integrated into your work. These exercises have been done by actors for decades. They are a form of training for your mind and body, they are not, in themselves, acting. Chemists learn the periodic chart before they become chemists, actors do these things before they become actors.

Pulling the pair of pants out of the substance today and putting them on was hard to do on Tuesday. I think that was the fastest I've ever "put on" a pair of pants before. Dealing with the substance was pretty difficult. I knew what I wanted to do with it, but wasn't sure if I could pull it off. It was easier to act like I was pulling away from something, but springing back because of its elasticity was pretty difficult. I'm excited to see what we do tomorrow.

I enjoyed class more today. Pulling an item out of the substance and using it was fun, a little awkward, but i enjoyed it. also, messing with the substance was interesting, i wonder what this leads too....the comic factor of class is still highly enjoyable

i really enjoyed class today. i liked that i could actually see what i was pulling out of the substance. i put my mind to it and imagined what i was pulling out and i guess it worked! i hope we get to do more activities like that in class because i really enjoyed trying to see the object that i was using or holding.

I thought todays activity of dealing with a substance was pretty difficult. I was trying to imagine what I would actually do if I was dealing with something like that but I still found it challenging to deal with the weight of the substance. Over all I thought the class did a very good job at this activity.

it was nice to that relaxed Thursday in class but it left me feeling very vulnerable and week when i tried to stand up. it took me a long time to be able to walk right. it did feel nice though when we were doing the exercise.

Expecting Isabel was a really good play. It was really interesting to see how acting is done without props and how a couple people played two different characters. Class was veryt interesting last week, when we relaxed on the floor...it was relaxing, but a little boring but its cool, cause i was really tired! i thought it was relaxing though!

I was definately relaxed in class on Thursday. It was really nice, and I found the whole experience to be very interesting. I remember at the part where we were leaning against the tangible space I found that I was starting to sway, and it was kind of like feeling drunk. Overall though I felt relaxed for the remainder of the day.

I enjoyed class on Thursday. I have done relaxation before but I never really enjoyed it like this. I could actually feel my body relaxing as we did each part. For me the hardest spot to relax was my lower back. It seemed very strained. It took us a long time to get through all the relaxing part, but it was almost like it took very little time to me. I am excited to see what things we do next.

Relaxation

The activity we did on Thursday was great. I really enjoyed it and it helped me let go of all my stress and not worry about anything for a bit. It was something I needed and something that I am glad I know how to do because now I feel like I will be able to handle stress I get a little bit better, and I have a better understanding of where the stress tends to build up in my own body. The activity also allowed me to get in a mind set to where I was reacting and not thinking about how to do something which was really different

The relaxation activity we did was amazing. I've experienced something similar to that before but was unable to let myself relax. In class i was able to though. I loved it. My life has been so stressful lately and that activity really helped for about an hour.... I was able to let myself go and quit worrying about everything around me. it actually felt like my body was under the floor...not trapped, just floating, like i was supposed to be there. When we were supposed to be with the person who means the most to us and discover the answer to whatever we were looking for, i almost lost it. My eyes filled up with water because it's definitely something i'm struggling with right now. When we had to imagine walking through a substance, i thoroughly felt like i was. it kind of blew my mind because i'd never been able to focus in that way before.

Well, what to say about today...sort of a complete course change from where we were. I liked what we were doing up until now, the acting and speaking and having fun. This seems sort of dry and intense at the same time. I have never been one to grasp abstract concepts or to really enjoy the meditative, introspective side of things. What we did today was relaxing no doubt, but i think most of the significance was lost on me. Like Blaine, i was unable to "feel" the substance we were in. Abstract concepts elude me, as do abstract compounds

Class was amazing today. I hope we can do the meditation exercise during every class. I was really relaxed after class that I had to take a nap before my next class started. For me when we started to move around and then pretended that the substance was holding our weight I really could feel like it was holding me up that it had total control of my body.However when I had to have control again I had a hard time stay up and keeping my body straight.

Todays class was awesome! I REALLY enjoyed the meditation exercise. It was cool to actually feel parts of your body sinking into the floor. At one point I even felt like I was floating. When we were imagining being in the place that we love it felt like I was actually there with that special person. I could feel the texture of their hand and everything that was going on around me! When we were dealing with the substance, I actually felt like it was holding me up. It was an amazing feeling. I hope we do more exercises like this in class!

meditation

i thought todays class was very different. I think that if i were not sick it would have been very relaxing and enjoyable. I can see that meditation is a very important factor in people's lives. It helps them calm and relax their minds and their muscles. I would like to do this activity again. I hope next time when we do this activity I am feeling better for it so I can get feel the difference and the effects that it has on my body and mind. I really liked the fact that we did something different in the class also. Once again this class has done somthing different that none of my other classes have done.

I thought the play was enjoyable, which I suppose is a very important element to a play because without it the message the author is attempting to communicate is not heard. The actors knew their characters very well, and they could emphasize the emotions and the ideas of that character well.

I really wish all my other classes would take the structure of this one. It's such a stress free class. Paper here or there, and then activities the rest of the time. You do your blog every week and "tada" you're done. Instead I'm getting up early to cram for yet another test......I can't wait for class today, to relax a little bit before my midterm...Hope its a good day of class!

The Play

The play was really good. I liked talking about it Tuesday in class just to hear some different view points on it. I appreciated this play a lot because I got to see people deal with the same things we deal with in class everyday and see these guys deal with it and do it extremely well was fun to watch.

It was very interesting to hear the thoughts and reactions from those that went to the play. I found it very enjoyable! Many people brought things to my attention that I normally wouldn't have thought about. Over all, I thought the play was fantastic and I am excited to go and watch more productions put on here at Ashland. I also did not realize that talent that we have here at AU! I was very impressed! :)

I really enjoyed the play, so talking about it today in class was good times. I really thought that all of the actors involved did a wonderful job and I had very little to say in the way of criticism. I think this exxperience is going to lead me to check out some other AU productions. I didn't realize that we have so much talent at such a small school

Todays discussion of the play was interesting. All in all i thought it was a great play, some people had some great points though. The acting was excellent for a college theater group i thought

I really enjoyed class today. It was a nice change to just sit and talk about the play we saw and our thoughts on it. I hope we get to have another day like that for the next one.

Last class was enjoyable... it was fun to switch the scene around. Playing a cop wasn't cool though, I felt like a total jerk. Haha... just kidding. But seriously!

Tuesday in class was really enjoyable. I think we are getting better at being a character. I feel like we know basically what that character is like. I think some of our impromptu is funny but it still needs some work. Most of us (maybe less Ashley) are simply talking as the character might and not adopting his mannerisms. But either way it is still really fun.

Today in class was some good times. I found out that acting as a prostitute is not my forte, but that is a good thing to know about myself. I like that after we did that exercise, we had a press conference after and we were still in character. That was very funny.

in class we never deal with a real prop. this helped me to understand the play when i say it this weekend. if i had not known ahead of time that that is one way you can do acting then i would have thought that the director was lazy and did not want to find the props or something.

Thursday

Class thursday was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the group activity we did because we got to be really creative with it and see how the one person handled it. I also really liked the interviews that we did they were hilarious. I have to say Ashley was awesome lol.

the play

I just saw the play and it was completely different than what I had invisioned. I didnt know that they were not going to have any props but instead imagined them. I thought it was really cool to see how they interpreted things differently or similarly as we do in class. I thought the play was very well performed.

So, i can say for certain that that was the first time i've ever taken my shirt off in a class before...kinda awkward i suppose...huh. Anyway, i liked the question and answer session, it was cool to see people have to think on their toes and make stuff up

Class was fun today. I was glad we got to do the exercise where one person is on the stage doing something and then 3 more come in and then the scene gets all crazy(good times). I hope we can do the press conference thing again. It looked like a great deal of fun to be up there.

First off, the picture down below.....HILARIOUS!!!! I think you've been holding back on us Fabio! You ought to show us a thing or two in class on Tuesday. But on a serious note...class was so much fun today. It was really unpredictable and entertaining. It's so nice to get comfortable with everyone in the class and see what fun personalities everyone has.

Class was VERY interesting today! Not only is it fun to participate in the different activities but its also fun to just sit back and watch everyone! I en joyed the activity that we did today that involves one person starting something on stage and then the rest of the group comming on and doing something totally different! You defintley have to be on your toes because you never know what your group will come up with! The press conference was fun to and VERY unpredictable, but isnt that what acting is all about? :)

I thought class on Tuesday was interesting because of the new things we did. I found the eating at the table exercise to be kind of hard because there were so many things to do at a time. We had to watch the other people for the height of the table, eat (and chew food), and talk. I found it really hard to concentrate on all the things at the same time.

Expecting Isabel

How bout that play huh. I cant wait till we start acting out sex scenes.... . Anyway, I thought the play was alright, since they constantly tried to make it funny. Though it seemed really long it was the easiest play I have ever had to sit through. Also, on a complete side note I cant wait to see Fabio's commercial.

I agree, class Tuesday was fun. It's hard to get your mind to focus on what you do when you eat, when you're not really eating. For example, chewing, holding your food, the table height. It's crazy to think about how important all these simple factors are to acting. If you don't do one of those correctly or even at all, then you're not really portraying what you think you are.

class Tuesday

Class tuesday was a lot of fun but definately the toughest for me. The reason was because I was laughing a lot and made it harder for me to focus. I have to remember to focus on the objective and have fun but make an honest effort to do my best.

Class was fun on Tuesday. the table exercise was hard it took a lot to figure out were everyone else was keeping the table and figuring out how to not make it look like had no idea what i was doing. lol

class was fun today... the entanglement exercise was very tuff to perform but it was quite funny to watch the other people as they tried the exercise

It is really hard to keep an imaginary table level. I really had a hard time with this, personally. Also, multitasking as in pretend eating and having a conversation is quite difficult. People being tangled up was hilarious and fun to watch. Especially someone tangled up in sheets. I have no idea what the next class will bring.

The exercises that we do now are much more fun that at the beginning of the year. So many people in the class have such humorous personalities its really hard to not laugh at them. I'm definately enjoying being able to talk and interact with people beyond the mirror exercises.

Class was great today. It feels weird to do something like eating a sub in convo and talking on stage. It just didn't feel as natural without actually being actually in convo and actually eating a sub.

I know we have done absolutely nothing with costumes, but i have to say, i think they make it much easier to let your guard down. Take volleyball for instance. Once my uniform is on I am a completely different person. It's acceptable to yell and scream and hit other girls on the butt. No one thinks twice about it. When in uniform I take on a greater role. I'm not just #2....defensive specialist, but i'm 1 out of 10 girls that contributes to each point, which leads to winning each game, and eventually each match. That uniform gives me the confidence to take on another role and act a way that I may not in everyday life.....it's an amazing feeling.

I found the acting as a certain person in a job was very interesting. It was very difficult because many people act fairly normal in the real world and you can’t tell what job they have. I do not often watch people and think about their job like I do for a lot of the other things we do in class. It was strange to think about someone I do not really know anything about. Perhaps I will pay more attention to how people act and if it is telling about other parts of their lives.

the Weekend

This weekend I went to Pittsburgh with a few friends and had a lot fun. I got to see the city and tailgate before the Steeler game. I also saw the play expecting Isabel and I thought the actors did a very good job. The way they dealt with objects that weren't there was exceptional and the way the actors altered their voices especially to fit the multiple characters some of them were playing was impressive.

My Weekend

This weekend I went to Chicago! It was a great trip and made me think alot about actors. I walked down the Navi Pier and there were Halloween themes set up. In the scenes there were many actors that were dressed in creepy costums. I was very intregued by them because they would change their voices and act differently depending on how old the people were who came to see or talk to them. I thought they had alot of talent. I then thought that they were probably from the acting school in Chicago because they looked young and like students. My weekend was very awesome and it was weird because if I wasnt in this theater class I would have never thought anything about the actors if I wasnt in this class.

Urgent: Blogging

Hello All,

The blogging is beginning to stray. I don't mind if you write about random things, like fishing, the Browns or recruitment, but from now on you have to tie it back to acting, theatre, something related to the subject of class.

Have a great weekend.

It's good to be a PATS fan. How dramatic it is to watch them beat the Browns.

Fabio

Class

I am not going to lie, when we did not have class on Tuesday, it really messed me up. This class wakes me up on my Tuesdays and Thursdays. Today in class I learned that I do not actually know the difference between football and baseball, but such is life. The whole hot tub/car situation was hilarious! Also, last night I ended up seeing "Expecting Isabel" and it was hilarious! I was a play that I would have seen even if it wasn't assigned. Good times.

Class was good today even if most of it was talking about the subway commercial and brady quinn. I wish we could have done more improv like we did last class,but maybe next time.

Class

class on thursday was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the improv a lot. Now we are getting into a little bit of acting that goes on for a play. In terms of we have to be aware of our audience and how we are presenting ourselves to that audience. It is getting to be a bit more difficult which is fun.

Class on Thursday was great. That is more along the lines of what i thought we would be doing in this class. Not that anything we have done so far was not fun. I am a little sad that we have to wait till this Thursday to do it again but i guess good things are worth waiting for.

Class Cancelled! Tuesday, October 2 - PROJECT ASSIGNED

Hello Students, I will be off-campus tomorrow, October 2 in order to work on a last minute project. (I will tell you all about it when I see you onWednesday.)In lieu of class, I am giving you an assignment. It is due thisWednesday, October 4. It should not take you more than an hour to anhour and a half to complete.Assignment: In prepreparationr viewing the Ashland University Theatreproduction of EXPECTING ISABEL, I would like each of you to use the internet to research and write a 1 to 2 page paper on Lisa Loomer (theplaywright) and what characterizes her work. Again you are to hand-in this assignment on Wednesday, October 4 at our regularly scheduled time.

I agree, class was a lot of fun on Thursday. It took my group forever to decide on our relationships to the person on stage. Once we decided we saw other groups and changed it right before we got on stage b/c ours had been done. It was especially fun to get on stage and be able to show a little emotion in what we were doing....I expect big things tomorrow!

I really enjoyed class on Thursday. Most classes have been interesting, but this one was really fun. It was hard for me not to laugh the whole time. Everyone was so into their rolls. It still feels somewhat weird to be someone I am not and add a whole story to what is going on, but I think I am getting more used to it.

Filling In The Blanks

The last activity that we did in class on Thursday gave a hint of the pure freedom that some forms of acting can offer. In the position that I was in I had to attempt to figure out the situation that i was dealing with. It made it very interesting as to wondering (prior to them coming on stage) how the 3 others would relate to me. As I watched Blaine mow the grass he had some down time with the others on the stage while they were just observing something else on the side of the stage. I expected mine would be somewhat similar, where i would see them before i could hear them type of thing. I was not given that luxury of time, the first i knew of anyone being on stage I heard Ashley's angry voice. I have to admit i was pretty surprised and it made it pretty difficult to try to patch together what was happening; it happened so fast. I just had to fill in the blanks with the information that i was able to pick up. Once I got it everything seemed to flow well and the freedom of improv acting took over. I think that it was great that in an attempt to keep it as real as possible that we covered for each other. For instance when I began to laugh Ashley just incorporated it as a part of the act and it was covered up without a pause. I hope that we do more activities just like this one, very fun.

acting

Class on Thursday was good times. I definitely felt like we were on "Who's line is it Anyway". It was fun to watch what each group was able to come up with. It was hard to get the person up there to work with what the groups idea was, but in each case it was hilarious

I really enjoyed doing the improv today in class and also watching others do it to. Not only was it a good laugh but it allowed us all to dive into our creative sides because all we knew was our relationship to the leader and they only knew what they were doing.

Ages

Doing the ages was a lot of fun. I got an age that was fun to do and not too difficult either. It makes it tough though to do something like that when we get a middle age because some of us don't know how to relate to that age. Doing the roller coaster activity was fun but it was tough to follow all the movements of everyone else because it was tough to see the other person.

Class lately has been pretty enjoyable. The acting of the ages was pretty difficult for those of us who had ages between 40 and 60ish. It is interesting to see everyone's different interpretations of everything. Class goes very fast when we do some sort of acting.

I really liked the activities we did Tuesday. When we were doing the bus stop one, my only hope was that I didn't get an old age. I drew 21 and so the whole time i just thought of things that i would when i was at a bus stop, because i'm close to that age. When we did the moving object activity...it was really nerve-racking to let out a scream for our "roller coaster" ride. I seriously got the clammy palms and racing heart. Once the whole class did it though, i thought it was hilarious. Can't wait for tomorrow!

A New Age

I thought the acting a different age was really hard at first. When I drew four, I had no idea what to do. I tried to think what a generic four year old would do when waiting for a bus. I still had no idea. Then I started to think about four year olds I know. My little cousin, kids at a park I worked at, and so on. When I started to think about them it became a lot easier to act like them. That helped me.

Bus Stop

The whole bus stop acting thing reminded me of Forrest Gump, but it was enjoyable. It is hard to portray a certain age by just waiting for the bus. The whole acting out being on a rollercoaster was fun, and I was laughing the entire time. I could not make myself scream blood murder, though. I guess I'll have to work on that.

Today was fun. I apparently suck at the circle game pretty bad. oh well. The acting is getting more fun now that we are doing more talking and role playing, as opposed to imagining an object...class is getting more fun all the time

Age Exercise

I thought everyone did a wonderful job today during the age/bus exercise. It was very enjoyable to watch and you could actually tell how old most people were portraying to be. When we were first writing down numbers I didnt realize what they were for but once we started the exercise, I really enjoyed it. I hope we do more activities like this soon!

i liked finally being able to be vocal in the acting we are doing. it makes it more interesting for me to watch the rest of the groups and makes things a lot harder because it is all improv. Not knowing exactly what the other actors in your group are going to next makes the whole experience that much more fun.

Last Class

I really enjoyed the group scenerio that we did last week. I think it is fun after all of the practicing and exercises that we did with things that were not actually there we could culminate all the ideas and put them together in a scene.

I enjoyed the activity we did on thursday when we drew items out of a hat to act. It's crazy how you dont notice the details until you have to act something out. If I were to mess with any of those objects...except the skateboard....i wouldn't even think about what i was doing. I'd just do it and move on. but you when you act it out, you have to pay attention to all the details and really thing about what you're doing. i think it will be quite a task to add speaking into our acting. one more thing you don't really pay attention to in real life, but you have to when you act.

Talking

Talking was a very strange thing to add to our acting. In normal conversation talking seems so natural and unavoidable, but when we added it to acting it was very strained and awkward. I thought about everything I said, and wondered if that is how I would actually act in a real situation. I think adding talking to our acting is going to be fun but a lot of work.

mixed thoughts

I really like the new warm-up exercise because it is something new and I think it wakes you us more than stretching. I was a little embarrassed when I didnt guess the leader within the first three tries and had to go out in the hall again. But then after the exercise was over I realized who really cares...Then when we drew from the box what we had to act out I over dramatized. I think that is going to be very difficult for some people because you want your viewer to know what your doing. I do like drawing from the box though. Lastly I think its going to also be difficult for us beginning to add conversation into our acting. Alot of people are going to laugh which will make the actors laugh as well. I hope this new addition of speech goes well!

Talking

I really liked talkin today in our excercises. It is gonna make things a lot tougher though. I feel this way just because it will be tougher to focus on the task because we will want to laugh and naturally some of skits we are doing will be funny. I really like the new game to that we use to warm up because it is something different.

I really liked being able to talk today in our excercizes...i think that this is a new concept that will take some getting used to and i know that personally i will have to work on not abusing it...and i never wanna do the Carlton Dance again

I liked how towards the end of class we are started exercises where we can speak. While doing many of the non-verbal exercises it has been tough for me to be quiet because they were exercises where generally in real life we would talk. Other than that good class today.

Talking

Today was especially exciting for me because we have finally begun to start speaking. However, when I acted out the scene with my group I was completely unsure of what I wanted to say. I noticed that I was focusing on other things like the reality of what I was doing. That made it awkward at times because I felt like I should say something but didn't know what. It was definately different being allowed to talk, because that is a whole new aspect of what we're doing. There are more things to focus on. Perhaps I was silenced for too long and will never be the same.

The game we played with the circle and you had to find the leader was pretty sweet. The acting was pretty cool to, just basically what I expected out of the class except I thought their would be props. It is interesting to see what everyone comes up with.

The circle game that we played was really fun, trying to figure out the leader!! A lot of the acting we do without objects is difficult, but challenging in a fun way. It is mostly difficul to think of something to do!!!

Circle Game

I thought the circle game was great. Finding where people were looking was one very easy way to tell who the leader was, but I also found that the leader will only change when the person is looking away from them. So standing in one spot and seeing if the motion changed was a good way to find out who the leader was. I also have to wonder why it is so hard to come up with things to do in the smaller groups. People do things in groups every day, and yet it is so hard to think of an idea.

the mirror exercise is really starting to get fun. when we first stared doing just the arm movements and that i really did not like it, but now that we are actually doing things with the mirroring it is really fun. i hope that this class just keeps getting better like it has.

What Next

Its cool to see how our activities are building off previous ones, such as the group mirror excercises opposed to just mirroring one person's arms the first week of class. I wonder what we'll be doing at the end of the semester. I couldnt help but put in a random video, because I saw the option to. I have nothing better to do with my time.

I also really liked the circle game we played today. It was fun because you were able to play a role in the game. You could easily deceive the guesser by staring at someone who wasn't the leader or by not looking at anyone at all. I enjoy the group activities a little more than partner ones. Its nice because there are more people working on an activity with you...more people to play off of and to take the focus off of you. It calms my nerves a bit.

I liked the sitting in a circle game that we played today. People's eyes gave away who the leader was. Creating scenarios is something that is not easy for me, because my mind always goes to sports or some sort of game that everyone can play. It is hard to be creative on the spot. I hope we eventually get to use something that is tangible when acting out a scenario.

I think the mirror activities are easier to do when there are two people leading. It is interesting to play off of what the other person is doing and make a certain motion work. I also think that it is hard to think up ideas of what to do for activities.

Indians Vs. Tigers

So I went to the Indians versus Tigers game, and boy was it a good one. The indians scored first, but as the game went on the Tigers pulled ahead 5-2. But in the 8th inning the Indians had 3 runs to tie the game. The game ended up going into extra innings and in the bottom of the 11th inning Casey Blake hit a walk off home run. It was a riot. Good times!!

Class on Thursday was a little easier. It was nice because we didn't have to mirror someone else's actions as much. We were able to do something a little more familiar and concrete. I thought the fishing exercise David and I did was tough. There are a lot of small actions with your fingers that you don't realize beforehand. I'm definitely still enjoying the class.

Keeping Hands the Same Size

I thought the stuff we warmed up with on Thursday was really neat. I enjoyed the imaginary ball. It was difficult to make it look like you had a ball in your hand. I also found it hard to keep my hands the same size. I noticed that when we do things like that my hands often change size. I found that to be one of the most difficult things to master.

Class

Today was a difficult day because I had to focus on the little things that making acting. I mean trying to make sure your hands stay the appropriate distance apart to make it believable to your audience that you are actually holding a ball. The more I go through this course the more I find out that acting is over darmatizing what your doing but rather that you act normally as if no one was watching you.

I really enjoyed getting to do something outside of mirror exercises today. Even if it was something as simple as brushing my teeth.

Class today what a lot of fun. Doing the different activities was pretty enjoyable and throwing the ball around and pretending it was heavy or hot was pretty interesting to see how we all sort of dramatized it. Also, have to say Jennaka was pretty interesting as well!! =)

I think it is difficult to act like you are doing something when you have no physical materials to work with. For example, the whole playing tug of war with no rope involved a lot of factors. You had to hold the rope as if there was tension and look like you were exerting force without looking fake. It is not easy.

I thought that class on Tuesday was what the whole course was going to be about. It was more acting. Like when we had to pretend to play tug of war. I never realized the detail in just pretending to tug on a rope, especially with the hands. It just goes to show that there is a lot more about acting that what we think!!!

09-11-07

I found the exercises on tuesday relatively difficult. i've finally got the hang of blocking out the whole acting thing and actually trying to feel what i'm supposed to be doing, but it's still kind of hard for me. i found that during the tug-o-war exercise i was thinking, "win win win" the whole time, because naturally if it were real, that's what i'd be thinking. however that mind frame didn't work, because my partner clearly wasn't thinking "lose lose lose." so i definitely need to pay attention to what the other person is doing to during these activities....

I really enjoyed the exercise were we had to either dig a hole, paint a wal, etc. as a group. It made me realize that I when I actually have an object in my hand like a shovel I never sit back and think about how I'm using it. I just use it. I really think that trying to dig a whole without a shovel was harder than tug of war b/c you had to put so much more movement into it. That is something that I would like to try again because it really gets you thinking about everything.

Rope

I thought the rope exercise was very difficult. I could not quite figure out how to make it look like I was off balance. You had to lean back and pull, but you could not actually pull or you would fall back. I also could not get holding my hands in the right way or really any of it. But I enjoyed the mirror exercises again. I thought it was cool when we did it with two groups at the same time. Even though we did not start out doing stuff together, sometimes we ended up acting as a group.

The Rope

So i thought the tug of war thign we did today was kinda fun....its alot to concentrate on, deciding how big the rope is, where to hold iut, how too look like its real...it took alot of trying

Taste in Convo

Reading some of the post from the other students i noticed that many of you talked about tasting and watching others taste while in Convo. Tasting is something that is going out of style fats do to the fast paced life style that a lot of people seem to think is mandatory. If we were to all just take a step back we would be able to taste the food we are eating and see that not all of it tastes as good as we once thought.

Taste Exercise

I think that the taste exercise that we did in small groups was by far the most difficult for me. I was slightly able to “taste” the sweets that I was eating. But it just seemed so unnatural while attempting to eat, I felt very uncoordinated and jerky in my motions. Then as I watched the exercise it didn’t seem like any of us truly acted the way we do when we eat. In the exercise we were in slow motion while “eating” and our movements didn’t really match up because we were trying too hard to be natural. I thought that was very ironic comparing it to some of the other post about how fast many of us eat, and just get in and get out of convo. I totally agree on the fact of how quickly we eat and we look like “cows” as someone mentioned. But I just think that it is odd that in reality we buzz through food when we are given the chance to taste it (and probably don’t most of the time). Class gave us the chance to savor the food that wasn’t there and began to work on my taste a little bit.

miror exercise

i thought this week that the mirroring exercise was quite intense. It was really difficult when multiple dimensions were added and we could move on more planes. The key is moving really slow so that the other person can get a feel for what you're doing.

In class on Thursday it was very interesting pretending to eat food. Our group pretended to eath cotton candy, which is one of my favorite sweets to eat and not only was i focused on the taste, but it also reminds me of multiple trips to Disney World and eating the cotton candy there! It is amazing! A lot of us tend to focus on when we pretend to eat something or see something, trying to put it on for the audience. We try to make it apparent of what we are doing. Overall, this is still my favorite class!

Eating and Listening

As I was eating today in convo, I noticed that everyone seemed to be in a rush. I mean no one was really enjoying their food they were just shoving food down their throats and not really paying any attention to the conversation that they were having with their friends. Maybe this was because they were all pre-occupied with homework or with other things going on but it just seemed like no one had any really interest in the other people at the table. Now obviously I can't speak for everyone I was just listening to one table but it struck me as odd.

Mirror Stretching

I thought the mirror imaging was exciting. It was a bit difficult if your partner is going fast, but that is obvious. I really enjoyed and hope to do it again. But the stretching, is long and it hurts. But of course it must be done!!!

Listening in Class

So I thought about the recent activity we did in class with the listening. So I sat in one of my classes, and just tried to listen like I would, and realized all I did was sit there. Sometimes I would look down to see what she was talking about. And one of the main things I found was that the professor doesn't usually sit in one spot, he/she walks through the room.

Mirror Image

The mirror activity on Tuesday was quite an experience for me. It was really strange at first to look directly into another person's eyes that I had just met. After a while though, I became comfortable and realized that if you looked away the activity didn't work the way it was supposed to . Also I taught some of the girls on the team how to play whiz/bang. We played it in the airport...haha. Now if only I could not get kicked out of the game in class...

Class

I really like the group activities that we were doing in class. I think the more you can visualize an actual situation, the better it translates into a scene. Also each individual component that is in a scene is not easy to convey to an audience. What you see and hear for example are two things that are not always easy to get across. I was definately feeling the teamwork theme which will most likely be a very important aspect of acting.

Mirror Exercise

I really enjoyed the mirror exercise that we did in class on Tuesday. I had a hard time not laughing but after I stopped lauging it was cool to mirror someone else. I also enjoyed watching other people do this activity because besides seeing who first started the movement you really couldnt tell who was the leader.

listening exercise

I really enjoyed this excercise even though at first it was hard not to do more action and move movement. My head was saying it wanted to do more than just sit there and listen, but then I know if I did then the exercise we were doing would look very unnatural.

Missed one...

Just wanted to make sure I wrote some comments from last Thursday. You told us to sit down and observe our surroundings for 5-10 minutes. So I decided to do it while traveling in Colorado. I focused more on what was outside of the van, rather than inside since I had never been there before. Immediately I noticed the landscape. It was like nothing I've ever seen before. As we went farther into the city we were at, I noticed the people. They had a different style to them. I could tell the culture was different. Many of the guys had long, shoulder length hair, scruffy beards, and dressed very casually. There were lots of boots and hiking shoes. The more people we passed the more I realized how in touch they were with where they lived. To live in the mountains you have to love the outdoors and really respect your enviroment.

Mirror Image

Today was the most comfortable I have felt up to this point. I really enjoyed the mirror activity because it was something you had to really focus on and it presented a challenge we have not had to face yet. I also learned today that acting is largely in your mind because if you can make yourself believe you are in a jungle the audience will get that impression from you because you believe it.

Listening

For this exercise i was a little confused about what to do. I did just sit down in my dorm and listen to what was going on around me. I could hear my roommate breathing soft as he slept, i could hear the guys in the next room taping on there desk, and i could here the TV in our room making a soft noise so that my roommate could sleep. However i was also aware of the room itself. This may sound wired but even with my eyes closed i was able to see everything it. It was as if I was seeing the room but without my site. If i tried I could stretched this feeling it was like i coud exaclly what guy was walking down the hall.

Second Day

The second day was a lot of fun. The exercises definitely pertained to listening and being aware of the space around you. This, I thought, was easier said than done. Also I felt that acting, but not looking as though you are trying too hard is certainly an art. I definitely liked the sense of a group dynamic that was created with the machine game. That game had me cracking up. I like music a lot, so I like anything that has a rhythm especially when you can build on it. Next class should be pretty amazing.

squats

the machince activity was the best activity we have done in class so far it was very humorous to watch people have to come up with something on the spot.

MACHINE

I really thought the Machine game was funny. I hope we can do it again sometime, it was crazy how everything fell into each others rythym. It was weird when someone ran up there and started ____ing Blaine's hand.... kidding... it was funny.

squats

Wow... I think I might have figured this blog thingy out. There is something I would like to talk about though, our workout we had on friday. I am on the track team so we are currently in fall conditioning. We did a thing called Tabata Squats... it is 4 minutes of squating light weight. I did a front squat, and I just wanted to say that when I was laying on the floor after I was done, I WASN'T ACTING!!!!! It was rough... really rough!

Listening

For the listening excercise, I sat in my room alone. The first thing that I heard was music from the floor above me. It was the song "You and me baby, 'aint nothing but mammals, so lets do it like they do on the discovery channel." I also heard extremely loud insects outside my window. I assume that they were being so loud, because they wanted to attract a mate. Even though they werent mammals, they wanted some action, too I guess. I also heard the elavator dinging as it arrived at different floors, and people talking outside my window, but this is probably unrelated to sex. The sounf of the insects grew louder.

I really enjoyed the machine activity! When he asked me to start the machine it was difficult to think of something at first but once we all got going it was a lot of fun! Hopefully we will do that activity again! Its so nice to have a class that is fun and crazy! I am looking forward to learning more exercises.

2nd class experience

so yesturday in class was just as interesting as the first class that we had...the machine that we "built" was very funny just because everyone was trying to add a sound that went with the rest. I also thought that trying to few a sport was very different. The first impressions were to really try and make the audience see what we were seeing but had a completely over-the-top appearance,. I felt so much more relaxed the second and third time that we did the exercise. I think im getting alot more used to this class and the crazy things that we have to do. Im still struck by how different this class is compared to all other classes.

Sitting in Convo

For the sitting exercise that we given at the end of class i decided to sit in Convo and see how people acted with one another. The thing is i noticed that most of the people in Convo were not looking at each other when talking. There eyes were on the new TVs Around them. When they did look down from the TV it was usually to look at there phone. In the five minutes i sat there i also watched the people coming into Convo, in that time i saw 20 or more people come in talking or texting on there phones. These are just examples that the human race is becoming more dependant on technology. As more convenient and help full as technology is, it is numbing our communication skills and lowering our social skills.

First day of class

This class is by far the only class that is doing something that I wasn't expecting. I expected us to come in, get a script, start reading it and being told what we were doing wrong. I wasn't expecting to do games and start with the fundamentals of acting.



Tuesday's class really helped me loosen up also and made me ready for the rest of the day. I think I may need some coffee though to get me ready for this class. I'm really looking forward to what the rest of the semester will bring.

First Day of Class

Today's class is one of the more interesting things I've done on a stage in quite a while. I felt that the exercises we did were very helpful. When we were standing around doing nothing and then having to count something I thought was a good learning tool. I know how it can be nervous having people stare at you. It's different in a studio theatre to, because people are right next to you. I think WhizBang and Tah Te helped me become more comfortable with the people in class. These little exercises helped me become more comfortable because it allowed me to do things I wouldn't normally do when first meeting people. I don't have a problem looking goofy because everyone else is going to have to do the same things. I'm looking forward to what the rest of the semester is going to bring.

first class

today was a good first day the games that we played were alot of fun and a good way to loosen up in the morning. im really looking forward to the next class.

First day of class

This class is certainly not what I expected it to be. I was under the impression that I was going to have some sort of play to read, or perhaps a monologue, and that I would then have to prepare it and perform. I am glad that we get to play games and that they pertain to the class. Today I learned the importance of committing to an action with the conducting game that we played, and also that even if you think you are directing a certain way people may not understand your meaning, and you can then adjust your action. I also saw how people act when they are in front of a group, especially if it is without a purpose. I know that I was fidgety before I started counting the lights in the room, and that others would laugh or play with their hands when they did not have a purpose. I imagine that purpose is something that adds interest to a scene, especially if there is no dialogue.

All Set

If you have arrived to the blog via the email invitation I sent, you should be good to go for comments AND posts.

Fabio