Task 3d - Inquiry

Inquiry

I have done a spider diagram of the themes that have been discovered over my practice to date. These are taken from my diary and from rehearsals that have become recurring themes through the past month. I feel that a spider diagram is the best way to show the themes.

It seems that all my themes link in someway or another, which is quite interesting and it will be nice to see as one changes, i.e. stress, how will it effect the other elements. My line of inquiry is how one change can effect a variety of factors. Are all themes linked or do they end up linking because the themes are that common?

 What in your daily practice gets you really enthusiastic to find out more about? Who do you admire who also works with what makes you enthusiastic?

I would have to say that at present, I am really enthusiastic about doing my panto because it is my first one since leaving college. I was ecstatic when i found out we were to tour up to a theatre in Manchester. It is a great opportunity to show Panto skills and get the full experience from doing a Panto in the final week before Christmas. as they say, Christmas is best celebrated with children! Another thing that I am enthusiastic about is the different techniques used by Directors to enthuse the actors to work together to produce the Director’s vision. Some use methods such as Declan Donnellan  who uses techniques such as stopping total block when on stage. He quotes ‘the life of an actor is not all fame and applause’ which shows that you should stay level headed if you want to succeed. Other director’s use their own methods of workshop and memory exercises to help stimulate the mind and therefore help remember cues and lines. I would love to inquire further into different techniques used by Directors. Do different techniques help different actors? Which technique best suits me?


What gets you angry or makes you sad? Who do you admire who shares your feelings or has found away to work around the sadness or anger?



What really irritates me and gets on my nerves is when people disrespect rehearsals and mess around. I just don’t understand what they think they are going to achieve by ‘partying’ in the rehearsal time. It really upsets me when you are given a note to work on and improve and then nothing is said to illustrate how much you have improved. This happened to me last week, when I had worked considerable hard on an unarmed sword fight. We strived to be as good as the boys but everyone thought we weren’t going to succeed. Luckily for us we received Recommendation (90%) which equalled the boys level, only to be brought back to reality by being told we didn’t know the fight and weren’t capable of doing it. This made me angry and sad, as we had both deserved the same respect as the boys and it was obvious we knew the routine, but we weren’t allowed to demonstrate it in performance. It is such a horrible feeling but its great to have my sister to share these feelings with and someone who understands and can relate to it. It makes it easier to digest and to use it to make me stronger. My friend read me a quote from the bible earlier that said ‘I have learnt to be content what ever the circumstances’. Even if you don’t follow religion, I believe this is a very valid quote as it helps you tune out of anger and into happiness. http://bible.cc/philippians/4-11.htm. Do you have to follow the religion to believe a something is a valid point? Is is better to share feelings of anger, even if it might upset someone else?




 What do you love about what you do? Who do you admire who also seems to love this or is an example of what you love?





In my profession it is difficult to name something that I love. I truly love it. From working in an office to get the money in to making small props to help with the running of the Company to the true excitement of performing in front of a live audience. However, the thrill doesn’t stop there. I am an aspiring presenter and because of this, I also enjoy filming and working along side my sister. I love the relaxed nature of it and the realism behind it. I get to be me for a change which is a complete contrast to acting. This is why I aspire towards people like Richard Hammond. He started his career as a radio presenter, then went on to bigger and better things like co-hosting Top Gear and now independently presents programmes. This inspires me to go for gold and follow my ambitions. However, I also want to be able to act along with presenting, because I don’t want to lose something that I love doing. If you put Richard Hammond and David Tennant together, you will see where my dreams lie. I like to aim high. It is really strange but someone who has inspired me to be ambitious was a guy who cut my hair not too long ago. He has built up his own business and now has an amazing salon that does photo shoots and all. He is extremely down to earth but he is doing what he loves and wouldn’t change it for the world. I can see his ideas for his salon are going to be a complete success in the future. http://www.slaughter-house.co.uk/ Is it possible to be a presenter and actress and still be respected in both professions?


What do you feel you don’t understand? Who do you admire who does seem understand it or who has found a way of making not understanding it interesting or beautiful, or has asked the same questions as you?



Trying to find something within the business that I don’t understand. I didn’t understand being self-employed but now I do. I didn’t understand tax but now I do. So I guess these days I don’t understand how people cope with the long hours of rehearsing and performing everyday and being able to get chores and household tasks done. Let alone socialising. I come home from a day rehearsing after getting up at 6- I arrive home at 8pm to then work on things that need attention, like washing and cleaning. how do people do it, for me it is a very challenging thing, especially for being able to have the energy to last through energetic rehearsals then work on chores. In practice the main thing I would have said that I don’t understand would be the exact technique to control the voice and I feel that this is vital in this profession. During the winter months you must care for your health and voice to make sure they stay strong and you don’t attract illness. But the most important thing with the voice is to know when enough is enough. However, when singing, even though  can master tilt and belt, I still struggle to understand the method behind it. It happens without me trying to understand it and I like to understand things.
Katherine Jenkins is a fantastic singer and seems to understand the detail behind producing the prefect sound and must have had the same complications as me about not understanding the full thoughts behind singing. I would like to know whether its essential to know the ins and outs of singing before creating the perfect sound?