Screen Acting #2 - Less is More

In this session, I struggled a little more than I did in the last session . I think it was partially because I did well in the first week and I felt like I had to live up to the standard I did the week prior, and I also think it's because I had makeup on.

I didn't think it would have as much of an affect to the performance as I realised it was. I think another reason why was because I didn't write a long enough letter, which didn't give me enough time to settle comfortably into the scene as I could have. I felt like it was very rushed in comparison to everyone else's, and I felt a little bit like I was having to play out the beginning and end to make it longer.

Like most people, I chose a letter that started positive and then turned into a negative. It was a huband writing a letter to his wife while he was at war, which arrived in the post to tell her he had passed away. I do feel like it was because I couldn't resonate with the letter as it obviously wasn't a personal thing. In that moment, I felt like I did the best I could, but looking back on the footage I realise now how it could be much better.

The second half of the session was dedicated to a method acting exercise, which I found really hard as I am a very emotional person.

I found myself getting emotional very quickly into the story, specifically on the line 'imagine you're going home, and standing at your front door'. I felt uncomfortable tearing up so early, as many people got upset later on in the story, when they had to imagine their loved ones crying, although some didn't get emotional at all. When we were asked to imagine 'the person who loves you the most', I immediately thought of mum, although as the story progressed, I was thinking of my dad and then the wires crossed and I ended up being able to picture both of them - which in turn made me more emotional.

I think I got so emotional because I am a visual learner, therefore I was able to picture the story around me unfolding in real time. I personally feel like I will struggle combating the early on-set of emotion in the monologue for session as I can resonate with Janice, however I am going to try and balance the onslaught.