9/28/11 Journal

Today was Wensday, which meant it was supposed to be our production day. Instead, we had our first introduction to the film program at MCVTS. We learned about the program iMovie11, which was very interesting. We also got to see a short film done by the film teachers former student. It was interesting to learn about how people in the film industry work. I also learned about the iMovie program, which I knew nothing about before. By being in the film class today, I appreciate the people who are behind the camera a lot more because their job is just as hard, if not harder, than the actors job. I hope we get to participate in the film class again.

9/27/11 Participation

Participation: 100

I would give myself this grade for participation today. During our theater history lesson, I payed attention and took notes on all of the topics being taught. I activily participated in the discussions, even though I was a little confused at times. I thought the topic about physcology was really interesting and I would like to learn more about it in the future.

9/27/11 Journal

Today was Tuesday, which meant it was our theater history day. We continued our discussion about realism and melodrama, and how they differ from romanticism. We got into detail about what changed people's point of views while writing plays. Charles Darwin changed people's views of where we came from by introducing his theory of evolution. This theory showed that humans weren't as superior to nature as we thought we were. We also learned how psyhcology added to the change from romanticism to realism. Psychology shows that good and evil aren't completely two seperate things. Sometimes people do bad things for good reasons. It really made me think about the differences between right and wrong. We compared this to the play we are reading right now, A Doll's House. The main character, Norah, commited a few offenses that we couldn't really classify as right or wrong. One thing that I found interesting in today's lesson was the three parts of the brain. The ID, the ego, and the super ID. It really made me think about the whole topic of psychology and how interesting it is.

9/26/11 Participation

Participation: 90

I would give myself this grade in participation for today. I payed close attention to all of the "two minutes of reality." performances, and I helped other students move around props. I also voluntieered a few times to do the impulse activity infront of everyone. I learned more about being less uptight after watching how different the seniors were doing the activity than the freshman.

9/26/11 Journal

Today was Monday, which meant it was our acting day. We started the "two minutes of reality." assingment today. and I got to see what everyone does in the morning. It was really interesting to see how much I believed each of my classmates while they were performing. It also gave me a lot of information about what I should and shouldn't do during my performance next monday. I think that most performances were believeable because the objective of the assingment was to behave truthfully. While people were setting up, we also did the impulse activites that we have been doing for a few weeks now. This time, I really got to see how much of a wall some of the freshman have right now. We are nervous to say what we really feel because we don't know what the outcome may be. I think as we get to know eachother better, this activity will start to become a lot easier.

9/22/11 Participation

Participation: 100

I would give myself this grade for participation today. I worked really hard while I was working on my scene with Zari. She gave me a lot of advice on the scene and acting itself. One thing I learned was to really pretend you are in the characters shoes, and dont really think of it as playing a part. Hopefully by next week I will have my scene perfected and ready to be performed.

9/22/11 Journal

Today was Thursday, which meant it was our acting day. I spent class working on my open scene with Zari and Nafis. Zari and I compared both of ideas for the scene, and by the end of the day it was a lot better than when we started. I learned a lot about acting truthfully and how adding objectives to the scene really helped out a lot. I added a lot of little notes to my script which should help me perform the part easier and more truthfully.

9/21/11 Participation

Participation: 100

I would give myself this grade for participaion today. I helped Ms. Aladren block her show, Swimming in the Shallows. I learned a lot about what blocking really is and it was interesting to learn about the show. After today's class I know more about blocking, and now i'm also really exited to see the show on the 15th.

9/21/11 Journal

Today was Wednesday, which is normally our production day. Instead, we helped block Ms. Aladren's show, Swimming in the Shallows. I stood in for Barb, while Ashley read the lines for the character. I really got to learn more about blocking. In community theater, blocking was a little stressfull because directiors would be telling you exactly where to stand and how to move your arms. Today I learned that you do have a little bit of a say in how your blocking is. One of the most important things I have learned in the program so far is not to be so fake when acting, and in community theater that was the number one thing we were taught. It's a little hard breaking bad habits, but I know it is going to help me out so much in the long run.

9/20/11 Participation

Participation: 100

I would give myself this grade for participation today. I helped Lindsay, Ashley, and Nafis make a poster about costume design for open school night tonight. I had to go through magazines and cut out pictures of interesting costumes from different shows. I feel like I helped a lot and got a lot done during the little time we had.

9/20/11 Journal

Today was Tuesday, which meant it was supposed to be our theater history day. Instead, we helped decorate the classroom for open house later tonight. Lindsey, Ashley, Nafis and I made a poster about costumes. I had to cut out pictures from magazines that showed theater costumes, and we made a collage of all the pictures. Today we also had to make a list of our goals for the year. My goals included getting A's and B's in all my classes, get higher than a C in science because it's my worst subject, exercize more, and work a lot harder in gym, because I can honestly say I dont put in much effort. Hopefully I will achieve all of these goals by June. I also got my headshot done today, which was interesting. I'm so used to smiling in every picture I take so it was different to hear "No fake smiles." That also adds to how I have to break all of my bad habits I learned in community theater. Just like pictures, nothing is supposed to be fake

9/19/11 Participation

Participation: 100

I would give myself this grade for my participation today. I participated in todays impulse activity with Scarlett, and I listened to all of the constructive critisism I recieved from it. I learned that while we were doing this activity, it is important not to think about anything. I also learned the importance of just acting on impulse and not worry about what everyone else thought.

9/19/11 Journal

Today was monday, which meant it was our acting day that we spend in the theater. We did the grid activity where we walked around the stage at different speeds and levels. We also had to do an activity with a partner where we had to say the first thing that came to mind when we looked at them. This added to last weeks lesson on impulses, and how we shouldn't think about anything when acting on impulse. It was really interesting to see what the first thing that came to someones mind at the time, and I feel like these activities are really teaching me what acting means.

9/16/11 Activity

I can see the beach and the Hollywood sign in the distance from where I am standing. I look up at the entrance of a studio. I'm trying out for my favorite show, Glee. I walk in, sit down, and look at all of the other people around me. After about an hour, my name is finnaly called to audition. I pick up my water bottle, my cell phone, and my purse and walk toward a room with a bright light shining through the doorway. As I walk toward the door, I notice another room next to it. For some reason, I decide to walk into the other room instead. I see all of the Glee cast members playing cards. They all smile at me and ask me I want to play with them. I say yes and sit down on the floor. We play cards for a while, and in the middle of the silence, Chris Colfer spills his slushie all over me! How ironic. Cory Monteith, who looks like he's in charge of the card game, yells at him and apoligizes for him. He asks me if i'm auditioning for the show and I shake my head. He smiles and tells me that I got the part. I am so confused, mostly because I havent even auditioned yet. He walked out of the room, and brought Ryan Murphy, the creator of Glee, into the room. He asks me to sing, and I got the part two minutes later.

9/15/11 Participation

Participation: 100

I think that I deserve this grade in participation for today. While we were reading our scenes, I put my full attention into what Zari was telling me and Naphis. During the discussion toward the end of the class, I feel like I answered many questions and I learned a lot about the kinds of scenes we are working with. Hopefully I can put what I learned today into my scene and perform it to the best of my ability.

9/15/11 Journal

Today was our first day of reading scenes. I was paired up with Zari, who had to pick a scene for both of us to read in class. The scene doesn't reveal any information about the situation or the characters, so I have to make it up. I have already come up with my characters name, personality description, and the plot of the story. This will hopefully help me perform the part more realistically and truthfully. I also got to see some of the other students perform, which was really helpfull. By seeing what they did, I will try to build off of that when I perform my scene. I got to see students who made their scene believeable, and other students who didnt make it as believeable. By seeing the differences, I will try to relate to the lines as much as I can to make the audience believe that I am really this character.

9/14/11 Participation

Participation: 100

I would give myself this grade for participation today. I feel like I worked really hard today helping Lindsay organize and clean the costume loft. I learned a lot about the costumes and how things need to be put in a specific place. The next time I need to go up there for somthing I will know how everything should be.

9/14/11 Journal

Today was Wensday, which meant it was our teching day. I helped Lindsay organize and clean up the costume loft. It was really interesting to see all of the costumes that had been used in past shows, and hopefully will be used in future shows that i'm in. I learned that it makes a huge difference when costumes are orginized, rather than mixed together in a random order. Now, I feel like I have a better appreciation for the people who work behind the scenes and organize everything, because it really isn't as easy as it sounds. There is a place for everything and if one little thing is in the wrong place it can be a serious problem. After being around all of the costumes today, it made me feel even more strongly about choosing costume design as my major for the next marking level and maybe as my major when I leave MCVTS.

9/13/11 Participation

Participation: 85

I would give myself this grade in participation for today. I felt like I could have added more to the discusions we were having, but I was still a little nervous. I did feel like I learned a lot in today's lesson and I took down a lot of notes about romanticism, melodrama, ectc. Next theater history class, I will try to ask more questions and comment more on the topic.

9/13/11 Journal

Today's lesson was on classical theater and how the Industrial Revolution changed the way plays were written. Before the Industrial Revolution, classical theater cosisted of romanticism and melodrama. Romanticism was started in Germany by young rebels and was the first time youth started to appear in the theater world. This form of theater lasted for about 20 years. After Romanticism, Melodrama became the next popular form of theater. It consisted of very steriotypical characters and was written to please audiences. Good always beat evil, and there was always a happy ending. These were the first plays to add foreigners and special effects. For example, to make the effect of horse racing as real as possible, horses were put on treadmills and pulled across the stage. The famous broadway show, Les Miserables, was created in between the times of romanticism and melodrama.