Class

I though that the exercise we did in class last tuesday was a little weird. I was definitely so relaxes that i think i dosed off for a second. I was trying to figure out what it had to do with acting and i think that it makes you more loose and relaxed when your trying to act. I thought that the exercise helped me be able to just wing it and not think about what i was about to do. I think that is the key in good acting that you don't think you just do.

Go crazy

I think another reason why we are doing this exercise is not only to learn about space but to learn to let go and let our imaginations take over and be creative. Paige said that she doesn't know how this is making us better because everyone is doing the same motions. But when our teacher went out there he did like 5 different things that were nothing like what anyone else did. He told us that the substance could do ANYTHING we wanted it to and we all kept it in a little ball or stretched it out a tiny bit. If we would all just go crazy then I bet we would get some really cool uses out of that substance. However, this is easier said than done because I had a lot of trouble thinking of things to do with the substance until he went out there....I really need to work on getting my creative juices flowing.

Thursday was a little weird. Like in some of the other posts, I didn't really understand the substance exercise that we did in class. I had no idea what I was doing when I went up in front of the class. I just started moving my hands around in some weird motion. And I guess I did something right. Unless, Fabio just wanted me to sit down. I found it a lot easier when I was feeling the invisible substance when there was another person up there with me. I curious to see what we do in class this week.

October 30th

We did more work with substance today. I liked the substance exercise we did. I think that we are all getting so much better and we work together better. I am still confused about why we did this exercise, but if I had to guess I would say that the purpose of this exercise is to allow us to be more aware of ourselves and the space in between us as actors on a stage. When we did the exercise we had to pay attention to space and the movement of our partner. We had to utilize the space and react to our partners. The more exercises with the substance that we do, the more confused and curious I become.

Substance

I find these substance activities to be rather interesting. I find them interesting because i really don't know what the substance is. I thought i had some idea but after the exercise in Thursday class i have no idea. I agree with Paige that we all seem to just copy motions that people before us have already done but I think its because none of us really understand this exercise yet. Even though it seems confusing I am interested in finding out what the substance is and how it these exercises will make us better actors.

Substance

I am extremely curious as to why we are doing these substance activities. I thought that I had an idea, however, I became more confused after class on Thursday. Also, I feel like once a couple of people do the activity, everyone after them simply reenacts what was already done. People seem to be imitating instead of acting and sometimes it is hard to tell a difference. However, everyone does the same motions. I do not know how these substance activities are helping us become better actors/actresses but am interested and ready to find out.

Thursdays class

Thursdays class was a little interesting with us dealing with our own substances, however,  i do agree with Rhea in that im not really sure what the point of dealing with these substances is but hopefully we will figure that out during tuesdays class.  Im really excited about our final performances i think it'll be really funny what people come up with in their scenes!!!

10.30,08

After Thursday's class, I am still wondering what the purpose is of the substance activity. I am hoping that we will find out or discover the purpose of it soon! I am struggling a little bit with this activity. Like Professor Polanco said, I need to buy into the fact that I am really touching this substance. I did not really believe that I was feeling a substance when I was in front of the class. I thought it was a lot easier when we paired up. I guess I felt more comfortable because I was not up in front of the class by myself. I was actually thinking that there was a substance between my partner and me. I can't wait to see what Tuesday's class has in store for us and this substance.

substance abuse

Class Thursday seemed kind of slow paced. Maybe it was because of the beginning we were talking about the final project. Speaking of, Teddy, if you read this, I am your partner and I have your paper to memorize my Thursday. Anyway, after that when we were doing the manipulating the substance it seemed very relaxed. Nobody really could say anything because whose to say that you were manipulating the stuff wrong. It seemed like people just were doing what they thought they should. Maybe we were all still zonked out from Tuesday's meditation but we all just seemed not up to our best. maybe that's just me. Maybe next time we get to find out what the substance is... rotten jello perhaps

A matter of time

One of the things that I am having problems with when ever i do any exercise is dealing with how long it should take me to do any one action. As a musician I am trained to do things for a certain amount of time and then move on to the next thing. It is weird to 1. decided for myself how long I am going to do something and 2. make that decision based on how something feels. I thought that maybe I needed to concentrate more and pay more attention to what I was doing, but the more I analyze what I am doing the worse it gets. I'm guessing I need to do the reverse and just react without thinking , but that is really, really hard for me.

The Substance

The exercise we did on Tuesday was very interesting. I actually found myself feeling very relaxed and even a bit loopy after. I feel like the whole idea of this exercise is to be very aware of your body while you are moving on stage. If you can get your mind to this place while acting, your acting will become more relaxed naturally. Also, this exercise helped to focus my mind a lot. I am interested to see where this exercise will take us.

relaxation

in class on tuesday when we did that relaxation and visualization exercise , it helped me out alot., because once a year our team does that just to clear our head. this exercise helps me out so much. you can actually feel like you are falling into the floor. i do that everyday before i wake up four about 10 minutes, and it helps me with what i have to do that day. i think everyone should do that at least once a week because most people get to stressed out with homework and stuff and then end up getting sick and other stuff. this is a big release and helps alot.

I was not in class on Tue. because I was sick but it sounded like most of you enjoyed the exercise and thought it really interesting. I wish I could have been a part of it because I have been very stressed this week! I hope we do something as Interesting today in class!

relax exercise

For the exercise on Tuesday, I thought it was exciting that an instructor use a mediation tactic to have the class be aware of the situation or environment. I was tired and seemed sleepy for the first part of class but after doing this exercise I felt relaxed and less stress with a little kick in my step. Usually I do something like this by myself with no one around; it was quite different (not just one’s own energy but several others energy) with the whole class. Looking forward and curious to what he has to say on this exercise and how we can use this in class. Peace,
Juan

Sleep Exercise

So I would have to say Bill was right on his post. The exercise actually made me more tired than relaxed... I was trying to stay awake for the most part until he said "not to try to resist it." I thought it was weird imagining that my body was losing the tension to the floor. I guess for us black and white accounting people that becomes difficult. I have no idea what this has to do with acting other than maybe being more used to your surroundings.

I agree with Ryan Yoder's post. I have also done exercises similar to this but never experienced "the substance." I have no idea how we are going to incorporate the substance in to our next class period but it should be pretty interesting. Overall I liked the exercise we did in class...it was relaxing for most of the time but after a while my butt and lower back started to hurt from laying on the floor, and I know I was supposed to be pushing the tension away but clearly I was doing it wrong becaus eit still hurt lol. However, I did feel pretty loose and relaxed when it was over and we were walking around the room.

I didn't really like the exercise that we did on Tuesday. It just made me more tired than relaxed. The exercise made almost made me fall asleep. It made me so tired that by the time we had to stand up, I was about to sleep. Once we stood up I had a hard time standing because I was so tired. But I do think it's not a bad technique to relax. I think it only works when you are stress. Which is why I think it didn't work for me. When we started, I was pretty relaxed. I wasn't stressed at all. So I wonder how it works when I'm stressed.

the substance

I suppose I liked the progressive relaxation and visualization we did on Tuesday, I've done things like it before and it's very calming. I'm pretty interested to see what we do with this 'substance' thing, it seems kind of weird and abstract to me but that might mean it will end up being fun to do. I just don't know what to make of that yet, I have never heard of it before.

Meditation

I really enjoyed the meditation exercise we did in class. I have learned about this technique but i have never actually done it. I feel that the exercise worked for me but it could have been better if i was not sick, laying down flat like that i was having a hard time breathing. But besides that it relaxed me. At first i felt a little awkward doing the exercise but as time went on i got more comfortable with it. Now that I am aware of how well this technique works I'm going to use it in times of major stress, such as finals week, to take mind off everything and start fresh.

tuesday's floortime activities

The meditation exercise on Tuesday I think worked for me to a point, I felt the things I was supposed to I think. I did see and understand the weird spacey thing in front of me, but somewhere in the middle I got lost. I lost some of my focus when I was visualizing the place and person that was supposed to be with me. I think I lost focus because I over thought the situation. I think at the end I felt the pressure of the matter-substance-thing in front of me but told myself it was just because I was dizzy from being on the floor. I felt asleep even when I got up and couldn't get back into the normal pattern of things. I had a strange kinda feeling for a few hours afterward. I can't say whether or not I liked the meditation, I'm just not sure.

meditation

I loved the meditation/relaxation exercise we did on Tuesday!!! even tho i kinda fell asleep i was so relaxed and it took my mind off everything i was worried about that day.. which was a lot.  i feel like this is a great exercise not only for sport related activities but for acting purposes because it helps you to be completely one with your body and enables you to move your body in a way that is not forced.

Traped with no way out

I had to be trapped in a large jack-o-lantern and I had no idea what to do. I invisioned that i was in one i just could not imagine it actually happening. I just pushed on the walls and tried to get out through the eyes and mouth. I had to do it a few times but each time i did not feel that i did anybetter. I do not know why I could not do good but i just could not imagine it happening. I know that if i was in a play the writer could write this happening but i would have more time to practice making it look real. I could also maybe learn more about the texture and the way it would feel to be inside a pumpkin. I thought that everyoen else did well and I did not even think that I would get something like that to do.

Relax

At first I thought today's exercise was not going to be that hard for me. I have insomnia, and I do progressive muscle relaxation almost every night. The first part of the class, the relaxation part, was not that difficult. But then we got to the visualization part and i began to have problems. It was not that I could not see the things I was suppossed to see. I did see them. But because I knew logically that they were not real, i sort of pulled away from it and pulled myself out of the exercise from time to time.
I was still fairly successful at visualizing things. When we were asked to open our eyes, it seemed weird that we were still in a classroom and there were other people around because in my mind I was not in a classroom and there were no other people around. For a few hours after class was over I still had this weird floating feeling. I know this is not normal because I do relaxation/meditation stuff fairly regularly. I would be interested to know what part of the exercise effected me this way.

I think that the reason we did the relaxation activity today in class was in order to get in-tune with our body and mind. I think that this activity opened our minds and enabled us to imagine so deeply that we actually put ourselves into different situations. Instead of pretending we were somewhere, our body and mind actually believed that we were there. For example, standing on the beach and walking through a thick substance.

Personally, this activity put me out of my comfort zone. I can think of a couple different reasons why. First, I think that I was uncomfortable because the actions I was doing were things that I do not normally do. Even something as simple as laying on my back on the floor was something that I felt uncomfortable with. Secondly, I am usually in charge of my own body. I am not used to not having complete control. When we were being told what to do it was a different experience for me. I actually did a shorter version of this activity in yogalates class once and also felt uncomfortable then. It is ironic how these activities are suppose to be relaxing because even though my muscles feel relaxed, there is still something inside of me that is tense due to me being uncomfortable.

Relaxation

I am not sure why we did the relaxation activity in class today. I was trying to figure out the purpose of the activity while we were doing it (I know I was not supposed to be thinking!), but I could not figure out the reason behind it. The one thing I did notice is that focus was very important for this exercise. When I was totally focused on the activity I could visualize the images Professor Polanco was saying. When my mind would drift off and I became unfocused, that is when I began to question why we were doing that activity. I have no idea what the point of the exercise was or what we will be doing on Thursday, but I am interested!

Relaxation and substances

Class today was very interesting to say the least. It took me a while to focus, to really concentrate on breathing and just being still. However, once I was able to focus, I was totally relaxed and was able to visualize what was going on. When I stood up and opened my eyes, it was much harder to still see the substance; but I think that was just because I hit the boundary of my comfort zone. I was surprised that I was able to relax so much, because I am the type of person that is always worried about stuff. I am very interested to see where this exercise goes on Thursday. I haven't yet figured out the reason for the exercise, but not knowing will drive me crazy.

Trapped Exercise

I really enjoyed this exercise. I was really able to think about this one because I can be a bit claustrophobic at times. I have a problem with small spaces and being stuck it one would make things ten times worse for me. This helped me react to the situation better because I just thought about how scary it is to be stuck in a small space.

Trapped

I thought that it was pretty weird doing the entrapment exercise. When I was doing the exercise I had to imagine actually being trapped and it was hard for me to do because being trapped in a coffin is a little bit random. I do believe that the entrapment exercise was a lot easier than the entanglement exercise just because everybody has been trapped at some point in there life. I think in order to be good at the entrapment exercise you have slow down and really think what you would do to get out and the more you think about what your doing and the more different things you do to get is what makes the audience believe you are actually trapped.

It snowed a little bit this morning, that's the first I've seen and I liked it. Also, I think that entrapment was easier than entanglement because it was easier to imagine a box around me for instance than things on my legs. Maybe props would help that, but that would probably defeat the purpose of doing it in class.

past couple of classes

when we were doin the entanglement and entrapment exercises ini class it was very esay to see who was tryin real hard to show us the entrapment /entanglement insted of actually being trapt. i also found that it was very easy to become entangled by not doing alot of other extra motion. i think everyone is becoming more comfertable in class and its becomeing easier to express the objective they are assinged.

Emotions

What I've found most interesting and challenging in the past two classes is the incorporation of emotions in our exercies. We have to be scared without acting like we're scared...which is really realy hard to make seem real. I think it's cool that we've past simply making movements and paying attention to detail and we;re now concentrating on how our faces look and what we are actually feeling. Also, I stil think it's crazy how true the statement less is more is in this class. Sometimes I feel like I'm not even doing much and it turns out that I'm doing really well or I'll be watching other people and it really is true that the less people do and the less they try to make me believe them, the more I actually do believe them.

Class on Thursday was interesting. Learning how to act entraped was different. It's hard to go through all the steps of fear. When someone is trapped, they don't actually realize at first. They think that something might be jammed or out of place. But once they realize that getting out of the situation is going to be tough, they begin to panic. It's hard to panic without over doing it. The key is to truly believe that you are in that situation.

Entrapment Vs. Entanglement

For me ,it is a little bit hard to distinguish between entrapment and entanglement. They feel like pretty much the same thing to me. Both are negative things. Both involve a similar reaction mentally and physically. I suppose entrapment is worse than entanglement, but it really just depends what you are entrapped/entangled in. Maybe I am analyzing this to much, but i feel like these exercises are some of the harder ones to just get up and do because I don't quite know how to react to them.

Entrapment

Well this exercise I thought was going to be harder than what it really was. When I first drew the piece of paper out of the pumpkin, I wasn't sure exactly what to do. So I sat there and thought to myself, what happens in all the movies when someone is being hunted down by some crazy animal. Outside of that, I was just hoping it would look alright and I guess it worked. I think the exercise would have been more fun if we had more variety of entrapment items rather than mostly boxes and coffins.

And I was happy to see Bill finally lose at Whizbang.

Class

I was not in class on Thursday so I did not get to do the entrapment exercise. So i thought i would just talk about the class. At first i really didn't know what to expect from this class but now i really enjoy it. I love the fact that everyone has warmed up and is not to shy anymore while doing the exercises. It makes for a comfortable and relaxing environment. Also i find it rather interesting see how people have improved by being more aware of their surroundings and small detail. Overall this class is exciting and fun and I would recommend this course to anyone looking for a fun or a different kind of class to take.

I really enjoyed class on Thursday. I liked pretending that I was trapped in something; it was much more interesting to do and to watch. I liked that there was more of a dramatic response with fear, pain, or uncomfortableness, it added an element of excitement to the exercise. I thought Aaron did an awesome job pretending that he was trapped by a dangerous animal. He really looked scared, and he moved very slowly and carefully. This was so fun to watch. Everything we do in class builds on each other, I can't wait to see what we will do tomorrow.

trapped

I feel that the being trapped exercise was really hard and  scary! When you are trapped in something and cannot get out that is one of the most terrifying things at least to me! I am claustrophobic and if i was trapped in something confining... like a coffin i would be freaking out! My trapped situation was in a car, and in that situation i would not be freaking out for at least 20 mins. of trying, and i feel when you are trying to act out a situation like this you need to really act like its happening to you in order for it to feel real to an audience.

bloggeroo

I agree with Rhea that being trapped in something was more scary than being tangled in something. Sure, being tangled in a rope for the rest of your life might be embarrassing but being stuck in a a coffin or a giant jack o lantern could kill you, which is much worse. I like that we are quicker to both volunteer and finish our exercises in one class. In the beginning it was hard to go to class knowing that you had not gone yet and you had already forgotten what it was you were doing.

Entrapped

Sorry I accidentally pushed enter after I entered the title the first time I tried to post! Anyways, I thought the entrapment exercise we did in class on Thursday was easier than when we did the entangled exercise. I was trying to figure out why it was easier for me to do this activity. I figured out that being entrapped is a fear of mine where being entangled does not frighten me. I am not a fan of closed, tight spaces. It was much more real for me to act like I was trapped in a box than entangled in a spider web.

Entrapped

Thursday Class

This class was spent acting like we were trapped. It is extremely noticeable that the students in class have learned that less is more when it comes to acting. Almost everyone in class did only what was necessary when acting trapped. There did not seem to be any exagerration or over-doing during this activity. It is obvious that we are all improving. Hopefully we will continue to improve and gain confidence!

tuesday

it was nice to just sit and talk on tuesday. i found it very interesting to listen to everyones point of view on the play. i found alot of other characteristics about the cast that i couldnt find myself. it was nice just to sit and talk to eachother and have a discussion for once and be seious for once. i mean i like being goofey dont get me wrong but its nice to just come back and act serious once in a while. when i found out that the majority of the were cast freshman, then i changed my attitude towards the play. but it was nice just to relax and have a conversasion .

Tuesday Class

Tuesdays class was actually kind of nice. I enjoyed just seating around and talking about something for once. Don't get my wrong i enjoy the exercises we do in class as well but sometimes its nice to just relax and have a group discussion. I found it rather interesting to hear everyone's point of view about the play. Everyone was talking about mistakes that were made it the play, but me personally i thought it was excellent. The fact that majority of the cast were freshman i was shocked at how well they did.

Class Tuesday

I don't have any real feelings on the class Tuesday since I was unable to see the Crucible in the Theater. I did like talking about McCarthyism towards the end because I did know something about that. It was interesting to see others views and what they thought though.

Class Tuesday

I thought that class Tuesday was pretty nice. I thought that the discussion of The Crucible helped me understand the play a lot better and I also agreed with a lot of what others in the class were saying. I think that it was nice to hear everyone's opinion of the play. I think that having that discussion made me think about my paper and what I had to say about The Crucible as opposed to others in the class. The change in pace was nice but I definitely can't wait to get back to our acting or our making fools out of ourselves. I think that by watching the play it may help us to act better once seeing other who are much better at it than we are.

Tuesday- The Crucible

I have to admit, it was nice to just sit and have a discussion on Tuesday. It really got me to think more about The Crucible and reflect back on what I had written about it. A lot of people brought up some interesting points that I had not initially thought about when watching the show. I think we have all taken something from watching the actors in The Crucible and I'll be interested to see if anything we brought up during the discussion will show up in our acting in the near future. Watching others act is definitely one good way to learn about acting and improve your skills.

So

I suppose I thought the class that we talked about the crucible was pretty good. Seemed like some people were into it and some were not so much. I thought it was pretty interesting to hear Fabio's opinion on the play because I sometimes wonder how people who are experienced in plays think about the ones that they watch and are not involved in.

I liked the change in pace of class on Tuesday. It was nice to just have a laid back conversation with everyone. There were a lot of good topics brought up during our conversation. I would have to say that I agreed with a lot of the things that were said. I liked talking about the play. It made me understand it a little better. But I'm looking forward to the next class. I can't wait to play whiz bang again. I wonder what he has in store for.

Comfortable

I completely agree with Renee. I'm in a modern drama class and we discussed the play in that class too and I didn't really participate too much in that discussion because I don't feel even close to as comfortable in that class as I do in our class. I loved that so many different people voiced their opinions without being pressured too much by the professor, people just volunteered their thoughts. I was surprised to hear all the different comments about the old people in the play because I thought they did very well but I understand where these people are coming from with their arguments because they noticed small things about the portrayal of the characters that I didn't notice.

talking

Tue class was very interesting, I really like hearing everyone's opinion and how everyone else viewed the play. I really feel like the class as a whole is comfortable with everyone now because i felt like everyone was really honest in class tue and did not care what anyone else thought. I know that I was conformable saying what i thought because i did not think that anyone would judge me. I really enjoyed having the descussion in class and i hope to do it again when we see our next play.

To add to what Clair said, I think the same thing is true for musical performances. There is nothing worse than watching some one who is visibly uncomfortable sing or play a song. No matter how great they sound, if they look like they want to either throw-up or run screaming for the door the audience is not going to enjoy the performance. Ironically, someone can not be very good but if they are relaxed and just go with it then people tend not to notice that they are not very good.

The Crucible

The discussion that we had in class on Tuesday was very beneficial to my opinion of the play. I think going into the play having already seen the movie, I was expecting something very similar. Going into the play after having heard the discussion that we had on Tuesday I would have had a bit of a different opinion. Knowing the background of the play and Arther Miller has helped with my understanding of not only the play but the way the characters were portrayed. I think that being able to talk about the things that were good in the play and the things that were not so good also helped my understanding of the concept of the play. I also enjoyed the discussion because many times I form an opinion about things and do not explore why I feel the way I do about them, and I think this discussion helped with that.

fine arts's

Acting is like art, well, it is an art, but I meant like painting or sculpture. Most of the old masters were just great by nature. When Fabio was telling us how when a competent actor would come on stage it gave the audience a feeling of relaxation. The same comes from looking at a good painting by an old master. Some things just seem forced, What makes something good is the natural reaction that a person has rather that the artist forcing you to do something. Some artists are good just because they just are, they are not demanding you see something or wanting to be liked. We talked about an actor trying to be liked, and I saw that as a kind of trying to force a composition. Adding matching forms or color swatches does not make a painting work. Things work just because they do, even though I don't know much about acting, I appreciate the spontaneity of things that just work.

the crucible

 I felt the discussion we had today in class was very helpful in that it enabled us to hear what others thought about the play.  It really helped us to bounce off ideas of what type of acting engages the audience and what hurts actors on stage.  I thought it was nice to hear what others who have seen many plays felt about this play in comparison to professional plays.

The Crucible

I thought that it was very interesting to hear what other people in class had to say about The Crucible after seeing the play here on campus. It seemed like the majority of class did not find the play to be one of the best or anything special, however, as a class we seemed to find a lot of things that the actors and actresses did well. Also, there were many different mixed opinions about the play. Some people thought that the characters did a good job playing their ages, while others thought only certain ones did, and some did not like any of them. It just shows how everyone connects to different characters. Also, people seem to have many different views on what is in the play was believable and what wasn't.

The Crucible

I found our discussion regarding the crucible to be very interesting. I liked hearing everyone's opinions of the play and the actors. I agree with many of Hallie's opinions. I did have trouble staying focused for a lot of the play. I did not enjoy the book too much when I read it in high school, so I was not expecting to really like the play. I do, however, believe I was fortunate enough to see a few great acting performances. I am excited to keep watching the guy who played John Proctor. I would like to see him in other roles. He was such a great actor, I spent much of my time focusing on what he was doing on stage.

the crucible

I thought that the play was very interesting since there were no props involved however i t hought overall that the play was hard to stay attentive. I found myself having a very hard time pay attention to what was going on, i felt that it was slow moving and at times boring. I noticed however that 2 of the actors specifically were brilliant in that i realyl believed that they were who they were acting!

The Crucible

I though that The Crucible was a rather long play. I had never went to a play and there has been an intermission before. The actors were really into there parts and the anger portrayed by most of the actors felt really sincere and real. This play was a bit boring though without any props, that was the only thing that I didn't like about it. All the actors were really loud when they spoke as well and at times I thought that maybe that was a bit much. Overall the play was pretty good but I hope the next one has props.

watching/listening

goin off of ryans , i can listen to a movie and automaticly figure out the kind of character the person talking is. i have a very easy time distinguishing if the character is very good at showing their emotions ,and when they are not good at it.

i was eavesdropping

I was in the lobby of my dorm tonight and I was overhearing a movie in the background, and it was the kind of movie with a lot of dialogue ( I later looked at the screen and figured out it was the movie Garden State with Natalie Portman). At the time, I had no idea who was talking or what was going on, but there was a woman dominating the conversation, and I could tell just by her tone and her style of talking what kind of character she was. I sat and listened for a couple of minutes, and it was pretty funny, but I guess it kind of interested me how expressive the actress was for me without any visual.

The Crucible

I went and saw The Crucible over the weekend and I'm not gonna lie I was getting pretty antsy during it because it was kind of hard for me to stay interested when the scenery never changed adn there were hardly any props. The whole thing was very talky. However, I thought that most of the actors were phenomenal. The lack of props really forced the actors to step it up and I think that most of all Mark Leach as John Proctor was great. I was so impressed with him, and with the fact that he is a freshman, not to mention very quiet offstage. I agree with Renee that I noticed lots of stuff we've talked about in class. Like pouring drinks and drinking things that were probably not really there and like staying in character until you're completely done even when you're only in the background.

Table Exercise

Actually, this was quite fun after you got used to eating fake food and where it was located on the table. My hardest part was dealing with setting the stuff done on the table since it was hard to determine where the height was since I was above it and not on the same level. I think the exercise would have been easier also if we started off already sitting at the table and did not have to walk in. It made it harder to figure out where the bowl of potatoes (Dan Quayle) was for me.

class/play

I though that class on thur was also tough but I also liked the challenge. I never realized how hard it was to make the height of a table to keep it the same as everyone else. I think that eating is also hard because you really have to imagine eating something that is not there. I never really had to imagine something when I acted because we always had props. But it is very hard and I don't think that I would be able to act without props if I ever did it again with out a lot of practic.

I dont know about anyone else but I did not really like the play. I did see many things that we learned in class being done on stage though. I thought that the play was very confusing and hard to follow and I thought that they talked really fast. But overall I guess it was ok but I do not think that I would see it again.

I agree with the posts below me in that class on Thursday was a little tough. There were a few things that we had to think about all at once. First, we had to set a height for the table. This seemed to be the thing that tripped up most people. Not everyone was able to keep the same height of the table. I noticed that I had to go off of the person next to me because it was to hard to look across from me to get the height of the table. The second tough thing we had to do was to pretend we were eating. It's really hard to use utensils and glasses, but it's almost impossible to eat or drink without anything there. The easiest part of the exercise for me was the conversation. Luckily, our topic had to do with sports. So I was really comfortable with being able to carry on a conversation.

Table Exercise

The exercise we did in class Thursday was a quite difficult exercise because there were so many different aspects that you had to focus on. Not only did you have to focus on the height of the table, but you also had to focus on eating and having a conversation. I thought that the conversation would be the most difficult part of the exercise but it was surprisingly easy to keep conversation flowing. What was the most difficult was keeping the table the same height. Mostly, I just tried to focus/imitate where everyone else was placing things. I think most people were trying to do that, which helps a lot when trying to keep your table the same height. Overall, I would say that this was one of the most challenging exercises we have done thus far.

Thursday, October 16

Class Thursday was more challenging than I anticipated. The same height exercise was difficult because we had to concentrate on many more aspects. We were concentrating on eating, maintaining corresponding heights of the table between our group, and conversation. I think the more experience that we gain in this class the easier this will be. We need not to focus on what we are doing because if we are seeing what we are doing it will come natural. That is easier said than done. I think that once we are able to truely see the imaginary objects, we are all going to be much better actors.

Tables, Eating, and Talking

I found that the exercise we did in class on Thursday was a lot harder than i expected. We had many different tasks/ details that we had to pay close attention too. First we had to make the table the same height, which you had to pay attention to everyone in your group, in order to accomplish this and accommodate to what everyone else was doing. Second we had to pay attention to the placement of the food as well as how to 'eat' the food. And third was talking. When we put all these aspects together it all seemed to go down hill for me because i would focus on eating, then get involved in the talking and forget about where i had just put my food down and the height of the table. I feel this exercise was hard for me because it Incorporated everything we have done up to now this semester and i need to now learn how to tie all of this together and make it flow.

Experience to Evaluate

I, just like Paige, also found myself evaluating our teacher as she was acting like she was making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She kept saying that this activity would have been better if she would have brought in the actual materials but for us to just imagine that the materials were there. All I could think about was that I wanted to tell her to really see the objects and believe they were there. I could tell that she really did not see the bag of bread and the jars of peanut butter and jelly in front of her. I would have never thought about saying that until taking this class. I never really thought I would apply this class to my education classes, but I guess I was wrong!

Interesting...

I just had to share this...
In my education block this past Thursday, my professor decided to stop teaching and have us do an activity because when discussing she realized that many of us have not done it before. The activity consisted of everyone writing down the specific steps to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. After she gave us about 5 minutes or so, she had some people in class share. Instead of simply listening, she demonstrated the steps being read to her by the student(s). Well...here is the part that relates to this class...she did not have the materials with her to actually make the sandwich so she decided to demonstrate with imaginary materials. Rhea sits next to me and as soon as our professor started using imaginary objects we simultaneously turned to each other and were like "oh my gosh...acting for non-majors. ha". I am sure that we would not even thought about it if it were not for this class. However, since we are "experienced" when it comes to dealing with imaginary objects, we found this interesting, funny, and I don't know about Rhea, but I found myself evaluating her skills. ha.

Tables and other objects

I have a hard time interacting with imaginary objects. i know we have done many activities involving imaginary objects, and some of them have been fairly successful, but they take a lot more concentration than anything else. I also feel like they either go really well or they are completely unbelieveable. There doesn't seem to be much in between, so it is hard when you get up knowing that it is either going to really suck or possible be really awesome. I don't feel like we had the same issues with the tube though. Even though we were forming imaginary objects out of it, because we had something real in our hands everything that we made out of it seemed to be real too.

tables tables tables

I think that the activity today was very challenging because it took almost all of what we have done already and put them together. Talking, eating and keeping objects in the same places all at the same time was hard. Its especially hard because in real life its easier to time when there is food in your mouth when you can talk. I noticed that people were talking right after taking a giant bite of food, I found this funny because in real life people might try not to look like a fool by talking with a full mouth. Its just really hard to keep track of everything, that's why I had trouble with it. Also, I have never really thought of the appropriate height of tables until today.

Class

I think that class is definitely a lot more fun now that we are getting more and more comfortable acting like idiots around each other. The getting stuck activity proved to be rather weird. I felt really awkward the whole time I was doing it. I'm not sure why but I didn't really like that particular activity, maybe it was because I had never been caught in a giant spider web before. However I believe that activity made us think but I could definitely see how people were finishing early because it was such and awkward thing to do.

I think it's great that everyone is starting to have more fun in class. The new exercises that we are doing let us use our imaginations a whole lot more. Especially the cardboard tube one. I think people think too hard when they are trying to come up with an idea for it. I just go with the first thing that comes to mind. And I guess that's the whole point of this and the other exercises we do.

getting stuck

I thoguht the activity we did last class was hilarious!!! i loved it! i thought it was really hard to make it not to showy! I think its a really good activity!

class

class is becoming alot more fun!!! i think it is bc cause everyone realizes that its ok to be a dork haha, and the acting we do in class now is also getting better because of that. so i think by the end of class we should all be pretty good and acting.

FUN!!!

I agree with everyone that class has been a lot of fun lately. I believe this is because everyone is starting to get more comfortable now and is starting to really enjoy the class. I also agree that it fun to pick out of the gourd because you never know what your going to get. You don't get time to think about it either you just go with it. I know for me personally its these exercises that have made me become more comfortable rather it be group or only. Even though I feel more comfortable i would still rather do activities in groups.

I second or third or whatever, the notion of class being exciting and full of drama (good kind). It was interesting getting tangled in an imaginary web monkey’s bars; I had fun trying to figure it out. I thought about when I used to live in New York, spending a great deal of my time at the park right across the street from the projects. I did get stuck once on the monkey bars when I nine, my brother had to get me down as I hanged upside down for about fifteen minutes. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us next in class, peace.

I agree with Renee, I thought class was a blast on Tuesday. Actually I think it has been a blast for the past couple classes. At first I didn't want to do things in front of the class on my own, I always wanted to be in a group but I actually don't mind being alone in front of everyone anymore. Plus I like watching single people rather than mutiple people every now and then. I also agree that it's fun to pick ideas out of our gourd lol. You never know what you're going to pull out but it's exciting because you never know when you're going to have to be the crocodile hunter or a bull fighter!

Yes, class continues to be fun, kind of like goal-oriented 'whose line'. Speaking of which, this is a little off-topic, but I have always thought that I could pick out theater majors/enthusiasts in convo because of their overblown hand gestures and dynamic conversations. I thought they were letting overacting spill into their daily lives. Lately, I feel challenged in this attribution by the somewhat minimalist nature of this class. I wonder if anyone else feels this way?

WOW

So class was very interesting and fun on tue. I thought I had so many ideas for the cardboard tube but then someone would that them or I decided it would not work. So I did no think that it would be so hard to think of something but it really was. Also I found it very entertaining watching people get entangled in things. Everyone imagines getting entangled in something different and I liked seeing how people imagined themselvs doing something.

I also really like the whole idea of us writing down things and picking them out of bowl. I am always scared of what I am going to get and how hard it is going to be, but I always have fun and I enjoy watching everyone.

Video Taping/Story

Someone mentioned video taping the class in their entry. I think this is a fabulous idea. As an education major and a musician, I know that you can learn a lot from seeing yourself on tape. Watching a tape of yourself helps you realize what you actually look like when you are doing something. You can also realize what aspects of your acting might need more or less. And it would definitely be interesting to tape a few different classes during the semester to see progress.

I am glad that we are now putting some of our activities in the context of a story. This is really helping us to expand our acting skills because it raises the bar a bit higher. Now you actually have to think about several different aspects besides the present. You also have to think about what happened and what will happen.

Imagination

So the little cardboard tube certainly made things even more interesting in the class. I thought it was cool to come up with different ideas of what the tube could be just based on what it looked like. It sort of reminds me of when you are a kid and you look in the sky at the clouds. Only now, you get to actually show the object rather than trying to convince others what it is.

I also thought the little mini story thing was fun because we were able to give the object a little bit of background rather than just showing off the item. I think it would have been more interesting if we had to do the same item with someone else while we both were up there though.

Cardboard Tubes, Entanglement, and Stories About Random Objects

Class Tuesday was very interesting. I like how each activity builds on the previous activity. I feel like everyone in the class is progressing so much. I remember at the beginning of the semester when we had to pick a small object and use it. Now we are adding story lines to our objects. The whole class is also thinking on their feet better. The speed of the class has increased. We are now able to accomplish an activity with little explanation. I wish we could have video taped our first few classes and compared them with our most recent classes. I think everyone would be pleasantly surprised at how well we are doing.

FUN!

I agree that class is becoming more fun as people get more comfortable. I also think that yesterday's class went especially well because the pace was so quick. Activities like the tube and assign-a story-to-your-random-object were fun because they got the point across very quickly. And they were interesting. Because people were more relaxed they were more willing to try new/strange things that were more interesting to watch and more fun to actually do.

Tube Activity

I really enjoyed the tube activity we did in class today! At first, I could only think of sports related things that someone could do with the tube. As we continued to go around in the circle, I thought of more and more things we could do with the tube. I wonder how long we could have kept going with the activity. It goes to show that even though it is just a cardboard tube it can have many uses. I always enjoy seeing what people come up with as ideas. I feel like there are so many creative people in our class!

Thinking Outside of the Box

One really needs to think outside of the box during this class. All of the activities that we did today had us using our imaginations and thinking of the unusual. This class is great because it allows us college students to be able to revisit that creativity and imagination that we so often used and enjoyed when we were children. It definitely makes it more interesting to watch too that is for sure. I am having so much fun in this class and actually still learning things...who knew. ha
I also agree with Claire. It does seem that we are all able to act like idiots and we are actually becoming a lot more comfortable doing it. I realized this when we had to pick from the little pumpkin container. People who would never have gone until they absolutely had to were going more towards the beginning. Impressive.

"70 minutes, how long is that?"

I find class more and more entertaining every day. I find it really funny, there aren't many classes that entertain me like this one, so good job everyone. I was telling my friend about the paper tube thing that we did and she asked why I didn't choose a unicorn... so I'd like to change my answer to that because everybody enjoys unicorns. I also noticed that our class is getting a lot more comfortable with each other, which is kinda nice

bus stop

I loved the exagerated version of bus stop. It's a good change of pace in class. We're usually pretty serious when we are doing things in class. But this gave of a chance to clown around and have a lot of fun. Also, doing the exageration makes it easier for the audience in our situation to identify who's who. Since we don't have any props or costumes, it's hard to tell what people are when they aren't allowed to talk. Hopefully we can do the exagerated version more often.

Yep, I like what Abby says. It is nicer to be more comfortable and that makes it more fun, and at the same time I'm okay with doing more subtle things to be better. It is a class after all. Aaron mentioned how hard something is when it is uncommon and you've never seen it done before. I think that is a good observation, and I would add that that maybe makes things more fun, when you have no template and you truly have to improvise stuff. Oh, and I actually liked the Browns last night and wasn't acting this time.

Class

Class is going pretty well for me now. At first I was a little bit hesitant to just go up and make a fool out of myself but I think since the class has progressed I don't care too much about that anymore. I am feeling more and more comfortable around the people in the class more and more as classes fly by. The tangled up exercise seems a bit challenging and I still have no clue what I want to be tangled up in. I think the hardest thing about it is that you can't get out of it and I think that is the trick to this exercise because there is no stopping point which I think makes it difficult.

browns/class

did anyone see the browns game last night holy cow that was amazing!!!! yes i am a hardcore browns fan dont make fun. i class on thursday it was kinda hard showing your occupation bc u really couldnt do anything sitting at a bus stop.

Bus Stop

I also enjoyed the exaggerated bus stop activity. It was a good thing for us to do because there are shows that call for that sort of acting. It is important to know where the line is and to know when and why you are crossing it. This exercise helped us see a clear difference between serious acting and exaggerated acting.

The tangled activity looks like it is going to be a challenging one. I have to imagine it is hard to act as if you are tangled up when you are not actually tangled up. But I can see why it is an important activity. For example, look at any horror movie. Someone always gets tangled/caught in something in the movie. Now, we all know that the actor is not really stuck but the actor has to be capable of portraying that they are.

I loved doing the exaggerated exercise. I thought it was hilarious watching other people do it and even doing it myself. I feel like I'm at a point with everyone in our class where I don't care at all about making myself look like a fool and I can just go out there and be crazy. It was nice to be able to let go and just be really really obvious about what we are doing.

Reading Renee's blog though made me think a little bit. And although I have not done the tangled up exercise yet I think one of the reason's it may be so hard is that we went from being crazy and obvious to having to narrow down our thoughts and focus again so that we can really see ourselves getting tangled up in something.

Croc Hunter

So in class I had to act as the croc hunter and I honeslty had no idea what to do. I thought it was fun trying to "hunt" a croc lol but i honestly just went in there with no care in my mind. I also thought it was very funny watching some of the others trying to act out their jobs. The hardest thing I think we have done so far was getting caught in something. I had no idea how to get caught in a soccer net. I have never really been caught in something and so it was really hard to get un stuck in something that was not there.

Exaggerated

I must be one of the few that actually felt extremely stupid exaggerating the scene. It felt weird trying to make things so obvious. Although it was funny watching others do it, I did not care for it that much.

I really thought the entangled exercise was actually fun. Although I am not sure how much I enjoyed the coral reef part of it, it was certainly quite interesting to try to think of what a person would do in that situational. It is hard to act like what you would do since it probably does not happen to 99.9% of people and I do not think I have ever seen it on television. Either way, I am looking forward to class tomorrow to see what others have to do.

Bus Stops and Spider Webs

I think class today was quite interesting. I really liked the over exaggerated bus stop activity. This allowed me to see that in some cases in class I was over-acting what I was doing without even trying. It helped me to see how ridiculas something looks when you are trying to show people what you are doing.
Also, the tangled exercise was interesting. I think each of these exercises helps me to use my imagination more. In order to be tangled in something you have to see it, and see it in detail. I'm looking forward to being tangled in something tomorrow.

Comfortable

I agree that being in groups make you feel more comfortable. I have never been one that likes all eyes on me. Even when we are all doing something different i still feel more comfortable (bus stop activities). Talking about the bus stop exercises these are my favorite. I really had a good time when we had to exaggerate and actually show what occupation we had. I think its interesting how there stereotypes for everything in life. Going back to the subject, even though i am starting to feel more comfortable in front of the class i still don't really like having to get up and do exercises by myself.

bus stop acting

I like attention (the good/positive kind of course) I enjoy being put on the spot and having people stare or rely on me. I enjoy stepping up to challenges of life; it motivates me to put my best foot forward. The growth from this class has been a benefit in the areas of how to be more alert of my movements, my imitations of people or objects, and being more aware of my environments. The area which I need to work on is trying not to think so much and just be gravey (going with the flow, no lumps or bumps smooth sailing). For example during class I had to act like an athlete at the bus stop, I tried hard not to think about what I was going to do, but I started to think about the different ways of being an athlete not like a boxer but it came out that way. peace with chicken grease.!!!

Feeling Comfortable

I feel like the majority of the class feels more comfortable when they are in groups and when they are exaggerating something. I know that this is true for me. When I am in a group I feel more comfortable because I know the attention is not all on me. This is especially true when one of the people in my group is doing something extremely entertaining...chances are no one is really even noticing what I am doing. Therefore, the pressure is off. However, when I am up there by myself, I know that the only place to look is at me and my actions. Also, when we did the activity at the bus stop where we exaggerated our character's actions, it was funny and the seriousness of it was lowered. Therefore, it seemed fairly easy for everyone to make a fool out of themselves because it seemed like more of a joke than actually acting. It is good to be pushed out of your comfort zone, however from observation, people would rather play it safe.

tang-led

I enjoyed watching and over-doing career stereotypes. I thought they were funny, much funnier than being caught in something. I agree that doing solo-skits is much harder, at least in groups you can count on people sharing attention between 4 of you, but when it's just you can feel the pressure. I can't wait to see people caught in crap on Tuesday (but not literally crap, hopefully someone did not write that down). I saw the play tonight, it was depressing but I liked it a lot, the acting was not quite as great as our class but it was close.