Exercises

I agree that the frog detective exercise was really fun. Also the exercise when we had to connect to someone interesting. It was funny and neat to see everyone doing a different movement and making random sounds. And lastly i really enjoyed the exercises at the end of class. The different occupations we did were hilarious to watch. By watching these the one thing that i did notice was that everyone seems to be having fun now.

Exercise

I love the frog detective exercise i think it is fun and original, maybe its for little kids but it is definantly one of the favorite activities. However, i do really like the exercise we did at the end of class last class where we had to do an occupation or do something involving a lot of people intercating in a scene of some sort. I really felt like it was a hard activity but really made you think and i really liked it.

Frog Detective

I would have to say that Frog Detective has been the best "exercise" that we have done this semester. Although, the only time I was the leader I was instantly caught changing to clapping. The game appears to involves a lot of concentration on what others do on both the followers and the guesser. As long as the group is quick to catch on to the change (without staring down the leader), it appeared that the guesser had a hard time guessing. It also helped when the leader would instantly start to change the motion once the guesser turned.

The activity with the noises was rather interesting. I have no idea what that accomplished other than making people more comfortable around one another. It just seemed like we all were making weird noises and acting like we would not in public.

easing out being inhibited

On Tuesday, we started off with a cool game/exercise “Frog Detective” I looked at this game in a whole new way since this summer when I’d play with the campers during down time from the program. I have let go of some of my inhibition, and I will continue to do so throughout the rest of the semester. Since the start of the class, I have been paying attention to details more in and out of the class. Thinking about my study habits, people conversations and body language (not listening just viewing), the way animals move, etc. What I am finding out so far is that things aren’t what they appear to be all the time and all the time appearing may not be there at all. which makes life even more interesting. Peace.

sick

I was not in class on tue because i was really sick...but it sounds like you guys had a lot of fun! Im not really sure what you guys did but i herd about air guitars and stuff lol so i dont know.

Being Less Inhibited

On Tuesday, Prof. Polanco pointed out that actors need to be more outgoing and unhibited. I really struggle with this. I have always been more quiet and reserved. And I defintely think too much about getting answers right and not making a fool out of myself. That is actually one of the reasons I signed up for this course. I figured it was a good step towards trying to become more outgoing and stop worrying about what other people think. I obviously have lots of work to do. Hopefully I will progress through this semester. All I can do is continue to try my best...without embarrassing myself too much. haha.

Inhibitions

After class I thought long and hard about inhibitions. I first thought about how awful it is to be inhibited in acting class. The less inhibited you are the more people will believe you because you are going off a feeling that you actually have. I was inspired to throw away my inhibitions in not only class but also in life. Obviously, within reason, you should not have inhibitions. Inhibitions keep you from reaching your creative potential; and what kind of world would we live in if there was no creativity.

Focused

I thought our discussion on the importance of being focused was very good. It is so true that when a person is focused, the acting looks so much better. Initially, when I heard people say get focused/stay focused, I would equate that to not being able to have fun. I found out in class that you can be focused and have fun. I thought I was focused when I was playing my air guitar, and it was my favorite thing I have done in this class! I just need to remember to stay focused in class because the acting will be better and then I will have more fun because I do not feel like I am a terrible actor! :)

wop wop wop

Today's class was interesting because we started to incorporate sounds into things. It was weird making a nonsense sound in class because it isn't often that we get to do that. I liked the machine game and thought that to scene making part was hard when it wasn't something like sports or obvious exercising. I can never think of anything to start a scene that requires more interaction with other people (maybe I just don't get out much). I might get better at thinking of things as time goes on.

appologies

WOw, I had no idea that so many people like Adam Sandler. Parhaps you all are right- I should watch Spanglish and not The Water Boy. But, I still reserve the right to not go to his movies, just as you have the right to think he is amazing.

The human machine exercises are fun, if a bit strange. It is really interesting in class to see all the weird things that people come up with. It is also interesting how people build off one another and the games take on a life of thier own.

using no hands/ mirror

i thought it was very intertaining and very dificult to try and convey and certain activity without using ur hands. at first i was like oh this will be easy , then once i started i was like oh m an this not good at all . also i thought the mirror excersise was dificult but not as hard as the no hands . as long as the person u were miroring went slow i thought it was easy to follow.

No hands attached

I think that the mirror exercise is easy as well but when we had to do the opposite I got so confused. When we do the exercise with the objects and we have to make them bigger or smaller, I think that is so hard. I did not know how to make it something new. The no hands exercise was not as hard as I thought it was going to be. Deciding what other body part to use was challenging but once we got up there to do it I was fine. This class really does make you think about everything around you and how you use every part of your body to function.

Hardness

Adam Sandler really doesn't do it for me, unless it's Spanglish. Also, Nick Cage is great unless he has a mullet. I actually don't think that the mirroring is that hard if you really get into it. I think that the hardest things we've done so far have been when we have to pretend to use props that don't exist, or when I feel like I have to improvise a motion for no reason. Rather tricky.

moving objects

I feel that the exercises we are doing in class are  defiantly harder than they look, especially when you have no idea what you are even trying to mirror.  I feel that doing it with one other person is a lot easier than doing it with 4 people, especially because its harder to be completely in sync with another persons movements and be able to make it work as a whole.  

Adam Sandler

Adam Sandler is an amazing actor. There is no one that can do the things he does. He can be very funny and also very serious. His roles in Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore are so funny. The way he change his voice in an instance makes it even more funny. He can also play serious roles like he did in Spanglish and Rain on Me (or whatever the name is).

Also, I love how all his friends are in every movie.

Problem Solving (No Hands)

I am pretty sure that if we were the first group to have to preform the action with no hands of moving the television cart, it most likely would not have ended to well for us. After watching the first group and hearing the suggestions made by the professor, it made the concept seem easier. Plus Juan and I were able to watch the group physically move the television stand to see how it might move awkward on them.

The acting exercise where the other group had to mirror what we were doing is probably the hardest exercise yet. Without knowing what someone is trying to accomplish, it makes it very awkward to predict what the next type of move would be.

Surprising Challenges

I agree that many of the exercises that we do in class seems like they would be easy but they really are not. The talking on the beat exercise was really hard for me. Maybe it was just the topic I had, but trying to think of something to say that fit the beat was difficult. Also the exercise where we had to use the same object. It was different to have to use the same "object" between two or more people. I still find myself having a difficult time paying attention to the little details. For example when Paige and I did the blanket I ended up making the blanket shorter.

No Hands

I found the exercise that we had to move something with a partner to be completely difficult. Once he said that we could not use our hands the task in my mind became so much more difficult and my assumptions proved right. I don't think we realize how much we do with our hands. Once my hand were taken from me in that exercise I had no clue what I was going to do and I found it really hard to do the task without hands. I love my hands and I hope he never takes them away from us again because once he said no hands everything changes.

Comment on Briana's Post

I was just reading about how you think Adam Sandler is an awful actor and I strongly disagree. While Adam Sandler is great in movies like Happy Gilmore and Big Daddy, I would recommend that you watch Spanglish. I have never seen a more honest performance in my whole life. He is so real and approachable in this movie. He is sincere and serious. I was more than impressed when I saw it for the first time and it gets better every time I watch it. I think it takes a great actor to be so in touch with his emotions to go from light-hearted, ridiculously funny movies to such an honest movie about real life.