bears

Nicolas Cage is a good guy leave him alone. Yes he's in a bear suit, yes, he punches a woman, but no, he is not a bad guy. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOpsbAUEe90)........I never saw this movie, but other movies I've seen him in, not too shabby if you ask me. I also like Christopher Walken, especially when he dances. it's pretty much awesome. Anyway, today in class I learned it is much harder to pretend to make make a snowman without hands. Maybe when it snows this winter I'll do a case study of sorts. Also, I learned that the speaking to rhythm thing can make even the lamest of subjects kinda fun, I'm suggesting that all AU staff adopt this new method of teaching. the end

People who suck

I would agree with hallie that Nicloas Cage sucks. The only movie that I ever really liked him in was "Raising Arizona" , which came out 20 years ago. I also think Adam Sandler is not very good at what he does. He is suppossed to be funny, but all he ever really does is run around and make stupid noises/faces. Also, when I watch old saturday night live shows, he always seems to be laughing at his own jokes.

Passing Objects

I have to mention the exercise we did in class Tuesday where we were passing objects. I found this exercise surprisingly difficult. While other were passing. all I could think about the entire time was things I could turn the object into but when it got passed to me, I completely blanked out. When the exercise was introduced, I thought it would be simple for me. On the contrary, it was quite challenging for me.

Actors

I don't think that Keanue Reeves is a bad actor.  Well at least i really like the movies he's in, however i think that Nicholas Cage is terrible.  He is monotone and can only play in action movies, he is not a versitile actor, however his movies usually do pretty well in the box-office.

Bad Acting

Is it just me, or is Bill Paxton the worst actor ever. It is very easy to see that he has no clue what he is doing. He tries to show his emotions way too much. Just watch him in movies like Twister and Apollo 13. The way he yells and reacts in situations is not at all believable. Has anyone else notice this. If not, look for it in some of his movies.

Unconventional Acting

I wonder sometimes if Keanu Reeves is actually a bad actor. He gets made fun of for it a lot and in the movies I've seen his delivery seems a bit wierd, but I have always wondered if he is actually some brilliant actor whose character is so complex that extreme subtlety is the only way to convey what is actually happening. I also wonder why comedy actors seem to never get nods for awards shows unless they do a serious role. It seems like it would be hard to be able to act comically and still make a relatable hardcore character. Maybe it has never been done.

Class

In class i though that the mirror exercise got a lot harder once the leadership was taken away. I am usually the leader in most group projects, however it is sometimes better to step back and follow every once in a while. When you act I can see where following can be better because you are going of what others are doing and that is what real acting is, taking in your surroundings and adjusting yourself to what you have to do to make the audience believe it is really happening before there eyes.

mirroring is achallenge

I have been challenged in many areas so far in the past few weeks by this class and I enjoy it; looking forward to future challenges of the class. Mirroring is such a great concept to bring strangers to together for a common cause to create art or display of reality. The many ideas and thoughts that are flowing during the moment of trying to figure out the action(s) of our classmates is really a great experience. To view or see great minds at work exploring the possibilities of what is being said by body language. This exercise has been challenging in the sense sometimes I take control when I don’t need or want to, it just seemed to happen so when that happens I really try to check myself.
Peace.

Thinking outside the box

I agree with Brittany's comment about how she never thought to feed off of the other people in the class when we were doing our joining in activity on Tuesday. I was the same way, when I saw Aaron digging a hole I was thinking okay so we're going to have 8 people all digging a really big hole. But then when we did the scene at the park and I just thought it was so cool that we all did our own thing but it came together to look like a bunch of kids playing at the park and I thought it was really neat.

Also, after just these first few classes I already notice myself becoming more comfortable with the activities and exercises that we're doing. At first I felt completely ridiculous when I had to get up in front of everyone but on Tuesday I was playing an imaginary volleyball game with a referee and everything and a sunbather in the background and I felt totally comfortable.

Mirror Exercise

I think the hardest part of the whole exercise is that you are unaware of the moments or thoughts the other people are doing. For example, in the baseball and volleyball games, the movement is so fast that it is probably pretty hard for people to actually make it look like it is going on. The mirror exercises have to be slowed down to the point where it almost seems mechanical. Although, it was obvious that the later ones after my gardening activity started to get much better since people were paying more attention to their surroundings.

The O C

So I have never seen it before and my friend made me watch it and now im addicted. I just wanted to throw that out there. While watching the O C i can def. pick out bad acting. Some of the actors seem to not have a very good idea of there surroundings But on the subject of the mirror exercise it is def. more hard then I thought it would be. The class is a lot of fun but I think it will be so much more easy once we start to use words and stuff.

Acting

Details

I also agree that the mirror exercises are harder than they look. When we had to do it without a leader it made it even harder. I never knew rather she was going to move or if I should so I hesitated a lot. I also really enjoyed the exercises when people had to join in. I honestly didn't think it would turn out to be fun like it did. I never realized until this class how important little details are in acting. For example when I "walked" into the bookshelf because I didn't really pay attention to where the others "placed it". Also when we were doing the joining in exercises by adding a simple detail you could set the entire scene. As I said before i didn't realize how important the little details were.

Creativity

I very much enjoy going to class. I find myself amazed at others' ability to think outside the box. For example, during Tuesday's class we did an exercise where people had to join in an activity. At first the joiners tried to do what the first person was doing. When we did the second activity and Renae pretended to play hop-scotch; other people joined in with different activities. One person was sitting on a swing. I found myself thinking Can we do that? It had never occured to me to work together with someone but to feed off of them and do something different. This class inspires me to be more creative. When there aren't rules you don't always have to play it safe; get crazy!

The Real World

I do not know if anyone watched The Real World last season, but instead of being assigned a "job" like usual, they were assigned to go to improv classes. As they improved they were then assigned to participate in shows. Yesterday I was sitting in class listening to Prof. Polanco talk and I realized that we are basically doing the same thing - minus being on TV and doing shows. It was amazing how much The Real World cast improved by the end of their time there.
I feel like I learned so much already that would not have crossed my mind if someone did not point it out to me. For instance, when holding an imaginary fork or rope...my fingers/hands can not be pressed together or it does not look realistic. I am looking forward to seeing how much everyone in class progresses and improves throughout this semester. And I am really enjoying being able to take a course different from all my other classes.

Mirror, Mirror

I agree that the mirror exercises are harder than they look. I have never considered myself a control freak ( In fact, I always thought that it was my nature to follow rather than lead) but when we do the mirror exercises i often find myself wating to take control because I feel the need to DO something. The hardest part of the class so far has been trying to keep it simple. It is so easy to just be a mime and "show" what i am doing. It is a lot harder to actually "do" something with nothing. I never considered myself unimaginative, but I have difficulty interacting with things that aren't there.

odilon

I noticed today how hard it was not not know who is leading the mirror game. It wasn't quite like taking turns, it was more like trying to move one of those quiji boards with the letters that spell out the name of your high school crush or tell you if you're going to win the lottery. (OK, not quite like that) I was trying not to think too hard about what was going to happen next but it was hard. I liked the part of class where we did something and people joined in. I am a better joiner than starter because I couldn't think of anything. good class

Leadership

I thought our mirror exercises and discussion on leadership was very good. In most things I do, I consider myself a leader. Whenever we have group projects, I am usually the person who makes sure we are getting everything done. In the mirror exercise, it is very important to not always be the leader. I liked when Professor Polanco said that five actors working together are going to perform a better play than if one of the actors is trying to be the leader and the other four actors are following him. This got me thinking that for the next group project I have to do, I should not step up to be the leader and see what happens. I am sure that the other group members would think of better ideas all working together compared to just using my ideas for the project.

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