Today Rob , our tutor, lead us through several vocal exercises to help us become better actors in ourselves as well as outwardly.
Sometimes as actors we act out parts that we believe to fit the character based on location or status; or the form of script it is in. But that isn't always the case.
The whole point of these exercises was to experiment with our range and see how loud and quiet we can essentially go. It is almost a habit to read an older text and simply assume it must be completely projected and spoken in a "posh English accent" because that is "what they spoke like back then", but that isn't true. The whole point of plays to be performed were to have meaning behind them, later an idea came up with by Russian practitioner Stanislavsky.They're meant to reach out to the audience and truly make them understand through the text. They don't want to listen to someone shouting big and mighty because the text sounds sophisticated; they want people to sound like them. Ordinary and most of all Human. This is because as actors , our aim is to make a performance feel as real as possible to them. For example, the most modern form of tragedies are soap operas. Television shows such as ,"Coronation Street "or "Eastenders" ; aim to connect with audiences with story-lines that are current in today's society. Watching Dot Branning run the famous launderette and fill our ears with all the gossip from Albert square since the mid 1980s may be boring to some , but to others more effective because that way she is as real as they come.She is simply a common Londoner (and we all know a Dot Branning or two). It is then more entertaining to the audience because the character feels more closer to them.
There is, however, a fine line between sounding neutral toned and ordinary than monotone and completely without expression.
A task put forward by Rob was to read an older poem. The exercise was to read it out to the class as you would read it. Quite a lot of us fell victim to the whole "must sound posh" drama syndrome and also quite a lot of us just simply read it out. But now, feeding back from the lesson , I now realise that what we were directed to do was perform it as ourselves but how everyday people would react upon reading it. That is why so many modern television shows are popular and what makes actors skilled and brilliant, is because they have that somewhat ordinary about them that people can relate to, otherwise the audience cannot connect or delve into the story with ease.
Conclusion
* What audiences want is something that they can feel empathy or sympathy with. It is all good and well acting out a part with a good vocal belt, but the clarity of the piece is speaking with slowness and with diction.
* Don't put on a voice unless the purpose is to present social status or location , otherwise make it your own , and by meaning that you still act out with expression but in a way that people would normally do , That's what makes it more successful.
Sometimes as actors we act out parts that we believe to fit the character based on location or status; or the form of script it is in. But that isn't always the case.
The whole point of these exercises was to experiment with our range and see how loud and quiet we can essentially go. It is almost a habit to read an older text and simply assume it must be completely projected and spoken in a "posh English accent" because that is "what they spoke like back then", but that isn't true. The whole point of plays to be performed were to have meaning behind them, later an idea came up with by Russian practitioner Stanislavsky.They're meant to reach out to the audience and truly make them understand through the text. They don't want to listen to someone shouting big and mighty because the text sounds sophisticated; they want people to sound like them. Ordinary and most of all Human. This is because as actors , our aim is to make a performance feel as real as possible to them. For example, the most modern form of tragedies are soap operas. Television shows such as ,"Coronation Street "or "Eastenders" ; aim to connect with audiences with story-lines that are current in today's society. Watching Dot Branning run the famous launderette and fill our ears with all the gossip from Albert square since the mid 1980s may be boring to some , but to others more effective because that way she is as real as they come.She is simply a common Londoner (and we all know a Dot Branning or two). It is then more entertaining to the audience because the character feels more closer to them.
There is, however, a fine line between sounding neutral toned and ordinary than monotone and completely without expression.
A task put forward by Rob was to read an older poem. The exercise was to read it out to the class as you would read it. Quite a lot of us fell victim to the whole "must sound posh" drama syndrome and also quite a lot of us just simply read it out. But now, feeding back from the lesson , I now realise that what we were directed to do was perform it as ourselves but how everyday people would react upon reading it. That is why so many modern television shows are popular and what makes actors skilled and brilliant, is because they have that somewhat ordinary about them that people can relate to, otherwise the audience cannot connect or delve into the story with ease.
Conclusion
* What audiences want is something that they can feel empathy or sympathy with. It is all good and well acting out a part with a good vocal belt, but the clarity of the piece is speaking with slowness and with diction.
* Don't put on a voice unless the purpose is to present social status or location , otherwise make it your own , and by meaning that you still act out with expression but in a way that people would normally do , That's what makes it more successful.
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