Melody V

8/31/2017

I am Melody. I'm in a dance club, and I was in choir. I don't want to do theatre in the future, but I want to be a dermatologist and maybe an actress as a side job. I believe this class will teach me how to understand people better from their expressions and body language which will help with being a dermatologist, as you interact with lots of people.

12 Comments

Melody

9/1/2017 11:15:02 am

1. Who is more important... the playwright or the cast and crew? Defend your assertion with your logic and some examples.

Both are important because without the playwright, the cast and crew wouldn't know what to do. And without the cast and crew, the playwright would never have a play. They support each other towards their success. If the cast and crew had no playwright, they would do random things and not be on the same pace. The playwright wouldn't have anyone to show him/her what should be fixed and be added.

2. Also, how did your first performance in class go? What did it feel like before, during, and after?

I think it went okay for our first times doing things like that. Before, it felt exciting but also nerve wrecking, hoping nothing would go wrong. During, it felt fun and amazing. After, it felt like we did good. We can always improve, but it was a great experience.

Mr. Hanks

9/5/2017 09:02:31 pm

I'm glad you appreciated the experience as a step in the learning process. Your team had a solid story to perform, yet you seemed to come across a bit teenage. Was this the age and style of your spirit animal? Fully invest yourself in your character - let go of you and go with the new character. You wont know how great it feels and how well you will perform until you let yourself do it. That's my challenge for you for next time!

Melody

9/8/2017 10:24:48 am

1) How did you begin? Did you brainstorm, get struck by a spark of imagination, or begin with by recounting a personal story, etc?

I thought of who I knew best, myself. Then, I thought of who I would talk to, my sister. I tell her many crazy things, but she doesn't like hearing me talk about my dreams. Then I remembered I had a dream that previous night and talked to her about it, so I decided to that.

2) Has thinking about spine, objective, and tactics aided in your writing of an interesting story? Give an example of a tactic your character is using...

It's made my story make more sense and have a sort of awkward progression. My character is using the fact of how unrealistic it is that it's ridiculous and unbelievable, but it takes her into an experience of that type of new setting.

3) What theatrical genre would you apply to your monologue at this point and why?

Some comedy and heroic drama because it ends happily, and it's so weird that it could be funny for some people, although I'm not a great comedian.

Melody

9/15/2017 10:25:00 am

1) Share out about your experience this week attending "As You Like It" at Sacramento Theatre Company. Indicate evidence that supports your opinion.

My overall opinion of "As You Like It" is that is was very great play. The actors had great chemistry with each other, and were very good at keeping character. It also seemed more entertaining because of how they changed the play to match more modern time. It was different.

2) Additionally, consider your monologue...

a) What are you doing to prepare yourself for the performance?

I'm preparing myself mentally. Imaging myself as that character and boosting up my self-confidence rather than stuttering and choking on my words, taking deep breaths.

b)How are you going to bring physicality to your character?

I'm going to be bringing physicality to my character by using facial expressions, and the body language that goes with the way I'm feeling and talking.

c)How might you apply what you saw in live theatre this week to inspire your monologue performance?

By staying in character even if people laugh at the jokes, moving around as to not bore the audience, and projecting myself in a way that seems realistic, and that even if I whisper it can be heard.

Melody Vang

9/22/2017 10:53:41 am

Since I was the third one to go, I wasn't mentally prepared. I was so nervous I couldn't feel my legs. I let this get to me, so I couldn't focus and forgot the ideas I had for certain parts of the monologue and the words. During the play, I let loose a little and got a bit comfortable, but my legs were still shaking. After the play, I was very disappointed with myself because I just sat there, and I was too quiet. It just didn't satisfy me. As I watched others, it inspired me on how I should I act, speak, and write other monologues. This experience taught me to be more confident and be more creative rather than just sitting there and telling a story. I strive to do more and hopefully be more confident with my acting skills and voice projection.

Melody Vang

9/29/2017 10:14:44 am

Describe the beginning concept for your set design. What elements of your inspiration collage did you draw upon? What is the basic stage scene you're setting in your design? Is there a strong design concept yet it regard to style, form, texture, color, etc.?

I was inspired by all the cosmetics and fashion. From a model I drew a mannequin; from celebrities I drew model photos. The basic stage scene I'm setting in my design is of a clothing store. The style would mainly focus on a girly feel. It's a store for boosting up self-esteem with clothes essentially.

Melody

10/11/2017 11:19:57 am

My set design was a clothing store. At first I didn't have a lot of tools so nothing was starting nice. Then when I got the items I needed, I was more satisfied. It was funny trying to do the tables and chairs because I kept struggling on the sizes so sometimes it was they were too small and other times they were too big. It was artistically hard making the shoe rack because I obviously can't draw shoes especially on the tiny sponge. It was a bit hard to make the clothing racks because I had to individually glue on the fabric as clothes, which took a long time. Overall I'm very proud of my finished set design. I'm satisfied with how it turned out and how simple but nice it looks.

Melody

11/3/2017 10:31:38 am

To start off my puppet, I thought of who I should do. When I found it, I started with a quick sketch of the puppet, trying to make it similar to the original character but in my puppet version. I found it really hard to make the cracks on the clay smooth. I also found it hard to make the dress because I wanted her to have a figure, and the arms were a bit too short. They eventually came out okay since her hair filled in every spot and her face wasn't as wrinkly, and the clothes were doable. I'm hoping to bring out the Scottish side of Merida by attempting the Scottish accent and talking in her style for particular words.

Melody

11/7/2017 10:48:13 am

For my performance, I feel like we did good. Maybe a little more practice would've been better, but it was good despite the amount of practice we got. My overall impression of my puppet, it was good. It looked a bit similar to the original but had a taste of my art in it. Performing on stage makes you really nervous. I even forgot some lines. It makes you feel great at the same time because all of your effort and time can finally seen by other people. Performing without being seen makes you feel a bit more comfortable and confident because I can be a whole new person that will never be me and no one will really know. Being the puppets make you feel different. Watching other people's puppet shows made me learn what not to do and what i need to fix. I noticed a lot of people didn't walk their puppets off, or didn't show it's whole body, or make the puppet breathe(come to live) so that's what I focused on doing.

Melody

12/4/2017 10:56:39 am

Describe your Shakespearean experience over the last weeks: What was it like performing a work written over 400 years ago? How did you approach your costume and makeup/hair designs for the scene? Why do you believe Shakespeare remains relevant to audiences to this day?

It was a very interesting experience. The grouped that I worked with were somewhat dedicated to their character making it more easier to work with. My costume design for Hippolyta was based on her status and personality. I wore heels which kind of show pride and a sort of royalty, and a long white coat to represent pureness and elegance. The makeup and hair were more natural looking. I believe that Shakespeare remains relevant to audiences to this day because of its story and how realistically relatable some scenes were. He was one of the greatest writers in his time and shows you a history that was different but relatable.

Melody

12/15/2017 10:22:44 am

Our final play is about a young girl, Cinderella whose father dies and leaves her with the stepmother and her two daughters. She's mistreated and is not loved by her step family who married for money. When the family is invited to a ball to find the prince's bride, Cinderella asks to go. The stepmother agrees on the condition of the list of chores she has to do but she lies to Cinderella. While Cinderella is crying, she comes with an idea to go to the ball before they come back. Cinderella goes but little does she know she's dancing with the prince and he falls for her. She quickly leaves however for it's 12 and she must make it back home, leaving a shoe behind as she runs. She returns home but is too late and gets caught. As the day goes by, a knock stops Cinderella. She answers the door, and it turns out the prince is still looking for the person he danced with. She tried on her missing shoe, knowing its hers. He falls in love with her all over again and asks for marriage on the spot. When she's packing, her mother tries to stop her, but Cinderella finally rebels and leaves her old home.
This whole entire story was inspired by the Disney movie "Cinderella". We wrote it to fit our amount of people and time limit, changing a few things. We mainly kept the main roles like Cinderella, the stepmother, and the prince. We also tried to modernize it in a way for not a lot of people wear gowns or glass slippers to dances.

Melody

12/22/2017 09:32:07 am

Look back on your final performance for the class and reflect on your work. How do you feel it went? What was great, and what would you do differently the next time? What are some of your take-aways from the whole term?

It went fast, faster than I expected. There were a lot of mistakes and we did break out of character which was bad, and there were also some technical difficulties. But overall, it went sort of well. I think the beginning was going great until it got to the ball scene. Next time I'd definitely would like to do some sort of dress rehearsal and work on timing because the alarm for the bell did not go off on time, unfortunately. And if we could I'd like to have more costume changes and maybe more actors/actresses. I don't really have any take-aways but I was disappointed when the fire alarm kept going off. But I really loved the plays and projects. It was a lot of fun to perform and watch others perform. You are a wonderful teacher Mr.Hanks. Thank you for this class!!!

Theatre 1: Blogs - Fall 2017

Melody V

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Theatre 1 - Fall 2017

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