Term 2, week 2- Lesson notes:

Today's lesson was focused on ensemble work.

Our first task was to walk around the room. There would be an action associated with every word. And so when someone shouted out a word, everyone would follow the action necessary. However, some words were contradictory. I.e. "Freeze," and everyone would freeze. But we were only allowed to follow the next action prior the word "Unfreeze," which people often forgot, and so this exercise focused on memory and multi-tasking.

This exercise was useful because many people would find it difficult to multitask. Anyone who didn't put in 100% was also out, and so this forced us not only to try and remember, but be as active as possible, a vital trait of someone who would be participating in an ensemble. It also allowed us to keep our ears open and focus not on what was going on around us, but what the actor himself needs to do. For example, if everyone had frozen, and an action was said without the follow on of "unfreeze," if an individual actor notices this, then he does what he thinks is right, not what everyone else is doing.

Another exercise was to think up an action. Once this was done, everyone walked around the room doing this particular action. Every time we froze, we were told to pair up with someone else, then onto fours and so fourth, until eventually, it went to halves, and one whole group.

This exercise, though useful, didn't end up as successful as it could have been. It was helpful because this exercise enhanced our chorus skills, allowing us to exaggerate and work in unison with others using an action that had been thought of spontaneously, and so being unaware-forced us to be aware of our surroundings, doing what others are doing. This may contradict the previous exercise, but the first exercise focuses on an actor doing only what he needs to do individually, but this exercise allows us to do so, but adapt with the provided surroundings.

The penultimate exercise we partook in, was similar to the last one. However, the class was split into two groups. Each group lined up, facing opposite each other. A leader would then step up (in chronological order) and perform a spontaneous action to the other group. the group from where this actor has just emerged from, will all then, in unison, reinact this action with as much enthusiasm and exaggeration as possible. The other group will also do this, and is repeated until everyone has had a go.

This exercise was useful because it meant that the chorus itself learned to perform the same action, but as in sync as it could possibly be. It taught the actors how to behave with other actors in the surrounding atmosphere and portraying the same action as enthusiastically as possible, working with what all the actors are providing to the audience. It also taught the leader of the group to make sure that no matter how simple his actions are, the chorus must be able to establish this, often why many of the leaders made a sound corresponding to this action.

Our final exercise was very useful, as everyone had also admitted. We were given stimuli, (Apocolyptic Britain, Syrian War, Blondie.) and from there, we were given a designated empty space. Each person would walk in whenever they felt like it, and get into an appropriate position according to the stimuli. By the end, everyone would have walked in, and a giant still image is created. The instructor would then tap on someone's shoulder and would then have to do a quick thought track, and then he (the instructor) would tell us to bring this still image to life.

This exercise was very useful because we had time to think, allowing us to have a rough idea of what our character's input towards the situation was, and how we reacted to it. It was interesting too, because other people would enter and would have to change their initial characters if necessary, depending on what the scene has evolved in to. Some people misinterpreted other people in the still image, and so that actor would then have to adapt everything he has just done, allowing us to enhance our improvisation skills, especially if this image would have been brought to life. I enjoyed this exercise thouroughly because as oppose to other still images, it is natural and hasn't been forced, so any reactions to you and your surroundings are natural, and you have had no time to discuss any relationships within the scene, making improvising harder, but more effecient.