LITERAL
(a)
“I, Dean Nolan, affirm that I have completed my independent
component, which represents 30 hours of comprehensive work.”
(b)
The
main source I used to complete the second independent component
hours - is my participation for the Drama Team to compete in the
Fullerton Theatre Festival. I have been working on a piece called
“Claptrap” in which I played a character named “Harvey” who
hit it big with an insane amount of luck. I have completed 50+ hours
in the combination of rehearsal and the Festival performance.
(c)
I have provided a digital speadsheet of my 50+ hours below.
(d) I
have explained in detail below, what I completed in the 50+ hour
requirement.
I completed my 50 hour second independent component by participating in the Drama Team to compete in the Fullerton Theatre Festival. The practice began in late November, but I was only able to start getting ready and going to practice and rehearsals in December, which was the end mark of my first independent component - “The Lady of the House.” As one of Ipoly's actors in the the contempary humorous monologue selections, not only did I had a great opportunity to create and actually put my senior project topic to good use by actually using method acting to prepare for a role, but I also got to observe how other actors near me and fellow competitors were able to get ready for their own monologues. From using resources, I was able to gather information and standpoints on how I should deliver my performance of “Harvey” from “Claptrap”. I had to learn using every little source I had, be it my teacher, my stage manager, or my fellow actors – to produce a monologue capable to winning the Festival. In “Claptrap”, I was given the role of “Harvey”. Harvey is an upcoming actor who is very awkward (the irony is stunning), and is telling his roommate about his experience where he was shot by a stroke of good luck by selling an improvised storyboard for a fortune. Since the monologue was a solo act, I did not have a chance to study actor's reactions to me, so it really made it difficult to piece together how I should deliver this performance.
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INTERPRETIVE
My
50 hours of work began when I picked up the script entitled
“Claptrap”. I spent a great deal of time studying and rehearsing
the script. I had to get to know very well so I could stand a
fighting chance in the tournament by understanding my role of
“Harvey”. During the rehearsals, I spent most of the time using
trial and error in order to perfect Harvey. I had come up with the
impression that he was a cross of Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld, and
Miguel from El Dorado. I intended to deliver that performance as I
saw fit. I managed to get friends to help me out such as Jacob Ruiz
in reading other parts of the play with me (the parts where Harvey
interacted with Sam), and Mr. Hogan (who coached me and told me
exactly what I was lacking.) I spent multiple hours trying to deliver
this performance better and better, and it took me even more hours to
try and remember the lines to a point where I wouldn't stall in the
middle of the performance. Most of my time spent rehearsing was
during the final weeks where the Fullerton Theatre Festival neared
closer and closer. In addition to all the hours spent – I also got
many of my hours from the two days of Festival performances and
studying how others did their performances for the tournament.
APPLIED
My
independent component helped me to understand the essence of my topic
better, in which granted me better understanding of how actors work.
It showed an actor's spirit in the face of an intense performance
that a lot depends on. A tournament was a good way to bring out the
stress-level since there was something to prove, not only to
yourself, but to the rest of the world. In addition, I was able to
observe these people and my fellow actors to make sense of what they
were doing could be applied to my performance as well. I spotted how
well their performances went over with the scorekeepers and saw what
their flaws were as well. My topic, “How does one best use prepare
for a role?” was shown to be of the utmost importance when it came
to all these performances. I saw what these high schoolers did on
their spare time, in which not a second was wasted constantly in
preparing and using their own role in modern day scenarios. They
would also use games to prepare themselves even better, on terms of
improvisation, character spirit, and sharpness. All throughout my 50
+ hours of studying these characters and rehearsing for my own
performance, I was brought into a world in which you could see feel
the spirit of acting and theater no matter the scenario. This entire
festival made my passion of acting truly sprout and come alive. Every
character in these performances were mixed but all the same. Unsteady
but also balanced. It was a perfect blend of skill, innovation, and
thought to get to these points and win the tournament. This race to
the top of acting was complimented by Fullerton's free performance of
the play “ASSASSINS.” They showed us how do they, themselves, get
prepared for a role. How quickly and how elegantly it took to do it.
In short, I have noticed that stress contributes to how well you are
prepared for it multiplys the intensity (and that is good for
something like acting.) I also noticed how a sense of community also
gets prepared, even when you are delivering a solo performance (like
I did.) And even though no-one from Ipoly got to the final round, I
can say that this truly was a testiment in finding out what my
essential question really means, and goes toward “How does an Actor
best prepare for a role?”
Fullerton Rehearsals
Hours, TW 3:15 – 5:15 Dec - March
24
Home Rehearsals
Hours, FS 1 hour Feb - March
10
The Pre-Show
Hours, W 4:00 - 9:00 3/6/13
5
The Fullerton Festival
Hours, FS 3/8-9/13 9:00-8:00
22
TOTAL HOURS: 51
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Grading
Criteria
- Log on a digital spreadsheet
- Evidence of 30 hours of work
- LIA submitted to blog
