Voice and The Actor - Blog Entry 1

Vocal Development Programme

In this week I focused mostly upon Radio as it is coming up soon and I feel I need to devote a good amount of time to it, in order to portray Patrick Moore's character to great ability.

I shall reflect upon different things that may affect my voice:

Posture - I feel overall, posture is a weakness for me as I have a tendency to slouch and this takes affect on my voice as when slouched, vocal organs get constricted and don't work to the best of their ability, also when in a bad posture, it can affect your voice psychologically as you start to take a more laid back approach. This is mentioned by a wonderful voice coach named Patsy Rodenburg who talks about the second circle.

Semi Supine position used for Alexander Technique.

Tension points - I find that I often have tension in certain places in my body, I often see myself having my shoulders in a raised position and not relaxed. This may also be due to that I am often wearing a back pack on my shoulders so I have gotten into a bad habit. Having tension is bad as it can affect your posture and your voice. A good exercise to do is called Alexander Technique, which many actors do to relive tension, actors like Hugh Jackman have talked about this wonderful technique made by Fredrick Alexander in the 1890s. The technique is in the semi supine position showed by the image and by thinking about tension being relieved it helps release areas with high tension.

I feel that these exercises will help me with my vocal weaknesses and I will be using them throughout the next few weeks leading up to my radio play in order to portray Patrick Moore to the best of my ability.

Rehearsal Plan for Man of Mode

Introduction

I have decided to start a rehearsal plan for Man of Mode, our final major project. I want to find out who my character is so I can portray him to the best level.

The character I am playing is Sir Fopling Flutter and also the character of Mr Smirk.

There are some things I need to do in order of achieving my objective of portraying these characters to the best of my ability.

Working the Script

I will need to look at the script and read it many times so I can understand what my characters objectives are throughout each scene and to get a better understanding of their history and what they stand for. Working the script will also help me to learn my lines.

I need to:

Read the Script at least 10 times to learn what my character is trying to achieve, and where he wants to be.

Learn the translation in the script to understand the language.

Reading the script to understand different relationships between characters and status. 

Background Research

Considering Man of Mode is set in the 17th century I will research this time period to get a better understanding of it as I never experienced this time which is likely not the case for a more contemporary play.

Research Charles II's reign on the throne and the impact he had on theatre and time period.

Watch films that are based around that time to get a greater understanding of the context. For example The Libertine, Stage Beauty, The Duchess etc.

Research social, cultural, economic, political and historical themes in the 17th Century to understand my character and the other characters around him. 

Research Clothing as my character, Sir Fopling Flutter is very much into clothing and the garments worn in this time period were very eccentric. 

Character Study

A character study is very important as you need to know the character as well and be the character as if he was you. Otherwise you can not portray the truth and you won't be doing the script or the character justice. 

Look at the script and try to understand what my character wants and what his goals are.

Understand basic information about my character, like D.O.B, hair colour, status etc.

Think about how they would react around other characters and their vocal changes with different people and different environments. 

Rehearsal Process

Rehearsals are what makes the show without rehearsal, a show would be impossible to stage, in order to achieve a good play, rehearsals have to be enthused with energy, commitment and punctuality.

Be at rehearsals on time in an energised manner and able to be fully confident in my ability.

When observing other scenes, make notes on how this affects my character and also things you would change if given a directorial view.

To be open to ideas and to try them out as it may enrich my performance.

Learning Lines

Learning lines is a key component to the final product as it helps to understand the characters objective and learning the lines to a great level will mean you have a better grasp on the character.

Learn all lines to help understand my character.

Look at the lines and learn translations so I can understand what my character means. 

Voice Study Week Work

Introduction

After putting together my CV I have noticed some faults in my vocal skills. I feel that improving these skills would open me to more employment in this tough industry. Therefore I will reflect upon different plays and performances I have been in recently and Feedback from these projects.

My Voice: 

What kind of Tone is my voice?: Baritone

How Fast or Slow do they Speak?: Quite fast

Do I pause a lot?: No

Do I find it difficult to project?: No

Do I articulate my words?: Yes, but I find the Th sound difficult

What is my Pitch like?: I have quite a deep voice

Do I emphasise certain words?: Normally after I take a pause or I think I start the first word with emphasis

Do I speak in one tone?: No 

Do I have specific difficulties when pronouncing certain words?: Yes, when pronouncing an R sound

Do I like my voice and why?: I don't like my voice because of my posh accent, I also wish my voice was a bit higher as it sounds quite deep and I don't like how at points I can sound monotone.

Is my voice loud?: Yes

Is my voice quiet?: No

Is my voice deep?: Yes

Is it high or low?: Low

Is is strong or weak?: Strong

Is it shaky?: No

Is it husky?: No

Is it crisp?: No

Is it clipped?: Sometimes

Is it drowning?: No

Is it nasal?: A little

Is it squeaky?: No

Is it crackly?: No

Is it raspy?: No

Is it distorted?: No

What are the characteristics of your voice? (describe and explain - use feedback from previous performances, your voice in general and your own analysis)

I would say I have quite a posh sounding voice. I think is due to the fact that I was brought up in quite an upper class town in England. I would say I speak quite quickly at times but I am usually still able to articulate. However, sometimes my 'th' sounds get lost and I have a very difficult time when pronouncing words that either start or have the letter 'r' in them, saying Ferrero Rocher is a nightmare. From previous performances I have been given feedback such as good intention and good support however my articulation could be better. I feel I excel when supporting and I think my breath control will on stage is good. My adaptation to a scene is also good as I can recognize how my character would talk with different people. For example when I played Stephen Crossley in '13', the level of volume would change considering who he was with and which environment he was in, for example when he was talking to his friend Ruth he would speak in a soft voice that was reassuring to show how he was her friend. However, when Stephen is doing a lecture he would use a voice that would be more empowering and louder to persuade the students that came to his lecture. A hindrance in my voice is emphasis. I find it difficult to emphasise the right words but I know how to use the skill of emphasis. I find myself putting emphasis on the wrong words. 

In what ways do these vocal qualities benefit or hinder you as a stage performer?

As said before I think I have quite a lot of work to do on my articulation and I think if not worked on it could hinder my performance as an actor on stage as 'th' sounds may sound like 'f' and will become an annoyance for the audience to watch and may find it difficult to get lost in the story when the actor can't articulate properly. When performing plays done by playwrights like Shakespeare the articulation needs to be to an even greater standard as the words are difficult to the audience and so with them being said wrongly it would make it even harder for the message to be portrayed. Another hindrance as said before is my emphasis on certain words, I tend to put the emphasis on the wrong words and when an audience member is asked to talk about the scene it is easier for them to get the message portrayed if the right words are being emphasised, for example if I am trying to portray that I hate the actor Tom Hanks, and I say 'I hate the actor Tom Hanks', I should emphasise the word hate to get the feeling across to the audience and to help provoke a reaction from the other actor on stage, whereas if I emphasis the word actor, the message would be lost.

What vocal exercises (at least 3) might be suitable for building on your strengths and to address the issues mentioned? Please explain the exercise (use words and images)

Considering I find articulation difficult I will do exercises that will increase my articulation as they will help my vocal muscles. 

Finger between teeth exercise:

The first exercise which is great for articulation is the finger between teeth exercise, you first start off by placing your finger in between your teeth and putting your tongue on your hard palette which is located at the roof of your mouth. By saying a line your mouth will try to move more as you want to make words that make sense instead of sounding stupid. After this you take your tongue off your palette and keep your finger in the same place, you'll make more sounds this time as you have your tongue and your lips will still move as much. After this you take away your finger and you will start to articulate as your lips are a muscle and will remember how much they moved and will move like this, muscle memory. 

Tongue Twisters:

There are many tongue twisters, that can help articulation. Saying tongue twisters can help the movement of your mouth and most importantly your tongue which is a key component in Articulation. Different tongue twisters are based on alliteration around certain letters, for example 'Sister Susie sewing shirts for soldiers' is based around the S sound. 'Peter Pepper picked a pack of pickled peppers', is based around the P sound. I feel that my articulation is weakest when pronouncing 'th' sounds so I will use a tongue twister like 'He threw three free throws', this tongue twister helps me immensely as I find the fr and the th sound difficult to differentiate. 

Jaw warming exercise:

Another exercise that will help my voice would be to loosen my jaw by warming it up, if my jaw is stiff it is difficult to articulate properly. The way to do it is to take where your thumb and your hand meet and to place it at the side of your eye and to bring your hand down to where your mouth is while your mouth is open in a comfortable position. This will help warm the jaw up as its a big component in the vocal system.

Week 7 - Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Actioning

To start off this week I really wanted to develop my monologues, and so I started using a technique called Actioning which was created by Max Stafford-Clark. The technique is based around thoughts and what the character wants. This link to the actors objective which was first introduced by Constantin Stanislavski. An Actors objective is what the character wants by the end of the scene, for example Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing wants to confront his feelings for Beatrice and show his love, I feel his obstacles in this scene is mostly himself. An obstacle is what is stopping the character from getting to his objective, and so Benedick is stopping himself from getting to his objective as hes scared he'll be scrutinized for saying how he feels for Beatrice. Both monologues that Benedick has are juxtaposed, in the first monologue he preaches how he is against live but I believe he is in love at this time with Beatrice but won't show it because he is scared that Beatrice won't feel the same. In the second monologue he professes how he loves Beatrice as he has found out she loves him to and so Benedick is not scared to show his love.

To give a more descriptive and detailed performance, I'm going to incorporate Actioning. This technique will help me portray what Shakespeare wanted and how this character feels. Actioning is what your character does to someone else, you find out what your character wants by looking at each thought and thinking of the adjective that best suits the thought. For example if I was to say to my friend 'Lets go to the shops?', I would most likely be trying to persuade them, so before I would deliver this line I would say in my head, 'I persuade you' then deliver the line and it would help me to say the line in a persuasive way. The way the line is said could change though, if I fancied my friend then I could use the Actioning of 'Charm'. So the line would be said in a charming way I would say 'I charm you' in my head then say the line 'Lets go to the shops?' I did this for Benedick as I believe this is the best way for me to get a descriptive emotional portrayal.

I actioned my lines and I will show a part of my first monologue as an example, 'One woman is fair, yet I'm well, another is virtuous, yet I'm well, another wise, yet I am well, but till all graces come in one women, one woman shall not come into my grace'. For this I put the action of assure, so 'I assure you'. In this I am assuring the audience that I will never fall in love, I am also trying to assure myself as it is easier to push this love away then be the hypocrite and fall in love.

I enjoyed actioning this week, next week we are performing and I will get all my feedback together and go over notes before the show. 

Week 6 - Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Costume Vibe

Mumford and Sons

A man at a festival

We all started to think about what costumes we would wear considering we have decided to go forward with the festival vibe. We thought about what band we could try to look the same as, to try to get the festival vibe, we thought about Mumford and Sons as they have the sort of vibe we are going for. The tie, waistcoat and shirt look I think is very folk which is what we are also trying to achieve as the song 'Sigh No More' has been covered by Mumford and Sons which is in Much Ado About Nothing. The idea of a hat is also a good idea as it shows the festival sort of look. As shown on the left, I don't think however that the band will wear hats as it seems to be more of something festival goers would wear. I was also thinking about sunglasses but I don't think I will as it will cover my eyes which is a key asset of my facial expressions. I will also chat to Matt and Lewis who also play Benedick to see what ideas they have for the character. A lot of people have also suggested Wellington boots however I don't think that the band would wear wellies as they wouldn't be getting too muddy and they aren't very stylish.

Notes and Run Through

After this we observed each others and made notes for feedback. I observed Sophie and made notes that she could look back on to improve. I said how I wanted to see more of a relationship between her and Donna, as Beatrice who she is playing is best friends with Donna's character Hero, I also felt like Sophie was rushing her lines a bit and was losing the meaning behind them, one of the reasons is because she is yet to know her lines. In the scene there is a part where Sophie is turned around while Benedick enters, she has her back to the audience and is reacting over her shoulder. I felt that it would be more effective if Sophie was towards the audience as we could see more of her when reacting to what Benedick had been saying. I feel like that having her back turned isn't the right blocking, I also said how she could be tightening the bunting or playing with a prop so she doesn't look frozen on stage. I also looked out for some rhetorical devices that as her character she could play on in the scene, for example Beatrice uses a metaphor when talking about Benedick being Claudios friend 'he will hang upon him like a disease', this metaphor is also a place where others in the scene can laugh and subtly mock Benedick. I think Sophie has a good presence in this scene but I feel she has a way to go before its good.

After this I watched Act 1 Scene 2, I observed Nathan, in this scene Nathan doesn't have a massive part but I believe plays it well when reacting to Beatrice as he is Leonato. When watching people that aren't the main part in the scene I always think of a quote, that if you're character isn't talking 'you're thinking of what to say, but you choose not to say it'. I think this is a brilliant quote as it keeps the other characters active and listening to what the main character is saying as well as reacting. I felt at point that this scene was quite flat but I think this will be helped if Frankie can keep the pace of the scene going as she is the focal point. There are some points where the lines said by Frankie can be quite breathy and makes it hard to understand, I like the act that Frankie plays as Beatrice when she imitates different people, as it brings more energy to the scene however her voice needs support when reading in different voices and making big gestures in the scene.

I then got notes on my scene as Sophie was observing me, she said that I lacked focus in the scene, this is true as I felt we all broke character as people were trying to find there lines, however I am annoyed at myself that I broke character and lacked focus throughout the scene as I prided myself on giving my all on stage and staying in character. Sophie felt that I was still putting on a projected voice, I didn't feel that I did this as much but apparently there was still a different voice, I felt that I practised enough to find my own voice but I see that I still need to work on it. As Sophie gave me good constructive criticism I was also given points where I performed well, Sophie said how she could see the thought process when I am thinking about my dream lady's hair. I think this is because when I was thinking about my dream girl I had a picture of a girl that I felt was perfect. I felt it was good I did this because I got more of a genuine reaction. Sophie said that I also had a good reaction when the lid of the box fell on my head. This bit of slapstick in this scene is brilliant because it mocks Benedick and I feel I can give a good reaction as it doesn't hurt too much but I pretend that the pain is times by 10. Sophie felt that I had a brilliant reaction when Beatrice enters, I felt that this was good as well, I played it partly over the top so I could get a funny reaction and this big reaction would of been quite real to Benedick as he is excited and would act over the top or hyper as Beatrice enters.

This week was brilliant for me as I got closer to what I need to achieve with Benedick, I also enjoyed giving feedback on scenes as I like to see the progression of our work as a class as its satisfying to see the final product. 

Week 5 - Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Wedding and Shaming of Hero Choreography

To start off, we were given the challenge by Sally to devise a short physical theatre piece, we were told what we needed to create it round and what we were trying to portray. We were told that we needed to show that there is a swap between the characters of Hero and Margret and how Borachio sleeps with Margret thinking it is Hero and shouts her name while Claudio hears him. Claudio then shames Hero at the wedding. 

In this scene we tried implementing a box step where the two girls could get mixed up there. The box step is simple choreography which I learned from my Youth Theatre group, the way in which I wanted it to be done was that there were two lines where one line would step backwards and the other forwards so they would cross over each other, the line going backwards would step backwards with their left foot, step to the left with their left foot, step forward with the left foot and step right with their right foot and the other line would do the opposite. The second line would step forwards with the right foot, to the right with the right foot, back with the right foot and to the left with the left foot. This would of allowed the two to swap and for the audience to see this swap with it being realistic, this took quite a long time to figure out as I think as a class we find devising difficult as we are not open to other peoples ideas and this is a shame as a lot more could have come out of this rehearsal. After Sally came back, she liked our ideas of having quite a claustrophobic setting while the swap happens, she envisioned the idea that three guys would carry Hero and three guys would carry Margret on their shoulders. We still haven't figured out how the swap will happen, I have an idea with a blackout that could work and I said it to Sally but she didn't want a black out, I said that a black out could happen and then the girls could change sides and people who's shoulders were carried on. After this scene it will go into Matt and Phoebe's scene which is a perfect transition because this scene is about Hero being disowned by Claudio and Beatrice asking Benedick to kill his best friend.

Emphasis

I was told today about how emphasis is so important and I knew this to be true. I looked at my scenes and noticed how I was putting the emphasis on the wrong words. I started to look at the script and looked at the words I should be putting emphasis on, most words that are meant to have emphasis are verbs, so ' I ....', walk or the words for Bendick I think more personal pronouns are used as he is very arrogant and believes everything is about him, for most contemporary pieces its a rule of thumb that not many personal pronouns are used as it starts to sound un-naturalistic but for this script I think this is the right words to emphasis.

Overall I think this week went well as we got a lot done and we got closer as a grou thrugh a devising exercise.

Week 4 - Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Constructive Criticism

This week we did a full run through and filmed it. I was excited to perform but also a bit nervous which doesn't happen to me often. I think I was nervous because I feel this character is the biggest challenge I've had. I think this is due to the fact that its a completely new language to me and it doesn't feel like I would say these words, as I would say it in a much more modern way. This I will get to grips with and I will look at the translation and understand where Benedick is coming from. 

I did my scene and I was nervous, I felt I started to overact a bit and tried to project my voice so I could be heard, at the time where I was reacting to what Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio was saying I felt I could have been more over the top, however I think that these reactions would come more naturally if the dialogue was quicker and the cues were natural, this will come from rehearsing this scene a lot and doing independent learning of lines. After the scene had finished I and the rest of the boys in the scene got feedback. I got feedback how I was playing it very over the top and my voice was very loud and didn't suit the character. I have noticed how I put on a voice for when I am on stage as I feel like I wouldn't project with my natural voice. After doing this the feedback I got was that I was saying the word 'love' as 'lav' which is out of character for Benedick. I hadn't noticed I said love like that, but I had noticed that I was over projecting. Sally said how I should tone down the character as the voice wasn't right for the part. I worked on this criticism and started to work with Matt on my voice, we tried many different things to get the right voice for the character. Firstly I wanted my own voice for the part so I suggested that I'd talk to Matt in a normal conversation and then go into the monologue. This helped a lot as I started saying the monologue in my own voice and the word love sounded right and the thought process came along more easily. Ever since then I have been practising the monologues in my natural voice and this has helped a lot. I thought I wouldn't of been heard in my normal voice but I projected well. I am happy that I got constructive criticism as it helps me to grow as an actor and continue to work hard to get the best performance I can, I believe that there is always room for improvement for any actor. 

There was also feedback for the others in my scene, they were told how they needed to make more of an act of how they were talking about me but knew I was eavesdropping. They were told to laugh more and look for the lines where they are emphasising different words to show to the audience that they are tricking Benedick. I think this will come easier when the lines are learnt and also the cues. I also feel that if my first monologue has a lot of energy there scene will be more up beat as well as they can feed off my energy. I feel that there are a few bits that are excellent in our scene for example when Joe mimicks Beatrices character and when Milo is performing his song and the boys are dancing apart from that I feel that this scene can deliver so more and so we will rehearse this to reach the potential we know it has. 

On Thursday I performed again, this time I was a lot better however I was told to look at the emphasis and find the words that should be emphasised. I also tried messing around in the scene more where I was reacting to finding out about Beatrices love, I did many different things like big facial reactions and even rehearsed with Nathan that the lid of a box would fall on my head, luckily the lid didn't hurt too much so I was able to use this as slapstick comedy and show the audience how much of a fool Benedick is. 

Context 

This week I decided to research the context of this play and the main plot and story before its set. Much Ado About Nothing is set in Messina which is in Sicilly near Italy, Don Pedro and his men are arriving home from war as a messenger tells Leonato, who is the governor of Messina. Benedick and Claudio are best friends and were companions to Don Pedro in war. Don Jon who plays the Antagonist in the comedy is the brother to Don Pedro and is jealous of Don Pedro and then goes on to plot that the wedding between Hero and Claudio is ruined which will embarrass Don Pedro. 

I also looked into some facts about Much Ado About Nothing as it interested me about the histroy and who had portrayed characters in it. I found out that it was written in 1598-1599 by William Shakespeare, it amazes me and is a massive testimony to Shakespeare that his comedy is still contemporary due to its themes today over 400 years after it first came out. 

I really enjoyed researching Shakespeare this week and getting constructive criticism.