Observation

Friday 11th October, 2013

How am I using this class to develop as a practitioner?

In today's workshop, we looked at observations. In some parts of the class we paired up and watched our partner while they spoke, so that we could take in their mannerisms and really see how they moved their hands and mouth, their legs, eyes and the way their voice may change pitch. This really helped me develop the way I 'became' that person when I was recounting their story. As a drama practitioner it is important to be able to observe them and them mimic their behaviours, especially when studying for a particular character. This will enable me to take on different roles in the future and utilise small mannerisms and gestures that make a character complete.

Parts of the workshop I enjoyed:

I really liked the part of the class where we observed our partner and then had to close our eyes and describe them to the class. At first I thought it would be really cringey and embarrassing, but after hearing other people talk and describe their partner, it felt much more comfortable and I was able to do the task without feeling embarrassed. I liked that, because I usually get embarrassed really easily so I feel like I accomplished something by not bursting into laughter.

I also enjoyed hearing a bit about everyone's monologues that we'll be going through next week, and how everyone had something entirely different that meant something personal to them.

Parts of the workshop that I didn't enjoy:

There was a part of the class near the beginning we had to jog around the room playing 'clap rugby', which was used as a sort of warm up, and I didn't really enjoy this because it felt more like an exercise class than a drama warm up. This might be because I have a bad foot at the moment and it was a bit painful. However, it was a good exercise on using eye contact and being able to co-ordinate when people passed the rugby claps from one to the other.