The Finale- Tas Fox

                  the finale 

tasman fox

this class was definitely tough. It was filled with, different personalities. I did learn a lot in this class, and I've really appreciated the class itself. The actors were talented and I learned a lot from my classmates. The progress I've made is noticeable. From not really saying much at the beginning of the class I flipped that on its head and became quite the extrovert (at least in class). A lot of progress was attributed to my individual work. My monologue voyager 12 made an impact on my acting. I learned to work along with the lights. (It was also my favorite piece I've written so far!) being funny came naturally to me, but there was also hard parts. Comedy, I've learned, is not a strong suit of mine if don't have people to work off of. Also, memorization. That was probably the hardest part. Remembering lines is difficult!

I learned a lot as an actor from this class, a LOT of it being patience. I will be completely honest, certain people were testing to me. But I got through it. Acting is similar. It can be a tough beast to conquer, but normally you can just muster enough to get through it. Even if you memorize, it's still hard. Confidence to get through is key. And I learned that. 

I would learn comedy if I had more time in this class. I love comedy, and wish I was better at it, which comes with practice. I would also get better at memorization, which is really not my best quality. 

Acting is really a tough art, but I learned to navigate it well from this class. Thank you Mrs.Guarino, for sticking with me, even when I messed up really bad on stage. 

comedy: the golden form of acting

I would like to perform a comedic routine, and this would be beneficial to me as an actor becuase comedy is hard to get right believe it or not, as it is always performed differently. Even the same routine is performed new every time. Ive always been a (self-proclaimed) funny guy, but comedy routines are difficult. I love comedy. I watch Jim gaffigan, the stand-ups, my personal favorite john mulaney, and many more. The reason I bring these comedians up, is becuase there is much to learn from their routines. For example,  Some comedians sit down on a stool and stay there the whole performance, while others stand up and move around, using the space provided. You can learn more from the people who move around rather than the ones who stay stationary. There’s much more to learn from comedians, but most importantly the way they use space/props, and how well they can read an audience. This is beneficial to an actor, becuase comedy is acting in a way. Comedy “acting” is mostly improvisation. You also have to rely on yourself and be modest. Going back to using the stage, comedy has helped me develop more sense of character when I move. Before, I would generally tend to stay in one spot, and recite lines there. It was more isolated from the audience. But now, since learning from other comedians, I have been able to connect with the audience, and I know this because they seem much more engaged then they typically would be before hand. Improv skills are also important. comedy teaches improv because you have to go off of your audiences reactions, which is pretty tough to do. For example, a certain audience can react badly to a certain joke, and end up heckling you off the stage. While this would never happen in a school setting (I hope), it is still good to prepare for. Tying back into the space usage, its also good to do these two things in tandem.

 
(my favorite comedian john mulaney) 

Silent movie reflection

Reflection of silent movie

The silent movie was a really fun project. I had the pleasure of working with Maddie, elana, and Erin. The plot of the silent movie, the heist, is about a bank robbery. Elana and Maddie were the robbers, while Erin played a security guard and I played a police officer. The robbers at first made off with the money, and hurt the security guard while they were at it. But, once the dashing police officer appeared on the scene, they were no match. Long story short, one of the robbers (Maddie) was caught, while the other ran off with the money. Maddie was thrown in jail, where elana came to visit her.  That’s where it ends, and the credits roll. But, we also had to edit the film from a bunch of random clips. Personally, I contributed my talent of knowing software and computers. I think editing was a fun process, and it was nice to apply some knowledge unto the other group members. We really came together on the acting piece, hwever we rushed the editing. The final product was good, but it may have been better had we taken more time.

wipeout review

1. I thought the concept of wipeout acted out seemed really cool, and they had funny characters. They seemed to have a good grasp on editing. The music fit, and it was pretty nice over all.

2. The characters, each played by one of the three actors, were as follows: pirate, old man, soldier, fat man, nerd, and young girl, in no particular order. I think they did a good job developing these characters, especially Hunters characters ,seemed well thought out.

3. What they could of added was a solid ending, where as they only had the credits roll. They may of been able to add a ceremony for the winner, but overall really good job.

Monologue edit

Doesn’t it always seem like we’re on hold? We constantly are calling about this or that. We are slaves to the phone, waiting anxiously for a human voice.

Companies try to make your experience pleasant by playing music. One company I called even had its own radio station dedicated to entertaining people on hold. My question is, "Why not make that person answer phones too?" There are probably more people working on message systems that put people on hold than there are answering phones.

 They come up with all these phrases that keep you interested:

"Only a few moments more...... You have just advanced in our waiting order. Beep. Hello you are the next caller. Do not hang up. We will be with you in a moment...after 10 more minutes... We will be with you in a moment. You are the next caller."

The most aggravating award goes to the electronic maze of number choices:

(Mock answering machine voice)

"Press one if you need customer assistance. Press two if you need customer information. Press three if you need customer guidance. Press four for more options." You wade endlessly through this maze of choices only to discover you still have to wait an hour to talk to someone.

When you finally get to talk to someone, you discover it’s not even the right department. They have no clue what you are talking about and transfer you to someone who is equally clueless. Also while you were waiting they ask you to type in your account number, zip code, date of birth, then when you actually talk to a human, they ask you all over again. THEN WHY DID I JUST TYPE THAT IN!

Finally someone helps you and you end up receiving a six month subscription to Dog’s Life Magazine. At least you got something for all your trouble, but wasn’t that supposed to be your credit card company?

Monologue

FOREVER ON HOLD monologue

by D. M. Larson

NELL
Doesn’t it always seem like we’re on hold? We constantly are calling about this or that. We are slaves to the phone, waiting anxiously for a human voice.

Companies try to make your experience pleasant by playing music. One company I called even had its own radio station dedicated to entertaining people on hold. My question is, "Why not make that person answer phones too?" There are probably more people working on message systems that put people on hold than there are answering phones.

I especially hate the ones that make you feel like you’re getting somewhere when you actually aren’t. They come up with all these phrases that keep you interested:

(Does a mock answering machine voice)

"Only a few moments more... ring, ring... You have just advanced in our waiting order. Beep. Hello (big pause) you are the next caller. Do not hang up. We will be with you in a moment...after 10 more minutes... We will be with you in a moment. You are the next caller."

The most aggravating award goes to the electronic maze of number choices:

(Mock answering machine voice)

"Press one if you need customer assistance. Press two if you need customer information. Press three if you need customer guidance. Press four for more options." You wade endlessly through this maze of choices only to discover you still have to wait an hour to talk to someone.

Then there’s the notorious dead line. You wonder, "Did they hang up? Is someone there waiting for you to speak? Did they transfer your call to Albania?" You wait, unsure what to do.

When you finally get to talk to someone, you discover it’s not even the right department. They have no clue what you are talking about and transfer you to someone who is equally clueless. Also while you were waiting they ask you to type in your account number, zip code, date of birth, then when you actually talk to a human, they ask you all over again. THEN WHY DID I JUST TYPE THAT IN!

When talking to a human, we know why it takes so long. They ask you a million useless questions, they find out YOUR question and transfer you to someone who goes through the same things only to discover they have no clue how to help you either!

Finally someone helps you and you end up receiving a six month subscription to Dog’s Life Magazine. At least you got something for all your trouble, but wasn’t that supposed to be your credit card company?

END OF SCENE 

Monologue prep

Monologue prep

My character is a 16 year old male, most likely handsome, sarcastic, low voice, with a cynical personality.

This boy is on hold, and is making fun of the whole idea of being on hold. He is speaking aside to the audience.

The reason he is delivering this monologue is because he is exasperated but slightly amused by the whole Idea of being on hold. He is most likely in his own residence.

Before the monologue he is most likely dialing the number, and after the monologue, talking to the person he was on hold for.

I would need a phone for a prop.

Me