Captain Canada
For the past few days in STAC I've been working on Captain Canada. Captain Canada is actually going pretty well, I've learned all of my lines and songs and I think I have one more number to learn and then I'm all done and it's time to just keep running the show. I think that it'll turn out pretty good (or at least, I hope so) and though we have a lot of work cut out for us I have a feeling we can get it all done in time. I think if everyone gives their best effort and we actually work at it every day until STAC night we can pull it off.
Grace's Music Video
After a lot of drastic changes to the script (due to shooting and actor problems) today I helped Grace out with her video and we finally started to come up with some ideas that could tie the entire video together as a trailer for her fallback. I'm excited to be acting in it and happy that I could help her out.
My Project
As for my project, I really started to get more into songwriting as mentioned in previous blog posts, and at STAC night I'd like to perform one song that I wrote during the intensive that I fixed up during 4th quarter since I think it was the best song I wrote in STAC. I really hope I can have the opportunity to do that, since I've put in the work for it.
Overall, I'm really excited for STAC night, and I think we can pull of a really good show if we all work hard enough for it!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Captain Canada
For the past two days, I've worked with the cast of "Captain Canada" in rehearsals. I can honestly say that I am really excited for the final product. The script is hilarious and the music is great! I'm playing Elphaba and Coffee Girl and I'm pretty excited.
Yesterday
We had our first read through and scripts were given out. It was a lot of fun to read the show in it's entirety and see what I'd be doing. Then once we read through the entire thing, we started choreographing the Commissioner's dance number in the second act. The dance is so dopey, but so cute and funny at the same time. I'm really enjoying working on this show a lot!
Today
Today we finished the Commissioner number and started reviewing things in the Act II street scene. Things are getting done, and they're looking good, and I think at STAC night that we can put up a very well performed "Captain Canada!"
Yesterday
We had our first read through and scripts were given out. It was a lot of fun to read the show in it's entirety and see what I'd be doing. Then once we read through the entire thing, we started choreographing the Commissioner's dance number in the second act. The dance is so dopey, but so cute and funny at the same time. I'm really enjoying working on this show a lot!
Today
Today we finished the Commissioner number and started reviewing things in the Act II street scene. Things are getting done, and they're looking good, and I think at STAC night that we can put up a very well performed "Captain Canada!"
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Two Blogs in One
So, I forgot to blog last night (oops), so I'll blog for both days on this one post!
Monday:
Just did some more memorizing, and basically had a successful day as a community member. I helped Sabrina a lot with her project, and started reading the scripts of projects that I agreed to be featured in. Yesterday was more of an "everyone else" kind of day rather than a "me" kind of day.
Tuesday:
I did something a little more unexpected today. Rather than continuing working on my monologues, I decided to go into a practice room and mess around a little bit on a piano. And it's actually pretty funny what the result is. I mean, I guess you really do get your best work done when you don't intend to, because I wrote out about 4 new melodies today that I intend to put lyrics to tomorrow. I was shocked.
When I left songwriting as my project earlier in the quarter, I felt as if I had no intention of going back to it, and now I'm finding it interesting again. So, to be honest, I don't know what's my project and what's my side salad, but I know that I'm definatley working equally on acting and songwriting as of right now, I just don't know what the bigger project will end up being.
I also had a few meetings with my community to clarify these things, and I feel as if they were useful. So overall, I thought today was a good day for me!
Monday:
Just did some more memorizing, and basically had a successful day as a community member. I helped Sabrina a lot with her project, and started reading the scripts of projects that I agreed to be featured in. Yesterday was more of an "everyone else" kind of day rather than a "me" kind of day.
Tuesday:
I did something a little more unexpected today. Rather than continuing working on my monologues, I decided to go into a practice room and mess around a little bit on a piano. And it's actually pretty funny what the result is. I mean, I guess you really do get your best work done when you don't intend to, because I wrote out about 4 new melodies today that I intend to put lyrics to tomorrow. I was shocked.
When I left songwriting as my project earlier in the quarter, I felt as if I had no intention of going back to it, and now I'm finding it interesting again. So, to be honest, I don't know what's my project and what's my side salad, but I know that I'm definatley working equally on acting and songwriting as of right now, I just don't know what the bigger project will end up being.
I also had a few meetings with my community to clarify these things, and I feel as if they were useful. So overall, I thought today was a good day for me!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Beats
Today was a pretty... interesting work day for me. In my last blog post, I mentioned that I was having a ton of trouble memorizing the exact words of my monologue, and how it made me kind of angry. As a result, today Luke called me into his office and asked if I was using the memorization technique he gave me. I said it didn't work. He said I didn't try it. And I agree with him after the fact, I really didn't. I tried it once, and I gave up when I didn't have it completely memorized the first time.
So, after this Luke gave me a play and he told me to find a female monologue in it, and then go photocopy it and come back to him when I'm done. So, I did photocopy it, and bring it back.
To be honest, I don't actually remember the name or author of the play, and I don't actually know what the full play is about. But all he said I really needed was the monologue, so I just decided to take the monologue and go. When I brought it back to him, he told me to read through it once and on the back write down what the monologue is about, and then bring it back to him.
Then, he told me to read it really fast to him, just do a quick read through. No acting, no worrying about memorization, just reading through it really fast. Then he took the monologue from me and told me to recite it to him. I could not do it for the life of me. I didn't even know the first line, and I tried to get out of the situation. Luke told me that I did not have to know the lines AT ALL, to just take the context of the monologue and recite whatever comes to mind. Luke gave me an example, and I tried to relay it back to him. Though it was not as great is his quick thinking, it was better than I expected to do.
Then it was almost like a cycle. We did it a few more times, just quick read throughs and then reciting it. And then Luke and I separated the monologue into beats, and defined what each of the beats had in it. For example, this particular monologue had 4 beats. Beat 1 was a sense of begging, and being trapped. Beat 2 was explaining a sort of a domino effect. Beat 3 was defending, and making both characters screwed. And Beat 4 was ordering and administering the plan.
Once I had those beats in my head, it was easier to really act the scene, and memorize it a little better, still using the same technique of "quick read through, then cite the monologue through ad-libing." I started memorizing some names, and some lines, and overall the story still made sense. My acting also loosened up, and I became more free with the emotions of the piece rather than the words. It was a totally totally different experience for me.
I'm really starting to memorize this piece, and when I went home today I couldn't help but start using the technique a little on my other monologue and it's kind of working.
So while interesting and different, overall I feel as if it was a pretty successful day for me!
So, after this Luke gave me a play and he told me to find a female monologue in it, and then go photocopy it and come back to him when I'm done. So, I did photocopy it, and bring it back.
To be honest, I don't actually remember the name or author of the play, and I don't actually know what the full play is about. But all he said I really needed was the monologue, so I just decided to take the monologue and go. When I brought it back to him, he told me to read through it once and on the back write down what the monologue is about, and then bring it back to him.
Then, he told me to read it really fast to him, just do a quick read through. No acting, no worrying about memorization, just reading through it really fast. Then he took the monologue from me and told me to recite it to him. I could not do it for the life of me. I didn't even know the first line, and I tried to get out of the situation. Luke told me that I did not have to know the lines AT ALL, to just take the context of the monologue and recite whatever comes to mind. Luke gave me an example, and I tried to relay it back to him. Though it was not as great is his quick thinking, it was better than I expected to do.
Then it was almost like a cycle. We did it a few more times, just quick read throughs and then reciting it. And then Luke and I separated the monologue into beats, and defined what each of the beats had in it. For example, this particular monologue had 4 beats. Beat 1 was a sense of begging, and being trapped. Beat 2 was explaining a sort of a domino effect. Beat 3 was defending, and making both characters screwed. And Beat 4 was ordering and administering the plan.
Once I had those beats in my head, it was easier to really act the scene, and memorize it a little better, still using the same technique of "quick read through, then cite the monologue through ad-libing." I started memorizing some names, and some lines, and overall the story still made sense. My acting also loosened up, and I became more free with the emotions of the piece rather than the words. It was a totally totally different experience for me.
I'm really starting to memorize this piece, and when I went home today I couldn't help but start using the technique a little on my other monologue and it's kind of working.
So while interesting and different, overall I feel as if it was a pretty successful day for me!
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Transitions and Memorization
Today, I worked for two periods on memorization, and I'm honestly super super frustrated to say that I'm getting nowhere in memorizing this monologue. I tried Luke's technique and created a completely different monologue while ad-libing and it really didn't satisfy me. I really wanted to memorize it, and I couldn't, which was odd for me because I'm usually great at memorizing monologues and lines, and for some reason with this monologue I've really been having trouble. Is it because I feel to much with it? I honestly don't know.
So, after getting really really mad about not being able to really memorize, I pulled out another monologue from my folder called "To Gillian on her 27th Birthday" and I literally memorized it in 10 minutes. Same length, and I memorized it in 10 minutes, without breaking it up into beats, or a climax, nothing. Just straight up memorization.
So, I don't really know what to think of this. Did I analyze the other monologue too much? Is that why it made it harder to memorize? Or did this new monologue appeal to me a lot more? I have no idea. I definitely still want to do the other monologue, it's just giving me a harder time than this new one is. So, we'll see what happens.
Also, both monologues that I've been analyzing and memorizing have been sad, dramatic, or angry pieces. They've all been really serious. My original intention for this project was to finish it off with one serious and one comedic. So now I'm on the hunt for a comedic piece to work on as well. I want at least one comedic and one serious (though I'm not sure which serious I'll pick as my final one yet, or maybe I'll even do both).
Today, I also helped a member of my community, Sabrina. She was looking for a new monologue from film and I introduced her to a website I knew about that held a ton of film monologues, and she found a lot of new monologues to work on that she enjoys, so I guess I felt like a pretty helpful community member today.
Overall, today I really started to change everything again, and I'd consider this a transitional day, and tomorrow I want to start working on all of the new things I came up with today.
So, after getting really really mad about not being able to really memorize, I pulled out another monologue from my folder called "To Gillian on her 27th Birthday" and I literally memorized it in 10 minutes. Same length, and I memorized it in 10 minutes, without breaking it up into beats, or a climax, nothing. Just straight up memorization.
So, I don't really know what to think of this. Did I analyze the other monologue too much? Is that why it made it harder to memorize? Or did this new monologue appeal to me a lot more? I have no idea. I definitely still want to do the other monologue, it's just giving me a harder time than this new one is. So, we'll see what happens.
Also, both monologues that I've been analyzing and memorizing have been sad, dramatic, or angry pieces. They've all been really serious. My original intention for this project was to finish it off with one serious and one comedic. So now I'm on the hunt for a comedic piece to work on as well. I want at least one comedic and one serious (though I'm not sure which serious I'll pick as my final one yet, or maybe I'll even do both).
Today, I also helped a member of my community, Sabrina. She was looking for a new monologue from film and I introduced her to a website I knew about that held a ton of film monologues, and she found a lot of new monologues to work on that she enjoys, so I guess I felt like a pretty helpful community member today.
Overall, today I really started to change everything again, and I'd consider this a transitional day, and tomorrow I want to start working on all of the new things I came up with today.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Memorization
Something that's horribly hard, memorization. Thankfully Luke gave me an easier method to work with so that I don't have to memorize the monologue word for word, but still, it's hard.
Luke's method is that you read the monologue or script once and then flip it over and try to say everything, without looking, and pantomime the parts that you don't know. I can see this working well, but the thing is, I don't really know any of the script enough to pantomime it.
So, today I spent most of the day reading and re-reading the script, to get a feel of all of the beats, and what Karen Kohlhass calls "the Climax" of a monologue. I found that the climax of my monologue happens to be when the character says "Connie - my best friend - I guess she was getting hysterical. I know she didn't mean it, but she said 'You had to go and open your Jew mouth.'"
I feel as if though that is the climax because that's when the story starts to turn to what she does after the fact, and how she actually got to the place that she's currently in that you know absolutely nothing about until the last line of the monologue, and even then it's still a little unclear. It also is the point in the monologue when you realize that the persecution is getting really serious, and you can tell that that is absolutely her breaking point, because the line that follows it is "I went home that night."
I think reading, and re-reading the monologue was a good thing for me to do today, because now that I've sectioned most of it off into beats and now that I have the "climax," I can start using Luke's memorization technique so that I have it memorized and then I can really start applying the acting to it, and putting myself into the monologue, more so than before.
Luke's method is that you read the monologue or script once and then flip it over and try to say everything, without looking, and pantomime the parts that you don't know. I can see this working well, but the thing is, I don't really know any of the script enough to pantomime it.
So, today I spent most of the day reading and re-reading the script, to get a feel of all of the beats, and what Karen Kohlhass calls "the Climax" of a monologue. I found that the climax of my monologue happens to be when the character says "Connie - my best friend - I guess she was getting hysterical. I know she didn't mean it, but she said 'You had to go and open your Jew mouth.'"
I feel as if though that is the climax because that's when the story starts to turn to what she does after the fact, and how she actually got to the place that she's currently in that you know absolutely nothing about until the last line of the monologue, and even then it's still a little unclear. It also is the point in the monologue when you realize that the persecution is getting really serious, and you can tell that that is absolutely her breaking point, because the line that follows it is "I went home that night."
I think reading, and re-reading the monologue was a good thing for me to do today, because now that I've sectioned most of it off into beats and now that I have the "climax," I can start using Luke's memorization technique so that I have it memorized and then I can really start applying the acting to it, and putting myself into the monologue, more so than before.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Moving Forward
Though it took me the entire week, I finally found a monologue that I feel works perfectly for me. The monologue that I've decided to work on right now is called "The Young and the Fair" by Richard Nash. It is about a 17 year old girl named Lee who is a young Jewish student that has been battling with discrimination.
At first, I kind of didn't want to work on this monologue, because I felt like I had no real connection to it in reality. I'm not Jewish, and I've never been persecuted about my religion. I felt like it would almost be out of place for me to work on this monologue.
After a meeting with my community (Sabrina, Viviana, and Grace), I realized that I actually did have a deeper connection than I thought to the monologue. Someone in my community brought up that I can use any time in my life that I've been persecuted in this monologue, and I agree, I totally can.
I also learned that although I have no real attachment to the monologue (since again, I am not Jewish), this monologue is one of the first that actually makes me feel something. It's hard to describe, but I truly feel everything every time I read or practice this monologue. It's kind of terrifying in a way. If this is the first time I'm really feeling something in a monologue, what about all the other ones I've been doing all my life? That scares me. But in the beginning of this quarter I told myself to try everything that scares me, so I guess I'm pretty glad it does.
After a meeting with Luke, I was ready to start working on it. Luke gave me some worksheets with vocabulary that was kind of like an outline of the book he gave me, and he also taught me a new memorization technique that's been working pretty well.
I've been working on the monologue now as often as I can, and I'm really enjoying it. So far this has been the most emotional monologue experience for me, and I don't exactly know what's going to happen next with it, but I do know that so far I like the way it's currently going and I hope it continues.
At first, I kind of didn't want to work on this monologue, because I felt like I had no real connection to it in reality. I'm not Jewish, and I've never been persecuted about my religion. I felt like it would almost be out of place for me to work on this monologue.
After a meeting with my community (Sabrina, Viviana, and Grace), I realized that I actually did have a deeper connection than I thought to the monologue. Someone in my community brought up that I can use any time in my life that I've been persecuted in this monologue, and I agree, I totally can.
I also learned that although I have no real attachment to the monologue (since again, I am not Jewish), this monologue is one of the first that actually makes me feel something. It's hard to describe, but I truly feel everything every time I read or practice this monologue. It's kind of terrifying in a way. If this is the first time I'm really feeling something in a monologue, what about all the other ones I've been doing all my life? That scares me. But in the beginning of this quarter I told myself to try everything that scares me, so I guess I'm pretty glad it does.
After a meeting with Luke, I was ready to start working on it. Luke gave me some worksheets with vocabulary that was kind of like an outline of the book he gave me, and he also taught me a new memorization technique that's been working pretty well.
I've been working on the monologue now as often as I can, and I'm really enjoying it. So far this has been the most emotional monologue experience for me, and I don't exactly know what's going to happen next with it, but I do know that so far I like the way it's currently going and I hope it continues.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Monologue Studies
Since I forgot to blog yesterday and I'm due for a blog today, here's both days in one.
Tuesday:
I was working on my song when I realized that I really just couldn't do it anymore. I was getting bored with it, and kind of fed up with not succeeding. So, I stopped writing.
My problem? I never figured out my "side salad" project to work on when I'm not writing. So, I stopped by Luke's office and he told me to do something with acting and handed me a book called "The Monologue Audition: A Practical Guide for Actors" by Karen Kohlhass. From then on I started reading the book and working on my "side salad" project, which is monologues.
This book gave me all the basics for studying and performing monologues. On one page it gave a checklist that I now swear by before starting to act and it was this: "Who is the monologue addressing? Where is it found in the play? What happened up to this point in the play? Why is this character speaking this monologue now? What does the character want the other character(s) to do as a result of this monologue? What are the stakes? Does the character succeed or fail?" Along with these guidelines, there was a sample monologue in the point of view of a girl telling this boy named Johnny that she's always loved him. At first I thought that these introductory questions could really only apply to this particular monologue, but I realized as I started to search a few more up to test it, that the questions go with just about every monologue, and make it extremely easy to figure out your objective in the scene and how you should act it to the fullest extent. I really liked these points on the checklist, and I'm finding myself use them with all of the monologues I've been finding.
One thing in the book that really caught my eye and that I found really helpful was a technique the author described as "finding and isolating the climax," meaning taking the most intense part of the monologue, and making it it's own section and working around it. The author also used the same monologue about the girl loving that boy Johnny and applied it to this as well. She first left the monologue as is, and only bolded what she felt was the "climax" of the scene, which happened to be the line "Why didn't it happen between us? Why did I fail?" After this on a new page, she broke the scene into parts, still leaving the climax bolded and wrote about how each scene should be felt or acted based on what the climax line was. In this case, it was her complaining that they were never together, no matter how hard she tried. So the author wrote that in order to really make the climax line big, to portray the rest of the monologue as a "bitter happiness" so that the audience knows that the relationship never worked out from the beginning.
I also read a little about auditioning, and what to look out for and what to look for in an audition, and all of it was really helpful. I've decided I really really like this "side salad" project, and it's a really great break away from my songwriting project because it's something completely different.
Wednesday:
I continued reading a little more of the book today, but I got a little bored with it, so I decided that it was time to start looking for some actual monologues to work on, now that I really know the basics.
While talking to Luke, I learned that monologues from monologue books are completely frowned upon in the art world, and that the chances of even being chosen for a job while using a monologue from a book is slim. He advised me that the best way to find a monologue is to pull it from an actual play, because that's your best chance at finding a good monologue. He told me that you can sometimes find monologues from plays online, but the chances are slim, and you need to do really good research. So, that's what I decided to do. Really good research.
I found a few monologues from some plays that I want to try, but I know that I defiantly want to work on one comedic and one serious monologue, so that I learn how to master both ends of the spectrum. I used this website:
http://www.stageagent.com/Shows/Monologues/
to really start my research in serious monologues, since I already have a comedic monologue in mind from the Off-Broadway Musical "Most Likely To: The Senior Superlative Musical" that is really funny and that I like a lot.
I learned a lot today while researching monologues, and how hard it is to find a really good one. I can't wait to find one that I really fall in love with and then dive into working on it. I haven't worked on a monologue in a really long time, and I'm excited to get back into it with my new found knowledge. I think I can pull off two really good monologues if I try really hard, and that's exactly what I intend to do.
Tuesday:
I was working on my song when I realized that I really just couldn't do it anymore. I was getting bored with it, and kind of fed up with not succeeding. So, I stopped writing.
My problem? I never figured out my "side salad" project to work on when I'm not writing. So, I stopped by Luke's office and he told me to do something with acting and handed me a book called "The Monologue Audition: A Practical Guide for Actors" by Karen Kohlhass. From then on I started reading the book and working on my "side salad" project, which is monologues.
This book gave me all the basics for studying and performing monologues. On one page it gave a checklist that I now swear by before starting to act and it was this: "Who is the monologue addressing? Where is it found in the play? What happened up to this point in the play? Why is this character speaking this monologue now? What does the character want the other character(s) to do as a result of this monologue? What are the stakes? Does the character succeed or fail?" Along with these guidelines, there was a sample monologue in the point of view of a girl telling this boy named Johnny that she's always loved him. At first I thought that these introductory questions could really only apply to this particular monologue, but I realized as I started to search a few more up to test it, that the questions go with just about every monologue, and make it extremely easy to figure out your objective in the scene and how you should act it to the fullest extent. I really liked these points on the checklist, and I'm finding myself use them with all of the monologues I've been finding.
One thing in the book that really caught my eye and that I found really helpful was a technique the author described as "finding and isolating the climax," meaning taking the most intense part of the monologue, and making it it's own section and working around it. The author also used the same monologue about the girl loving that boy Johnny and applied it to this as well. She first left the monologue as is, and only bolded what she felt was the "climax" of the scene, which happened to be the line "Why didn't it happen between us? Why did I fail?" After this on a new page, she broke the scene into parts, still leaving the climax bolded and wrote about how each scene should be felt or acted based on what the climax line was. In this case, it was her complaining that they were never together, no matter how hard she tried. So the author wrote that in order to really make the climax line big, to portray the rest of the monologue as a "bitter happiness" so that the audience knows that the relationship never worked out from the beginning.
I also read a little about auditioning, and what to look out for and what to look for in an audition, and all of it was really helpful. I've decided I really really like this "side salad" project, and it's a really great break away from my songwriting project because it's something completely different.
Wednesday:
I continued reading a little more of the book today, but I got a little bored with it, so I decided that it was time to start looking for some actual monologues to work on, now that I really know the basics.
While talking to Luke, I learned that monologues from monologue books are completely frowned upon in the art world, and that the chances of even being chosen for a job while using a monologue from a book is slim. He advised me that the best way to find a monologue is to pull it from an actual play, because that's your best chance at finding a good monologue. He told me that you can sometimes find monologues from plays online, but the chances are slim, and you need to do really good research. So, that's what I decided to do. Really good research.
I found a few monologues from some plays that I want to try, but I know that I defiantly want to work on one comedic and one serious monologue, so that I learn how to master both ends of the spectrum. I used this website:
http://www.stageagent.com/Shows/Monologues/
to really start my research in serious monologues, since I already have a comedic monologue in mind from the Off-Broadway Musical "Most Likely To: The Senior Superlative Musical" that is really funny and that I like a lot.
I learned a lot today while researching monologues, and how hard it is to find a really good one. I can't wait to find one that I really fall in love with and then dive into working on it. I haven't worked on a monologue in a really long time, and I'm excited to get back into it with my new found knowledge. I think I can pull off two really good monologues if I try really hard, and that's exactly what I intend to do.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Maximum Use of Creativity
Today in STAC I continued to work on my song that I started yesterday, but, I just couldn't seem to get a certain melody out of my head. That melody turned into a new song, so now I'm basically working on two songs at once.
I like them both, a lot. One is dark and one is kind of happy, so it's interesting to see what the lyrics will turn out to be on both of the songs. In a way, I kind of want to write dark lyrics for the happy sounding song and happy lyrics for the dark sounding song, just to change things up a bit, and kind of give it a Kate Bush appeal, but we'll see.
I mean, I have time. For me, this project is all about creativity, and using it to the maximum extent. Time is not my objective in this project, like I've mentioned, so I'm excited to see where my creativity and passion takes me the rest of this week!
I like them both, a lot. One is dark and one is kind of happy, so it's interesting to see what the lyrics will turn out to be on both of the songs. In a way, I kind of want to write dark lyrics for the happy sounding song and happy lyrics for the dark sounding song, just to change things up a bit, and kind of give it a Kate Bush appeal, but we'll see.
I mean, I have time. For me, this project is all about creativity, and using it to the maximum extent. Time is not my objective in this project, like I've mentioned, so I'm excited to see where my creativity and passion takes me the rest of this week!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Unidentifiable Chord Progressions
I haven't blogged in a really really long time, and I kinda have to blog today, so I guess no matter what this post is going up!
Since it's 4th quarter (and I honestly can't even believe how fast time has flown), in STAC we're starting independent projects. My independent project is to continue songwriting, kind of like I did in the intensive, only at a less rigorous pace. I'm letting the ideas come to me, and letting creativity be my guide and drive rather than a sheet of paper telling me exactly what I have to due and a due date right smack on top. I want to be able to write what I feel easily, and be proud of it. I want to let go with my lyrics, and just expand both lyrically and musically. I think I can do that 4th quarter.
At the same time though, I also want to do something else. I want to study not just songwriting, but something else to do when I get sick of songwriting that is still a project. I don't really know what that is yet. I love to act, I love to sing, I love to dance, and I love to write, I just don't know what I want to do with any of those, but I want to do something. Working on songwriting and increasing my skill is great, but it does get really boring and writers block does start to happen after a while. So, I need to do something else, and I'm trying to decide what that "something else" is.
Today in class, I decided to just mess around on a piano and see what came out. And a really great and unidentifiable chord progression came about, that I really kind of love. To be honest, they're not even standard chords. Nothing is really standard about this song so far, and I really like it. There's not one block chord, there's many made up chords intertwined with real chords and I think that's pretty awesome. I worked solely on music today, and wrote down a few melodies that worked with the piano part I wrote. Tomorrow I want to start working on lyrics, and seeing what happens with the song once they get added. I think they'll give it a whole new dimension.
Overall, I think my 4th quarter project is going to go really well, and I'm really excited that I've had a good start.
Since it's 4th quarter (and I honestly can't even believe how fast time has flown), in STAC we're starting independent projects. My independent project is to continue songwriting, kind of like I did in the intensive, only at a less rigorous pace. I'm letting the ideas come to me, and letting creativity be my guide and drive rather than a sheet of paper telling me exactly what I have to due and a due date right smack on top. I want to be able to write what I feel easily, and be proud of it. I want to let go with my lyrics, and just expand both lyrically and musically. I think I can do that 4th quarter.
At the same time though, I also want to do something else. I want to study not just songwriting, but something else to do when I get sick of songwriting that is still a project. I don't really know what that is yet. I love to act, I love to sing, I love to dance, and I love to write, I just don't know what I want to do with any of those, but I want to do something. Working on songwriting and increasing my skill is great, but it does get really boring and writers block does start to happen after a while. So, I need to do something else, and I'm trying to decide what that "something else" is.
Today in class, I decided to just mess around on a piano and see what came out. And a really great and unidentifiable chord progression came about, that I really kind of love. To be honest, they're not even standard chords. Nothing is really standard about this song so far, and I really like it. There's not one block chord, there's many made up chords intertwined with real chords and I think that's pretty awesome. I worked solely on music today, and wrote down a few melodies that worked with the piano part I wrote. Tomorrow I want to start working on lyrics, and seeing what happens with the song once they get added. I think they'll give it a whole new dimension.
Overall, I think my 4th quarter project is going to go really well, and I'm really excited that I've had a good start.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Intensive Reflections
For the past month and a half in STAC, we've been working on intensives. Since I had shown an interest in songwriting, I was put into the songwriting intensive, which entailed writing a song every day that the intensive ran. In this intensive, I learned a lot about myself, and a lot about my music abilities. I think it was completely beneficial to learn all of the new techniques and things Luke showed us in the intensive, and I think it was great for myself to see how I've grown over the month, and how it's so different from where I started.
On the first day of intensives, Luke brought us all into his office and put on "Surrender" by Cheap Trick. He simply told us that we were allowed to play it as many times as we'd like, but that we had to write down all of the chords and create a song map with the instruments played. This was extremely hard for me. I kept thinking to myself "there's absolutely no way you're going to pass this if this is a test," because I had no idea how to identify the chords by just hearing them. After the first day of the intensive I felt a little degraded. John and Ellen wrote out chords in a minute, and I sat there with a blank page. This however made me determined to go back the next day and completely wow Luke, and try to do better.
Day two was the first songwriting assignment we got. A blues song, key of D, lyrically have locked imagery (meaning the lyric stays in the same thematic/metaphoric space), and must be recorded by the end of the day. I was completely flustered. A song by the end of the day? Nearly impossible in my past. And blues? I had absolutely no idea how to write a blues song. On our assignment sheet, we were told to use a I IV V progression. A I V V progression is one in which the chords jump from the tonic (the base chord), to the fourth of the chord, and then to the fifth of the chord, and back again. I was thankful that I at least knew what that was. I spent the first period that day agonizing over what to do. I firstly had no idea how to play a D7 chord (a chord featured on the sheet) and thanked God that I had an iPhone yet again because I was quickly able to look it up.
Once I finally threw together a few chords, the rest came to me and I ended up finishing my song before the end of the day. I titled the song "Checkmate," and overall I was pretty proud of it musically. Lyrically it was a little weak, but overall I was happy that I had completed the assignment with time to spare.
The next day, we were given another assignment. This time we were to write a pop song about love. using a I IV V chord progression, just like in the blues song. I was pretty happy about this assignment because I felt like it was covered territory. I had already written at least two or three pop love songs in my life, so I was completely ready to take on this challenge. I titled this song "Falling Hard for You," and I can honestly say that it was my best song of the entire intensive run. For me, it is the strongest piece, musically, that I've ever written and I'm extremely proud of it. What started as just the second project of the intensive became the song that I now show off constantly as my best piece.
The third day, Luke introduced us to "The Box" method. "The Box" basically is a common songwriting pattern that is a repeating four chord progression. On a guitar neck, it looks kind of like a box like pattern. The song had to use the box pattern in the verse, had to be about a very specific break-up, and had to be in the key of F# major. This was probably one of the hardest songwriting assignments for me. Since I only play piano, it was kind of hard for me to figure out what chords constituted to a "Box" chord. I've also never been in a relationship before, nor had a break-up, so writing about it is kind of like someone writing about a country that they've never been to before, you can assume, but you'll never know for sure until you experience it. Also, I have a strange phobia and hatred of the key of F# major, so this didn't help matters much either. But, as always I eventually wrote it. To be honest, I really wasn't all that proud of it. Like I said, I had never experienced a break-up, so my lyrics were horrible. I had no idea what to write. Musically, I think I dealt with my hatred of the key of F# major pretty well. Overall, the song titled "What Did You Do?" was kind of a disappointment to me, and I was really itching to make a comeback with the next assignment.
The next assignment we got was a completely restricted assignment. The key, title, lyric restriction, and chord progression were all given to us by Luke, making it really hard to get creative. The title of the song was to be "River Bottom," and we were supposed to use the title once in the song, but not in the chorus. This was a little tricky for me, I have to admit. I think musically I did a pretty okay job because it was in a pretty familiar key, but lyrically I don't think it was my best work. I felt like during the intensive I really started to learn just how great I was at composing music, and just how much work I needed at lyric writing.
The assignment following "River Bottom" was one in which I completely enjoyed. In the song, we had to write a descending bass line, which means to basically keep the chord, and move the bass line downward. This let's the song have a melody with almost no movement, but that is very pleasant due to the fact that it's so simple. Luke gave us a set of lyrics to use, and told us to write the music around it. The song had to be in the key of C, and the melody had to be simple. I think I did very well with this song which I titled "On His Feet." I really liked the use of descending bass line and I really want to use it in my future songwriting endeavors.
After 5 songs that focused on musical technique, we started to get into lyrical technique. I think the lyrical technique was really the most beneficial to me, because it really opened your eyes to different ways to write lyrics. The first way we learned was something that Luke called "Squeeze Play." This was a method in which you find a song you like (someone else's song, a song on the radio, etc.) and write new lyrics for it, filling the new words into the old melody and rhythm. Then you would change the melody and use the same lyrics. This generally works better with two people, so that the second person doesn't have the melody they were written over in their head while they write the music. For our STAC assignment, we were to write lyrics based on one of the songs Luke sent us the night before, and then trade them with someone else in the songwriting intensive, making them write a song around those lyrics. My lyrics were passed to John, and I was given his which were titled "Speaker." After writing the music and showing him, it interested me so much that the music I put to his words was not at all the music he thought he'd hear with the lyrics he wrote. It really opened my eyes to the idea that so many songs and melodies can be made out of just one set of lyrics.
After this, we did kind of a fun song. We were to write a parody of anything, using a horrible songwriting technique, and writing horrible lyrics. I wrote my song titled "Can't Even See," about a girl who is completely distraught over a guy not asking her out and devastated that he didn't because CosmoGirl said he would. I had a lot of fun with it, and I really think it came out to be a pretty funny song.
And after all of our fun came our last songwriting project which was writing another song using a different new lyric technique. Luke took 10 songs that he thought were lyrically fantastic, and cut up all of the lyrics into separate words and put them into a bowl. He told us to take out words, and use them to form our lyrics. This became kind of interesting to me. I formed a very odd story with the words, and in my mind I could see the plot to the movie "Cheaper by the Dozen," when the 12th child feels unloved and tries to run away. They end up finding him at a train station, and then he comes home and everything is happy again. In this song however, nothing is happy again. When I first showed it to Luke, he asked me what it meant, and I told him I didn't know. He said that "I don't know" was not an acceptable answer. I went home that night thinking about the lyrics, and eventually figured out what they meant. I don't know how I came up with them, and they have nothing to do with my life or myself as a person, but I figured out the meaning. The song was called "World on Home," and it's about a father's conscience eating away at the fact that he was the reason his son left, that his lack of affection and respect caused his family to split and his wife physical pain as she stays awake countless nights waiting for him to come home. The song is also about how a son can view a broken family. I don't know where this came from, because I live in a fantastic family and I am so fortunate to have such great parents. It's kind of odd where the words took me, but I started to see this dark story in my head as I was writing. It's interesting where those words took me. I learned a lot about my songwriting that day, and I was actually pretty proud of my lyrics. I showed a true jump from the first assignment we got, lyrically.
Overall, I really think that I grew a lot as a songwriter during this intensive. I learned a lot about when it's good to have control over a song, and when it's good to have absolutely no control over a song. I also learned a lot about myself as a songwriter, like what keys I tend to gravitate towards, the kinds of rhythms I write frequently, and the melodies that usually attract me. I think that all of the techniques and concepts I learned during the intensive are ones that I will never forget and will use for the rest of my songwriting career.
Day two was the first songwriting assignment we got. A blues song, key of D, lyrically have locked imagery (meaning the lyric stays in the same thematic/metaphoric space), and must be recorded by the end of the day. I was completely flustered. A song by the end of the day? Nearly impossible in my past. And blues? I had absolutely no idea how to write a blues song. On our assignment sheet, we were told to use a I IV V progression. A I V V progression is one in which the chords jump from the tonic (the base chord), to the fourth of the chord, and then to the fifth of the chord, and back again. I was thankful that I at least knew what that was. I spent the first period that day agonizing over what to do. I firstly had no idea how to play a D7 chord (a chord featured on the sheet) and thanked God that I had an iPhone yet again because I was quickly able to look it up.
Once I finally threw together a few chords, the rest came to me and I ended up finishing my song before the end of the day. I titled the song "Checkmate," and overall I was pretty proud of it musically. Lyrically it was a little weak, but overall I was happy that I had completed the assignment with time to spare.
The next day, we were given another assignment. This time we were to write a pop song about love. using a I IV V chord progression, just like in the blues song. I was pretty happy about this assignment because I felt like it was covered territory. I had already written at least two or three pop love songs in my life, so I was completely ready to take on this challenge. I titled this song "Falling Hard for You," and I can honestly say that it was my best song of the entire intensive run. For me, it is the strongest piece, musically, that I've ever written and I'm extremely proud of it. What started as just the second project of the intensive became the song that I now show off constantly as my best piece.
The third day, Luke introduced us to "The Box" method. "The Box" basically is a common songwriting pattern that is a repeating four chord progression. On a guitar neck, it looks kind of like a box like pattern. The song had to use the box pattern in the verse, had to be about a very specific break-up, and had to be in the key of F# major. This was probably one of the hardest songwriting assignments for me. Since I only play piano, it was kind of hard for me to figure out what chords constituted to a "Box" chord. I've also never been in a relationship before, nor had a break-up, so writing about it is kind of like someone writing about a country that they've never been to before, you can assume, but you'll never know for sure until you experience it. Also, I have a strange phobia and hatred of the key of F# major, so this didn't help matters much either. But, as always I eventually wrote it. To be honest, I really wasn't all that proud of it. Like I said, I had never experienced a break-up, so my lyrics were horrible. I had no idea what to write. Musically, I think I dealt with my hatred of the key of F# major pretty well. Overall, the song titled "What Did You Do?" was kind of a disappointment to me, and I was really itching to make a comeback with the next assignment.
The next assignment we got was a completely restricted assignment. The key, title, lyric restriction, and chord progression were all given to us by Luke, making it really hard to get creative. The title of the song was to be "River Bottom," and we were supposed to use the title once in the song, but not in the chorus. This was a little tricky for me, I have to admit. I think musically I did a pretty okay job because it was in a pretty familiar key, but lyrically I don't think it was my best work. I felt like during the intensive I really started to learn just how great I was at composing music, and just how much work I needed at lyric writing.
The assignment following "River Bottom" was one in which I completely enjoyed. In the song, we had to write a descending bass line, which means to basically keep the chord, and move the bass line downward. This let's the song have a melody with almost no movement, but that is very pleasant due to the fact that it's so simple. Luke gave us a set of lyrics to use, and told us to write the music around it. The song had to be in the key of C, and the melody had to be simple. I think I did very well with this song which I titled "On His Feet." I really liked the use of descending bass line and I really want to use it in my future songwriting endeavors.
After 5 songs that focused on musical technique, we started to get into lyrical technique. I think the lyrical technique was really the most beneficial to me, because it really opened your eyes to different ways to write lyrics. The first way we learned was something that Luke called "Squeeze Play." This was a method in which you find a song you like (someone else's song, a song on the radio, etc.) and write new lyrics for it, filling the new words into the old melody and rhythm. Then you would change the melody and use the same lyrics. This generally works better with two people, so that the second person doesn't have the melody they were written over in their head while they write the music. For our STAC assignment, we were to write lyrics based on one of the songs Luke sent us the night before, and then trade them with someone else in the songwriting intensive, making them write a song around those lyrics. My lyrics were passed to John, and I was given his which were titled "Speaker." After writing the music and showing him, it interested me so much that the music I put to his words was not at all the music he thought he'd hear with the lyrics he wrote. It really opened my eyes to the idea that so many songs and melodies can be made out of just one set of lyrics.
After this, we did kind of a fun song. We were to write a parody of anything, using a horrible songwriting technique, and writing horrible lyrics. I wrote my song titled "Can't Even See," about a girl who is completely distraught over a guy not asking her out and devastated that he didn't because CosmoGirl said he would. I had a lot of fun with it, and I really think it came out to be a pretty funny song.
And after all of our fun came our last songwriting project which was writing another song using a different new lyric technique. Luke took 10 songs that he thought were lyrically fantastic, and cut up all of the lyrics into separate words and put them into a bowl. He told us to take out words, and use them to form our lyrics. This became kind of interesting to me. I formed a very odd story with the words, and in my mind I could see the plot to the movie "Cheaper by the Dozen," when the 12th child feels unloved and tries to run away. They end up finding him at a train station, and then he comes home and everything is happy again. In this song however, nothing is happy again. When I first showed it to Luke, he asked me what it meant, and I told him I didn't know. He said that "I don't know" was not an acceptable answer. I went home that night thinking about the lyrics, and eventually figured out what they meant. I don't know how I came up with them, and they have nothing to do with my life or myself as a person, but I figured out the meaning. The song was called "World on Home," and it's about a father's conscience eating away at the fact that he was the reason his son left, that his lack of affection and respect caused his family to split and his wife physical pain as she stays awake countless nights waiting for him to come home. The song is also about how a son can view a broken family. I don't know where this came from, because I live in a fantastic family and I am so fortunate to have such great parents. It's kind of odd where the words took me, but I started to see this dark story in my head as I was writing. It's interesting where those words took me. I learned a lot about my songwriting that day, and I was actually pretty proud of my lyrics. I showed a true jump from the first assignment we got, lyrically.
Overall, I really think that I grew a lot as a songwriter during this intensive. I learned a lot about when it's good to have control over a song, and when it's good to have absolutely no control over a song. I also learned a lot about myself as a songwriter, like what keys I tend to gravitate towards, the kinds of rhythms I write frequently, and the melodies that usually attract me. I think that all of the techniques and concepts I learned during the intensive are ones that I will never forget and will use for the rest of my songwriting career.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Covering All the Bases
I've been thinking that I'm pretty overdue for a blog post, and a lot has happened since the last one, so in the post, I'm attempting to cover all the bases.
To start off, lately in STAC we've been watching a lot of Twilight Zone episodes. This is great for me because I happen to love the Twilight Zone. I was a little familiar with the show prior to STAC, but these past few weeks that we've been watching them have really opened my eyes. I mean, let's be realistic here, though it's old and black and white, the Twilight Zone is freaking awesome. Twilight Zone episodes kind of make you feel a little disoriented after they're over, and they keep you thinking for a while after the episode has already been finished. It's amazing how the writers of the show tie in such big subject matters and life lessons in subtle ways and make an amazingly creepy and enjoyable show.
When Luke told us that we were doing our own Twilight Zone films, I was completely excited but also a little apprehensive. I didn't want to make a project that would look bad, because there is really no way that you can beat or compare to the Twilight Zone, but I'm excited to try in these next few weeks to make a cool episode with the rest of my group.
Another thing we've been doing in STAC is weeks of intensives. I was put into the songwriting group, and this entails writing a song every day, recording it, and sending it to Luke completed. Every song is different, and most songs do have restrictions. Sometimes Luke will give us the key, or the chord progression, or the genre, or even the lyrics and we'll have to write around everything he's given us.
Songwriting has always been something I've loved to do, but I always waited for it to come to me. If I didn't have anything to write, I didn't write. So naturally, I didn't have many songs under my belt. But after these 2 weeks of intensives, I've gotten a ton done. Sure, it's been pretty hard, and I don't exactly know how I'm doing it, but I am, and I have 7 songs completed so far. Granted, a few of them I don't really like, and I'm not really proud of, but most of the songs have really grown on me, and I find myself humming them and playing them constantly.
It's really interesting to take something you don't usually do a lot and work at it. Because after a while it becomes kind of second nature, and you can't remember what life was like when you couldn't do that thing. I'm pretty proud of everything I've accomplished these past two weeks in songwriting, and I think it's really made me grow as a songwriter.
This project made me learn that sometimes you just have to throw yourself out there with one eye shut and just hope for the best. And I'm learning that sometimes, that's really not a bad thing at all. You have to fail in order to succeed. Like Luke always says "The Beatles threw out their first 100 songs." That took risk. That was an "Edge of the Cliff" moment. In September, I was a little afraid when I saw that "Edge of the Cliff" was on the grading criteria. Now I'm actually standing on the edge of that cliff, looking down and ready to jump, and I'm pretty proud of that.
To start off, lately in STAC we've been watching a lot of Twilight Zone episodes. This is great for me because I happen to love the Twilight Zone. I was a little familiar with the show prior to STAC, but these past few weeks that we've been watching them have really opened my eyes. I mean, let's be realistic here, though it's old and black and white, the Twilight Zone is freaking awesome. Twilight Zone episodes kind of make you feel a little disoriented after they're over, and they keep you thinking for a while after the episode has already been finished. It's amazing how the writers of the show tie in such big subject matters and life lessons in subtle ways and make an amazingly creepy and enjoyable show.
When Luke told us that we were doing our own Twilight Zone films, I was completely excited but also a little apprehensive. I didn't want to make a project that would look bad, because there is really no way that you can beat or compare to the Twilight Zone, but I'm excited to try in these next few weeks to make a cool episode with the rest of my group.
Another thing we've been doing in STAC is weeks of intensives. I was put into the songwriting group, and this entails writing a song every day, recording it, and sending it to Luke completed. Every song is different, and most songs do have restrictions. Sometimes Luke will give us the key, or the chord progression, or the genre, or even the lyrics and we'll have to write around everything he's given us.
Songwriting has always been something I've loved to do, but I always waited for it to come to me. If I didn't have anything to write, I didn't write. So naturally, I didn't have many songs under my belt. But after these 2 weeks of intensives, I've gotten a ton done. Sure, it's been pretty hard, and I don't exactly know how I'm doing it, but I am, and I have 7 songs completed so far. Granted, a few of them I don't really like, and I'm not really proud of, but most of the songs have really grown on me, and I find myself humming them and playing them constantly.
It's really interesting to take something you don't usually do a lot and work at it. Because after a while it becomes kind of second nature, and you can't remember what life was like when you couldn't do that thing. I'm pretty proud of everything I've accomplished these past two weeks in songwriting, and I think it's really made me grow as a songwriter.
This project made me learn that sometimes you just have to throw yourself out there with one eye shut and just hope for the best. And I'm learning that sometimes, that's really not a bad thing at all. You have to fail in order to succeed. Like Luke always says "The Beatles threw out their first 100 songs." That took risk. That was an "Edge of the Cliff" moment. In September, I was a little afraid when I saw that "Edge of the Cliff" was on the grading criteria. Now I'm actually standing on the edge of that cliff, looking down and ready to jump, and I'm pretty proud of that.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Expressionism
I think expressionism is an art movement that focuses on death and movement. In all cases that we viewed today (and even the poems we were asked to read tonight), it seemed like death or despair (or any kind of deep and passionate emotion for that matter) was portrayed so strongly through whatever discipline it was being performed in.
A lot of the time, movement was a big deal as well. For example, the Japanese dance Buto, was all focused on movement. Granted, it was dancing, but Buto focused on the speed of the movement, and the emotion behind the move.
I think that expressionism can also focus on underlying emotions and why one should feel some way and how they should portray it through movement. If that even makes sense. I feel like the choreographers and directors and writers and artists who decided to create an expressionist piece of art thought long and hard about the underlying meaning to each action, and the deep visible and non visible emotions that the character or person would be feeling.
Expressionism is all about feelings - when you express yourself, you express your feelings, correct? Makes sense. That's what I think the whole point of the movement was about. To express deep and underlying feelings in dark and strange ways that made a point.
A lot of the time, movement was a big deal as well. For example, the Japanese dance Buto, was all focused on movement. Granted, it was dancing, but Buto focused on the speed of the movement, and the emotion behind the move.
I think that expressionism can also focus on underlying emotions and why one should feel some way and how they should portray it through movement. If that even makes sense. I feel like the choreographers and directors and writers and artists who decided to create an expressionist piece of art thought long and hard about the underlying meaning to each action, and the deep visible and non visible emotions that the character or person would be feeling.
Expressionism is all about feelings - when you express yourself, you express your feelings, correct? Makes sense. That's what I think the whole point of the movement was about. To express deep and underlying feelings in dark and strange ways that made a point.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
STAC Live
I really don't know how to put my past few weeks into words. They've been a whirlwind of good and bad with a sprinkle of stress, and I can't even begin to explain to you why. But over the past few weeks, I performed in STAC Live.
Last year, when I saw STAC live I was inspired, and was amazed at the talent level. This year when we started bringing Snuggies into the mix, I didn't really know what to think of it. I mean sure, we thought it was hilarious, but I knew there would be at least one or two idiots in the audience who would actually believe it. Not to say the idea was bad, because it was really funny, but I just didn't think that it was the right time to use it.
Once STAC live was completely changed last minute, it had a completely different feel to it. It wasn't structured, and it wasn't fake. And I liked that. Granted, I wish we'd had more time to figure out STAC live before the actual day of performance, but I think we worked it out as well as we could given the last minute circumstances.
There were a lot of elements to STAC live this year that were really different, that I think some people really enjoyed. Like the circle plays for example. People loved them. They were funny, interesting, and people wanted to know what was going on at all times. I think that the circle plays were a great idea to add to STAC live because it showed off both the writing and acting disciplines.
Another thing that I thought was really interesting that the audience liked were the couple plays. People ate them up. They were eager to see what would happen with the couples, and enjoyed them. I think those were a good aspect to add to the show as well. It showed off our improv ability.
I think "Kooks" showed off our music ability, and I think people were completely freaked out by the Snuggie dance that went along with it, but that was the whole point, wasn't it? Which got me thinking. I don't really think people have to get STAC to like it. I mean, you really can only understand STAC if you're a STACie. I think that this STAC live, that showed passion and determination and work ethic kind of shocked HHS. I don't think they were expecting us to be serious, which we honestly are under all of the fun and creative ideas. I think that showing them that we're serious was a smart idea, and I think that we should continue to do so. I think we should save our crazy ideas for ourselves for a while, and show the school that we mean buisness, because we do.
Last year, when I saw STAC live I was inspired, and was amazed at the talent level. This year when we started bringing Snuggies into the mix, I didn't really know what to think of it. I mean sure, we thought it was hilarious, but I knew there would be at least one or two idiots in the audience who would actually believe it. Not to say the idea was bad, because it was really funny, but I just didn't think that it was the right time to use it.
Once STAC live was completely changed last minute, it had a completely different feel to it. It wasn't structured, and it wasn't fake. And I liked that. Granted, I wish we'd had more time to figure out STAC live before the actual day of performance, but I think we worked it out as well as we could given the last minute circumstances.
There were a lot of elements to STAC live this year that were really different, that I think some people really enjoyed. Like the circle plays for example. People loved them. They were funny, interesting, and people wanted to know what was going on at all times. I think that the circle plays were a great idea to add to STAC live because it showed off both the writing and acting disciplines.
Another thing that I thought was really interesting that the audience liked were the couple plays. People ate them up. They were eager to see what would happen with the couples, and enjoyed them. I think those were a good aspect to add to the show as well. It showed off our improv ability.
I think "Kooks" showed off our music ability, and I think people were completely freaked out by the Snuggie dance that went along with it, but that was the whole point, wasn't it? Which got me thinking. I don't really think people have to get STAC to like it. I mean, you really can only understand STAC if you're a STACie. I think that this STAC live, that showed passion and determination and work ethic kind of shocked HHS. I don't think they were expecting us to be serious, which we honestly are under all of the fun and creative ideas. I think that showing them that we're serious was a smart idea, and I think that we should continue to do so. I think we should save our crazy ideas for ourselves for a while, and show the school that we mean buisness, because we do.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Horrible Movies
Over break I watched a completely horrible movie called "Waiting for Forever." It was truly truly awful.
For starters, the plot was completely underdeveloped. I had absolutely no idea what was going on. It was like the writers just assumed you knew everything that was going to happen every time a new scene rolled around.
Also, the movie contradicted itself. For example, there was one really whacked scene where the mother is like beating the father with a rag screaming about how much she hates him, and then two seconds later they're laughing and in love again with no transition to tell you why.
The storyline was also just plain weird. I wish I could explain it or summarize it, but I really can't, because I had no idea what was going on by the end of the movie.
The lighting and filming was also horrible. The movie was so dark, and there were constantly shadows over the actors faces. Every time the camera panned an area, it would shake, like some teenager was holding it and making a short film just for kicks.
And lastly, the special effects were ridiculously horrible. At one point in the movie, half of the screen was pouring rain and the other half was not. It was just really pathetic.
Thankfully though, I got something out of this horrible movie. I was so proud of myself for understanding and identifying what makes a movie good, and how and where it went wrong in this movie.
I thought it was pretty funny how you can learn so much more from a bad movie than you can learn from a good movie. If you see a good movie, it's just nice to see and that's it. But if you watch a bad movie and pick up on all of the flaws, you know that you're learning about what make a good movie good and a bad movie bad.
All in all, although it was pretty painful to watch, I'm glad I saw "Waiting for Forever," because it taught me a lot.
For starters, the plot was completely underdeveloped. I had absolutely no idea what was going on. It was like the writers just assumed you knew everything that was going to happen every time a new scene rolled around.
Also, the movie contradicted itself. For example, there was one really whacked scene where the mother is like beating the father with a rag screaming about how much she hates him, and then two seconds later they're laughing and in love again with no transition to tell you why.
The storyline was also just plain weird. I wish I could explain it or summarize it, but I really can't, because I had no idea what was going on by the end of the movie.
The lighting and filming was also horrible. The movie was so dark, and there were constantly shadows over the actors faces. Every time the camera panned an area, it would shake, like some teenager was holding it and making a short film just for kicks.
And lastly, the special effects were ridiculously horrible. At one point in the movie, half of the screen was pouring rain and the other half was not. It was just really pathetic.
Thankfully though, I got something out of this horrible movie. I was so proud of myself for understanding and identifying what makes a movie good, and how and where it went wrong in this movie.
I thought it was pretty funny how you can learn so much more from a bad movie than you can learn from a good movie. If you see a good movie, it's just nice to see and that's it. But if you watch a bad movie and pick up on all of the flaws, you know that you're learning about what make a good movie good and a bad movie bad.
All in all, although it was pretty painful to watch, I'm glad I saw "Waiting for Forever," because it taught me a lot.
New Year, New Goals
Don't you just love how everyone expects the new year to be "the best one yet" or to "fix the problems" that occured the year before? It's pretty funny if you think about it. It's like January 1st is this magical date that's just going to fix everything. Having the clock hit midnight is not going to fix a fight, or change something you said, but don't we wish it could? Granted, I too partake in the cliches that make New Years what it's cracked up to be, but sometimes it just makes me wonder.
2011 for instance. I've learned and accomplished a lot of things. I started high school. I wrote my first song. I learned how to play the piano. I got my first guitar. I got my dream role in Fiddler. I got the freshman chorus award. I learned how to handle people. I wrote a book. I got an iPhone (trivial to some, but that thing is my life). I turned fifteen. I got my first A+ in a math class. I took my first 5 hour test (that damn PSAT). I got into STAC. I took my first midterm, and my first final. I performed in my first high school musical. I got a perfect score on Level 6 NYSSMA. I was the only girl in my class to make All County for voice. I spent an entire morning dressed up as the queen of hearts, screaming at people during battle, and probably had the most fun I've ever had in my life. I got a new baby cousin. I made new friends, and lost some old ones. I watched my brother grow up. I watched my sister grow up. I watched myself grow up.
But all in all, I'm still Sarah. I'm still the girl who is completely obsessed with The Little Mermaid. I'm still the girl who could listen to a Taylor Swift or a Lady Gaga song on repeat for hours and still get chills. I'm still the girl that watches High School Musical whenever she gets the chance, and sings along to every song. I'm still the girl who gets sick all the time. I'm still the girl that sometimes doesn't shut up and repeats herself constantly just because she's so damn excited about something. I'm still the girl who can't get up in the mornings for her life. I'm still the girl that is obsessed with theatre and obsessed with wanting to become better and better at her music. I'm still the girl that is always cold, even if its sweltering hot outside. I'm still the girl that shudders when music on the radio has been pitch distorted. I'm still the girl that can be cured of anything with a Jennifer Aniston rom-com and some oreos. I'm still the girl who worries about everything. I'm still the girl who belts showtunes when she's home alone. Bottom line, I'm still me.
Sure, 2012 will bring a lot of new and great things. But a new year can't change or fix everything. To me, a new year just means new beginnings, more growth and expansions, and bigger and better accomplishments. A new year can't cure a broken heart, but it'll give it time to heal. A new year can't change everything, but it can change one thing in a big way - if you let it.
So this year I'm determined to have more accomplishments than the list I posted above, but to still keep all of the qualities I already have. This year I want to write a complete album, and I am determined to do it. I'm 3 songs in, and I know that with a lot of work and dedication that I'll be up to 10 by the middle of this year. I want to write another book (though I know it'll be so hard considering I don't even have time for myself). I want to work on my acting, and make it better than it already is. I want to get dancing again, and I want to improve and learn new things because I miss it so much. And this year I want to try new things, and to just have fun.
2011 for instance. I've learned and accomplished a lot of things. I started high school. I wrote my first song. I learned how to play the piano. I got my first guitar. I got my dream role in Fiddler. I got the freshman chorus award. I learned how to handle people. I wrote a book. I got an iPhone (trivial to some, but that thing is my life). I turned fifteen. I got my first A+ in a math class. I took my first 5 hour test (that damn PSAT). I got into STAC. I took my first midterm, and my first final. I performed in my first high school musical. I got a perfect score on Level 6 NYSSMA. I was the only girl in my class to make All County for voice. I spent an entire morning dressed up as the queen of hearts, screaming at people during battle, and probably had the most fun I've ever had in my life. I got a new baby cousin. I made new friends, and lost some old ones. I watched my brother grow up. I watched my sister grow up. I watched myself grow up.
But all in all, I'm still Sarah. I'm still the girl who is completely obsessed with The Little Mermaid. I'm still the girl who could listen to a Taylor Swift or a Lady Gaga song on repeat for hours and still get chills. I'm still the girl that watches High School Musical whenever she gets the chance, and sings along to every song. I'm still the girl who gets sick all the time. I'm still the girl that sometimes doesn't shut up and repeats herself constantly just because she's so damn excited about something. I'm still the girl who can't get up in the mornings for her life. I'm still the girl that is obsessed with theatre and obsessed with wanting to become better and better at her music. I'm still the girl that is always cold, even if its sweltering hot outside. I'm still the girl that shudders when music on the radio has been pitch distorted. I'm still the girl that can be cured of anything with a Jennifer Aniston rom-com and some oreos. I'm still the girl who worries about everything. I'm still the girl who belts showtunes when she's home alone. Bottom line, I'm still me.
Sure, 2012 will bring a lot of new and great things. But a new year can't change or fix everything. To me, a new year just means new beginnings, more growth and expansions, and bigger and better accomplishments. A new year can't cure a broken heart, but it'll give it time to heal. A new year can't change everything, but it can change one thing in a big way - if you let it.
So this year I'm determined to have more accomplishments than the list I posted above, but to still keep all of the qualities I already have. This year I want to write a complete album, and I am determined to do it. I'm 3 songs in, and I know that with a lot of work and dedication that I'll be up to 10 by the middle of this year. I want to write another book (though I know it'll be so hard considering I don't even have time for myself). I want to work on my acting, and make it better than it already is. I want to get dancing again, and I want to improve and learn new things because I miss it so much. And this year I want to try new things, and to just have fun.
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