Written Off

1. Having performed your first scripted mime, what was the biggest challenge you personally faced?

Expressions. I would always laugh on stage when performing. I could never keep in character- who was angry and upset. I would always crack up when Maya came to push Giovanni away. Me laughing all the time made the story less believable and since it was a scripted mime it would be even harder for the audience to understand what was going on. For example, when Maya came on I'm supposed to be disgusted but if I would be smiling, the audience might think that I'm happy that Maya is here. Also my moves would be soggy and boring but I needed them sharp. So keeping in character and not laughing helps me too have sharp moves that are believable to the audience, like the slap. 

2. Having watched your video... what are you most proud of? 

I think that our performance was quite accurate and everything happened at the right time. This only happened because we had good team work. We would watch each other when performing and then make suggestions if their was something that someone had to improve on. When getting used to out script we would help each other learn the correct cues, movements, and timing. We also helped Maya a lot when changing into her fat suit throughout scenes back stage. We practiced a lot and everyone was focused and on task all the time. 

3. What skills have you learned in the mime unit that you will be able to continue to use as we move to improvisation? 

When acting whether it's miming or improvising there are always certain skills that you can carry with you all the time. For example, facial expressions in very important when performing anything. If you don't have facial expressions then the audience can't really tell that well if your angry, happy, scared, sad, etc. You could act out something very clearly, but the audience won't really know what you as a character are feeling. If you roll your eyes then that means that your annoyed. If you pout that means that your sad. If you smile from end to end then that means that your happy. Body language is another skill that you can use when preforming. Your facial expressions can mean one thing but you body language is anther. For the audience to really get what is going on you need to about your facial expressions and body language and if they make sense together. For example, if you are smiling, but your arms and legs are crossed and your head is looking down then the audience doesn't know if you sad or happy.