Drama, Monday, Period 2 [05/18]

[magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com]

"Welcome back. This week, we're introducing ourselves, and examining a little more behind the theory of acting: Method vs. Classical." Sophie sipped her coffee. "If you're unfamiliar with the terms, allow me to explain. Method actors follow the theories of Stanislavski and his adherents, that an actor can only truly act when they understand the psychology and sense-memory of a character, and draw on their own experience in order to portray their actions. Classical training focuses more on what is thought of as the externals: the movement, voice, verse-speaking, combat, theatre history, and understanding of the text. One, it's thought, emphasizes the internal, the other the external. We introduced ourselves last week 'in character'-- please do so today out of character, as yourselves, and also one more thing--"

"Voice." Sophie smiled, and said in a perfect Mid-western American accent. "Not just speaking so the people in the back rows can hear you, got it? But cadences and rhythms, timing and approach." In a heavily Serbian-accented voice, she continued, "People, they believe what zey hear, yes? Zey do not notice it so much. But! An impression, yes, it makes one." She switched back to her own BBC-and-RADA-approved British accent. "Emotion isn't the only thing that gets expressed and judged. So does your intelligence, your education, your geographical background, your likely motivations. Today we're going to play with this, using the Expert Translation game." She smiled, then pointed. "And you will introduce yourself first, and your take on what your voice says about you."

[ocd on its way is up!]

Comments

Introduce yourself

[magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com]

Who are you? What does your voice say about you?

Re: Introduce yourself

[trigons_child]

"My name is Rachel Roth, and I am from Azarath," Raven said softly. She paused, thinking, and said, "My voice probably says I am shy, does it not?"

Re: Introduce yourself

[magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com]

"It does," Sophie agreed, smiling slightly. "How is that being conveyed? And is that something you wish others to know about you?"

Re: Introduce yourself

[trigons_child]

"It is not something I can easily hide," Raven said. "And it is not a secret nor harmful information. It is being conveyed by the softness of my voice?"

Re: Introduce yourself

[magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com]

Sophie nodded. "Softness, hesitancy, carefulness in choosing words, yes. And no, it's not something that needs to be secret. More people believe these days that shy people merely need more time to consider their environment, and new people, because they're processing more information about unfamiliar situations."

Re: Introduce yourself

[iamnotallgirl]

"I'm Jill McTeague, and I'm from Massachusetts. Not Boston. I didn't--" she put on the stereotypical Boston accent-- "pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd." Then she dropped it. "Too much? Uh, I don't know what my voice says about me. I guess it's a pretty typical American teenage girl voice? Does that make sense?"

Re: Introduce yourself

[magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com]

"It does, but what's missing is, as you demonstrated, as important as what is there. No extra-distinctive Boston accent eliminates parts of Massachusetts where you grew up; the vocabulary you use suggests middle-to-upper class upbringing, regular schooling... what else, possibly?"

Re: Introduce yourself

[likethegun]

"I'm Sam Winchester," he said, "and I think my voice might show that I've lived in a lot of different places. My family moved around a lot when I was little, and I've been told I have a hard accent to place, probably 'cause it's a mixture of all the different parts of the US."

Re: Introduce yourself

[magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com]

"You do have a very difficult-to-define accent. Although some might guess that you were living in the middle of the country, since there's no distinctive west or east coat overtones." Sophie gave him a smile, and asked, "Do you think your voice would suggest anything about you academically, or your personality right away?"

Re: Introduce yourself

[likethegun]

"Maybe that I'm decently educated?" Sam suggested. "But that might be more in the words I choose than in my actual voice."

Re: Introduce yourself

[magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com]

"But you use them with confidence," Sophie agreed. "Not like someone who's only read them in books, and isn't certain of their application. Not like someone insecure in their learning, or ashamed of it, as those who've been taught learning is a waste might be."

Re: Introduce yourself

[abetterthief.livejournal.com]

"Parker," Parker said. "My voice says I'm a girl."

Re: Introduce yourself

[magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com]

Sophie fought the urge to head-stage. Or head-coffee. And smiled. "Well, yes. That's the simplest thing about voices; higher ones for girls and women, lower for men. Although there is often overlap in the ranges, and many women grow used to speaking in higher voices than usual around men. Any thoughts on why that may be, Parker?"

Re: Introduce yourself

[abetterthief.livejournal.com]

Parker actually seemed to give that some thought. "Because they want to be underestimated." She paused. "Or are hoping higher voices will work like dog whistles and hurt their ears."

Re: Introduce yourself

[magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com]

"Precisely." Sophie was surprised but pleased that Parker got that, then had to smile. "Well. Not so much on the second part. And men also supposedly find higher voices more attractive; some women take it too far, of course."

Re: Introduce yourself

[robinthefrog.livejournal.com]

"Hi! I'm Robin from Florida. And....uhm, my voice says that I'm...friendly and happy?"

Re: Introduce yourself

[magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com]

"Also, young," Sophie observed. "How old are you, Robin? I'm afraid I can't tell much beyond that."

Re: Introduce yourself

[robinthefrog.livejournal.com]

"I'll be 16 in June."

Re: Introduce yourself

[magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com]

She would have guessed twelve, perhaps, but with Robin being a felt frog, she supposed that was an impossible call to get right. "Everyone's voices deepen with age, partly with use, but also abuse; cigarettes, alcohol, coffee, shouting, and just time take their toll. And age being equated with a certain degree of respect-- or consideration-- does mean that people treat us differently based upon this cue."

Re: Introduce yourself

[chic-harper.livejournal.com]

Harper had managed to finish the dress (http://ny-image1.etsy.com/il_430xN.63737957.jpg) she was working on yesterday, but it definitely looked like she'd made it during her temporary colorblindness. At the very least, it probably said as much about her as her voice.

"My name is Harper Finkle, and my voice probably says that I have lots of energy and that I'm from Noo Yawk City," she said with an exaggerated New Yorker accent.

Re: Introduce yourself

[magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com]

Ow. Sophie had to smile at the exaggeration. "How many different accents would you say there are in New York City, then?"

Re: Introduce yourself

[chic-harper.livejournal.com]

"I'm not sure how many, but there's got to be quite a few of them, depending if you're from the Bronx or Brooklyn or even New Jersey," said Harper.

Re: Introduce yourself

[ancientbschamp.livejournal.com]

"I'm Gabrielle," she piped up in an irritatingly cheerful tone, "and I don't know what my voice says about me exactly, but I've noticed I tend to get knives held to my throat, or thrown into a prison cell, if I use it a lot . . ."

Re: Introduce yourself

[magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com]

Sophie laughed in surprise, and smiled. "Is wherever you're from particularly dangerous? You do seem to take those occurrences in stride, for what it's worth. And you sound American to my ears, but based upon your performance last week, I had guessed you weren't from the contemporary U.S."

Re: Introduce yourself

[ancientbschamp.livejournal.com]

She did, as a matter of fact, have just a touch of a Texas accent. Weird, that.

"Not from the U.S. at all," Gabrielle assured her blithely. "Dangerous? Huh! It's not that bad most of the time, really, if you know which roads to take to avoid bandits and when to make a detour around the local civil war."