fandomhigh | Entries tagged with acting

If anyone thought Sweet Dee would be anywhere but back in Philly and Paddy's Pub for St. Patrick's Day, then that person was clearly a dumbass. Because that was exactly where Sweet Dee had been that weekend and no where else would suffice. That in and of itself was fine, there was nothing wrong with that...

...but there might have been a slight hitch with the fact that she was still there come Monday and in absolutely no state to be teaching, anyway. She wasn't even in a state to be awake yet. It had been a great St. Patrick's Day. One for the ages. Her brother hadn't even inadertently started up a string of kidnappings and robberies as a misguided attempt to promote the bar this year!

Fast forward to a little bit shy of one o'clock in the afternoon, where Sweet Dee would be sitting at the bar of Paddy's Pub with a beer before it hit her like a pound of bricks. "Oh, shit, I had class today!"

"Class? What are you talking about, Dee? You don't have class. You're a goddamn degenerate, just like the rest of us. More so, than the rest of us, if we're being honest..."

"No, you numbnuts, like class. An actual class. That I teach?"

She stared incredulously at the confused, bewildered looks coming back at her through the haze of a hangover, and blinked. "You guys, I've been away in Maryland for the past three months because I got a job teaching at a school down there. Have you seriously not even noticed?"

They had not. And, in fact, they made it a point to mention how they thought they would have noticed a lack of bird around there.

Anyway, enjoy your free period, kids.

not_a_bird

Sweet Dee would have hoped her students would have remembered her saying something like 'no class this week' due to the extra day they put in last week, but she figured it wouldn't hurt to shoot an email to remind them, and, at that point, if any of them actually showed up, then that was completely on them.

Great job last week! Remember, no class today! Enjoy the time off!!!

Of course, since there was no class that morning, Sweet Dee was taking advantage of it by sleeping in, which meant that the email didn't get sent out until well past the class starting time, making the email essentially pointless.

Technology, though, right?

not_a_bird

"Okay, guys," Sweet Dee greeted the class when it was time to start, "good morning. I hope you all remembered your assignment to work on some comedy stuff, because this week, we're going to have you do your first official performances at the Inaugural Open Mic nights over at Caritas this Wednesday. Aren't you guys excited?"

If Sweet Dee had paid probably even an ounce of attention to her students half the time, she'd know that excited was definitely not the word any of them would use.

"And you're probably a little nervous, too, and that's okay. That's definitely natural, even the best of us," yes, that was a hand to her chest as if to indicate herself for some inexplicable reason, "get nervous before a performance, especially if it's your first time. Use that nervousness, transfer it into energy to help you get through it, because once you're up there and it's go-time...it's a totally different experience, you guys, and you'll see what I mean on Wednesday. And, luckily, we have all class period today to really workshop some of your material with each other to get ideas on what works and what doesn't. And that's basically all we're doing today, is just preparing and workshopping, so you guys'll be good and ready to go on Wednesday.

"I will say," she added, "that since I'm pretty much making you guys do an extra day of stuff this week, that we'll go ahead and not have class next week, so you know, that's pretty cool, a nice day off, riiiight?" To recover, obviously, and to help her try and win some cool teacher points at the same time. "But, if you want some extra credit or some extra stage time...and who wouldn't want that?, I encourage you come and and perform next Wednesday, too, okay? But until then, let's just...work on our stuff, bounce off each other, make some suggetions, really get this workshop going. Acting is a highly interactive medium, you guys are all part of a team, a troupe, so let's get going, Who's got something to start us out?"

not_a_bird

It was actually kind of a miracle that Sweet Dee had actually gotten up and made it to class that morning with an actual lesson. That's how bad Iceland was, you guys. It made her actually look forward to getting back to actually teaching. Then again, she also had a plan for the next few weeks, which was something so rare that when she had to seize it for all it was worth, especially since she could actually pursue that plan without anyone butting in or stealing her idea or dismissing her for being just a dumb stupid bird.

It was really a toss-up on whether or not this lack of curbed enthusiasm was a good thing or not.

( Tragedy tomorrow, Comedy tonight! )

And just like that, Sweet Dee was done teaching for the day and did what millions of parents had done since the fifties and let the television do the teaching for her.

Look. She tried, okay? And, overall, she made it through, like, half an an actual class. Progress!

not_a_bird

Sweet Dee had actually gotten an idea for this class that she actually thought was a pretty good one, but, with spring break next week, it didn't make a whole lot of sense to get into it just yet. Clearly, it was an End Game kind of project, something to throw at the kids to lead up to the end of the semester which was still, in her mind, going surprisingly well. She hadn't even gotten close to being fired yet, which was a leg-up on the last time around. But, then again, she hadn't been dragging the kids to a bar.

Yet.

That was for after the break. For today...

"Sooooo," Sweet Dee started, "we haven't been spending as much time with acting lately as," they should, "I would like, so today we're going to fix that a little bit and do an exercise that'll hopefully help tap into some real acting chops. Now, a good actor should be able to portray a variety of emotions, even with a single line, alright? For example, a question as simple as 'What are you doing here?' can be delivered in so many different ways to convey a different set of emotions or reactions from your audience. Here, I'll show you."

You know it was going to be really great when Sweet Dee took a second to clear her throat and collect her thoughts. And then she launched into about five minutes of repeating the 'What are you doing here?' line with a variety of different energy and emphasis, not of it particularly good or convincing, almost all of them being on the extreme side of what someone who was just learning what emotions were might present as happy, surprised, sad, angry, morose, etc, etc, etc.

"You see? One line, so many different emotions! And that's what we'll work on today. So, when you're ready, I'll give you a line and we'll cycle through different emotions for you to try and see how to improve or keep doing what you're doing that makes it work. Who wants to go first?"

not_a_bird

Sweet Dee had barely made it in to teach her acting class that morning. Sweet Dee had actually forgotten she had to teach an acting class that morning, and only remembered when she barely had enough time to get back from Philly after spending the weekend back there to get completely wasted with the gang for the Super Bowl, as was tradition. Somehow (she wasn't sure how, exactly, it was all a bit of a blur), she'd managed to make it in just a few minutes into the class period actually starting. And thank god she taught a bullshit class like acting, where just popping on a movie could be considered "research" and "getting to know your craft," which was basically the set-up she was leaning into as she somewhat groggily explained to the kids that what they were watching was a classic and it had to do with acting and Hollywood, and, not only that, but it was critically acclaimed for its high-quality direction, writing, and performances, so take notes, kids!

And while the movie was playing, Sweet Dee was just going to huddle around a very large cup of coffee, wince frequently as she wondered if the volume was too loud (it wasn't), and wonder if anyone would have any beef if she smoked in here. She would totally crack a window.

not_a_bird

Most of Sweet Dee's week was a little bit of a blur, which wasn't anything unusual, but that did mean that not only had she almost forgotten that she'd assigned homework for her class, she'd almost entirely forgotten she had a class at all. Look, this thing had lasted nearly twice as long as the last time now, she'd lived a pretty rote and predictable life for years now, shaping America's youth never really bothered to factor into it too much, except on rare occassions where it was entirely a bad idea and America's youth would have been much better off without her.

And this was no exception.

She did wake up that morning with very much of an 'oh shit!' moment that involved some flailing and rushing and then a moment to remember that at least she didn't have to deal with traffic or public transportation (shudder), because this island was tiny and it took her more time to drop a morning duece than it did to get to the school. And it took her even less time than that to throw something together because of the assignment she'd forgotten she'd given, so you know that was going to be great.

And hey! Costumes! Perfect. So, barely, by the time class started, the students would arrive to find Sweet Dee sitting at the front of the room in Colonial dress, pretending to be seweing an cheaply made American flag.

"'Allo, loves!" said Sweet Dee, in an accent that was...sure, British, we'll go with that. "It turns out your lovely teacher couldn't be in today; all you've got is me, Betsy Ross, 'ero of the American Revolution and creator of this here flag," she lifted the completely anacronistic prop for emphasis. "I hear tell you all were supposed to research a historical figure, like me!, and think about how you might perform as them like in some magical moving picture. Now thar's some costumes right over there, loves, if you'd like to really bring up your performances a notch, so 'oo wants to begin? Come on up, and we'll see if we can guess 'oo you are! Though I might have a bit 'o trouble guessin', if you happened to pick anyone after..." Yeah, that was Sweet Dee totally taking a long moment to check her phone, "....1836!"

No, no one could accuse Deandra of being any good at this sort of thing. But no one could accuse her of a lack of dedication, either.

not_a_bird

Well. Score one more point for avoiding draft beers at any bar, really, because whatever Green Guy was serving on Friday was not good; Sweet Dee didn't know what could make a beer go skunky enough to cause a weekend-long hallucination that she was just four inches tall and therefor sort of stuck in her apartment thinking everything was huuuuuuuge, but, well, that's what happened, wasn't it? So she was definitely sticking to bottles here, too. Or wine. She could probably do more wine. In pint glasses.

But, anyway, whatever it was clearly had worn off by the time Monday morning rolled around (yaaaay), and she almost thought of just canceling class, because, um, hello, shouldn't they have MLK day off, anyway? What was up with that? Way to screw her out of a convenient day off of work, school. Ugh. But at least it gave her an excuse to kind of phone it in and and still not have to do anything but give an introduction and push a button.

"So," said Sweet Dee, with her usual I-have-no-idea-why-I'm-doing-this-but-I'll-try-anyway smile, "since it's Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I thought it might be a good use of our time to not only honor and respect a great man, but to also take the opportunity to see some really powerful acting in a critically acclaimed film about Dr. King's life and his work. Now, I know the subject matter is important and revelevant, but since it's an acting class and not a history class, I'd like you to watch this not only for the very important and very real subject matter, but also, pay attention to the acting. The directing. Think about the choices made by the actors in portraying the real, actual people who existed.

"And keep those thoughts in mind for your homework for next week. I'd like you each to pick an actual historical figure and you're going to bring them in and act them out for us, and we'll talk about how you came up with that particular approach. What kind of research did you do? Did you find it difficult or easy to find that character? That sort of stuff. So think about that a little as you watch the movie, and let's get started, yeah?"

...hey, that was pretty good for an assignment she'd just sort of...made up on the spot in an effort to give a little more validity to just cheaply phoning it in on a movie day, right?

not_a_bird

Well. Sweet Dee was officially at this teaching gig longer than her last one, unless, she guessed, you were basing it on hours put in instead of time elapsed, but, either way, she did not know what to make of that. The class itself wasn't bad, but this whole town was just weird and boring and she wouldn't go so far as to say she missed the gang, buuut...

...but she was still there, and she was still trying to smile like she wanted to be there, but her ability to do even that was fading fast.

"Hey, you guys," she said. "Good morning. Welcome baack. Now, so far, we've covered scripted with your monologues and improv with the activity from last week, and I was thinking this week, maybe we can get a discussion going and have you guys chime in on what you'd like to work on. Why are you taking this class? What are you hoping to get out of it?"

In other words, please give her ideas. At this point in the game was probably about when she tried proposing a trip to Broadway so those uncultured little snots could actually see live theater, which might not be a bad idea to try with these guys, it would definitely be a lot cheaper with the three of them, so...maybe! But she'd been lazy about potentially putting that together.

Little did she know that this school's field trip policies were way more lenient.

"And," she continued, "I figured we can also tap a little into the idea of character creation today, too. Remember the first week, when I mentioned stage names? Well, sometimes, the person you portray to the public is just as much a character as something you might play for on the stage and screen. People like a celebrity who's interesting, which isn't going to happen if you're just some Joe Schmo from Kokomo, am I right? So I thought, today, after we talk about where you'd like to see this class go, we can take a moment to think of some good stage names," because your names, kids, they're bad. They're all bad, "and maybe a little about who this dramatis personæ," a little preening for the Latin there, yes, "might be.

"Okay, then, who wants to go first?"

[[ocd is....up! Have at it.]]

not_a_bird

"Hey, you guuuuys!" Sweet Dee greeted her tiny, tiny, tiny little class with a broad smile that was holding back an awful lot of disappointment in the fact that they'd actually shown up for the second week. "Good morning! Welcome back! I hope you're ready to get up here and have a lot of fun today, because what we're working on this week is..." Pause for effect. Dramatic reveal. "Improv!

"Now, improv, in a way, is kind of the opposite of what we did last week with monologues, which was reading from a set scene. With improv, you make everything up as you go along, sometimes with a prompt or a suggestion. It's a really popular method for comedic actors to really test their chops and get out there, too, and you have to think on your feet and really feel the room, your acting partners, the whole vibe. It's really dynamic and an important tool, even in more dramatic acting. Nothing worse than being in a live show and someone flubs their lines, but a good amount of improv training can help you recover the scene so that no one barely even notices. Believe me, I improv all the time, and it goes great."

It went awkwardly and embarrassingly for everyone involved, really.

"In a moment, I'm going to give you guys a few characters and scenarios and a starting line, and I want to see how you think on your feet and work with each other," her fingers did circles in the air as if connecting them, nodding her head with an eager smile to get them on board with this totally harmonious vibe she was building between them, "and improv your way through a scene. But there's one thing that's important to remember, and this is today's lesson for the day, and that thing is: Yes, and...! "Yes, and..." is the most important thing in improv. No matter what the other actor throws at you, you don't want to just say no and totally kill their vibe. You want to 'Yes, and...' "I'm going to the grocery story, do you need anything?' 'Yes, and!...could you pick up more eggs this time?' 'Yes, and I think they're on sale today!' See? Yes, and! keeps the conversation going, keeps it moving, brings more energy to the scene. I want to see all three of you Yes, and!ing all over this stage. Okay?

"Okay! If there aren't any questions, let's just get right to it. I've got three scenarios in mind, and, if we have enough time at the end of class, I want you guys to offer out a few for your fellow actors to pursue as well, really challenge each other, okay? You guys ready?"

not_a_bird

Ugghhh. What kind of school put a new teacher on for the first class on a Monday morning? On New Years Eve? Whoever did the schedules for this weird, dumb school was a total dick-weed.

...as if teaching one class a week was just going to be sooooo incredibly taxing on her.

And at least she wasn’t one of the losers stuck with classes tomorrow morning.

( Sweet Dee Teaches a Monologue Class. )

“And maybe,” she said with a tempting voice, figuring this next move would at least earn her a few Cool Teacher points, “if we get through them quickly,” since there were only three of you, “I’ll even let you out early today! Yeah?” She laughed at her own brilliance. “How you like them apples?”

“You’ve got five minutes to prep, and then let’s get this show on the road.”

nosefullofsnot.livejournal.com

As previously announced, Lucas's final was taking place in the school auditorium. To any students who had yet to realize just how into himself Lucas really was, it would probably be a surprise that there was a big projection screen on the stage with Lucas standing in front of it.

"Hey. So, last class. Big deal. I'm sure you've all worked really hard on your final scenes, but I have to admit something. I don't want to grade you on crap like that. I mean, it's going to be at least as painful for me having to sit through it as it would be for you to fail that badly. So what we're going to do instead of having you try to act without a safety net is watch a master at work." Lucas hopped off the stage and started walking toward a seat in the front row.

"The movie is The Game is Over 2. If you haven't seen The Game is Over 1, that's your own fault. You've had a full semester with me. You should have seen all of my movies by now. But you should be able to pick up pretty quickly. It's a movie about a good cop - me - who's finished fooling around... again. And this time, my character, Detective Frank Cooper, is out to bust some drug dealers in New York City, a move that takes him and his partner, played by the great Paul Rapovski, all the way to Hong Kong after the drug dealers kidnap his wife."

"Sit back, relax, and enjoy me," Lucas said before the lights dimmed and the movie started rolling.

nosefullofsnot.livejournal.com

When the class was settled, they might notice a bunch of script books on Lucas's desk. Or at the very least, they'd notice it was a whole bunch of books. Was he going to throw the books? Who knew? Lucas himself probably hadn't decided yet.

"Well, you've gotten this far without making me kick you out of the class or throw you out the window or anything. That counts for something. And maybe you've spent this whole class hoping for some technical instruction in acting from a guy best known for action films. And if that's the case, I'm just going to laugh at you. You don't really need that kind of technical training if you're hot and charismatic enough. And even if you are both of those things, there's a chance you've just been gifted with the ability to remember lines quickly. That's me."

"But still, we're going to do a class on how to remember your lines. Here's something I printed off the internet about it. Read up, then go through the books on my desk and find a scene to act out because that's going to be your final. Find a monologue, do a group thing, hell, find a scene and play every part in it yourself. Memorize it however you need to because next week you'll be on stage in the auditorium performing it."

nosefullofsnot.livejournal.com

When the class had gathered, they could find Lucas leaning on his desk staring at his phone. He was speaking aloud as he typed, "this guy has wings. crazy right? lol."

After sending the image with that caption, he finally looked up. "Hey. 'Sup. I'd apologize for missing class last week, but I knew you'd be in good hands with my TA. You aren't all evil now, are you?" Lucas looked around for a moment. "Wait, that's still only funny to me. Oh well."

"Anyway, if you've learned anything so far this semester, it's that the main thing you're trying to achieve is an award. If you're a young up and comer like me, prizes at Sundance and the Toronto Film Festival for Let's Hope There's a Heaven are enough. Inside of two to three years, though, I'll need a Golden Globe or some members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association are getting a visit. With my career trajectory, I'd be happy with a Lead Actor Oscar by the time I'm 34, or a Supporting Actor before then, you know, if I want to slum it for some praise. I have my speeches all written already." And yes, they all involved him skateboarding to the stage, doing some tricks, and then swooping either the girl with the statue or the female presenter off the stage, depending on which was more attractive.

"But for your standard win, you probably want to thank God, your spouse, any kids you might acknowledge in the press, your mom but not necessarily your dad, coworkers, blah blah blah. Maybe cry. People love that crap. But don't be afraid to go off the standard script. It makes you more memorable if you ignore all those people and just make the moment be all about you. They'll love you. They'll really love you." Yes, he was implying that Sally Field was evil, just like him.

"So if you couldn't figure it out by now, you're an idiot and should start thinking about a GED because you're not getting a diploma. Get up here and give an acceptance speech. Oh!" Lucas said, snapping his fingers twice. "But before that, tell us who you're wearing. Give us some red carpet action. Then do your speech."

dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com

"Hey, guys," Ramona said, lazily waving a sheet of paper as people wandered in. "So, apparently Lu -- um, Mr. Lee had more important places to be, or whatever, 'cause he asked me to fill in. What we're supposed to do is talk about how to deal with the press as an actor. And okay, I guess that's important, because where would we all be without knowing where Lindsay Lohan most recently had a mug shot taken, or what Britney's favorite brand of mac and cheese is. But since I know next to nothing about reporting or dealing with reporters, I'm going to have to resort to stereotypes."

She glanced around, shrugging, and said, "So what I want you guys to do, I guess, is learn to deal with nosy reporters by pairing up and asking each other embarrassing questions. And you have to answer, because there's no off-the-record stuff. But you don't have to give the truthful answer. Just an interesting one. Because after all, all press is good press, right? And the more interesting the story...well, just look at how many people are paying attention to Charlie Sheen."

nosefullofsnot.livejournal.com

"Hey, I've got a portal to catch out of town right after class, so let's make this snappy," Lucas said. Class was in the Danger Shop today, as dictated by a sign on the door of the normal classroom. He was evil, after all. He wasn't going to send out an e-mail. He wasn't some kind of Matthew Patel first level boss. "Costumes. Play dress up. Talk to each other in accents that fit your costume. Do whatever you want, I'm on vacation in an hour."

[OOC: Sorry for lame class. The night got away from me, and Friday night mostly goes toward prep for trips.]

nosefullofsnot.livejournal.com

When everyone was in the darkened classroom today, Lucas hit the play button on a remote control.

On a TV screen was Lucas, laying down and looking sad as an attractive young woman held his hands. "It's time, Isabella. I've held on for as long as I can but... *cough* I just don't have the strength anymore."

"Oh, Jayden," the attractive blonde said. "These last few weeks.... I never felt I could love again after the cancer set in. But you showed me... I don't have to be afraid to love anymore."

"Every moment you have left here on Earth should be filled with love," 'Jayden' said. "It's what I did. And trust me, Isabella.... *cough* it's been pretty great."

"I know," 'Isabella' said before starting to cry. "I was there with you."

"*cough* One last time, Isabella... kiss me... I'm dying..."

Isabella leaned down to give Jayden one final kiss before he gently succumbed to whatever fatal illness it was that he was suffering from. Probably cancer. When Isabella lifted her head, tears streaming down her face, she said, "I'll love you until the day I die. And when I do, let's hope there's a Heaven so we can be together again."

Lucas hit the stop button and turned the lights back on. "It's okay to cry. I know, it's very emotional," Lucas said, wiping away a single manly tear from his manly face. "So that's what you're doing today; dying. And take it from a guy who actually died recently, you don't get to go out with an emotional scene in real life, so make this one count."

"I went ahead and put a bunch of causes of death in a hat and pulled them out for each of you. Figure out how you want to play out your death from that cause, then come up here and start pretending to die already and give your final little speech. And don't worry, nobody expects you do be as good as I was in Let's Hope There's a Heaven. You're not professionals."

And then he handed out the slips of paper telling everyone what they were dying of.

( I had help coming up with the the deaths. The RNG assigned deaths to the people. I'm technically blameless. )

nosefullofsnot.livejournal.com

"I like irony," Lucas said to start the class. "So I'm going to keep this short. Dramatic monologues are a great way of conning academies into giving you awards. Really nail a good monologue and nobody will remember anything you messed up in a role."

"So what you're going to do this week is just get up and talk about whatever teenage drama you're going through right now. You can make crap up if you don't want to give your classmates any ammo, but it better be good. And it better be dramatic. Bonus points for crying."

"Oh, and try not to step on the pot on the floor when you come up," Lucas said, pointing out the broken potted plant on the ground. He couldn't remember how it got there. He didn't even remember having a plant in the room in the first place. Odd.

[OOC: The pot is all

old_and_busted's fault.]

nosefullofsnot.livejournal.com

"Now that we're back in class, it's time to move on to our next session," Lucas said, kicking off the class. "Yeah yeah, no more action stuff, and probably no stuntmen being thrown around for a while, either."

"So now we're focusing on drama. Or, let's be honest, award bait. Because really, that's why people make dramas. There are other minor reasons, I guess. They're not funny or they look funny holding a gun. But if they're like me - and most actors are - they broke into drama for the awards and award shows. Nobody gave me an invite to Sundance until I made Let's Hope There's a Heaven and that baby scored some prizes. And all I did was kiss some chick and die for a couple hours! And that's the reason why LHTH did so well," Lucas said, and yes, he did say 'LHTH.' "It's because I hit the three biggest parts of drama. I cried, I gave a big monologue, and I died. We're going to start with that first one today."

"Crying in movies is shorthand for 'Hey. I can act.' If you can pull off a crying scene, people are going to give you a lot of credit. You don't even have to be great! You can just be pretty good and people will give you extra credit. But if you're terrible at it, everyone's going to laugh at you. And then you'll learn how to cry more realistically."

"Step one is to figure out how to force yourself to cry. Try to think of something sad, like a breakup or a parent dying or, I don't know, someone kicking your puppy. The more personal it is, the more realistic it is. If that doesn't work, try violence. Stub your toe or pinch yourself or have somebody punch you really hard. Or just be like me and be a really good actor."

"Okay, that's enough talking for me. I want everyone to cry today. I don't care how you do it, just cry. And then write up a quick explanation for how you made yourself cry and turn it in."

Because he hadn't done anything evil yet this class period, but demanding potential emotional blackmail made up for that.

nosefullofsnot.livejournal.com

"Now you listen close and you listen hard, bucko," Lucas said, holding up the receiver of an old-school phone. "The next click you hear is me hanging up. The one after that... is me pulling the trigger!" And with that, Lucas hung up.

"That's kind of my 'Feeling lucky punk' quote from one of my biggest hits, 'You Just Don't Exist,'" Lucas said. "When people dress like Cole Hazard at conventions, that's the line they quote. That's the power of a catchphrase. You think Schwartzenegger gets to be a politician today if he couldn't mumble at least one good catchphrase per movie? If you do, you're an idiot and the rest of the class should kick your ass and steal your lunch money."

Lucas waited to see if anyone would raise their hand and volunteer for an ass kicking.

"It's Friday. We're in Hawaii on Sunday. You don't want to do any work now, I get that," Lucas said. "Unfortunately for you guys, 'evil' is in my job description. So you're going to get a bunch of situations and you need to come up with catchphrases for them. Your character is a badass. They're about to do something badass. Figure out what you're going to say and then make it sound badass."

nosefullofsnot.livejournal.com

"Today was going to be an interactive class on stunts where you'd be jumping off platforms onto crash pads, doing backflips, and other things like that," Lucas said. "But you all have a dance tonight, so none of you want to do anything to hurt yourselves because you think high school romance isn't just going to leave you evil and depressed. Fair enough, no probs there. It's your mistake, I'm not going to take away from it."

"So instead, we're going to watch an instant classic. It's not only an intense medical drama where a young doctor must save the men who kidnapped girlfriend thanks to his Hippocratic oath, but he then has to hunt that guy down and fight him to the death. It's called 'Action Doctor' and yes, there are plenty of explosions and scenes where people jump away from explosions in slow motion. And yes, it stars me."

"So go ahead, watch me be awesome on screen, and as you're watching, pick a stunt you really like and write a paragraph essay about what made it so great."

nosefullofsnot.livejournal.com

Lucas was leaning against his desk at the start of class today. Next to him was one of his stuntmen. The stuntman was dressed in black with white greasepaint on his face (but not on the chinstrap beard because that wouldn't be cool).

"Today we're going to talk about mimes," Lucas said. "Miming is a centuries old art of expressing emotion, action, and objects by not talking and poking at the air. Go ahead, Rusty."

Rusty the chinstrapped stunt mime started miming a box closing in on him. And just when the box was getting really believable, Lucas turned around and punched Rusty in the face, knocking him over the desk, knocking Lucas's chair over, too.

( ACTION! )

nosefullofsnot.livejournal.com

"You know what the cheapest way to get a laugh is besides farting?" Lucas asked the assembled room. "Be ugly. If you're ugly, any funny thing you say becomes twice as funny. And if you completely bomb, people will still laugh. But they're laughing at you, not with you. And you deserve it."

"'But Mister Lee,' you say, 'I'm really attractive! How can I ugly myself up for laughs?'" Lucas said, lowering his pitch just a little for an impression of all teenagers. "First off, get over yourself. You're not that good looking. If you were, you'd already have a TV show at least. Second, wear prosthetics. Whether it's fake buck teeth, a weird mole thing, or just a fat suit, wearing some kind of weird latex thing will make you even funnier!"

"There's only one trick to it. It only works for five minutes, ten minutes, max. When people try to play eight roles in a movie with different makeup tricks, it'll get a few laughs out of you and then nothing else ever. So don't even try it. Leave that kind of thing to the hacks."

"And in case you don't believe me, I had someone take a few Eddie Murphy movies and take away all the parts where he isn't wearing some kind of stupid fat suit or prosthetic or something. And you're going to watch that while I look over some scripts. At the end of the hour, we'll see if you think any of that is funny again."

Well, it wasn't anything being thrown, but it was definitely evil.

nosefullofsnot.livejournal.com

"Hey, 'sup guys?" Lucas said to start the class. He was sitting casually on his desk. You know. To appear casual. Standing next to the desk was a guy who looked a lot like Lucas, down to the leather jacket, black shirt, chinstrap beard, and raised eyebrows. He was less attractive and had a scar on his cheek and was a couple inches shorter than Lucas, though. "This is Doug. He's part of my stunt team, so we've known each other for a while. You might even say we have a rapport."

"We have a rapport," Doug said.

"Ha. That's funny, Doug," Lucas said, holding a fist out for some respect knuckles. After Doug gave him a fistbump, Lucas continued. "Nice wordplay. And that's what we're talking about today. If I didn't have to teach you guys stuff, I would have said something back to him like, I don't know, 'I didn't even know there were French rappers.'"

Doug paused, thinking hard about what Lucas just said. "I don't get it," Doug said.

Lucas hopped off the desk, grabbed Doug by the jacket, dragged him to the window, opened it, and defenestrated Doug. Then he closed the window, turned back to the class, and said, "He'll be fine. He's a professional stuntman. He knows his shit."

"So, rapport. You build it up by either being really familiar with somebody else, or just having some instant chemistry, or you're just good at fake liking someone while talking to them. The key to really good banter is to talk really fast. That way even if what you're saying isn't funny, at least it's two people saying things at each other fast enough that something's going to end up being kind of funny. If you're into that kind of thing. Not my cup of java, personally, but that's why I'm an action star."

"So! What you're doing today is pairing up with someone that you think you can banter with. Don't worry about being funny or anything right now. That'll mess you up. Just talk at each other without thinking about what you're going to say. Whatever you do, don't let a pause crop up in the conversation. Because if that happens, you fail at banter. And if you can't even manage to pull off a fast-paced conversation, you're pretty much failing at life."

"Just like Doug," Lucas said, peeking back out the window. "Horrible at living. Great at falling out of windows. Heh. He'll appreciate that. I'm gonna text that to him while you guys start talking."

nosefullofsnot.livejournal.com

"Hey, you made it back. 'Grats on not being losers," Lucas said as the class began. "I'm breaking up the semester so you'll get some time learning about all three movie genres that are worth anything at the box office. And we're starting with the easiest genre, comedy. Really, anyone can make someone laugh. All you really have to do is fart at the right time. Well, that's all you have to do. Farting's beneath me. You'll never catch me farting for a laugh. A-listers don't have to unless they really need a paycheck, or they're pretenders to the crown."

"But hey, you want to fart, go ahead and fart. I'll just grab a gas mask," Lucas said. "Anyway, the key to comedy - besides farting - is that you don't have to be funny. Unless you're really good at improv - and based on last week, none of you are... except for maybe the frog kid. That bear thing cracked me up - you're going to be completely dependent on what people who are SO MUCH funnier than you write. Don't admit thatin the press. The writers know the deal. All the credit goes to you. You can even say that you improved your lines, nobody will say anything else because they're beneath you. But hey, if they figure out how to become directors, then they'll get some credit. Until then, be sure to sell those bastards out like your career depends on it, because it probably does."

"And that's all comedy acting is. It's lying about how funny you are. And if you're good enough at that while you're reading those things actual funny people wrote for you to say, then somebody might believe you and give you more work, or maybe a Golden Globe," Lucas said. "And remember, you get to drink at that show."

"So, here's what we're doing today," Lucas said, reaching under his desk to pull out a bunch of joke books and tossing them indiscriminately toward his students.

Because if they got hit in the face, it would be funny.

"Grab a book, grab a partner, make them laugh. If they don't laugh, you're doing something wrong because a lot of those jokes are great. Go ahead and fart if you're getting desperate," Lucas encouraged. "We'll know that you suck, but at least you'll make it another day in the business. I'll be around to give some tips on delivery if you're dying out there." Or, more likely, he would heckle.

[OOC: Really, he's more throwing them to the students, only a little high. But obviously, feel free to catch or dodge or bat away any joke books. They're small, 100 page softcover things, so they're not going to hurt that bad, even if they do hit....]

nosefullofsnot.livejournal.com

As the students walked into the class, Lucas - still wearing his leather jacket, for the record - was standing in front of his desk, holding a skateboard behind his neck with one hand, staring down at his phone in the other hand, and laughing occasionally. "Ha ha. HipHopGroceries. That's a great hashtag. Flavor Flav-or-ice. I remember that stuff. I gotta retweet that." It wasn't until a little bit after the bell rang that he finally looked up at his class.

"Hey. How're you doing? Great? Good. I'm fine, bro, thanks for asking. This is How to Be a Really Famous Actor (And Other Acting Tips)," Lucas said, really pronouncing the hell out of those parentheses. "I'm Lucas Lee, but you knew that already. And if you didn't, what's wrong with you? Don't you like movies? Then why the hell are you here? Hopefully, it's because you want to be a really famous and probably good actor. Or maybe you want to be just an okay actor who's kind of famous with nerds and gets millions of twitter followers because they love when you talk about video games or something. Or maybe you just want to be a nobody who will never amount to anything more than local theater because you suck." He didn't have anything against local theater. He was just better than it. His bank account was proof of that.

Lucas put the skateboard on the desk, then pounded the desk with a fist for emphasis. "Well, this is the class for you! Except for the last person. Shove off, loser. We've only got time for potential superstars here. But those first two people are more than welcome to learn from me, a master of the craft. Also, if anyone wants to learn some sweet skateboard tricks, I'll be behind the school after classes. Bring your boards. I'll give coupons for some of the gear I sell from my skate company."

"We're going to start with some simple stuff today. Introductions..." Lucas paused until the drama had built up to its boiling point, "and improvisation. The first thing is when you tell me your name, your age, how much you love me, and something about yourself that you're going to repeat every time somebody does an article about you when you're famous. The second thing is when I pretend to care." Lucas laughed a little bit at his little joke there, but just enough to make it clear that it didn't have to be a joke if you sucked. "But then you also have to make up a character on the spot and introduce them the same way. Maybe I'll ask you some questions for your character to answer. Maybe I won't. I want to keep you on your toes."

magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com

"Today is our last class. I've very much enjoyed our time here, so while, as I said, I wanted all of you to do your presentations today-- and that is not canceled--" Sophie smiled. "You may do them on whatevery you wish. Why you should be President. Your Oscar acceptance speech for Best Actor, Actress, or F/X Coordinator. Your reasons on why we should all convert to Jainism. A monologue from Shakespeare's Amleth. Have at it!"

"And please have some of the muffins and cookies here. I hope to see some of you in the class I hope to be teaching next semester. And of course, those of you who are in the play-- I'll see you tomorrow."

[OCD ~~on its way~~ up!]

magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com

"The main difference between stage acting and television or film acting is that one must not blink." Sophie gave the class a deadpan look. "I exaggerate. But truthfully, film and television acting requires one to act normally. No large gestures, no broad movements; staying in one place, on one's 'mark' and emoting naturally from there. Another thing to consider in film and video acting is that all scenes are shot out-of-order, usually for reasons of convenience or budget. So you must be able to not only grasp your character thoroughly, but where they are in their emotional arc throughout the piece. You must be able to play each emotion out-of-order in a way that makes sense when chopped up and put together in order."

"To aid in this today, I have obtained both two large video cameras," she gestured to two standing cameras on the stage. "And a number of hand-held cameras. I want you to film yourselves, speaking in the scenes we used two weeks ago. Walk to your mark," she pointed to three taped X's on the floor, "speak, and try to make it natural. Some of you may have never heard or seen yourselves on tape before. Yes, your voices *do* really sound like that." Sophie smiled. "And feel free to dress in any of the costumes if that allows you to get into character," she added, gesturing to a rack of costumes from Greek to Roman to Medieval to 21st Century.

"As next week is our last class, I want you each to prepare a monologue to share with us. It can be a piece you wrote yourself, something we've done in class, or a speech on why you should be president. Just deliver it with belief!"

"Now. Grab a camera, and go to it!"

[ocd on the way up!]

magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com

"First of all, congratulations to those of you who auditioned for and were cast in the play," Sophie said, smiling at them over her coffee. "I expect all of you to work hard, and I look forward to acting with you, since I was cast as well. Secondly! A few no-no's I truly hope none you inflict on this production, or on any acting you do in the future. Because acting is a team sport as much as anything that takes place on a ball field."

"Upstaging. There are two ways to hog the limelight and ruin a play. One is to literally move upstage-- counter to whatever the director told you," Sophie did this on the stage, and pointed downstage toward the class. "While another actor is speaking, so that they have to face you and not the audience. Utterly unfair. If I catch anyone doing this, I will make you do the acting equivalent of sit-ups here in class."

Sophie gave the class an amused look. "Another form of upstaging is to distract the audience with extra movement or mugging while it's another actor's turn to be the center of attention. Cleaning, furniture-grabbing, fluffing one's hair at a dramatic moment for someone else; all unacceptable. Stepping on another's lines, interrupting them before they're done? Also unprofessional. You can be the greatest actor in the world and that kind of behavior will mean you are never cast a second time, or that you can very justifiably be fired. The best actors can make the act of listening into another part of the greater performance."

"Today, you get to be directors of scenes, as well as actors. Please break into the groups I've assigned."

[ooc ~~on its way!~~ up!]

magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com

"Memorization! This is the thing that frightens off so many people from acting. It's really not as difficult as people make it out to be. The thing to remember is that memorizing a script is sequential; you have cues and reminders that lead you on from line to line. Things to do, especially for those of you in the play this summer." Sophie held up a color-coded script.

"Outline your lines. Colors help trigger memory. Say them aloud. Most actor's memories work on both visual and audio cues-- and you remember your own voice best. Reciting the lines will help you memorize them. Some people also remember if they copy them over in their own handwriting. Do that if it helps. Memory is helped by physical movement; read the script and walk out the cues." Sophie smiled at them all. "Now! Scenes! Break into the pairs I've designated, and rehearse one of the three scenes I've given you. Switch halfway through, and see how different your performance in one character's role is from your partner's, yes?"

[ooc ~~on its way~~ up!]

magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com

"Stage fright," Sophie said, wandering down the aisle as she spoke. "Is a phenomenon of many parts, including self-consciousness, perfectionism, and catastrophising. An actor can be afraid of forgetting their lines, of looking foolish, or of causing disaster on-stage. Experienced actors manage to use normal nerves and heightened anticipation to spur them on! Instead of fear, they turn their awareness into excitement, the thrill and rush of exhibitionism, and performing. But for those with less practice, there are a few things you can do. Such as..." Sophie smiled, and ticked off on her fingers. "Know the material. If you're confident in that, you can place one more burden aside. Preparation gives you control. Next, breathe! Diaphragmatic breathing, in," she demonstrated, expanding her diaphragm, "then out, can help keep you calm. Accept that you will be nervous. Don't expect that you'll be perfectly together in that setting for the first time, and don't regard it as a failure if you're not."

"But most importantly, and I can not stress this enough," Sophie sat down on the edge of the stage, "live in the moment. That line, that interaction, that movement on stage. Worrying or thinking about the entire performance at once will only take away your focus, and increase your anxiety. You don't have to be perfect, you just have to be present." She met each of their eyes in turn, and smiled. "And to increase that, this week's exercise is pure improv: the Questions Only game. Winner is the student who can keep going in a conversation without recycling a question, or falling back on answering. Go!"

[ocd ~~on its way~~ is up!]

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!]

magdaofslovenia.livejournal.com

( Acting: Getting Paid to Pretend )
[ooc: And OCD is a go!]

actingreaper

The Basic Acting classroom had been transformed since the last time the students had been there. Instead of a mostly blank classroom for varying improvised scenes, it was decked out to the nines to look like the lobby of a posh hotel. Curtains hung from the walls in gold and red, gilded mirrors decked out every wall, and the desks had all been replaced with couches and chaise lounges. The teachers' desk had become a reception desk, complete with a guest book and signs for various credit cards.

Daisy herself was lying back on one of the couches, a kitchen knife sticking realistically (and bloodily) out of her chest as she relaxed, reading a book of plays.

The only thing that remained unchanged was the chalk board, which now had the following written on it:

Welcome to Hotel Adair!

It's the morning after a murder in a remote hotel. Overnight, someone
murdered the hotel manager with a knife. There was a large storm
which took out the local roads and the power, so no one was able to
come in or leave since the evening before the murder occurred. All
the people in the hotel have gathered together with the detective,
who has to ask the witnesses questions to find out who the murderer is.

Your detective is John Crichton. Please do as he asks.

Continental breakfast is complimentary!

Sure enough, a spread of brunch finery, complete with lox, cream cheese, scrambled eggs, and varying bread-y goods from J,GOB was laid out on a table at the back of the room, along with coffee, tea, and orange juice.

[ooc: you should all have received emails with your role for this large improv scene today. If you did not, please contact me so I can assign you one. This post is open until Saturday for play to accommodate for multiple time zones. Have at ye, and have fun!]

actingreaper

There's a sign on the door:

Class cancelled for today.
Teacher exhausted from being held captive all weekend.
Please look over your parts for the pageant.

[ooc: Sorry folks, work is still rather busy with the moving, and I won't be able to post later due to it being the younger bro's b-day.]

actingreaper

Once the class was in and settled, Daisy stepped up and leaned against the chalk board. "Before we get started, I have two announcements. The first is that I've decided to change your final project. Instead of doing group scenes, I thought it would be more fun and more of a stretch of your acting abilities to do a murder mystery party, instead. Next week I'll give you your roles for the party; I'm going to ask that you keep your role to yourself and not talk to the other students in the class about it. The fun is to figure out who the killer is, after all, so I want to make sure that only myself and the killer know who got that role assigned.

"The second is that we will be participating as a class in the school's holiday pageant on December 8th. It seems some little chippy named Nadia Santos will be performing the song 'The Christians and the Pagans' for the pageant, so I thought it would be fun to have all of us act out the events of the song on stage. Sort of an interpretive dance kind of thing. Now, this isn't going to be for a grade, but I will consider it extra credit. You don't have to participate, but show some school spirit. Your friends won't laugh. No. Really. I mean it."

Daisy passed out sheets with the song lyrics on it.

"Angela? I'd like you to play Amber, if you don't mind, Briar, if you could be Amber's uncle, and you two," she pointed to the twins, whose names she still wasn't able to come close to pronouncing, "will share the role of Timmy. I think that will increase the impact of the youthful, innocent role in the show. John, I'd like you to be Jane. Show your fellow classmates that, as TA, you have the acting ability and flexibility to portray the part well. Zero? I know you're the leader of Teal Dear, would you mind leading the rest of the class as a band of dancing pagans and Christians? That'd be wonderful."

She wrote the list down on the board as she spoke:

Angela - Amber
Briar - Amber's uncle
Twins - Timmy
John - Jane
Zero - Chorus leader
Hamlet, JD, Jake, Sakura - dancing pagans and christians

Once the song was cast ~~mostly, anyway~~, Daisy went back to leaning against the chalkboard. "Now, to do this properly, you're going to need costumes. I'd like you all to take this time to figure out what kind of costume you'd like to wear in the pageant. Remember the holiday theme, and keep in mind your character and what you think your character might wear. Think about their personality, their motivations. And think about the fact that you have to be able to move while wearing it."

[ooc: OCD is going up. And yes, I know that Daisy left out assigning the role of Amber's aunt. That will be filled by someone in particular. Those who received character assignments above can decide to swap roles and such if you want, just don't take the Amber's aunt role. Those who are listed as dancing pagans and chrsitians are the ones who didn't get back to me on the post yesterday, so you don't get special roles, so nyeah!

Participation in the pageant is COMPLETELY OPTIONAL.]

actingreaper

The classroom had been laid out with mats and such around the room, and there were a variety of weapons and diagrams on using said weapons lying about.

Not a single one of the weapons was real.

"Okay, guys, time for part two of the stage combat section of the class. Last week we did unarmed combat, this week? Armed. We have cap guns, stage swords, foam billyclubs. . . . as well as women's shoes and a silver tea tray. All of these things can be deadly weapons, so please handle them with care. You get injured or dead and you fail for today, got it? I want you guys to group or pair up, grab a weapon of choice, take a few minutes to get the feel for it, look over the diagrams in how to use it on stage, and go to it." Daisy listed off a lot of safety precautions, just in case. She didn't want any spontaneous graveling creations in her class.

"Perhaps one of the greatest things you can do as an actor is play out a good death scene, so I also want you to 'kill' each other in these fights today. Try your hand at being Pyramus and/or Thisbee, and give yourself a great, tragic death. Make me cry, folks."

[ooc: ~~wait on OCD, bitte~~ Go forth and do battle!]

actingreaper

The desks have been cleared to the walls in the classroom today, and Daisy leaned against the chalkboard, holding a blunt rapier.

( No, she won't cut you with it. Yet )

"Okay, that's the very basics of unarmed stage combat. We're not working with weapons today, we'll save that for next week. Take a look at some of the techniques described here, and then slowly and carefully try them out. Anyone who gets injured gets a failing grade for the day, along with their partner."

[ooc: OCD ~~going up~~ up and ready to go. ~~I'll also be posting to my journal soon~~ I've also posted here with an alternate final project plan, to get your opinions.]

actingreaper

Daisy seemed a bit preoccupied when the students entered the classroom that day. "As you can all see on the schedule, next week we'll be starting into some of the physical techniques of acting, and this week your choices for your final scene projects are due. We were going to do some improv in class today, but I figured I'd give all of you the choice. You can either do the improv assignment, which is to present a scene in which only your feet, back, or hands are visible to the audience, or you can get together into your groups and talk about your final projects. If you don't have a group or a project yet, might I suggest the latter?

"As soon as you let me know your group and project ~~handwaving is fine as always~~, you're free to leave. Next week, stage combat! So wear something you can really move around in."

[ooc: sorry for the uninspired class this week. But I wanted to give some IC room for people to actually get together into groups and such if you want. As always, handwaving of the assignment is fine, just PLEASE let me know if that's what you're doing. OCD is ~~going~~ up.]

actingreaper

The desks were back in their more traditional desk-like arrangement, and Daisy was seated at the front with an arrangement of books.

( the class is this way )

"Don't forget to get into groups for the final scene project, and pick a scene you'd like to perform for the class."

[ooc: as usual, the post will be open for play all week. Have a ball, folks]

actingreaper

Basic Acting is over here.

*facepalms repeatedly*

actingreaper

The classroom was even more open than usual when the students arrived, the desks having been replaced by a handful of folding chairs.

( Right, let's get started, shall we? )

[ooc: this post will be open for play all week, since I know we have a variety of availabilities in here. Daisy is an option for partnering, but she's right, she is hard to keep interested. And she'll walk away. And keep walking. This excercise is one I've done for class, and my instructor related a story of doing it himself . . . in which he had to follow his instructor out to his car and get in in order to keep following his audience and keep them interested.]

actingreaper

Daisy waited for all the students to come in, then started handing out a couple note sheets about monologue structure.

"Last week I had all of you let me know what monologues you've chosen to perform for the class. John Dorian and Jake Gavin, I still haven't heard back from you, so please let me know ~~or tell me you're handwaving it~~ by the end of today, or it'll affect your grade. Today we're going to take a look at the structure of a monologue. What is a monologue? What is it for?

"A monologue should be a scene entirely to itself. It should contain all the important parts of a scene or even of an entire play. It has a beginning, middle, and ending, and along the way, something changes and perhaps the character comes to some sort of realization. This is going to be the most important part of your monologue, because that's when we find out if you can really act or not. We have to see that change in you. In your voice, your face, your body. So before you ever get up to perform a monologue, you need to pick out the exact moment that that change occurs, and how, exactly, it happens.

"You'll have two weeks to memorize your monologues and look for that moment of change, and we'll be rehearsing those monologues in class next week. For this week, I'd like you all to look over those information sheets I've given you, and write your own monologue, about your life. Have you ever wanted to turn to the side, face the camera or the audience, and just king of lay everything bare so you could work something out? This is your chance. Remember, a monologue should be at least ten lines and must have a clear climax and resolution. And most importantly . . . have fun."

[ooc: ~~wait for the~~ OCD? is waiting for you.]

actingreaper

A large note on the board reminded students that their monologue choices were due today.

Underneath that, it told them that they were to do improvisational scenes again, this time as inanimate objects.

Phrases like "What does a can of soda really think?" and "How does an action figure feel when a kid plays with it?" underneath that seemed to be there to clarify the situation.

Oh, and there's a list of names on the board, too.

John Dorian, Agnes Nitt, and Sakura Kinomoto
Zero Hopeless-Savage, Hamlet Dane, and Angela Chase
Hikaru Hitachiin, Briar Moss, and Jake Gavin
Kaoru Hitachiin and John Crichton

Of course, considering the fact that Daisy didn't appear to be paying all that much attention to the class, instead wrapped up in staring at a script with a pencil in one hand, slowly mouthing words to herself and making faces, it's entirely possible that those groups could get completely rearranged.

[ooc: ~~congress is going nuts trying to get everything out before they go into recess again for the elections, so my office is going just as nuts trying to publish everything~~ I am sick and possibly asleep. Limited interaction with Daisy is available by request. If you're going to handwave the assignment, please indicate that in the assignment thread.]

actingreaper

Daisy was sitting in her chair again, this time looking like she planned to stay there for awhile.

"Welcome back everybody. Plese remember that your choices for you monologue are due next week. If you haven't found one yet, I have several resources available here and in my office." She gestured to the books on a table near the door.

"Today we're going to pair up and work on some improvisational scenes, however. I've assigned your pairs, but feel free to rearrange yourselves if your partner isn't here, or if you finish early and get bored or something. Your only guideline is that each of you must represent an animal in your scene. Cat, dog, bearded dragon, seahorse, I don't care. As long as it isn't vegetable, mineral, or human. A few guidelines for improvisation: never contradict your scene partner. A good phrase to keep in mind is 'yes, and'. Agree with what they've done, and build on that. You also might want to avoid asking questions, or bringing up anything that's inappropriate for schools. I'll watch each of your scenes and let you know what, if anything, you're doing wrong."

Daisy then gracefully got to her feet to post the list of groups on the board before sitting back down and sipping her coffee.

Hamlet Dane and John Dorian
Briar Moss and Angela Chase
John Crichton and Agnes Nitt
Jake Gavin and Zero Hopeless-Savage
Sakura Kinomoto and the twins Hitachiin

[ooc: As Daisy said, if you have to rearrange because someone isn't available or what have you, you may. I've tried to group based on general availability, but I don't have information on that from everyone, so it might not have worked perfectly. The post will be open for slow-play through the end of the week (and into the weekend if you need to wrap things up with your partner). Handwaving is always allowed]

actingreaper

Daisy was seated in her oversized arm chair at the side of the classroom reading a copy of Playbill magazine when the students entered. There was a stack of papers on the podium with a sign stating "take one" above them. When everyone had entered and had some time to take the quiz, she set aside her magazine and gracefully got to her feet.

"As the papers say, those quizzes are not going to be graded. That wouldn't be fair, and apparently fairness, though not required in the majority of the real world, is something that you kids are supposed to get in a classroom setting. They're simply a bit of fun and to find out what you already know about the basic terminology of theater." She picked up another stack of papers and started passing those out. "On these sheets, you'll find the correct answers to the quiz, as well as a lot of other facts and terminology about theater. Some of these terms you, as actors, will never actually need to know. That's pretty much anything about lighting or sound equipment, if you're wondering. But a lot of them you do need to know. When a director tells you you need to cheat out, or to move upstage left, if you end up looking up the answers to your history test or walking forwards and to your right, you might be in a bit of trouble.

"So today we're going to practice some of these terms. I want you to pair up or work in groups of three. You'll take turns as the actor and as the director, and I want to you block an imaginary scene. The director will give you instructions using the terms on these sheets, and you'll follow them. Or don't. That's really up to you and I can't actually tell you what to do, but as long as you understand the terms, I don't really care."

That said, Daisy gestured for the students the students to begin and made herself ready to move from group to group and help out where necessary.

[ooc: The link to the quiz is to a backdated poll, please, if you choose to fill it out, do it IC. You can RP asking neighbors for help on it or some such if you like. Daisy isn't choosing the groups for you this time, pair up as you will. I have a meeting at work on Tuesday from about 2 pm, so I'll be afk for awhile, but Daisy will be in and out as much as possible.]

actingreaper

Daisy's classroom was set up with several couches arranged in a semi-circle facing a podium and a cleared area for staging any scenes. A comfortable looking leather chair was placed to one side of the cleared area -- this was Daisy's director's chair. Those folding things were for weenies. She sat here as the students entered, sipping a glass of carrot juice.

When everyone had gathered, she got started. "Hi. I'm Daisy Adair and this is Basic Acting. If you're in the wrong room, out with it now, or just decide to be an actor, already. First thing's first, role call. Please state your full name, including any middle name or nickname, then tell us your favorite actor or actress, and why you chose this class."

She went on to pass out the syllabus. "As you can see, we'll have a full period's worth of activity every week, so please try to be on time. If you can't make it to class, it's up to you to contact me or another student and find out what you missed. If you miss more than one class, you'd better have a really good reason. For the monologue and scene requirements, I'll be bringing texts in to each class and have them available in my office, which will be open on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. You're welcome to look around on your own for material, as well, as long as you let me know where you're getting it. Hell, even write it yourself. Again, just let me know."

"We'll start off easy for our first class. What is acting? Why do we act? Is it just on stage, or do we do it elsewhere? And I don't mean just movies. Thoughts? Questions? Concerns?"

[ooc: the links provided in Daisy's first office hours will be posted in her profile at my first opportunity. They're weblinks of monologues and scenes, but like Daisy said, feel free to write or find your own, or handwave it if you need to. I'd love to see what you can find, though.]

actingreaper

The usual mess of film equipment had been cleared up, though Daisy was perched as usual on the edge of the desk.

"I want you guys to keep working on your video projects outside of class this week. We'll be watching whatever you've got done next week in class. This week, I thought we'd talk about something that's very important for every actor, stage or screen, to keep in mind: type casting."

Daisy stood and started pacing. "Type casting, for those of you who've been living under a rock, or in outerspace, of 100 years in the past all their lives, is when you're always called upon to play the same role, over and over again. Take me, for example. Outside of community theater, I am never going to be asked to play anyone over the age of 35. Odds are good that I will be cast as a romantic lead, not a quirky friend. Every now and then I might get a role as the heinous bitch that steals the romantic lead's love interest, but that doesn't happen that often. I'm not generally the bad guy, I'm not generally a character, I am the girl next door that all the guys want to be with.

Daisy relaxed again. "Now, I don't generally have a problem with being type cast. But it might be nice, especially for my fans, to get to see me stretch out my acting abilities and play, say, the evil genius mastermind bent on taking over the world, instead of just the spy's girlfriend. Either way, it's very important as an actor to be aware of what type you present to directors when you audition, so you can play to your strengths. I would like each of you today to figure out what your 'type' is. Are you the angsty youngest child, or the obnoxious neighbor? An evil mastermind, or a generic ass? I also want you to 'type' your fellow students. What character are they most likely to play?" Daisy grinned a bit wickedly. "Don't spare people's feelings here, now. This is very important for them to know. Hop to!"

[ooc: I'll be AFK for awhile before I get to work, then Daisy's interactiveness will depend on how busy we are. Tonight I'm having dinner with the fam, so I'll be AFK for awhile then, too. OCD is up, yay!]

actingreaper

Daisy, though pleased with how her turn running detention had worked out, was looking a bit bored in class, today. The usual array of recording equipment had been swapped for displaying equipment and editing equipment, ranging from the old school reel to reel players and editors to several desktop computers loaded with video editing software.

"Okay, two weeks ago I asked you guys to film a scene for your final class project. Today, you're all taking on the most hated role in all of cinema: the critic. We're going to watch each other's scenes and critique them. Thumbs up, thumbs down, love it, hate it, give us a sound-byte we can warp into using in an ad. Then, I want you all to turn your scene into a preview, using some of the things your classmates said to advertise. For example, say I say your scene is 'trying to hard too be like a mix between Casablanca and Home Alone, while failing at being either'. You could say 'like a mix between Casablanca and Home Alone' says Fandom critic Daisy Adair in a dramatic tone, and people will think it's good."

Daisy stepped to the side to get a seat and paused. "Please tell me none of you tried to make a mix between Casablanca and Home Alone. Because that would get you detention, or something."

[ooc: scenes can, of course, totally be handwaved, but I'd love it if each of you would post a quick description for others to ~~snark at~~ react to.]

actingreaper

Daisy was once again semi-lounging against the teacher's desk at the front of the room, though the pile of equipment behind her had grown.

"Right. So we've done a bit of the acting thing, but I'm not just asking you to act for your final project. I want you to film things, too. So lets practice that, today."

She nodded to the mass of equipment behind her. "Here we have the basic ingredients for getting interesting shots with a movie camera. Those would be," she ticked the items off on her fingers, "the camera. You point this end," she pointed to the lens "at whatever you're filming. Boom mike, which you hold over the head of your actor and try not to get into the shot with the camera. Gels, which are the little plastic sheets you put over lights in order to make them lots of pretty colors, filters, which you put over the lens to get . . . well, much the same affect as with a gel, and, of course lights. Because even the sun is sometimes not bright enough when you start working with the cheap film you can afford when you're not Steven Spielberg. Who's a hack, by the way."

She stepped away from the desk. "Your assignment for today, and the rest of the week, is to capture something that you think might work in your movie on film. It could be a scene you're planning, it could be that red and blue guy bouncing around in the park. I don't really care. Pay attention to your camera shots. Do you want a steady, fixed master shot? Or something more akin to home movies? If it's the latter, have a damned good reason for making your audience motion sick. Do you want a close up? A long shot? Pay attention to everything in the shot, as all of it can be used to tell your story. Do you want a candid shot for the ‘reality TV' affect?" she grimaced, "or a planned scene? Perhaps you want to prank someone and get it on film. I don't care. Have a ball, and we'll take a look at what you've got next week."

[ooc: and now in the right place. yeesh.]

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