Rehearsal Projects

How will I learn?

In terms 1 and 2 you will participate in a sequence of screen acting exercises and workshops which will be filmed, analysed and discussed with the tutor. You will also be involved in theoretical craft seminars and practical crewing exercises. You will work individually as well as in pairs for scene work. You will develop your learning through individual participation as well as peer observation and analysis. You will also take part in group discussions of research, observations and connections to previous work. In term 3 you will choose a short scene which will be filmed and edited for you to use in marketing yourself to the profession.

How will I be assessed?

The assessment within this unit of the module is predominantly based on your engagement with process as opposed to results achievement. You will be formatively assessed throughout the module in relation to the assessment criteria for the module. The mark awarded for Screen Acting forms 20% of the mark for the Acting module.

What will the assessors be looking for?

Assessment Criteria:

• Using your camera craft within a scene including continuity, hitting marks and vocal levels • Reacting from a vibrant truthful imagination • Working freely in front of the camera and not with unnecessary tensions • Working with the focus and professionalism that the industry demands • Committing to imaginative acting choices • Constructively self-assess a performance employing screen acting techniques and terminologies • Interpret and embrace direction on set • Finding imaginative and appropriate ways to prepare before a take • Actively listen to others in the scene

Tutors: Simone Coxall, Richard Neale & Visiting Directors Contact hours: 266 Timetable: 3 x 4hr sessions per week per project, Autumn and Spring, plus an additional 14 hours at the end of the Spring term

Outline

In this unit of the module you are able to further develop and apply your skills to specific texts. You are given the opportunity to develop an imaginative, rigorous and specific work process, integrating aspects of your learning from the breadth of the curriculum, thus developing your ‘toolbox’ of methods that best work for you. You are also introduced to the expectations of a professional working environment. You will work on 4 rehearsal projects over the first 2 terms, each of which allows focus on specific areas of process and practice:

• Contemporary – working outside of conventional notions of character to focus on the essential information and game structures that can be discovered from the text to elicit play and spontaneity. The text will be selected from recent 21st century published plays. Your process will be facilitated by either the course leader or a visiting practitioner. • Naturalism – typically working on a play from the late 19th or early 20th centuries. In this project you will build on your learning from the contemporary project to explore ways of playing character. Your process will be facilitated by either the course leader or a visiting practitioner. • Classical – using an Early Modern text (not exclusively Shakespeare) you will build on your learning from the Contemporary and Naturalism projects. In addition you will interrogate your relationship to working with a director and the principle of working with a more proscribed score, as defined by text, physical relationship to the acting space and the director’s vision. Your process will be facilitated by either the course leader or a visiting practitioner. • 20th/21st Century Iconic – in this project you will widen the spectrum of plays already encountered, including those that may fall beyond commonly performed material. The project will consolidate and extend previous exploration of process, encourage greater emotional reach whilst requiring further research around the cultural, social, and political world of the play. It will seek to deepen the appreciation of the lenses you approach performance of plays through. Your process will be facilitated by either the course leader or a visiting practitioner.

What will I be expected to achieve?

On successful completion of this unit of the module you will be expected to be able to: Skills • realise a fully formed embodiment of role according to requirements of text, director’s vision, research and the actor’s creative imagination • select from the ever-expanding tools and techniques at your disposal to best facilitate your rehearsal process and performance practice

Knowledge and understanding • evaluate your role within a process to make appropriate decisions reached by textual analysis, research into historical and contemporary relevance and the needs of the given ‘production’ • understand the professional expectations of an actor within a creative process

Values and Attitudes • negotiate the balance between maintaining an open relationship to process and the more results-based expectations of performance • work with trust, generosity, openness and resilience as a collaborative performer within an inclusive ensemble • discover autonomy over your process so that you may apply yourself independently to explore creativity, rigour, adaptability and specificity within your work

• value the working environment as a professional space in which you may work playfully and freely to take creative risks

How will I learn?

You will be taught within the structure of a rehearsal process which will vary according to the needs of the play. Typically this will involve some large group workshop teaching facilitated by your director and other small group rehearsal according to the scene being worked upon. This may involve individual, one to one direction. You will also be required to work extensively outside the rehearsal room, with your scene partners and also individually as you develop the role. Each project culminates in sharing of your work to fellow students and staff, this approach will continue to build a flexible yet robust and consistent framework of approaching, rehearsing and performing a diverse range of texts.

How will I be assessed?

The assessment within this unit of the module is based on your engagement with process throughout the length of each project culminating in a sharing of process at the end of the given time period of the project. You will be formatively assessed throughout the module in relation to the assessment criteria for the module. The mark awarded for each of the individual Contemporary, Naturalism, Classical and 20th/21st Century Iconic Projects forms 12.5% of the mark for the Acting module.

What will the assessors be looking for?

Assessment Criteria – Contemporary Rehearsal Exercise: • Identification of objectives and counter-objectives/obstacles within the play: scene, act, life/super-objective & moment to moment • Releasing subconscious sensation and behavior (impulse) through the playing of ‘the game’ of objective • Development of listening / awareness and focusing outside of self • Mining the text for information useful for playing of role (given circumstances) • Begin to embody the given circumstances of the play • Trust in self to allow you to ‘yield to the moment’ as opposed to creating a pre-determined score of action and behaviour • Independent work so you come to rehearsal prepared to contribute to the creative process • An understanding of the notion of character as a version of self-revealed through the playing of objectives, embodiment of given circumstances, understanding the relationships in the play and the use of garments and objects • A conscious incorporation of your learning from your other workshops, where relevant, to start to develop an understanding of your best working practice

Assessment Criteria – Naturalism Rehearsal Exercise: • Practising and consolidating the assessment criteria from Rehearsal Exercise 1, particularly within the areas of: analysis of text; playing the game of the objective and yielding to the moment to allow generation of

subconscious sensation and behavior; relationship to listening / awareness and focusing outside of self to allow impulsive response; embodying given circumstances of the play through imagination and sensation work • Using research into historical and social conditions to inform your playing of role • Exploring the notion of character through strategies learnt from other workshops as well as rehearsals to find a ‘version of self’ that lies outside your habitual. These may include: life objective; Lecoq element work; the use of characteristics; private moment exercise; Inner Motive Forces;

Laban; animal work; garments; music; Viewpoints • An ability to cope with an increased workload through independent work and preparation for each rehearsal • An autonomous approach to rehearsal in which the actor brings offers to rehearsal as opposed to waiting to be told what to do • Working with openness and trust to develop a boldness of approach in which the actor can explore outside of their habitual (and possibly comfortable) ways of working • A conscious incorporation of your learning from your other workshops, where relevant, to further develop understanding of your best working practice

Assessment Criteria – Classical Rehearsal Exercise: • Practising and consolidating the assessment criteria from Rehearsal Exercises 1 & 2, particularly within the areas of: using research and text analysis to identify objectives and given circumstances; playing ‘the game’ through embodied listening & awareness to generate subconscious action and sensation; developing a different version of self to appropriately play the role; consciously integrating your learning from the breadth of the curriculum; developing role and process independently so you enter rehearsal prepared & ready to work • Spontaneity and freedom whilst working with a ‘score’ – a specific set of conditions determined by text, given circumstances and director’s instruction • An understanding of the role of the professional actor in relationship to your director. This is defined through the criteria below. • Working independently to make clear and justified choice in rehearsal • Working autonomously with ownership of the role of actor • Development of resilience in your role of actor to be able to handle your choices being rejected, altered and moulded in service of the piece • Working with openness, bravery and playfulness, responsible for your own process whilst maintaining respect and consideration for the ensemble • Working with a professionalism revealed through attendance, timekeeping, focus, preparation & readiness, enthusiasm

Assessment Criteria – 20th/21st Century Iconic Rehearsal Exercise: • Deepening application and development of learning outcomes from previous rehearsal projects.

• Application of and engagement with social and cultural research in the construction of world, objective and need. • Embodied and conntected emotional reach. • Embodiment of vocal and physical choices in pursuit of character truth. • Working autonomously with ownership of the role of actor. • Use of space that meets the needs of the staging and theatrical reality of the work. • Ability to apply developing acting process in a useful, specific and owned manner. • Respond within the world of the play actively, with imagination and generosity. • Application of voice and movement techniques appropriate to the needs of the character.

MODULE TEACHING PATTERN

Teaching Unit Type Contact Hours Self Directed Study Hours

Total Student Learning Hours Acting Skills Workshop classes 117 31 148 Screen Acting Workshop classes 60.5 32.5 93 Rehearsal Projects Rehearsals 266 93 359

Totals 443.5 156.5 600

MODULE ASSESSMENT PATTERN

Assessment Unit

Acting Skills Screen Acting

Assessment Type Weighting Pass Mark

Pass/ Fail Classwork 30% 50% No Classwork 20% 50% No

Rehearsal Projects

Contemporary Classwork 12.5% 50% No Naturalism Classwork 12.5% 50% No Classical Classwork 12.5% 50% No 20th/21st Century Iconic Classwork 12.5% 50% No

What do I have to do to pass the module?

You are required to achieve a mark of 50% or above in all units. The overall module mark is calculated according to the weightings in the table above. The Acting module carries a weighting of 30% of your overall mark for the degree.

How will I get feedback on my assessments?

You will receive formative verbal feedback throughout the term within workshop sessions.