Straight into it this morning with more Fitzmaurice voice exercises in my Dialects class. Half an hour of lying on a yoga mat in various semi-comfortable poses making sound, and a few adjustments by the teacher so that I'm doing it right. Wasn't quite sure what I was supposed to be achieving for much of the time, but must admit that afterwards I did feel more limber and did notice some more resonance and ease in my voice. The foundation of the work seems to be very focused on breath and its importance, so I spent a lot of time trying to release those tight abs of mine (...) and breathe freely.
After that warm-up we went into work on the International Phonetic Alphabet. I was picking it up pretty fast and enjoying it, and it makes quite a lot of sense so was easy to move at the class' faster pace. We're not covering the whole IPA (coz there's heaps) but just the really important ones that these guys need to know for their test next week (about 30-40 characters in all). It was a fun class that really appealed to the repressed academic in me.
Next was Acting with Svetlana, but today's class was dedicated to watching a movie called something like "The Mechanical Piano". It's a Russian movie based on one of Chekhov's novels, about 20 or so years old I'd guess, and Svetlana basically showed it to us as the example of great Chekhovian acting. And, oh my goodness gracious me, was it good. I consider myself someone who likes Chekhov, but I don't pretend to understand it on any really deep level - along with the fact that I haven't really read that much of him (though by the end of this week that'll change: 3.5 plays down already). It's hard to describe or put into words, but watching this film just made me go "oh, I get it - that's how you act Chekhov". Something about the life these actors find in and around and outside the text was just incredible. Still figuring it out, but we're having a discussion about it in Friday's class so I'll keep you posted.
Last up was Camera Techniques, and today my group was just working on finding ourselves scenes for the central casting exercise. Since I'd been asked to look for something with an Australian or NZ actor I spent the first wee while looking for one of Eric Bana's scenes from Funny People (which are actually pretty funny - his scenes that is, not the movie), and then looking through Heath Ledger and Hugh Jackman movies. After a while the teacher came over to me and my partner and suggested a scene from a movie called Rounders (which neither of us have ever heard of or seen) but it's Matt Damon and Edward Norton and the script looks pretty cool, so that's what we'll be filming Monday after next. In the meantime, I'll of course be rehearsing but also crewing for the other scenes being filmed. Coming up on Monday I'll be camera operator, then in scenes after that I'll be a boom operator or script supervisor (I don't even know what a script supervisor does). should be a good time.
Anyway off to read The Cherry Orchard and learn my lines for The Seagull - first rehearsal on Friday afternoon and I want to be as prepared as possible to work with my partner. Eeeek!
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