In my theatre background, I have learned a lot about working with masks. I believe that this is an integral part of actor training. I believe that using masks allows an actor or actress to be able portray a character with their entire bodies. By having a mask who’s expression does not change, an actor or actress does not have facial expressions to work with. Because of this, they must rely on their movements and voice. By not being able to USE the face as a tool for expression, an actor must learn how to portray emotions through body moments, such as running, walking or sitting.. and also through the expression of the body, a sloping of the shoulders or a quick, solid walk as opposed to a slow, lanky walk.
After learning these techniques, an actor is able to play a part without relying on their use of facial expressions. This allows an actor to act with their whole bodies. Therefore when the masks are no longer used, and an actor HAS the use of facial expressions, he still uses his body in a more stylized way because he has been trained that acting SHOULD use the whole body. When the facial expressions are added to the bodily expressions, actors are more fully able to act with their entire bodies, and NOT just their face. I feel that when an actor is able to use their ENTIRE bodies, INCLUDING their faces, they will be much better at their trade.
Neutral dialogues are included in actor training because they, too, are very important. From the use of them in our class, I learned that it isn't always the WORDS that are most important, it is the delivery of the words, and the premise behind them. The dialogues have words that in essence do not matter. It could even be repeating the same word over and over again. When an actor must create a situation and a reason for saying these words, the premise that he is basing his dialogue on becomes much clearer. The audience is able to discern his or her motivations from the way the lines are delivered and the actor is able to make a conclusion about the motivations of the other actors by listening to the way the other dialogues and lines are delivered. If an actor does them correctly, neutral dialogues can be extremely meaningful.
When an actor can create meaning from words that HAVE no meaning, he or she is truly presenting an idea to the audience, instead of simply words. By training with neutral dialogues, actors learn that yes, perhaps sometimes the lines they deliver ARE important, but they must not rely on the lines to create meaning. An actor must go into a scene with reasons and a purpose in mind. They must follow through on their reasons and purposes for the duration of the scene.
I feel that improvisations are done for a number of reasons. We do improvisations to loosen the body and the mind, and to create an atmosphere where actors are comfortable ACTING. In this atmosphere, an actor knows that anything goes and they can be free to make choices on the spot, choices that feel comfortable and that make sense in the scene, but are not necessarily DIRECTED by the script. Improvising also teaches an actor to make moves that are realistic and believable. When an actor improvises, they are creating a scene out of the top of their head, and this scene makes a lot of sense in relation to the other actors and the other ideas that are being presented.
Improvising teaches the performer to think on their feet and create situations which are realistic. This allows them to transfer these skills to acting with scripts. When they are using scripts, actors might have definite lines that MUST be said, and definite ideas that MUST be presented. However, they are still able to think on their feet and make movement choices that seem natural and realistic to the audience. Even when a director gives blocking to actors during a scene, the actors can still use the techniques they have learned with improvisation to appear real and natural when they do the movements they have been assigned.
The audience gains a lot from the improvisation techniques. When an audience is watching a group of actors that have learned to improvise, the movements they are doing on stage feel real and feel purposeful. The audience also benefits from witnessing the fluid movements of the characters.
Actors gain a lot from improvisation that they could transfer to standard plays. They learn the art of creating reasons for their movement. They also learn how to use their bodies to create a character and perform roles based on what the character is thinking and feeling, including their motivations for the actions that are not apparent with the lines and dialogue.
My favorite improvisations include the improvisations that entailed working with emotions and figuring out the emotions that the other people were feeling. I feel that these were my favorites because they allowed me to grow as an actor and gave me a chance to real feel out the roles I could create using my improvisation skills.
I think that theatre and theatre exercises relate very much to many aspects of my life, and the things that I have done. Like sports, acting requires a training of the body and a preparation for each day, such as the correct clothing and tools and mindset, as well as a general enjoyment of the tasks at hand. I think that action also relates very much to music, in the idea that it is a way of expressing your emotions in a creative sense. By allowing your body and spirit to become involved in the creation of the different characters in acting, you are creating reasons behind these lives and ideas. The exercises that you carry out in the theatre relate very much to the ideas behind sports and dance and martial arts. You have to be fluid with your body and allow the ideas behind your movements to drive the movements and create a physicality of the ideas themselves.
From doing theatre, I have grown in my self expression and imagination. By re-writing a script, creating ideas that go along with it, and doing many other things with the theatre as a whole, I have learned a lot about group dynamics and the reasons behind using collaborations to create something that is wonderful. By working together on an artistic project, I feel that I have grown as a member of a theatre troupe, which also makes me feel like I grew as a person as well. I am never afraid to try very difficult or very new things.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Make it a Mini-Workstation if you are short on Room!
By Christina VanGinkel
You did your homework, walked all through your house, assessed every possible location where you might be able to claim some space to create a workstation for your favorite hobby, and you have come up empty handed. So what can you do besides give up your favorite hobby for lack of space?
Create a mini-workstation!
Even if you live in a tiny one-room studio, you can create a mini-workstation for your favorite hobby. The object of a mini-workstation is to have a spot to keep a current work-in-progress with just a few essential tools. No, this solution will not work for every hobby, or for everybody, but it will for many. While you may have to keep the majority of your hobby's materials packed away, a mini-workstation might be able to provide you with just enough space to keep you happily ensconced in your favorite pastime when you have just a few minutes of time, maybe an evening free, and not a lot of room to dedicate one hundred percent to the hobby you enjoy and all the supplies it entails.
The difference between managing to provide a whole room for your hobby and creating a mini-workstation, is that that even those people who are truly strapped for space, can usually still come up with a small corner, drawer, or empty spot to situate a roll away cart. Keep this in mind as you look for a space.
Where are some good locales to create a mini-workstation? Drawers are good. Bedroom dressers, kitchen drawers, or the drawer of an entertainment unit can all be commandeered into becoming a mini workstation.
A closet that is already a busy place might be able to afford you the room to keep a rollaway cart, or a small stationary set of drawers or freestanding unit designed to house a craft or hobby supplies.
The kitchen might also be a good locale to scout out a spot, especially if you have an extended counter in the kitchen, where you might be able to store a roll away cart underneath when not in use. Be sure to consider empty or unutilized shelves in a pantry, or even a corner of a pantry with some counter space.
In a living room or family room, a footstool or ottoman that is hollow for storage can work, especially well, especially if the hobby is the sort that does not need a lot of surface area to enjoy, such as crochet, knitting, or cross-stitch. You can keep everything tucked away out of sight when not in use, but all your gear can be easily accessed even when you only have a few minutes to work.
To uncover and take over any spot or space, you must first identify it the same as if you were claiming a complete room for your own. If the space is currently in use, can the things there go somewhere else, or if it is empty, do you really have the room to add anything, or would you just be creating clutter. Even a mini-workstation should not be situated where it is going to be in the way.
Other issues you might want to consider include if you are going to need to be able to plug something in, then try to come up with a spot close to a convenient plug in to store your mini-workstation, else wise you will find yourself having to drag things all around, and that is what you are trying to get away from. Also, consider if your mini-workstation should include its own work surface. Too often, when coming up with something like a mini-workstation, we become too focused on the storage issues, and overlook the actual use of the things that we are pulling together, to help make our hobby more accessible.
A work surface could be as simple as a tray that you store with your supplies, or a built in part of a rollaway. Shop for a rollaway, which has a top that expands by pulling it out, or that flips up with a support, similar to the drop side on a typical sewing cabinet.
Any mini-workstation should also be something that can easily be stored away, without a lot of fuss. The focus of a mini-workstation being that you no longer have to leave all your things lying about when you are done. Easily stored, easily accessed, add up to even more fun!
You did your homework, walked all through your house, assessed every possible location where you might be able to claim some space to create a workstation for your favorite hobby, and you have come up empty handed. So what can you do besides give up your favorite hobby for lack of space?
Create a mini-workstation!
Even if you live in a tiny one-room studio, you can create a mini-workstation for your favorite hobby. The object of a mini-workstation is to have a spot to keep a current work-in-progress with just a few essential tools. No, this solution will not work for every hobby, or for everybody, but it will for many. While you may have to keep the majority of your hobby's materials packed away, a mini-workstation might be able to provide you with just enough space to keep you happily ensconced in your favorite pastime when you have just a few minutes of time, maybe an evening free, and not a lot of room to dedicate one hundred percent to the hobby you enjoy and all the supplies it entails.
The difference between managing to provide a whole room for your hobby and creating a mini-workstation, is that that even those people who are truly strapped for space, can usually still come up with a small corner, drawer, or empty spot to situate a roll away cart. Keep this in mind as you look for a space.
Where are some good locales to create a mini-workstation? Drawers are good. Bedroom dressers, kitchen drawers, or the drawer of an entertainment unit can all be commandeered into becoming a mini workstation.
A closet that is already a busy place might be able to afford you the room to keep a rollaway cart, or a small stationary set of drawers or freestanding unit designed to house a craft or hobby supplies.
The kitchen might also be a good locale to scout out a spot, especially if you have an extended counter in the kitchen, where you might be able to store a roll away cart underneath when not in use. Be sure to consider empty or unutilized shelves in a pantry, or even a corner of a pantry with some counter space.
In a living room or family room, a footstool or ottoman that is hollow for storage can work, especially well, especially if the hobby is the sort that does not need a lot of surface area to enjoy, such as crochet, knitting, or cross-stitch. You can keep everything tucked away out of sight when not in use, but all your gear can be easily accessed even when you only have a few minutes to work.
To uncover and take over any spot or space, you must first identify it the same as if you were claiming a complete room for your own. If the space is currently in use, can the things there go somewhere else, or if it is empty, do you really have the room to add anything, or would you just be creating clutter. Even a mini-workstation should not be situated where it is going to be in the way.
Other issues you might want to consider include if you are going to need to be able to plug something in, then try to come up with a spot close to a convenient plug in to store your mini-workstation, else wise you will find yourself having to drag things all around, and that is what you are trying to get away from. Also, consider if your mini-workstation should include its own work surface. Too often, when coming up with something like a mini-workstation, we become too focused on the storage issues, and overlook the actual use of the things that we are pulling together, to help make our hobby more accessible.
A work surface could be as simple as a tray that you store with your supplies, or a built in part of a rollaway. Shop for a rollaway, which has a top that expands by pulling it out, or that flips up with a support, similar to the drop side on a typical sewing cabinet.
Any mini-workstation should also be something that can easily be stored away, without a lot of fuss. The focus of a mini-workstation being that you no longer have to leave all your things lying about when you are done. Easily stored, easily accessed, add up to even more fun!
Friday, November 10, 2006
Create a Workstation for your Favorite Hobby
By Christina VanGinkel
How often have you wished for a dedicated space to enjoy your hobby, only to conclude that your chances of this happening are just not going to be realized? Your house is too small, every space already has a function, or maybe you have small children around and the thought of leaving your gear out would just be too tempting for small hands. Not all is lost, though it might take some ingenuity and work on your part to make it all happen. While a dedicated room might not be possible, a dedicated workstation might be.
Consider what your hobby is. Ask yourself if it is a hobby that needs to be enjoyed indoors (think scrapbooking, sewing, quilting, crochet, model building, electronics, etc.), or if it is more suitable to an outside of the house environment, such as a corner of the garage or even a separate little workshop (think woodworking, glass blowing, metalwork). Once you know the type of space, you are looking for, take a walk through these areas, inside or out, and consider what each is being currently utilized as. For example, if you enjoy woodworking, but all of your tools are piled on shelves or even still stashed in their boxes, consider each part of your garage, basement, and if you have any outdoor sheds. If considering sheds and garages, you will need to contemplate if these spots are heated (or could be) if you live anywhere, that winter means snow or deep freeze. If electricity is a necessity, make sure that is available too. Remember that you are not looking to take over the whole garage or basement, just enough room to make yourself a workstation to keep all your gear in one spot. Something easily accessible to you, but not out in the open where you feel like it is creating clutter, and if the space has a door, or could accommodate shelving or some sort of cabinet, all the better.
Most homes have areas that are being underutilized for their square footage, and this is the type of space you are in search of. If you have a wall in the garage, being used to store all your holiday decorations that you only need once a year; could they be moved to the rafters of the same garage? Many garages have plain studs that if a few sheets of plywood were laid across, could be used to store things that are not needed all the time. Do note that weight bearing might be at issue, so if you plan to store anything heavy up there, check with someone knowledgeable about building before proceeding.
Sometimes, all you need to do to claim some space is to reorganize. Hall closets, laundry areas, guest and family rooms, bedrooms, even kitchens if they have office built-ins or an unused pantry, could all be hiding the potential space you are looking for.
Once you think you have found a spot that you think would work, get to work. Remove any remnants of what it is being used for now, or redesign the area to accommodate its current use and your hobby. Some examples:
A laundry room might benefit from having the layout of the room revamped, though nothing drastic like tearing down walls, or shuffling water pipes, just basic reorganization and reassessment. If you have all your laundry products on a table next to the washer and dryer or even piled on the floor, put up a shelf above the units to store them. If you have a laundry folding area that never gets used except for sitting baskets on, reconsider if this is something you want to keep in the space, then remove it completely or take the table itself over as your workstation, with some additional storage above or below it. . If you have built-in cupboards that are overflowing with bottles of this and that, that you are not even sure how old most of the stuff is, toss it. Laundry rooms also often become dumping grounds for things that belong elsewhere in the house. That garden hose stuffed behind the door, put it in the garage, and the bag of baseball gear, make your kids put them where they belong. Once all of the extras are removed, you might actually be shocked at how much space you have found.
A closet is another space often filled with items that belong somewhere else. Open any closet in the average home and you are apt to find boxes and piles of things the typical homeowner is not even sure of what it all is. Clean it out to see what room you can gain. Consider the possibilities for a workstation in the space with the added advantage of a door that you can shut when you are in the middle of a project. If some things must stay in the closet that were originally there, use as much of the up space as you can, even if this means hanging a new shelf or resituating a rod higher up than it originally was. This can be a good plan for a closet where you keep out of season coats for example. When you do need to get things down, just use a stepladder to do so, the rest of the time, the off-season gear will be up and out of the way, leaving the lower portion of the closet space for you to install a desk or shelving to dedicate to your hobby as a workstation.
Once you have a space, or think you do, look at it and consider what type of workstation might best fit both the space and your hobby. There are lots of furniture pieces and storage choices created with the hobbyist in mind. Shop with dimensions in hand, so you are not disappointed when you find something you think is perfectly suited to the space, only to discover it will not fit. If pre finished furniture or storage pieces are out of your price range, still do some shopping, either in person or on line. Shop for ideas. When you find a piece that you think would work for your needs, ask yourself what it is about it that you like. Does it have many cubbyholes for storing gear, or does it have a large work surface. Consider how you could turn the idea into a reality on your budget.
If you are mainly after a flat work surface, consider such things as the legs from an old table, or an old table itself, with a new top. Stores such as Lowes or Home Depot carry sheets of eraser board for example, that you could glue down onto the top of an old table for a perfectly smooth work surface for less than twenty dollars.
Creating a workstation does not have to be just a dream. If you have a hobby that you enjoy, taking some time to find space to further your enjoyment of it is only sensible. Once you have a dedicated workstation, you will wonder how you ever survived without it.
How often have you wished for a dedicated space to enjoy your hobby, only to conclude that your chances of this happening are just not going to be realized? Your house is too small, every space already has a function, or maybe you have small children around and the thought of leaving your gear out would just be too tempting for small hands. Not all is lost, though it might take some ingenuity and work on your part to make it all happen. While a dedicated room might not be possible, a dedicated workstation might be.
Consider what your hobby is. Ask yourself if it is a hobby that needs to be enjoyed indoors (think scrapbooking, sewing, quilting, crochet, model building, electronics, etc.), or if it is more suitable to an outside of the house environment, such as a corner of the garage or even a separate little workshop (think woodworking, glass blowing, metalwork). Once you know the type of space, you are looking for, take a walk through these areas, inside or out, and consider what each is being currently utilized as. For example, if you enjoy woodworking, but all of your tools are piled on shelves or even still stashed in their boxes, consider each part of your garage, basement, and if you have any outdoor sheds. If considering sheds and garages, you will need to contemplate if these spots are heated (or could be) if you live anywhere, that winter means snow or deep freeze. If electricity is a necessity, make sure that is available too. Remember that you are not looking to take over the whole garage or basement, just enough room to make yourself a workstation to keep all your gear in one spot. Something easily accessible to you, but not out in the open where you feel like it is creating clutter, and if the space has a door, or could accommodate shelving or some sort of cabinet, all the better.
Most homes have areas that are being underutilized for their square footage, and this is the type of space you are in search of. If you have a wall in the garage, being used to store all your holiday decorations that you only need once a year; could they be moved to the rafters of the same garage? Many garages have plain studs that if a few sheets of plywood were laid across, could be used to store things that are not needed all the time. Do note that weight bearing might be at issue, so if you plan to store anything heavy up there, check with someone knowledgeable about building before proceeding.
Sometimes, all you need to do to claim some space is to reorganize. Hall closets, laundry areas, guest and family rooms, bedrooms, even kitchens if they have office built-ins or an unused pantry, could all be hiding the potential space you are looking for.
Once you think you have found a spot that you think would work, get to work. Remove any remnants of what it is being used for now, or redesign the area to accommodate its current use and your hobby. Some examples:
A laundry room might benefit from having the layout of the room revamped, though nothing drastic like tearing down walls, or shuffling water pipes, just basic reorganization and reassessment. If you have all your laundry products on a table next to the washer and dryer or even piled on the floor, put up a shelf above the units to store them. If you have a laundry folding area that never gets used except for sitting baskets on, reconsider if this is something you want to keep in the space, then remove it completely or take the table itself over as your workstation, with some additional storage above or below it. . If you have built-in cupboards that are overflowing with bottles of this and that, that you are not even sure how old most of the stuff is, toss it. Laundry rooms also often become dumping grounds for things that belong elsewhere in the house. That garden hose stuffed behind the door, put it in the garage, and the bag of baseball gear, make your kids put them where they belong. Once all of the extras are removed, you might actually be shocked at how much space you have found.
A closet is another space often filled with items that belong somewhere else. Open any closet in the average home and you are apt to find boxes and piles of things the typical homeowner is not even sure of what it all is. Clean it out to see what room you can gain. Consider the possibilities for a workstation in the space with the added advantage of a door that you can shut when you are in the middle of a project. If some things must stay in the closet that were originally there, use as much of the up space as you can, even if this means hanging a new shelf or resituating a rod higher up than it originally was. This can be a good plan for a closet where you keep out of season coats for example. When you do need to get things down, just use a stepladder to do so, the rest of the time, the off-season gear will be up and out of the way, leaving the lower portion of the closet space for you to install a desk or shelving to dedicate to your hobby as a workstation.
Once you have a space, or think you do, look at it and consider what type of workstation might best fit both the space and your hobby. There are lots of furniture pieces and storage choices created with the hobbyist in mind. Shop with dimensions in hand, so you are not disappointed when you find something you think is perfectly suited to the space, only to discover it will not fit. If pre finished furniture or storage pieces are out of your price range, still do some shopping, either in person or on line. Shop for ideas. When you find a piece that you think would work for your needs, ask yourself what it is about it that you like. Does it have many cubbyholes for storing gear, or does it have a large work surface. Consider how you could turn the idea into a reality on your budget.
If you are mainly after a flat work surface, consider such things as the legs from an old table, or an old table itself, with a new top. Stores such as Lowes or Home Depot carry sheets of eraser board for example, that you could glue down onto the top of an old table for a perfectly smooth work surface for less than twenty dollars.
Creating a workstation does not have to be just a dream. If you have a hobby that you enjoy, taking some time to find space to further your enjoyment of it is only sensible. Once you have a dedicated workstation, you will wonder how you ever survived without it.
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