UAL Assignment 3 - Unit 11 - Acting Techniques and Disciplines (Year 2, 2024)

  Candidate Declaration - I confirm that the attached portfolio is all my own work* and does not include any work completed by anyone other than myself.

Exploring Emotional Depth in Duologues from Dear Evan Hansen

DUOLOGUE: Evan & Connor     PARTNER: Charlie  

Given Circumstances: In this scene, Evan is sat in the computer room after writing out one of the letters he has to write for therapy and prints it out when Connor enters, as usual he is angry and he approaches Evan, making fun of him - this is the first real interaction/conversation with each other the characters have, it is an awkward atmosphere. In this scene, Connor signs Evan's cast and proceeds to grab the letter from the printer, discovering Evan has been writing about his sister, causing him to freak out and become even more angry than usual. Before this, the interaction that they had was Connor had pushed Evan to the floor when he was angry, meaning he has noticed Evan before - probably why he approached him in the computer lab.

Character Objectives: In this scene i think that Evan's objective is wanting to just get through this interaction and quickly move on from it, he is an awkward person who is quite alone and doesn't have many friends nor a connection at home, therefore he has bad social anxiety, so when he is put in a confrontational position, it makes him very nervous, unable to maintain eye contact, giving quick answers, etc. He wants Connor to leave him alone and not hurt him as he is also quite scared of him. He also knows that on his computer he has wrote about his sister, and he is wanting to get through the interaction with him knowing he likes his sister. 

Emotional Stakes: Emotionally, in this scene both characters go through a lot of different emotions. Evan's emotional journey is sort of like a rollercoaster.

-peaks when he finds out Connor has his letter all the way to the end - has to deal with the confrontation but also has to deal with the anxiety knowing that Connor has this letter expressing his feelings about his sister.

Rhythm and Pacing:

Technique Application: (AFTER ASSESSMENT)

Challenges Faced: (AFTER ASSESSMENT)

Personal Growth: (AFTER ASSESSMENT)

Character and Subtext Exploration in Connections: NORMALISED

To deepen Understanding of character motivation, subtext, and relationships within the Connections Script

Subtext Scene Rewrite

o Choose a short section of dialogue from the script.

o Rewrite the scene to explicitly state what the characters are thinking or feeling (the subtext).

o Reflect: How does making the subtext explicit change the tone or dynamics of the scene?

In this scene, Rosa is confronting Bo about the fact she knows that Bo was apart of the gang who jumped Jay. She is expressing how furious she is at him.

Rosa: I know what you did.

Bo: I didn't want to be there, it wasn't my choice. I was scared.

Rosa: (Infuriated) Jay got battered and you were right there and did nothing! 

Bo: I promise, i didn't harm him, or want to.

Rosa: But you didn't help him, he could've been seriously hurt and you would've been part of the blame if the police didn't come. You would have just stood there and watched him get beat to death.

Silence. A beat.

Bo: Jay stood up to Jamesy, i was so shocked and sort of impressed, i've never had the courage to do that. Nobody has.

Rosa: Try it sometime, maybe our friends wouldn't get hurt.

Bo: I feel helpless. i dont know how to repay for my actions or fix what ive done wrong.

Rosa: You've already done it. It's happened, our friend is hurt.

Bo nods. A beat.

Bo: I'm going to go back to our friends. Do you want to come? I don't want to loose you too.

Rosa: I don't want to speak to you Bo. Not now, you've hurt me and my friends.

Bo walks off. Rosa sits alone.

Reflect:

I think that this scene in general is pretty simple and explains their emotions and subtext pretty well already, they are expressing their emotions through anger and guilt, yet are more getting to the point with sly little comments or sarcasm instead of getting straight to the point. Rewriting this in a quite similar way changes the dynamic as it shows the real guilt and anger that Rosa actually feels, I still feel Bo is lost for words even in his inner dialect, he doesn't know what to say as he knows he is in the wrong, but in the rewrite Rosa is straight to the point, pinning Bo in a corner even more than he already was. 

Monologue Work and Reflection

Contemporary: Rory's Monologue, 100 Words For Snow

Classical: Goneril's Monologue, King Lear

As part of Unit 10, i had to briefly reflect back on my monologues and see what was good/bad about them. This work is what one of my monologues is about, how i come to choose it and what i enjoy the most about it.

I currently have picked out four monologues that i could possibly need for drama school, however i have really focused on two in particular, learning the other two as backup options. The two i have focused on in my opinion are very strong monologues that i know work well for me. To find the monologues that were right for me, it took a lot of going back and forth between different monologue books, recommendations from my tutors and plays in general, however i know i made the right choices with the ones i picked out.

 In particular, i enjoy my contemporary monologue, and have done a lot of detail and research into the character.

Contemporary - Rory's Monologue

My contemporary monologue is a balance between dark humour and generally emotional moments with strong beats, it's part of a longer monologue and it is the opening to the play, where we are just finding out who the character is and what her motivations are. I found this in a "Contemporary Monologues for Women" book, and even though i know its not recommended for drama school to use these books, i was drawn into the monologue and i knew i could make it my own. From finding it, i bought the play so i could have a full in-depth understanding of who my character is and what her journey is beginning to end, even though the part i am doing is the beginning, its good to understand her personality and how she was and would act through out. 

The play is about a girl called Aurora - Rory, who has recently lost her father in a car accident. She was very close with her father and they used to do everything together - particularly exploring. They would set up scavenger hunts and little adventures, and he promised when she was old enough he would take her to the north pole. As she goes to set her father's urn down in his study, she decides to read his diary and notes and finds out he was planning that year to take her to the north pole. Finding this information out, she sets herself on a journey to go to the north pole, for her and her father - as one last adventure together. The beginning monologue that i am doing is talking about her dads story, who he was, how the funeral was and how she is managing it all on her own, she uses jokes to hide her hurt, however doesn't do the best job at it, as you can still see her emotional beats and some of her hurting throughout the monologue.

I believe that this is probably my favourite part about my monologue - getting to show and understand her emotional beats, playing the jokes alongside these vulnerable moments - allowing the audience to briefly see her hurting, however covering it up with humour. 

Acting for Camera - Technique's and Differences.

-Famine - SHORT FILM

-Shot Types

-Feature Film

-Table Scenes

-Fringe - Copycat & Original Snippet Pieces.

Understanding Practitioners and putting their work into practice.

LABEN

-Video - What we did

-Different aspects of their technique

-How its helpful.