UAL Assignment 4 - Unit 12 - End Of Year - Extended Project
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.
Task 1A- Project Proposal.
FOR PROJECT PROPOSAL SEE THIS POST:
https://siennasactingexperience.blogspot.com/2025/05/project-proposal-unit-12.html
Task 1B - Production Diary
FOR PRODUCTION DIARY FOR THIS TERM SEE POST:
https://siennasactingexperience.blogspot.com/2025/04/my-production-journey-production.html
Task 2 - Auditions, Research & Production
2A - Audition Process / 2.1 - Research / 2.2 - Production / 2.3 - Interpret Research
FOR ALL OF THE ABOVE, SEE POST: https://siennasactingexperience.blogspot.com/2025/05/ual-assignment-4-2025-end-of-year-show.html
Task 3.1 - Performance Process
My performance process throughout this journey can be seen and documented through the above links, as well as some rehearsal photos:
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
Task 3.2 - Production Role
For my main production role, i focused on doing the programme with Jack in first year. He had the idea of having a train track running through the programme and a train being included in the programme. From this, i started making some mock up designs:
This is the original designs that i was looking into for the cover, however i thought that the first one was a bit too childish and the second one was a bit too dark.
I then started to look online at different designs from programmes that other casts of the show had created and i noticed that a lot of them included Bobbie, Peter and Phyllis on the front cover and a train. As shown in the example on the side. From this, i decided it would be a good idea to do something similar for our programme. I looked online for a previous programme where you can't see the faces of the three children. I found one and cut the children out of it, so i could put them on my own. I then found an online free image of a train going through the countryside. From this i managed to create a final design for the programme which i was happy with, and could therefore move on to creating the inside of the programme.
In the end, this is what i got for the original design. I included the title, the author and our company who are presenting it. I also included Jack's idea of a train track running through the programme, which continued into the inside of the programme.
When it comes to the inside of the programme, i wanted to have photos of all of the cast under their character name, as well as a little bit of an introduction to the play. Under the photos of the cast i also thought it would be nice to include a little paragraph of their journey so far - for second years of their overall journey and for first years their journey up to now and what they could possibly be looking forward to in the future.
As for the design, i made two and Tom was happy with both of them so i kept them both, swapping out every other page. On one page, it included things that gets mentioned in the play and the other a train on a track.
So, overall the programme front cover was shown as above, and the inside final design ended up looking like this. I am very happy with the finished result.
Task 4.1 - Taking the Lead
Over the course of this project, I believe that I mostly was able to take the lead within my production role. My partner for the programme was a first year, so i was able to show them how to use canva and we worked together to bring different ideas to life. They were able to find new features and helped with the fading of the pictures. Another way i took the lead would be within my character choices of Phyllis. I believe that the decisions I made through my acting were strong and all my own, as most of my notes would be mainly on my diction or volume, not my physicality or facial expressions. However, over the course of the year a big part i would say i took the lead in is our fringe project. For this project, i decided to make a show reel by myself. I made the shot list, risk assessment, wrote out the script (copycat scenes) and recruited two first year film makers to help me as well as dressed the set/picked out each location. This is a project i am proud of and previously spoke about here:
And can also be shown here:
Task 6.1 Evaluation of Journey
Over the course of this project, i have improved as an actor in many ways. At the beginning of the rehearsal process i was struggling with making my character quite big and entertaining as I've never done a comedic role before. During the rehearsals, using both my peers in my cast and watching the other cast, it allowed me to expand and flourish with the comedy side of things - the more we went over the play the more i was able to depict the script and notice the difference in both the humour and hurting and then the childlike and adult selves. However over my entire time at college i have improved immensely. This time last year, i was playing a supporting role and now i have both the confidence and ability to say i played a lead role at end of year and did it well. I've flourished because of the support I've received on this course as well as the drive it has given me to do better and be the best of my ability.
Task 6.2 Evaluation of Performance
My role as Phyllis in ‘The Railway Children’ in my opinion has been the best show I've done over my past two years of college. It presented a lot of my ability - from line learning to final performance, there is a lot that i can be proud of for this show.
The Railway Children is a play that’s based for people ages 8+ so it is a family entertainment show, the point of it is to show the bravery, kindness and patience the children have after going through a big change both socially and economically and to subtly help teach these aspects to the audience. I believed I've captured these elements throughout my performance in many different ways and skills such as voice, physicalisation and storytelling.
.jpeg)
Another key aspect of the morning show that we had to take into account and was challenging was the volume. Due to the space being a museum, it is quite easy to lose the volume compared to a normal theatre space, as the environment is vastly different. The morning show in particular was where it was a struggle, as the museum was open to the public, the cafe and shop were open and there was a lot of added background sound that we had to battle against. I feel like volume was definitely an area of improvement for me within the show and if i were to do it again at this time of day, i would vocally warm up a little bit more and try some volume exercises - a note i got at the interval from my tutor was to keep the volume up. However, i took this note for the evening performance - taking away the background impacts and doing these factors above i allowed myself to maintain a decent volume throughout the evening show. However, i would still say this is where i most need to improve if i were to do this performance again. Emotionally, my character goes on quite a journey however it is very fast how it’s written as it’s meant to be a joyous piece. Phyllis is the youngest and talks about how she feels pressure being where she is in the family, loses her father and has to move away to the countryside and faces poverty. This will obviously have an impact on her as a character, however she is so young and sheltered from this by her mother and older sibling therefore doesn’t really realise or understand what is truly going on, hense her sudden comments that make the play humorous, an example would be “no because it’s cold and we’re poor.” Alongside this however, she is easily entertained and happy a lot of the time - due to it being a family entertainment play the sad bits get swiftly moved past however still said as it will be something that the older audience members will pick up on. When she is happy, she is joking and funny in ways it isn’t intentional, as she is mostly oblivious to the situations she is in - such as when she calls Perks 70. I believe i managed to portray this correctly through various ways such as during the moments where they talk of father, i used a confused or sad expression - frowning and exhaling when it isn't my lines. A great example of when i did this would be the line "It made an impression." or "I wonder why father never writes to us." These show the more emotional beats of the play, whereas the more joyous parts would be done by being upbeat within my voice, smiling and using over the top facial expressions with a loud voice. Some examples of this would be "Watches!" and "Used to tell him how his three children stood on a fence in the green country and waved their love to him." I feel like the audience connected with these moments very well as they laughed at all the funny moments and they were engaged during the more emotional parts.Vocally, as mentioned before I struggled with volume, however i believe that other aspects of my vocal performance went really well such as my diction. In given feedback from another peer, she said "Your diction was really good, I could hear and understand every word." Another aspect of voice I believe went really well was my accent. Phyllis has an RP accent, and during the rehearsal process we did a lot of work on this, doing tongue twisters and tasks based on improving the accent. I incorporated all of this into my final performance and managed to upkeep it - I didn't fall off and slip into my own accent at any point which is amazing process for me as an actor because accents is something I've always struggled with. As for pitch and pace, I believe these went successful as well, however I believe I could've slowed down a bit at certain aspects - such as the longer lines could've been slowed down. My pitch depended on the lines and emotions throughout the piece that matched to the moment and stayed at a steady place throughout - which is what i was aiming for. Physically, Phyllis is very different to me as she is a young, bubbly character who grew up in a more 'posh' place before moving. Therefore, her posture is strong and tall and she moves quite quickly. I believe movement wise, i hit the pace i wanted to reach, however i did drop out of the posture every now and again when trying to focus on my lines and volume. If i were to do this again, i would focus on my posture in rehearsals a lot more and making sure i stick to it throughout. I believe I used the space we had efficiently, with it being a traverse stage we had more length than width. A couple times i did allow myself to be blocked by other characters however, which could've been avoided by being more aware of myself and surroundings in the moment - which i would do if given the opportunity to perform again. I believe the child-like nature is important for my character, therefore i made sure that all of her movements were big and bold. For example, when Perks says he keeps other things, I ran over and physically grabbed him, putting myself on my tiptoes and opening up my body language to show my interest. Another example would be the beginning scene where we all say individual paragraphs to the audience where we all silently communicate, i would go and sit and fight with Peter, using my body to push against him - showing both a brother-sister bond as well as a childish character. My biggest strength of this performance for me would be my facial expressions. I believe that i managed to portray the over the top character oh Phyllis mainly through my face - for example the reactions to different characters, mainly being shown in the scene where Perks is shouting at the children, as she pulls a stern expression and is upset. Overall, I believe that this show was a great push for me in my journey and a great way to end my time at college.
Task 7 - Performance - COMPLETED
PHOTOS:
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg){kind=link}
Comments
Post a Comment