Emma Neusen an actress? Did I hear that right? My name is Emma and I am a Sophomore at Homestead. Before Acting 1 this year, I had never had any experience in theatre. As this short time I had in acting comes to close, I know my skills should not even be put on the same spectrum as some of the theatre students at Homestead, but that does not mean I haven’t learned lots about it. My appreciation for theatre has grown substantially since March 12th to June 11th. When being a character in a story, a person can escape their whole life and be a totally new person, or whoever they want that character to portray. Theatre allows for creativity on tons of different levels. Theatre is a type of art unlike any other because of its welcoming you into a whole other world than your own.
Who would ever think that Acting 1 would be easy? Probably a foolish, naive and senseless human being. Whoops three words to describe myself before coming into this class. My expectations for acting have surely been proven wrong, and they were proven wrong by the first day I stepped into the black box. Acting 1 has turned out to pleasantly, but surprisingly be a laborious course. My respect for actors and actresses has grown because of everything I have learned that goes into creating an acceptable performance. I hated the challenges of Ms. Figg-Franzoi’s class, but I loved them just the same.
As our final project we have been working on a short film. Yes, I know it seems simple, but trust me nothing is as easy as it sounds in this class. Camera angles, length of a shot, costumes, props, acting skills, directing skills and much more. All these things are needed to produce a decent short film. Working in my group of six has not been easy either. Opinions clash, students goof around and the film becomes hard to finish. We were given the genre of time travel which has been hard to create a plot off of, but it has been done. Next comes the acting part, and when you’re a beginner it is difficult to go off on your own and create something favorable without instruction. All of our skills are being put to the test into this final project and hopefully my group will come out victorious. On the bright side, I have realized something I really enjoy in theatre. For our final project I have taken on the role of director. I think I am somewhat satisfactory at this job because of perfectionism, my need for control, and my need for the plot’s capabilities to be met. Overall, this final project has been hard, but gratifying.
The last thing I will talk about is my growth in public speaking after taking Acting 1. The difference between my monologue, in the beginning of the trimester, and my dialogue by the end was big. Coming into this class I had never been good at public speaking or performing anything in front of a larger group, so when we were given our monologue assignment I didn’t do very well. After getting constructive criticism from Ms. Figg-Franzoi, I used it in our next assignment which was the dialogue. I tried my best to calm my nerves, use facial expression, present my lines slowly and calmly, and get into character the best I knew how. In the end, I have learned a lot from my time in Acting 1 and my opinion of theatre has forever changed.
Written By: Emma Neusen
3rd Trimester 2015
Acting 1 Hour 2
Act Out 