The reason I started with the laying down exercise as it eases your mind and gets your whole body relaxed before going through with the warm up.
Low humming noise helps you as an actor to focus on your own self and the sound you are producing.
I done the neck rolls second as it massively helps to warm up your throat muscles which is the most important part to focus and warm up upon as the voice box allows us to speak.
The tongue twisters warm up helps me while I am nervous before going on stage, as I tend to have difficulties with pronunciations of words and words starting with the same letters continuously.
The lion/mouse face exercise enables the face to be fully relaxed so your able to perform, and being comfortable with producing any facial expression and showing emotion when you need to without any tension within your face.
The PTKT and BDBD pronunciation is key as most East Londoners is something we struggle on, as we find it hard to pronounce each word rights as we tend to silent some letters in a word which I always get told of upon.
Saturday, 2 January 2016
Warming up exercise for Actors: Voice Class Presentation
Warming up exercise for Actors
The Routine:
1. Lie down
on your back in a comfortable position. LOW HUMMING NOISE, roll your body to one side and get up to keep your breathing INTACT. (Repeat 5 Times)
2. Neck rolls,
rotating your head SLOWLY - clockwise and anticlockwise, add on with shoulder rolls. Helps to warm up your throat muscles.
3. Facial Massage,
massage your whole face, by drawing circles with the tip of your fingers to enable a relaxing of your face. (Repeat 6 Times)
4. Jump up and down, shake your hands and feet for the CIRCULATION and loosening up of the muscles.
5. I call it the LION/MOUSE FACE technique, stretch your mouth wide open, demonstrating a roar effect. Mouse scrunching of your face and mouth. Move your tongue around your gum! Pretending your eating a sweet and enjoying it.
Ruth: " It is essential to warm up as an actor before a performance, as it allows the performer to be more relaxed and ready."
Understanding of voice Production
Understanding of voice Production
Power Source
Your breathe has several factors:
Lungs, Diaphragm expansion and Abdominal support.
The reason it is called power source is because that is where you collect all your sources which will help you to breathe correctly.
Vibratory Source
Vibration of your vocal folds causes vibration in the air, which your lungs have just generated and also what your abdominal muscles have pushed.
The EPITHELIUM is the outermost layer of the vocal folds. It is the thin and moist which resembles to the lining of the inside of the cheek.
The next layer is the SLP, the vibrations of the layer are what makes sound and loss of the SLP which results in the scarring and hoarseness.
The next layer is the SLP, the vibrations of the layer are what makes sound and loss of the SLP which results in the scarring and hoarseness.
The final layer is the vocal ligament, the tension in this structure helps determine the speed of the vibration and as well as the PITCH of the sound.
Resonators
The resonators gives all the richness and tone that makes the voice musical and it also gives individual qualities to the character.
The nasal passage, the throat and the mouth are air chambers which shapes the sound. This is why when you have a cold you loose resonance which leads to your notes being flat.
Personal Contribution
Thursday 10th
December 2015
Ruth Martino
S1400309
Personal
Contribution – Ruth Martino
My contribution to the presentation was first the focus upon
the understanding of the voice production which I first started searching
images of the Anatomy of the Larynx has it will enable me to have a close look
into each parts inside the larynx and what they are called. Some of the names I
paid most attention in was the Trachea is a larger membrane tube which extends
from the larynx to the bronchial tubes which then enables air to get through
the lungs. I also learned about the Epiglottis which is referred as a flap
behind the tongue which is very essential as it gets depressed during the
swallowing process to cover the opening of the lung as know as the windpipe.
Researching about the Larynx has taught me that it could be compared to the
body of the throat as the word anatomy means the bodily structure of the
humans, learning as well that the larynx is where the vocal chords are located
has helped me to understand the significance of the larynx because that is
where the sound comes from while wanting to project as an actor.
Now looking into the vocal chords, I weren’t aware that we
had two of them on opposite sides that’s why they describe it as ‘twin
folding’. Having a picture displaying the vocal chords was very beneficial for
me especially as I got to see the visual side of how everything inside the
mouth is laid out. Vocal Chords was something I really wanted to get clear on
mainly as a performer teachers tend to always touch upon it; however I never
were clear about how it functions and the purpose of it. Both vocal chords
vibrate which then regulates the flow of the air being released from the lungs
during phonation. The vocal chords is the main source or sound creation which
as an actor immediately alerts you that, that is one of the soft tissues that
has to be looked after with great care, that is when my research of how to
maintain a healthy voice comes helpful.
I searched on Google (American Academy) on how to keep a
healthy voice, it has given me that drinking loads of water is the key way of
keeping your voice in shape. Drinking water three times a day to help keep your
body well and hydrated. On the website they’ve advised to definitely avoid
alcohol and caffeine, I wasn’t so sure to why we were told to stay away from
that, so therefore I searched it up (voicecouncil.com) I
gathered the information that the vocal folds require moisture to work
efficiently although caffeine comes in the form of a liquid, it acts as a
drying agent. Adding on with facts of caffeine tends to pull water out of your
system and causes the vocal folds of needing lubrication. So for that reason a
dry vocal chord tends to tighten which hinders the vocal range and within the
endurance. Eating fruits is required as it contains a large amount of water in
it, I was so not aware that ‘bell peppers’ contained water in it, so for that I
was really shocked about that suggestion.
My reaction to the process of the group presentation was
quite disappointing as I felt some people didn’t put as much effort in
researching information, people in my group tend to choose the easy path like
for e.g. choosing rather easy topics to research on and doing less work on it.
I was frustrated at times as I felt I was the only one who cared more and was
going the extra mile to produce a effortless presentation. Someone in my group
suggested they’d only wanted to write their own notes down and read from it,
but my respond to it was that the presentation is targeted towards students in
year 11 who are way younger than us, at that age seeing imagery in a
presentation kept me engaged at all times and allowed me to picture a visual
image in my mind of what the presenter could be talking about. To be honest the
members of my group doing work last minuet and not being sure what they’re
doing caused me to panic and doubt myself too as I had a gut feeling that the
presentation would look unprepared.
My reaction to the presentation changed as we got the chance
to look back on the video, adding more vibrant colors into the power point side
made it look as exciting. I know for sure learning about voice production,
vocal techniques and how to keep a healthy voice could be so boring. Isabelle
being in charge of presenting the voice production, Deneille being responsible
of presenting the background information of what vocal techniques benefit to us
actors and me being the last to talk about how to maintain a healthy voice, has
allowed everyone in my group to not take the lion’s chair resulting to everyone
putting in an input within the presentation. Although as a viewer you could
identify who was put more effort than whom, as a team I felt we done our best
and allowed our setbacks to be our comebacks. Working with Deneille and
Isabelle was a huge challenge for me as I’ve never worked with them before
leaving me with being a bit reserved at first. From previous knowledge knowing
one member hardly comes in and the other having a negative attitude also with
me being the one who gives up half way, I knew the group work would be
something. Well I am proud of what we produced as a team and I could say
everything that all the negative thoughts were worth it at the end because it
made us want to do more work into grafting our presentation better.
Thursday, 19 November 2015
Unit 17: Developing Voice for the Actor
Understanding of Voice Production:
Larynx -
Definition: The hollow muscular organ forming an air passage to the lungs and holding the vocal cords in humans and other mammals; the voice box.
Highly specialised structure atop the windpipe responsible for sound production, air passage during breathing and protecting the airway during swallowing.
Vocal Folds (Vocal Chords)-
Definition: The vocal folds are composed of twin foldings or mucous membrane stretched horizontally, from back to front, across the larynx. They vibrate, modulating the flow of air being expelled from the lungs during phonation.
"Fold-like" Soft tissues that is the main vibratory of the voice box; comprised of a cover (epithelium and superficial lamina propria), vocal ligament (intermediate and deep laminae propria), and body (thyroarytenoid muscle).
Definition:The part of the larynx consisting of the vocal cords and the slit-like opening them. It affects voice modulation through expansion or contraction
Opening between the two vocal folds; the glottis opens during the breathing and closes during swallowing and the sound production.
Vocal Technique in Performance for Actors:
As an actor you can practise Diction by reciting tongue twisters such as...
These first two are my overall favorites.
They are particularly good for achieving a crisp, frontal placement of consonants
The lips, the teeth, the tip of the tongue,
the tip of the tongue, the teeth, the lips. |
or work on your breathing by reciting scripts or poetry that sets challenges for you. For example trying to complete a whole piece without taking a breathe or allow yourself only limited breathing space through a Shakespearean acting piece, which mine is...
Constance: Thou art not holy to belie me so;
I am not mad: this hair I tear is mine;
My name is Constance; I was Geffrey's wife;
Young Arthur is my son, and he is lost:
I am not mad: I would to heaven I were!
For then, 'tis like I should forget myself:
O, if I could, what grief should I forget!
Preach some philosophy to make me mad,
And thou shalt be canonized, cardinal;
For being not mad but sensible of grief,
My reasonable part produces reason
How I may be deliver'd of these woes,
And teaches me to kill or hang myself:
If I were mad, I should forget my son,
Or madly think a babe of clouts were he:
I am not mad; too well, too well I feel
The different plague of each calamity.
An actor needs to be able to expand their voice, as well as remaining clear and audible when whispering or performing at the lower levels of sound. Being able to learn how to appear to be speaking very quietly while filling the space with your voice requires great vocal techniques and practice. Cicely Berry has an amazing book on actors for vocal techniques.
The importance of actors on stage, in order to become familiar with vocal techniques you need to be able to work with technology as well such as being able to use microphones correctly because it is a skill that every performer should have, whether you are a Voice Acting or Performing on set. You need to be able to find the 'sweet spot' that your voice delivers a peak performance.
Principles of helping keeping your Voice in Shape for an Actor:
DRINK WATER 3 TIMES A DAY to keep your body well and hydrated, definitely avoid alcohol and caffeine. Your vocal chords tends to vibrate very fast, so therefore having a proper water balance helps keep them lubricated. The important notes to maintaining a healthy voice is eating food which contain large amounts of water which is a excellence way to keeping hydration, snacks such as... apples, pears, watermelon, peaches, melons, grapes plums, bell peppers and applesauce.
DO NOT SMOKE, or if you do already, I would advise you to quit immediately. Smoking raises the risk of throat cancer tremendously, I read in 'One Voice by Joan Melton' inhaling smoke
(even second hand smokers)
can irritate the vocals.
Avoid clearing your throat to often, while clearing your throat
it's like slamming your vocal chords together.
Doing this to much can injure them and make you hoarse.
Try a sip of water or swallow to quench the urge to clear, if you feel like
you have to clear your throat to often, it will be advised to get checked by a doctor
for illnesses such as acid reflux disease or allergy and sinus conditions.
VOCAL PROJECTION/BREATHING EXERCISES CONSIDERING LUNG CAPACITY:
Warm-up
It is useful to have a general physical warm-up game before this exercise: something like Run to It is ideal.
Additionally, you may want to do some facial warm-up exercises: scrunching up then stretching out, “eeee” then “ooo”, chew an imaginary ball of toffee (that’s getting bigger), stretch the tongue out (pointed & flat) and waggle it from side to side and whistle “happy birthday”.
Short introductory exercises
Few people use their full lung capacity for breathing or speaking in day to day life – these exercises should remind the group what it feels like to do so!
If there is room, have everyone lie down on the floor on their backs. We use chest/torso muscles when we stand/sit up – but for these exercises, we want to use every possible muscle for controlled breathing!
Ask everyone to take a deep breath in – remind them that they should use their diaphragm – that their chest/stomach should go out as they fill up, not their shoulders hunch up. Hold the breath for a few seconds then let it go. Repeat.
Next, ask them to take a deep breath in again but ask them to expel it in a different way as below. Repeat each of these exercises at least a few times until you feel the group is making the most of them:
- HA! – expel all the air out of your lungs in one “pop” by saying “ha!”. This should get louder as it’s repeated and whenever anyone is talking too quietly in the future, remember how loud they got with this!
- Hiss it out – hiss for as long as possible, until you’re all out of air
- Ahhh – a variation on the hiss, again held until you’re out of air. This is usually faster than the hiss.
- Count it out – a steady count as a group for as long as people can on just one breath. Make sure the numbers are strongly projected to use a good amount of air each time.
Being aware of the voice production is significantly important as an Actor to know as it enables you to be clear and to understand how sound gets released, how it is made and where it originally comes from. Researching this does make me question my self if I use these muscles correctly while performing. Being taught in lesson the scientific background of the Anatomy of the Voice does place me in a great position of becoming confident in answering questions related to the voice of and Actor/Singer. Personally I suggest the Larynx is the most important muscular organ as it consists of the Voice Box, without this muscle no sound or air gets to be pasted through.
Vocal Technique is what I daily pay the most attention to, with this own responsibility of making you as an Actor to become a better performer. The vocal techniques such as practising diction is what I mainly struggle with, I find it extremely hard to get around words with the same first letters or similar vowels. Using the exercise of tongue twisters benefits me to a large extent as it allows me to become a lot my confident with my articulation and pronunciation while performing.
Sunday, 1 November 2015
Ballet Technique 12/10/15
Ruth's Dairy...
Today in class I was unable to participate with my class in our Ballet lesson, knee to me getting injured in my knee which has resulted to a tear in my Cartilage. So therefore all I did was on the side and tried to keep myself busy and starting taking notes of Ballet terms, techniques and positioning.
- First position (plies) with the arm following, with the arm lifted up. Then the arm goes towards the bar which then follows through with the opposite arm, as the arm goes around in spiral going in opposite direction to the other arm.
- Repetition, in second position however you'll need the legs to remain on the floor, to enable a perfect plies.
- You will need the elbow to be rotated in a downwards slant, that's the placement of the arms in second position.
Battement - to beat Tendu - to stretch
Battement Frappe - to strike
Battement en cloche - the bell, swing, develop unfold.
- Swing forward, swing back. Develop with the leg at the front or back.
STRETCH!
Stretch with the leg on the bar, with the arm stretching out on both sides, following with the other movement; with the arm stretching on the leg in diagonal.
Port de Bras - is supporting of the bar caging of the arms, (adagio) sync slowly.
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th - Exchange the sides of the arms, then sit on the 5th carry the arm around, then turn in the 5th to the diagonal.
Sharpie - to go away, open and close.
Changement - to change.
Unit 17: Developing Voice for the Actor
VOCAL WARM UP FOR BEGINNERS - Daily routine...
- Stand up straight in neutral, shoulders back and hands on your stomach. Allow your stomach muscles relax.
- Breathe in through your nose and fill up your abdomen first (you will need to feel it and see it as it expands.)
- Hold in this breath and count to ten.
- Then, now slowly exhale.
National Theatre
Voice:
Vocal exercises are part of an actor’s working life. In ancient Greek times, it was the greatest actors, those with the physical gift of a beautiful voice and a strong diaphragm, that were the actors and public speakers. There are references in some Shakespeare's plays to the vocal exercising of an actor before performance and the importance of enunciation and volume.
There are many types of vocal exercises, and each addresses a different part of the vocal mechanism. You can look at each component as a cog in a machine that,
when put together,
will aid understandable and natural sounding speech that can easily be heard at the back of an auditorium. In this collection Jeannette Nelson, Head of Voice, takes actors through a warm up and a series of exercises typical for actors in rehearsal at the National Theatre.
Voice Care before performing...
Theory is, it is important to at least drink a mix of warm water honey or glycerine anything to enable nourishing those vital vocal chords in your fragile throat.
Vocal warm up is crucial as it helps to loosen up your opening of the vocal chords.
- Most actors favour the ALEXANDER technique in order to loosen up your whole body and open the airflow from the lungs.
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