Journal Writing Experience

This past week I have spent documenting my life in the form of a journal. I have used different techniques to help me do this. Some I found easier than others:

Description: I found this the easiest as I just said what I did in the day, this was also quite relaxing because it meant that I could reflect on my day. I think it could also be an idea to do two journals a day. One in the evening at the end of the day and one the morning after so that I had time to think about what has happened and make a better judgement based on a wide range of factors about what is going on rather than just reacting with my emotions.

List: I loved writing the list because people have so much going on in their lives that it was so easy to just list what I did. I found it quite hard to remember everything that went on in my day. It was like a memory exercise as it was a list of what I did rather than how I felt about it. I think it would be more difficult to write a list of my emotions in the day. That would be a very interesting diary to read. However I don't think that I would use this as a long term journal method as I don't feel you have chance to say enough.

Initial Reflection: My initial reflection was basically written with my emotions. Because I had reflected on my day strait away with out giving myself time to think things over and approach them in a conventional way.

Graphs Charts and Diagrams: At first I found it quite difficult to think of things to say and as I wanted to put it on the my blog. So I decided to do it in an 'out-of-five' star format. I found it quite difficult to think of things to say. But as soon as I had it was easy to draw up a graph because my two days were so different.

Evaluation:I enjoyed evaluating my day because it meant that I could think about the day with a clear head and not use my emotions and to clearly document the day.

What if: At first I had no idea what to say for this. I didn't know if it was something like writing a short story. I actually found it easier to think of things that I wouldn't like to happen rather than would like to happen. Maybe that shows a pessimistic side to my personality.

Another View: I left this till last as it was the one that I wanted to put off the most. I thought this would be a difficult task as I didn't know if the object had to have an emotion? Or how my 'bag' could have felt about something. I wrote about my day in the third person. Evaluating my actions, the good and the bad and I thought about how I should have done something. I wrote this a couple of days later as it allowed me to let go of my emotional attachment to the events within the day.

I really enjoyed the week's task, it was very good for me to make a diary as I found that I could think about my actions and and how I dealt with situations. This could also be good in the long run as I can look back on situations and it would give me a greater understanding of people management, thereby developing my interpersonal skills and my organisational abilities.

One Week Of Journals

Each day this past week I have documented each day in different ways as the program suggests.

Day One-Description

Today I had rehearsals for The Sound Of The Musicals. The main event of the day happened in the afternoon. The 'Boy-Girl' groups went off with Giaccolina, the choreographer. And the 'Girl-Girl' groups, which I am in, went with Simon. The company owner and Director. At first I was unhappy about this as you really have to be on your toes with him, as you never know what the reaction could be. But in the end I was so happy that I had been put in his group because he has an exact idea in this mind of what he wants. So being shown and told right from the houses mouth has really been a huge help. For each song he wants a character just like that of the original singer. But much larger and more exaggerated, I found this a little hard at first but as soon as you can understand what is expected of you, it gets easier to throw yourself into it. However, less is more when it comes to dancing and movement. With having dance as such a huge part of my life, I find it hard to not even walk like a dancer and I keep getting told off. But we need to mince around and 'milk the dress' when we arrive on stage. So I am just finding it hard to get a happy medium. Another thing I am finding hard is that he wants the female characters when talking to the audience to be like pantomime dames. But for the conversation to flow and sound unscripted. I am finding it very hard to act like a pantomime dame. Spending the last six months as Peter Pan has really helped me with the physicality needed for pantomime style work. I just need to understand how my character has to be and how I can turn myself into a Barbara Windsor style character and still be real.

Another side event that happened today is that an old friend of mine, that has nothing to do with the industry was at the rehearsals helping out the costume girl! It just proves what a small world this industry is!

Day Two-List

Get Up 5am

Shower

Leave house at 5:45 to avoid congestion charge

Drive to Beckenham

Go to the gym

Shower

Potter around doing my makeup

Drive to Tesco

Buy food for the day

Eat lunch by 10 am

Meet colleagues at rehearsals

Pack the car with speakers, wires, mics etc

Drive to new rehearsal venue

Unpack

Get allocated best room

Set up

Tea Break

Start our rehearsal

Lunch

Tried on all the costumes for the show with the director, looking at everything in detail

Continued this for two hours

Some of the costumes I loved, others I looked like a tea pot in

Back to rehearsing

Practised two of the larger numbers with props

Which I was really glad we did because everything started to fit into place

Practised singing with the mics

People kept coming in to show us their costumes

Tea Break

Pack Up

Wait around awkwardly not wanting to ask if we can leave

Drive back to London out of the congestion charge 

Stop off at Tesco to get bits and bobs for the show

They didn't have anything that I needed

Drove to friends house and parked the car

Walk to the bus stop

After missing a but on the other side realise I am waiting on the wrong side of the road

Wait at the correct bus stop

Get off at Canada Water and start a treck towards London bridge with my big heavy bag

The plan is keep walking until I find a Borris Bike

Continue to keep walking

Finally find a bike at London Bridge station

My bag is too big to fit into the bag holdall

Rearrange my bag on the street so that it will fit in the holdall

Squish and balance my huge bag on top of the holdall

Dangerously bike back to Old Street

Somehow not die

Search for my key for ages out side of the flat

Wait forever for the lift to come

Finally get into the house

Go into the kitchen

Put my phone on charge

Then it hits me

I have left the mini disk with all the music on it for the show in the car

Want to cry

Call the friend and tell her I will have to mission it back to hers in the morning

It is now 8:55 and my eyes are so dry

Get onto the computer 

Email agent and respond to various important emails

Call my mum

Fall into bed with out even taking my makeup off

set alarm for 6:15

Day Three- Initial Reflection

After today I have realised that I have a lot of work to do. This afternoon Simon our Director wanted to go for a run though with us and to do the show exactly how he wants it. For one I didn't know my lines very well so that didn't help anything.

I haven't got the specific character that he wants yet but that is my problem and something I need to sort out ASAP. By the end of the day I just felt fed up and unenthusiastic. I came home, locked myself in my room and just repeated my lines over and over until my brain was frazzled. Hopefully the lines with stick and be there in the morning!

Day Four-Graphs Charts and Diagrams

Yesterday

Knew Lines **

Tiered          ****

Positive        **

Enjoyment   *

Stress           *****

Confident    **

Happiness   *

Organisation**

Today

Knew Lines ****

Tiered          **

Positive        ****

Enjoyment   ***

Stress           **

Confident    ****

Happiness   ***

Organisation****

Day Five-Evaluation

Today each group had to set up our show and watch each other perform. We were lucky enough to go second, which meant that we could watch the first group, take our time to work on anything just in case and then we had the rest of the afternoon to relax and watch the other groups.

There were many jokes and ways they did things in the 'boy-girl' show that worked really well and would be lovely for the audience, but unfortunately as we are a 'girl-girl' show it would be odd for us to do the same things.

Just by watching others it really helps to show what works and what doesn't. Before we started the show I was quite nervous as I don't like performing in front of our director. I never know what he is going to say about something. He commented on how our makeup isn't drag queen enough, so I just piled it on, heavy white and silver eye shaddow all the way up to my eyebrows, bright pink blusher, red lips and of course eyelashes. He then used me as an example of how the make up should look! So at least I did something right!

This show would be our best show as we were performing to our friends, where as a real audience react to things that interest them and not just because they want us to do well, so this show was more like a dress run as it would not show us how an actual show would be, just to show us how the show now fits together and that we could have people to react to.

I learnt that I need to speak slower so that not only an older audience could understand me, but so that Jennifer has enough time do her quick change into the next outfit. I need to make sure that I can speak naturally to the audience while doing this and not just reeling off a list of information to them. If they ask me questions during my speech, I have to be able to answer them and not get lost and flustered with what I am saying.

I must avoid dancing around too much because it will be too much for an older audience to watch, I must still have movement but it's nicer for an older audience to just watch me sing.

Day Six-What If?

It would have been great today if we had been given the morning off. This would have meant I would have had time to go to the gym, do a sun bed and if I had the money get my hair cut. I'd love if my friend Missy could work for the company as me and come on my tour as we get on so well. Then when we were at rehearsals I wish we had had the funniest show and that Simon was so impressed that he couldn't stop laughing. I wish that the free hot chocolate that we were getting from behind the bar was fat free. It would have been nice to know in advance when our dress runs were so that we could have had more time to plan what we were doing. I also would have liked us to have only had one show that started at ten O'clock so that we had the rest of our weekend to ourselves.

I would have hated our show to have been absolutely rubbish, for me to have forgotten all my lines and for Simon to sit there and make rude remarks about me. I would hate for Jennifer and I not to get on and for me to go over on my knee. For me to crash the car on the way home and to have run out of bettery on the way home so not be able to get hold of my mum. To bash my face when I crashed knocking my front teeth out. To get home and have locked myself out of the flat, so have to sit outside until someone arrived to let me in. To eventually get in and my flat mates to be in a bad mood. To cry and eventually call my mum but then the phone rings though and so not be able to speak to her. To fall into bed and have so much going on in my mind that I am not able to fall asleep.

Day Seven-Another View

Today Blake woke up and got herself ready for the dress rehearsals. She had a shower and put on all her make up. She then packed her bag for the week and piked up any other bits and bobs that she might need. Made herself some drippy egg and soldiers and ate that before leaving to pick Jennifer up. When Blake arrived at Jennifer's house she had to wait for just under a minute before Jennifer got in. She turned around the car and drove to the Petrol station where she filled up the car. She then typed the destination into the Sat Nav and continued on their journey.

It took them a long time to find the destination. She drove up and down the road looking for it. When they eventually found it Blake parked the car and Jennifer went to the front door to go in. Blake joined her. As they went in they were shocked at what they saw. Elderly people slumped over in chairs and they were just staring into the distance. Both Jen and Blake went out side, they looked at each other with disheartened looks on their faces and started to unload the car. They set up in good time and had enough time to sort out their costumes. Simon was at the show which was good because he really got the audience going. The girls did the show and there were many good and bad points. Blake needs to learn how to interact with the audience more when she is speaking to them however when she performed the songs she performed to the individuals making her performance into a story. The girls then packed up and went to their next venue. Blake got a bit stressed out at Jennifer as Blake had done a tour before she understands the format of how things need to be done, where is Jennifer wanted to just take her time to do things. The residents here had dementia and so Blake was quite sad at some of the things that she was seeing and experiencing. But she did not let this infringe on her performance as she realised it was something she could concentrate on instead of thinking about where she was.

TASK1d: Images of my work on Flickr

http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/blakecw92/

TASK1b: Web 2.0

After reading the Course Reader on Professional Communication Technologies my mind was spiralling. I had to start taking notes as I was reading, as idea after idea kept popping into my head so as not to forget everything.

The document suggests that Web 2.0 allows the social network user to become the creator whereas this is not entirely true. We can only become creators within our limits  with the resources we have. Like children in a playpen if we are given toy blocks we can build, which we could not do if we had been given balls.
An example of this, people have been petitioning for a dislike button on Facebook for years because we cannot just create one ourselves. We have no dislike button to press until the REAL creators create one.

I personally have a number of privacy settings on my Facebook page.
Mostly I would be quite happy for anyone to see what I am getting up to, but with most of my information I cut it down to only friends' friends being able to view me, rather than have it 100% open to the public. But this is still a huge number of people that I don't know being able to see things about me. More than I could even imagine.
With people who are my friends, I categorise into different folders of how I know them; college; family; work;  a play I have done etc.
With those I then have more privacy settings. There are many things that I would be happy for my college friends to see, but not necessarily my grand parents or teachers   By restricting their view I can become the manager of my Facebook page.

Web 2.0 does not make us the creator of our virtual world. It makes us the manager.

I live away from my parents, most of my friends and the rest of my family. Using sites like Facebook or Skype is mostly how I keep in contact. I still make phone calls but with Skype you are able to see people that are across the other side of the country or even world, for free! Where as phone calls or even sending letters would be far more expensive. Sharing photos allows me to show everyone how and what I am getting up to. It also allows me to see how my friends and family are and what they are getting up to.

Not only do I use these sites for social use, I also have professional accounts. This allows me to contact different people in a casual way while still upholding a professional persona.
Twitter is a new and up and coming social site, where people can follow whoever they want. Almost every company is starting to have a twitter page where it can let people know what's going on. Radio one, for example, everyday it 'tweets' about who is coming on the show, or what competitions they have on, or what to look out for.
I use it in the same way, I have followed many different film makers, and theatres, and play writes etc, I 'tweet' about what I am getting up to within the working industry, where I am performing or I message people asking about their work or if they have anything coming up. It is so quick and easy to send someone a tweet that they are more than likely
to reply to you. This then could become an ice breaking conversation topic. 'oh yes! I tweeted you!'

Another great trend is YouTube. Many people including friends of mine not only use this as a social site but also on a business basis. Many of my friends regularly put up clips of themselves singing in the hope that someone influential will see it and help them to branch into the industry. You can also tell people to look you up on YouTube. It's a huge free database of work that you have done, showing what you can do. So everyone is jumping onto the band wagon so that they can get a slice of that pie.

A perfect example of Web 2.0 is YahooAnswers. This is where anyone can post a question and others answer it. The motivation for answering questions is that you receive points for the more questions that you answer. If someone votes your answer as the most helpful you receive more points. The more points you receive bumps up your ratings. You also need to answer a certain amount of questions to then be able to ask a question.
However, some of the answers on the site can be unreliable (as anyone can answer them) but with  most of the information, you can learn quite a lot from it.
The way this site has been set up, yahoo answers have set up the frame and the people do the work for them for free!
I am constantly typing in questions into the search box as it is more than likely that someone has asked that question before. A huge stream of answers follows it and most of the time I find out what I wanted to know.

Web 2.0 has revolutionised the way we live our lives. It has even become part of our vocabulary, 'he Facebooked me,' I Tweeted her, ' 'We Youtubed it,' things that one hundred years ago could never be imagined and there can only me more changes to come. Being connected with thousands of people is just a click of a button away. And with all the touch screen technology the whole world is now at our fingertips.

TASK 1A: Blake Curtis-Woodcock - Curriculum Vitae

Height: 5'6"

Playing age: 16-25

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Brown/Long

Speaking Voice: Clear and Natural

Singing Voice: Mezzo-Soprano

Training: Three year Musical Theatre Diploma at The Italia Conti Accademy of Theatre Arts

Email: blake.curtis-woodcock@Live.com

Mobile: 07525864341

Spotlight: http://www.spotlight.com/interactive/cv/cv.asp?ref=F140464&pub=1


Credits

Pantomime
Peter Pan,Nanna the Dog, Butch the Pirate---Peter Pan---M&M Productions---Paul Crommie
Musical
Ancestor (Dancer) in The Adams Family---Special Gala Performance---Italia Conti---Hayley Newton, Sean Parkins
Musical
Ancestor (Dancer) in The Adams Family---Celebrating100Years---Italia Coni---Hayley Newton, Sean Parkins
Short Film
Lead Female Role, Kathine---My Light---University Of Westminster---Sam Whitehouse
Musical
Susan---An Evening of Company---Avondale Theatre---David Willoughby, MD Nathan Dawe
Cabaret
Company---Italia Conti Centenary Ball---Grosvenor House---Simon Carr-Minns, Karen Haliday, Richard Peakman
Stage
King Hamlet, The Ghost of Hamlets Father---Hamlet---Complete Works Theatre Company---David Willoughby
Musical
Company---The Wedding Singer---New Wimbledon Theatre---Richard Peakman, Nathan Dawe


Skills

Accents: New York, Southern American, General American, General English, Essex, London, Kent, RP

Dance: Jazz, Ballet, Modern, Pas De Deux, Contempory, Lyrical

Performance: Children's Theatre, Skin Work, Musical Theatre, Dance, Theatre In Education, Voice Over

Sports: Hockey, Gymnastics, Netball, Shooting, Skiing, Snowboarding, Stage Combat, Swimming, Sword Fighting

Vehicle License: Full Driving License, Experience Driving Large Vans