About Me

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Welcome to my page! Thank you so much for reading! I'm in my twenties, and this is my little blog about my acting and working experiences! Please enjoy, follow and leave a comment if it interests you! Thanks again for reading!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

post coming! but for now.. here's mr zegers

ok sorry i know you're all waiting on the titanic post and it'll be up tomorrow! promise! I 've just had a long day! But after it i had a drink with Kevin Zegers which was lovely!

Post up tomorrow! watch this space!


Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Titanic filming tomorrow!

Oh gosh! I'm so excited! I can't wait to get there! I got my call sheet today! my own call sheet! God it's all real! ..Ah look at me, me and my one lil line! Still though! It is a line none-the-less! And I'm proud!

I'm so excited! I'll be working with Billy Carter and Kevin Zegers I believe! Oh yes!! So very anxious! I will be collected at 10! Make-up at 10.30! and then costumed and ready for 12pm! wowzers!!

I hope it's the same outfit i wore for the costume fitting! I love that beautiful dress! I have a feeling I'm going to be very tempted to take photographs, but of course thats not allowed! still! They'll remain in my head forever no doubt!

I will post tomorrow to let you all know how it went! oh wow!  I hope I don't screw this up!!!

Lol!!

chat ya laters!!

Monday, November 28, 2011

wednesday

So Titanic ran got day and it turns out i'm working on wednesday instead! So There won't be a post tomorrow night but hopefully there will be on wednesday night! yay!

I was supposed to work tomorrow and I cancelled my driving test and all but I guess thats the way it goes in showbiz, it's never a set timeframe!

So.. my driving test is rebooked, thank god, probably would have failed anyway and hopefully I'll be getting a call about Cookoo which I auditioned for on sat! Gosh, To be honest I'm not sure how that went.  I think I kept looking down a lot, which I know is a no-no when auditioning for film. and you know I believe I could have been a little more upset during one of the scenes.. So I've been kinda kicking myself for that! sake!

Oh also,  I begin my lil normal job in Penneys in Wexford next monday and once I start getting money in I'm going to work on getting definite Audition Outfits!

So when I do get around to getting audition outfits then I'll post them here and probably do a little vlog..

Also thinking about doing a monologue from Mean Girls in the spirit of Dramsoc this year as we're having a Mean Girls night on Wednesday evening.. if i'm done working on Titanic that is! but what do you guys think?

I want to know your opinion so feel free to comment below!!

Thanks guys!

Friday, November 25, 2011

messing up on stage

Like I said in my post "about last night" I have never been more terrified to go onstage, because I knew, that the actor I was working with had no idea about his lines. It's the most horrible thing in the world to not trust the ability of the actors you are working with. And that was what terrified me, I knew I could not trust him.

I knew my lines but he didn't know his and soI knew that I would have to carry the scene. The main thing to do in this situation is to stay calm! To try and calm yourself completely before going on stage.

And the most important rule: STAY IN CHARACTER!

whatever you do or say onstage, don't break character! commit to everything you do! Don't half heartily do something, do it, with conviction! If you know your lines and your movements and your partner does not then you take the lead in the scene. I hinted at him what to do, in character and he didn't do it!

This is where improv comes in handy, NEVER SAY NO! If I know my lines and I even know your lines, then when I hint at you to do something or if I say, "aren't you happy to see me?" say yes!! Never say no when you're in such a mess that it's improv! And If I hint to you in character to call someone on the phone, Don't go over to the phone and ask me why i've said that or what good will that do! I just gave you a clue to what you are supposed to do!

Now, fair enough, not knowing your lines then you probably wouldn't know what to say when you get to the telephone or who to call, but that is something I've said in another post, know what your goal is in the scene!! What are the main actions and what is your character trying to get across? If you know that then when I hint for you to use the telephone it'll click in your mind that you're supposed to ring such and such a character.. even if you didn't know what to say you could improvise.

The main thing is this post is firstly, learn your lines, and secondly, trust your partner!

Also a couple of things to note:

If you know your lines and you've made a mistake and jumped a few lines, then just carry on, you and your partner should just carry on! and then when you get offstage, forget about it! Forget the mistake you made and leave it in the past or it'll ruin your entire performance!

And secondly, Don't ever jump back!!! If your partner has skipped a page of dialogue, unless that dialogue was absolutely imperative to the main storyline, then you never jump back! just keep going! just continue until the end of the scene! when you jump back to something completely pointless then it'll put you and your partner off and when you come back up to the phrase you jumped ahead to then your thought process is lost and then queue the awkward teeth pulling silence.

Don't corpse on stage when you or another character says something funny. there is nothing worse than an actor who is hilarious but then laughs or smiles at their own lines or actions on stage. It doesn't look right at all. If your line is said in a deadpan way then your face should remain neutral while the audience laughs their head off! keep your face steady! If you know the line/ action will get a laugh then practice it so many times that you really don't find it funny anymore. Because when you corpse on stage, it makes you and your partners loose character, which if you'll notice above is the most important rule in this post!!!.. and consequently in the theatre!! don't ever break character.

So that's my little rant and points about messing up on stage. But honestly all I can say is, that it is shameful to go on the first night of performance, and in fact all nights of performance and not know your lines. If you're an actor your first requirement is to know your lines. Know your lines and know your goal/aim in the scene.

Thanks for reading!

Peach out!!




Tuesday, November 22, 2011

About last night....

So last night was the first night of present laughter... Well let's just say I'm still alive. I think it's fair to say that noel coward's script was fairly butchered! So this is what the main reason for this disaster was, people, fundamentally didn't know their lines. Not putting the blame on anyone but the main character is Gary Essendine and he carries the show and his lines were dropped. Not just one or two but pages! THat just messed up everyone else's queues and fucked it up basically. We all laughed it off because we all did forget lines, but really I have never been so terrified to go on stage in my entire acting life! My first scene, second and third were fine. It wasn't until act 3 that it all went tits up! My scene involves intimate dialogue with Gary Essendine and so when he dropped lines and queues in the first 3 mins and forgot to ring his wife then it just settled into crippling silence!!! Crippling, like pullin teeth! He rambled and asked me a question which wasnt to be asked until the end of my scene!! And i actually said the words i dont know!! On stage! In character came the words "well, i dont know". I couldnt imput anything because I was totally lost when his lines and even intention in the scene was lost and I didn't know where to go! It was awful until he copped on and rang his wife. Then my Braun clicked into action. I made my memory come back and I was on track! I just Went into a monologue because I knew he was totally lost and would just drop he ball of he whole scene so monologue it was and I felt so relieved when his wife enters because we knew we could pick it back up from the floor, from those dreadful silences and from the sadist dentist room floor on which were all the metaphorical teeth I plucked in my silence!!! So tonight, we go on. And I'm terrified! Honestly. I'm about to Do a line run with the cast and I'm hoping we all know our lines and our queues!!! All in all the play although adlibbed quite a bit, the story was not lost and apparently the show was not that bad. We pulled it off despite the slip ups. It also didn't help that it was the first night of Caberet was on at the same time so we had 6 people in the audience! So it just went pear shaped from the start but for our first run on the set and with lights and sound so we did well considering... Anyway tonight should run smoothly! Wish us luck!!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

first improv pre-team lesson

So I've discovered that the improv team has not been finalized and instead we are all just on extended auditions. And I had my first class today! so inspiring!

There were only a few of us, 7 when it began and then it broke to like 5 including the host. Our host is amazing! I learnt so much today.

we played a rhyming warm up game which helps to break the ice and release you're inner funny. so that was fun, didn't really learn anything there as there isn't a technique to that.

We tried to focus today on Character and Objective in improv. There are rules to improv that can be summed up as follows, C. R. O. W. (E).

C--- character
R--- Relationship
O--- Objective
W--- Where (where are you?)
(E)--- Silent E, Emotion

Today we were working on character. Our host advised us that if we are unsure of character to be on stage as we are about to walk on, 'follow your foot' just go with it. Try think of someone you hate or someone who is completely opposite to you. Or even if you go on as yourself and can't think of a character, go on as yourself but give yourself an adjective, like confused or excited or rushed...

just go on with a really great statement. so there is no question about character or objective or where you know? So something like "Mom I don't want to go to the zoo today it's raining, and it's china all they have are pandas" So in that sentence there is sooo much to work with, the other person can now have no doubt about who they are or where they are.

Again, always accept what you're given, don't deny it or say something like "who you calling mom? I'm your sister?" you know what I mean? No questions and don't just bat someone down.

Also we played a few games that I'm totally shit at! So rap games and a game where the objective was to legitimize taking the other person's hat. I was totally rubbish at them, but I accepted that I was rubbish at them and then I went with just being really really awfully bad at it. Because I just went with it, and if you commit to it whole heartedly then something funny will come out.

Also I learnt that you should build and build on a scene, such as " You didn't do you're homework... you can't go outside..." that would turn into something like "alright listen you can go outside only if you take this umbrella with you, the plant had a meltdown and so acid is spewing like rain" Or something along those lines, you can't just go from somewhere straight to crazy town because then you're just trying to be funny, let the scene develop and accept what you're given.

Also It's not enough to just say yes and accept it. Sometimes it is, but you should always say Yes And... so add to the scene build with your partners.

Um.. thats all for now! I should probably go do my readings for tomorrow and for my essays! oh joy!

Hope this post was of some interest/help!!

Really quick ending actually, there was no sort of summing up or winding down there... strange.

Ok bye!!


learning lines

Sigh.. we've all got to do it... and lets face it, sometimes there is just too much going on in your life, especially if you're a student like me, to sit down and concentrate for a few hours on a piece of paper.

Right now I'm learning lines for Joanna in Present Laughter. And I have some tips that may or may not help you when it comes to learning lines:

Firstly, do it scene by scene and page by page. Read the scene. Read the entire scene first and find out what is my character saying in this scene? what is the aim or motivations for what they are saying? Understand what is happening in the scene first and you'll learn the lines way quicker than if you try learn it line by line and not focus on what that character is saying.


 Second. Go back to the top of the scene and set a goal, for example I'm going to learn from page 200-201. Goals always help me and if you sit down and put a time limit on it then it tends to help. so lets say you're going to learn page 200-201 in the next 10mins.

Thirdly, read it twice, and concentrate on the words, even over exaggerate the words and say every syllable in your head. You already know the meaning of the conversation as you've done step one. So now you have to get your mouth used to saying those words and the sounds they make on your ear.

Fourth, After reading it twice. Read it again as if you have just thought of those words, you were actually having a conversation with someone. and then look away and see how much of the lines do you know?

Fifth, look back and see what you remembered. If it helps, act it out as you're saying it. I normally don't act it out, i tend to look at the line, look away and say it, look back and read it then look away again.

I hope that helps anyone learning lines at the minute. That's just my technique so hopefully that helps....

um, thanks for reading!

Peach

Sunday, November 13, 2011

To refilm or not to refilm... That Is the question

Hello! So yesterday i spent the day filming with my boyfriend, a small Irish monologue for my showreel. It was from the play I had done professionally. Then as we were walking home from the filming I realised that I had said part of the monologue wrong! Shit! So I'll probably have up film it again!... Or will I? What do you think? Because its an amateur showreel could I maybe put 'adaptation of an extract from "lay me down Softly" by billy Roche? Do you think I could go that? Instead of going back and refilming? Because yesterday the light was perfect and we got some really lovely shots for my monologue... I'm going to call billy today and see if I'm allowed to use the extract from his script... I'm so worried he'll say no, but I'm sure it'll be fine! Tomorrow I'm filming some more stuff in Dublin in my friends apartment for my showreel. See if I have to refilm my Irish monologue then I'll have to do it next weekend... Sake. Anyway enough of that. I had a great time filming and I think I'll use my boyfriend more often as he has a great eye for detail and he's an artist and do naturally is very artistic!! We filmed using my iPhone4s. The clip will be added to my YouTube when it's fully edited. Ps I hope you enjoyed my girl interrupted speech! I thought I might as well have something up on YouTube. I'll have more clips up soon enough! Xx Thanks for reading . If you have any advice for my predicament please comment below, or of you have any general advice about an amateur showreel please help!! Much appreciated!! Peach out!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

first youtube video!

http://www.youtube.com/user/appeleyes?feature=mhsn#p/a/u/0/Gv1hnnV5Hcc

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

pretentious people

Everyone knows someone who is a little pretentious, who is just that little bit of an ego-head. Well in the world of theatre, they're everywhere!! And it's just so upsetting to meet those people, because underneath all the pretentious wank that they put on, they are probably really nice people. They just need to let go of all their paranoia about the world and to stop trying to put on a show! Performing on stage and on screen is totally different to performing in everyday life, and some people should just really give it up.

Why do you pretend to be someone you are not? It's so strange. I read a quote recently that said you could make more many friends in 2 days by being interested in other people, than  you would in two years by trying to make other people interested in you. So guys give up the act. People can and will like you for who you really are.

And also, I've noticed lately in the world of drama, there are a lot of men, who are, lets put it this way, 'up for some'. Fair enough, the men I seem to be associating with these days are in the ages of 17-25. However, let me give you a quick lesson in girls and their 'sensitivities'.

What women want to hear:
You look beautiful today

What women don't want to hear:
You look hot today. Seriously. I mean wow. Like so hot. Wanna do some stuff?...go somewhere maybe?

So what did we learn here? Right both begin the same way. But it ends after a compliment. Yeah? Get me? Just shut up. When you say 'you look beautiful' we blush and smile and think, 'aw that's so sweet'. when you go on about it, we think 'ok, shut up already...perve i'm not your prize'.

(slightly femist post i've noticed... seem to be in that mood)

Just things like that. They are probably really bad examples. But come one guys, I for one don't like the sex comments. And when I say I've got a boyfriend, that doesn't mean, 'ah sure it's a bit of a challenge'. It means, I'm in love and obviously not interested. I hate when men, especially touchy guys who think they're all that and a bag of tayto try it on with you, touch ya and make sly remarks about sex and appearance... like really? Piss off... Have a little feckin charm at least!

Arg! Ok sorry that was a bit of a feministic rant right there, but come one girls? Am I right? Its one thing to be complimented and it's another thing to be perved on.

Anyway I'll leave my lil rant here. Again sorry, but,... kinda not..

Anyone agree??

Peach

Sunday, November 6, 2011

UCD improv!

Booya!! I got in! yay! so bring on the funny times and bring on the new info and all the learning! I'm so happy I got into the improv team because I firmly believe there is so much you can learn from other actors and their techniques! So bring it on! I'm like a sponge!  a super sponge!! absorb absorb!! yay!! Can't wait for the side splitting comedy to come!! xx

Thursday, November 3, 2011

shite!

So today was the third night of Riders To The Sea. The first two nights were great! I loved it! I felt so engaged... but tonight I just felt.. well shite. I couldn't cry. I know that sounds a bit shit, but it was if i knew the audience were there where as before I paid no attention to them. It was super hard to concentrate and my father and brother were in the audience tonight. I just felt judged, throughout the whole play. And it made me feel utter shit!!

So my plan is to get a very good sleep tonight!! And tomorrow I'm heading in to the improv audition for the college team!! So I am very excited about that and I think it'll give me the break i need! And then I'm going to be filming a little scene or two and I'll be posting it  here and on youtube soon enough! Hopefully by sat! or sunday! going to get the ole boyfriend to help me edit them!!

My friends have also been such an inspiration to me and I think I'll give singing on youtube a go!! Acting first tho eh? concentrate on one thing at a time! I can't wait to get this showreel done and sent to my agent and get me some more work!! HA!

Onward and upward, isn't that what they say? So no more being shite!! I just have to concentrate and get in the zone. Before the show there is a soundtrack of waves and wind. It is so nice to just sit in character for a while, and hear the wind and sea as if I were really on the Aran Islands.

What I find is really helpful before the show is to go off on my own and just sit in character. Think in character. I imagine the small cottage, and I imagine sitting on the edge of a cliff, with a pail of some kind next to me, and feeling the wind on my face and the sea spray in my hair. It is so calming and its also quite depressing though so i wouldn't do this for too long! But I find that if you're about to go on and you can't focus, just take 20mins or so to yourself, and imagine your character in thought, and maybe even go through a day in the life of their character. imagine waking up in the morning as your character, obviously, what do they see, what do they think about when they wake up? It's really interesting to think in this way, I have never thought in character before and I find it exhilarating because it just gives you more depth!!


so I think thats all now, Oh I got a note on diction from last night, so before the show when we were running through lines, just really really enunciate every syllable because it does help when you're on stage later, you don't realize it but your brian really pronounces the words later on when you're doing it for real.

So um.. thats all my little tid-bits for you...

See ya guys!

Peach!