units 1-4 - unit 3

UAL - Level 3 PaPA - Acting Pathway - Unit 1 - 4

~Ilonka Flora

Unit 3: introduction to professional acting

Health and safety

Ensuring the health and safety of the performer and the production is the most important part of performing arts. before acting, you must be sure that not only you and your colleagues or co-workers are safe, but also the audience and tech crew are too. Safe in general, and personally.

Speaking generally I am referring to the surroundings, the performing space and stage. Before any rehearsals and activities take place, there must be someone responsible to ensure that the rehearsal/performance space is safe from any hazards. In order to 'ensure' safety and keep spaces safe, the team must be sensible and aware to stop any possible safety issues from occurring due to carelessness.

The goal is to eliminate and minimise any kinds of hazards, the disadvantage is that many activities that take place within these spaces cause more possible hazards, however, the advantage can cancel this disadvantage with the right training. Learning how to use the equipment properly, learning all restrictions and precautions. For example at the Shaw Theatre William was informing our class and the other school of the risks and hazards. Risks at the Shaw theatre are, due to the bright lights during the performance, we must be aware of the stage edge when acting, falling off stage will inflict damage somehow so it's best to avoid that all together. He also spoke about the stage curtains, he advised that we do not forcefully move the curtains as the whole thing could come down, including the bars, this does not just put you in danger but everyone stage too.

It's also important that everyone is aware of the fire exits and what to do in any possible emergency crisis' such as fires or outside threats. It's also important that no one panics and stay orderly to avoid chaos.

Inspecting the place now and then for any issues and any possible fresh hazards are important too because the issue may occur over time from something else such as leakages, abrasion, loose wires.
For starters, any spillages or leakages must be cleaned asap to avoid accidents, and water and electrical wires should be kept far from each one and other. Abrasion may make some spots on the floor rough or slippery, if someone isn't wearing the correct shoes they may trip or slip, either way, the outcome doesn't sound great. The stage must be inspected and backstage also. running is not allowed due to reasons like this, the other reason is due to wires and objects lying around. Even though these items shouldn't be lying around carelessly, it happens, so it's important to always watch your step. To avoid tripping on objects such as bags, always keep your bags in a designated area or the changing rooms.

There must always be a first aid kit in the building, for if anything does happen there is a fast way to treat it. There should be a first aid attendant in the building. Any near miss accidents must be investigated so it can be worked on and prevented in the future.

Warming up is a part of a health and safety procedure, it prevents us from hurting ourselves. Warming up for drama is different from warming up for football because they are two different things, footballers prepare their bodies by jogging around a field because they run around for .... minutes with a ball, they have the right warm-ups for their activity... this also applies for performers. When acting it is important to be heard and clear so warm-ups include articulation warm-ups and projection warm-ups. Articulation warm-ups include making distinctive sounds, (such as 'Fafafafaaaa', 'Cacacacaaa', 'Papapapaaa' and 'Tatatataaa') tongue twisters such as 'Unique New York' or 'She sells seashells' Projection warm-ups consists of humming whilst 'chewing' gum the point is to be dramatic, then begin to bend the pitch of your humming, after this you choose emotions to portray through humming, such as fear, happiness, or sadness.This helps extend the vocal range. It's important to warm up your voice because you could end up straining and damaging your voice, especially if you're on tour. If your voice is warmed up well, you can avoid voice breakage when performing too.


Other warm-ups include physicality&movement and focusing. Physical warm-ups include walking around the room and filling in any gaps whilst in 'neutral mode' which is basically when one is blank, you do not know what the persons motive is because you cannot read it on their face, nor their body. we then being to focus on who our character is and at a snap of the finger, we can transform from a blank canvas to a character with depth. Another activity warm-up that helps us begin to focus is 1-20, which is when a group must work as a team to count to 20 but if two or more people say the same number then they must start from 1 again.

In conclusion, It's important to warm up before doing any performing arts activities, this helps reduce any vocal damage and gets you pumped up for the next activity and tasks. It's also critical that you are aware of your surroundings and listen to instructions carefully to keep you and your co-workers or colleagues safe and secure.

5 Minute warm up

If I was to be leading my class in a five-minute warm-up, I would have us do 4 activities, The first activity would be A voice warm-up where everyone hums whilst chewing an imaginary piece of gum. We then open our mouths as wide as possible (Still humming). This is to start it off. We will then open our mouths (and eyes) then tighten up our facial expression by shutting our eyes tightly and scrunching up our lips. repeat twice,  then use your tongue and just let it glide around your mouth in circles, do it clockwise three times then anti-clockwise too.This helps relax your facial muscles. Now we will work on articulation, make sure that the noises we make our clear. Sounds include 'Mamamamaa',  'Rarararaa', 'Babababaa', 'Cacacacaa' and 'Papapapaa'.  This activity takes about a minute and twenty seconds.

The next warm-up is called Rubber Chicken, It's quite simple. Now that we've warmed up our faces and our voices a bit it's time to take it up a notch with a quick exercise that needs effort and energy. Starting with your right hand, lift it up and shake it 8 times, when doing this you need to count out loud too (counting up or down is fine). When you've done that you move onto your left hand and repeat it, you then move on to your right foot and then your left.  You repeat this again except now you do only 4 shakes each, then 2, and then 1. When you've reached your last shake, You must shout out loud 'Rubber Chicken!'. This helps wake up the body and stimulate your minds. This takes about 20 seconds.

This next activity is a voice warm-up, but also an icebreaker. It's called 'Random sound story'. This can be passed around in a circle or we could take turns and watch partners do it, and see who cracks first. But because this is a 5 minute warm up, it would probably go around in a circle. The first person starts off by making any random noises, starting to tell their story and the next person will elaborate on their own random noise and so on, this usually has everyone cracking up. This helps with your voice range, creativity and teamwork skills. This warm-up takes about 2 minutes.

The last warm-up I've chosen will have everyone pumped for whatever activity is given after, It's called the 'ten-second object' game. You and 4-5 others are put in a group, the aim of this activity is to create a certain object, this could be food, home appliances, or a certain animal. You must create the shape in 10 seconds. This activity requires focus, good listening and teamwork skills whilst also using physicality and creativity. this activity can be as long as you want but for the warm-up it should be around 2 minutes.

Here is a demonstration of the 'random noise story' warm-up, by me:

https://sites.google.com/view/warmin-upwithilonka/warm-ups



Sources:

http://www.ehs.ucsb.edu/general-safety/theater-safety
http://www.actsafe.ca/wp-content/uploads/resources/pdf/Theatre.pdf