Transmedia & Performance Conference

Finally, the conference i wanted, comes to Northbrook College tomorrow. I have so many questions....

Transmedia Conference  Northbrook Theatre – Monday 18th November
10.30	Welcome Vanessa Cornford		http://transitionsconference.blogspot.co.uk
10.40	Blast Theory		http://www.blasttheory.co.uk
11.10	Belen Santa-Olalla Transmedia Storyteller Ltd		http://www.tstoryteller.com/acting-and-transmedia-part-2
11.40	Break
11.55	Marcus Lilley Futrsocial		http://www.futrsocial.com
12.20	Mark Ashmore Future Artists		http://futureartists.co.uk Twitter @futureartists
12.40	Alison John Yellobrick		http://yellobrick.co.uk/#stage-section Twitter_@yellobrick
13.00	Robert Pratten		http://www.tstoryteller.com http://www.amazon.co.uk/Getting-Started-Transmedia-Storytelling-Practical/dp/1456564684/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383773951&sr=1-3
13.15	Panel		Panel discussion – questions from audience
13.40	Lunch
14.20	Film	Showing of Lost Generation film for students – directed by Mark Ashmore, Northbrook College alumnus first feature film. http://www.projectlostgeneration.co.uk

Actor in Transmedia Conference

Conference with exciting guests coming up at Northbrook Theatre on November 18th!

Looking forward to it and in the meantime some thoughts on teaching acting from Devoted and Disgruntled today.

Does society need actors? if not, why not?

Classic model of classes and practitioners outdated?

Acting is a mythical thing that cannot be taught. What can be taught is  finding your right to speak, and yourself as an artist.

Ask students two questions; what do you want to be?
                                             what do you want to be doing?

http://www.devotedanddisgruntled.com/events/dd-roadshow-2013-brighton/reports/what-should-we-be-teaching-theatre-students/

Digital Skills & Acting skills

Characterisation & identity

Red herring?

My initial problem
Is characterisation by actors in current work changing alongside notions of identity?
Wooster, ERS and others playing with characters and so acting; notions of inhabiting, believing, feeling, embodying not as relevant as adopting, mimicking, detaching,...

So what kind of actor training can engage with these new acting identities.

Where does media come into this?


Some transmedia work tells stories differently but presents conventional ideas of character. Linear, logical, psychologically motivated, with firm identity. So is it a red herring in my search for modern character and how it concerns actor training?
Is that fair? Or does the multi platform tell us something different about character in itself?


This is where I keep getting stuck.

So I go to this: can technology help you act better?


Presenting at Manchester in the morning. 


Watched an episode of the wire and rate the acting very highly. How did they learn to do that? And can you teach it?

Digital Learning

In a US paper about digital literacies, the following skills are listed as important to students.

http://digitallearning.macfound.org

Looking at these, i'm struck by how relevant they are to the student actor. Within a digital environment of devising, are these not the skills that actors need either within their role as performer, maker or indeed character actor?

Talk with Hannah Rowlands character constructs/ acting

acting skills

I'm trying to distill what acting is; what are the qualities that are most important and how can new technologies help develop those skills. I will focus on acting at the moment rather than performing.

So, here goes  a risky shortlist.

Actor vs performer

Viewpoints training and new digital technologies

Thinking about actor training; one of my favourite tools for training is 'Viewpoints'. So beginning to think what the two have to do with each other. How could digital technologies reinforce, enrich or enable viewpoints training for actors?

skype conversation with Christine Weitbrecht

Just been talking to Christine who works and blogs on transmedia in LA.

Some very interesting points that refocus my thinking now to take in some very mainstream work and the role of the actor.

some of the points she mentioned:

• actors have to now share their backstory through different media.
• inhabit the rabbit holes and make decisions both conclusive as an experience but also open to audience to inhabit in the storyworld
• they have to understand each platform and how the story can engage with it but also how the audience engages with it.
• know the everyday, mundane life of the character as they tweet, facebook etc. How does the character they are playing use each medium? how do they write? what do they post? what language do they use?
• they have to portray / represent/inhabit? two experiences in one: the story and moment have to be both satisfying and provide closure but also open to sequels, other platforms, audience requests.
• tell the story of the character in all platforms, but also in each one. Audiences don't necessarily follow all.
• in mainstream work, now 'there are no small characters' even truer; a minor character might develop through a rabbit hole into something much bigger. Example from Lord of the Rings
• where are your audience when you are reaching them? in same space, in the living room, on the road....
• your performances are reviewed live! As you perform, others tweet about your performance.
• Do some audience follow your character on twitter as well as yourself?
• for this kind of work, actors don't necessarily have to prepare differently, they just have to learn to engage much more in more ways.
• when you agree to play a part, how many platforms, time, commitment are you agreeing to? 

Pepsmccrea

  Does this apply to actor training?

Or,

Barton 2010

Actor training apps so far.

Northbrook students and staff coming in with suggestions of apps they would like for their training:

• quite a few requests for voice apps; programmes for breathing, vocal warm-ups. With some kind of interaction with the user to measure improvement. And incentives; eg extra exercises unlocked after few days use.

• a wii/ playstation etc game that helps you practice different movement training. 
• an app that can record your deliver of lines; then it decodes it and suggests what your objective was. 
• a green screen app; records the actor as against green screen and poses different scenarios and challenges for you to act with. Then you can watch back the video.

    some apps i would like..

• a voice app that registers variation, pitch, volume and makes a graph
• an app to read audience engagement? measure their pulse maybe or visual focus at any given points?
• an app to detect correct volume for specific venues and their vocal demands. it might beep if you fall below certain level.

cross media actors

what kind of presence training does a cross media actor require?

The character i'm playing is tweeting, being filmed, animated, watched, augmented, on facebook, fragmented and cross mediatised. What will best prepare me for that?

the 'director' is not interested in clear or expressive physicality,  good diction, projection or truthfulness. i'm not sure what she is interested in to do with me.

Transmedia & Actor training

Either, transmedia, new media, cross platform, need additional skills which we have to make space for in our actor training.
OR
New technologies mean we have to radically rethink actor training and codify new actor training ideals and methodologies.

Is this a valid question?