Acting 101 - Uta Hagen's Exercises

Destination
2-3 minutes exercise should be 1-2 hour rehearsal

Telephone conversation
Test how your attention goes out to the 4th side. 4th side - what the actors are looking at. Markers piked out, it's freeing to look at something. The audience can disappear.

Changes of self
People are capable of behaving in very different ways. When am I arrogant, stupid, funny, angry, smitten, irritable? You don't pretend to be someone else, you find the character persona within you.

Immediacy - Looking for lost item
1. The hunting, the expectation of possibly finding it somewhere.
2. Dealing with the problems of anticipation while searching for something lost or mislaid.

Imagine inner item w/a subconscious activity
ie. you button your jacket while thinking about groceries and in your mind your thinking about/visualizing the grocery store - the shelves.

Conditioning Forces - Endowment
Recreating physical sensations. An endowed reality (ie. Hot iron w/steam, dangerous, distracint. Use fake steam, A dull knife, hot water/pot)
1. Endow a physical sensation. Body is wet or clothes are all wet.
2. Sensation of having to pee
3. Drunkenness - Key is to isolate a part of the body that is out of control and you struggle against that w/your arms or your head. You don't stumble out of control your body parts struggle to stay in control because things give out. Your knees give yout, your head flops over. You struggle to over come it. When sitting, it's the head, elbow and hands that struggle. The eyes try and focus on an object, the head and hands struggle to go there w/too much weight. It's an attempt at normalcy.
4. Conditions - wet, looking, crawling, night-time or very low light, hard to walk, walk in sand, injury.

Waiting
The ultimate test. Fidgets, looking around, meandering, inner objects, lack of activity to fiddle w/objects.

Three Entrances
Preparation and its influence on the entrance.

The 4th Wall
The guarantee of privacy while using, not ignoring, the visual area of the audience.

Talking to yourself
• When we talk to ourselves we usually are unaware of it and we are also usually preoccupied w/an activity
• For every monologue ask yourself, what wouldI do here if I wasn't talking? What behavior?
• Try acting a scene out without the dialog.
• Don't stick to a mask. What's going on underneath? People never say what they mean. Don't play the part (mask) too well. Show what's underneath the surface.
• We talk to ourselves to regain control.
• Don't demand immediate horror, let discovery happen
• We laugh when we recognize ourselves
• When the actor tries to be funny or thinks they're funny, then they stop being funny
• Don't discuss a scene too much

Talking to an audience - Inner Monologue
• Eyes locked to targets above audience
• Find your place, grounding
• Interaction between 2 people who are smitten, they steal glances.
• Actor who is so pent up that it's hard for them to be grounded is a born actor and needs to be on stage all the time.

Simple task in historical costume and setting
1. The costume can pull out a character. A hat, shirt
2. Actions will be because of reasons. (ie. Victorians wore corsets and thus sat up straight)
3. Fashion and social morals are the only things that have changed in humans
4. Does the actor love the character
5. Staggar conditions exercise
Notes:
1. Do you really understand the scene?
2. When you send the action how does one receive? Don't overpractice the receiving.
3. See what you see and react to it. Hear what you hear and react to it.

Outdoors
1. Your relationship to space and nature
2. Finding forward-moving occupation without the help of furniture and props.

What Happened With Luis?

Were you about to start emailing me to find out if I asked Luis out? I actually did. Did you expect that? I hope so and you should be proud of me ;o) I told him I was going out with Vienna and TJ and would love to go with somebody to avoid being the third wheel. He was nodding understandingly, and then I asked if he wanted to join us. "I'd love to. I don't have anything planned for Sat night." Wow, I can't believe he actually said that. He had no plans? Most guys (and girls like me) would never admit they have no Sat night date. Apparently what Vienna said was true, good-looking guys simply don't need the games the rest of us play to appear more desirable. I checked his FB profile. He hadn't filled in his Relationship Status. Is he embarrassed to say he is single or is there somebody he doesn't want the world to know about? Jill thinks I'm being paranoid, but just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get you.

Vienna looked shocked to see Luis instead of Mike and so did JT. The whole double date was a blur except for a couple of moments that stood out. Luis put his hand on my back and said that the girls in our Theater class were not very pretty or interesting except for me. The second moment was when a girl with triple D's passed by and JT almost stuck his tongue out and started drooling like a dog. Vienna seemed embarrassed and so were we. I was proud of Luis for sparing me the humiliation. He is so awesome!

Losing Weight and Gaining Courage

No news on Luis, don't pressure me please! Today is my last chance to see him and ask him out. I bet he'd think I'm retarded for asking him for notes when I'm in class every time. A goal is a goal, though. I should teach my mind to take goals seriously. So, I'm definitely going for it today. Maybe I should have some liquor before going to class to loosen up.

Apart from that, my Mom sent me several kinds of green tea. My favorite one are Yogi Green Tea Kambucha and Yogi Green Tea Goji Berry. They are so wonderfully aromatic. Here's some information I found on why drinking green tea is great for your body.

1. Green tea is a superb fat fighter. Its active ingredient, EGCG, increases the rate at which fat is burned in your body.
2. It targets belly fat. Research at Tufts University indicates that EGCG in green tea, like other catechins, activate fat-burning genes in the abdomen to speed weight loss by 77 percent.
3. Green tea keeps energy stable by balancing blood sugar levels. EGCG improves insulin use in the body to prevent blood sugar spikes and crashes that can result in fatigue, irritability, and cravings for unhealthy foods.
4. Research shows it may be helpful against lung cancer. In an April 2010 study published in Cancer Prevention Research, EGCG was found to suppress lung cancer cell growth.
5. Green tea may halt colorectal cancer. In numerous other studies, EGCG appears to inhibit colorectal cancers.
6. In research, it appears to cause prostate cancer cells to commit suicide. A March 2010 study in Cancer Science indicated that EGCG aids the body by causing prostate cancer cells to commit suicide.
7. Green tea may prevent skin damage and wrinkling. EGCG appears to be 200 times more powerful than vitamin E at destroying skin-damaging free radicals. Free radicals react with healthy cells in the body, causing damage, so lessening their numbers may help reduce wrinkling and other signs of aging.
8. It contains a potent antioxidant that kills free radicals. Because it is a potent antioxidant green tea can positively impact a lot more than skin cells. Free radicals are increasingly linked to many serious chronic illnesses like arthritis, diabetes, and cancer.
9. Green tea tastes good. If you’re not wild about the flavor, try a few different kinds. Try it iced or hot. Add some of the natural herb stevia to sweeten it if you want a sweeter drink. I wasn’t crazy about green tea the first few times I tried it, but now I love it with a fresh squeeze of lemon and a few drops of stevia over ice — et voila! Green tea lemonade. Mmmmm.
Reap the rewards
Add one or two teaspoons of green tea leaves to a cup of boiling water, preferably in a tea strainer. Let steep for five minutes. Pour over ice if you prefer a cold beverage. Most experts recommend three cups daily. And, don’t worry, green tea contains a lot less caffeine than coffee or black tea.

Asking Him Out

I almost did it. I almost asked Luis out. I went to him, started to talking, and then I simply couldn't bring it up. FB may help but then he may show my message to everybody and make fun of me. I doubt he'd do something like that but the thought of public humiliation freaks me out. I'd love to just forget it all but a goal is a goal and is there for me to learn something. I think that if Luis didn't matter much to me, it would be much easier for me to approach him but now the stakes are too high.

I asked Alex what to do but didn't get anything useful, "He must be a player," "Let him do all the work to make sure he is serious." Come on, Alex! I'm trying to get a date, not marry the guy. Who says I want him forever, OMG!

Jill had an idea and I'm going with it. Ask him for his notes from the class and go pick them up at his dorm. Brilliant! If my brain didn't turn into mush under the mere thought of Luis, I could've come up with it by myself, right?

My Love Plan

I will ask Luis on a date. He is really nice to me in class, so maybe he likes me too. I talked to Vienna about it. She says good-looking guys don't know how approach girls because they never had to learn. Girl always approached to them first. She also says that hot guys are less likely to be players because getting laid is no challenge for them. All they have to do is show up and panties drop. I bet in Luis's world women chase men and try to have sex with them. Well, rejection sucks but waiting and hoping sucks more. If the mountain doesn't go to Mohamed, Mohamed will go to the mountain. Tony Robbins says that a goal is a dream with a deadline, so I'll ask Luis out by the end of this week. Cross your fingers, friends!

Jill found out what the name of the guy from my dorm is, Jason. I'd love to invite him over for French macaroons but don't want to lead him on before I'm clear about Luis. Guys have feelings just like we do. We are not as sheltered in regards to love affairs like many previous generation used to, but nobody likes to feel like they are your backup plan. Which reminds me, Mike and I are going out on a double date with TJ and Vienna. ;o)

Green Tea and Theanine for Weight Loss

I love the way green tea makes me feel, calm, energized, and centered. It must be the combination of caffeine and theanine that is so wonderfully effective. In the US, we put caffeine in sodas while in Japan, they put theanine. Americans decided against theanine since it makes you calmer. I don't know why being constantly stressed out and anxious, high on caffeine, would be somehow better for the individual or for the society. You'd think the law was created by the makers of Prozac and Zoloft. I love the taste of coffee, but the result of the caffeine high is not nearly as cool as the effect of green tea.

Theanine Health Benefits #1:
Promotes Alpha Brain Waves

Do you know that your brain has 4 wave patterns, each of them associated with a different state of mind? Going from lowest to highest frequency:
In Delta brain waves, you are sleeping deeply.
In Theta brain waves, you are dozing away.
In Alpha brain waves, you are relaxed, and yet alert.
A paper published in the June 1999 issue of Trends in Food Science & Technology found that theanine reduces anxiety in young women aged 18 to 22. They were given either water, 50 milligrams or 200 milligrams of L-theanine once a week. Afterward, their brain waves were measured. Those who received the highest dose (200 mg) produced more alpha waves.

Theanine Health Benefits #2:
Increases Dopamine
Further evidence of theanine’s relaxing properties come from 4 animal studies that found that theanine reliably increases dopamine levels in the brain.
What’s dopamine?
Dopamine is a hormone that is associated with a feeling of well-being. It is a neurotransmitter that is released during pleasurable activities such as eating and sex.
Some studies also suggest that theanine may increase your brain’s production of serotonin and GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). However, these results are still highly preliminary.

Theanine Health Benefits #3
Enhances Learning and Concentration
Theanine enhances the ability to learn, and to remember. It increases concentration, a reason why monks and scholars incorporate tea drinking into meditation and study.
It appears to work quickly and seems to be most effective when you are stressed and your mind is preoccupied by many thoughts. It helps to relax your mind, allowing you to focus on the task at hand.
Because it helps the mind stop racing, it also seems to help promote a more restful, sound sleep. This is because sleep is not interrupted by random thoughts.
A 2007 study conducted by Doctor Foxe found that it synergizes with caffeine to boost the activity of brain neurons. “As little as 100 milligrams enabled people to focus better on complicated tasks, but only when consumed with 60 milligrams of caffeine — a combination found in roughly 4 cups of green tea,” said Foxe more recently. “There was a profound synergistic effect,” he says. “My take is, we’re all self-medicating with this.”

Theanine Health Benefits #3:
Normalizes Blood Pressure
Theanine may bring high blood pressure back to normal, but has no effect on normal blood pressure. In a 1995 Japanese study, rats with naturally occurring high blood pressure were fed theanine. Their blood pressure was reduced significantly. However, the same effects were not observed in rats with normal blood pressure, even though they were given doses as high as 2000 milligrams per kilogram.

Theanine Health Benefits #4:
Reduces Cholesterol
According to a 2002 paper published by Zhang et al., theanine reduced cholesterol counts in both humans and gerbils, showing that it may improve your heart health.
Another 1997 Japanese study also found that theanine prevents cholesterol from turning bad through oxidation (in a process called LDL peroxidation). However, this effect was not as strong as that of green tea polyphenols.

Theanine Health Benefits #5:
Anti-Cancer
A 2002 study published by Sadzuka et al. suggested that theanine may help improve the quality of life of cancer patients by improving the efficacy of cancer drugs, and through its relaxing effects on the mind. Studies have found that theanine has the following benefits for cancer patients:
Increases the concentration of anti-cancer drugs in tumors.
Reduces the concentration of anti-cancer drugs in other tissues, where they are not needed.
Inhibits the growth of cancer tumors themselves.

Theanine Health Benefits #6:
Increases Immunity
A 2003 study conducted by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School found that it acts as an antigen, increasing the body’s immunity against colds and flu. They concluded that drinking tea can promote a strong immune response.

Theanine Health Benefits #7:
Lose Weight
Green tea helps lose weight, and according to a preliminary 2004 Japanese study, theanine contributes to this effect. In this animal study, rats fed a theanine diet for 16 weeks had significantly lower body weight, body fats and triglycerides (blood plasma fat).

The Kiss Was With...

... Jordan ;o) Did you guess correctly? Come on! You only had to wait two days to find out. The memory of the kiss feels naughty and socially acceptable at the same time, which makes it hot without ruining my inner peace. I'm such a good girl... or maybe not so much. That's it for today, friends. Check back on Friday for your soap opera update ;o)