I started in the Media Module with, as ever, limited experience of Media as I didn’t take Media for my A levels and a lot of Media work we should have done within my other A levels was stopped by COVID. I did not know what to expect, other than what I had read on the SHU website and discussed with my new course mates at the start of the year.
The Media Module began by discussing casting types / ranges, which introduced us to how our visual appearance affects the parts you can be cast in. I discovered the parts I can be cast for have an age range of 17 to 26 and my casting type would be highschool / young hero / villain type. Next, we learned about different camera angles / shots and were shown examples from clips of films about how these are used successfully to convey certain feelings or motifs. All of this was new to me and learning the terms for various things was interesting and it is quite satisfying to use industry-appropriate terms.
A former student who is now working as an actor, came in to discuss headshots, casting calls and other topics related to working in the TV / film industry, and it is good to have that real life advice.
We did an activity where we had to recreate stills, or tableaus, from films involving only 2 characters on the screen at one time. We were given a powerpoint with a selection of stills from various films. We did this activity by recreating the camera angle at first, then copying the characters faces / reactions whilst not over animating it. This was a good exercise in not over acting for the camera and keeping our reactions screen appropriate.
We did 2 screen performances, one was a monologue and one was in a group, these were my first experiences of screen acting, as discussed in the other blogs, and, on reflection, these were good first experiences and made me realise how much I enjoy screen performance. The reasons I enjoy screen performance are I appreciate the technical aspects and enjoy having a more solid script, rather than devising my own content, whilst still enjoying adapting a script where appropriate for the context and character to allow for more depth, or comedy for example.
Reflecting on learning about audio performing, I found this new and quite exciting due to the new terminology and working within a professional environment with professional equipment, I hope to record more screen and audio performances in the near future and to add them to my digital portfolio.
My portfolio can and will be used to showcase my skills and experience to potential employers / casting directors, which is why I am to have a lot more media on there in the near future. As for improving my digital portfolio, I intend to find more small casting calls / small roles in the Sheffield area and student films so that I can share this onto my professional acting website. Also, I will try to see, during the summer break, if there are any local small screen opportunities close to home, perhaps local students will need someone for a film or some audio roles.
This first year has reassured me that I do want my future to be in performance, particularly screen and audio, and I hope through this course, I can get a good step into the industry
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