Blog 21: Interview 4 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?
  Linda stressed the importance of reading the script out loud before starting rehearsal. When both acting and directing the most important thing to do is to understand and analyze the script. 
2.  How will what I learned affect my final lesson?
This really supports my first answer and I feel that this is going to end up being my best answer which will probably mean I will stick with the use my original activity.

Blog 20: Interview Four preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise?
I plan on interviewing Linda Bisesti. She is the Head of Acting at Cal Poly Pomona.
2.  Post 20 open-ended questions you want to ask an expert in the field concerning your senior project. Your focus should be finding answers to your EQ.

Can you tell me how you got into theater?

What was the first production you were in?

What is the most important part in acting?

What skills do you have that allow you to know what you are doing?

When did you start getting into directing?

How do you feel acting and directing influence each other?

Do you think directing helps the acting process?

What steps you take to analyze a character or a script?

How do you go about casting?

What is the biggest mistake a director can make?

Which do you prefer acting or directing?

Do you feel that an all actors should experience direction?

Who was the best director you have every worked with and why did they impact you so much?

How does one ensure that are always learning?

What is the first step to becoming a professional?

Other than directing how do you think an actor can provide a believable performance?

 

Blog 14: Interview 3 Preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise?
I plan to interview my new mentor Christine Cummings. She is an actress, director and professor at Mt. SAC.


2.  Verify that you have called your interviewee to schedule an interview.  What is the date and time of the interview? 
January 22, at 4


3.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you find research resources that would help to answer the EQ.
Where do you learn the most about theater, ie, acting, directing, in a classroom, reading... etc? 


4.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you think about other useful activities you might do to help you answer the EQ (IC2, possible experts to talk to, etc).
What is the best way to practice the different guideposts and tactics to see what works best for the audience?


5.  Phrase two open-ended questions that help you to understand your interviewee's perspective on an aspect of your EQ.
How much of an audiences reaction is based off the acting and how much is other aspects,(blocking, lighting, sound..)? 
How much can the actor control? How much of the reaction is based on their being a "good audience"?

Blog 10 - Interview 2 Reflection

1. Please explain how you are spending your mentorship time (Is it at a workplace or somewhere else?  Are you shadowing?  Are you able to do tasks that are meaningfully related to the topic?  If so, what?  Are there other people who are experts in the location?  Etc...)

As of right now I have a mentor but I have been unable to regularly meet with him due to my Monday/ Wednesday college class. We have however discussed when I can come and what I will be able to do with him. In the coming months I will sit in his lectures and observe classroom activities and perhaps participate at certain times. Soon he will be directing Urinetown The Musical and I will be able to shadow rehearsals. This will be helpful for me considering my Independent Component is directing a musical for Fullerton. While in the theater department I will be around many professors of the arts. My mentor Giovanni has already introduced  me to a man who specializes in Shakespearian theater performed in non-english speaking countries and I look forward to interviewing him.    

2.  How did you find your mentor?  How did you convince this person to help you?  

I knew Pomona College had a great Theater program and I emailed the head of the department and asked if he knew anyone who's skill set met my needs. He directed me towards Giovanni and after one email explaining to him my project he was happy to help me. I met up with him during the summer and discussed mentorship options and he seemed very happy and excited to help me. During our first meeting he lent me a book on my topic. 

3. How would you rate your comfort level with your mentor at this point in your relationship?  How does this relate to the time you've spent so far at mentorship/with this person?

I am an award person when it comes to people I don't know and I try really hard not to be. My mentor is very kind and supportive and gives me no reason to feel uncomfortable. I know once I spend more time on campus with him I was lose some of my anxiety but for right now our schedules do not match up. 

4. What went well in this interview?  Why do you think so?  What do you still need to improve?  How do you know?  How will you go about it?

I was honestly terrified about my interview 2 because even though I left IPoly an hour and a half before my interview I ended up being an hour late. I had to take the bus and the bus never came. I had no other means of transportation but I was able to alert him that I was going to be extremely late. When I got to the interview I was flustered and embarrassed on how unprofessional I had been. My mentor was very understanding and forgiving and even apologized that i had to take the bus everywhere. He offered me water and told me to take a seat and relax and catch my breath. Even after a few minutes I was still stressed and I went through the interview way faster then I had planned. I am overall happy with the information he gave me but am disappointed in my lack of focus. I stuttered and it was quite a mess. Nonetheless my mentor gave me great information and was extremely understanding and did not seem disappointed at all in having to wait for me.

Blog 7 - Second Interview Preparation

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?  If their workplace does not reflect their expertise, what makes them an expert?

My mentor's name is Giovanni Ortega and he is a professor of Theater at Pomona College in Claremont. Pomona College is a very prestigious school and was ranked number one in the country by Forbes Magazine so teaching there, I believe, makes him an expert in his field. He is relevant to my topic because not only is he an expert in theater but also knows a lot about other forms of performing arts. In the conversations we've had it is to my understanding that he has been many places around the world and my project focuses on performing arts on a global scale. 

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

• What types of performance art have you been apart of? Have you taught all of these or just participated?
• How long have you been teaching theater?
• What specifically do you teach? Acting? Directing? etc. 
• Have you traveled to many places? If so have you seen any type of performance native to that culture or country?
• Is there any specific characteristic you feel qualifies you to be an expert in this field? 

I'm sure these questions will have many follow up questions during the interview. 

Blog 5: Interview 1 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?  Is there anything I would do differently for other interviews?

I asked my mentor if I could interview him and he agreed only I procrastinated setting a date to meet with him. If I contacted him the weekend before it was due and I found out he was out of the country for the rest of the month. I gave him my interview questions and he is going to answer them for me this coming week. If I had tried to set a date earlier I would have know he wasn't going to be available and I could have found another person in time but because I was only concerned with my schedule that and not his I didn't give myself enough time to find a fallback. I should also have had a fallback in the beginning. I will still have an Interview 1 but it will be one week late and I wont have a recording because my mentor will be sending me his responses via email from Canada. This whole thing was a huge stressful wake up call and I wont let it happen again.

2. Did I get additional resources and contacts?  What is the most useful?  Why?

3. What makes my interviewee qualified to help me? 

My mentor works in the theater department at Pomona College so he knows a lot about all aspects of theater. He has been to many countries traveling with  theater/ imporv so he has had first hand experience with many cultures and that is what I want to pick his brain for. I want to know how other countries view performing arts and what options their country has. He has had experience with dance and music as well so if is very familiar with many genres of performing arts.

Blog 3 - First Interview Preparation

I plan on interviewing my mentor Giovanni Ortega. He is a theater professor at Pomona College. Alongside the required questions some examples of questions I plan on asking are as followed:

1) Can something like "improvisation skills" be taught? Are people just naturally gifted with the skill?

2) How important is theater in our society? Do you think is should be more important than it is right now?

3) What benefits does theater have? Does Improv have even more or the same benefits?

4) What is your advice to someone like me who is interested in the field? Where do you feel I should focus my research towards?