RESEARCH – Professional Practice Essay

Here is the evidence and recorded notes that I have taken and recorded from every session this week, focusing on their experiences and how this effected their role and profession within the industry.

I found this week very useful and helpful, it gave me a larger insight as to the wider availability within performing arts and how the variety of required skills all come together to perform a specific or given job.

My additional research:

Gathering information on all the possible future careers in performing arts show us that there is an incredible amount of employability options for us as performers. There is an infinite amount of options that are not all seen on the stage, which is what can give people the wrong impression about having performing arts as a profession.

• Listed on the website attached is a list of possible jobs linked to the performing arts industry.

http://www.reddsschool.co.uk/careers-in-the-performing-arts-industry/

Sophie Allen- Talk and Workshop

• Always be early
• Have a headshot and a Cv with you in a plastic wallet
• Present yourself in the best and most pleasant way
• Always have spare clothes and keep your hair neat
• Always bring the correct shoes for the dance style you are performing
• Tight clothes so they can see your figure, movements and precision
• No talking and always before you go in warm up
• PERFORM, let them know that you really want it
• When your marking, go full out! They’re always watching you
• GO TO BALLET, technique is very important and ballet forms a good foundation for every style
• Be realistic about where you would like to go
• Keep up your health and fitness
• Be a good cast member, leave a good impression so they’ll want to work with you in the future
• Research UNI so that you have the best and most accurate ideas about your next step
• Understand what you’re reading when you’re performing a script or monologue so that you’re prepared to answer questions in detail.

Robert Andrews- Running A Business

• Quantity not quality
• Technique is a major key to success and accuracy
• Went back to the UK after being on cruise ships
• Recycled nappies before gaining the idea of running his own dance company
• Began to advertise through the power of speech and voice as well as flyers and a fakebook page
• MINIMUM EFFORT MAXIMUM RETURN
• COMPETITION IS HEALTHY
• Be cautious and very accurate with time, it’s very important for progression
• Try to bring out as much as you can out of everything you do, improving your outcome

Bridie Horne- Running a Small Business

• CTC= Children’s Theatre Company
• Bridie went to Mountview
• Ran dance lessons when she was ages 16-19
• Bridie has taught various dance companies in and around London
• Had a passion for putting on shows, leading to this becoming an individual business.
• 2009- HSM 2010- The Wiz (putting these on led to beginning weekly classes).
• Les Mis in 2013 set them up in a good place for recognition
• 2015- moved to a town hall in Ipswich
• CTC studios- 4 studios , brought when she decided to leave St. Benedict’s.

Han Schofield- Modelling and agency work

•  When you’re modelling you could be spotted
•  People who work for agency’s are called bookers, they are responsible for finding you work
• Agency’s like to see how photogenic you are to see what you are good for
• “Take a good picture on a Polaroid, good photo in more”
•  If you’re a Camilion your look can be dramatically changed through hair and makeup- this makes you more versatile and can give you more work
•  Han was spotted at the age of 13 in a supermarket by someone who worked for twiggy
• Regardless of what people think, they change the face of fashion and the way things work
• Han got phone calls from elite premier and storm as Han was made aware by all of the modelling community
• Meetings with agency’s = finding where you fit
• Entered into elite model look of the year competition
• J Alexander teaches people how to catwalk, very talented
•  Han went to nice for an international final as she had won the competition
• Modelling full time = between 18 and 19
•  Modelling industry is about how well you work and who you know
• Photographer, stylist, hair and makeup, the magazine/ brand
• Test shoot= trial run, no one is paid but you get the photos- usual for networking and getting a portfolio together
• Muscle memory is good for modelling
•  Social media helps you to put yourself out there
•  Social media is networking, follow those in your industry and you can see things about jobs etc.

Tim Welton- acting/director/writer/ producer

•  Built his way up through acting first
•  Find your individual pathway and find connections so that you can build
• Build your network and find a way up
• Be open to the surprises which appear in your career
• Never underestimate the tiny little things which make you an individual
• Allow yourself to have a new perspective
• Work your way up, experiment and trial to see what fits you best
• “Who you know, not what you know
•  Take one step at the time, have a go and experiment with new things to see how they work out
•  Have a plan but remain open to every possibility around you
•  Choose the strongest thing and go for it making it fun

Tim’s Westerman: Freelance technician and industry work

•  Started at royal central school training for 3 years
• Began freelancing in the second year
• Won’t always have work, this means that you can lose money quickly so you need multiple things to keep the turnover going
• Good to have a big skill set as you never know when you’ll run out of work
•  Higher end = 3 grand a week, when you lose a job it’s hard to provide in your lifestyle
• Edge of tomorrow= first big film.
• Different roles= start as trainee, then junior trainee followed by a full title
• Nice to have a large amount of skills behind you
• Soft skills ~ hard skills (working from how to do it to physically applying it).
•  As a freelancer you can’t predict what will happen so you need to be prepared to do anything
•  Left the film industry because people around him were used to it and weren’t interested so he’d rather be around people who take great interest and want to learn
•  Get into things with contacts, find the right people quickly and do it mor
•  If people want to work with you, you’ll get work (you want a nice environment)
•  Keep a good reputation in the business, avoid mistake
•  Admit when you’ve made a mistake, don’t try and cover it up
•  Teamwork is key and people will support you
•  Collaborative work is effective
• Work your way up and earn where you need to be
• Trust people by there reputation, if they’re polite and look after you it’s likely they’re a good person
• When you don’t have work, go for it don’t wait for it to be offered to you. However, don’t ask for work just try by being friendly
• Manors are key and don’t cost a thing it makes it easier and a nice environment.
•  Plan when you don’t have work so that you have back ups and thing
•  Always be welcoming and greet everyone
•  Listen to those who have more experience in the industry than you

Alex- Royal Central

•  Go somewhere you feel comfortable and at home
• Go of your opinion and feel- don’t listen to others
• First two weeks are the hardest, you need to persevere being away from home
• Look at the facilities and what they can offer
• Don’t judge before you’ve been and got a feel for it
• Look at prices and accommodation and how it works
• Do not live alone
• You need people around you for support

Danisua Iwaszko – Script Writing

•  Professional playwright
• Started as an actor
• Wanted to be in theatre and learning her theatre skills etc
• You need to have a passion for it
• Don’t overthink things
• It’s a craft, it’s a doing thing – learn your techniques and use your skill
•  A script isn’t the cake, it’s a recipe for the actor
•  It’s a collaborative art form
• She is dyslexic so struggles majorly
• Got bored in a break from acting so she saw a competition, which gave her something to focus on and go for (London’s one person play festival). She won the competition which gave her confidence and showed her that she’s not wasting her time
•  Paines plough saw one of her plays and invited her to join their writers group. Had to write a play at the end of the year which went to a studio called 503. The deputy of the national theatre called her and asked for a coffee- she acted as an attached writer
• Never thought at 16 years old that she would be a playwright
• You’re going to have to face large rejection over and Over
• 20 professional plays staged from the age of 38
• Went to RADA for a year
• The calibre makes a large difference when it’s being performed by a first class actor
• Theatre is all about challenging new attitudes
• Play writhing is very creative and doing a subject- very different art form to novel writing (producing a work of art).
• Play writing is like sculpting as you create things that weren’t there befo Come up with ideas by using things that you’re passionate about (eg. New play was about her friend was treated
• Research is key so that you know what you’re talking about in detail
• Studying is key
•  Hard work is important
• If you ever lose enthusiasm or ideas, keep writing you can cut it if it’s bad or you can sleep on it and recover and see what happens the next day or afterwards
• The difference between writing a book and writing a play is that you’re creating a 3D thing for human beings in contrast to a book which is just for the purpose of reading etc.
• OPENING TO A NOVEL, she walked into the kitchen and held tightly to her coffee and thought about her mother- she had never met her mother and today was the day she was going to find her…
• OPENING TO A PLAY, that would just be seen visually as there is no speech given to an actor
• We are constrained on stage to phycological and physical actions which are trying to make an actor or the audience feel an emotion
• Nothing more touching than seeing it in person and watching someone portray the emotion that you have created
• Good theatre is a million more times effective than books or television
• Live theatre can be disappointing when it’s bad as you have memories of some previous show therefore you have a high expectation when it is let down
• There are so many genres and you should know where you fit and how it works but there are no rules and these can be changed and edited throughout time
• It’s important to have connections and to find people to spread your ideas and current ideas which you want to produce or are producing
• The best way is to work your way up and hard and then you stand a better chance at getting things produced and on
• A commission is a paid play from the theatre

Claire- Freelance musician

•  Mixture of self employed and employed work
• Classically trained at trinity college in London, a main conservatoire
• As well as performing as a soloist she did chamber music, instrumental care and history
•  Portfolio career= several different jobs (session cellist, composer, wedding duo, pit musician, teaching and dep work).
• Session musician = contracted for a session, can be recorded or live- there is good pay and you need to have high skills in sight reading
• If you don’t perform on the day, they will not book you again as there time is so expensive
• When arranging or composing you need to be writing about things that you have a high understanding of
•  Arranging and composing is very much collaborative
• When composing be prepared to get rid of and bring ideas in
• Wedding duo includes being a business as well as a venture
•  Wedding duo helps with use of agency
•  Wedding duo can be distracting as the clients usually choose background music
• Orchestral is key to be positive, work well with others and feel it’s equal
• All about networking and getting yourself out there
• Depping is when a regular member of a group can’t perform so they regularly have someone who fills in for this
• Advantages of freelance work: Lots of money, pick what interests you, continuous challenge, large versatility, short term projects and meet and collaborate with lot of new people
• Disadvantages of freelance work: Lack of job security, less work in winter, need to manage tax, need to be disciplined with time and you can pay for your mistakes

Lynn Whitehead- Community Theatre and Networking

•  Breton university
• Ted talks (by Ken Robinson)
• Salutogenesis
•  Not a constant thing
•  You have to deal with people who are difficult and not grateful
• Fees and things all depend on the project and where you are
•  Working with mental health issues can be hard
• Performers can naturally adapt to their many skills to fit community arts

Birgitta Kenyon- Cabaret work talk and perform

•  Trained as a musician
•  Classical piano course
• Stayed there for 4 years with a grad year
• Trained also as an MD and a vocal coach
• Too sociable to be a constant piano for life as it required large amounts of practise a day
• Gave up music followed by working at old people homes, pubs and census
• Music teacher wanted to grade 5= went for the job at 24 and got it
• Started her own voice squad which began with small girls in her living rooms but then it grew and they got a place to rehearse
•  At this point she had a growing passion for performing arts
•  Began to direct shows but went to do a post grad in musical theatre
• First job in MT was as an actor musician in the show “GOLD”
• 2 week Cabaret course
• Performs as a singer / songwriter, conversing songs that she wants to cover and points that she wants to get across
• Cabaret is a very easy way of performing
• Make contacts and keep them

Research UAL definition: The ability to select, edit, interpret and respond to relevant material in support of lines of enquiry, and the level of initiative, commitment, personal responsibility and resourcefulness demonstrated in developing and progressing identified goals

Fail  = Little or no evidence presented or information does not relate sufficiently to task.

Pass  = Sufficient relevant information has been gathered, documented and used in the development of ideas.

Merit = Thorough and sustained research and investigation of relevant sources, interpretation and synthesis of information used to inform, support and develop ideas.

Distinction  = Independently identified, thorough and sustained research and investigation of a range of relevant sources, insightful interpretation and synthesis of information used to inform, support and develop ideas.

The above statements are guides to how evidence for the final unit (8) will be assessed. Tutors will let you know in their feedback how your evidence for these units compares to these achievement standards so that you are aware of the level you are currently working at