G17 6-week action plan
My introduction
Hello, my name is Alexis Cunningham, In this PowerPoint I am going to be sharing with you my three SMART goals that I have been doing over the past six weeks and how I am achieving them each week through reflections of my weekly goals.
what is a skills audit ?
Conducting a skills audit is the process of evaluating and documenting your current skills, identifying areas for improvement, and aligning them with goals.
How will a skills audit help with my G17 ?
Creating my skills audit will enhance personal development, such as my creative side which is important to have with future job roles in this industry.
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Moreover, it will guide improvement in certain areas. (Script memorization, time management, etc...)
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I also feel that it provides me with detailed assessment of my current abilities, therefore helping me with how I can use them abilities and how I can improve them so that I can succeed within my specialism, acting.
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It further empowers me to set targeted goals, motivating me to improve my future as I will be able to set goals for my plans in the future, such as auditioning for drama schools.
My skills audit
Here I have broken down each of my current skills, identifying what and how I need to improve on them so that I can successfully progress in my acting career.
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SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool used to assess your own internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats.
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Creating this SWOT analysis has helped me assess my current position, enabling me to make better decision making to achieve my goals while mitigating potential risks. It has also allowed me to understand which opportunities will help achieve my targets.
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Creating this SWOT Analysis has helped me to pinpoint my weaknesses as well as strengths to help me make decisions on what I need to work on and therefore create my SMART goals.
My three smart goals
My 6-week plan
Week one reflection
During the first week of my six-week action plan, I focused on updating my headshots for my portfolio on Monday, learning key Shakespearean words from a dictionary on Wednesday, and start learning some positive affirmations to help with my confidence on Friday. ​
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At the start of the week on Monday, I was fortunately able to update my headshots through a family friend that we contacted so that I could serve a new visual presentation of myself to casting directors in the future. I felt that it was beneficial to refresh my old headshots, as I wanted to show different styles of myself which I did by wearing various outfits in each headshot. However, we could not do any outdoor shoots due to the weather which made it challenging to get a diverse range of headshots to show. ​
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Moreover, on Wednesday, I taught myself some Shakespearean key words and phrases, such as 'Thou/Thee', 'Hath/Dost', 'Hence', 'Hither/Yon' and 'Anon' on flashcards to look over . Familiarizing myself with these types of terms will help me navigate and deliver Shakespearean dialogue more authentically by the end of the eight weeks. However, I did notice that some Shakespearean words have more than one meaning to it which added more layers of interpretation to it. ​
Lastly, on Friday, I learnt a numerous number of positive affirmations from a podcast called 'Affirmation Pod', which allowed me to gain positive confirmations to say to myself when I need a confidence boost. Nevertheless, I did struggle with remembering the affirmations, so I need to make sure I say them to myself everyday so that it is a natural habit.
Week two reflection
During the second week of my eight-week action plan, I focused on discovering and watching different movies to see various acting styles for different genres on Monday, watching a Shakespearean play on Wednesday, and on Friday I began preparing a practice pitch idea to show my family for the following week. ​
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At the beginning of the week on Monday, I watched two different films, 'The black Swan', which is a thriller, and I watched 'Uptown girls', which is a comedy. Watching both movies showed me the different approach actors take when performing in such different movies, as I was able to see how the timing and delivery in 'Uptown Girls' is quite precise especially when they are trying to show their humor at the right times. However, in thrillers the timing of the lines is lengthier and has quite a big gap to create a more heightened scene. Understanding this has allowed me to know how to coney different tones when acting.​
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Moreover, on Wednesday, I also watched 'Othello' so that I could explore how actors deliver lines and the use of their gestures at appropriate times. Watching this play at home served as a masterclass for me to understand how performers say certain lines to showcase their feelings of jealousy and manipulation through Shakespearean words. However, I still need to practice pronunciation certain words. ​
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Lastly, on Friday I began thinking of some ideas that I could use to create a mini pitch that I could do in front of my family at home to increase my confidence. To do this, I created a mind map of ideas and ended up choosing the topic of how we can improve news on the media. This has allowed me to write an idea on this and present it to my family and receive feedback on how I can improve. ​
Week three reflection
During the third week of my six-week action plan, I began researching various monologues that I had not seen before so that I could practice on Monday. On Wednesday, I began looking at the 'Twelfth Night' scene to continue studying the Shakespearean words, and on Friday I pitched my idea to my family.​
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At the start of this week on Monday, I researched through backstage for any good monologues that I could practice with. The monologue 'Good as New' by Peter Hedges, played by the character Maggie, was rich in emotional depth which allowed me to explore a range of feelings from vulnerability to resilience. I felt that it was beneficial practicing with this monologue as it helped me to experiment with how I can use various tones and pacing to show my emotions throughout and how I can deliver lines in the way to show an emotional shift from heightened intensity to quieter intensity. However, I need to work on when to effectively add pauses into monologues to give a more emotional effect. ​
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Furthermore, on Wednesday, I began analyzing the text of a monologue from the 'Twelfth Night', Act 2, scene 2 which was played by Viola. Analyzing this monologue allowed me to gain more knowledge and understanding of different words which was helpful for me to gain an insight into the meaning of this scene, which was concealing true emotions. However, I do need to practice on pronunciation these words to express my emotions throughout. ​
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Lastly, on Friday, I pitched my idea, media, to my family to receive any feedback and how I can improve to look more confident. This was extremely beneficial for me as I was able to see how I can advance, for example one of my feedback was to keep eye contact with everyone and not look around or keep my eyes to the sheet I was reading off. In the future I will make sure I keep eye contact throughout so that it is more engaging.
Week four reflection
During the fourth week of my six-week plan, I worked on my voice projection to portray emotions clearly at the start of the week on Monday, I also worked through a Shakespearean monologue to better my pronunciation on Wednesday and finally improve my speech to sound more confident on Friday. ​
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At the beginning of this week, I worked on my voice projection so that I can convey my characters emotions more easily in the future by practicing diaphragmic exercises and vocal warm-ups, such as deeply inhaling through the nose and slowly exhaling out the mouth. I also conducted in humming and lip trills to enhance the pitches of my voice. Doing these exercises for 15 minuets has enormously helped me strengthen my connection between breath and emotion, modulating my voice with greater control. However, I need to make sure that I am not doing these incorrectly as it could strain my voice.​
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Moreover, on Wednesday, I continued working through the same 'Twelfth Night' monologue that I was focusing on last week but instead improved my voice diction this week. In order to do this, I watched the monologue on YouTube and exactly copied how Viola said each word, allowing me to understand the rhythm and linguistic nuances of the text. However, I do need to make sure that I am not over pronunciation the words so that it does not looks un-natural and I will keep practicing this so that it looks more authentic in the future. ​
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Lastly, I also worked on how I can Improve my speech, which was one of my feedbacks that I received, so that I can look and sound more confident. For example, I focused on varying my pitch and tone whilst I am talking to keep the audience engaged and convey enthusiasm. I thought that I could use a higher pitch on key points so that I can increase the intensity of my ideas and draw more attention. I do need to make sure that it does still sound very natural although. ​
Week five reflection
During my fifth week of my six-week action plan, I worked on my memorization skills on Monday, studied the setting the Shakespearean monologue was based in from the 'twelfth Night' to get a better understanding of it on Wednesday and recorded myself pitching an idea on Friday. ​
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In order to perfect my memorization skills for scripts, I investigated different monologues, where I found a monologue from the 'Breakfast Club' and began using a repetition technique to help my memorization of it. I did this by breaking down the monologue into smaller sections and memorizing each section at a time until I could remember the whole thing at once. This was successful as I could easily retain the monologue a couple of times without failing to remember. However, I do need to look into different techniques as this took a while to learn. ​
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Moreover, on Wednesday I began researching the setting of the 'Twelfth Night' so that I could understand the context and social dynamic of the scenes and especially the monologue that I was practicing with in the previous weeks so I can get a more in-depth meaning behind the words. To do this I watched the 'Twelfth Night' at home, where I found that it was based in a place called IIIyria which foreshadows the characters unusual behavior just like the place. This was beneficial for me as I was able to understand why the characters act so unusual and to see that it adds to the romantic ambience of the play. However, I need to make sure that I look further into this so that I do not misinterpret the context.​
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Finally, on Friday I recorded myself pitching the same idea I did to my family making sure that I included all of their feedback, such as voice projection, and wanted to see if there was any improvements that I thought I need working on. To record myself pitching the idea, I set up all my self-tape equipment in my room as if I was recording an audition so that I could stay focused. This was very successful as I was able to pick out more improvements, like keeping eye contact to the camera, which need working on to make my pitches look and sound more confident. However, I should present more in front of people rather than practicing Infront of a camera as it is not as realistic as when you preform infront of people. ​
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Week six reflection
During my sixth and last week of my six-week action plan, I worked on writing my acting resume for auditions on Monday, worked on different character movements and body language whilst performing a Shakespearean monologue on Wednesday, and finally on Friday, I worked on some improvements that I thought needed working on from my video that I recorded the previous week of my pitch. ​
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At the beginning of this week on Monday, I focused writing my acting resume and adding anything that I have recently done. In order to write a new and improved resume, I looked online and found a website called 'ResumeNerd' that helped me to write a professional resume as it gave me a template to use which was very helpful for me to know what I need to include throughout. Creating my resume was very successful as I am now able to send it off when I apply to auditions on platforms like Backstage as well as Agencies easier. However, I need to make sure I am not over writing anything on my resume which could be unnecessary and therefore become less appealing to casting directors. ​
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Moreover, on Wednesday, I began working on how actors use their body language when performing Shakespearean monologues to make them more impactful. To understand this, I looked at a monologue from Act 1, scene 3, performed by Iago so that I could use this to learn how body language is used more to create an authentic performance. Using this monologue as an example was very beneficial for my understanding as I was able to pinpoint certain moments in the monologue where the body language changes, such as expressive hand movements, when saying different Shakespearean words which clearly showed how they were feeling. However, I need to work on this so that it does not look realistic and un-natural.​
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Lastly, On Friday I worked on some improvements that I thought were necessary after watching my recording of my pitch, for example I wanted to work on slowing my speech down as I felt that I spoke really fast when I got nervous. Working on this was successful as I was able to give myself confident affirmations that helped me become less nervous and slow down my words, therefore making the pitch sound more appealing and attract more attention to it. In the future, I need to make sure that I remember short but good positive affirmations to give to myself before I do any presenting to my class so that I do not forget.
Evaluation
Overall, identifying my strengths and weaknesses so that I can pinpoint certain areas that I need to work on has helped me progress with my acting skills in many ways. For example, working on my confidence by listening to positive affirmations has helped me not just become comfortable with working with people but also auditioning for roles that I wouldn’t particularly go for or feel confident enough to adapt to, which was successful in allowing me to step out of my comfort zone. However, I did find that through this process I found that I am a perfectionist, especially with making sure that I feel like I am playing the character right and not too over the top with roles that I am not strong enough with, which I did feel set me back as I was constantly rehearsing with film and tv show monologues, especially the Shakespearean monologues to make sure I am playing these roles in an authentic way. ​
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On the other hand, I did move forward from this as I am confident at thinking creatively. Through this journey I found myself improvising to help me think spontaneously with characters so that I can explore them more in my own way, fostering a mindset that does not require perfection which helped me progress with my acting skills such as adaptability. I do feel that I need to still work on my voice projection after this journey by watching more TED talks as I want to allow myself to sound more genuine and rawer as well as speaking clearly as I feel that a lot of my words muffle together when I speak. ​
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Overall, I do believe that my six-action plan was successful as I was able to learn and understand what I personally need working on rather than someone else telling me what needs improving, allowing myself to feel more comfortable and satisfied with where I am at. However, In the future, I am going to suggest that I breakdown my weekly goals simpler so that I can specifically target any challenges that I am still facing in certain areas and how I can gradually grow from this in sheer ways. ​
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