Reed Workshop #4

So apparently just by writing how we walked from the school to the community center can tell us about what kind of writers we are. I also learned that big words only work in conversations but it detracts readers from being in the writing and pointing out things like the people in the cars driving by looking at us when we're walking out of school. It was fun too bad it ends tomorrow.

Final Bonnie workshop

It ended... An overwhelming feeling of sadness passes over me. I didn't want it to end, it was so much fun, I got better at improv. I started not to think as much but to feel. I became stronger, but I'm still a work in progress. I wanted to find out my purpose. He was such a great teacher. A man of such great talents Jim was. It's such a shame it ended so soon. However I must thank you Luke for the opportunity to learn from him.

Matt Workshop #1?

Do I have to do this exactly? I kinda walked in on the dancing workshop of my own accord however, did not get what the other STACies were getting since our session was cut short by Matt needing to do the show. However what we did was a great work out I hope I can do more with him to get the whole experience

Bonnie workshop #4

So emotions are good and the masks we wear to protect our feelings are bad. That's one thing I learned today. I felt emotions, though a little bit too much. Had Megan drag me on the floor because I was begging her with "please" (though what she doesn't know was that I didn't want her to leave for Italy without a promise to throw a water balloon at the Pope for me). So relationships that you have with other people to make emotional prompts. I'm having more fun by the workshop.

Reed workshop #3

HALLEJUAH! I thought I was going through the whole character thing wrong. It seems that my character bio development strategy works after all, even for Reed. This makes me excited, this guy is great, he teaches us what to do and actually shows examples instead of going through trial and error (though we still have to do it we have a MUCH better idea on how to do it). I can't wait to get back on this, but we do have bullying commercials and other things to complete, all in its own time I guess.

Jim Bonnie workshop #3

Well this is certainly my favorite workshop, no doubt about it. Nothing has gotten me so emotional in years. Geez, I've never felt like this in so long. In fact I have never felt at all compared to this workshop. I'm learning to feel once again and it feels good, even when I cry it's telling me that I'm still human. So I'm really glad I got in STAC for this, I can't imagine a reality without this. I am eternally grateful for this experience

Reed Coleman

Writing exercises are fun with this guy. He certainly knows what he's doing and I am happy to listen to this guy's professional ideas. I've learned that people like making their own interpretations of the main character, I have to unlearn a bunch of stuff I was originally taught. Heheh. I need to edit my piece some more. This is gonna be a blast. See you next time

Jim Bonnie workshop #2

Another day of emotional turmoil.  I never knew my emotions can fluctuate like that so easily, I swear this guy is something else. Emotions are powerful, it makes us who we are, nothing can change it. Theater people are the best because they can feel emotions and emotions make us powerful, I know I felt powerful. He made us read lines from a song with different emotional prompts and I was crying. I used to always be alone, darkness was my home and that's where I laid myself asleep and it made me frightened and sad. I want to delve into my emotions, find out all that I can feel, I just want to feel. I don't want to be an intellectual anymore, there's no fun in it. I want to feel.

STAC anti-bullying campaign

Finally, I've been waiting for this, those T.V studio commercials are loads upon loads of bullocks. Now for a meaningful and powerful commercial about bullying.... Well I haven't thought of one yet but it will come. I've had a hard time with bullies when I was a kid. I was always told, stand up for yourself, don't start a fight but you should certainly end it. So if a kid bothered me and pushed me around on the playground in elementary school what was my first response. Punch them in the face of course. However instead of being rewarded for stopping the bully I got sent to the principal's office and had to be isolated from the entire school for two days like an elementary version of an in-school suspension, though it wasn't called that. So obviously no one learned because as soon as I went back to school, the bullying restarted and the cycle continues itself (I was really destructive as a child). But why did they dislike me? Why did I always get in trouble. It was probably because I was an ADHD special ed kid with a vivid imagination while the bully was always some soon to be athlete with the most friends because he can run fast or throw a ball around. Yep, even at the age of seven we can be stereotyped. I remember one time one of the kid's mother came in and wanted me thrown out because she thought her kid was so innocent (when clearly he wasn't because the worse he bullied me, the more pain I dished out). My mother wasn't there so instead my closest friend's mother came (who by the way allowed me to continue my martial arts lessons behind my mother's back because she didn't want me to 'engage in any violent behavior'). And listening to the mother's story my friend's mother, named Racine, walked over to the bully's mom and slapped her across the face claiming "That's a bunch of bull." And told everyone at the meeting that I am not capable of bullying people. So I grew up with the bad luck of not having justice being done to the bullies. So this is our chance to shine. Bullies should never win.

The start of something mysterious

Reed's simply awesome. Not only is he a funny guy, he's knowledgeable and has been around the block a couple of times so his advice for us is spot on and exactly what we need, instead of the advice our English teachers give us for written assignments. His editing system is direct and straight-forward but it doesn't make you feel bad because he talks about the times he made the same mistakes and told us a very simplistic way of making it better. I already started my mystery book and I can't wait to do another workshop with him

Weird

I just realized that my daily practice stories have some Prisoner elements to them. Odd. Well it's good to steal things

I shall turn darkness into hallowed light

Working with Jim was utterly amazing. I'm not just saying this just to say this. It's true. I cried at least two times in that workshop. I thought my inner kid died six years ago along with my friend, but I pulled back a memory when I was four and we were playing as a knight and his princess. I remembered that moment, and how it made me feel. I was at ease. I was happy again, I knew that it was there. I know that I'm alive inside. Then I had to connect to my other childhood, the childhood belonging to the other soul (if you would refer to it that way) that exists in my body. Then we just yelled at each other (to the point that most of us lost our voices), the anger and energy we generated made us feel so strong that I thought that we could beat up every kid in the school by ourselves. We did some Meisner training with repeating what we were saying. Then we were paired up with another person (I was paired with Ellen) and we tried to read each other through how we looked. Honestly I was amazed how spot on we were. We did the best improv we had since the beginning of the year. I found out so much about myself just today. I can't wait for the next workshop. I have come to terms with myself. I was blamed for everything in the world, my family said that I was so dark and evil. But is being dark evil, without darkness one cannot know light. So I'm not evil. Take that stereotypes. Be seeing you!

Crimes, mysteries and thrillers oh my

Reed seems like a cool guy. Really. So our assignment is to write a chapter of a crime/mystery/thriller story. Oh great, I'm starting to think, my only weakness. The over production of thoughts inside my cranium. I am a part of the intellectual dark side. We learned about all the elements of a good crime/ mystery story. The inclusion of Winter's Bone made me a bit happy despite it being such a sad movie. I can't wait to start, if I'm not already figuring out a plot already. Oh god, I just got the name for the antagonist. Oh great. Be seeing you

I am not a knight in shining armor but a killer with an unbreakable fervor

Let me start off by saying this... "WHO THE HELL AM I?" No, I do not have amnesia (for those of you who worry). After today's class, I have been thinking of myself and where my issues and values lie. All of it stems from my courage or lack of in certain situations. Even as a martial artist and swordsman (yes I do sword play, shocker isn't it) I have my doubts and fears, especially when I was younger. I'd always put on a brave face for my friend back in the days of my youth but I was scared too. I was told at a young age that I would be alienated if I acted the way I did, but I was myself. Was there a problem with that? Was myself not right? Because when it boils down to the nitty gritty you are yourself, when life hits you like a train, the mask you wear isn't going to protect you, the cardboard cut-out of your greatest desires isn't going to block it for you because it's yourself who takes the brunt and I've learned to steel myself. Insults roll off my shoulder because why should I bow down to someone who gets their inspiration from a magazine cover or television? I'm the best person in the entire world because I'm a first rate version of myself. My mother (the possible stem of my issues) would always pin the blame on the things that happen in life on me. Yah, I'm not exactly Mr. Perfect but some of the things are just plain ridiculous. I was repressed, oppressed. My mom thought I couldn't be successful because I couldn't play an instrument, for 10 years, she has held this "grudge" to me, but I'm perfectly successful being me, that is being a martial artist (on my 18th birthday I would have performed approximately 10,000 hours of martial arts, mastering it), a swordsman (I'm like Picasso with a Zweihander). So go ahead people, hit me with the worst you got, I got myself and what do you got?

Jared Charnov - almost there

Metamorphosis is going very well. I'm really having fun watching Gregg mime and teach us. Apparently Michael Jackson created his moonwalk by watching Marcel Marceau. Amazing! Our final project is almost pieced together and it has a lot to do what we've been talking about so I know it's going to be great and everyone will get it (not that I doubt anyone but it doesn't hurt to be sure). Though I can't wait for the next workshop I don't want it to end. So let's give it our all Silent Noise

Jared - timing expert

Today's workshop was more oriented to doing our final project (which by the way is still classified). Another thing I learned today with metamorphosis is that you need a lot of time to transition from one action into another. If you just completely change from one thing to another no one will understand what you're doing. So timing is everything, really it is.

Jared Charnov - master of time?

Today we learned about compressing and expanding time. (No, not really like in my daily practice) to give a comedic slap stick effect. We also learned how to do the metamorphosis which is really cool in order to switch acts up mid-action which makes things either a whole lot funnier or sweeter depending on the thing that was changed. I really like miming and I can't wait to finish this final project we're planning. But unfortunately what we're doing is classified.

Jared Charnov - The new Megaman?

Today, we learned how to do the robot. Yes, I said it, the robot. At first it was hard but I caught on quite quickly and at home I performed it for my mom and she had chills down her spine. We also learned how to  show the trajectory of throwing objects such as throwing balls, seeing them bounce off walls and floors and catching them. And even catching them was over exaggerated, we spun around on one foot and shook our head like a bobble head. It was really fun and humorous. We also learned the importance of slow motion and how it can be really funny to be the receiving end of a slow-mo punch, whether it be dodging it or waiting for it to come. I can't wait till the next one. Be seeing you (I really want to see the Prisoner again)

Jared Charnov - Buster of heads, pusher of carts, walker of dogs and drinker of drinks

Working with Gregg Goldston was a real honor. I really had a lot of fun learning mime techniques. I mimed the mime in a sense. The thing I learned was that you should always show your emotions to the crowd, because if they see your face, they see your thoughts because your eyes are your brains technically. I also learned about making certain movements and making people see optical illusions, like when creating a counter top. I also learned how to make facial expressions to show different kind of emotions from happy to sad, content to confused and so on. I can't wait to do more work with him.

Workshop time - Silent Noise

Gregg Goldston my workshop leader first saw Marcel Marceau in 1975 and wanted to become a mime since. He started his training at the Richmond Shepard Studio in Hollywood and then moved to Salt Lake City and combined his training with modern dance and ballet. For the next four years he opened his own mime studio and wrote, produced three solo mime performances and began his own tour in the Western States. The Goldston School for Mimes is a summer school that operates at Gambier Ohio. In 1986, Marcel Marceau his role model said "Goldston is creating the first generation of American Mimes." They shared a deep friendship yet maintained the master/disciple relationship.

It seems that he is a rather amazing person and I would really like to work with him especially after what Marcel Marceau said about him. It is an utter privilege to work with him so closely and I am thankful for this opportunity.