Hit List: First Draft Reflection

My first draft of The Hit List wasn't all that bad but I still definitely have some work to do if I'm going to make this from good to great. One thing I knew even when I was performing was that I skipped a huge portion where I talk about how people pay too much attention to social media and television. I have to get that part down and I have to be able to act it out without thinking twice about it which if I continue looking it over like I have been then I should be fine. Also, my facial expressions and movements have to be rehearsed a little ore but that is just a matter of me finding what is comfortable which can just be easily acted out as I read through and make notes to myself. Overall, I feel like I am getting a better feel for this part every day that goes by and every day that I read it over and I feel that when the time comes to film the final draft I will be ready.

The Hit List: First Draft

As a first draft I think I did alright. I blocked it the way I wanted and remembered all of my lines except for a few stutters. The only thing that I would work on is to show different facial expressions for my emotions. From watching the video I learned that I have a good ability to talk with my hands but I need to work on my lines because it was obvious when I needed to stop and think of what to say next but other than that I think it was successful.

Ideas for 'The Hit List'

For this I want it to be very minimalistic because I want to focus on the emotion and the stressed out behavior of my character. I will be sitting in a chair talking out to my friend, by my locker, cleaning it out and ranting as I talk to him, the locker will be played by one of the blocks in the black box. My character's name is Tony, he is 17 and he is depressed and has social issues clearly and he writes his thoughts down in his notebook, which is basically going to be played by...yeah...a notebook.  When Tony gets angry he does one of two things, he locks himself in a room and sits in a corner or lashes out at people, he has one friend, Jake who has been his friend since they were kids and have a lot of the same classes. The girl he is griping about, Kirsten, started talking to him in his English class and he talked back until she started flirting and leading him on and then when he asked her out she said that she wasn't interested in him like that.  He has managed to keep his emotional problems hidden from his parents so this comes as a surprise to them. When he first goes to the therapist, the therapist shows him photocopies of the thing he has written which makes him mad because he wanted them to be private, he tell the therapist to get rid of them and he says he cannot, after talking for a while, Tony finally snaps and starts yelling and screaming at the therapist and telling him to stop accusing him of stuff and that everyone took what he said to Kirsten the wrong way and that he meant she would get emotionally hurt, not physically. What they don't know about Tony is that he is so angry and upset because he is bullied in school, this causes his grades to suffer and thats why his teachers are always cross with him and this makes him upset and he cannot control his anger sometimes so he either writes it in his journal or lashes out at others. He will basically look the same as me and I will try and act depressed, anxious and upset as possible. My objective really is to basically put a sense of sadness/thoughtfulness into the audience and to in a way make them pity me because in reality I didn't actually do anything wrong. I will probably just have it take place in the middle of a school day, during a class where I'm clearing out my locker quietly and talking to my friend who is on a free period right after I have been notified that I am probably going to be suspended and that I should clear my locker because they found my notebook that they thought was threatening.

I Am

My name is Michael Davis, I am 17 years old and I'm from Hamilton Parish, Bermuda. I have been going to Cheshire Academy for four years now and my experience with theater is that I have been the lead role in Peter Pan when I was in 7th grade and after that I revived my acting skills by joining the musical in sophomore year and have done it every year since (including this upcoming year). Back home, one of my nicknames is King Charisma because of my often charismatic behavior and flamboyant state, for example, when I'm not being charismatic or flamboyant, my friends will often say "where's King Charisma at today". I am also very athletic and am becoming a top flight tennis player, I have been playing for 7 years now and am hoping to make a splash on the varsity team this year but before that I am hoping to dish out an impressive performance at Nationals back home this winter. I have to be honest, tennis is my love and I love it more than anything in the world besides my family and it truly does add to my flamboyant behavior and truly brings a smile to my face every time I hear anything about tennis or whenever I am on a tennis court. My strengths in tennis are the fact that I am really fast and have a good eye for the court and my surroundings. My weakness is my mental game, whenever I hit a string of bad shots it tends to get in my head and knock me off track no matter how well I was doing before. It is also the same with acting and singing, I tend to get very frustrated at myself very easily and it is something that I am going to have to learn to grow out of as I reach the climactic stages of my youth. Which brings me to my last fact about me, I sing and play the drums. I have been singing for about 5 years now and I've been playing the drums for 2 years and I love them both so much, like tennis, music brings a smile to my face whether I'm singing, behind the kit or simply just listening. Acting class for me is going to hopefully be a confidence booster for the musical and tighten up the screws on old skills as well as learn new skills. I have definitely matured as an actor but I still do not have the proper confidence it will take for me to ever pursue a lead role but I'm hoping that by the time the musical comes around I will have the skills that are necessary for me to pursue a role like that. My reason for taking this class is because honestly I learn so much from Mrs. Guarino and I do enjoy being in her class, I had a blast last year in lit & performance and I know this class is going to be the same, but also, acting is definitely a passion of mine and I am definitely looking to improve.