Improvisation is an important tool for script development. The reflective analysis emerges out of the logbook you will keep throughout the semester. The logbook is a tool for recording and reflecting on your own learning and practice during the weekly workshops. It also demonstrates the level of your participation in the module. This module develops both analytical skills and kinaesthetic knowledge, which can only be acquired by fully participating in the practical sessions and their accompanying discussions. The logbook and the submitted reflective analysis should record your engagement with course materials (both practical exercises and reading materials) and demonstrate how you have participated in an exchange with those you are working with. It should also contain your responses to course reading, responses to selected workshop exercises, and relevant responses to feedback from your course lecturer and your peers.
The reflective analysis will centre on your script and performance development process, commenting on a selection of the module’s practical components, for example, improvisation tools, conflict, dramatic structure, ease, play, inner conflict, etc. Sources of Evidence In your response you should draw on,
Practice:
your moments of discovery from the module’s workshops or from rehearsals; be specific about the moment of discovery, exercises involved and how you / your script change and development. You should reflect on the efficacy of one workshop exercise that you found interesting/useful.
Research:
reading and research around the topic. We expect to references to module reading at a minimum but you should look to the further reading also. Examples: you can refer to scenes from film or television where an actor exemplifies the technique or principle you are analysing; it may also be necessary to draw on actor’s interviews or commentary. Further guidelines for preparing for reflective writing: (i) Documentation of workshops and rehearsals What was done in the session? Take notes during the workshop/rehearsal if appropriate, and/or afterwards.
This is a good place to start, but it should not be the total of your documentation. Analyse what was done in terms of, for example, the exercises used, the way you worked, the connections you made between the exercises and your reading. Consider your responses to other people’s work. How might ideas from other weeks be seen to be connected to this session?
(ii) Research Make references to both course readings and wider research (both self-directed research and articles provided by the course lecturer) You must include a bibliography – this is valuable for later essay writing or further work on particular areas you may wish to focus on.
(iii) Evaluation of Process Thoughts about what you have learned through the workshop tasks and how this learning was applied in your performance project (reference the course readings) Thoughts about the interface between research and practice, making reference to secondary critical readings about your play text – how did findings from this research inform your creative choices? Assessment In addition to the required content detailed above, the assessment of your journal will be based on the following: an ability to maintain records of your work in a useable format, the degree of your engagement with, and understanding of, the research/practice interface during class time, your ability to critically evaluate the practical work under investigation.
