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(hip hop music)

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-: Hello, Steve Sneed here, acting teacher

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and I'm located at South Lake High School

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in Seattle, Washington.

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So, today, I'm gonna give you an assignment.

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If you've watched the previous videos of mine

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they've given you some preparation for doing your own piece,

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whether it's a poem or a monologue

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or something you've written.

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And I like this approach

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because it gives you the opportunity

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to write about something that's meaningful to you.

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So here's the assignment, it goes like this.

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I want you to think of something, or a topic,

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or something in your life

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that you really, really stand for,

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that you would advocate for in some form.

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Something that's meaningful, that you're passionate about,

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or it could be something that you really, really despise.

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Something that you just don't like, a topic or an issue.

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Preferably an issue,

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as it gives you something to research and learn about.

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And I find when it's something that you're passionate about,

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whether for or against,

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it's easier for you to come up with something.

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So here's the assignment.

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Something you really stand for

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or something you don't agree with,

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and you're passionate either way.

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Now, the first phase of this project

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is to gather information.

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So you wanna do your research on the topic,

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if it requires that.

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You want to just interview people.

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You can interview others who know something about this.

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So it's just the gathering of information,

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and you collect all that.

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You can write notes, whatever it takes to gather.

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Then you start to frame the position you're gonna take.

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You start to frame.

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This is the creative process.

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You start to frame, who do you wanna be telling this story?

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Are you yourself?

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Are you someone else?

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Are you a character of some kind?

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Develop that, make those decisions.

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And this is something that should be fun.

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So imagine anything you'd like.

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Don't hold back.

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Don't be reserve about your ideas.

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Then the second phase is to write your first

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and your second draft.

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Write a draft of what this is going to be.

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Like I said, poem, monologue, whatever you call it.

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But it's a way to advocate.

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It may be a speech as well.

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And do two drafts.

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Do the first one, read through it.

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But the first one should just be, you get those ideas down.

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The second one is, you take time to really construct it well

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and have someone else, look it over.

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Have someone else read it.

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Have someone else take a look at it

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and then give you feedback.

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It's always good to get others' feedback.

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In the classroom we'd call that 'observation'.

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The classroom would hear you read your piece

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and then they'd give you feedback.

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That's observation.

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That's what a director does.

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A director is observing and then giving feedback.

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Constructing the piece, constructing the drama,

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whatever it is.

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Third phase, now you want to deliver the piece

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and record it.

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And I'm gonna imagine that you are high school students,

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you must have a phone of some kind

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or you know someone who has a phone.

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Use your phone to record yourself.

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And you wanna do two recordings.

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Do the first one as a first draft recording,

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observe it, look at it.

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And this is how I want you to grade yourself or critique.

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Let's not call it grade.

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You're not gonna give yourself a grade, are you?

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Critique it.

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So you wanna look at voice,

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score it anywhere from 5 being the lowest score

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to a 10 being it was wonderful.

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Voice, just voice.

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Were you loud enough?

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Were you clear?

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Did you enunciate your words?

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Those kinds of things.

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Then the writing itself.

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Again, the same score, anywhere from a 5 to a 10,

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with 5 being the lowest, 10 being the highest.

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The writing, was it well written?

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Did it make sense?

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Was it interesting?

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Next, facial expression.

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What were the facial expressions like?

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Did they work?

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Were are you convincing?

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Were they over-done?

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But you score yourself 5 to 10.

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And then body language.

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How did you do your body language?

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What was your body language like?

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Did you have what I call aimless wandering?

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Movement that didn't make sense.

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It didn't fit in with the piece.

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A lot of times I use my hand, I'm emphasizing.

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I feel like I have to punctuate the word with my hands,

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that kind of thing.

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How was your body language?

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And then believability.

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Did you believe yourself?

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That's a critical question in my mind.

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That's what I like to see.

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I like to look in the mirror and recite,

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or present, or work on my lines,

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and I get it to the point

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where I'm almost believable to myself.

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Because I'm myself and as I look in the mirror,

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it's hard to really...

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It should be more difficult to convince yourself.

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I find that out, that when I do it for someone else,

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"Oh, that was great.

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"Oh, that was beautiful.

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"Oh, I totally believed you."

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And I look at it and I go, "Hmm, I'm not convinced."

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So, look at yourselves and convince yourselves,

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but score yourself there.

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And then give yourself a rating and total up your score.

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Now you can also, once you record it,

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of course you can share it with other people,

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and give them the same score sheet.

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Let them score it as well, and see what they come up with,

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and then compare the scores.

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And I would even do three people,

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do three different individuals, have them all score you,

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and then see what your scoring is.

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Now that's on your second draft.

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So just to sum it up real quickly,

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what you stand for, what you advocate for,

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what's really important to you.

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Like my example, I'll give you,

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is, for me, it's I stand for the truth.

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I think being honest and truthful is very important.

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It is so important in life in general and you can't imagine.

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But I could advocate for why truth is important.

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Or something you are really against.

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Something you don't stand for and you're against,

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and you think is wrong.

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This is something you're against.

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Like, I don't know, it might be parking meters.

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I'm really against why they have parking meters

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and why they have to charge me.

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So be free with your examples of what you're for

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or what you're against,

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but just make sure it's something you're committed to.

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Next, the three phases of development,

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research, get your material.

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The second, first and second draft.

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Then deliver, record it, two of them, and judge yourself.

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Give yourself a score of 5 to 10 on voice, writing,

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facial expressions, body language, and believability.

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Steve Sneed, acting instructor at South Lake High School

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in Seattle, Washington.

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Thank you so much.

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(hip hop music)