The Monologue that i chose to do was Eve from the play Apples by John Retallack. The monologue is where Eve wakes up with a hangover then she realise's that she is has been raped. She believes it was Adam who is in the room with her however it was someone else. I start the monlogue with a groggy voice as she is waking up and with a hangover. When I realise I have been raped I have an uneven breath and a stutter as I am shocked and getting quite upset. Throughout the monologue I get angrier so my voice gets higher and strained, yet I also and I have a angry voice that is quieter, thats when I more an upset and scared angry at the end of the monologue. At one point I say one line as Adam, as I say it I make my voice go deeper so it sounds more like a boy.

Originally me and Shannon were going to do a dualogue from Stags and Hens by Willy Russell. However we didnt get chance to rehearse it very much as were filming a lot or just not being able to get together. We were going to learn how to do a Liverpool accent, I did try and do a lot of it in the accent when I practiced it by my self. When it came down to the performance we did do the dualogue however neither of us did the accent and we didnt do it very well because we never got to rehearse as much as we wanted to. This is why I chose to perform my monologue as I knew it very well and I had performed it for university auditions so I was more confident.

The film I’m filming with media during this unit it ‘The Runaway Princess’. I am playing the main part, Sarina. Most of the time I’m using my own voice so it wasn’t hard or challenging voice wise. I didn’t really have any angry or sad scenes where I had to talk, there were mostly facial expressions; however I did have one scene where I’m getting to go the prom and I get excited. I did a high pitched squeal in only one shot so whether it was used I’m not sure. I did however have to do voice over’s for the film. I started by having to say "Once upon a time...", they wanted me to say it in a Disney/animated voice, I tried my hardest because I wanted it to sound different to my actual voice when started talking normally again. It was challenging doing voice over’s as I thought I would just have to speak how I normally do however with certain lines I had to make sure I got the emotion through in my voice.  I enjoyed by how different it was and I hope it worked well on screen.

Kyle and I had the warm up for our workshop for the first years. We did some research on the Alexander technique; it’s not technically a voice warm up it more of relaxing the body and about the body posture, which is defiantly important for you vocal chords.

 “The technique teaches the use of the appropriate amount of effort for a particular activity, giving you more energy for all your activities. It is not a series of treatments or exercises, but rather a reeducation of the mind and body. The Alexander Technique is a method which helps a person discover a new balance in the body by releasing unnecessary tension. It can be applied to sitting, lying down, standing or walking”

“The Technique's basic idea is that when the neck muscles do not overwork, the head balances lightly at the top of spine. The relationship between the head and the spine is of utmost importance. How we manage that relationship has ramifications throughout the rest of the body. As the boss -- good or bad -- sets the tone for an organization, the head / spine relationship -- compressed or free -- determines the quality of the body's overall coordination.”

We got everyone in pairs and let one person lie on the floor totally relaxed while the other person massaged their head and jaws, underneath their ears, this helps relax the jaw. The next thing we done was have them all pretend they were eating a big piece of toffee, this relaxes the jaw and opens the mouth and it’s also warms up the tongue. We also done another exercise were you put your head down, open your mouth then tilt your head back towards the ceiling slowly, then close your mouth. This is all about stretching the jaw and warming up and stretching the neck, which is also important for you voice, especially if you’re going to be singing .

Tongue twisters.

Tongue twisters are great for warming up the jaw, mouth and sometimes vocal chords. Our aim was to say them as fast as possible but for them to still make sense. When I do tongue twisters at my singing lessons we only say the first line of a twister, we say it twice slowly and four times quickly.  It helps get the sentence out faster and stays correct.                                                                                 
 Here are some examples:                                                                                                                         -Peter piper picked a peck of picked pepper     

 -She sell sea shells on the sea shore                                                                                                                       

  -Three Fluffy feathers                                                                                                                                                                

 -Red leather yellow Leather                                                                                                                                     

 -Horrible holidays are highly Expensive

We created some of our own Tongue twisters here is one we made:

European unicorns united for the European union of European unicorns

Keys to vocal health

-The larynx (voice box) is very much a finely tuned musical instrument and should be taken care of, plus; the voice box can never be replaced!

-Hydration, Water is the best fluid for the body.  Try to drink at least 64 oz. a day, about ½ gallon!; the vocal cords need constant lubrication while singing.

The voice is a wonderful instrument

Singing is a great privilege and the vocal cords should be treated with care and protection. In the event of any vocal problem, the advice of a doctor/laryngologist is the most important action you can take.

Vocal Injury

It is fairly easy to injure the vocal cords!

Causes

-Forceful singing, yelling, screaming, loud talking can cause the vocal cords to hit very hard and result in injury to the cords these are forms of vocal abuse

-Whispering!  This can put great strain on the larynx Vocal overuse

-Excessive amounts of phonating (singing/talking) can also lead to injury (vocal overuse)

 -Singing/Talking for too long

-Habitual throat clearing

-Nodules, polyps, laryngitis and hemorrhage of the cords are possible effects of such vocal abuse

-Smoking also has dramatic effects on the larynx!

Nodules (also called “nodes”): 

 A common injury that is essentially a small growth found on both of the cords, nodules are much like a callus on the hand or foot; Nodules keep the cords from fully closing, resulting in a harsh/breathy voice

Laryngitis

Laryngitis is the inflammation of the vocal cords; it may be the result of reactions to allergies, bacterial or fungal infections, or the result of vocal overuse. With laryngitis, the vocal cords often swell too much to correctly close, resulting in the lack of phonation.

Physiology of the Voice...

Resonators: Throat (pharynx), mouth/lips/teeth, nose; these deal with the modification of sound into tones of varying “colors” (called timbre)

Actuators:  Lungs/diaphragm/intercostal muscles; these organs deal with breathing/“air management”

When breathing in (inhalation), the diaphragm descends, pulling the ribs apart (the intercostal muscles help with this as well)

As the ribs move apart, air rushes in filling the lungs (think of a bellows for a fire– air rushes in and fills the cavity)

Actuators are “organs” used in the breathing process;  respiration, however, refers to the actual process of breathing

When breathing out (exhalation), the diaphragm and intercostals relax which makes the lungs force air back out (again, much like a bellows being squeezed together) 

Vibrator:  Voice box (larynx); this deals with the creation of pitch in the form of a sound wave. Vibrator is also known as “Oscillator” 

Larynx is the formal name for voice box also, some call it  the  “Adam’s Apple"                                  The larynx contains the vocal cords and is also known as vocal folds                                                               The epiglottis closes off the airway when swallowing so food does not go down the wind pipe (trachea)                                                                                                                                                                      The thyroid cartilage houses the larynx and protrudes in the neck which easily visible on many men as “Adam’s Apple”

The Larynx; 

Hyoid Bone, Epiglottis, Thyroid Cartilage, Trachea, True Vocal Cords

How the larynx works (how the voice is produced):

During the respiration process of exhalation, air rushes up the trachea and into the larynx (voice box) where it rushes past the vocal cords and causes them to vibrate; when singing, the tighter we stretch the cords, the higher the pitch it’s a bit like two rubber band being plucked.

Inside the larynx:  What happens?

The vocal cords adduct (come together) during phonation (creating of sound)                                                     The more the cords are tightened, the higher the pitch                                                                                            The cords vibrate against each other hundreds of times per second;  the number of times they vibrate is known as frequency and this is measured in Hertz (Hz)                                                                                              Just like a piano, when a string is hit by a key, it vibrates a certain number of times (like A above middle C vibrates at 440 times a second- or 440 Hz); the vocal cords do the same (when singing an A above middle C, they vibrate 440 times a second--- 440 Hz)