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SUBJECT: So today's class
reminded me of two main points.

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For one, the hourglass
video on storytelling

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reminded me of a
separate hourglass video

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on the creative
process that I really

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like watching when I
am in a creative slump

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or I feel like what I'm doing
isn't good enough, which

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is how I feel like you guys
might feel about your scripts

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at some point or your videos at
some point during this process.

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I'll put a link to it
below, but basically it's

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the idea that you
want to make videos,

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and you can recognize what
is good within a video.

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So you have this good taste.

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But there's a large gap.

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There's a large learning gap
and a lot of trial and error

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and being able to produce
content that you're proud of.

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And so you're going to go
through all these stages

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of making essentially crap.

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And knowing, because of
your taste in videos,

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that what you're producing
isn't what was in your head,

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isn't what the ideal
video should look like.

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And that can be
really frustrating.

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But no one instantly
jumped to success.

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And it's hard to
remember that sometimes.

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The second thing is a lot of
George's and Elizabeth's talk

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about hosting reminded me of
a lot of theater exercises

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that I've experienced.

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I don't act, but
I've stage managed.

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I've produced.

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I've done tech,
sets, light, sound.

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Basically anything behind
the scenes in theater

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that's possible, I have
dabbled in at some point.

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And the things that they
were getting you to do,

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where in saying the lines
over and over again,

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thinking about your
intonation, is exactly what

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actors do in rehearsals
when they're reading scripts

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to put on a play.

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And so one thing I thought
might be interesting to watch,

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or I went back and
watched them partially

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because I like
Shakespeare and partially

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because I like David
Tennant, is a bunch

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of Hamlet's soliloquies.

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And there's a YouTube
playlist of the

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to be or not to be
speech, pretty famous,

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with six different
versions done by six

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different professional actors.

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And they all have slightly
different takes on the lines.

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And they still imbue meaning.

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And the meaning of the
monologue or the soliloquy

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changes depending on their
inflections on the words.

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And so it's really interesting
to think of yourself

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as not only just hosts, not only
just creators of these videos,

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but also as actors of sorts.

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And this might bring
around reservations.

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I know it would for me because
it's like, I'm not an actor.

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I prefer to be
behind the scenes.

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I prefer my face
not to be on camera.

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But if you think of yourself as
a developing actor, as someone

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who wants to practice
these things,

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it's not a bad idea to do so.

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For example,
memorizing lines helps.

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Once actors have
their lines memorized,

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it means that they can focus on
the nuances of the performance.

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They can focus on the emotions
that they want to convey.

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They can focus on
their blocking.

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They can focus on all
different numbers of things.

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So that carries from
video to stage acting.

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If you know the words
that you're going to say,

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you can start thinking about
what those words really mean,

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which is the point that
George was making earlier.

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Yeah, just thinking about
the different emotions

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you can portray and trying
all the different ways

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you can say a similar sentence
and imbue different emotions

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into it.

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And like the exercises they were
doing today where you yell it,

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you say it in a weird
accent, and then

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what we're ultimately
trying to do

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is different than
the goal of an actor.

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We're not trying to
become someone else.

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We're trying to figure out
how to become ourselves

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on screen instead of
acting like someone else.

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And so by doing all
these extravagant things,

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and by doing all these
acting exercises,

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you automatically revert
back to your natural,

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which is, I guess,
what we were saying.

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So I don't know if I
have anything new to add.

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But I don't know.

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If you're curious about acting
exercises, feel free to ask me.

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I've not personally
done a lot, but I

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have seen actors go from
reading a text aloud

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like popcorn reading
in third grade

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to being in a stage production.

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And I'm no
professional director,

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but I can definitely
share some tips

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that I at least have observed.

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Yeah, this video has gone on
longer than I thought it would,

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but that's all I have to say.

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Let me know if you need any
help with anything, as always.