MQ Drama (1 Viewer)

[kami]

Hey, I was just looking over the handbook and I was just wondering with drama when does the practical work kick in? (as opposed to pure cultural theory) And how beginner friendly is drama at MQ?

Thanks to anyone who can give some answers.

 

[glitterfairy]

I don't think it ever gets hugely practical-practical (unless you're in the musical society, or drama society), although in its defence one drama course (ECHL111 - Elements of Drama) is a first-year with no prerequisites. None of the people in my year did it so I don't know what assessments are like, however knowing that MQ likes to reserve 'prac-based' subjects for second year and load a ridiculous bunch of wide-ranging theory (that has almost zero correlation, yes engl120 and phil131 I'm talking to you) on you in the first year, it's likely to be theory-based. If you want anything more than pure theory or semi-theory (ie major practical assessment performed in front of class), you should look at UNSW (although as they're affiliated with NIDA, competition for places and general standard of work there will be sky-high).

* All second-year drama units require 12cp minimum so if you're doing a Certificate by part-time it might take a while to get there... ECHL311 (Performance: Theory and Practice) requires 40cp inc ECHL311 or CUL203. The third-year unit is most likely to have more prac material than ECHL111 or ECHL211, so if you're looking for more than theory working towards that is a good way to go.

From what I know (have many bca drama friends), drama at mac is about as beginner-friendly as it is anywhere else (ie not :/). Whatever the main drama unit in second year is has been described as "pretty easy but ridiculously wanky, even more so if you're experienced enough to recognise it as such" by most of my friends. Can't comment much on tutors as I'm not a drama student myself, but candidature-wise scaling could be an issue for beginners (as are any bca core subjects really, IMO - but that could be my bca pride speaking lol) - it's a core BCA drama unit, most of the people I know from there have been studying drama for years, are pre-pro actors, help teach at Sydney Theatre Company, are willing to do their performance assessments naked (I'm not kidding!!!!) or happen to be Courtney the Fluro Pink Girl 'nuff said!

In terms of regular drama (musical society, drama society) some of the people can be nice, but like most theatre-based things (and particularly YOUTH based theatre things) cliques of varying talent (normally pretty decent/pretty good though) rule supreme. Again, that speaks for itself.

 

[Kegs]

Well, lets face it, drama isnt the easiest thing. I took a crash course when I took it up halfway through year 11, and that was freakin hard. So I am guessing that uni drama would be worse, esp if you havent got that much experience (i had done lighting for 4 years before I did drama as a subject).

You need to be an outgoing, bubbly kinda person to succeed in the drama world. At least that is what I see. Not saying we all need to be over the top and outrageous, but a people person is preferable, just as asct students should be dull and... well, dull.

Nothing at uni is easy. Forgive me for pointing this out, but you dont exactly have the most drama-ish background looking at your hsc and uni so far. I must make a lot of assumptions, but there is only so much drama that would be covered in ext 2 eng and writing and cultures at UTS. Do you have any experience in drama in the past? Why have you chosen to defer the certificate of languages at MQ already? And why cant you take drama at UTS? I assume it would be more convinient to have all your classes at the one institution. Lots of nothing here, but I honestly cant see why you would want to do drama at Macq, unless there is someone who is the bomb that you wish to study under, or you live on campus at macq, which seems silly since you go to UTS.

 

[kami]

I don't think it ever gets hugely practical-practical (unless you're in the musical society, or drama society), although in its defence one drama course (ECHL111 - Elements of Drama) is a first-year with no prerequisites. None of the people in my year did it so I don't know what assessments are like, however knowing that MQ likes to reserve 'prac-based' subjects for second year and load a ridiculous bunch of wide-ranging theory (that has almost zero correlation, yes engl120 and phil131 I'm talking to you) on you in the first year, it's likely to be theory-based. If you want anything more than pure theory or semi-theory (ie major practical assessment performed in front of class), you should look at UNSW (although as they're affiliated with NIDA, competition for places and general standard of work there will be sky-high).

Thanks Lynn

Yeah, I don't think I could handle a 'practical-practical' unit to be honest, as I know I don't have the background to cope with that kind of thing. I just want something that does have a little practical in it because if I wanted to study a purely abstract cultural theory subject then I could do it at UTS (and I'm sure your memory of CUL101 will help you understand my aversion to cultural theory).

Also, since I'm looking at electives for my degree at UTS then I have enough cultural theory type subjects to do second year (or at least I presume I do, I should probably check that out) stuff if need be.

The fact that so many people with a background might be doing it also intimdates me (scaling wise) as the same problem existed when I did the french unit - there were so many people doing introductory french who had done continuers for the hsc. Which made the bell curve a little harsh.

And what is it with drama students and nudity?! You're like the fourth person in the last fortnight or so to say something about drama students getting their gear off.

Nothing at uni is easy. Forgive me for pointing this out, but you dont exactly have the most drama-ish background looking at your hsc and uni so far. I must make a lot of assumptions, but there is only so much drama that would be covered in ext 2 eng and writing and cultures at UTS. Do you have any experience in drama in the past? Why have you chosen to defer the certificate of languages at MQ already? And why cant you take drama at UTS? I assume it would be more convinient to have all your classes at the one institution. Lots of nothing here, but I honestly cant see why you would want to do drama at Macq, unless there is someone who is the bomb that you wish to study under, or you live on campus at macq, which seems silly since you go to UTS.

Given my question of 'beginner friendliness' its pretty much a given that I myself would be a beginner. UTS also does not offer offer drama among other things, which is why UTS encourages its communications students to take electives at other universities if they have an interest in another subject area. Hence my enquiries within both this forum and the UNSW forum.

 

[glitterfairy]

And what is it with drama students and nudity?! You're like the fourth person in the last fortnight or so to say something about drama students getting their gear off.

Nudity in drama is like postmodernism to EE2 students. (sort of) it's the new benchmark, so everyone wants in. A bit like making pretty actresses look ugly for big blockbuster roles a while back in hollywood.

Given my question of 'beginner friendliness' its pretty much a given that I myself would be a beginner. UTS also does not offer offer drama among other things, which is why UTS encourages its communications students to take electives at other universities if they have an interest in another subject area. Hence my enquiries within both this forum and the UNSW forum.

If you have an interest in taking up drama (or any performing art, really) as a beginner, I strongly advise you take it up outside of any tertiary-level academic course, where proficiency in the art is almost always an unwritten prerequisite. Looking into adult beginner short courses and/or experience-appropriate classes is probably your best course of action, particularly if you're not a huge fan of theory.

 

[iambored]

The fact that so many people with a background might be doing it also intimdates me (scaling wise) as the same problem existed when I did the french unit - there were so many people doing introductory french who had done continuers for the hsc. Which made the bell curve a little harsh.

unrelated, but if they really did continuers, they should have started at 200-level at macquarie, so that was unfair. like, the uni should have checked their subjects and if they did they would have been knocked back.
if they did beginners, they would start at 100-level but i guess they would still have a quite an advantage, going over the same material for the second time, especially since it's challenging the first time around.

 

[kami]

Nudity in drama is like postmodernism to EE2 students. (sort of) it's the new benchmark, so everyone wants in. A bit like making pretty actresses look ugly for big blockbuster roles a while back in hollywood.

Oh my.

If you have an interest in taking up drama (or any performing art, really) as a beginner, I strongly advise you take it up outside of any tertiary-level academic course, where proficiency in the art is almost always an unwritten prerequisite. Looking into adult beginner short courses and/or experience-appropriate classes is probably your best course of action, particularly if you're not a huge fan of theory.

I might just do that. Is there any place you'd reccomend in particular?

unrelated, but if they really did continuers, they should have started at 200-level at macquarie, so that was unfair. like, the uni should have checked their subjects and if they did they would have been knocked back.
if they did beginners, they would start at 100-level but i guess they would still have a quite an advantage, going over the same material for the second time, especially since it's challenging the first time around.

You're right, they should have been in second year subjects, especially since the Introductory subjects pretty much serve to get you up to HSC level. Not much you can really do about it though.

 

[AsyLum]

Its more a case of people just not bothering getting the documentation done, and just following on the stream. Most people also use it as a refresher course, after not having touched it for 3-4 months at least in some cases, its always helpful for people.

You're always going to have people trying to cheat the system or just some who'll adapt at a faster rate or have previous knowledge how ever little/much that may be. I don't think you can really blame other people for your own marks in uni of all places, sure its intimidating but thats pretty silly to say it affects your performance. If anything, its more about your self-motivation and the freedom to make of it as you want it, and the way most language units are presented at MQ, I think really serve follows that route.

I admit that when i started Japanese in first year, I was shit scared with the amount of people who had previous knowledge and when it came to kanji, sure the chinese students had more of an advantage, but I think I did quite well considering I did no study at all, and probably would've done better had I actually bothered to review the work.

 

[glitterfairy]

ok, so maybe I was exaggerating about the nudity lol. (drama students please don't kill me!)

I might just do that. Is there any place you'd reccomend in particular?

In regards to acting classes, not sure... (now if you were looking for singing or dancing, I could be more helpful) I do know that NIDA holds short courses, but I don't know how beginner-friendly these are, and even if they say they're beginner friendly I'd be inclined to believe that they're not. I know there are other 'organisations' that run adult short courses, but can't remember their names... I think the people the organise "what's on" (amateur theatre circle) also have workshops every year, might be something for you there.

Might be worth just keeping your eye open in the paper, around libraries etc.

 

[Kegs]

Its more a case of people just not bothering getting the documentation done, and just following on the stream. Most people also use it as a refresher course, after not having touched it for 3-4 months at least in some cases, its always helpful for people.

You're always going to have people trying to cheat the system or just some who'll adapt at a faster rate or have previous knowledge how ever little/much that may be. I don't think you can really blame other people for your own marks in uni of all places, sure its intimidating but thats pretty silly to say it affects your performance. If anything, its more about your self-motivation and the freedom to make of it as you want it, and the way most language units are presented at MQ, I think really serve follows that route.

I admit that when i started Japanese in first year, I was shit scared with the amount of people who had previous knowledge and when it came to kanji, sure the chinese students had more of an advantage, but I think I did quite well considering I did no study at all, and probably would've done better had I actually bothered to review the work.

Right there with you on 1st year jap. My previous knowledge lasted me through the first round of Kanji we learnt and I already knew the hiragana. After that, I knew a bunch of useless words, like what to say at a brothel when trying to attract customers. And here we are at the end of my 2nd year, on the verge of failing (still dont know how I actually past 1st semester 2nd year) and I cant help but think that the HSC continuers have a distinct advantage over us uni beginners. We have 2 years to learn it all, and some of them have had 7 years, plus exchange. But that is the way of it. If it was easy, everyone would do it. Macq is a good place for a language, at least for Jap anyway.

 

[AsyLum]

Yeah, definitely, I think the thing that I didn't really realise was the time needed to actually make it stick and understand/remember things. Because essentially you got to get out of the mind frame of trying to 'convert' or 'translate' in your head and start thinking in the language, which is something which is pretty hard if you don't have any friends who speak that language haha.

But oh well.

 

[iambored]

The point of learning a language is to get to as close to fluent as possible. Starting at 200 level is fantastic to get ahead and learn new things. Even some/most of 200 level is revision for continuers, just in a bit more depth. So I think they cheat themselves in a way.

 

[Nikki22]

hey,
Im going into my third year of a B arts DipEd - teaching history and drama and let me just say that drama at mac sucks! OK now to explain, I have done soooo many cultural studies courses which were apparently important for my degree but only once have I done any prac and it was terrible, nobody in the class really wanted to participate, they were there mostly for cultural studies rather than drama

.... However apparently the courses in early childhood are quite good, just look up the descriptions in the online handbook for ECHL111 and ECHL311, I was going to just do all cultural studies courses to fill in the drama component of my degree but having found these subjects Im going to do them instead as they can count towards my drama degree too which is good...But it still seems a bit stupid to have drama courses hidden in early childhood.

Anyway I hope this helps

Also if u want to just dabble in drama, try some acting courses just seach google, or Ive been to ATYP - Australian Theatre for Young People and thats great