OUR HOUSE - Character Development

THURSDAY 24TH - SAX'S LESSON

The point of the session was to develop our characters, so that we wern't just reading lines, that we were performing and delivering them in the way that we had interpreted our character.

1-7 Intensity Game:
The traits I chose for my character were sarcastic and frustrated. We then would demonstrate these emotions through small gestures, no words and little sound. This exercise was really helpful with discovering what extent we could go to with our characters. For example, a level 1 won't show up on stage as we think it would when we're surrounded by other cast members, and equally a Level 7 wouldn't be overboard for the dialogue, but during songs would fit, as you can't express yourself through speech as you're singing the lyrics, which don't always reflect the emotions you're feeling.

'One liner' game
I was given the line 'How many times do I have to tell you'. We explored how accenting different syllables, using dynamics and pitch to our voices completely changed the way the phrase came across. Tempo was something I played with, so by accenting the word 'how' and slowing it down, it seemed more exasperated, whereas if I accented the 'you' it was more aggressive.
We also would react to other peoples lines, so when Jennah asked me 'What did you dream about last night', in the character of Sarah I went into my own bubble, started talking about law and Joe Casey. This also exposed interesting relationships between characters, for example Emmo and Angie getting on really well, and Lewis and Joe clashing through emphasising certain parts of their personality.

Masks - Pairs
I was given an 'intrigued' expression on my mask, and was put with Raven, wearing a smug, suspicious character's face. Our scenario was that I was a zookeeper, and Raven had let out a lion or two from the cave. This proved harder than I first imagined, without any facial expressions and speech to aid my expression, It was left entirely down to my movement. Surprisingly, I found that it wasn't just overreacting and emphasising movements that were most effective, but the small subtle movements were also a nice contrast, and showed different emotions further.

Masks - Group Work
This exercise proved to be even harder- not only were we lacking speech, sound and facial expressions, but we were now given the task to demonstrate the relationships between characters amoungst the scene- it was entirely down to the body language.
For example, I showed disinterest towards charlotte, using the 1-7 scale that we worked on at the start of the lesson.
1 - turning the other way, generally facing away from her
2- flinching as she touched me
3- Walking quickly away
4- Hiding
5- Running away
6- Shaking my head at her and folding my arms
7 - Pushing her away

How did this lesson help my character development?
I found it really easy to forget that I was acting when we were blocking, from a practical point of view i was in and out of character when giving input and ideas as to what was happening on stage. This reminded me that the way that the line is delivered is all down to 5 criteria; speed, emphasis on syllables, pitch and diction. On top of this, I was reminded that whilst the play fairly naturalistic, my body language has to communicate what I'm saying as if the emotion was real.

For next time, I would like to develop my acting whilst singing, as I am worried that I will just be stood there (looking like a lemon) when singing my songs, unconvincingly.