Write at least 1 paragraph (4 sentences or more) responding to 1
of the questions below. Then write at least 1 paragraph responding to
another student's response to 1 of the questions.
Questions from Chapter 19:
1.
"Character is physicalization -- with truth. I'll even let you write that down. Everything you say, everything you do defines your character. The outside is what counts most in character. Your physical self is the most interesting thing in character." Describe a role you played that was so physically motivated you were able to easily find you character.
2.
"Your costume must feed you. Be careful of regarding your costume as 'make believe.' You mustn't lie to your body. If you do, you kill your talent. What you put on is going to be part of you. Live in it. Marry it. Don't cheapen yourself by cheapening your costume. Learn to change your outside. Become the character." Using an
experience you had on stage describe how your costume made it easy to find your character.
3.
"You must reach the point where you need to make a gesture -- then restrain it. See what gestures you need. Then give it no more, no less than it needs. Otherwise it will e casual, contemporary, cluttered." Explain what Stella Adler means by this.
2. "Your costume must feed you. Be careful of regarding your costume as 'make believe.' You mustn't lie to your body. If you do, you kill your talent. What you put on is going to be part of you. Live in it. Marry it. Don't cheapen yourself by cheapening your costume. Learn to change your outside. Become the character." Using an experience you had on stage describe how your costume made it easy to find your character.
ReplyDelete2) The famous gold dress of Beauty and the Beast made becoming Belle very easy. First of all, having seen the Disney movie various times, I was very familiar with Belle as well as the dress. Second of all, I got to see how much work was put into making the dress, which made the costume very real to me. The dress wasn't some costume, it was a beautiful piece of artwork that had taken two women weeks to finish. I knew, as Belle, I would be so humbled and honored to be able to wear a dress like that one. It was easy to become Belle because I knew the dress had so much more to it than "just a dress".
That dress was pretty epic.
DeleteI think that this is exactly what Stella is getting at - you have to have a fundamental understanding and appreciation of everything about your costume, about what you're wearing - where it comes from, how it was made, how you wore it, why you wore it, all of those w's. So for you to channel that appreciation of the dress as a piece of art that was tediously crafted, was perfect. You used the reality that it really was a beautiful piece of art to aid in your acting, because you could treat it more truthfully as a piece of art and appreciate what you were wearing as Belle.
DeleteOnce again... YPA is pretty epic with costuming. It is very easy to find you character with the costumes there. You see so much work put into them. The dress was dead on. As one critic said, "That dress was pretty epic."
Delete2. Every time I have done a role where I was in a different time period (Romeo & Juliet, Night of the Living Dead, Into the Woods) I find it much easier to get into character. When I feel like I am in relatively normal clothes, I can find it more difficult to forget myself. However if I am in clothes that I would never actually wear, it makes it much easier to envision. I can get lost in the character when I can detach myself from them in the most ways possible.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. As an example, doing High school musical is somewhat difficult because the costumes are the same as everyday clothes. There is still some "makenna" in my character, when I appear that similar in reality. As you said, it's easier to get in character and become someone else when your completely detached. As Stella explains you can't have too much of yourself in a character.
DeleteMelanie- I absolutely agree with you. I think so far at least I've worn clothes that I would never wear, so it was easy to find my character. Tom I was a poor black man in overalls, same with Billy Bob. Nico I looked like a monkey, NOTLD I was a zombie, Twelve Angry Jurors I looked like I was from the 50's, and Into the Woods I looked like a Wolf. So from these costumes, it was much easier to envision myself as a different character other than myself.
Delete3. The only appropriate time to gesture is when your character can't 'not' do it at that moment, because whatever is going on compels them so much to do it. As such, once the need for an action is created, an actor has to give it the fullness it deserves. They can't just approximate, or else it'll lose its meaning and won't be truthful. Conversely, an actor can't be selfish in that moment and make the action much grander than it needs to be - because that's equally untruthful. To give something too much significance is to be histrionic and dramatic, which takes away from the truthfulness and intent of the moment. So a motion or gesture needs to be given enough weight to be felt and be real, but not too much to where an actor has become untruthful.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, talking using mosions is a wonderful way to get more into the role, and to pull the audience into not only what you're doing, but why you are doing it, what you are saying, and why it is that you are saying it.
Delete2) In "Beauty and the Beast", I found my character thanks to the costume. I had many layers of latex and make-up put on me. It was my skin, not just clothing. I was literally living in different skin. It was a part of me. Another thing that made that costume was my claws. It was like Freddy Krueger with his blades. It made me feel like an actual monster because these claws were a part of me and not a weapon. They moved with my fingers. The process of getting this transformation was so long and intricate that I felt like a butterfly fresh out of a cocoon. It was more than just clothes.
ReplyDelete2. When in clothing that I would never wear on a regular occasion, I know that i'm not me at the moment, and it tricks my body, into thinking that i'm not me at that moment. And therefore my body language changes. It's easier for meto be the charecter instead of just act when I am in clothes of the past, future, or just that I would never wear in any other situation. It also makes it more fun of course.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. I feel like the costume is the last piece of the puzzle. It can help you really stick to your character. Also, the costume can sometimes change the way you move, which can change the way you see your character. For example, if you go from practicing something in loose fitting clothes to an extremely tight costume, it can change the way your character moves, and that posses a challenge in still finding your character. But it's a good challenge, I think.
Delete1. In my sophomore and junior year, I have played an animal for the musical. (Sophomore year Nico from Wizard of Oz, Junior year the Wolf from Into the Woods) When playing these roles, I spent time getting into character by moving like that said character. And one thing that I had to revolve around in both parts was getting in touch with my animal side. As Nico, I would hobble-hop around oo-ahhing acting like a crazy fool. There was one time where it wasn't okay though, because one of our Glindas (Hannah) walked in and she is terrified of monkeys, let's just say she was scared. As the Wolf, before the show I would sit in the stage left closet, in the darkness, moving around like a hungry wolf. It was rather creepy. And seductive. I was the wolf, for crying out loud. All being said, using those movements helped me find my character, and physicality is always a good way to find your character.
ReplyDelete1.) I believe I mentioned this character in a previous post, but the costume was so blatantly imposing it was a simple task to get into it. When I played King Richard the Third in eighth grade, the primary point was to just be nasty. Richard was essentially hitting on Lady Anne equipped with the knowledge that there was very little she could do about it and that he would eventually win her over despite his horrific appearance and history of abuse towards her. When she leaves, he actually rejoices at the fact that he has sufficiently fooled her and will discard her when she has served her purpose. Richard's disgusting, hunched over posture and stamped face make him visually displeasing and therefore, I could feel the nastiness radiating from me. I walked awkwardly because of the padding and the whole thing came across as vile and sinister, because regardless of these things that make him such an unsavory individual, he's still charming and manipulative in his own way, and she just can't stand up to it. his appearance depicted all of this before I even said my lines.
ReplyDeleteWhile I can easily see how that costume motivated you, it also makes me wonder about disordinary characters. I'm talking like Quasimodo, from The Hunchback of Notre Dame; like Richard, he was visually displeasing, but he was kindhearted, and only wanted to belong. His character sends mixed messages. And while Disney may have drawn him with a kind looking face, when he was portrayed originally, there was no getting around the ugliness. Costume designers made him ugly. Upon writing all of this, I think it shows great strength of an actor for portraying a character like this. By all means, Quasimodo's hunch, his scowl that he can't control, his outwardly appearance screams 'monster' and 'evil', but he's not that. Thus, the challenge is in the actor, to fight against that physical form and show that Quasimodo is nice, not evil. Just thinking, that physical form can also be a plot tool as well as character supporter.
Delete1.) Well, although it was only for one performance, I did go out as Mrs. Potts once during our run of 'Beauty and the Beast', and I have to say, her actions really did dictate how I felt being Mrs. Potts. The costume is what really did this. First off, the hole at the bottom of the tea pot was really tiny, so my steps were restricted, and most of the time I felt like I was doing bourrees (in ballet, really tiny steps) all of time, except in character shoes. Then you had the entire handle/spout business. I had to keep my hand glued to my side the entire time, or else I would break the illusion of my oncoming inanimate-y. My hat also dictated how I held myself. For the first couple acts, due to lack of time, I hadn't bobby pinned it on, and it kept falling off. After that, my poise was in such a manner that allowed me to keep my hat on. Also, that costume was HOT. So, in all, these things dictated how I moved, and in turn, how I felt like Mrs. Potts. I was constantly hot, (I am a tea pot, after all), and I felt like a maid, scurrying around with pomp and circumstance, but by the graces of God, I was not sloppy. And by doing all these things, I came into the character very easily. Which was a good thing, considering the hour warning.
ReplyDeleteThe transformed servants in "Beauty and the Beast" were easily the most physically motivated characters in any of the plays we did this past year, not only because of the use of dancing and singing to get the information across but also because they were all physically differentiated pretty heavily from those in the play that weren't transformed, so I think your choice of Mrs. Potts as an example of this particular idea was obviously very fitting. I'd venture a question, however. Can the audience identify the differences between an actor whose costume is forcing the mannerisms on the actor as opposed to the actor performing them, and an actor who is creating the illusion without the aid of the costume? Because ultimately the costume is supposed to be visually convincing to the audience but in terms of its meaning to the actor, is it also purely physical? Because the actor is also feeling the costume, and that feeling can either A.) Throw the actor into their character or B.) Remind the actor that they're wearing a costume. I'd say since we obviously want the prior as opposed to the latter, the actors attitude towards the costume should be one of absolute familiarity, which Stella Adler mentions multiple times in the book because the costume is not a costume, it is a pair of clothes, and those clothes belong to the character, and since you ARE the character they are YOUR clothes. That familiarity bypasses both scenarios, because I think the shape and awkwardness of the costume is what allowed you to construct the scurrying movements and proper stature that a maid would have. In that particular case though, the costume was your saving grace because you clearly didn't have time to create the physical appearance yourself.
DeleteKatie I like what you said about always being hot. I think of all the physical aspects of your costume, that one probably helped the most emotionally for your character. A teapot is piping hot, about to blow. That's pretty much who Mrs. Potts is. However, as you explained Mrs. Potts has to maintain her composure. There are those other physical characteristics that help you with that, but I think the hotness made the hectic-ness of your character all the more relevant to you as an actor.
DeleteI thought you did a really good job as Mrs. Potts, Katie. The costume really did seem to help you get a good understanding of how your character should move and act. The restricting costume made your movements more composed and precise, even in the wackiest of circumstances, like a musical number. I can definitely see how the costume helped you easily find your character.
Delete1. The lovely Lucinda was for sure one of the easier roles I have played. Of course there were elements that were harder to nail if I wanted to go deeper with the character, but on the surface it was pretty easy. Lucinda is a jealous, stubborn, over the top, fairly stupid, young woman. She was pretty much the exact opposite as a poised royal queen or princess, though she tried to act like one. What I mean by that is that Lucinda had no restrain in her movement. If she wanted the hair pin in Florinda’s hair, she would snatch it right out. If she wanted to sit on the horse with the prince, she was going to hurtle herself right on up. I took a more humorous approach to Lucinda, but I think her actions were still justified. She stuck her nose up and held her hands by her shoulders probably because that’s what she thought aristocrats did. She walked with her butt stuck out because she saw pictures of rich women with dresses with big fluffy back sides. She may not have known that it stuck out that far because of the extra fabric, so instead she stuck her booty right on out there. Also, when Lucinda was blinded, she was no doubt always a little scared. Therefore, she constantly reached out for her mom to guide her and had no problem with looking foolish.
ReplyDelete2. My costume for Tom the Troll in The Hobbit made it really easy for me to find my character. It was a great costume, with a mask that really made me look like a monstrous troll. Whenever I looked into the mirror while wearing that costume, I didn't see me. I saw Tom the Troll. And because I saw Tom instead of me, I acted like Tom, and thought like Tom. When I wore that costume, I became Tom the Troll.
ReplyDelete