Transcript The Characterization Process

The Characterization Process
Pages 128-133
The Process of Characterization
 Whether you are creating a wholly new character or
portraying a scripted character in a play, the characterization
process is essentially the same. This process is a combination
of:
 …making observations
 …drawing upon your own experience
 …tapping into your own imagination
Observation
 Observing other people and the world around
you provides an endless source of inspiration for
characterization. Become a sponge, absorbing all
you encounter. Take notes and make
sketches. Store impressions in your memory
too, where you can call upon them for future
reference.
Using your senses:
 To be a thorough, effective observer, you must
use all of your senses and notice the details as
well as the big picture: the still silhouette of a bird
perched on a wire over a busy intersection; the persistent
hissing of an old radiator in a corner of you
grandmother’s cozy house; buttery crunch of popcorn in
the magical atmosphere of the movie theater.
Take Another Look:
 Look at new things and re-examine what is
familiar. Go window-shopping at stores that carry
items you have never really looked at before.
Sketch or describe in detail items that you use
everyday, such as your toothbrush or your pillow.
Look at things differently by altering your normal
routines and habits-take a new route, start at a
different time, try walking instead of riding, go
outside in all kinds of weather.
Become a People Watcher:
 Wherever you go, listen to the way people talk,
watch how they move and interact with others,
and reflect upon what they might be thinking.
Study their faces and facial expressions. Note that
way they wear their hair and the manner in which
they dress. Speculate on where they live, what
they do for living, and what their attitudes are on
various subjects.
Experience:
 As an actor, you should collect a variety of life experiences.
You can then use these experiences as a resource to create
interesting characters. To broaden your scope of experience,
challenge yourself with the activities outlined here:
 Go to events that you ordinarily wouldn’t attend.
 Talk to people you have never talked to before.
 Get to know people who are very different from you in age,
background in outlook.
 Leave your neighborhood and see how other people live.
 Do something alone and away from your normal group of
friends at least once a week.
Experience Cont…
 Spend 20 minutes a day reading a newspaper.
 Watch television shows about foreign countries or historical
figures.
 Watch a wide variety of movies, including those you
wouldn’t normally watch.
 Read as many plays as you can.
 Read novels with interesting, detailed characterizations.
Sense Memory:
The way a character reacts to an object or setting reveals
something about the character. As an actor, you will
frequently need to ask yourself, “What can my character see,
hear, taste, smell, or touch in this situation? How should my
character react to what I sense? A script provides some
information, but you may have to determine if the object or
setting is familiar or unfamiliar to you character, pleasant or
unpleasant, and so on.
Sense Memory
 Sense Memory: is your memory of sights, sounds, smells,
tastes, and textures.
 Using your sense memory, you can mentally transport yourself
to a different situation so that you can act as though you were
genuinely there.
 To access your sense memory, ask yourself questions
such as those posed here:
 Have I ever been in a situation like this or one similar to it?
 What did I see, hear smell, taste, and touch during that experience?
 How did I react to what I sensed and what specific actions did I take?
 How can I recall those reactions, and which of those actions can I use to
portray my character effectively in this situation>
Emotional Memory
 Through empathy (emotional identification) with you character,
you gain understanding of that character.You can do this by
accessing your:
 Emotional memory: the technique of calling upon memories of
your own emotions to understand the emotions of a character.
 Using emotional memory:
 Have I ever experienced emotions like those my character is experiencing?
 What was my circumstance?
 What did I feel?
 What specific actions did I take?
 How can I recall those emotions in this situation, and which of those actions
can I use to portray my character effectively in this situation?
Action-Generated Emotion
 By performing actions associated with particular emotions,
you can sometimes generate those emotions in yourself.
 Using Action Generated Emotion:
 Have I ever seen a person acting as if he or she were
experiencing the emotions my character is experiencing?
 What was that person’s circumstance?
 What specific actions did that person take?
 Which of those actions can I use to portray my character
effectively in this situation?
The Project: Step One:
 Practice one of the previous discussed observation
techniques:
 1. using your senses
 2. take another look
 3. become a people watcher
 Take detailed notes during the observation (1 page of
bulleted notes)
The Project: Step Two:
 Leave your comfort zone, and attempt one of the
experiences listed in the Experience slide.
 Take notes and write a short summary (half page) of your
experience. Focus on the particular characters you see or
read about.
The Project: Step Three:
 Prepare
one of the following activities to perform for the
class, drawing from your experiences and observations:
 Activity One: Sense, Empathize, and Express
 Activity Two: The Letter
 Activity Three: Famous People in Common Situations
Activity 1: Sense, Empathize, Express:
 Imagine that you are acting in a scene in which you are lost in
the woods.You are supposed to feel fear of dying and sadness
at the thought of never seeing those you love. Employ the
techniques of sense memory and emotional memory to
express the situation and emotions of your character.
Activity 2: The Letter
 Work with a partner for this exercise. Each of you should
write a brief letter and put it in a sealed envelope with your
partner’s name on the outside. It could be a love letter, a
“Dear John” letter, an announcements of birth or death, a
threat, and so on. Next, create a set with a table and chair.
Place you letter on the table. Have your partner enter,
approach the table, pick up the letter, and read it, reacting to
the contents both mentally and physically as fully as possible.
Assess your partner’s reaction and performance. Then switch
roles and read you partner’s letter.
Activity 3: Famous people in Common
Situations
 Imagine how a famous person from the past would act in a
common situation today: Cleopatra unable to find her
favorite ice cream at the supermarket, Shakespeare stuck in a
traffic jam. Perform an improvisation showing how the
known characteristics of these famous people would be
revealed in these new situations. OR reverse the exercise,
transplanting a famous person of today into a common
situations of the past: Jackie Chan trying to put on a suit of
armor in medieval Europe, Madonna herding unruly cattle
on a ranch in the Old West.
Summary:
 After your performance, you will have to describe how you
utilized characterization through these methods:
 Sense Memory
 Emotional Memory
 Action-Generated emotion
 You will also describe how your observations and new
experiences played a role in your performance.