This week:
We worked on:
1. Character Shifts
2. Acting between the lines
Character Shifts
Today we worked on character shifts at a whole new level. In our monologue today, we had the opportunity to show 5 different sides of the same character (perfect for an audition), by separating the monologue into sections, adding beats, and mapping out where these distinct character shifts should go.
We started by finding the subtext of the different sections of our monologue - or what our character was REALLY trying to say and what she meant when she said it. The reason we do this is so that the script doesn't get in the way of the objective of the scene. By mapping out our scene this way - our acting choices and character development becomes easier, more accurate, and better for our scene!
Our first one was: "Give me attention!"
To accurately portray the phrase "give me attention" with our first few lines of "am i ok? no - not really. I'm not hurt.. well.. only on the INSIDE" - we wanted to first draw attention to the fact that someone WAS NOT giving our character attention and that it made her upset to the point of demanding attention. (We also wanted to start off our monologue with acting rather than words) We came up with throwing a fit for 3 beats before we started and drawing the attention of the other character in the scene.
The second one was: "I know things"
We then had to shift our body, voice, action, and objective to our next section. We decided to act as though we had a secret that we loved knowing before everyone else and that we would make the other character beg us for it.
The third section was: "Tell me i'm the answer"
Our character presents a problem, and we decided to act like we needed the other character to tell us we would save the day. Again, shifting our body, demeanor, and voice inflection to show that we have shifted into a different personality.
The fourth was: "Here's our story"
Telling a made up love story with new actions, ect.
The fifth: "Tell me i'm pretty"
The climax of the monologue is when this beautiful princess starts fishing for compliments. We wanted to show the funniest part of the monologue by acting between the writing. We started posing and pouting our lips, flipping and framing our hair, and showing off our "pretty side" while saying the lines "I'M UGLY!!" Showing this contradiction helps round out our overly dramatic character - showing, at the same time, how ridiculous we can be with our comedic acting.
This monologue would be an awesome on for Ella to audition with because it shows how funny she is, how versatile she is, and how she can shift her character choices many different times during a scene while keeping it smooth!
She did so awesome!
Here are our videos from today!
Before/End of our lesson:
Great job Ella!!! See you soon!
Labels: Ella H.