Chapter 146 Interactive Game
Anson has always been very curious about one thing, that is, why is it necessary to imitate animals in the basic acting class?
What is the principle and what is the relationship between animals and performance?
Of course, even now, there is no professional teacher to give Anson the answer, but Anson gradually figured out his own understanding.
Imitating animals helps beginners enter the world of performance from two levels.
First, body language.
This is what Julie Andrews said, understand, master and use your body, use your body to express shapes and emotions without lines, and feel the energy revealed by your body.
Moreover, imitation is indeed a very important first step into the world of acting.
So, why is the object of imitation an animal, rather than a superstar or a classic movie character? This goes to another level.
Second, break the shame.
On the one hand, the movements of animals are the simplest, most basic and most one-dimensional. This is the so-called basic skill. You must first learn to walk before thinking about running.
On the other hand, it is to break one's own sense of shame and build the fourth wall.
Performing is actually an action that reveals oneself and expresses emotions. To a certain extent, it is shameful, such as performing affectionate and intimate scenes in front of one's parents, such as performing in front of one's harmful friends. When performing a tearful crying scene in front of them, without the existence of the fourth wall, the actors would not be able to enter the scene, and a sense of shame would prevail.
Imagine if you were asked to stand at a traffic light intersection and suddenly start dancing; and it was still an awkward dance without background music.
Of course, some people can do it, but not for most people.
However, "acting" is such a thing. It requires interpretation of different roles in public. Therefore, this sense of shame must be broken before actors can enter the role in full view of the public and complete things they would not normally do. matter.
Imitating animals is such an action.
Precisely because the movements of animals are primitive, simple and without shame, when an actor imitates an animal, it means that he must put aside his baggage and roll around and scratch his head and ears in front of other people.
It felt like being stripped naked in front of everyone.
Only by overcoming shame, breaking down your own barriers, and building a fourth wall in your own brain can an actor truly enter the character and enter the plot.
It is precisely because of this that imitating animals is a very basic and common action in junior performance courses. This is Anson's understanding, and the inspiration comes from the class in front of him, and he can experience it a little bit at a time.
In this class, the teacher did not ask them to imitate animals - in fact, the principle is the same, but the expression and immersion state are different. He asked the students to dance, but it was not an ordinary dance.
Students, in pairs, each take out a hand to support each other's body, and make eye contact. The only requirement is that they cannot dodge their eyes - of course, the palms of their hands cannot be separated.
Then, the teacher plays music and asks the students to use their bodies to feel the melody and rhythm and start dancing based on their own power of music.
This is not as easy as imagined.
Eye contact and palm touching are equivalent to limiting yourself to a "strange but close" relationship. This is already extremely embarrassing, but in the end, you still need to dance? And express music with your body?
This... is simply an advancement of shame!
Moreover, this is still not all, the real problem is still behind.
For people with different personalities and types, the tests are also different. Suppose, in the same piece of music, two people feel completely different emotions. One person starts to break dance, and the other person dances to modern dance. They are two completely different worlds, completely off the track.
Here's the problem -
You can't let go of your hands and can't look away, which forms a physical connection; at the same time, the rhythm of the music is the same, even if the dance types and styles are different, the rhythm felt by the two people is the same. An invisible connection is formed.
In other words, when two people create a series of connections, they need to find a way to harmoniously coexist in different channels and different styles.
So, how to proceed in this situation?
This is the real test. In addition to shame and embarrassment, what is more important is the personality of the actor in the performance state. How to insist on oneself and cater to the opponent, how to seek resonance and how to show oneself, how to feel emotions and so on. Feel the opponent and so on and so forth.
Some people are more confident and may stick to themselves; some people have low self-esteem and may cater to others; some people are more self-centered and immersed in their own world... But, in the final analysis, two people need to dance together. The touch of palms and the meeting of eyes make each other happy. The two people must find a way to cooperate in the melody.
At this point, it’s more than just breaking the sense of shame.
This is a small step forward on the basis of imitating animals. You also need to feel the rhythm and rhythm of the performance, feel the body's understanding of the performance, and feel the collision of rival scenes. Wait, while understanding yourself, further understand others and the environment.
——In the form of music.
Music, to some extent, is like animals, a simple and primitive medium. Melody and rhythm can break the barriers of language, culture, age, etc., and become a connecting platform for different souls to feel the same emotions. This is also Let students return to their true nature and touch their emotions simply and plainly.
However, not everyone can feel it, some are easier, some are more difficult, some are slower, and some are more careless.
This is a process, but regardless of talent, everyone can have their own feelings and experiences, so this is called the basic skill of performance.
No wonder the teacher keeps emphasizing, feel and experience.
Performance is not just "performance", there is a lot of preparation work before the performance, to experience, feel, understand and digest. If the performance only presents the joy, anger, sorrow and joy, then the actor will never be able to give Those emotional vitalities.
This is all very interesting indeed.
It seems simple, it seems like there is nothing, it is just a game; but if you really immerse yourself in it, you will gradually feel the fun.
There are more than one similar games, and the whole class seems very relaxed and cheerful. In each game, you have to change partners, experience different colors, and continue to feel individual differences in a similar environment. This feeling is very Wonderful——
They don’t even know each other’s names, occupations, backgrounds, and situations. They know nothing about each other, but aside from the labels that society defines everyone, they seem to understand part of each other’s reality. .
Shy or cheerful, reserved or open-minded, fearful or enjoyable... and so on, it has nothing to do with the labels that define social life, it is just about a person's truest and most profound emotions.
There is a subtle sense of nakedness.
It's hard to describe accurately, it has nothing to do with secrets, it's just about reality.
Obviously, this is completely different from the acting academy and acting courses in Anson’s impression. Every minute and every second can bring surprises and constantly explore yourself.
Second update.
(End of this chapter)