Shadow emotion
Me as Tevye
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Shadow emotion
This blog will be an ongoing discussion of acting basics and ideas. The first one I want to talk about is shadow emotion. It is a random name I chose to help explain the importance of bringing the subconscious mannerisms of our character into our physical action while acting. Sometimes brought out natually, these actions are manifistations of the subconscious mind. They appear like shadows of what we are truly feeling on a subliminal level. Since your character may be very different than yourself, they sometimes have to be contructed by the actor, but made to look completely natural. So I'm tackeling the toughest part of an actors tool chest first. It's tough because it has to be done naturally to be effective. For it to be done properly it should be done subtly enough not to be noticed most of the time. But it is part of the telling of the story of your character. It is like making shadow puppets on a wall. The image you create with your shadow puppets becomes magical as they come to life on the wall...
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Let's say a character is an obsessive compulsive person and has some nervous mannerisms. Perhaps the person starts ripping up bits of paper when being questioned, tapping a pencil, has an eye twitch, wrinkles his forehead, crosses a leg, twirls her long hair with her fingers, licks a lip, blinks excessively. All potential actions for the actor to use to tell the inner story of the mind set their character is undergoing. Shadow emotion flavors the way you hang up your coat or anything you do. When we're angry we place something on the table much differently than when we are distracted by laughter. Shadow emotion helps tell the story of who you are as a person. It is the action we are usually unaware of that happens as a result of our subconscious mind interacting with our outward expressions.
ReplyDeleteMaking some attempt (based on your character's personality and situation) to CONTROL your emotions makes you human and provides realisim. It can be more effective to evoke empathy from your audience when trying NOT to cry, NOT to laugh, NOT to be enraged, and so on. The extent to which we are able to control our emotions makes us who we are.
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