People watching

Task

- We were asked to observe people as an actor
- We were not allowed to act suspicious or be noticed by the person we were watching
- Felt like either a spy or a stalker
- Had to disappear into the public without being seen
- Had to free ourselves from any judgement we may make of the person we observe- get rid f any prejudice or presumptions you may have
- Looking for a natural/real person
- Seeing how normal people interact with other people/their surroundings
- Had to take written notes about the person we observed including time/place/surroundings etc
- Had to think of back story/given circumstances for individual e.g. objectives/motivation/obstacles/age/occupation/social life etc.

My individual- Man in suit on the phone

- Floppy hair
- Mid twenties
- Smart blue suit
- White
- Around 6 foot tall

- Pretentious
- Formal
- Antisocial
- Workaholic
- Secretive

- Frustrated
- On edge
- Annoyed
- Always looking around
- Not moving
- Talking on the phone
- Constantly mentioned "codes"

Objective: Wants a promotion- went to uni to study business- wants to make money/build his way up in the business

Obstacle: Others want a promotion too- they're battling for it- he dislikes most of his other colleagues (quite antisocial)

Will go the extra mile- working through his lunch break- workaholic or ambitious?

Surroundings: High street/ leaning against a shop window/ lots of people walking past/ sunny/ cold

Performance

- Had to do an imitation/representation of the person we observed in front of the class
- Stood next to the wall, talking on the phone- looking frustrated
- Tried to remember small details
- Thought about reasons/motivation behind what he was doing
- Did this well- audience could tell emotions I showed/activity I was doing

Response to exercise

This was a very interesting exercise. It made me realise that every character we play is a real person with real feelings/objectives/back stories/personalities. It made me think that I should really focus on honesty and naturalism in my performances in order to portray real/genuine people. It felt slightly odd to follow/watch people and felt like we invaded their privacy. However, it gave me a new perspective on how to create truthful characters in my performance.