As we’ve mentioned, to develop their creations, LTCC members have been taking part in a number of physical exercises to help them realise the finer details of their characters – how they walk, how they talk, and how they react to other people.
When group members had the basics of their characters down, but needed to develop the finer specifics, one such exercise which Rosie came up with was the (what I’m going to call) ‘Mimic and Exaggerate’ exercise.
For this, Rosie got workshop members warmed up, and then asked them to move around the rehearsal room, making use of all the space and changing direction when necessary.
Then, without disrupting their journeys, she asked workshop members to pick out someone else in the room at random. She then asked the cast to look at how this other person was walking, and gradually start to mimic it.
After a couple of minutes practicing this mimicked walk, Rosie then told them to gradually ramp it up, and really begin to exaggerate the walk they were simulating.
The walks became more severe and outlandish, and as workshop members moved around in this fashion, Rosie asked them to think about how a person using this walk would think. What kind of personality would they have? How would they talk? Group members, still walking, were given a couple of minutes to think about this.
Rosie then explained that, when she gave the signal, everyone would stop and start talking at the person closest to them, in the manner of this new character they had just developed.
The resulting responses were wide-ranging, and all very entertaining. Some of these new characters spoke in a relaxed manner, while others were uptight, some calculated, and some flustered.
After a few seconds, group members were set off walking again. Soon, they would be stopped again for a conversation, only this time they were told to imagine that the person nearest to them was their idol, or a famous celebrity.
Again, the results were varied – while some played it cool, others were flabbergasted and nervous, and tripping over their own words.
Thirty seconds later, they were set off walking again. After a couple of minutes, they would be asked to stop again, but this time imagining that the person nearest to them was someone from their past who they had something to prove to, be it an ex-partner or someone from high school.
What was interesting about the response to this part of the task, was not only the manner in which people talked, but the varying content of what they said. When stopped, some played the false superiority game, making up obvious lies about all their achievements – but others were surprisingly passive, being honest about their failings and turning inwards during the conversation.
What this exercise really demonstrated was how to get into the mind of a character, and let the mentality of that character lead the way in creating an actor’s response to a situation. The process really helped group members to think on their feet, and actually BE their creation in a given situation – and so none of the results felt forced, they all felt natural.
After completing this exercise, Rosie asked group members to think about how the characters they were developing might react in the situations above – would they play it cool? Or be flustered? Or make up a host of lies?
When group members had the basics of their characters down, but needed to develop the finer specifics, one such exercise which Rosie came up with was the (what I’m going to call) ‘Mimic and Exaggerate’ exercise.
For this, Rosie got workshop members warmed up, and then asked them to move around the rehearsal room, making use of all the space and changing direction when necessary.
Then, without disrupting their journeys, she asked workshop members to pick out someone else in the room at random. She then asked the cast to look at how this other person was walking, and gradually start to mimic it.
After a couple of minutes practicing this mimicked walk, Rosie then told them to gradually ramp it up, and really begin to exaggerate the walk they were simulating.
The walks became more severe and outlandish, and as workshop members moved around in this fashion, Rosie asked them to think about how a person using this walk would think. What kind of personality would they have? How would they talk? Group members, still walking, were given a couple of minutes to think about this.
Rosie then explained that, when she gave the signal, everyone would stop and start talking at the person closest to them, in the manner of this new character they had just developed.
The resulting responses were wide-ranging, and all very entertaining. Some of these new characters spoke in a relaxed manner, while others were uptight, some calculated, and some flustered.
After a few seconds, group members were set off walking again. Soon, they would be stopped again for a conversation, only this time they were told to imagine that the person nearest to them was their idol, or a famous celebrity.
Again, the results were varied – while some played it cool, others were flabbergasted and nervous, and tripping over their own words.
Thirty seconds later, they were set off walking again. After a couple of minutes, they would be asked to stop again, but this time imagining that the person nearest to them was someone from their past who they had something to prove to, be it an ex-partner or someone from high school.
What was interesting about the response to this part of the task, was not only the manner in which people talked, but the varying content of what they said. When stopped, some played the false superiority game, making up obvious lies about all their achievements – but others were surprisingly passive, being honest about their failings and turning inwards during the conversation.
What this exercise really demonstrated was how to get into the mind of a character, and let the mentality of that character lead the way in creating an actor’s response to a situation. The process really helped group members to think on their feet, and actually BE their creation in a given situation – and so none of the results felt forced, they all felt natural.
After completing this exercise, Rosie asked group members to think about how the characters they were developing might react in the situations above – would they play it cool? Or be flustered? Or make up a host of lies?
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