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The first session we set guidelines for the
class, and asked participants to introduce themselves, and provide a
direction for the 8-week series by voicing their intended outcomes.
We talked about communication, and in particular, non-verbal
communication. Our warm-up was the Magic Ball, and everyone seemed
to easily communicate their ideas nonverbally. The communication involved
an imaginary OBJECT.
When we played "Walking Through", (or whatever the name), we
noticed given distinctions in a given context were necessary to
communicate the PLACE (i.e. the Frisbee™, swimming in the water)
We discussed creativity and the notion that a person "thinking
of nothing" may be "bombarded with everything".
Then we played "Clue®",
and the communication objective changed to PLACE, OBJECT and CHARACTER, or
in this case, stereotyped occupations.
It was apparent that the lines between the three categories were easily
blurred if the communicator didn't distinguish them in a memorable way. A
few actors lost track of which category was being presented. It was also
clear from this point of reference that the listener decides the meaning (or
we try to). With the constraint that no language be used in the
communication, the listener is not perceived as being "to blame"
for not understanding the gibberish, the sound effects and the arm waving
before them. When we expand this understanding to include any
communication, we can apply the same method as in the game: If you receive
feedback other than desired, TRY ANOTHER APPROACH. Doing the same thing
gets you nowhere.
Then we did the Character Walk exercise, and set the groundwork for
character development, as well as explored the non-verbal communication of
personal history details.
Other points covered:
• In responding to events in the course of a scene, it is invaluable to
act as if Everything Is Useful. • current, ongoing external events, (the
gun not firing, the doorbell ringing at the wrong time, etc.)
and
• any "internal" event, real, imagined or vicarious can be a
resource. (places you've been, people
you've talked to, the infinite imaginary possibilities.)
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Magic Ball is a pantomime game from Viola Spolin •
Player begins by “holding” an imaginary sphere, as
it magically transforms into a new shape, which player shows by miming.
Object returns to spherical shape and is passed to next player.
Clue a.k.a. “Chain Murder Endowments”.
Example
information to be communicated thru gibberish:
Perp:
Schoolteacher Place: Tanning Booth Weapon: Spatula.
Like the game “Telephone”, the accuracy reduces
dramatically with more players, with hilarious effect.
Character Walk from The Professional Act by Mary
Stark. Actor creates brief yet “strong” backstory and description of a
character, the moment just previous. E.g., “54 yr. old computer science
prof just received notice of dismissal.” Then actor walks into
room-scene carrying all the information.
The listener decides the meaning
One of many NLP presuppositions useful in this class
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