Describe the status exercise.
For this exercise we were split into pairs and each one labeled either A or B. We were also given a short dialogue with four lines we were ment to play around with. The idea was to first decide which one would play the higher status and which the lower status character and then try to convey this status difference with our body language, our way of speaking and pacing with the lines we were given. After trying it once or twice now the pair would either switch their statuses or try different pairings, like conversation with both being higher or lower status, even creating a bit of a competition which person from the pair did a better job at conveying their chosen status(which one at being higher/lower status).
What is 'status' for actors?
Status can mean many things to an actor. It can and should be a part of character deveplopment and play a part when creating relationships between characters in that specific projects. But status could also be something that separates actors from each other, wether it is how long you have been in the business or what sort of productions you have been in. A higher status actor might mean someone who is highly respected amogst other actors and people in the business, but it could also mean an actor works in big productions and might be a so called 'star'.
How can you use this in devising ?
You can use it to show dynamics between different characters. I think we used status in our last devised scene, where we used status to show the relationship between The Master and The Servants, by having the Servants be causeaus and rather apogoletic around the Master.
What have you discovered about your character?
My character, Vera, seem to be quite mysterious about herself. This was in a way known before, but I feel that she doesn't really like or want to talk about herself or anything that is too personal, but rather uses her 'deep and meaningful' stereotype as a shield of some kind. So, in other words, I think she is hiding something big about herself. I also discovered that even though she is very accepting and open to new things, in some areas Vera might not be able to bend that easily, and with the right(read: wrong) person at the right time, Vera could possibly get quite defensive about her views.
Vera seems to hold herself upright quite naturally and with her calm warming smile and slow paced walk she seems quite confident, but as soon as she stops, you see her feet pointing inwards, telling something about Veras self-image. Perhaps everything isn't so calm and happy in her head? Especially since after dropping out of uni from studying art history, Vera is probably having a bit of a crisis about what she wants to do with her life. Yes, she says she is going to travel and explore the world, but is it really what she wants?
What other characters could your character know? How?
There was rather many characters that Vera could know. For example Hope, Bellas character, who studies graphic design. Since Vera studied art history in uni for a while, I felt that these two characters might have met in uni in the same artistic circles. They both also seem very laid back kind of people.This is how Vera might have met Jennys character Leila as well, since she is a art student at uni. Both Leila and Hope are very happy and out going characters who Vera could easily be friends with. I also found Max's character Craig to be somehow similar to Vera, since they are both interested in art and other creative medias. Craig as a person still somehow contrasts Vera in certain ways, like Vera is very calm and hesitates before saying anything, and Craig on the otherhand is more unshameful with his words but also gives a restless view of himself. I can see Vera being very attracted to this sort of contrast, since she is all about exploring new things and personalities, as if people would be collectable items. And you know Vera wants her collection of interesting people to be as big and complex as possible.
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