Final Thoughts: Characterisation & Performance

This unit has without doubt been the hardest work for me on this course. Although an enjoyable process in terms of getting into a character's mindset or the physicality of acting out a movement the actual execution is something more infinitely difficult than I first imagined. Technical problems were rife from day one and it did seem at points to be impossible, particularly the acting piece. In terms of end results I can now see that much more planning was needed in all areas, but mainly the acting shot. Which although shorter than the assault course, was by far the most difficult, mainly due to the subtlety needed and the requirement for naturalistic movements as opposed to the grand physical gestures of the assault course. If I were to start this unit again I would allow much more time for the acting piece, as the time needed was grossly underestimated. In all honesty I have not enjoyed the past month of this project, both interest and enthusiasm having dried up long before the hand-in. Mainly due to a rig which seemed to enjoy changing the way it worked on and almost daily basis and a set of IK switches determined to mentally break me. In saying this the start of the project when filming reference materials, planning out shots and blocking in movements were most enjoyable and I feel it will be something I will continue in my spare time, hopefully learning to master the details along the way.

Planning: Round 2

On reassessment I went back to posing with a much simpler set of requirements. The characters was standing, ready to lift the barrel but still casual and relaxed, as though work had only momentarily halted to chat. The character then double takes on the barrel, realising he is at work and lifts the barrel, coming slightly off balance and catching himself on the back foot. This felt like a much more natural way in which to conduct a conversation and was definitely a step in the right direction.

Planning: Round 1

My intial plan for the acting piece was to have the character at work (due to the lifting sound) talking informally to the camera as though it were a colleague about what he would do if guests were coming over. As the audio also features the twittering of birds throughout I realised the setting would need to be somewhat rural, coupled with the talk of hospitality the setting could be no other place than a southern whiskey distillery. Once again Jim Beam was required. My original plan had the character casually leaning on a barrel chatting informally, he then got up, continued to talk, walked around the barrel and performed a lift. This, I was informed, was far too much movement for an acting shot of this type and in hindsight it is embarrasingly obvious that I had indeed over- animated my piece even in the planning stages, here are some leftovers from the original plan and also a list of the beats I was to hit in terms of actions within the piece.

Performance Piece: The Set-Up

The third and final (praises be) task in the assignment was an acting shot based around a prepared piece of audio. For my audio I selected and excerpt from the MF Doom album 'MM..Food.' The interlude is about an elderly sounding man discussing his plans when people come for dinner, which for some reason I found quietly amusing. It also contained a grunt of some form, which I perceived to be a lift, and therefore meant I could get a little more action into the shot than just static talking. In terms of breaking the shot down I started with breaking the audio down into individual words and sound accompanied by some basic ideas on how the character may be standing/gesturing.

Planning: The Podium

The final stop on the assault course was the podium, in keeping with the previous pieces I decided to have our cocky friend bound up each step in a stream of constant motion. I focused a lot on the curve of the spine on this particular section as I have found over the course of this project it is without doubt the best way to achieve a dramatic pose. As a twist on the end and to attempt to add a touch of humour to the piece I decided the character was to catch his ankle on the final podium, thus falling on his face and denying him the chance of a Rocky Balboa-esque celebration. Because life loves to kick you when you're riding the winning horse people...

Planning: Wall Vault

The penultimate step in the assault course was a good old fashioned wall vault. For this I looked to the hip, trendy, down with the kids baggy trousers sport of Parkour (or free-running) for ideas. The basic ethos of the sport is to make movement look as effortless and graceful as possible and also to be as efficient as possible. It was primarily developed in 'Nam by the Vietcong as a means of traveling quickly though jungle regions when in combat. But don't hold that against it. It really did help in making my character flow over the wall whilst looking graceful and was also extremely useful for referencing arm positions.

Planning: Jump 'N' Slide

The next piece of the course was admittedly done slightly more on the fly, it required the character to slide down a ramp and push off a wall at the bottom. I decided at this stage that my character should have a slightly cocky air about him, so I therefore made him swan dive down the ramp, tucking into a cannonball shape then using his momentum to carry him past the wall and round the corner almost effortlessly. The swan dive idea came from the fact I was listening to Led Zeppelin whilst planning, their logo of course being a swan diving man/angel. A key to capturing the cocky feel of the pose was a sweeping arc in the curve of the spine and an arrogantly puffed out chest with arms swung back as if to say; 'Do let's get it on'