hmm technology

I am unsure as to whether this post will work, but since one else has posted yet, i shall try.

When first given this assignment I honestly had no idea what to do with it. Despite doing improv the past two(-ish) years, I had never done anything like this, and quite frankly, I never thought I ever would. However my scene partner and I were able to work through the guidelines to come up with the scene we did. I found it interesting to see the different routes taken by each group, even when given the same guidelines and, sometimes the exact same words as inspiration. The variety of themes and moods was surprising. I feel like no two scenes had characters with the same relationship to one another.

The moment of acting that I found most effective was in Sarah Gatti, Jen, and Allison’s scene. The moment when Sarah first came out, shaking, with anger and resentment, struck me the most. First of all, I did not expect it; secondly, the way she shouted and the look in her eyes made me actually feel anxious. I was starting to get upset just watching her act, even though I know Sarah, and I know that she was not truly angry. Although I suppose she had to be in some way, in order to make that scene so believable. I also really enjoyed watching the way the actors switched moods when they crossed in front of Jen, who kept that pained look in her eye for the duration of the scene. To switch from one extreme emotion to another must have been difficult. The audience could see the physical transformation before either actor spoke.

I point out this particular moment because I found the emotions displayed to be very believable. I momentarily forgot that these actors were classmates that I knew; instead I became interested in the character they were portraying. For me, these qualities are important when I consider good acting. The actor, whether he be in a play, movie, tv show etc, must make me forget that he is a famous celebrity - or friend of mine, for that matter. Instead I will see him as the character he is portraying. Generally this character must also make me feel some sort of emotion, whether it be anxiety, sympathy, happiness, etc. My guidelines for acting fall under the larger umbrella of my qualifications for art as a whole. If it makes me feel something, and forget where I really am for a span of time, then I have seen great acting, and thus great art.