Wednesday's class had 19 people, which allowed us to do some scene work with smaller groups. We also got the chance to do some long form drills at the end of the night. I'm going to try and keep that part of the evening in our workshops.
I love this shot, where Jim and Kathy appear to be having a perfect moment together. In actuality, this scene is called Info Both, or sometimes Zelig, and the two of them are stuttering together. This is a quick scene where one player is at an information booth and the other enters with a strong emotion or characteristic. The player at the info booth takes on the offered characteristic.
Zelig is played as a quick rotation scene and now Allegra has entered the scene with Kathy. Until I checked my notes, I liked imagining what this scene was all about. Chickens? No, they're sailors on leave. The hands are holding some sort of a backpack. Sailors carry backpacks?
A few rotations later, we have Mark and Justin together. I believe Justin was tracking something. I love the cool pose Justin is in. Mark looks a bit dumbfounded by Justin, but I remember the two of them being fun to watch.
Here's a shot of Sharon and Scott in their Info Both scene. Scott entered carrying a gun and Sharon immediately pulled out hers. They became two ol' boys wavin' their guns. I'm not sure what this pose means, but look at the expressions on their faces. They match beautifully. This was a fun scene.
Mark and Mark are working together on another Info Both scene. Mark on the right entered with a box of cell phones that he found. I'm not really clear what the two of them were trying to do.
What I like about this exercise is its emphasis on taking on the character, not playing against it. It creates a lot of energy between the two characters.
At this point, I'd had it with Ben and decided to give him a piece of my ... oh, no wait. This is another Zelig scene and I entered really furious. Ben matched my inarticulate, stifled screams with his own inarticulate, stifled screams. We never established what we were angry about, but it was very satisfying in a cathartic way.
I like this shot. Marika, David, and CK have joined together to be one character in a two character scene. There are three players forming the second character in the scene. I call this Three Speak as One, One Word at a Time, Switch. I should probably come up with a shorter name. I'll explain it in greater detail another time, but suffice it to say the exercise left everyone with a sore head, and I consider that a success.
Kenna and Scott are working on their Three Line Drill. Kenna entered the scene frightened and hid behind Scott. They had a weak start, but on their second attempt it was a very compelling scene starter.
The Three Line Drill is another rotation exercise and is meant to work on the first three lines of an open scene. The exercise is a great way to learn how to immediately find a compelling scene.
At the end of the night, sometimes folks just need to let off steam, and here Aydin and Scott are working out a few issues. Sol, Jim, Andy, and David are looking on, although Sol appears to be getting ready for his turn.
Actually, we ended the night with a few rounds of Freeze Tag. That night we did it in a line form so that everyone had a chance to create a scene.
All in all, this turned out to be a very emotionally satisfying night.