Howbeit, these tools are utilised in physical/visual acting (for stage/T.V./film) therefore for the purpose of my final major project I will be applying the following appropriate tools to my work:
- Overall Objective – Identifying through the script what the character wants from life more than anything.
- Obstacles – Identifying the obstacles (physical, mental, emotional…) that blocks the character from obtaining their overall and scene objective.
- Substitution – Endowing the other actor in the scene with a person from real life that makes sense to the overall and scene objective.
- Inner Objects – Mental visuals triggered when speaking or hearing about something (a person, place, thing or event).
- Previous Circumstances – Identifying the character’s history.
- Let It Go – Relinquishing control and going with the flow (of the performance).
In short the protagonist and narrator, Altaluna, who I will be portraying is a character who is retelling the moments after her murder whilst shedding some light to the tensions between herself and her sister, her murderer.
With that in mind, here are the six tools I have chosen to utilise in concern to my character, Altaluna:
- Overall Objective:
- Even though my character is already dead she still has an underlying objective throughout the story, and that is forgiveness. She wants her sister, Aurelia, to forgive her and her wrongdoings against her.
- Obstacles:
- The physical obstacle to attaining forgiveness is that Altaluna is already dead and therefore can no longer communicate with her sister.
- Instead, as the narrator she has the possibility to communicate with the audience/listeners. However, her mental obstacle, whilst being a narrator to strangers, is her pride. And throughout the story Altaluna behaves defensively especially when talking about her wrongdoings and this is an obstacle the character has to overcome.
- An emotional obstacle Altaluna has is her self-hatred. The character despising herself so much that ultimately it has made her and makes her behave overtly “immune” to the consequences of her actions. For example speaking frivolously about her affair with her sister’s husband.
- Substitution:
- In relation to Aurelia, I substituted her with my younger self (pre-depression). Someone who I envy and wish I could be, which reflects Altaluna’s own deep-seated envy of her twin sister (hence the affair and the mockery toward her).
- Fred was harder to substitute as I do not have a real life equivalent or anyone I have had an adequately strong/close enough relationship with to substitute with. Therefore I ultimately, and possibly not as effectively, decided to substitute Fred with an amalgamation of individuals I have had intimate relations with. Individuals that I briefly cared for or respected but not in the longterm. Translating to Fred, who Altaluna cared for but, ultimately, not more than her sister.
- Inner Objects:
- The mental images I have whilst reading about Aurelia and Fred in the script are determined and stimulated by Aurelia and Fred’s substitutions and the experiences I had as or with said substitutions in the past. These inner objects help create an emotional response from me as an actress.
- Previous Circumstances:
- As the writer and creator of the characters in the story, I can identify Altaluna’s past even though there is not a great amount of information available in the short story itself.
- Altaluna has grown up beside her twin Aurelia always being compared to her. Although Altaluna has been the one to attract most attention in life, it has always been negative rather than positive. Ultimately this leads to Aurelia growing up and attaining a life that Altaluna may describe as mundane/boring, though in actuality it is a “happy ending” Altaluna is jealous of and envies as she grows to become a woman with little satisfaction in her life regardless of her continuous pleasure/attention-seeking thrills (i.e. affairs with unavailable men).
- Let It Go:
- This part comes fairly free off challenges for me as I am the writer and the story is personal to me, so it is easier for me to breathe life in Altaluna’s character as I probably understand her the best. Therefore when the time comes to perform it is easy to let go and go with the flow of the acting part of the voice over.