Notes for this week:

1. I heard my "dumb animal"- it rang so clearly- OPEN MY MOUTH! RISE THAT SOFT PALATE!  I wasn't opening it wide enough and when i did, it echoed...a "PING!"

2. I find that doing the primal exercise really gets me open to my character and in touch with my instincts and my emotions.  It has been really helping me get my guard down and just go for it.  I feel myself be more aware of my actions and how to feel in the moment with my scene partner.

3.  I finally said, "Yes." to my scene partner.  It feels like I am judging him less on his choices and depend on him to also push the scene.  It feels amazing to experience this because now I think I can work with anyone.  We are not always lucky and we don't always get to choose who we work with so I need to figure out my trigger...

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I have been slacking on blogging but I feel that this is necessary for me to note the progress within myself.  I have so many things I want to write but I put it off and I rush through the process without noting down every single minute detail.

Why do you do this Ariel?

So... I did an amazing exercise in which I had to become my grandfather.  I am currently reading "Respect for Acting" and in the first chapter, Hagen distinguishes between two types of actors and how they approach their characters.  One, is a representational acting in which the actor imitates while the Presentational actor tries to go through his own actions to understand the character.

While I can't say that I am one or the other, in this respect, my experience as my grandfather can be broken down and analyzed by both approaches.

First, I had to walk and try "be" like my grandfather.  This is based off of my memory of him, which was quite vivid since I saw him a few weeks back.  Due to back problems, my grandfather slouches his shoulders forward and curves his back to try to alleviate the pain.  He does peck his neck out a little and he walks at a slower pace nowadays.  It's sorta a freaky, I can see how his face would contort when he examines something and how he would pick up a phone.

Once we added words into the exercises, I was able to easily produce a few words he would say in his own grandpa way like how he would call my grandmother into a room.  I had a difficult time matching his pitch and resonance, but I didn't pay too much attention to that.

I think what affected me the most was when I imitated his smile.  I had such a reaction within myself, I immediately burst into tears after the exercise was done. I had this reaction because I never realized... how much love my grandfather had for his family.  My grandfather has the biggest smile and you can tell it's geniune because the skin around his eyes would crinkle and he can see all his teeth including the back molars :)  When I did that myself, I was instantly filled with happiness.

It's funny to take a simple smile like that for granted.

As an actor, this is an important tool and exercise for me- to have a physical actions evoke an emotional reaction.