Above is a compilation of a number of different takes, split up into sections to make it easier to find which reference to work from. It's clear that I'm not exactly comfortable in front of the camera and my semi-American accent only makes things worse - despite the fact that a British accent could have made a subtle change the dialogue and facial movements. Also, it's obvious that I was too embarrassed to shout fully at the end, which could have affected my acting; something that should be rectified if I am to film myself performing this dialogue again. For an example of one full take, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=s2bJki5gAgs
I chose to remain seated for the scene for a number of reasons:
- I feel it would be unnatural for a psychologist to stand up mid-session, daydreaming or otherwise.
- I don't feel that standing up would give the dialogue any extra emphasis or meaning.
- I want to concentrate on animating a realistic performance, and as most of the expression lies in the human face, shoulders and hands, I don't want to give my self extra work by getting my character to stand up and walk around.
- I'd have to compromise the shot I'd want in order to show him standing, which would distract from the main focus (face, shoulders, hands).
Only two days after filming my acting reference, we were scheduled an acting lesson from Sarah Perry, a professional acting coach - if only I knew this before I attempted filming myself! In this session she took us through two main acting approaches - the Stanislavski technique of looking into the mind of the character, considering subtext & objectives and letting these factors control the acting, and the Larbin method of letting movement dictate the performance. Both are effective and interesting ways of going about acting, however I feel I identify more with Stanislavski's method acting approach, so I will try to apply it to my own characters, bearing in mind that the rules may not apply as the dialogue is mainly the thoughts, or subtext, of my main character.
Dr. Ben Sobel Caroline
Action: Seated, deep in thought. Seated, talking to Dr. Sobel.
Given: Daytime, psychologist's office, doctor and patient.
Objective: Listen to patient's problems Seek help from Doctor.
without letting on boredom.
Beats: Change in tone of voice from Wondering if Dr. Sobel is awake
calm to angry. or listening.
Subtext: Hates his job, tired of listening Upset and distressed over how
to people whine about their her current boyfriend is treating
lives & loves. her.
The subtext for Dr. Sobel's character is not simply guessed, as it is revealed in the sequel, 'Analyze That', that he only chose his career on account of his father. Research!
Later on in the week we had a guest lecture from a year 3 student on the motion capture software, 'IPi Soft'. This was a great experience as we could see first hand how motion capture is executed, as well as being given helpful tips on how to use the software itself, including calibration, jitter removal and using the 'Euler Filter'. Although I'd definitely want to experiment with the software and create some animation with it, 'Ipi Soft' is only really useful for capturing movement and action, and not so much for subtle performance animation. This is why I won't be using it for this unit's performance piece - my scene is driven by dialogue and my characters are seated.
Below is a clip taken from our Mocap lecture, acted and filmed by my friend, Lloyd.
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