7/21 Class Recap

For today’s class, we entered our dreamscape and chose a person within our dream to study. We went straight from our warm-up breathing technique into Jon explaining then conducting this process. We returned to taking a deep breath, letting our minds go blank, getting in touch with the surrounding’s senses, and projecting into the dream. Once we all entered that dream setting, we were instructed to look around for people. When we first expanded our senses within the dream, I heard chatter and the sound of people walking at a mid-range distance. This time, I also discovered a man talking on his cell phone while walking his dog on that side street where the subway station is located. I’m still amazed how new things appear each time I enter this dream place and I follow Jon’s guidance for the day’s lesson. Each class brings forth more tidbits like this thus making it more fully fleshed out and realistic.

When choosing which of the three people of focus on, I immediately picked the one that stuck out to me the most. While I could perfectly see the other two down to their hairstyles and clothes they were wearing, this one almost seemed to have a spotlight on her and I was naturally drawn to her. After gliding over to her, Jon instructed us to inspect the person we chose by using all of the senses. Even up close, this woman was well-lit in the darkness of the night. She and the woman next to her were in the motion of walking around the corner to the street “Diana” is on, with my main girl one step ahead of her friend. Her wavy-haired friend was looking down as my girl looked forward, head turned slightly to the left as she prepares to make her way around the corner. Also, one observation made all-important when harvesting, she was walking with her arms crossed in what I assumed as her being cold or perhaps defensive since it was a dark night in a big city. She was tall with model-long legs and dressed for a night out in a black leather jacket, black dress, and black peep-toe bootie heels. With no make-up on, I could see that her face is covered in light freckles. She had short, straight hair that upon touching was just as silky smooth as it looked. I also felt the fabric of her dress, the texture of her leather jacket, and the smoothness of her skin. Despite being out on the town, her legs did not feel heavily moisturized or anything, simply typical post-shower smoothness. In terms of scent, I could smell a vaguely floral perfume and the hair product she was using. As I studied her, I gradually noticed little details like the leather strap of her crossbody bag and Tiffany blue painted toenails. One great question Jon brought up later that I never considered is: What do you think she sounds like when she talks? I never even thought to incorporate the sense of sound for this part because she and everyone else in the dream are frozen. But it’s definitely a question I will consider in the future as it could be vital to character work.

The next step to this exercise is dipping into the person’s pockets or purse. I personally still prefer to do this in a relaxed way and take my time with this because it allows more items to quite literally fade into view. From where I stood, the pocket of her leather jacket was right there and easy to access. I went through it and found: a paper straw wrapper crumpled in a ball, a folded-up receipt, and a shiny quarter. I placed each item in front of her one by one after I took them out and observed them. Then, I moved behind her to find her purse. It had been tucked slightly behind her on her left-hand side, where her friend walked next to her. When I opened it, I found: a Chanel lipstick, a silver iPhone, and an orange SunTrust credit card. With some time still left to dip and dig through, I went back to her purse and at the bottom found a bobby pin and sample size Chloe perfume bottle. Once dipping time was over, Jon advised we explore these items further. I held the paper straw wrapper, feeling its texture and noticing it’s accordion-like bends. When harvesting with Jon, I opened up the receipt and found it was from CVS (despite it not being characteristically long). He encouraged me to keep looking at this receipt and I found it had just one item she purchased on it: foundation that cost $10.86. When I picked up the next item, the shiny quarter, I realized there was actually a nick in it toward the upper right on the “heads” side. Jon asked what year was inscribed on it and without missing a beat I responded, “1987.” It’s astounding how I just knew. I opened the Chanel lipstick surprised to find it is not the bright pink shade of the one I kept from years ago but rather a dark red. Interestingly, the lipstick barely even looked used. I gently picked up her silver iPhone since it did not have a case. Impressively, it didn’t have any scratches on it! Next came the orange SunTrust credit card. This was important to me because it showed her name is Alex. Now, this is likely because her general look, especially the hair, reminded me of a character named Alex. But it was still a very cool thing to discover. Feeling the bobby pin was simple enough since they’re pretty straight forward. I don’t think it was until I picked up the sample perfume bottle that I saw the brand name Chloe. And it was when I looked closer that I realized she had used it so often that there was barely enough for one last spray.

Harvesting with Jon basically demonstrated the process of using image streaming for character work. You observe this person, examine their things, and let yourself infer their meaning based on your investigation. When I looked at Alex on my own, I saw her as this glamazon city girl that “Diana” would totally aspire to be. To me, she had this tough, edgy look and was beautiful enough to not need makeup. Having spent my fair share of time in the city, I saw her arms being crossed as a defensive, intimidating gesture that even I have used to keep people from bothering you. However, Jon deconstructed this by suggesting that this could be read as guardedness due to insecurities. Jon also took note of the fact that she bought drug store make-up yet wasn’t wearing it. Now, I have a few very pretty friends who only use makeup for formal occasions or to cover a zit, so I assumed that was the case for her as well. But Jon made the realization that the only time a girl would be seen out in public without make-up on is if something is wrong. For example, if she is dealing with a break-up. This break-up concept stuck with me because it helped make sense of the mishmash of objects she was carrying. As if she had left a few things behind at her ex’s place and didn’t want to go back for them. Hence, the new make-up and used up perfume. Discussing the credit card with Jon led to major potential character revelations as well. See, SunTrust is not an NYC bank and I believe it more Southern-based. With this knowledge, Jon helped me to reach the conclusion that perhaps Alex is actually from the South. This leads to a variety of questions in terms of the character: How long has she been in the city? Is she putting on airs and trying to act posher than she is? Is this get-up just a guise when she’s truly just a simple Southern girl? When we reviewed the perfume bottle and quarter, he raised the stakes even further. Maybe she is literally down to her last quarter. Maybe that nearly empty perfume bottle shows she was kicked out and this is all she has. Maybe she is actually homeless. We circled back to the lack of make-up and the fact that she is out with a woman. Was this potential break-up scenario with a woman? Or, even more interestingly, is a break-up happening with this specific woman she is with right now? The main take away from harvesting is to see what you can find to create a character backstory and then elevate it. And if something doesn’t make sense, put the pieces together so it does make sense. For example, the first thing I said when I noticed the bank name on the credit card was, “but that doesn’t make sense.” But Jon encouraged me by saying it does and helped me to realize what that credit card implies. All of this really made for a great character study and showed the class firsthand how this can be used in approaching a script. I particularly liked the example Jon gave of this person having just one line, “I don’t need any help from you.” Doing this exercise gave that line so much depth and created a whole story surrounding that one line.

What was most fascinating during this entire process was seeing how much I had in common with this character. The things she owned were all things I have owned at some point: her purse, the nail polish, the foundation I envisioned, the sample perfume. Even the price of the foundation came from what I got paid per hour at my part-time job. And the year on the quarter is the same year my favorite movie, The Princess Bride, was released. Plus, it made sense that she would be a few years older than me since, when I was inspecting her on my own, she represented the person “Diana” would aspire to be in her future. Even the credit card was from my same bank, although a different color than mine. Doing this exercise also helped make her less intimidating and more grounded or down-to-earth. I had put her on this pedestal when I started and by the end of my personal investigation, I found she was just like me. And by the end of harvesting with Jon, I found that she’s kind of a mess. But that’s true to the people we look up to. Really, they’re human just like the rest of us and are complicated souls just like us.

Due to time constraints, I was the only one that harvested today! I was a bit surprised to be chosen to go first and it was a little odd having all that attention on me for something like this. It’s a weirdly personal thing and the process is made even stranger since you don’t know what to expect. But I was glad to hear my classmates reflect on my harvesting with Jon because, from what they said, it seemed like they still gained a lot without actively participating.

Again, a monumental post. I am going to keep this as an example of how the process works. Thank you on so many levels.