Applying the method

This past class has really helped to solidify some of my understandings of how to apply the method. Tanya worked on streaming a character from her dream and then we took notes from her stream. Once the stream ended we broke up into groups and worked to get a sense of the character and where she fits in within the confines of a genre. This is something I have very little experience with applying the method to a work.

For my note taking I broke everything down into two categories: 1.) the character: physical, sound, smell, feel, taste or 2.)objects and environment. I kept these notes separated so that I could easily jump back and forth when searching for details that could connect to one another. There were a lot of notes from her stream.

There were two different groups that were working with the same info. It seems that our group focused more on the character fitting within the genre, while the other group worked to figure out what makes the character tick. There were aspects of both in each group, but the focus was different and that is very interesting given that we both had the same information and goal of building a character.

Getting some time with Tanya was very helpful. We compiled a list of questions that we had for her. Some questions were additional info to existing notes. Some questions were related to unknowns. Some of our questions were tied to "what if" scenarios. The "cheese" as Jon refers to it, is the ah ha moment! It is the revelation or bit of info that you gain that gives you the missing piece to the essence of a character. In this case the other group touched on it. The sobriety chip that the girl had in her pocket was the clue. How did this fit into the world of this person and what did it mean? We stumbled upon the revelation that the chip wasn't for an actual drug problem, but actually a symbol of community and camaraderie. In this dystopian world and this place where this character was different, she yearns for a family and friends. She goes to these AA meetings for the kinship and the protection of anonymity. And that is the cheese. That is the ah ha as to what makes this character tick and what makes them grounded. Real. Interesting. Something that no other actor is going to find and bring to the character. It makes her vulnerable and that gives us a portal to enter her.

This is fascinating stuff and I look forward to doing it again in class.

I missed the first half of the class where we chose a person and went through their objects. I would love to be able to work if called upon but I do not have this info available to call upon. Not sure what to do about that Jon.

We are going to repeat this process several times, so you will master it, no doubt.