Complex and contradictory

I enjoyed being able to do the streaming side of the work for this class. It was helpful to me because I was able to see how much more I can trust that this works and that I have the capability of doing this. When you are actually in it, you can’t be analytical. You have to see it, experience it, and accept it. There can be no judgment or questioning, so you have to trust that it will all come together, even if it might not make any sense at first. In reality, not making any sense ends up being a good thing. Humans don’t make sense. We are complex beings who are completely unique from anyone else, so if you get a perfect little woman who fits into a pretty box, there won’t be anything interesting for you to use for the character. That girl will be boring and flat with nowhere to go. Be a little curious and dive into what doesn’t make sense; she might just come alive before your eyes.
When doing the harvesting work, you aren’t storytelling. You are finding the physiology of your character. This means getting to the core of who they are. But you can’t get to the core of a human being by trying to get to the core of a human being. We are much more complicated than that. You have to carefully approach and investigate what might be interesting about her. See if there are any symbols to tell you more about her. These symbols are a metaphor to their behavior. The contradictions make the core unfold. Humans are complex and contradictory. The core essence is the trunk of the tree, rooting the person with many branches and aspects.
An actors biggest talent is empathy. Actor training is to build empathy until it becomes highly developed. This will be our main weapon. Humans are all both good and bad.
Trust the first imagery you get – it may be random but life is random.
This girl is a little quirky and attractive, but how many attractive girls have made their money off of quirky? A lot. And they are still working. This girl is totally real living in this world. What if she was just starting something? She’s been there a lot, but not on these things. Is this a fresh start? She’s soft, but the people here are definitely not. This is a Fish Out of Water – fish food for comedy. She’s doing something that she’s not familiar with; what does this say about her core? She’s starting a new chapter in life. She doesn’t know how to use tools – helpless, inadequate. “I got this.” “Helpless no more.” This is a soft girl suddenly in a small Midwest town; she had to put on her perfume to go in the garage with no one else around her. She doesn’t know what’s going on, but she’s going all in anyway. She’s the kind of girl who goes all in; stubborn and persistent.
Tonight, we changed the paradigm on how we approached this. We didn’t quite get to the core, but extremely close to it. Getting to the core makes everything make sense. You can see how she’s changing. These symbols are now jumping out at us now that we know to look for them.