Intro, expectation, syllabus

Who am I?

What are we doing? We’re going to practice playing a character in three areas: walking, talking and
status. In the first half we’ll learn the exercises and get familiar with thinking about the different skills.
Then in the second half will repeat the exercises with our target characters. Before we do than we need
some time to warm up and become a team.

Principles, agreements, psychological safety

We all agree to leave our judgment outside the room. Why? There are two different modes of thinking:
the creative and the critical (Hauck). You need them both for the finished product, but the critical
interferes with the creative, so you should keep them separate. First, create freely then later, in a
different space, take a look and revise your creation. So, for tonight, we all leave our judgment outside.
And that includes judging yourself. Tonight there are no mistakes.

Comfort <-> Learning, Apathy <-> Anxiety. The middle band between Apathy and Panic is the right state
for Learning.

Stretching, loosening up
Shake off the day, rock out jaw, shake out the whole body

Massage face and neck, marionette hammy stretch

Picture yourself as a ball of water, serene and undisturbed.

Breath plunger: breath slowly, inhale for count of 4, hold for 5, exhale for 7. Wind up on inhale, push
pluger down on exhale.

All of the exercises will be better if you don’t strain, don’t try to get a particular result. Don’t try hard at
anything, just be slightly below average.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: alternate shirking and expanding yourself, like alternating between tasting a
lemon and making a lion face.

Left Right Introduce Yourself: count off alternating Left and Right, then turn to your direction and
introduce yourself. Reverse and repeat. Requires even number, host sits out if odd.

OPTIONAL STAGE FRIGHT EXERCISE: imagine you have to lead an improv workshop, you’ve never done it
before and you forgot your notes. Feel the flop sweats, the blushing, the upset stomach. Really imagine
what it’s like, and the consequences if you mess this up—you could lose your job and have to do Skype
interviews or something (that scares me).

Now get up there and do something embarrassing. Like, say “I’m a pretty pretty pony. Ee-haw eee-
haw!”

There, now you’ve done it and survived.

Warm up games (to create a team)
Zip zap zop (eye contact, listening)

Book. Worm. Manamina. (impulse, no judgment, support) One player says a word, the next says any
free-associated word. The whole group repeats both words fallowed with “muh na min ah.”

5 Things (impulse, support)

Mind Meld (impulse, magic)

Circuits (listening, team building) Names and Fantastical Beasts

Heroes & Villains (energizing)

6:30

Walk
FIRST HALF EXERCISE: Leading Parts: Mill about leading with the following body parts: Forehead, Chin,
Chest, Belly, Hips, Knees, Toes.

Slow to Fast, Young to Old, Low to High energy.

9 Questions for Your Character

Don’t worry about having answers for all of these questions—just find something to hold on to, to
inspire the character to say something.

 Who am I? (jobs, roles, traits)

 What is the time? (of day, era, stage of life)
 Where am I? (time, country, building, emotions, status) Do I feel too good for the space? Not
good enough?
 What is around? (social context, surroundings, spirit of the times)
 What brought me here? (previous life, motivation, ideals, transportation) What was I just doing?
 What relationships do I have? (friends, family, society, possessions) What am I afraid of? What
makes me angry? What is my favorite color?
 What do I want? (to achieve, to feel, to do, to stop)
 What is in my way? (obstacles, enemies, fears, beliefs)
 How do I get what I want? (tactics, approaches, consequences)

Status
Low vs. High status: Christopher Reeve Clark Kent Vs. Superman (Bruce Wayne vs. Batman doesn’t seem
to work the same way, though on the first page of Detective Comics, where Bruce is a bit of a dandy,
maybe it does.
Low Status out of fear involves all the gestures and posture of insecurity, but without fear, low status
can be about respect, consideration, placating, agreeing or affirming the other’s power. (Long lec. 10)

How to Project Authority (Sergy 216) Superhero stance: Firm stance: feet below shoulders, weight
evenly balanced. Lightly engage abs to support breath and relax back. Hold chest up and proud. Let
shoulders fall, lengthening neck. Chin parallel to floor. (Practice this for two minutes every day).

Gesture with elbows away from body (start with arms akimbo). Gesture outward to fill up the space.

(215) Hands between navel and neck are in neutral zone. Below navel is low energy, above head is high
energy; too much above or below will look strange.

Body Language to Convey Status

High Low

Authoritative, Commanding Approachable, Non-threatening

Superhero pose Hunched, feet together

Steady eye contact Look away

Open, barriers removed Guarded, arms crossed

Head up and still while speaking Head tilted, nodding

Extend presence outward Withdraw presence (or offer it up)

No excess movement Fidgeting, hand wringing

Stride with purpose Hesitant, apologetic

Start with long “Uhh. . .”
Start with long “Uhh. . .”

FIRST HALF EXERCISE: Ant spider dog baby tee-ball-batter soccer-mom teacher snake coach police
officer lion princess judge president king elephant general judge superhero dragon Greek-god

Mill about for a few minutes. Display your status as you pass each other through eye contact and
posture.

Step forward and say a line as your character.

Voice
Projecting your voice requires a relaxed body in good posture, good breathing and strong intention.

Stretches, Yawning, Relaxation, belly breathing

Humming Resonance (in front of face, in chest). Picture the sound coming out of every side: from your
back, from your sides, from your chest like a rainbow lying down, now every direction at once. Without
any strain, fill up the whole room.
Remember, all of these elements work better if you don’t strain at them, if you approach them without
trying to force a result. Try doing it with the least effort. Now with half of your normal effort.

Practice these warm ups every day to keep your voice in shape.

Elements of a voice:

Energy (intensity) on a scale of 1 to 10.

Emotion (Happy, Grateful, Passionate, Confident). Combine with Energy.

Pace and Phrasing (Long lec. 18): rhythm, pitch, pauses

FIRST HALF EXERCISE

Line up and speak to your hand, to three paces in front of you, to the far wall. No straining!

Try your lowest pitch, your highest pitch, then practice sliding from bottom to top and back again.

Repeat your line from the Status exercise at Intensity 5, then 1 then 8 (gotta keep something in the
tank).

7:00 7 MINUTE BREAK

Walk & Status

SECOND HALF EXERCISE

Effort shapes (punch dab slash flick press glide wring float)

8 Effort Shapes
Strong Light
Sudden Direct Punch Dab
Sudden Indirect Slash Flick
Press Glide Sustained Direct
Wring Float Sustained Indirect

Now pick one or two that suits your target character.

Repeat the milling about status-exchange exercise. What is your leading part? Age, energy, pace?

Give us a line (and gesture) as your character.

Voice
SECOND HALF EXERCISE

4 Emotions of Likeable Speakers

Happy (increased volume, wide range of pitch, brisk pace)

Grateful (lower volume, draw out syllables, don’t rush)

Passionate (steady volume, steady higher pitch, solid)

Confident (sustained syllables, assume attention and respect, strong)

(Love 230-238) You don’t have to act out the 4 emotions, just show them with your voice. To
communicate them you need to go bigger than you think, which will be uncomfortable. Practice.

Practice saying these as target character:

Happy: “I’m so happy to see you!

Grateful: Thank you for coming.

Passionate: I’m so excited.

Confident: You are going to love this.”

If your character is unlikeable, try doing the opposite: angry, entitled, detached, conceited.

7:30

The game “Good, Bad, Worst” with opposing teams of three target characters, if necessary.