Subasta del Proyecto

In hindsight I have speculated whether the material would have been more authentic, had I cast non-actors from the goth scene. Would the characters have had more ÔdepthÕ and been able take the material in new directions having a closer natural affinity with the Goth culture? This is not a criticism of the actorÕs skills in relation to the work, rather that the process needs considerable input on the part of the actor. They must continually research and find ways to think about their character. In other words, the non-actor can just be, because they can draw from personal experience, whereas these actors had to create and invent character. Following this thought through, would the non-actor be able to offer a substantially different performance?

To what extent does costume and setting have significant part in defining the character, beyond the content of what is being said? In spite of the clothing, and based on my knowledge of Claire and Maggie during our preproduction meetings, the representations and playfulness these women offered for the screen seemed very close to what I knew of their initial work in the studio. Although I knew that the actors had begun to develop an identity based around the preparatory homework, it is pertinent to ask, where does this preparation

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locate the Ônon-actorÕ on the acting-not acting scale? In Michael KirbyÕs continuum, these actors would be located within the Òsymbolized matrixÓ portion of the continuum, a Ôcondition in which the performer does not act and yet his or her costume represents something or someone.Õ (2002: 41). If the actorÕs outward personas have not altered, to what extent was the character taking shape within? At what point does the actorÕs personal experience end, and the ÔimaginedÕ character take over? As Mike Leigh posits, ÔMost acting, most of the time, isnÕt motivated by anything other than the actorÕs motivation. There isnÕt any character motivation.Õ (Clements, 1986: 25). Although, I could not yet see the final shape and extent of the characterisation, I felt certain that with further work and preparatory tasks, a strong character foundation could be developed. Perhaps the production medium supports the actorÕs skills by giving confidence in their abilities to reconstruct the world around them. Character can be built piece by piece and the actors soon learn that they can add material as they go, with the knowledge that the camera can be paused and material can be edited and re- ordered. That the actors could behave in this gregarious way and not be worried or ÔthrownÕ by the presence of the camera does evidence that they were highly capable of maintaining their screen pretence. At no point did either actor seek out the lens or catch its gaze, and they were genuinely immersed in the business at hand. This initial experiment had proved invaluable in demonstrating the importance of costume, setting and action in constructing character. The lightness of tone and movement around the cemetery uphold the notion that character has to be able to establish a physical presence that goes beyond the content of dialogue.

Fallen Angels revealed a number of key issues about improvisation technique that I felt would benefit from further in depth exploration in my next film. In the first instance, this

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production demonstrated the importance of allowing the actors time to explore the space and react to what can be found within the location. The context of the film invited the actors to explore the cemetery space and think specifically about their representation, while going through the process of making images in the space (even though there was no film in the still camera to complete this cycle). Clearly, in other improvisation contexts such interaction may not be required or possible. However, I think there is a sense that when we find ourselves within a space, unless we are comfortable with the environment because it is known to us, we naturally find ourselves monitoring and evaluating the space for changes. Whilst this may be an automatic reflex, the fact is that we constantly relate and adjust ourselves to the environments that we occupy, both the spaces and people in our company. The most noticeable example of this is when we enter, move about or leave a space. However, the monitoring of our environment is a constant background process and could certainly, if done well, be used to shade a performance. Whilst I do not wish to generalise, this type of behavioural detail is not something that we often see within a performance. More typically the actor walks into a space with a sense of premeditated purpose, knowing that they must pick up x or y object or cross the room and have a conversation with the person at the table. It is easy to see that this premeditation of action will often override and compromise the spontaneity of action within performance. The knowledge that an actor must go to x or y and hit a given mark at a given moment can lead to a series of automated moves, where the muscles are in a state of tension and readiness to jump to a given cue.

I felt that in Fallen Angels the exploration of the space was driven by a natural curiosity, with a sense of never knowing quite what could be found around the next corner. Through repeated exploration of The Muse in relation to the landscape and the iconography of

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the cemetery, the confidence of ClaireÕs improvisation grew. At each location ClaireÕs performances seemed to get bigger and bolder, starting with the tame notion of taking a photograph on a tombstone and culminating with her swinging from a tree with a broken cross. Whether this was the result of being in costume, a disguise that permits this type of behaviour and releases inhibition, or whether the result of being encouraged by Maggie and clowning around for the camera, I cannot be certain. However, by the end of the three-hour shoot, it felt like the cast and crew had been on a journey that had fundamentally revealed something of both charactersÕ personalities.

Defining the charactersÕ costume, hair and make-up seemed equally to be another important springboard and the actors willingly engaged in some individual research to find an appropriate dress code to shape their charactersÕ identity. Listening to music and identifying other cultural influences became equally important. Unfortunately though, there was not the opportunity to incorporate this newfound knowledge within the dayÕs shoot. However, between takes Claire would enthusiastically discuss some of Anton LaVeyÕs rhetoric and in hindsight it would have been good to sit Claire on a tombstone and have her character discuss the merits or otherwise of The Satanic Bible. This would have clearly moved the material further into the documentary arena and would have provided a little more depth to counter the onscreen clowning. Whilst I had no sense that Claire had become unduly influenced by the material, and was ÔstrayingÕ down the path of becoming a Satanist, she did appear to have acquired a strong and keen understanding of the principal philosophy underpinning Satanism and its practices. Likewise, in talking to Maggie about her new found ambitions in ÔphotographyÕ I equally sensed that she had grasped some of the key principles and we had a number of conversations about composition and using handheld light meters. Again, it would

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have been useful to see MaggieÕs experiential learning extended by arranging to go to a photographic exhibition or have her sit at a computer and manipulate the photos she was taking of Claire, or capture the excitement of seeing one of the exhibition photographs having been printed up collected from a framers.

In questioning the value of these research tasks, albeit based on the limited experience that I had with this development approach, I feel that as long as these are well chosen and focused towards supporting the actorÕs logical development, then I see no reason to doubt the value of this method. The task must ideally be synonymous with what could reasonably be expected from a character in a given situation. Of course there is nothing unusual in this approach as Stanislavski advocates in Building a Character (2000):

Each person evolves an external characterisation out of himself, from others, takes it from real or imaginary life, according to his intuition, his observation of himself and others. He draws it from his own experiences of life or that of his friends, from pictures, engravings, drawings, books, stories, novels, or from some simple incident - it makes no difference. (2000: 9-10)

In looking at the situation from an institutional standpoint, when writing a screenplay, the director or writer may equally choose to engage in the formative research behind a role and attempt to convey the charactersÕ practices within a script. It would be very hard to construct a detailed narrative around the working life of a plumber without having some prior knowledge of what kind of work plumbers do and how they spend their time in the course of a day or week. When the actor picks up the script, according to the quality of the written description, the action and subtleties of a characterÕs lifestyle may or may not have been successfully conveyed on the page. For the actor, the quality of this information is important,

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as the detail is often missing or paraphrased on the page. Unless the actor can engage in physical research, as has been highlighted, then it is unlikely that the actor will be able to offer a convincing and spontaneous portrayal of a given occupation. We do not become plumbers simply by holding a tool bag, or being a photographer by holding a camera; how you walk and think in occupational terms colours the characterisation.

Accordingly, within the improvisation work that I wanted to develop it became apparent that there was no substitute for an actor engaging in personal practical research tasks in order to develop a closer affinity with their character and provide a well of ÔlivedÕ experience from which they could draw. However, this process requires that the actor is willing to take on this journey of self-learning and discovery and, to an extent this is where my favoured approach came to an end. Budget for pre-rehearsal is the deciding factor in a process that has a lengthy gestation period. Clearly, Mike Leigh is able to extend the improvisation work in his pre-rehearsal phase much further in the development of his films, and at one point was budgeting for an eight-week pre-rehearsal period prior to the shoot (Clements 1986:52). His actors are contracted and being paid for their research and workshop days. As I discovered, my volunteer cast and crew were not able to offer such commitment. In commenting on the value of the actorÕs research in relation to LeighÕs early work, Clements has written that ÔResearch contributes vitally to the actorÕs belief in the reality of the character he plays and provides him with material which will inform his action in figurative improvisations.Õ (ibid: 43)

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