Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
However, not all performances should be classified as acting. Each of us
chooses to behave in a given way that will shift and change depending on our
situation and circumstances at the time. People reinvent themselves all the
time and modify their behavior accordingly. Our “performance” when we are
with our friends will be very different from our performance when we are with
our work colleagues or with strangers or in a strange town or country. Even
when with different members of our own families, we are likely to modify our
behavior and “perform” in different ways. We reinvent ourselves constantly,
and to appreciate these changes the student of action analysis needs to
become more than an observer of the physical—she or he needs to become
one that attempts to understand and appreciate the human condition.
The actions of people we observe who are motivated by psychological
rather than simply physical issues are complex. It is practically impossible to
claim with absolute certainty how and why a figure chooses to move in any
given manner, because the factors governing those actions are so complex.
External factors are not specific to the individual but could affect that person's
behavior. Cultural issues may influence a person's actions; what is deemed
to be acceptable and perfectly normal in one society may be frowned on in
another. Sociopolitical aspects will in some instances impact behavior, as may
the class or status of an individual in a society. Gender, upbringing, education,
and employment will all determine, to a greater or lesser extent, the nature of
actions and performances.
The nature of the performance is also determined by the personal as well as
the social and is subject to nature as well as nurture. Mood, temperament,
and personality can be shaped by external factors and are, it could be argued,
to some degree attributable to social groupings, but they are in general
considered solely the nature of the individual.
We can undertake the analysis of performance in several ways, each of which
will provide us with different results. From the outset I would urge animators
not
to immediately turn to animation for the study of performance. I am not
suggesting for one minute that the study of animation for animators is not
a worthwhile activity and that you will not benefit from such study; far from
it. However, I am claiming that animators who turn
only
to animation for
their study of performance are severely restricting the development of their
understanding of performance and in doing so limiting their own creative
potential.
First-hand observation remains one of the best ways to gain an understanding
of the ways people behave. This is the raw material of performance, the
stuff of which performances are built. To gain first-hand experience of how
“performances” are put together and structured, you could do a lot worse than
use the theater as a school for the study of human behavior within a narrative.
Those who can't or choose not to go to the theater can access another
first-rate resource of performances. Use a range of film and television
