Read more on The Shadow Kit – Exercise 6.1 Emotion from the Kneehigh Cookbook archive.
Exploring emotional states:
I find exploring big emotional changes in the body can be very exciting to watch for an audience. They can imagine what it feels like for the character and go on an emotional journey with you.
What happens if you pinpoint a big emotional change and expand upon it?
In the film ‘the boy’ has a moment of indecision and panic. I explored some sensations that summed up that emotion – tummy flipping, clenching, tightening, hiding, closing, swallowing. I then took these sensations and imagined how they could be heightened in the moment – how would they show these sensations in a graphic novel or a dream? What if the characters whole body flipped instead of just their tummy? What if they swallowed the words that were in the head? How could I show the clenching and tightening in my hands and face?
So choose a moment in your story when your character has a big emotional change. What is the emotion? Start to write down some sensations that go with that emotion And some images that jump into your head. Explore making a gestural phrase that heightens these sensations or images. Imagine putting them under a magnifying glass. What happens if you layer these gestures under a naturalistic scene? Add music/sound to add dynamics!
Watch the film tutorial for visuals and more information…
