Sense Memory 12: Animal Exercise

The Stanislavski Method

ANIMAL EXERCISE Name: ________________________________ Date: ____________________ Period: ______

Objective • Assess your progress with your relaxation efforts • Assess your progress with your ability to concentrate • Recreate the sensory experiences of an environment, as experienced by an animal. Preparation Select an animal that you can observe in its regular environment. Your animal: _________________________________________ Its environment: ____________________________________________ Observation Record Your responses to the prompts below MUST be almost ridiculously specific. Use metaphors and similes to accurately conjure up the sensation. Be specific about how the sensation physically affects you. 1)

Describe the animal’s gait. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

2)

Describe the rhythm of its movements. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

3)

Identify and describe its center of power. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

4)

Describe its weight and how it is distributed. ______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 5)

Describe its strength. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

6)

Describe how it uses its hands, paws or claws. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

7)

Describe its knuckle movements. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

8)

Describe how its head positioning and movement. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

9)

Describe how it jumps. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

10)

Describe how it uses its mouth. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

11)

Describe how it relates to and interacts with its environment. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

12)

Describe how it eats. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

13)

Describe how it looks at objects and its surroundings. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

14)

Describe how it sits. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

15)

What sort of things attracts its attention? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

16)

Describe how it concentrates. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

17)

Describe the causes and inner impulses that motivate the animal’s action, working from the outer actions of the animal to discover the animal’s inner impulses. ______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 18)

Describe its sound/speech. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

The Exercise After careful study and note-taking, practice assimilating the animal’s characteristics and peculiarities. Be aware of the difference between the animal’s body and your own, and imagine the cause for the animal’s actions. Recreate the conditioned responses, instincts, and inner life of the animal. When doing the animal exercise in class, you may use the entire classroom. Decide whether you will be recreating the animal’s natural environment through your imagination or if the animal will be experiencing the reality of the classroom environment. The latter is recommended. See your surroundings from the animal’s point of view. Encountering a real object in the room, inspect it as the animal would. You might react to a classmate as an animal would react to a human. Because an animal relies on its senses to explain a moving form, your classmates might deliberately move or manipulate objects in the room to which you would respond. This type of improvisation gives you other ways to respond, to discover the animal more clearly and to explore the animal’s behavior. With this, your degree of concentration will be tested. If you are deeply involved, sudden movement should startle you, and other gestures should catch your attention and produce a characteristic response. After working on re-creating the outer characteristics of the animal, you are encouraged to makes sounds like the animal. Even if you have never heard the animal make a sound, use your imagination to explore vocally the sounds you think might be appropriate. Classmates might even pose questions to which you might respond. You will perform this particular exercise three times: 1)

You are recreating the sensations of environment as perceived by the animal. Focus on living through the physicality of the animal.

2)

You are recreating the sensations of the environment as perceived by a “hybrid”. Here, you adding some human characteristics—i.e. walking upright, engaging in some human activities, etc. Keep your focus on recreating the sensations, responding “as if” you were part human and part animal.

3)

You are recreating the sensations of the environment as perceived by a human with animal traits. Here, you will engage in an imagined telephone conversation, incorporating movements, gestures, postures, rhythms, expressions, speech patterns, etc. of the animal.

Due Date: ________________________________

Reflection [To Be Completed After Your In-Class Performance] Respond to the following prompts sincerely and with specific detail. Keep in mind that sense memory work is intended to be a continual process. You are not learning your times tables; these are exercises not unlike sit-ups or yoga. You continue to develop your ability with no end zone in sight. To achieve any kind of success you must commit yourself to continually working on it. 1)

How did you feel working on this exercise? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

2)

Which specific sensations gave you the most trouble? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

3)

What specific goals do you have for yourself as you continue to work? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

Assessment [for teacher use only] PREPARATION

5

4

3

2

1

RELAXATION

5

4

3

2

1

CONCENTRATION

5

4

3

2

1

DETAIL OF WORK

5

4

3

2

1

ABILITY TO SUSTAIN

5

4

3

2

1

SELF-EVALUATION

5

4

3

2

1

Total ________ out of 30