Monday, September 10, 2007

Epiphany

This class is my first in any type of acting. So I have never had to really act anything out like I was actually doing a task, such as tasting our just feeling an object. In the past I have always had to show people what I was doing even if it was tasting a food or being part of the State of the Union Address. I actually like these exercises that we are doing in class. When I was tasting a lemon on Thursday, it actually felt like there was a lemon in my mouth just by concentrating on the object so much. My checks were quivering and my tongue was curling up as they do when the lemon is in my mouth. While I was feeling the molasses, I didn't quite get the same feeling possibly since I have never felt molasses before.
I was amazed at how well the touch and feeling exercise worked without actually having something to touch. When our group had to feel spaghetti I could actually feel the spaghetti and the meat sauce on it as if I had just done the same thing for real. It was warm and very messy. The noodles running through my fingers felt so real. When my group had to taste the grapes I could also taste and feel a grape bursting in my mouth as I bit into it. I could feel the texture of the skin and the cool jello-like inside. I feel like if I was starving on a desert island, this exercise might help sustain my hunger until my body just stopped working because of lack of real nutrition. Its interesting how how sense memory can allow make-believe situations like this seem so real.

Tasty!

One thing I have learned about this class, and acting, is that to get involved in the activities you can't just fake your way through the motions. If you actually try the exercises, there is a point. Taste helped me notice this the most. I think this is because it can be one of the most "stimulating?" for lack of a better word. Haha. During class though, I really did feel like I was eating sour patch kids and I was surprised.

i agree with dane

I'm pretty sure that Dane was in my group because we did sand and Playdough and i really couldn't feel the Playdough because it had been a really long time since i had played with any, but when we did the sand i was weirded out because i could actually feel it when i picked it up and was letting it fall into my hand. The thing that got me the most was the taste exercise and my group did sour patch kids. At one point my cheeks started to hurt like whenever you eat sweet tarts or whatever and i think my face actually started to sweat a little like when i eat sour warheads. It was really cool, but at the same time it is a difficult exercise that requires a lot of focus.
I was thinking about the sense of taste and what we went over in class. I'm a big fan of food so most of the time I don't care what it tastes like as long as it falls under the edible category. And whenever I do eat, it's amidst distractions-conversations, people-watching, TV, whatever. So it's interesting to break down the thought of taste. In class, we were to think about the texture of the food, density, tempeture, taste (bitter, sour, sweet), etc. I think I thought about those aspects-what actually makes a taste-more when they weren't there than when I actually am eating.