[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:02.30,0:00:08.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Commedia dell'Arte was an improvised form of theatre.It's an oral tradition, so it
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.38,0:00:12.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,doesn't start in the brain with language and text, it starts in the body by
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.68,0:00:18.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,experiencing something. And when you commit 100% to the shape and energy, you begin to
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.86,0:00:25.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,get the essence of the character that you're playing. There are three types of characters: masters and
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.74,0:00:31.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the servants who are masked, and the lovers who are unmasked. In the masks, there's a lot of
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.94,0:00:37.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,information, so what we want to do is put in the body the thing that matches the mask in your energy and your
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.48,0:00:45.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sound, and the way that you think. Because the wore half masks, and the mask is fixed, it's the work
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.30,0:00:50.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that you do with your voice and your body and your emotions that brings the mask to life.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.86,0:00:57.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the masks are types; the characters are types. For example, the doctor is really large and he
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.63,0:01:07.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,oozes words and thoughts. He's like oil. Whereas his neighbor, Pantelone is really mean and vinegary.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.30,0:01:13.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These are the positions of the main characters in commedia. Each of these has their own
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.90,0:01:22.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,characteristics and their own energies.They have a distinct walking pattern and a particular shape.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.02,0:01:28.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a fantastic template for an actor to put into their body and make their own.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.52,0:01:34.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Didi: You're going to put your finger on your nose, and you're going to pull it forward...
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.78,0:01:39.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let the arms go like that, and now put them as if their nose... absolutely.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.18,0:01:48.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this is what's going to happen, you're going to go.... nose is leading. That whole shape goes all the way to the
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.46,0:01:54.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,tips of your fingers. So, you hear the breath, absolutely hear the breath, because that's the basis of everything.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.43,0:02:07.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Shape, head. And what you're going to do, you're going to metamorphose, mmmm...
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.02,0:02:13.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you're going to go up into sort of nothingness, and then you're just going to stick your chest out
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.50,0:02:27.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's the thing that's going to go through the room first. Put the chest back but let the belly come out.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.46,0:02:32.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When you shift your frame, when you lead with another part of the body, you start to get a
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.14,0:02:40.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,feeling of that character. Light on the feet, not.. (stomps.)
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.70,0:02:53.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Makes noises) And that is a breathing moment because it opens up the lungs.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.70,0:03:02.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And as this is the doctor, it always gives him a thinking moment...the belly goes first.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.32,0:03:08.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,However you want to turn, make a moment of it. This is the one bit of theatre where you do as much as
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.41,0:03:15.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you can in between moments so that you can sculpt it away rather than have to add things.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.90,0:03:21.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Keep that belly. Put your finger there and just hmmmm. And the chin's out and the knees out
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.98,0:03:32.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Pantelone, Scrooge, Faegan, Mr. Burns. What happens when you start with an impulse in the
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.50,0:03:42.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,body, and the body leads? You get a sense, you get a feeling, you get a rhythm. Loose hips, playful,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.46,0:03:56.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,open. An artful dodger, or Arlecchino. So that's just the beginning of the idea of those different shapes.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.34,0:04:01.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Magnifico, with his head. The first actor and the first actress, shoulders.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.12,0:04:12.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The doctor, his belly. His neighbor Pantalone, bent back. Closed hips, Brighella. Open hips, Arlecchino.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.90,0:04:19.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The captain, knees. And Zanni, nose and feet.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.34,0:04:28.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In their shape, the character is clear. When the action is really clear, it has a sort of flipbook or
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.94,0:04:40.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,comic book effect. It's like frame by frame and the two the character and the action, is absolutely the
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.82,0:04:49.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,beginning of storytelling. Before language. Understanding what the action is in order for the
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.26,0:04:52.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,story to happen.