What is tempo - rhythm?
Stanislavski used tempo-rhythm technique to show a person's, place's, or thing's natural speed and beat. It can also show the mood of an character or the scene. This can really help an actor to find and really internalize their characters inner essence, and be closer to becoming the character themselves. Tempo-rhythm is linked strongly with the characters personality, wants and emotions, affecting how these different sides of the character are shown, how they would most naturally react to different situations. In music the different tempo's are named:
- Grave (Very slow)
- Comodo (Bit faster)
- Animato (Medium)
- Vivace (Lively)
- Pretissimo (Very fast)
These can be used when thinking about the character and what their natural tempo-rhythm would be.
How did the change in tempo-rhythm affect this?
The group was divided into pairs, and within the pairs we had to label ourselves A and B. Each of these labels were given a specific tempo, slow or fast, and then the pair was supposed to act out an scene in a shoe shop, where the other one would be the customer and the other half of the pair the shopkeeper. It was important to apply this given tempo to the character. In my group, that happened to have three people in it instead of two, I started out as the customer with my tempo being fast. Instead of making my character be in a hurry, I made her be quite fidgety and maybe even too excited about being in a shoe shop. She couldn't really decide on the type of shoe she wanted and she asked way too many questions from the obviously bored vendors, that couldn't be more bothered to serve the customer. After a while, the tempos were switched, this time the customer having the slower tempo. This time, I took my time with one pair of shoes, trying them on and trying to decide whether or not I wanted to buy them. The character that I put on didn't really seem to be bothered to be in the shop, but still wanted to get her mission of getting new shoes just over with.
The change in the tempo-rhythm really affected the mood of the scene, since I think the tempo of the scene changed as the characters' tempo changed. On the first time, i could imagine an empty store, with only few customers inside, since the vendors weren't in a hurry anywhere and took their time serving the customer. But during the second scene, the whole scene was busier, and it either felt like the shop keepers wanted to get home as soon as possible, or they simply had too much to do around the shop already without this slow customer intruding them.
What do you think is your character's natural Tempo-Rhythm?
Nell is naturally very confident and used to taking care of herself. She might not always be in control of the situation, but she certainly possesses the stage and has an inherent presence anywhere she stands. So, her natural tempo must be faster than normal. I wouldn't say she would be quite prestissimo but definitely vivace. Why I think this is because I don't feel she is a nervous type or too fidgety. Still, she is quick witted which brings her that comedic essence, something she draws pride from. This comes to be a bit of a difficulty later on, since in the last scene she is suffering from the effects of syphilis, and so she doesn't have all the strength and excitement of youth any longer. Even though she is sick, I still need to be able to show that natural tempo that comes from her inside and mind, but her body just can't keep up with it. This will be a challenge to portray, but enough practice I hope I can manage to show the lively and confident woman that Nell used to be, from the eyes of a body that is slowly decaying. To do this, I really need to focus on getting that inner tempo of hers figured out, so that I still keep it during the last scene, but showing in a different way than trough Nell's body.
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