As mentioned in the last post, your body is likely to be a
lot less mobile in an on camera performance of your monologue than it would be
in a on stage performance.
The upside to this is that the camera doesn’t see any
awkward physicality. However, physical discomfort does have an impact on what
the camera can see.
All day long your body is working to keep you as comfortable
and energy efficient as possible. Almost no one notices this but it is true. As
you read this, note your body’s position. Given your current environment, the
body created this position in an effort to get you as comfortable as possible
in that environment. This all happens automatically unless you do something to
disrupt this reflex. The limited movement of an on camera set up can do just
that. You tense up in response to the immobility and as a result lose
significant physical comfort.
Held energy in one part of the body tends to spread to other
parts of the body, like the face for instance. That’s going to have an impact
on the part of your performance that the camera can see and effects the
viewer’s impression of you and your range of expression.
The solution is to allow the body to relax into the
immobility instead of tensing up. Literally, turn the task of getting comfort,
no matter what the performance circumstance happens to be, over to the body.
Practice this when you’re working on your own. That will make it easier to
bring a relaxed physical presence to the mark in an on camera situation.
Next… The camera and cerebral activity