Acting Tips for Character Time Period

Video Transcript

"Now the next environmental factors that you want to look at are the date, and the year. When does this take place? Is it 1912? Is it 1960's? Is it 2008? Is it in the future? Going to be real important to know what time period, because people acted differently; the social norms were different, in different time periods. You also want to take a look at the season. What time of year does this take place? And it could change, throughout the play or the movie, but is it taking place in the winter? Is it taking place in the summer? The fall? The spring? These are real important things, because let's say it's taking place in New Orleans in the summer. Well, that means it's going to be hot and muggy, and that's going to directly affect how your character's going to respond. Or is it taking place in North Dakota in the winter, where it's very, very cold? That will affect how your character reacts and responds and moves, and so forth and so on. You also need to take a look at the time period, in the sense of how long does this whole interaction of this play or movie take place? Is it a day? Is it a week? Is it a month? Is it a year? Does everything usually take place in the morning, or in the middle of the night, or in the daytime? All of those things can affect how your character acts. Also, you also want to take into consideration the date. Meaning, are there any specific holidays? Does this take place on a Sunday? What do people usually do on Sunday? Does it take place on a Monday? What are people usually doing on a Monday? Does it take place over St. Patrick's Day, or President's Day, or Christmas? Take into effect all of those environmental factors."