Still Image.
In small groups we devised a still image combining our body language, facial expressions and other dramatic techniques such as proxemics and levels. We decided to create a still image based on a young soldier who has just been called up to go to war, and moreover the vast affect it has on the whole family. Several characters were shown in our still image; the mother (Rebecca), the father (Chadrick), the sister, who was also a nurse whom had seen the cruel effects of injuries in the war (me), younger brother (Sam), the girlfriend who was also newly pregnant (Laura) and of course the soldier himself (Rhys). Importantly, this still image highlighted this extremely poignant moment in a soldier’s life and portrays everybody’s thoughts and feelings in a powerful way.
Firstly, we decided to have Rhys who played the soldier isolated from the rest of the family, which perhaps suggests that the family are resentful of his decision to go to war and consequently his anger. Despite this, the sister who I played was the only character who was in close contact with Rhys in the image, and as you can see I am attempting to persuade Rhys to not go to war, the reasons for this is ambiguous, because naturally a sister will want to protect their sibling, nevertheless there is more depth to this relationship as I was also a war nurse who had previously treated wounded soldiers and had witnessed the terrible injuries that were inflicted on soldiers in the war, and I chose to play the character of the soldiers sister because I liked that complexity about her. What is also ambiguous about our still image, is that the audience are left unsure about Rhys’s motives for going to war; whether he was conscripted, and therefore making him a victim or alternatively, he volunteered, which would clearly explain the families distaste when looking at him in the picture. Also, on Rhys’s face there is a sadness about him even though he is angry with his family for the lack of support offered, facial expressions played a central role in telling the audience which character was who in the still image.
