STUDY: QUINCY’S VIDEO
Food cats like Quincy have odd ways to eat.
Chopsticks!
Quincy clutches the chopsticks in one paw. He bites the top of the other chopstick.
He moves slowly, stopping to stare at the camera with coppery eyes.
He moves the top chopstick by turning his head.
He blinks, slowly. He opens his eyes w-i-d-e.
He jabs a piece of meat.
The nugget of meat falls off.
IMPORTANT: Here’s what I am learning. Every video is a small story.
In a good story, the main character can’t win the first time. They must try it twice and fail. They can only win the third time.
Quincy stabs the meat again.
It works! He lifts the chopstick to his mouth. He opens his mouth.
The meat falls off.
IMPORTANT: Using his body language, Quincy tells the camera that he’s mad. He hunches forward. He narrows his eyes. His tail lashes about. He lets his claws come out to clutch the chopsticks. That’s good acting.
Quincy tries again. This time, he clutches and bites the chopstick. He pinches meat between the sticks. He takes his mouth off the chopstick. Quick, he leans forward.
The meat falls. Again.
But before it hits the ground, Quincy snatches it up!
Success!
STUDY: PITTYPAT’S VIDEO
PittyPat’s green eyes look awesome with her chinchilla gold hair. Chinchilla means she has a golden-colored undercoat. She’s creamy white on the chest and shoulders. Her hair is black tipped on the head, back, tail, and legs. Her nose is the most beautiful pink.
(My nose is red, and Quincy’s nose is red.)
PittyPat is a lovely Persian.
That’s why her videos are so shocking!
There she is, trapped on the far side of a bathtub. (No one knows how she got there. She just gets in trouble a lot.)
The bathtub is full of water.
PittyPat hunkers down by the wall, as far from the water as possible.
“Meow,” she cries. Her voice is rich and deep. She knows how to use her voice when she’s acting!
Her tail swishes back and forth.
CUT to the food bowl.
ACTING WORDS: Each video is a tiny story told by the actor or actress. But it’s a story with video. CUT means to suddenly change to a different picture. In PittyPat’s video, it cuts from a picture of PittyPat to a picture of PittyPat’s food bowl.
CUT back to PittyPat.
IMPORTANT: PittyPat tells the camera that she’s hungry with her body language. She sucks in her stomach to look skinnier. She bats at the water. She licks her lips. She voices her hunger with pitiful meows. Great acting!
She’s hungry, PittyPat tells the camera.
Starving.
The only thing keeping her from her supper is that bathtub full of water.
Light glares off the white bathtub. There’s a strange ripple in the water.
Suddenly PittyPat leaps.
Her legs move frantically.
Doggie-paddling.
(Why don’t they call it kitty-paddling?)
Splash, splash!
Splish, splash, splish!
To show how hard it is, she says, “Grrrowl!”
Her voice is scratchy.
The viewer worries about her.
She tries to climb up the slick bathtub.
Oh, no!
She falls back in.
She’s under water.
For a long moment, she’s under water. (I’m worried.)
She’s under water. (I’m worried more.)
She’s UNDER WATER! (I’m desperately worried! Making the audience wait like this adds to the emotional depth of the storytelling.)
There! She’s up.
PittyPat says, “Meeeew!”
The cry strikes into the heart. She’s trying SO hard!
She slips on the slick bathtub.
She falls in, but this time she keeps her wet slicked-down-hair face above water.
IMPORTANT: This is good storytelling. PittyPat has failed two times.
The wet cat tries to climb up. Her paws cling to the bathtub.
Her claws come out, but there’s nothing for them to grab.
She pulls. Her wet body heaves with effort. She grunts.
I’m so worried for her that I grunt and want to push her up.
She makes it!
I’m sure my grunting helped! (I’m SO involved with her story!)
She’s on the bathtub’s edge.
She throws back her head and crows her victory. “Owww!”
She shivers delicately and stops to lick her paw.
Now she shakes all over, slinging water everywhere.
She’s a slicked-down, ugly cat.
(I’m sorry, PittyPat, but you look ugly when you’re all wet.)
She hops down. Each foot lifts slowly, leaving a watery trail.
She takes a bite of her food.
Everything is silent. The music stops and waits.
Her first bite of food is crunchy.
Then comes the purring.
The big music comes back.
Success. Purr. Purr.
MY VIDEOS
What kind of stories do I want to tell with my acting?
I could fight and lose.
Fight and lose.
Fight and win.
A fight cat! That’s what I want to be.
MamaGrace would never let me fight!
The Director would never let me fight!
Miss Tanya would never let me fight!