Twilight - Handout
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Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 1) How does Smith manipulate her costume, voice, language, and/or body language to portray the movie’s characters? Are there any other aspects of her performance that are important to how she represents them? 2) Does she successfully distinguish one character from another? How does she do so? 3) What strategies does Smith employ to represent characters of ethnicities different than her own? Of her own ethnicity? Of a different gender? Of her own gender? Does she successfully portray people from other ethnicities and genders? Why or why not? 4) Is her portrayal of public figures – such as Darryl Gates – different from her portrayal of private figures – such as Rodney King’s aunt? How so? 5) Why do you think she chose these particular people to portray? What, if anything, do they have anything in common? 6) Why do you think Smith portrays every character herself? 7) When do we see Smith as herself in the film? Why do you think she includes that footage? 8) In the movie, Smith repeats verbatim other people’s account of the riot. Why do you think Smith uses this strategy? What difference – whether ethical or aesthetic – would it make if she paraphrased or summarized their responses? 9) Do you think Smith speaks for these characters, or as these characters? 10) When does Smith substitute taped footage of her characters speaking for her own performance of those characters? Why does she include that footage?
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Class Handout
Transcript of Twilight - Handout
Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
1) How does Smith manipulate her costume, voice, language, and/or body language to portray the movie’s characters? Are there any other aspects of her performance that are important to how she represents them?
2) Does she successfully distinguish one character from another? How does she do so?
3) What strategies does Smith employ to represent characters of ethnicities different than her own? Of her own ethnicity? Of a different gender? Of her own gender? Does she successfully portray people from other ethnicities and genders? Why or why not?
4) Is her portrayal of public figures – such as Darryl Gates – different from her portrayal of private figures – such as Rodney King’s aunt? How so?
5) Why do you think she chose these particular people to portray? What, if anything, do they have anything in common?
6) Why do you think Smith portrays every character herself?
7) When do we see Smith as herself in the film? Why do you think she includes that footage?
8) In the movie, Smith repeats verbatim other people’s account of the riot. Why do you think Smith uses this strategy? What difference – whether ethical or aesthetic – would it make if she paraphrased or summarized their responses?
9) Do you think Smith speaks for these characters, or as these characters?
10) When does Smith substitute taped footage of her characters speaking for her own performance of those characters? Why does she include that footage?
11)What do you notice about how different monologues are staged? What set dressings and props are used? What does the way each scene is shot encourage you to focus on?
12) When does Smith insert other forms of video footage (e.g. the tape of the King’s beating, the tape of Latasha Harlin’s shooting and the tape of Reginald Denny’s beating)? Why do you think she includes – and often repeats – these recordings? What is Smith’s attitude toward these recordings?
13) Is Twilight a documentary? A journalistic report? A creative work? Something else (i.e., fiction, screenplay, etc.)?
14) Why is the play called Twilight?
