Hyperrealism--the Ten Elements of Behavior--Proxemics (Space)

As promised I intend to discuss the ten elements of behavior, a nomenclature one can used to record all human behavior, in some detail.  Having already done that in my book of the terminology of acting, Unnatural Acts, I have simply stolen it and slightly revised it for this blog.  Why am I doing this in such detail?  Because once one becomes aware of how others are living in the ten elements, the better we understand them.  If we become expert at applying this vocabulary to other people, eventually our observation turns inward and we become aware of how we are drawing ourselves on the universe through time.  If we wish it is a way of knowing ourselves better.  We are not what we think we are.  We are not what we say we are or even what others say we are.  We are what we do.  If we are aware of what we do we can understand ourselves and also why others see us the way they do.TEN  ELEMENTS  OF BEHAVIOR:

1. Proxemics/Space

Proxemics is a term of art used by scholars of non-verbal behavior and body language to refer to the distance people establish between themselves and others at a particular meeting to preserve their sense of safety.  It also refers to the ways they each works to vary it throughout the meeting to further his intentions.  It is an inevitable element of behavior in any event or circumstance (two are more people necessarily will be at some distance from each other) and therefore must be established by the actor as part of the vocabulary of pattern of the scene.The actions which establish the proxemics of the scene and which vary it to any marked degree are usually the largest actions that the audience sees.  Therefore, proxemic choices will be a very meaningful and persuasive element of behavior.  Establishing the pattern of proxemics among all the characters in a scene is what directors refer to as "staging" or "blocking".  The proxemic flow of the scene is constantly visible to the whole audience and therefore is always capable of their thoughtful interpretation.

The concept of proxemics is based to a large extent on social rules developed by societies so that individuals will feel reasonably secure in their persons.  Children, who have not yet learned those rules through education or experience and those who are incapable due to mental illness or inborn mental defect, frequently offend against these rules.

Human beings, as they grow up and become socially adroit, usually come to recognize tacitly that there are different distances they should appropriately maintain and in which they should operate if they are to be comfortable and insure the comfort of those around them.  Indeed, people of different cultures often give unintended and unwitting offense by behaving in a way that offends another person's sense of appropriate distance.  Mediterranean people generally maintain a much closer social distance than that with which Northern European people are comfortable. The rules of proxemics differ greatly in different cultures. The differences in those rules are too complex and specific for purposes of our present discussion, but should be researched, studied, and followed when representing people of different culture and ethnicity onstage.  Indeed, every actor should constantly study and try to maintain currency on general works of social psychology, communication theory, (including verbal and nonverbal behavior.  The information provided in this text merely touches on the most obvious and salient of the rules taken from such study.

The zones of social space are generally divided into the following categories: l) intimate space; 2) personal space; 3) social space; 4) formal space.  How much distance is included in each depends to some extent on the circumstance. 

Intimate space is the very near space that one willingly allows another to enter only if willing to allow them to whisper something secretly or if prepared to allow them the liberty of a kiss.  A policeman in an interrogation room might enter that space without permission when questioning a suspect whom he wants to intimidate into confession.  When a person is in control of a situation, she allows another into intimate space only if she is on intimate and friendly terms with him.  For someone to enter that space without permission is usually interpreted as a display of unqualified power and will be regarded as threatening.  Intimate space might be aptly described as "kiss me--kill me space."  This is a space that is either occupied by close friends of equal status, or by enemies, one of whom wishes to express her position of dominance over the other.

Personal space is the zone of comfort we try to maintain around ourselves at all times. Depending on the circumstance this can vary between an inch or two and three feet, but when possible a person tries to preserve from one to three feet of distance.  This is a space that can be comfortably shared by people who, within the limits of the given circumstances are more or less equal.  There is a tacit understanding that we need to maintain less formal distance when sitting face-to-face than face-to-face.  (Position is an element of behavior that, because of is importance, will be considered next.)  When sitting next to a stranger at the theatre we may feel satisfied that our personal space has been maintained no matter how close the other unless they are actually touching us.  When hands or shoulders accidentally touch usually both people will withdraw fractionally to reestablish that small personal space.  On an airplane, flying coach, passengers may be forced to touch shoulders and thighs but they will usually keep the dividing arm down as a way of preserving a sense of personal space unless sitting next to a close friend or relative.  At a conference table the participants are usually careful to keep their personal items (pen, paper, glass, etc.) within an area that represents an exact distribution of the table's space among them as if that distribution were defined by imaginary lines.  For one participant to move his things even an inch or two into another's space may be interpreted as an aggressive, even hostile, action.  In “real life” this sense of appropriate distance is usually unconscious.  In order for this distance to remain a comfortable one, there must be a mutual acknowledgement that the space is to be equitably divided.  When two people face one another across a table at a restaurant, they mutually and unconsciously draw an imaginary line between them and the social rule is that condiments and the like be made to occupy a place along that line or the table’s margins.  In scientific experiments it has been discovered that, without exception, the subjects grew uncomfortable and even angry if their partners attempted to "claim" more space for themselves by pushing the condiments into their partners' space.  Interestingly it was often noted that the participants appeared to be unaware that the issue of space was the source of their anger, even while repeatedly attempting to reestablish an equitable distribution of available space.

Social space is usually regarded as being a distance of approximately three to five feet.  It is the space we maintain with someone with someone with whom we are less than intimate when having a conversation at a cocktail party.  Most professionals arrange their offices in order that visitors are able to sit within that space unless the office's occupant wishes to create a very formal atmosphere with himself clearly in control.  Social space is one in which all participants feel at once welcome and comfortable.

Formal space is usually a distance greater than five feet.  This is not a comfortable space for maintaining a conversation, so there is the implicit suggestion that anything that happens is formal in nature and is occurring between participants who are very different in status.  The person who controls the situation dictates formal distance.  The other participants are understood to be submitting to that authority.  A monarch might greet a subject, an officer might address troops, a warden might inspect prisoners and the like within formal space.  Only the dominant person is permitted to vary the distance to a more intimate one without risk of giving formal offense.  The space is understood to "belong" to the dominant person and only he may vary it according to his desire.  It is therefore a dramatic action when a person who supposedly occupies an inferior position enters his superior's social or intimate space.  A manager may, without permission, enter an employee's personal space for business reasons, perhaps to read the text from the monitor of their computer.  An employee may not do the same to his boss without being invited unless he wants to risk displeasure and reprimand.

A simple but important principle in varying proxemics during a scene is that all people are drawn instinctively toward that which pleases them and move away from that which annoys, scares, or repels them or which they find offensive in any way.  Working the scene for proxemics means adopting the point of view of the character in varying our distance from the others in the scene.  This must be done within the supposed limits that the situation permits and the degree to which the characters feel constrained to act within those limits.  Obviously the choices will be different for the character that feels himself superior in status to his partner and the one who feels inferior.  Sometimes the most interesting actions arise between people, both of whom feel superior or inferior to the other.  Such a point of view will necessarily lead to behavior that will be high in conflict.   Actually, any time a character tries to vary the proxemic space in violation of the rules that the other character takes to be in effect will produce conflict.  Our sense of territoriality is so central to our personal “rules” that any violation of it will lead to an effort, conscious or conscious to exert control.  (One of the reasons that acting is an “unnatural act” is that the actor must be conscious of that which the character would be unconscious if he were real.)Exercise:  Observe two people whom you do not know well interacting in a public place for five minutes.  What kind of proxemic distance do they establish between themselves at the outset?  How does it vary during the course of the interaction?  How do you interpret their relationship based on those choices?  Record your impressions in a notebook.