Another interesting thing from Eric Vespe’s report …

… (for me) was this: “Sir Ian had to be here for this moment since a full performance was required from both men, so he spent the day as he does most days on this movie: standing on a platform a good 2-3 feet off the ground. Peter was getting mostly medium shots and over the shoulders (or beside the shoulder for the shots from Gandalf to Thorin if you want to be anal about it) so there shouldn’t be any need for digital augmentation here.”

[ETA: corrections.]

Speaking of the issue I referred to yesterday with regard to hooking up news to context, the tidbit above hooked itself up in my mind with this photo:

Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen Paul Randall, and someone else Mark Hadlow, rehearsing for The Hobbit, screencap from Peter Jackson’s vlog #4. Source: RichardArmitageNet.com

and with this one:

The same. Source: RichardArmitageNet.com

It occurred to me that most of the time he’s acting Armitage is probably not looking up or even necessarily straight across to his fellow actors. That may be another novelty that he had to accommodate himself to. I wonder about this particularly because of his statements about his suddenly acquired height as an aspect of his personality:

In the summer he was 14, Richard shot up to six feet two over the school holidays. It was a shock. Suddenly, he was treated like a man. ‘I’ve never been that cute kid that was forgiven for being naughty.’

Although he looked like an adult, inside he felt like a little boy. ‘I think, to an extent, I still do. I’m ten years behind, but I’m finally growing into myself now,’ he says.

He made a similar comment in 2010 about being tall keeping him out of conversations, letting people perceive him as aloof, and wishing to be about 5’8″. Of course, being 5’8″ myself, I don’t want him to shrink, but it’s an interesting and a revealing comment.

Height and interpersonal negotiations around it make up one aspect of status transactions in our society, and I think that one factor in Armitage’s choice to play Guy of Gisborne so consistently hunched up in the first episodes of Robin Hood must have been the fact that Keith Allen is noticeably shorter. It contributes to our impression of his “robotic” subordination that the tall, lanky Guy is consistently ducking, bunching up his shoulders, and hanging his head whenever we see him with the Sheriff.

Guy (Richard Armitage) and the Sheriff (Keith Allen) in Locksley Village in Robin Hood 1.2. Source: RichardArmitageNet.com

And then, of course, there’s the matter of what he needs to do with Marian in terms of body language.

Guy of Gisborne (Robin Hood) begins his marriage proposal to Marian in Robin Hood 1.7. Source: RichardArmitageNet.com

Armitage is a lot taller than Griffiths so he has a natural advantage, and Guy’s insistence that Marian marry him in series 1 is communicated by a combination of top-down coercion — and grasping at her shoulders to compel her when he’s at her eye level. But by series 2, he seems to have realized the folly of that stance, and what’s interesting is that even as he has Marian in his power to a greater extent than before, he has adopted a new stance with her that points in a slightly different direction:

Guy of Gisborne (Richard Armitage) proposes to Marian (Lucy Griffiths) in Robin Hood 2.10. Source: RichardArmitageNet.com

He gets the maximum mileage out of the amazing space between his irises and the lower eyelid here — making him look even more the supplicant.

The challenge for the Thorin role, of course, is maintaining the kingly charisma of the dwarf while losing the status transaction as it relates to height to Gandalf automatically every time. It’s a fascinating problem, and one I’d love to hear him talk about in interviews (hint, hint, journalists).

No, I didn’t force my TA to stand on a platform during our meeting today in order to test out how interacting with people at a different height affects the interaction, but I do remember very clearly my feelings while studying abroad in México. The average Mexican guy I was meeting at the university was shorter than the average U.S. guy I was meeting on my own campus, and it took me awhile to realize what was going on. I felt like I was gaining authority while I was studying there. Now, of course, some of that probably had to do with racial / cultural issues and the way that one is perceived as a (relative to most Mexicans wealthy and white) foreigner, but some of it had to do with height. I remember when I flew back to the U.S. at the end of the period, that suddenly I was feeling a lessening of authority in speaking to men again — and I’m sure that it had to do with the fact that I was no longer at eye-to-eye level with most of the men I was speaking to, but that many to most of them were taller than me.

[ETA: I wanted to mention, but was getting kicked out of Sbux: I also perceive that I have a very different status as lecturer when I’m speaking on eye level with students seated in front of me or students in desks when I’m standing, as opposed to when I’m at the “bottom” of a very large stadium-seated classroom. It makes a big difference in how I approach the task of teaching. I personally prefer one of the first two situations.]

***

I’m still vidding Guy. I’m pleased with the result, but it is taking forever.

***

It’s that time of year again: a point at which we think about the needs of others in the midst of gratitude for the gifts we have received. Here’s a link to Mr. Armitage’s recommended charities at JustGiving and a link to Act!onAid, a child sponsorship organization for which he recorded a voiceover in December 2010. In 2011, Mr. Armitage also participated in fundraising efforts for Christchurch Earthquake Appeal. You can also generate a donation by doing any amazon.co.uk or Book Depository shopping that you do for the holidays via RichardArmitageOnline.com, or amazon.com or amazon.co.uk shopping via RichardArmitageNet.com, as these fansites both donate earned commission to charities that Armitage has endorsed. Fans have also donated in honor of Armitage to Oxfam International.

~ by Servetus on December 6, 2011.