week 2 we ran through: 25-40

week 3 we ran through: 40-58

week 4 we ran through: 58- 85

Week 5 we ran through : 85- 95

This is the "I'm and excellent driver scene," Within this scene, Raymond panics on the car repeating that he's an excellent driver after being frighted from the movement. This connected me to Martini as it shows how a small disruption can cause a massive emotional response in someone with cognitive differences. Since Martini becomes anxious and agitated for small reasons, this helps me act from Martinis point of view rather than mine. I made sure to watch for a build of anxiety and then the comfort that Raymond finds in repetition and how it anchors him. This helped me especially as I ensured that Martini was in a state of hallucination when Nurse Rachet was disciplining the patients for the rebellion.

This then goes into the casino scene where Raymond's memory is used in a blackjack table in Vegas. This connected with Martini as he joins in card games that he necessarily doesn't understand, while watching Raymond's card counting ability showed me how a character can be socially disconnected while also deeply focused and models how to portray mental difference without playing into stereotypes. I made sure to look for subtle eye movements, physical stillness and the way Raymond's thought process is visible without dialogue.

Originally, I believed that doing an American accent would be hard from the pronunciation of certain words as I thought that I would slip back into my natural accent. However, the overall challenge was remaining focused because the accent distracted me, making it hard to act to my full potential as I was focused on perfecting my American accent.  

Although, as time continued, I began to improve as the accent began to feel more natural. Even though, I struggled with specific words, I finally managed to make my speech more convincingly American and clear while still being able to embody my characters mannerisms and portraying a strong performance.