Installation Idea

Well, I am not the director in my installation group project but I did have an idea for it. And since I have not met with my film group yet I guess I need to blog about my own idea. I thought it would be interesting to have live actors performing a scene showing a girl and boy meeting for the first time and carrying out the first tension laden conversation to start an ensuing courtship. The catch is, they are wearing oversized white T-shirts which have images of them saying what they are really thinking projected in a film on their bodies. The conversation would be humorous and sometimes the actors will almost seem to be aware of the other's public thoughts but most of the comedy and tension will come from the interplay and dichotomy of what they are saying and doing live in front of the audience and the film of their thoughts shown on their bodies. It will draw attention to the way people follow a script when interacting with new people and will offer an experience of what it would be like to really be able to read people's thoughts.
The most challenging part of this idea would be to get the actors to stay positioned optimally for the projection without seeming stiff and akward. But a good actor will be able to overcome this challenge. A possible "bonus feature" of this presentation could be getting audience members to come forward, don a white T-shirt and answer a few pre-decided questions. The punch-line would be that after they answer each question, a projection of a close-up of a mouth on their white T-shirt answers the questions in a way that seems more blunt and humorous. We would have to be careful to pick good-natured people and almost type-cast the volunteers at the end to match the punch-line to the questions we have prepared.
This whole skit would be done with humor and the questions would remain light with punch-lines that are obviously meant to be jokes.