Tweet
Greetings!
Attached is a First Person Profile that Mess No. 1 did for a Southern Guard Picket Post Event in 2005. For this event, we were the 42nd New York. The fun part about this one was that many of the soldiers in the 42nd hailed from the Five Points area in New York City, home of the modern Chinatown.
We began by putting ourselves in the mindset of people who grew up in the Five Points neighborhood. We found streets, so we gave ourselves physical addresses. Because of the notorious history of the neighborhood, we had thieves, drunkards and con artists and players represented. From that, came the fun.
The second part of preparing the impression was their experience in the war up to the timeframe of the scenario we were portraying. While we were from Five Points, our recent experiences in battle, camp and on the march would be foremost in our minds. Sometimes, in my opinion, First Person doesn't flow because we are thinking about it in terms of the background and not what they were doing at the time. They were no different than us. They talked about politics, controversy, news, rumors. These are all things that make it essential to get "into the moment" and let things flow. You can do a lot of first person simply by avoiding modern references.
Also, the time period we portrayed was only a few months after the Draft Riots in 1863. While the movie obviously took liberties, we all watched "Gangs of New York". This seemed to provide the edge we needed to complete our portrayal. The result was a lot of bawdiness, hilarity and some serious improv from the guys. It was alot of fun.
Back in the day, we used to prepare one of these for each event the mess attended. Not all events stressed first person, so we would compile more or less information depending on the event. At the very least, we would establish a hometown, and learn what the soldiers were doing right before and around the time of the scenario.
If you have an interest in First Person, take a look at the attached PDF. Everyone does it differently and there are many people in the hobby who have perfected first person almost as second nature. No outline can do that for you, but here is at least one way to start. Enjoy!
Attached is a First Person Profile that Mess No. 1 did for a Southern Guard Picket Post Event in 2005. For this event, we were the 42nd New York. The fun part about this one was that many of the soldiers in the 42nd hailed from the Five Points area in New York City, home of the modern Chinatown.
We began by putting ourselves in the mindset of people who grew up in the Five Points neighborhood. We found streets, so we gave ourselves physical addresses. Because of the notorious history of the neighborhood, we had thieves, drunkards and con artists and players represented. From that, came the fun.
The second part of preparing the impression was their experience in the war up to the timeframe of the scenario we were portraying. While we were from Five Points, our recent experiences in battle, camp and on the march would be foremost in our minds. Sometimes, in my opinion, First Person doesn't flow because we are thinking about it in terms of the background and not what they were doing at the time. They were no different than us. They talked about politics, controversy, news, rumors. These are all things that make it essential to get "into the moment" and let things flow. You can do a lot of first person simply by avoiding modern references.
Also, the time period we portrayed was only a few months after the Draft Riots in 1863. While the movie obviously took liberties, we all watched "Gangs of New York". This seemed to provide the edge we needed to complete our portrayal. The result was a lot of bawdiness, hilarity and some serious improv from the guys. It was alot of fun.
Back in the day, we used to prepare one of these for each event the mess attended. Not all events stressed first person, so we would compile more or less information depending on the event. At the very least, we would establish a hometown, and learn what the soldiers were doing right before and around the time of the scenario.
If you have an interest in First Person, take a look at the attached PDF. Everyone does it differently and there are many people in the hobby who have perfected first person almost as second nature. No outline can do that for you, but here is at least one way to start. Enjoy!