LINES: Character Alignment and Logic

As you may have guessed, I was thinking about LINE in terms of physical alignment. The human body operates in three different planes. The sagittal plane (the action of front to back movement like folding forward), the lateral plane (the action of bending sideways), and the transverse plane (the action of rotating at the waist). Neutral stance allows for the body to stand on the longitudinal axis of the body (a vertical column that runs down the center of the body from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot. Any adjustment we make to that Line/axis in the body creates a new line in the body. It means something. When we begin to move we then become aware that line exists in the pathway that we take. In the investigation of moving a character, line becomes interesting. It asks the question, how does my character connect to the floor? How wide are their feet? Do they walk on a single line, as if on a balance beam, or do they walk on two parallel lines, and waddle in a way? What footprint do they leave behind? How does their foot connect to the ground? What floor pattern is left behind? Character alignment comes down to how the character responds to the force of gravity. The anatomical alignment of character gives way to a logic that inspires movement. The alignment of a character draws a unique line through space as it moves. It is not arbitrary, it follows the logic of it's alignment foundation.