September 27, 2004

  • Acting Skool - Part II of III


    Okay class, settle down.  No James, we’ll talk about that after class.  Alright, welcome back.  To review what we talked about last class, just scroll down.  We’re now off and running to the next 3 questions to ask yourself when breaking down a scene.  And they are:


    3) WHAT IS MY RELATIONSHIP TO THE ENVIRONMENT?  Who are you talking to?  What’s your relationship to him/her?  If you’re in an unfamiliar place, you’ll act differently than if it’s your own house where things are second nature (light switches, doors, cupboards, etc.)  Your environment will feed you — rehearse with a place in mind.  Small and specific.  You are never just “neutral” wherever you are.  If you see your mortal enemy around the corner, are you surprised to see him or actually hunting him down?  Your scene will play out differently depending on the Given Circumstances you’ve discovered in asking Question #2. 


     


    For monologues, it is important to know who you are talking to.  The person you are speaking to is just opting not to talk in this particular scene.  Each line is you speak is in response to a question they just asked (silently) or their facial expression.  This will give your performance different levels and not make it sound monotone. 


     


    4) WHAT IS MY OVERALL OBJECTIVE?  This question is the driving spine for the entire script.  You are constantly driving this objective through the other person.  It’s your mainline of intent.  Lengthy and wordy life goals are too general and vague.  Pick something specific so you can visualize it in your head.  Tom Hanks’ character’s overall objective in “Saving Private Ryan” was to probably: To Get Home.  He did many different things throughout the film to achieve that:  killing the enemy, securing a bunker, convincing his men to stay with the mission when they wanted to bail.  All those actions kept leading towards the mainline of intent: To Get Home.   


     


    5) WHAT’S MY IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVE?  Basically, what do you want from this person in this scene?  The Overall Objective is the skeleton for the entire movie.  The Immediate Objective is for right here & right now – what do I want from this person now?  These will be the little actions leading towards the overall objective. 


     


    We always want something from someone else.  And it must matter if you get it or not from this person too – otherwise what are the stakes?  This propels the scene.  It must be specific to connect you to the other person.  You never, ever, ever want someone to leave you alone, otherwise it just dissipates the scene.  You can want to “get away from the other person” or “push him away” because those are active things that force you to interact with your partner.  If you want him/her to “leave you alone”, the one-sided scene will fall flat. 


     


    To make things easier, it helps tapping into similiar situations from your life.  All of our experiences are recorded in our memories.  And we can gain access to them on demand.   Using this, you’re asking, “What would I do in this circumstance?” and by using your own actions — you’ll be a lot closer to the character.  Acting is about holding up a mirror to the world.  Everyone has gone through similar emotions/situations to varying levels.  If you use your real experiences and tap into them, it’ll help you get to the emotion that much quicker. 


     


    In my acting bag of tricks, I have written down 3 instances that I have experienced:  


    Love, Jealousy, Anger, Joy, Fear or Loss.  Those are the 6 universal emotions and any scene will fall into either one of those 6 categories in which I can zero in on.  The more specific my personal story is, the more universal it will become.


     


    (Ex 1):  A student of mine wrote for Joy: “Living my life on my own terms the way I want to.”  I pointed out how vague that was, especially when you’re trying to recall that during a performance.  Instead be specific like, “The time when I quit my job, told my boss where to shove his job and then got hired at the place I really wanted“  That’s so much more viceral, immediate and easy to tap into.  Again, the more specific you make it for yourself, the more universal it becomes for everyone else to relate.  But it really has had to have happened to you in the past.


     


    (Ex 2):  Let’s say you’re playing an axe murderer.  Trying to think of how an axe murderer is like and getting into his head is going to be really hard.  It’s just going to be made up and fake (indicating).  Research would help but you could also just think of a time when you were Angry.  “The time when someone cut me off in traffic and I almost got into an accident“.  Or “the time when a trail of ants just wouldn’t stop coming into my house.”   Then you amp up that feeling 100 times and then you start to understand how a murderer might not being able to stand people and how he just wants to slay them all as easily as it would be to spray antd dead, without any regard for life.  You need to justify everything.  No villian is just bad for no reason.  The really good villians in films are so interesting because you can see where they’re coming from.


     


    Okay, we’ll stop here for today.  I know after these 2 entries you must be thinking, “Parry, I see so many of these teeny boppers in movies and TV shows on The WB and FOX working all the time.  Surely they don’t do all that stuff, right?”  Well, you’d be right.  And although they’re making a lot of money off their natural charm and personality,  you won’t see them around in 3-5 years — I guarantee it.  You can’t always be playing “yourself”.  And after awhile, the world will discover that they’re unable to bring in a textured performance and are nothing more than a one-trick pony.  You can make a very good living at “winging” it but it won’t last.  So save your earnings if that’s your plan of action because it’s got to last for 55+ years.  I’m talking long term here.  You have to remember that: 


     


    It’s a marathon, not a sprint. 


     


    It’s all about the journey and not the destination.  Being able to play and be silly in front of others is an extremely important trait and what I start my students off with first before actual technique through improvisation.  But unless you have a way to focus that natural instinct after a certain point, it’s going to be hit and miss.  You want to be closer to the bullseye more often than not.  Plus if you’re incapable of making your own choices, you’ll be forever relying on line readings (people demonstrating to you how the line should “sound”) during your entire career by others (directors/casting people) – hence them always making character choices for you.  Directors don’t always know what they want and you’d be surprised at how many don’t know how to illicit performances from actors without resorting to line readings or vague adjustments. 


     


    This is all to make yourself self-sufficent so that you always have your “A” game with you no matter who you work with.  Even if the project is a dud, you’ll always be the interesting one and stand out. 


     


    Thanks for staying after class so long.  Next session we’ll wrap it up and teach you the last 2 questions to ask that will pertain into the actual ACTING itself.  YOUR ASSIGNMENT: Rent “Keeping the Faith” (2000), select Chapter 18 titled “The Music Store” and watch Ken Leung’s gut-busting scene.   Then select Director Ed Norton’s commentary and watch the same scene for a great lesson about making choices that stand out from the rest in a ‘not so great’ movie.  Class dismissed!  

Comments (18)

  • yay i’m first!! umm do you think after the lessons you’ll teach us how to find and get auditions?? thanx!!

  • i don’t have anything worthwhile to say. i just realized that if i left any kind of worthless comment, i’d be the FIRST ONE of this post. i’m a loser and this sorta thing just makes my day. hahaha. since i’m leaving a dumb comment, i’ll ask a dumb question: who’s dbomb119?

  • hrm. so i WAS the first but while i was composing witty sayings, hugsnkisses913 has beat me to the punch. there goes the whole “making my day” theory…

  • Shhesssh, Professor Shen….that was a long ass class but yet very insightful !!!

  • how hard is it to be a “behind the scenes” person? i want to be a costume designer, but i dont know where to begin.  it just feels like my foot is so far away from the door. what about being a screenwriter? what about agents?

  • dude, ken leung’s scene in Keeping the Faith was friggin hilarious!!

  • *raises hand* Mmm…Professor? Can you please demonstrate how to act like an axe murderer?

  • This has got be my favorite class of the new school year so far.

  • only three classes for the whole semester… wow.. i’m getting my money’s worth… wait it’s free! even better! graet stufff… keep them coming! i’m learning a lot!

  • Random fan and reader –

    Great site!  Love your introspections into the world of acting and all the nitty gritty details behind the celluloid.

  • My impressionable mind is being expanded with all of this knowledge.  Is a field trip planned as part of your curriculum?  J’H”

  • Damn, assigning homework? That may be a xanga first.

  • awesome. thanks.

  • I own the Keeping The Faith video & I’ve probably watched Ken Leung’s scene about 50 times already.  It never gets old for me. :)  

    Thanks for your acting tips & assignments!  Superman auditions were very educational.

  • that was actually really neat.  i’ve never thought about acting as being broken down like that.  i always assumed it was something you were “just good at.”  but i guess that’s pretty naive of me. 

    good luck with future stuff, dude. 

  • Cool.  I’d never thought about the universal emotions before.

  • Hey Parry – When can I look for the BLT sequel to come out. I can’t wait. CAn u give ne hints on wats gonna happen? like is it gonna pick up right where it left off, Im dying to know. PLZ gimme sumthing!!!

    Later- Jarrod

  • Parry, do you really read these commentz that people left?

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