Yesterday I was having dinner with my 15 year old daughter on our way to see an independent short shot in Miami. We spoke about music and school, renovations to her school, etc., and I decided to be very quiet and just observe her. So many beautiful movements on her face, I don't think I had ever studied her this minutely.
If this would have been a scene in a play or a movie, what would have been the character's objectives, and I have to confess, objectives were more than often, a mystery to me, because I failed to see that objectives have more than one level. There is the objective that the audience sees and the objective the character pursues.
As I listened to my daughter, I knew she wasn't thinking I want this or that from my Dad, aside from the normal father-daughter relationship give and take, she simply was speaking with me. A pair of actors would have massacred that scene over-thinking it and I imagined it being written down and as a director what would have been the way to bring life to it. Objectives are tied intimately to relationships and to the purpose your character plays at this particular point in the play or movie. By purpose I do not mean playing a verb, but the simple question of what is happening in this scene, which of course is not enough unless we establish a relationship. We were relating to each other, traveling across years of age difference to tell each other, this is how it is for me, and for the other, things haven't changed so much.
An artist's diary
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Make your commitment specific
I was describing to an actor friend a scene in 127 Hours where the main character finds the will to survive through the vision of his son in the future who is telling him not to give up. I remember being deeply moved in this sequence of the film but I almost started balling my eyes out as I explained to my friend how beautiful and touching that had been for me. As always, when I have a powerful emotional experience like that, unplanned and overwhelming like a giant sea wave standing 100 feet over me, I think and think, now how did that happen? The answer was simple, I had been specific to my commitment in this "scene" (conversation with my friend) and my "character" (me) had exposed something very private and revealing about him, and that fact of self discovery made him cry.
Your life is your best acting teacher. Pay attention.
Your life is your best acting teacher. Pay attention.
You are so dramatic
In life we rarely question the reality of a situation. There have been times where perhaps you have been so overwhelmed by either joy or despair that the emotions associated with the event are inescapable; the reality is occurring right in front of you, whether you are actively involved or not, and no amount of bad acting on your part will question the life or truth of the situation. It is simply happening. As an actor, think about that. How does that affect your approach to the work?
The difficulty for us follows the emotional scripting that we often do when working. Sometimes it is written, sometimes it is not. And it helps to understand and ask questions of our own emotions and the infinite depth of their manifestations in our daily life. Emotions are not cerebral. They are physical. Sexual energy is a powerful example of this. We might have a mental image that triggers the chemicals in our brain, (more on images in a later post) and after that, the thinking goes out the door. Emotions are a product of fulfilled or unfulfilled desires, hopes, dreams...as simple as the idiot who just cut you off in traffic and made you yell at the top of your lungs, or as complex as the questioning of your place in life, particularly if what you want is not matching what you are "getting."
How does your character "go there" emotionally as we all must do? What are the differences between an emotional and a non-emotional character? You might have a character that feels life passionately and shows nothing (and those are fantastic and difficult to play) and then you will have characters who have insulated themselves from feeling and yet the whole world knows how they "feel."
The difficulty for us follows the emotional scripting that we often do when working. Sometimes it is written, sometimes it is not. And it helps to understand and ask questions of our own emotions and the infinite depth of their manifestations in our daily life. Emotions are not cerebral. They are physical. Sexual energy is a powerful example of this. We might have a mental image that triggers the chemicals in our brain, (more on images in a later post) and after that, the thinking goes out the door. Emotions are a product of fulfilled or unfulfilled desires, hopes, dreams...as simple as the idiot who just cut you off in traffic and made you yell at the top of your lungs, or as complex as the questioning of your place in life, particularly if what you want is not matching what you are "getting."
How does your character "go there" emotionally as we all must do? What are the differences between an emotional and a non-emotional character? You might have a character that feels life passionately and shows nothing (and those are fantastic and difficult to play) and then you will have characters who have insulated themselves from feeling and yet the whole world knows how they "feel."
Monday, July 25, 2011
What do I deserve?
Whenever I am out I play this internal game. You have probably heard variations of this game and I will add my own twist. If you are able to observe people walking about in a mall, outdoors, etc, (and you must be able to observe one individual for more than a minute), you will notice something fascinating, and that is, the image that they think or wish to portray to the world. Waiters and bartenders (no wonder so many good actors have gone that way for money) are at an advantage for this game but anyone can play it. It is without question a reality of human interaction. Even a non-image is an image. Your imagination will take over and write story lines for you without fail. Why is that? It will flow easily from you and without effort. Again, why is that less complicated than a script right in front of you. Try and answer that question. (I remember in 1986 while taking a master class with Uta Hagen she told me that in her mind she thought she looked like a butterfly floating about in loose dreamy clothing and then she would see this older creature reflected back on a store window and it would shock her. That simple statement from her blew my mind away. How beautiful this concept of "self" creation and it is part of every single character you will ever play)
Could you play one of those people you just saw walking around on a leisure Sunday? I challenge myself continuously with that question, making a mental inventory of the people I meet and see. The cool stuff then becomes: who does your character (or that person you are watching) thinks he deserves to be? Deserve to have? Deserve to achieve? Deserve to dream? There are no wrong answers. Have fun and make little stories describing as much as you can of the individual.
Could you play one of those people you just saw walking around on a leisure Sunday? I challenge myself continuously with that question, making a mental inventory of the people I meet and see. The cool stuff then becomes: who does your character (or that person you are watching) thinks he deserves to be? Deserve to have? Deserve to achieve? Deserve to dream? There are no wrong answers. Have fun and make little stories describing as much as you can of the individual.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
How deep is your love
I used this title because it reminds me of Saturday Night Fever and that wonderful sountrack, and music is such a powerful emotional catalyst. What I really wanted to say is how "deep are your thoughts." I don't mean intellectually, i.e. the beginning of time or whether or not there is a God or are we just animals with vocal chords...those are subjects for masters and doctorate thesis.
Are your thoughts the purest expression of who we are or what is happening in a scene, or is there a more primordial, basic element(s) in our personalities which guides us through life? Are your "word" thoughts really able to reach deep inside your core and explain away actions or emotions?
Don't limit the interpretation of your character. There are no good guys, bad guys, it is only people justifying and affirming through out their life the IMAGE of who they think or want to be.
What shaped you? Write down today as many songs as possible from as far back as you remember...listen to "oldies," (songs that were relevant at any particular stage of your life) and sit back and enjoy the flood of emotions, whether nostalgia, even euphoria when you listen to something forgotten in your past through music. What songs might your character have listened? There are many more factors in that answer, but we'll stick to music as a reminder of those moments. Of course, pain, happiness and fear play a special role in that answer.
I am a firm believer that we can only bring ourselves to a role, but we are fantastic creatures and we can be trained to understand different perspectives other than our own, wearing ourselves as a costume on the words of the author.
Are your thoughts the purest expression of who we are or what is happening in a scene, or is there a more primordial, basic element(s) in our personalities which guides us through life? Are your "word" thoughts really able to reach deep inside your core and explain away actions or emotions?
Don't limit the interpretation of your character. There are no good guys, bad guys, it is only people justifying and affirming through out their life the IMAGE of who they think or want to be.
What shaped you? Write down today as many songs as possible from as far back as you remember...listen to "oldies," (songs that were relevant at any particular stage of your life) and sit back and enjoy the flood of emotions, whether nostalgia, even euphoria when you listen to something forgotten in your past through music. What songs might your character have listened? There are many more factors in that answer, but we'll stick to music as a reminder of those moments. Of course, pain, happiness and fear play a special role in that answer.
I am a firm believer that we can only bring ourselves to a role, but we are fantastic creatures and we can be trained to understand different perspectives other than our own, wearing ourselves as a costume on the words of the author.
A couple of exercises in listening
Rehearse a scene and pretend your words have been taken out, or that you are suffering from a throat issue and on top of that you can't write your responses to the other character. (you can also experiment with writing the responses) The scene still needs to happen. You must still try to respond and communicate, speaking without words. DO NOT SOAP OPERA YOUR EXPRESSIONS. It is easier if we improvise, rather than a written piece (but in a written piece, if I feel lost, I sometimes think of the million other things my character could have said or done and yet the character said what is on the page. Why?) It can be an exercise in comedy as the most phenomenal actions will happen, but the main purpose is to rid you of the face value intentions of the words.
A flip to the above exercise is to learn a scene or do an improv with a scene partner and do it blindfolded as if you were both not able to see. It is an exercise on listening and reacting naturally because it will take the performance pressure of doing a simple scene. After a few times you will start seeing images in your mind directly associated with what your scene partner is saying.
A flip to the above exercise is to learn a scene or do an improv with a scene partner and do it blindfolded as if you were both not able to see. It is an exercise on listening and reacting naturally because it will take the performance pressure of doing a simple scene. After a few times you will start seeing images in your mind directly associated with what your scene partner is saying.
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