KIHUMBAH'S NOTEBOOK 001

ACTORS LANGUAGE.

What does an actor want more than anything?.........................

1.Trust! To find a character they are playing, actors must surrender completely to feelings and impulses - they must allow themselves to be vulnerable. As a result, actors want to work with Directors (production team)who can create a safe place for them to perform and who understand their vulnerabilities.

2.Actors also want to work with directors who understand their specific working language. When a director understands the actor's language, they will be able to communicate with the actors more efficiently, which will help them to achieve more believable and well-grounded performances. Here are some of the more important parts of the actor's language 1.Scene Objectives What is the intent of the scene? Why is this scene in the story? What happens in the scene? What is the reason for the scene? Does it move the story forward? The scene objective carries the character through this particular scene. It is also something that a character must achieve in that scene. It is something the character consciously desires and wants to achieve. These overall objectives are what drive the entire film forward and create a state of suspense that generates audience involvement: - What's going to happen next? - What will the outcome be? - Who wins in the end? (2) Character Objectives 1. Super Objective ("Power Over People") - What is the primal motivation of the character? - What are the main needs of the character? 2. Objectives ("To Dominate Character X") - What does the character want (motives)? - What are his active choices to achieve the super objective? 3. Main Actions ("What They Do To Character X") - What the character DOES... - To get what he WANTS... - To fulfill his NEEDS 4. How to Choose Objectives Ask yourself "What does the character want in this situation?" A character's objective should create obstacles for the character in the story. In a story, characters rarely get what they want without difficulty. How they go about trying to fulfill their objectives is what makes for interesting drama. The actors have to find that need and create it within themselves. They then have a reason for their behavior. (3) Text, Subtext and Context 1. Text is what is said. (It is the outer world of the character.) The text is what we get from the screenwriter. Text is what forms the script - it is the dialogue and the stage directions. The Text in a script is like a map: we use it to find out where we are going - but how we get there is up to the actors and the director. 2. Subtext is what is thought. (It is the inner world of the character.) Whether we realize it or not, most of the time we have an interior monologue going on. However, we may not decide to outwardly express any of them. What characters are really thinking has a great effect on how actors move and how they deliver their lines. When subtext is strong, it comes through and colors how the dialogue is delivered. The subtext communicates that more is going on within the person that they are sharing - that an inner conflict is present. Subtext is a good way to help actors find out if they understand the scene. Subtext is what your characters really think or believe - the content underneath the spoken dialogue. 3. Context means the circumstances in which the text is used. It is usually the background, time period or the environment relating to a particular event in the story. The director can also adapt the context of a script to conform with the particular needs of a production. For instance, Baz Lurman's version of "Romeo and Juliet" which was updated to the modern suburb of Verona yet still retained the original dialogue. (4) Conflict Conflict is the heart of all drama - for without conflict, there is no drama. From an actor's point of view, conflict is the result of two objectives in conflict with each other. Five Sources of Conflict 1) Man against Man 2) Man against Himself 3) Man against Environment/Nature 4)