Frequent Acting Problems: Part 1 – Scene Analysis

When I’m teaching the Step 4 Scene and Technique Class, I see the same problems time and again. These areas must be addressed until they become habituated and when you have them locked in, you will progress not only to the next Step of our STEPS Training Programme, but your acting will step up a gear.

Today’s topic:

NOT UNDERSTANDING THE ESSENCE OF THE SCENE
Q: What is my character literally doing in the scene?
It goes without saying, but if you don’t ask the questions, you get unhelpful answers. The Literal remains the hardest to crack for most people because it demands that they read between the lines of a scene to pull out the dramatic thread.

What is the essence of what the character is doing dramatically in the scene, summed up into one simple sentence?

The essential dramatic line that the character is following throughout the scene. If your literal describes HOW the character does anything, then you know it’s not literal, nor essentially dramatic, but instead, you are reading into the scene and already making decisions about how to play the scene without yet understanding what the scene is essentially all about.

The literal is about the essence of what the writer has got the character DOING in the scene. DRAMATICALLY people! Don’t describe what you imagine. It’s not ‘shouting at Tony’ or ‘Insulting his friend’ Neither of those things would make a decent scene. They are descriptions of what you perceive, but what are they doing dramatically?

What does dramatically mean? It means that looking at the essence of what the writer has made the scene about. Character A is asking their friend to forgive their behaviour the night before. NOT Character A is pleading. Character B is dismissing Character A’s apology. NOT Character B is dismissing Character A.

When you can get to the dramatic essence of the scene for your character, your choices and informed. When you guess from a superficial reading based almost solely on interpretation, you are denying the writer their due. You have an obligation to the writer to get to the bottom of the scene. Then your interpretation can start, and not before…

To You, the Best
COACH