The Literal

The ‘Literal’ is the first question that we use to approach a scene using the tools of text analysis. The question is:

What is my character literally doing in the scene?

The trouble is that many people get stuck with the Literal question and end up making a lot of common mistakes. The most common of these are:

*Being too literal. For instance: John is talking to Jill about having a baby (all scenes are talking in general about something).

*Not making it about your character. For instance: John and Jill are…

*Asking the wrong question: for instance: what is literally happening in this scene?

*Getting metaphoric: for instance – Sam is talking Chris down from the ledge (in a scene where Chris is only metaphorically on a ledge).

*The ‘getting’ trap: for instance – Dave is getting Selim to give him a break (this is a confusion of the literal with what the character WANTS).

The reason that answering this question is so important is that it provides, or forces us, to make an objective starting point before interpret the scene, actors always want to interpret but the Literal question makes us articulate our understanding of what the character is doing on an essential level, without interpretation. This brings us closely in line with the writer’s intention for your character in the scene.

The most common format for demonstrating your objective understanding of the writer’s intention through the literal is to answer it like this:

YOUR CHARACTER’S NAME+VERB+THE OTHER CHARACTER’S NAME+BLAH DEE BLAH.

Mike is convincing Jenny he deserves a second chance.

Kay is ending her relationship with Sarah.

John is forcing Steven to hear him out.

Bill is confronting his boss about the stolen microchips.

This format helps you to show that you understand the scene on an essential level. Since you see what the writer has your character essentially doing, you can build the rest of your analysis on this, and not just interpret the scene before you understand what’s actually going on.

I hope that helps iron out a few confusions on the literal. Use this when you first read a scene to help you cut through all the confusing and often misleading information. This prevents you from basing your entire work on the scene on your first impression of the scene, or on the part of the scene that took your attention, or chimed with you.

Finally thanks to all those people that braved a Saturday night in Glasgow to help us celebrate ACS 3rd Birthday with us!