Tactics for Beginners
So, we’ve been talking about Tactics and Actions for the past few days and it occurs to me that it would really help to talk about precisely what tactics are and give some detailed information that would help someone new to the idea of TACTICS. This is not the first time I’ve done this, but I thought I would explain it in a new way, so even if you’re very familiar with TACTICS, perhaps read and learn something new about them.
First off, Tactics are the thing that help you overcome barriers to you achieving what you need to achieve in a scene. They are the things that we do to get what we want. Tactics are a strategy to achieving a goal. They are REAL things that you can do another person. They are the tiny moment-to-moment doings of the actor.
A good TACTIC choice should:
Get you closer to your goal, objective, action or task
Overcome any barriers
Deal with the present in a moment to moment sense
Always be expressed as an actable transitive verb (a verb that can be done to someone else) KICK, UNDERMINE, ENCOURAGE, SLAP, NUDGE, EMANCIPATE, KISS, COAX etc.
Be designed to make a real impact and affect the other actor, changing them.
Change with the needs of the scene and the changes of the scene partner
Tactics are psycho-physical, it’s not good enough simply to KICK the person in the shin, you’ve got to work out how you KICK someone when you’re using WORDS!
TACTCS are not representations of feelings, emotions, states or attitude – they are what you are going to DO in every moment of the scene. So to be EXCITED is not a TACTIC, but to EXCITE someone is!
Although the actor MAY choose their TACTICS in advance, you should never allocate them to specific lines (unless you are doing a monologue). Otherwise, you will deaden your performance by performing the tactics regardless of what is occurring between you and the other actors.
Although there is much more to acting than just TACTICS, the tactics are what brings you alive, which makes you act truthfully in the moment. They also have a REAL impact on the other actors and therefore CAUSE truthful moments in other actors too.
Once you have gotten used to doing some of the easier tactics like CONVINCE, BULLY, THREATEN, GRASP and MOCK – why not try some harder ones like ADORN, SLICE or KISS.