We’re going to continue our discussion with discovering your character’s viewpoint because I want to break this down more than what’s on the prep sheet, okay? So, you’ve got 15 steps that you follow on the prep sheet. It’s important for you to be very certain of your viewpoint because it will tie into your emotional state. When you know your viewpoint and are emotionally connected to the situation you’re in, you are going to be completely involved from the top of the scene. You know what your point of view is and you know what you want the other character to understand. When you have this in your bones it communicates on camera in auditions!
To keep this simple, let’s look at a situation that’s probably real for most of you. If you’ve ever had a disagreement with a friend, you’ve had a viewpoint about the subject and they had a different viewpoint about it. Emotionally, you felt very strongly that you were right and they needed to understand how you felt and see why you felt that way. So if one day you decided to try to work this out with them and set up a time to meet, you more than likely rehearsed in your head what you wanted to say and felt the emotion coming up again as you thought about it. This is you preparing for your talk with your friend. The same approach is true when you’re preparing for a scene, but you have to discover the viewpoint and the emotional state of the character. In life, you know how you feel, and it’s very clear and makes total sense to you. In a scene, you have to first flush this out to truly understand it and then make choices that you can connect to that make this all work.
In order to create the scene, you need to understand the reality of the given circumstances. That means you’re not objecting to the situation or finding it unbelievable. You’re ready to go to work and have a firm grasp on this reality. If you don’t have that understanding of the situation, you won’t be able to create it with any depth or conviction.
Everybody’s good on that? Okay, so, you all have viewpoints in your life, yes? You have viewpoints about diet, yes? You possibly have viewpoints about the world economy, you have viewpoints about the industry, you have viewpoints about films, you have viewpoints about people, your own family, relatives, distant relatives; you have viewpoints about a lot of different things, yes?
Interactive Section: Email me with your choices for the scene below
[contact-form-7 id=”1003″ title=”Scene Selections Form”]
Here’s an example of a scene and I want you to email me with what your viewpoint and emotional state are and the choices you’ve made that make this work for you.
Here’s the situation:
A couple (Michelle and Allen) have just returned home to their apartment from a wedding. He caught the bridal bouquet and threw it back. Everyone laughed and thought it was very funny. She’s locked him out of the apartment and he’s pounding on the door and calling for her to open the door. He’s saying things like, “I’m leaving now. Who will protect you if the creature comes out? I’m getting on the elevator, the doors are closing. I’m almost gone!”
Based on that little bit of information, determine what your viewpoint is and how you feel about what has happened earlier at the wedding reception. This is for you, so be specific with choices that will make this yours. Don’t take an easy shot, really dig and create your story with the character.
We work on making creative choices and we work on discovering different possibilities. All of that is going to serve you, but you still have to see what’s on the page and what has been written and where they’re going with the story. The prep sheet makes you figure out much more than what’s obvious on the page. So you’re playing what is stated and saying, “Okay, what are they not saying? I’ve got to be able to deliver that.” And you have a prep sheet, then, that expands on that and helps you to discover the viewpoint of the character and the emotional state. So, I’m trying to assist you in bringing in what’s on the page and beyond. Everybody good with that?
Excellent. Anybody have any questions on that? Okay, perfect. Having the viewpoint and what the character wants will make a huge difference on camera in your auditions!
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