Class Summary

Check-in

• How is everybody doing?

Zoom orientation

• Only the person who’s called the meeting has powers.
• How to make a video for which I can see both of you.
• Call the meeting on the device you want to use to record it.

Acting as Action

Video of Suzanne Shepherd

• POINTS: She talks about acting as need; if you don’t know what you’re doing you’re not acting; a fireman doesn’t go in to a burning building to feel, he goes in to put out a fire; how much more compelling his performance becomes when his actions are informed by physical action.
• Acting is about human behaviour, but not just any human behaviour.  Not all human behaviour is that interesting to watch: theatre portrays human behaviour under heightened stakes, the kind of behaviour when we really need something.
• One thing actors can mistake behaving naturally in a comfortable way for acting. yes, it’s being natural, but not in a comfortable way, because it’s not always comfortable to let yourself need.
• This is why I keep saying acting is doing, and why its important
• Familiarize yourself with your actions
• In general they were too vague
• Verbs keep us active from line to line
• Beats isolate the actions that we take one at a time
• The action of a beat can be interpreted differently by the same or different artists.  But it has to be justified by the words spoken – by the text.
• Objectives guide our action through a scene, or part of a scene, and the beats define how we’re going about getting what we want.  Beats help us identify what our objective is and vice versa.
• Super objectives guide and prompt our action through the whole play; Objectives serve it, and it determines our them.

Video from Star Wars

How many units?

Unit 1

• Luke needs C-3P0 to tell him what R2-D2 is excited about.
• Han needs Luke to make him understand what he’s so excited about
• C-3P0 needs Luke to understand what R2-D2 is telling him.

Unit 2

• Luke needs to get Han to agree to go and save the princess
• Han needs Luke to agree to stay where they are
• C-3P0 needs Luke to agree to stay where they are

Unit 3

• Luke needs Han to be satisfied his plan is going to work
• Han needs Luke to come up with a plan he feels has a chance of succeeding in successfully rescuing the princess.

Unit 4

• C-3P0 needs Luke to tell him what to do if anyone comes
• Luke needs 3P0 to keep the door locked
• Han needs 3P0 to be aware that just locking the door isn’t necessarily foolproof.

Obstacles:

Luke:

• doesn’t speak computer lingo
• Han doesn’t know what’s the big deal about the princess
• Han doesn’t want to risk his life
• Obi Wan told them to stay
• he has no plan
• Chewie doesn’t want to be cuffed

Han:

• Luke is getting excited about leaving on a dangerous mission
• Luke has no plan

Beats, discoveries, decisions

• Luke discovers R2-D2 is excited about something
• Luke discovers the Princess is slated to be executed
• Han discovers who the Princess is
• Han discovers the Princess is rich
• Beat: Luke tries to get Han to understand that he’d be richly rewarded for rescuing the Princess
• Beat: Luke tries to get Chewie to put on the cuffs
• Beat: Han puts the cuffs on for Luke
• Beat: Luke tries to convince Han that the Princess should be rescued because the droids that got them on their mission are hers.
• Luke decides the Princess must be rescued
• Han decides to rescue the Princess

SECOND SCENE

Objectives:

• Bond needs Q to supply and acquaint him with the necessities for his new mission.
• Q needs Bond to accept and understand the necessities he will supply him with for his new mission.

Alternatively:

• Bond needs the strange man to identify himself as Q.
• Bond needs Q to supply and acquaint him with the necessities for his new mission.
• Q has the same objective for the whole scene

Possibly:

• Bond needs the strange young man to identify himself as Q
• Bond needs Q to give him a good reason he should trust him
• Bond needs Q to supply and acquaint him with the necessities for his new mission.
• Q needs Bond to accept he is Q
• Q needs Bond to step back from dissing him for being young
• Q needs Bond to accept and understand the necessities he will supply him with for his new mission.

Obstacles

• Bond doesn’t know who Q is
• Bond is threatened by his age and expendability
• Q is an arrogant little shit

• Bond is a little long in the tooth as far as Q is concerned
• Bond is questioning Q’s competence
• Q won’t brook criticism of his age

Decisions, Discoveries, Actions

• Bond discovers Q is Q
• Bond decides the man is not Q
• Bond decides to call a truce with Q by calling him Q.
• Q decides to give Bond his stuff
• Q decides to leave.

SCENE WORK

1. Romeo and Juliet (Julliane & Sydney C.)
2. All’s Well That Ends Well (Brooklyn & Trystan)
3. Two Gentlemen of Verona (Sydney F. & Keisha)
4. Much Ado About Nothing (Sydney K. & Andrew)
5. Macbeth (Ryan & Emma)
6. Othello (Yanming & Trevor)
7. Macbeth (Matthew & Erik)