When these old triggers are removed through experiential exercises and psychodrama, the performer is then free to be more spontaneous and creative in the moment he or she is on stage for the audition. With The Inner Stage™ workshops, I help performers lift their emotional blocks and triggers so they can feel more resilient with the auditioning process. How does an actor, musician, or dancer do their best at an audition, show up with his or her authentic self, and also face the reality that he or she may very not well be chosen for the part? The very nature of being a performer is filled with possible rejection on a daily basis. But according to Shurtleff, there is little else an actor can use as source material in a reading but his own emotional life.īut what if the audition process itself brings up many emotions that get in the way of being present for the reading? How does the actor tap into the emotions of the character and bring the best performance when his own history and blocks are getting in the way? This, of course, can be invaluable to building a character. Many actors also feel better when they prepare for and research a role. It is imperative to know your lines, find your light, use your voice effectively, and exude confidence. Most actors know the more concrete audition strategies. Michael Shurtleff, the famous casting director/theatre producer and author of the seminal book for actors, Audition, is alluding to the fact that authenticity is a vital part of any performance. Most writers have a handful of books that they turn to for inspiration.“The first step to a better audition is to give up character and use yourself.” – Michael Shurtleff Your characters should probably even be willing to consider murder to get what they want. Most people reading this would probably do just about whatever was asked of them-short of murder, I hope-to get their book published or script produced. As Shurtleff says, characters should do whatever it takes to get what they want, whether that be actual hand to hand combat, seduction, trickery, friendship or whatever. If we can identify exactly what our characters are fighting for and know exactly what they will do to get what it is they are fighting for, I think most plot problems would probably take care of themselves. The key to Shurtleff’s method lies, I think, in the chapter titled “What are you fighting for?” The subtitle of this chapter is named after the single most important ingredient in all fiction: Conflict. In other words don’t underplay your drama, enliven it. If a jerk cutting you off in traffic can make you mad enough to want to commit vehicular homicide then surely the events that are taking 300 pages to relate or two hours of screen time to watch should be important enough for them to get as worked up as you were when you didn’t make that green light. Even if the details and the events of the episode don’t seem particularly earth-shattering, your reader should come away feeling as though it changed the life of at least one character in some small way. Whatever scene you are writing, it should be considered one of the most important scenes in the lives of at least one of those characters. This dualism is the strength of the concept of opposites. If your character desperately wants to win the Miss Fried Bacon Pageant more than anything in the world, she should also be equally frightened of winning it whether it be because she’s afraid of the responsibilities or because once she lives out her dream, what will be left in her life to motivate her. If your happiness depends on another person, you are doubtless going to have moments of resentment at that person’s power over your fate. Real people, however, can love someone one minute and want to kill them the next. They are a certain “type” of person through and through with no room for shading. Characterizations in novels and movies are often dependent upon being drawn too tightly because they have a part in the plot to fulfill. The chapters that I find most useful are those dealing with Opposites and Importance. That book is Audition by Michael Shurtleff, in which he outlines twelve guideposts that actors should delve into while in preparation for a scene-including finding the humor in even the most tragic of circumstances as well as the importance of establishing where a scene is taking place and ascertaining the exact relationships between the characters. There is one book in my arsenal of reference weapons which I often find myself turning to when in need of inspiration.
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