SCENE COMPREHENSION

This chapter deals with one of the most important aspects of acting - scene comprehension.

It's a tricky subject matter.  

I believe that this is one of the areas in which actors most often get tripped up, and side-tracked by loads of unneeded, fear-based and result-oriented work.  And, it's this topic of concern that often allows actors to be taken advantage of by fear-based and result-oriented teachers.

The truth is that scene comprehension is very easy and simple when it is approached with love.

And it's very difficult when it is approached with fear.

Let me explain-

The mistake actors make is when they pick up a script and say to themselves, "This is a scene."

They're screwed from the outset!

You know why?

As soon as you say, "This is a scene," your vulture gets involved!  Your ego (the fear-based side of yourself) kicks into action and wants to approach the scene from a result-oriented direction.

Your vulture will say things like-

"How should I play this scene?"  

"Who'd be better in it than me?"

"How can I get them to give me this role?"

"How can I make this look the way I’ve seen other scenes like this look?"

"What are the beats, actions, objectives?!"

All of these are fear based and result-oriented concerns.  They are all involved in planning how the scene will look; in controlling its outcome.  (They are the enemy of spontaneity.  And the camera must capture spontaneity!)

This is what I mean by approaching the scene with fear.  When you approach a scene this way, there is an unspoken fear of failure which you are desperately trying to avoid.

And it is this fear of failure which result-oriented teachers will prey on.  They will offer you you loads of techniques you can use to help you figure out and then perform the perceived "correct" result of the scene.  And, of course, all of these techniques will cost you money!  ...And, sadly, ruin your love of acting.

It is imperative that actors create a reality where there is no such thing as failure.  Otherwise they will always be trying to avoid it, instead of enjoying their craft.

When an actor approaches the script as if it's a "scene", it's as if he has layered a fog of fearful concerns over the text.  He is not even able to SEE what is actually on the page, for it's so fogged over by his fearful concerns.

To illustrate-

Recently, I had an actress come to me for a coaching on an audition.  She had written all over her script; ideas she had for preplanned thoughts, beats and actions which she could use in the scene.

Right before she began the scene, she asked me, "Do you think I should sit or stand?"

Well…I pointed to the stage direction at the top of the scene, which said, "Pam sits down with Jenny."

When I pointed this out to her, she blushed.  She admitted that in her haste to figure out how to do the scene correctly, she hadn't even noticed the stage direction.

She couldn't see the forest for the trees.  She was so sidetracked by needless work, that she missed out on understanding the literal and obvious situation.

She then showed me a ditto she had been given in a workshop she took.  It was called a "15 STEP GUIDELINE TO BOOKING!"  In it, there were 15 steps actors were supposed to take in order to break a scene down, figure it out, and execute it correctly.  While there were some seeds of truth in the advice it gave, in my opinion it treated the actor as though they are stupid and turned the whole artistic, imaginative and magical process of acting into something that looked and felt like HIGH SCHOOL HOMEWORK.  UGH!

(I personally feel that just by writing down the circumstances it conveys a measure of distrust of yourself.  Don't you think you can remember a few obvious circumstances?  Plus, the act of writing down the circumstances puts them in your head, which makes you spend the whole scene trying to show the audience that you understand the circumstances.  On the contrary, I feel it's imperative that you put them in your stomach, and trust your gut to do with them what it will.  In this way, choices will happen TO you.)

I asked her if she enjoyed doing this "15 step process"; this "work", and, as everyone who I ask this question to responds, she answered, "No."

Big surprise.

There is another way to "work" on a scene, that doesn't feel like work.

You can spend time understanding and absorbing a script and it's circumstances without worrying about the performance, or feeling like a teacher is watching over your shoulder, grading you on your "work".

The remedy is simple!

When an actor picks up the script, he should say to himself, "This is really happening to me."

Ah!  What a revelation!  Everything is so simple when you approach it this way.

It's as if you're blowing that fog of fear-based concerns away from the page, and suddenly everything is so clear!

Once you've said, "It's really happening to me," it's very easy to see what's literally and obviously happening to you in the scene.  In other words THE CIRCUMSTANCES.

And that's all that scene comprehension should be;  finding the literal, obvious circumstances of every moment of the scene.

Actors are not stupid.  We don't need to use "techniques" in order to understand a scene.  As soon as you realize that it's really happening, the answers are obvious.

Then, the only thing left to do is, in the performance, approach those circumstances like an improv, or in other words, like they're really happening to you for the first time.  Which also means it lives under all the rules of real life, for instance; you don't know what they're going to say, you don't know what you're going to say, and these may be the words but anything can happen in terms of thoughts, feelings, images and movement.

THAT is the healthy and loving way to do scene comprehension!

However, some result-oriented teachers will say, "That's not enough.  You must dig deeper than that!  You must decide what the character is thinking in every moment.  You must figure out the hidden and subtextual needs, thoughts and feelings of your character.  You must figure out HOW you will enact each line and thought."

I strongly disagree.

All of that stuff will happen magically in the performance.  Because your heart will be racing, and you'll be behaving as though it's really happening to you, all that deeper stuff will surprise you in the performance, just as it's meant to.  You'll discover it in the performance!  That's the THRILL and EXCITEMENT and JOY of acting!

Now, some people will hear just a little of what I teach and misunderstand my message.

I am not saying to just read the scene once and then GO!

I believe in taking the time needed for scene comprehension.  But that should be only the amount of time it takes you to understand the literal, obvious circumstances.

In doing so, there are many things to consider.

The script tells you everything need to know, so read it carefully.

In the script, you are given wonderful circumstances to enjoy, so make sure to take notice and use them.  Many actors won’t think to.

For instance, consider the locale.  Let the setting of the scene affect your behavior.  People behave differently based on where they are.  The way you talk in bed in the morning is different than the way you talk at a bar.  How you behave in an interrogation room is different than how you behave in a restaurant.  Let your surroundings affect you.  

Suddenly, without thinking about it, you will allow choices to happen, instead of creating choices and serving them to us cold on a platter.

Also, make sure to read the stage directions.  Many actors will not pay the stage directions close attention, and will just sit there like a lump, completely missing opportunities provided in them.

Not only do they give physical instructions that might be fun to play (“She begins to exit, but stops.”), but they also give clues to the character’s inner life (“She stifles a sob.”).

The casting person knows the scene very well.  When you miss a good opportunity that the stage directions are offering, they will notice.

Also, make sure to give yourself permission to behave as if everything is really happening.  Something as simple as the act of making a telephone call, or recalling an event from your past becomes full of interest when you enjoy the honesty of how you really behave in that circumstance.

Once I had to die of poisoning in an audition, and I was told that I was the only person who really did it.  I rolled on the floor (as per the stage directions), crying in pain.  And booked the job.

Many actors can’t see what’s honestly happening in the scene, because their vision is blurred by their need to impress.

They feel it is all up to them to come up with brilliant choices in order to stick out of the bunch.  That puts a lot of pressure on an actor, and is no fun.  But the truth is, the “brilliant” choice to make, that most actors don’t think to make, is to play the scene honestly and specifically.

In the waiting room, you see all the actors anxiously trying to come up with THE CREATIVE choice; the choices that no one else will think of.  When the truth is, the "creative" choice is the honest choice.  It's just what's honestly happening in the moment. 

As soon as you think that way, all sorts of fun things to play will come to mind.  Real human behavior is what’s entertaining.  

No one wants to go up in front of an audience alone.

They want a life raft to hold onto.  To keep them from failing.

So they work too hard on needless things to create an illusion of safety.

When the truth is-

you're not up there alone!

There are two things up there with you-

1. Your higher power (or "the magic of acting") is guiding you through the scene.

2. The audience is PROJECTING upon you everything they know about the character and story.

I believe that when you pick up a script, it exists magically in the air around you, just waiting for an honest vessel to funnel through.

All you need to do in order to provide the scene an honest vessel is to be free from anxiety ("vulture thoughts") and understand what's obviously and literally happening in every moment of the scene.

And then…play.