When auditioning actors for a less speaking role – do an improv scenario
„two shot“ = a shot with two characters
Group: Natalia, Amelia, Michal, Thom, Reka
Week 2 – individual meeting to come up with film ideas
The team met in a library. Goal of coming up with different ideas for the film and selecting 3 most doable to present in the next seminar.
Michal
A man visits a bar and shares with a stranger his wish to save his terminally ill wife from dying. The stranger offers a help and the man refuses at first, but after a visit at his wife’s room and seeing her condition, he decides to ask the stranger for help. It is then revealed that the stranger is the Devil himself and the protagonist just sold his soul to him…
A terminally ill man in a dystopian alternative future is living in a poverty and struggles to earn money while the prices of the medication he so desperately needs are through the roof… The man balances on the thin line whether to do crimes to get the pills, take his own life keeping a last shred of dignity, or wait for the disease to kill him…
Thom – „From Tomorrow„
Characters
Adam – protagonist – suffers with mental health issues and as a result, has a desire for alcohol and to not be sober, he can’t cope being sober and he always looks forward to his next drink.
Kate – the partner of Adam – she is in a committed relationship with him and wants the best for him, her desire is for Adam to sober up
John – Adam’s best friend – drinks with Adam and on the surface it appears he doesn’t see the issues with Adam’s alcoholism and therefore believes Kate is overreacting, his desire is for Adam to ignore Kate and to do as he please, the subtext of this could be that John secretly loves Adam and wants him to break up with his partner
Rough plot overview
Opens up with Adam and John talking at the bar, Adam is complaining about his relationship issues but it isn’t clear what exactly the issues are (no mention of his alcoholism), John is insisting that Adam does what is best for him and should maybe even leave his partner. Adam states that may be an option before finishing the rest of his drink and leaving. John watches him leave with desire in his eyes
Next scene shows Adam get home and argues with his partner, initially because he is late but then she finds out he has been to the pub and they argue over that too, Adam insists that he will change and it will start “from tomorrow”
We then see Adam shaking and holding his head in his hands, looking distressed on his own in the middle of the day – possibly in his bedroom?
Adam receiving his beer from the pub, he looks at his pint with desire and relief before walking over to his table taking a big drink from it and then making a big sigh of relief as he slouches back to his chair in an empty, dark area of the pub
Amelia
A short film telling a story of a 15-years-old girl fascinated by her five years older sister. She’s jealous that the older one is already a young woman when she’s still a kid. The young girl idealises her sister and develops an obsession with her. That leads to her spying on the 20-year-old and trying to become more like her. She attempts to dress more like her, goes through her stuff and even steals her make-up products and clothes. She also mimics her behaviours, especially in contact with boys. She starts to explore her femininity and sexuality and longs to become a woman already.
Natalia
Reka
My short film would involve 3 characters, a son, an older sister and a father. The son is gay and his desire is for acceptance from his father. Their mother has passed away and so his older sister plays a motherly role in his life and is there to comfort him. Opening scene would include the son telling his father he is gay, and the dad walking away in silence. The rest of the film would follow the sons struggle as he desperately tries to rebuild a relationship with his father.
Decided to name the group / studio „Metro to Sunderland“ based on Rika’s two bizzare experiences that happened to her during her travel by a metro to Sunderland.
Week 3
1st drafts of scripts – Tuesday 19th
Where are actors comming from?
art of representation -> art of experiencing (transformation of acting trhoughout time)
Konstantin Stanislavskij
Russian actor and director
Founded a studio in 1911 to start teaching his „System“:
OBSERVATION
Body has to be trained to act
Skilled observance of reality
Thorough analysis of script and role
MOTIVATION
Justification for everything that is done on the stage
„What if I were in this situation?“
Understanding the character
Taxi Driver – Robert De Niro found a job as a taxi driver working night shifts
7 QUESTIONS:
Who am I?
Where am I?
What time is it?
What do I want?
Why do I want it?
How will I get what I want?
What must I overcome to get it?
TRUTH
Experiencing the emotion instead of pretending to
„Emotional Recall“ / „Emotional Memory“
overlaps of your own past with the script emotion
Being in the moment
reject the idea of acting
Illusion of the first time
Later two splits in the method:
Adler = focus on mental work and imagination
Meisner = focus on listening and attention
Actions must be provoked by fellow actors or environment -> truthful actions
„Acting is reacting„
„Repetition exercise“
Actioning
fundamental preparation and rehearsal technique
Drawn for Stanislavskij’s ideas and objectives
Breaking the text into segments and marking it with „I xxx you“ motivation
I seduce you / I welcome you / I manipulate you / I fear you / I disgrace you
Decided to do Amelia’s script about sisters, but change it a bit. Focus is now on younger sister’s desire to steal her sister’s boyfriend. She steals a photo of him to keep it in her room.
Ideas of the boyfriend confronting the younger sister while revealing he also has a crush on her. He touches her.
The ending is now uncertain. The idea is that something happens between them. One of the possible endings is the older sister moving out with her boyfriend. The other is the younger one returning the photo. Another being the younger one lying on the bed sobbing and throwing the photo to the bin.
