GP3: The Moment Before -- Homework

GP3: The Moment Before -- Homework

Your turn! It's that time again, friends -- homework time. This assignment is a little bit tricky; it might require some extra work. But, hey - no pain, no gain.

1. Use whatever scene your little heart desires.
2. After reading it through, come up with your moment before. 
3. Write it down somewhere.
4. Read the scene out loud with that moment before in mind.

Ask Yourself How was that? Did it work for you? How did it make you feel? Did you feel honest, or did you feel it was a forced performance? Find what moment before works for you and for the scene.

TIP* A helpful thing to do is to read the entire play. "Every play starts in the middle," Michael Shurtleff says. So where does your scene start in the entire storyline? Is there a scene before in which your character finds out life-changing information or stomps off angrily? How does that past scene affect the scene in your hands?

Up Next The next guidepost and major points on Humor!

GP3: The Moment Before -- Application

GP3: The Moment Before -- Application

Overview Here is a super awesome video I found of actor/comedian/musician Russell Brand. He plays Trinculo, and they asked him to talk about his character. Without a second thought, Brand immediately delves into detail his character's backstory. While this isn't exactly the moment before, it does explain the given circumstances that serve his character in his very first scene and onward.

Enjoy!

Up Next Homework for Guidepost 3: The Moment Before, as well as some other neat pages and links. Be on the lookout!

GP3: The Moment Before - Application

GP3: The Moment Before - Application

Overview Shurtleff says, "the moment before must be strong, full, and meaty; it has to give the actor something to feed on for the entire scene." This post seeks to apply this technique for the moment before.

Application So, in my personal experience, the moment before is usually found in the script, but other times has to be created by the actor in relation to the plot. Here are some examples from a few scenes I have recently worked on:

Guidepost 3: The Moment Before - Major Points

Guidepost 3: The Moment Before - Major Points

Overview Some might refer to it as "given circumstance," but something always precedes whatever is happening in the scene - something Shurtleff calls the "moment before." By knowing this moment before, it gives the actor a certain energy and objective when performing the scene.

Major Points

• Every scene begins in the middle.
• It is up to the actor to create the moment before.
• The actor has to come onstage with it, not wait to get going.
• The more specific, the more focused the moment before, the better the scene will be.
• The moment before requires an important emotional commitment. One has to seep oneself in it, drown in it, be overcome by it.
• Underneath every human being’s rational cool exterior is passion.
• The moment before must be strong, full, and meaty; it has to give the actor something to feed on for the entire scene.

Up Next Applications and homework for Guidepost 3!

GP2: Conflict - Homework

Your turn! Shurtleff explains that someone is always fighting for something in every scene. "There is no passive scene," he continues. So, your homework for this guidepost is is the answer the following questions:

1. In only one sentence, state what you are fighting for!
2. And how does this drive/goal/motivation/objective relate to the relationship between you and your scene partner?

Happy acting!


Up Next Summaries, applications, and homework on Guidepost 3: The Moment Before! Also, be on the look out for a biography page on Mr. Michael Shurtleff himself!

GP2: Conflict - Application

GP2: Conflict - Application

Overview In any play, it is important to know what you are fighting for in the scene. Generally, your scene partner will also be fighting for something against whatever you are fighting for. The following are examples from Antigone.

To view the script, click here!

Application

1. Scene 1
• Antigone is fighting to bury their brother (she wants Ismene's help).
• Ismene is fighting for Antigone's safety (if Antigone buries Polyneices, she will be sentenced to death).

Guidepost 2: Conflict - Major Points

Guidepost 2: Conflict - Major Points

Overview Shurtleff suggests that instead of using the Stanislavski objective or the generic goal/motivation, one must rather ask himself "What am I fighting for?" He uses fighting because it is an active term and there is no passive scene. To connect conflict to real life situations, Shurtleff says,

"All of life is a fight: we always want something. What seems like defeat is just another way of fighting. We always want something; we are always fighting."

 Heads up - it's a lengthy post!


Major Points of Guidepost 2: Conflict

1. Conflict
2. Dreams
3. Finding Conflict/Dreams within Your Character
4. Conflict and Relationship

Up Next Look out for the next few posts: GP2: Conflict - Application! I will be applying this guidepost to Antigone and her conflicts with all of the characters, and to two other scenes (an actual scene from a play and a "contentless scene"). Also, there will be a special post about which acting system serves as the best supplemental method for Shurtleff's work! Exciting stuff.