The BACK STORY initiates the creative
process of the actor (all creativity starts with impulse.)
ü “Imagination and creativity are guests that do not like to visit lazy
people.”
ü “Until the Actor loses all Awareness of the ‘Self’, the Character will never
come to Life.”
v “The Little Giant Encyclopedia Of The Zodiac”
The actor creates (in writing) a complete
biography of the character from birth up to the time the story takes place as
well as a psychological profile. Primarily the actor
should be interested in what the character is like or what makes him tick. What are his goals, what are his desires,
wants and needs in his life. What are
his mores, habits, manners, lifestyle and values? What interesting things have happened to him
in his life that makes him unique? How
does he respond and deal with conflict, crisis, fear and love and why. (Commonplace is not interesting) He must even create anticipation or dread of
future events for the character; what is the character looking forward to (or
dreading), what goals (specifically) has he set for himself in his life, what
does he anticipate is going to happen to him.
“Always give the character a secret that only he knows.” Always give your character a secret he knows
about the other character(s) that the other character(s) doesn’t know he knows.
The study of character should be from the inside, not from
the outside! “Always work from the
inside out; if you work from the outside in, all you have is a dry husk.” A character is a blank canvas upon which the
actor paints all of the emotions, details, fantasy memories and characteristics
at his command. The actor is the brush:
emotions are the colors; the character is the canvas.
In order to create a complete character, you must research and look
for or create new habit patterns for the character; even if it is only seeking
out and talking to the type of character you have to create.
A BACK STORY can easily (and should)
exceed 50 pages because the actor must create, as part of and in addition to
Research, memories;
v Assumed Fantasy Memories for the character that have nothing
at all to do with his own memories except for some physical memories.
v Knowledge Memories.
Knowledge memories are anything the character knows or has learned in
his life and even what he wants to learn.
v Emotional memories are absolutely vital to the
character in the development of the BACK STORY.
Weak or shallow emotional memories set the stage for the actor to “break
character” and use his own memories.
Emotional memories (causal stimuli), must be painstakingly created if
the actor is to avoid “breaking character”.
The actor must realize that his character needs a balance of memories,
using the “Yin and Yang” principle, creating good or happy memories as well as
sad or traumatic memories for the character to utilize in playing each moment
and it is the strength and clarity of the memories that keeps him in character
and in the moment. Emotional memories
create the basis of the character’s personality; how he responds to crisis, to conflict, fear,
to love and to what automatic choices he will make when playing the moment (A
character’s choices will always naturally flow from the character traits you
establish in his BACK STORY).
Personality defining memories usually have occurred by the age of
twelve. “The response of the character
to any given situation within the context of a scene comes from the preparation
of the BACK STORY.”
v Anticipation or dread of Future
events is
the final section of “Memories”. Your
character not only has a life (the BACK STORY) that precedes the story, but
also that life must and will continue after
the story.
Everything the character has done in
his life or anticipates doing, the actor must know and therefore has to create; the actor must decide what skeletons
the character has in his closet, what things the character is most
proud/ashamed of, etc. Once adhering to
the given circumstances, the actor can basically play God, he can create any
memory or thought for the character he chooses, there is no right or wrong,
(there is only too little) so long as he begins with the given circumstances
supplied by the writer. In order to
become and be the character, the actor must know everything about the character
and the beauty is that the actor gets to create it. You must know the character better than you
know yourself. It is a wise person who
knows others, but it is an enlightened person who knows himself.
It is the character’s lifestyle that
dictates what the character’s personality is like and what choices he will make
and this is where the character becomes unique and original.
Don’t create a unique or original character for its own sake, the
character must fit and flow with the story and the other characters.
The actors should make JOINT BACK
STORIES for the
length of time the characters have been together in the story. “PEAK” memories. Physical, Emotional, Anticipation and
Knowledge. JOINT BACK STORIES are
absolutely vital to the emotional base between characters.
Audience Apathy:
The thing an actor should hate and fear most is audience apathy. When his audience doesn’t care about his
character; love your character, hate your character or at least find your
character interesting, then the actor has failed in his creation.
Emotional Characteristics Outline:
· Strengths/Weaknesses
· Introvert or Extrovert (Personality
category or type)
· How does the character deal with
anger?
Ø With Sadness?
Ø With Conflict?
Ø With change?
Ø With Loss?
Ø With Love?
Ø With Fear?
Ø With Confrontation?
· What does the character want out of
life? (Goals)
· What would the character like to
change about himself or in his life?
· What motivates this character?
· What frightens this character?
· What makes this character happy/sad?
· Is the character judgmental of
others?
· Is the character generous or stingy?
· Is the character compassionate, cruel
or indifferent?
· Is there character generally polite
or rude?
· Is the character easy-going or
irritable/grouchy?
· Is the character self-conscious?
· Is the character confident or
insecure?
Extra Notes:
1) When speaking to an actor off-camera, look
into one eye and stick with it.
2) Film acting is, in large part, reacting and
listening.
3) While rehearsing something with a fellow actor,
if a crew member can come up and recognize you’re rehearsing vs. having a real
conversation, then you aren’t doing it right.
4) An actor relaxes in front of the camera by
concentrating, and knowing that you have no enemies on set, everyone’s on your
side and doing their best to make you look your best for
the movie.
5) The camera catches everything you do, so don’t
be afraid to play things subtly.
6) If you’re going to smoke on-screen, you must
plan it absolutely perfectly, don’t mess up the continuity.
7) All actors steal certain gestures and behaviors
from other actors — but the best actors make these gestures their own. Steal
from the best, and make it your own.
8) You can make four pictures as an actor in the
time it takes a director to make one — so if you’re an actor planning on
becoming a director, consider the financial aspect.
9) A majority of movie acting is relaxation. If
you’re knocking yourself out, you’re doing it wrong.
10) Theater acting is an operation with a scalpel;
movie acting is an operation with a laser.
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