The Art of Acting Authentically - Objectives & Tactics

1. The Art of Acting Authentically - Objectives & Tactics: Welcome to another installment of the Art of Acting authentically. This time with objectives and tactics. Why? To get you out of your own head and engage you more actively with the other characters. But why listen to me? Who am I? Mr. Harper? I've been an actor for 40 years in television film and stage. Did my first movie in 1985 with James Woods and Allen Arkin, been a lead in many different television series and films, and I won a Gemini in 2002. But people usually recognize me the most, either from the Bride of Chuckie or from this show Gene Rotenbery's andramaa, which went 2000-2005. Somerville C can't did I ever tell you about it? No. Okay. We moved around a lot, but one summer, we lived at a camp, kind of like a refugee camp. And, me and my cousins called it Somerville, because that's exactly what it was not. We learned sarcasm pretty young. Anyway, one day, I find a stack of comic books. I go running home, worried about where I'm gonna hide them, right? My mom's there. She sees me and she says, Shamus. Why you so sad? And I realize right then in there, I wasn't. I wasn't thinking about Nitsins. I wasn't thinking about Magog despite everything. I was happy. My art of a classes pack a lot of content that you can watch at your own pace or over and over again, or pause and play because there's a lot of packed into it to help you get better, get more believable, and be more realistic with your acting. And they're fun fast and easy. So get yourself into a comfortable space, make sure you have no distractions, and let's get started with objectives, and tactics. 2. Class Project: The class project is a three part project in each lesson, you'll do an exercise, and you will record yourself. The waiter, the Waiter number two, and a tactics exercise. You'll record each exercise, and then when they're complete, upload all three to the gallery for feedback and direction from me. Feel free to take a few passes if you want at each exercise and then upload the recording that you're most happy with. It's a good exercise to watch yourself while trying not to be too self critical. So, let's get started. I'll see you in lesson one, your objective. 3. Lesson 1 - Your Objective: Objectives? What do you want in the scene? What do you want from life? What do you want from the other character? This is your objective. Everybody wants something, could be little or it could be big. But there's something. For example, let's say you're telling somebody a joke. What do you want? What are you hoping they're going to do? What does anybody hope anyone else will do when we tell them a joke? We want them to laugh, right? That's why we tell jokes. So how do you tell the joke when you want someone to laugh? Do you say why did the chicken cross the road? 'Cause he was hungry? Or do you try to get them to laugh? Hey, hey. Why did the chicken cross the road? I'm trying to show you it's gonna be funny? 'Cause really funny. I want you to laugh 'cause he was hungry. And then they didn't laugh. So what we want changes how we speak. No matter how big or small, what if you're ordering food at a restaurant at McDonald's? Hi. Can I get a hamburger, french fries, and a milkshake, please? What might you want? Or what might you not want? Do you want them to think you're a real jerk? No. You want them to think you're a nice person. Usually, Maybe you have other wants, but let's imagine, you want them to think you're a nice person, so they'll give you your food on time. They will spit in it. They'll handle it with care and deliver it to you speedily. Or maybe you feel bad for the person who has to work at the cashier counter at the McDonald's because you know people are always complaining. And so maybe you want them to have a happy interchange, a happy exchange for a couple of seconds. Maybe that's something that matters to you. What do you do when you order McDonald's? 'Cause I guarantee you don't just order the food. You think about this exchange with the person behind the counter if you still use the person and not one of those machines taking the jobs away. Back in my day, we didn't have those dang machines. When you have that interchange with someone behind a counter, you think about the exchange, and you do change a little bit based on what you want in that conversation. For simplicity, let's imagine a high school principal and a student. You are the student in this example, and age is irrelevant. The principal takes you aside in the hallway at the high school. Wants to know why have you been late every day this week? I'm going to answer this question, and I'm going to stand a little straighter, and I'm going to look at you with my innocent face, and I'm going to try and let you know that I'm a good student. I'm not a student who should be suspended or get in trouble. I want you to think I'm a good student. I don't want you to take me to the office and write me up or suspend me or whatever. Oh, I, you know, I have to get my little brother help him get ready every morning, and it's so tough. He's so slow getting those boots on. I'll try harder, Mr. Smitherson. Every exchange has some kind of objective, big or small. So, that's the thing you want. Your objective. So let's try and exercise now. This is called The waiter. You're going to imagine that you're a waiter at a restaurant, and you're going to say the line. Hi. Here's your spaghetti. Would you like some garlic bread with that? But you're going to think about different things a waiter might want. First, start by just practicing the line a couple of different ways. Hi, here's your spaghetti. Can they get you any garlic bread with that? Hi, here's your spaghetti. Can I get you any garlic bread with that? Hi. Here's your spaghetti. Can I get you any garlic bread with that? Practice and try to make it different. And then get a piece of paper or open up your notepad on your computer and write down ten things a waiter might want when they're working. How does a waiter get paid? They get paid with tips? One thing they want is a good tip. What's another thing you might want if you're working? Maybe you're tired and you want to go home. Maybe you know this customer, and you don't like him. So you want or don't want something from him. Maybe you don't want to serve him. Maybe you don't want to chit chat with him. Maybe he owes you money, and you want him to pay you back. You come up with your own objectives. Ten objectives, ten things your waiter will want, either from the customer, from the restaurant, from life, anything, ten things they want, and then try to say that line with that want in mind. Practice saying the line ten times or more. Each time, choose a different objective from your list. Record yourself with your phone and watch it afterward, and upload the recording to the gallery, if you'd like me to review, and give you feedback. Here are a few examples before you begin. Hi. Here's your spaghetti. Can I get you any garlic bread? Hi. Here's your spaghetti. Can I get you any garlic bread? Hi. Here's your spaghetti. Can I get you any garlic bread? What do you think that last one was? Gordon's waiter objective number three. Tell me what it was in the classroom. Write down ten wants, practice it, record yourself, watch it back, and then come on back, and we'll continue. 4. Lesson 2 - Their Objective: Imagine a simple relationship like a dentist and a patient. Choose an objective for one of them. But find a stronger objective that connects more directly with the other character. For example, instead of as the patient, I really don't want this dental work to hurt. You might think I've got to make sure this dentist doesn't hurt me. This subtle difference will get you out of your own head and engage you more with the other character. How did it go? How did trying the different objectives change the way you said it? Did you hear yourself altering or varying the way you say it a couple of times. Every exchange has some kind of objective, big or small. So that's the thing you want, your objective. But what does the other character want? Maybe Mr. Smitherson doesn't want you to lie to him. And so he might say to you, You've been late every day this week. Mm hmm. He might talk to you in a way that intimidates you a little bit to make you mess up if you're lying, 'cause he wants something. But how you say the line based on the thing you want, you're based on pursuing your objective. That will also change based on what the other character wants. Because if you know what they want, you have to think about that, too. Mr. Smitherson wants you to tell the truth. Maybe you don't want Mr. Smittherson to know the truth. So he's intimidating, and you're putting on your good student face. Who wins? That's what the scenes about. See how all of a sudden, that's an interesting scene because objectives conflict. Sometimes they come together. Sometimes we want the same thing. Maybe the scene starts that we didn't realize we wanted the same thing. This is what we look for. You have a want? Your objective. The other character has a want, their objective. The question is, Do these objectives conflict? Let's apply this to your practice exercise, the waiter. For this example, the waiter is tired and wants to go home. That's their big objective or motivation. So what is their objective that is directly connected to the other character? That depends on the other character's objective. What they want might change what you want. I'm tired and I want to go home. So I want him to not order anything else. I don't want him to want the garlic bread, 'cause then I have to go get it and bring it back, and that's more time. It's loud in here. I'm tired. I'm sick of working. So I want him to not order anymore. All these came together to one objective. So I want to say the garlic bread to him in a way that will influence him to not order it. Hi, here's your spaghetti. Did you want some garlic bread? But what if he's hungry? What if he wants lots more? So now, I'm tired. I'm hungry. I don't want him to order more. I don't want him to order the garlic bread, but I know he's really hungry. And I know he's probably gonna want more. So now, I'm going to actively try to make him not order the garlic bread, but I'm also going to be aware of the fact that he might order ten pieces of garlic bread, and it'll take three times as long. Hi. Here's your spaghetti. Did you want the garlic bread? I even changed the line by accident. In this exercise, make sure you don't change the line. The goal is to say the exact same words every time, but change the feeling. Hi. Here's your spaghetti. Can I get you the garlic bread? And this is what happens in life. And this is what makes moments funny and interesting or dramatic and intense, 'cause there's all this stuff going on. What if he can see? Oh, you don't want me to order more garlic bread 'cause you're tired and want to go home? Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry my hunger at a restaurant where hungry people go to eat is offending you so much. Sir, I guess you're not a waiter. Oh wait. You are. All that could go through his head. And so all this stuff could happen around these words, Hi, can I get you some garlic bread? Yes, please. I'd like five more pieces. What if they don't want you to talk to them? What if they want to be really good friends? What if you want to go home 'cause you're really tired, and they want a new friend? That's gonna cause some conflict. That's gonna be a fun and interesting scene. Hi. Here's your spaghetti. Can I get you some garlic bread? Wow, you're a really good reader. How long have you been working here? No. Obviously, you're stuck with the lines, but the feeling might go with the lines. You might be reading a scene, and you're like, Oh, this guy wants to be friends, and this character just wants to be left alone. There's some conflict there. The objectives are conflicting. Because you have to acknowledge when you know what somebody else wants while you're talking to them. So write another list. Get your piece of paper and your pen out or back to your note pad again, and come up with ten more things that the customer wants. Maybe He wants to rob the place, and you want a really good tip, but something suspicious about this guy. It's a tough one if you choose an objective. That you're not supposed to know about. If you do that, if you choose an objective for the other character that you're not supposed to know about, then ask yourself, how would this guy be acting? Maybe I don't know he wants to rob this place, but maybe he's acting suspicious. So I have the thing that I want. But I also need to be aware of the fact that he's acting kind of suspicious. For instance, as the waiter, if my objective is, I want to impress my boss while I'm serving this guy who's a little suspicious. I, here's your spaghetti. Can I get you some garlic bread? So, kind of both things are happening there, impressing my boss, but wondering what's going on with the suspicious guy. And while you're coming up with these, try to come up with objectives, things they want, that might make your waiter job difficult. They don't all have to be like that, but just like I want to go home early, and this person wants to be a friend. Lots of conflict. Try to come up with some if you can. And then Here's what you're going to do. Part two of the waiter exercise. You're now going to go through both lists and record this on your phone so you can watch it back. You're going to take an objective from the water list and an objective from the customer list. Put them together and imagine the customer's objective and pursue your objective, but being aware of what they want. And then go through the whole list, matching up different ones and see how it changes you, how it changes the way you talk to this person because that is your tactic. But we'll get to that in a minute. First, give it a try. And then come on back. 5. Lesson 3 - Tactics: Oh. Recall your simple relationship from the last recap? For me, it was a dentist then a patient. Choose objectives for them that will strongly conflict? For example, if the patient is still thinking, I've got to make sure this dentist isn't gonna hurt me. And the dentist was thinking, I wonder what I'll have for lunch. I might instead, have the dentist think. I got to get this patient to stop talking so I can get to lunch sooner. Do those two objectives sound like they might conflict? Try this with your simple relationship, you imagined. Also. How many times in the waiter number two, did you feel like you were facing more conflict with a certain pair of objectives? Did it feel like there was more going on in the scene when they strongly conflicted? So your objective, plus their objective makes you decide on how to speak to them because of what you're pursuing. This is your tactic. How do you speak to this person? Do you deny them? Do you try to deny them the garlic bread with your voice? Do you want some garlic bread? Do you try to tantalize them? Do you want some garlic bread? Tactics are action words, verbs that describe the way you talk to somebody, and they're good to practice. Because This is a one line exercise that we're doing, but imagine a big scene. Imagine you're trying to change somebody because side note, drama is all about character A, changing character B, and that requires tactics. If somebody's providing an obstacle for your objective, you need to change them, so they no longer obstruct your objective. So if you're doing a long scene, and you do a tactic, let's say you decide to blame somebody. Here's your spaghetti. Would you like some garlic bread? And that scene goes on and I keep blaming that person, and they don't change. If I keep using the same tactic and they don't change, the audience is going to think your character is completely unaware of that person. They're going to think you as an actor are not paying attention, and you're in your own little head. And as a character, or as a character, your character is not very spright and you're not paying attention to people because it's not working. So you need to try different tactics. And that's what we do in life. When something doesn't work, we try something else. So you want to get used to trying different tactics, different ways to say things. When you watch some of the really great actors, and you see them blame people or inspire. They'll do it in so many different ways with so many different levels, trying combinations of tactics. And that's what you want to get to. And that's the fun of it, finding which tactics work and combine and are interesting to try and get this objective, to change that character, to make them go, whoa, Okay. This is the fun of acting. What I think is the most fun part of acting, figuring this stuff out. It's like a puzzle of the mind. So, different tactics. Some of these words may be a little bit harder to frame as a tactic to choose, give it a try. If you don't know what any of these words mean, look it up in a dictionary. There's lots online. This is also your job as an actor to make sure you understand everything that's in the script and in the text. So pause it, look it up. And you're going to try these different tactics to tempt We did that. That's like, tantalizing. Hey, you want some garlic bread? To heal. Would you like some garlic bread? Just try it. Your healing will be different from my healing. Your softening. Would you like some garlic bread? Your softening will be different from my softening. That's what makes our performances unique. And that's what makes this process also so cool for actors. To honor, how would you offer somebody some garlic bread while you're honoring them? Just try it in the next exercise you're about to do. Try not to think too much about the logic, or do the opposite. Take a moment to invent some ideas that help you justify why you would honor somebody with garlic bread? Maybe. Maybe garlic bread is what this restaurant is famous for, and we don't give it to everybody because we always run out. So would you like some garlic bread? Honor you with my garlic bread. That could be interesting. That character is really proud of their garlic bread. Yes, it's about honoring them, but it tells the audience, Wow, you chose garlic bread to honor him. So, here's what you're gonna do. You're going to say, Can I have the keys, and you are only going to say, Can I have the keys? But you're going to say it using different tactics. In the next section, I'm going to enlarge the scroll, put it on the screen. They'll go through a couple of times. What I would like you to do is pause this video just before the scroll. Get your camera ready. Press record. Start the video, and then as the different tactics scroll by, just randomly choose them and say the line. Can I have the keys? Can I have the car keys? Do not change the words, but change the feeling by trying different tactics. And just jump in and try them. Okay? Get your phone ready. Get ready to pause. I'll let it go through a couple of times. And then, of course, you're obviously welcome to fast forward and rewind. And then once you're done, just fast forward to the next section. Some resources and tips and wrap up at the end. Okay. Get ready. Comes the scroll. Pause. D. D. D. D. 6. Resources: How did it go? Did you dazzle? Everybody avoids the dazzle. If you did, I suggest you go back and try it. Try to dazzle. Your line. Just remember, you don't need to be able to do every tactic on that list. Just choose them. And I choose challenging ones and easy ones on purpose to so you can maybe come back to it and try it again. I know it can be difficult. One thing you can do is come up with another list of five or six of your own tactics, ways you would try to speak to somebody or things you might do, the way you would act towards somebody to try and pursue an objective and try it again with your list. If you're still having difficulty with that tactics exercise, look up my art of acting text, subtext and context class. Using subtext and context can really help make tactics that otherwise wouldn't work. Work, because now you have some details to use that help you accept, using dazzling someone while you're saying, Can I have the car keys? How do you dazzle someone? While you're saying, Can I have the car keys? Can I have the car keys? Can I have the car keys? Imagine you're a magician. And you're not really asking for the car keys. You've hidden them somewhere. Tada. I've produced the car keys. It was all the trick. There's a situation where you might Can I have the car keys? Can I have the car keys? Look at my text subtext and context class. It will help you with that. Also, if you're looking for career advice, guidance with finding agents, resources for monologues and scenes, then post your questions in the classroom page. I check in often, and I'm always happy to try and help guide you to meet your goals. Thank you so much for taking this. I hope to see you in another one. Take care. Bye.