August 9, 2022
Why is script analysis important? In this video, we will answer that question. Emily, why is scripted analysis important? Well, without it, it's just rote memorization or you're just flying by the seat of your pants, you're just going with whatever's in your gut in that moment, which is not very sustainable if you want to have a career as an actor. So script analysis gives you a flight plan. It gives you a blueprint, it gives you structure, and ultimately that's relaxing, it helps you relax. So when you're going into an audition, you don't feel like oh my gosh, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? How's it gonna go? You have a plan, and that creates relaxation and relaxation leads to concentration, which leads to imagination. Truthful behavior is not enough. Stella Adler, my great teacher, and she is now teaching you through me, said no story happens on an ordinary day. What's exceptional about this day? Now we have a guidepost for that of the 15. That's number nine, find the events. So another of my teachers, Mr. Michael Shurtleff, I always give credit to my teachers, wouldn't be here without them. Mr. Shirtliff said, If you can't create events where there are seemingly none, you won't work as an actor. So what is there about this particular script, and this is script analysis. What is there that is epic and universal? Now, if you just memorize words, while you're auditioning to be a parrot, right? Well, you just squawk those words back to us. But I'm not feeling anything. You've got to take the time to let these words wash over you. Please write down rehearse slowly to later perform swiftly. And remember that the word rehearsed looks like rehear, so you have to rehear it and go slowly to really figure out what's being said.
On the day, you're going to do what we call acting at the speed of life, you're going to act in a conversational way. You're not going to act playing commas, semicolons, periods, acting grammatically, that's like a poker tell, that tells us the words are not inside you that you're still giving a reading because you're not thinking longer thoughts. You're not experiencing longer feelings. So you've got to allow the script to come inside you but you've got to do it slowly. For God's sakes, Alice. I'm just trying to get a practical matter accomplished. Your goal go up, I'm only trying to get a practical matter accomplished. You don't have to destroy him in the process. I wasn't discussing his competence, although that would be a matter for discussion soon. Theoretical, Pippa, and go much faster than I wasn't discussing his competence that that will be a matter for discussion soon. Just leave it. Okay. Now how it is, right. Don't say anymore. What are you staying on? Timeout? Timeout. Timeout. I'm gonna go first. You look like a jock. I'm gonna go timeout. Timeout. Okay, timeout. Good. Take a breather. Gonna go to the craft service table. We need a break. Okay, you're rough. With you staying on? Yes, yeah. You can leave with a clear conscience. My conscience is clear. Okay, but guys, we have a good rate at the beginning there and keep it going. Okay, yeah, you can leave it to clear down there and then we gotta get clear like, actually, the first time it had a lot of this. Right. Right. And then when this happens, you know, we begin to zone out because you know, you're not connected emotionally if it's going at that rate. I wasn't discussing his competence, although that will be a matter of discussion soon. Okay, I was just leaving. Okay. Now that was, taken into him. She had his balls now she's going for his brain. He says, can you just leave it now? I mean, just don't say anymore. With you staying on? Yes. You could leave with a clear conscience. My conscience was clear. I'm doing this because I want to. You're doing this because you can't help yourself. If I wanted to be analyzed, I paid for it. I thought you did you see yourself. Didn't you see telephonic started arranging pulled in, you shrank. I shrank at the ugliness of what was happening. You're staying because you can't stand his wrap the day you say dad, I'm leaving. You've never been able to stand his anger. You look Alice, you know I don't want to keep grateful and you believe him and lash out at you with the sarcasm and that will kill this lovely necessary image you have of yourself as a good sam. Can't you see that? What do you want us to do? I mean, shall we get out of white paper and say Let it be known here with that we, Allison Jean have done everything that we can do to make that old man happy in his old life, right, you know, without inconveniencing ourselves, of course. And not to mention he's refused all of our health. Yes. So if he falls and he hits his head, and he lies there until he rots it, not our fault, is that it?
You should have known by now on the couch, you know that sometimes people do not always do what you want them to do. Sometimes it's we who have to make any adjustments. It's actually one of my great observations is when actors are with us a little bit, they go, wow, it's just more work than I ever thought. But now, I'm so glad I know what the work is because if you haven't identified it, you can't modify it, right? So you've got to label everything, to be able to adjust it, right. So much of the time, I think we find people get into acting because they had a certain facility for maybe being in front of people, or maybe they were very emotional or charismatic, or there's something there. But whenever they read a script, they're just going off of their subjective response to a script whenever they read it, how they're feeling on that day. But as we were saying earlier, that that's not enough when you are going to set every day or when you're writing a Broadway show. You need to have a certain technique so that you know, your performance level will not drop below, you know, no matter what you're going through emotionally, personally within your life. So we have a specific technique, when we work with actors all over the world, every Saturday, we have specific tools that are really distilled from all the work you've done with your teachers over the years, but really also created for today's world, because we're not in Stanislavski time where we have months of rehearsal in Moscow. We have to go to set and shoot in maybe an hour and I have to learn a text. So how do I do that, and really, script analysis is what helps us look at a script and make choices immediately that are going to be dynamic, that are going to be compelling and we can write those choices on the page. And that's another really important part, you really want your script to be almost like a score. If you're a musician, I'm a musician, you're a musician, you want to score your script so that you can look down, you can see, right. You can see those choices. So that's what we teach is really tools to help you mark up a script so that you really have a roadmap for the performance you're going to deliver. Is in every relationship in the production team, we have two equal and opposite needs of you the actor. One is that you're really reliable, you're very prepared, you understand the art of showing up on time, et cetera, et cetera. But the other opposite need is be unpredictable. Do something that nobody else did. If you're just reliable, that's gonna be really boring, right? So you need both of those things and there's a skill to that. And before we go to the next part, if you're enjoying this, please subscribe and click below. You know, folks, it's no coincidence that some of our greatest directors, Mike Nichols, Sydney Pollack, Sidney Lumet. They all started as actors. Sidney Lumet was acting at five and was acting on Broadway at eight but movies like Dog Day Afternoon, right, a heightened emotionality about them. The Verdict, Network, one of the greatest films anybody ever made, right? But they understood the actor's language. So they could tell a story as a director and some of them Sydney Pollack went back to acting in movies at the same time, as he was directing, they understood the structure of storytelling. And even though you're an actor, you know, don't be reactive, don't just be that actor for hire, waiting around. Constantly be training, constantly be learning, you'll find that the confidence you develop from that. And when I talked about conservatory, right, that's the other thing. You know, confrontation, consciousness, confidence, all that stuff. Script analysis has changed, right? Because we when you were a Juilliard, you were really training to be in a Repertory Theatre Company, which just really no longer exists. It's attention spans are much shorter, we're working for fit and film and TV, there's no rehearsal. So not having technique and knowing how to do script analysis is really something that all actors really need to know how to do because you're often you have to do that on your own before you get to set to know what your plan is before you get there. Well, also, the script analysis in the audition reveals to us your ability to tell a story and that you have a point of view.
One of the things folks to be aware of, is wanting to make the right choice. You know, our work is a lot about getting actors to let go of right and wrong and just really release into I'm doing this to seek my own good opinion. I'm doing this because I love the life that I'm leading. I love that I'm trusting myself enough to lead a heart centered life and do what I love, rather than what I think I should do or what other people are
telling me I should do. Do not should on yourself. So in your work, remember to forget. The actor knows the end of the story. If you know the end of the story, you will play the end of the story as the characters who don't play the end of the story. Really need to map out architecture. So in your script analysis, a tangible skill, wherever you believe the story ends, begin as far away from that place as possible. Now there'll be a journey or arc, which is the definition of the word architecture. Actors tend to label things that you know, this is a sad scene, and then they'll play that note, which sounds like a car alarm, right? Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. Yes, never play mood spelled backwards is doom. You're doomed if you play the mood. And remember that all stories happen in the now. You can't breathe in the past. You can't breathe in the future. You can only breathe now. Invest in yourself. It's always the beginning. No matter where you think you are. It's always the beginning. Use your voice, your body and your imagination to claim your place in this life. See you Saturday