Utilizing C.R.O.W
DAA Acting Final WIP
Script Recording (EDITED AUDIO ONLY)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qv1eYZvPAtDXpycfJXGAyGVg6QC0Cz4H/view?usp=sharing
Script Preview (INTRO AUDIO ONLY)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15lBbKfOJpI6iJxEEKvSyWtD5YSS7ioXS/view?usp=sharing
Written Script
Introduction
When
you hear names such as Robin Williams, Colin Mocherie, Wayne Brady, Ben
Schwartz or Thomas Middleditch, you may initially bridge the connection that
these are all funny people. However, aside from providing some of the most
notable performances acted out on stage, these actors all have a specialization
in improvised acting.
Improvised
acting, which we’ll just call Improv from here on out, is a method of acting
that has been utilized since before movies had sound, which involves giving a
performance completely on the fly, with little to no prompting. If giving a
performance that relies on your own charisma and quick thinking sounds
mortifying and a recipe for disaster, don’t worry, it usually is! Improv ain’t
easy, and it tends to be a great way to lose your audience if done incorrectly.
You may be asking at this point: Why even risk it? Why not get all nice and
cozy with a finely-edited script, with all the lines laid out for you, saving
you from the embarrassment of bombing in front of a camera? Well, for starters:
A script may not save you from a bad performance. Reading a script doesn’t help
you have a natural inflection, perform with your face, act with your body, or
even sound natural. We all have memories of someone whiffing a presentation by
rigidly and robotically reading from a script, causing our eyes to wander and
jaws to slack. Improving your improv skills can help you spruce this up, and
inject some life into the audience with a performance that is natural, fluid,
and realistic.
Even
in an improvised performance there can be simple rules to follow, just so you
aren’t completely alone out there! When it comes to improv, there are four
simple guidelines to follow: Character, Relationship, Objective, and Where. Or,
in this case, let’s just call it the more colloquial C.R.O.W.
C-
Character
Who
is in this scene? Those who have studied basic acting know about high status
versus low status characters, which can be a method that shows character
relationships without even saying a word. When you begin your performance, try
to think about the status you wish to establish or is already established. Are
you on an alien planet and the director asked you to improv some dialogue about
your brother? Cool! Think about the status before you: You’re not the one in
chains, so you’re a little higher up. Your collogues are Bruce Banner and Valkyrie, and based on that it’s probably okay to tell a casual story about how
your brother stabbed you as a child because you three are on more or less equal
ground here. Great!
R-
Relationship
Once
you’ve established the basics of status, now you need to know the relationship
between your characters. The last example used Thor and Loki, two brothers with one just a little higher up than the other. Now, in that example, the relationship is laid out
for us already: brothers. Using status between characters, you can have a scene
with brothers, friends, co-workers, two parents, and so on. Remember: It is not
advised to have strangers when you perform. Try and think of a way the
characters in the scene could know each other, just to get past the messy
improvisation of meeting each other so you can get right to the performance.
Combining characters and relationships, would your character be assertive?
Amiable? Standoffish? Think about the relationship and the kind of emotions
that would come from both sides.
O-
Objective
WHAT
ARE WE EVEN DOING HERE? What are you trying to accomplish with your scene or
your performance? This can be broken up into two aspects: micro and macro. The
micro goal of a scene can be something simple like going to get drinks. Let’s
say you have an equal character status, you establish that you’re co-workers,
and now your first micro objective is to get drinks. Perfect! Then there’s the
macro objective, which can be something like one of you wants a promotion
but the boss doesn’t like them. Nice! Now this scene can go many ways, and the
objective has a lot of room to work with in terms of where it can go. Do you
resolve this by marrying your boss’s dad so you can get the promotion and make
your boss’s bedtime 8pm? Who knows! Subtly hinting to an objective can help
narrow down the scope and make the performance more focused and engaging,
rather than being some big, ephemeral mess with no goals or stakes.
W- Where
Nobody performs in a void! You aren’t theorizing
about your boss’s dad’s favorite flowers in a blank void, you’re talking about
it in a bar. By establishing an environment, you can add a sense of setting to
your scenes in a way that actually allows the audience to imagine it without
any props at all. If you mime yourself holding something, if you’re in a sports
place (I don’t want sports) it could be a ball, whereas a similar hand miming
could mean that you’re actually holding a glass if you’re in a bar, all without
actually saying what the object is! Just knowing the location helps the
audience a lot. Combining all of this together makes it sound like you could
risk making your scene really long, right? Wrong! Let’s look back at that Thor:
Ragnarok scene: In case it’s not obvious by being in this video, the story Thor
tells about Loki is improvised, as director Taika Waititi actually had Chris
Hemsworth say a few different lines and stories before settling on the one we
see in the movie. Characters? Equal status with Bruce Banner and Valkyrie, and
maybe a little above Loki. Relationship? Brothers with Loki, associates with
the other two. Objective? Tell a Story. Where? On an alien planet. Four rules pulled off in 11 seconds of dialogue, it’s not a
wonder why this is the story that made it.
Conclusion
Look,
improv is really hard, and you’re probably going to mess up a lot. What I
haven’t mentioned here is how to utilize that charisma and confidence I know is
deep down in you to actually make this all work for your scene. However, I’m
covering CROW because even a nervous performer can give a decent performance by
just giving a solid scene utilizing these four simple methods. If you’re in entertainment,
whether you’re an animator, actor, story boarder, or whatever, there are going
to be times where you need to abruptly get out of your chair and act something
out to make the creative process easier. If that happens, just ask yourself
these four questions: What’s the status between these characters, what is their
relationship, what’s the objective here, and where are we?
