What the acting craft can teach writers about the writing craft: Part 3

We start with:

“Everybody wants to say cool dialogue. That’s all there is to it.” -Sheldon Turner

Sheldon Turner’s writing credits include The Longest Yard (2005), Up in the Air (2009/I), and the upcoming releases The Town (2010), Conspiracy of Fools (2011), and X-Men Origins: Magneto (2012).



Another reason to pay attention to acting.



Today is Part 3 of a 5-part series on what we as writers can learn about our craft from the craft of acting. In particular, I’m hopeful that between what gets posted here and what gets posted in comments — especially by those GITS readers who are actors or have taken acting classes — we can all learn something about the mind of an actor. How do they approach a part? What are they looking for? What do they think makes a great character? And so forth.



I’ve asked two professionals with acting backgrounds to provide their take on a series of questions, one each day. They are Joshua James and Shea Vitartis (their bios are at the end of this post).



Today’s question: What is the primary value that a writer can receive from taking an acting class?



Josh James:

Again it’s just an understanding of what an actor has to go through to bring your characters to life … in addition to what I mentioned before, it’s an insight to making characters ring true emotionally … giving them an inner life …



Which can be either simple or complicated as it needs to be, depending on the vehicle. I mean, as children we all played pretend, just as we all told stories … growing up, however, things necessarily become more complicated dependent on what you’re trying to achieve … in the end, it’s really about making something that is not real FEEL real.



Inner life is an important key that sometimes gets overlooked … establishing goals and obstacles is of course important, but it needs to have an emotional reality for it to have impact on an audience … people go to movies in order to FEEL, after all, and the actors are the vessels bringing it to them.



Without emotion, scripts and movies are empty.



Some people are naturals at this, of course, and have no problem with create unusual and realistic characters who move people. If you’re struggling with that aspect of writing, however, an acting class is a great way of understanding it.

Shea Vitartis:

IMAGINATION.

Another simple yet effective way I combine both writing and acting is what is known as the “magic if.”

What if he runs through the door 15 seconds sooner. Just that change, we have a completely different scene.

For acting it transfers to “as if.” Act the scene as if you are in love with her, and she has no clue.

That “magic if” can have a drastic effect. It makes an easier transition between the worlds of acting/writing.

The Meisner definition of acting is, “To live truthfully under the given imaginary circumstances”

We as writers fill in the given circumstances and with good acting they will live it truthfully through their imagination.

Some key points:

* Shea quotes Meisner: “To live truthfully under the given imaginary circumstances.” Josh says,”Make characters ring true emotionally.” What’s in common there? Truth! You’ve heard that saying, “Be true to yourself.” This may be the single most important goal for us as writers with our characters: To understand them so well, that what we write is true to who they are. Actors are highly attuned to this. They experiment with their characters, it’s a key part of training in acting classes. Like Shea says, “Okay, enter the scene 15 seconds sooner, let’s see how your character plays then… Now act the scene as if you love her, but she has no clue.” Each of those exercises will tell the actor a little bit more about the character. They’ll test out this reaction or that one, weighing them — Did that ring true or false? Taking an acting class can drill that consciousness into your head. And it’s important.

Have you ever done this: You’re jamming through, writing your script, you come to a scene, and the only way to get from here to there is have Character A do Action B. In your heart of hearts, you know Character A would not naturally do Action B, but you’re charging toward FADE OUT / THE END, and you don’t want to lose that momentum. So you ‘force’ that character to do something inauthentic, act in a way that doesn’t ring true. By taking an acting class and grasping how important the truth of a character is, you won’t write that scene that way. You’ll stop. Get in touch with your character — and see how they would react in that situation. “Live truthfully / Have your characters ring true.” Words to write by.

* But how do you know what is true for a character? Again taking an acting class can help you. How? Just like Josh says: “Inner life is an important key.” When writers talk about dialogue (External World) and subtext (Internal World), when we talk about action (External World) and intention (Internal World), it’s not just about trying to give what our characters say and do depth of meaning; rather it’s about us going into our character’s inner world — get in their heads, get in their hearts, get in their souls. A good acting class will guide you through the process of moving from out there (external) to in here (internal), from up there (external) to down here (internal). Because you can not know the truth of a character unless you go into them.

* If you feel like your characters aren’t deep enough, compelling enough, real enough, an acting class can help you. Like Shea says, “Good acting will live it truthfully through their imagination.” Just like you used to pretend play when you were a child, you can tap into that imagination in an acting class to open a door that allows you inside a character. And experiencing that process again and again will only make it more natural for you to do that as you write your characters.

* Finally Josh says, “People go to movies in order to feel.” And what are the conduits of emotion in a movie? The characters! Movies are magical in that they can shrink the distance between us and the screen through the characters: What they feel, we feel.

Here’s a quote from Michael Hauge in his book “Writing Screenplays That Sell”:

“People do not go to the movies so they can see the characters on the screen laugh, cry, get frightened, or get turned on. They go to have those experiences themselves. All filmmakers, therefore, have a single goal: to elicit emotion in an audience. On the most basic level, when the movie creates that emotion in an audience, it is successful; when it doesn’t, it fails.”

Doesn’t it make sense that the more we dig into our characters as writers, the more we go into their inner life, the more we understand what rings true to them, we’ll tap into our characters’ feelings? That’s what an actor does when they take on a role. And you can learn those tools and that path by taking an acting class.

About Shea Vitartis:

Shea Patrick Vitartas was born and raised in Los Angeles. The son of a set designer, he got a taste of the “business” at a very young age. At the age of 18, he joined the lighting union. Not long after his first day on the job, he caught the eye of an acting manager who took Shea on as a new client. It was at this time that Shea’s journey into the craft of acting began. He trained at various studios and learned from the top acting coaches in Los Angeles. Throughout his journey, Shea has met many unforgettable people who have inspired him. Two of the biggest influences on his acting career have been Peter Haskell and William Alderson, both of whom approach the technique of teaching acting from a place of imagination and truth. While he continues to pursue his passion for acting, Shea has also recently completed the UCLA Certificate in Feature Film Writing. Never one to let his creative mind rest, he continues to write and direct projects, some of which have been shown at various festivals throughout the U.S. Shea is currently working on his third script, which he plans to shoot in the latter part of 2010. He is also assembling a web series that he will be writing, producing, directing and acting in.



About Joshua James:

Josh James adapted Peter Biskind’s book Down and Dirty Pictures (2010) into a screenplay now in pre-production as is his dark comedy The Jones Party.

He also wrote the thriller Block Island for Adler-Gray Productions and did a production polish on Roadkill (2010) directed by John Stockwell, which completed principal photography in January 2010. In addition, his scripts A Natural High and Pound of Flesh, were optioned in 2009.

Josh has a blog on writing here.

Thanks to Josh and Shea. More from them on Day 2 of this 5-part series tomorrow at 4PM EST / 1PM PST (U.S.).

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