PRINCIPLES OF INTERNAL ACTING

You should be able to…

• Define background, behavior, circumstances, environment, heredity, relationship, and self image.

• List the three parts of behavior.

• List the two formulas for behavior.

I. Discovering Yourself

The first step to understanding the motivation of a character is to understand ourselves, our own motivations, and how and why we react in certain situations.

You must know your strengths, weaknesses, and personality.

II. Determining Your Character

Background, Circumstances, Relationships

[Background + Circumstances + Relationships = Self-Image] =

Behavior

• A person’s background is who they are and how they became that way.

• Two main factors create background:

A. Background

Heredity – attributes attained from your parents

• A person’s background is who they are and how they became that way.

• Two main factors create background:

A. Background

Environment – the external influences on your life and choices

B. Circumstances

• Circumstances = the where, when, and how

• Circumstances can, and, frequently do change

• Some circumstances are long term and some are short term

C. Relationships

• An emotional association between two people.

• Relationships, both past and present, affect the type of person you are.

D. Self Image

• The way you see yourself, the type of person you think you are.

• A combination of background, circumstances, and relationships.

• Influenced more over the long range of your background, circumstances, and relationships than by the momentary situations.

• Self image to some extent dictates how we behave.

Behavior

• The way we conduct ourselves, how we act and react, our manners and mannerisms, and how we treat others.

• Composed of three parts:

Behavior = Goal + Obstacle + Course of Action

Goal: What do I want or need?Obstacle: What is stopping me from

getting what I want?Course of Action: What am I willing to

do to overcome the obstacle and reach my goal?

We now have two formulas to help us play our character roles better:

[Background + Circumstances + Relationships = Self-Image] =

Behavior

Behavior =Goal + Obstacle + Course of Action

Private/Public Argument

Choose a partner. Decide on your characters, your relationship with each other, and the circumstances that would lead you into an argument.

Improvise part or all of the argument for the class in an imaginary private setting, such as in the woods, a deserted street, or a room where two of you are alone.

Now, have the same argument in an imaginary public place, such as a restaurant, park, train station, or classroom. Have three or four other students play “bystanders” who react to what they see and hear between the two of you. Notice how the change in the imaginary circumstances of your characters changes what you say and how you say it.

Door Games Get with a partner and spread out, away from the other pairs in the room.

As a team, decide which one of you will knock on the door, and which one will answer.

Decide on characters to play. The “knocker” may be a Girl Scout selling cookies, someone lost, a religious missionary, a thief, or dear old Aunt Louise, etc. The “door answerer” may be a deaf old man, a little kid, a junkie, or an off-duty policeman, etc. The possibilities are endless.

Knocker: Choose a goal. If you’re a thief, your goal for knocking on someone’s door may be to rob them, or it may be to find a hiding place from the police. Do not tell your partner your goal.

Knocker: Try to reach your goal as you think your character would in these circumstances, and with the relationship you have with the character on the other side of the doorway. As you hit an obstacle, try to overcome it and reach your goal. Remember to stay in character.

Door Answerer: Respond to the knocker as you think your character would, based on your character’s relationship with the knocker. If you guess the goal of the knocker, do not purposely try to block it, unless that is a natural response to the relationship. For example, you may try to block a thief, or prevent Aunt Louise from pinching your cheek.

After one person reaches his goal (or after the scene goes stale) trade places, so the first “knocker” becomes the “answerer,” and visa versa. How does your character’s behavior change according to his circumstances, the relationship, his goal, and the obstacle he has to overcome to reach his goal?

Classwork

• Complete the Behavior worksheet and turn it in.

• On a piece of paper, answer the following questions:1. What do you expect to gain from being in

this class?2. How can you contribute to make the class

better?3. Do you have any acting experience ?4. How will your background affect the roles

you play?5. Do you feel stage fright and why?