Interruption and Conflict

Book From Tape January 9, 2018 2:52 Auditions Self Tape

A short, practical method for breaking down an audition scene by finding where you were headed, what interrupted you and what the conflict is.

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5 Things Actors Should Know About Playing Interruption and Conflict

Drawn from what is actually said on camera, so you can decide whether to spend the 2:52 watching it.

Decide where you were headed before the scene started

Before the camera rolls, answer two questions: where are you coming from, and what did you just do? Then answer where you need to get to by the time the scene ends. Those two points bracket everything you play in between.

Treat the scene as an interruption of your day

If the scene had not happened, you would simply have gone from point A to point B, and that is not interesting to watch. Everything between those two points is an interruption. Naming what got interrupted gives the scene urgency you can act on.

Name exactly what you need from the other person

Conflict is defined here as what you need from the other character, or from the other things in the scene, in order to get where you were going. Then work out how you resolve it and what you have to overcome to move on.

If you cannot find the conflict, you may be the conflict

When the obstacle is not obvious on a first read, flip the scene and look at it from the other character's point of view. You may be the reason they cannot get what they want. Ask why you are not immediately available to grant their request and why they keep hitting a wall.

Ask why the writer chose these three minutes

The writer skipped the thirty seconds before and the ten minutes after and picked this moment for a reason. That reason is the interruption and the conflict, and the point is to see you solving it. Answering that question gives you plenty to play across the scene.

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Full transcript (505 words)
[Music] hi welcome back to book from tape I'm Jordan with Robinson empowering you with the tools to book directly from your audition tape and this is a tool that is so easy to use and so simple but often overlooked and often forgotten is that when you're looking at your audition when you're looking at your scene or scenes where do where are you coming from and where do you need to go right so where does the scene start before the cameras start rolling where are you coming from what did you just do and by the time the scene is over where do you need to go because anything in between there is an interruption if this scene hadn't happened you would have been going you're coming from here and now you're going to here and that's not very interesting to watch so that's why that doesn't happen that way but everything between there is an interruption okay and now you need to know what your conflict is what is it that you need from this other person or from the other things within the scene what is it that you need from them in order to in order to get where you need to go okay how do you resolve that conflict what is it that you need to overcome and if on first viewing if you cannot easily find that conflict look at it from the other person's point of view maybe you are the conflict maybe maybe you are the reason that is stopping them from getting something so now you need to look at it why is it that you're not immediately available to grant their request why is it that that you that you are the conflict and why can why do they why are they hitting a wall now why why can you not just immediately agree with them and move on to where you need to go okay and that is that is the simplest form of seeing the scene why why the writer feels like they need to focus on these few minutes of your day why why these three minutes now as opposed to these 10 minutes later on or these 30 seconds before the writer wanted to show this moment of you and they're only showing that be because there's an interruption in your day and there is a conflict and we need to see you solving that that's it okay so find the conflict find the interruption know where you're coming from and where you need to go and that's going to give you a lot of things to play during the scene thank you so much if you enjoyed these videos please subscribe to us on YouTube right here and also you can watch another video here and you can take us on the road with you on our iTunes podcast just search for book from tape within the Apple podcast player thank you so much I'll see in the next video