I was thinking today about my "Final Placement" monologue, about the action "to con" that I had picked for it, how I wasn't entirely happy with that choice. I think part of the reason I'm not happy with that choice is that I, myself, have no clue how to con someone. How am I supposed to portray that if I don't know how? And I realize that if everything she says in the monologue is a lie, then I have to dig underneath that and find out what the truth really is.
And then I started thinking about lying and honesty. I don't think I'm a very good liar. I'm a very honest person. And I know it's not about who I am, it's about who the character is. But it occured to me that most characters are, at their root, honest as well, at least the way I've been interpreting them. When I say honest, I mean they are who they appear to be, they're not pretending to be anything else, regardless of their character, bad, good, stuck up, nice, whatever. Perhaps that's a one-dimensional rose-tinted view, which would explain why I have such a hard time figuring out characters that are not like myself, and why I've had a hard time stretching.
But Luellen from "Final Placement", she's out and out lying to Mary, saying all sorts of things that aren't true. I have to look at it from that viewpoint because the minute she is not aware of what she is doing, the moment I decide that her actions are not intentional or malicious, she becomes a victim.
I need to read some psychology books. Rosmary O'Neill suggests "Games People Play" by Eric Berne, to help discover the hows and whys of manipulative actions. I also remember John Travolta on "Inside the Actor's Studio" talking about The Emotional Tone Scale created by L. Ron Hubbard. Each person communicates at a specific level, and if you can get to one level above or below the other person, you'll be able to communicate. Travolta said it's an effective acting tool, because you can use it to help discover and define your character. I checked it out online, the booklet is only $5, I just haven't ordered it yet, because I really don't want the Scientology people trying to convert me. (I bought L. Ron Hubbard's book about Scientology back in 1995 from a Scientology booth, never read it, got rid of it, and then less than a year ago I got a postcard from the Scientology people, "We see you bought a copy of the book back in 1995, we're writing to see if you liked it and are interested in Scientology." WTF??)
Anyhow, I really need and want to take classes, too. I'm really looking forward to being able to afford them, because while all this thinking and intellectual learning is good, I need practical experience as well, and I'm chomping at the bit because I know how important that side of it is as well.
And then I started thinking about lying and honesty. I don't think I'm a very good liar. I'm a very honest person. And I know it's not about who I am, it's about who the character is. But it occured to me that most characters are, at their root, honest as well, at least the way I've been interpreting them. When I say honest, I mean they are who they appear to be, they're not pretending to be anything else, regardless of their character, bad, good, stuck up, nice, whatever. Perhaps that's a one-dimensional rose-tinted view, which would explain why I have such a hard time figuring out characters that are not like myself, and why I've had a hard time stretching.
But Luellen from "Final Placement", she's out and out lying to Mary, saying all sorts of things that aren't true. I have to look at it from that viewpoint because the minute she is not aware of what she is doing, the moment I decide that her actions are not intentional or malicious, she becomes a victim.
I need to read some psychology books. Rosmary O'Neill suggests "Games People Play" by Eric Berne, to help discover the hows and whys of manipulative actions. I also remember John Travolta on "Inside the Actor's Studio" talking about The Emotional Tone Scale created by L. Ron Hubbard. Each person communicates at a specific level, and if you can get to one level above or below the other person, you'll be able to communicate. Travolta said it's an effective acting tool, because you can use it to help discover and define your character. I checked it out online, the booklet is only $5, I just haven't ordered it yet, because I really don't want the Scientology people trying to convert me. (I bought L. Ron Hubbard's book about Scientology back in 1995 from a Scientology booth, never read it, got rid of it, and then less than a year ago I got a postcard from the Scientology people, "We see you bought a copy of the book back in 1995, we're writing to see if you liked it and are interested in Scientology." WTF??)
Anyhow, I really need and want to take classes, too. I'm really looking forward to being able to afford them, because while all this thinking and intellectual learning is good, I need practical experience as well, and I'm chomping at the bit because I know how important that side of it is as well.
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