Drivas !

Nick Drivas

Kate Ingram

Acting IV

December 1st, 2017

!
Book Report: The Power of the Actor by Ivana Chubbuck

1: The overall objective is a person’s simple primal objective. Everyone has one. That is why

each character in a script should have theirs identified by the actor. People are goal oriented;

from powerful people to the poorest people. Despite anything the career does or has endured, it is

vital for the actor to never judge the character or their objectives. Simplicity in the objective is

key.

2: scene objective, smaller chain link connected to overall objective. Requires a response. Never

changes during the scene. To achieve, other person needs to be changed. Earn the right to achieve

ending. One common objective even with more than one scene partner.

3:obstacles. Empower objective because they are now more difficult. Makes the character more

connected to audience. She goes on to list several examples of obstacles: physical,

environmental, mental, and emotional. All Obstacles are not necessarily in the script.

4: Substitution. Giving the scene partner traits of real life interactions to create a familiar

encounter. Creates a history. Makes for ease in layers of relationship. EG Love- it comes with

anger, frustration, adoration, and infatuation. Use scene objective to identify the right person to

substitute with. She goes to list the general characteristics if relationships for possible

substitutions. She begins now to tie together the past chapters.

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5: inner objects are the visuals created in the mind of actor when describing elements in the text.

The inner object is made on an emotional not physical lever. She references bubba gimp who

uses the shrimp boat as a symbol to pull through the brutalities of the Vietnam War. With this, the

object should have an obstacle tied to it. In bubba's case, the war is his obstacle in reaching his

dream. Like "fighting for", the knee object should be the highest possible stakes in the provided

circumstance.

6: beats and actions. Beats are thought changes, and actions are the thoughts within each beat.

This is the subdivision of intent and purpose within a play. This spreads from the purpose of a

single line, to the beat, to the scene, to the entire play. Each step serving the next, all growing in

an effort for the overall objective.

7: Moment before. This is the creation of a scenario walking into a scene before the text begins.

It creates the sense of urgency to allow you to actually fight for your scene objective. She says

that applying the moment before should not take more than a minute. She progresses into

creating "what if" circumstances for a moment before. She says this needs to be plausible enough

for the actor to suspend their own disbelief. She then goes into a list of common moment before

examples.

8: place and forth wall. Place is the concept of asserting attributes of a familiar location to that of

the environment of the scene. This creates a familiarity where comfort and tendencies already

exist. She says that each location has its own respective attitude felt by the actor. Each scene

should be the same for the actor. With this in mind, she thinks the best approach is to cross

reference the two (scene and place) until the best suited match is found.
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9: Doings. I like her definition. It explains it best in a nutshell. I'm not going to try to use my

own. Hers is well-constructed. "Doings are the physicalization of our intentions through the use

of props." She says that words lie buy behaviors always tell the truth. Our human tendencies and

reflexive responses to situations are inevitable throughout physical actions. She puts into

perspective that when the stakes are high we do a lot. This can mean a couple of things. But at its

base roots, she's saying that at a point of life and death, exerting maximum effort is the only

option. It is vital that the doings help further in the success of the scene objective. Through

doings, the characteristics of the character can be revealed also.

10: Inner Monologue. These are thoughts and words that are not spoken aloud by the character.

Every human has thoughts and initial reactions before speaking. The majority of the time, these

initial words are involuntarily filtered and spoken to permit more appropriate social conventions.

Also, people can voluntarily pick and choose their words even though it is not exactly what they

are thinking. This action ties back to the scene objective and achieving it at all costs. She

proceeds to lose some examples of inner monologues.

11: Previous Circumstances. This concepts title sort of explains itself. When with a scene, she

suggests utilizing the inner sensations from past personal circumstances and encounters. She says

that utilizing previous circumstances gives the actor more ammunition when developing the

characters reasons for having and needing to achieve the overall objective.

12: Let it go. Chubbuck enforces her 11 previous steps. She lays out the plan of action and

preparation, and then she packs the toolbox and instructs the actor to let it all go. To perform the

scene, the actor must let go of these tools and perform. They are instinctual and assist in the
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preparation of the scene. But they cannot be physically present in performance. They will only

weigh down the actor. It is only through sufficient rehearsal and preparation that's an actor can

let go of these and trust their work in order to successfully perform their work. She leaves the

reader with the tidbit of knowledge in order to comfortable in letting go: she states, "No. You

annoy rehearse too much."

Part Two: Additional Exercises and Tools

13: Substance Abuse. She states the importance of creating and knowing the reasons for the use

and the specific substance that is in use. She proceeds to list the sensations associated with

several different particular substances that tend to be abused. To explain her method, I'll focus on

her explanation of one: alcohol. She lists that it drowns and mask the feelings of sorrow, and

guilt, and suffering. She says it is liquid strength. It makes the user feel powerful and unaffected.

She then illustrates a formula for feeling drunk. She creates strategies for vision, speech, and

walking. Next she explains creating a high for the different drugs listed.

14: Sexual Chemistry. Having a connection and sexual chemistry with your partner when

appropriate is necessary for the audience to stay connected to your performance. Without it, they

have no reason to root for your relationship's success. She says that this connection goes past

sexual prowess and enters into the emotional aspects of two people encountering one another's.

She lists situations that can bond people in this way. Once this is mutually understood and

created, the basis of love is developed. She then continues into exercises and states new formulas

for achieving connection and chemistry. She finishes with this approach in the audition room.
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15: Serial Killer. There is always a reason for cruelty. Serial killers usually form their habits from

endured childhood trauma. She then lists different example of serial killers, their actions, their

past trauma, and how their actions correlate to their pain. From this, she lists several surface

examples of traumatic experiences that serial killers could have endured.

16: Fear. She states that the physical reactions to fear are involuntary. They involve the pupils,

heart rate, adrenaline rush, skin-clamming, and rushes of strength and courage. These reactions

cannot be falsely or voluntarily achieved. Therefore, in a scene, the actor must use previous

circumstances to retrieve sensations of fear. Next, we see a list of fears that involve end game,

worst case scenarios. Next she explains the application of the fear list. With the example of never

having a child, the actor can picture the sensation of having a child and it's innocent and

unconditional love, then proceed to envision having it ripped away. The unfairness and emptiness

is what must be pictured by the actor in this circumstance to invoke this appropriate fear.

17: death/dying. She starts by saying actors make the mistake of surrendering to death and

leaving it at that. She then proceeds to explain the correct approach in a repetitive and long

winded fashion. She wraps it up with a very well said sentence that covers exactly what the

technique here covers. In acting death, the actor is fighting to live. It is literally life and death

stakes. Fight to live don't surrender to death. In this, you attach the method of achieving fear.

Here the fear can come into play because death is the matter at hand.

18: Pregnancy. You cannot have a substitution here. Only the love for one’s own child is what

can made equivalent to this circumstance in a play. She equates a child to "a little you." They're a

second chance to avenge all abuse and fulfill and beat all personal insecurities. To create the
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sensation of pregnancy, she has the actor place the infant I. Their female partner and then

envision their own self as an infant and look at the innocence and purity that that infant held.

Then the actor promises and vows to protect this infant and never let it experience the harm that

the actor the self-endured.

19: Parenthood. No matter how good of an actor you are. You cannot be caught pretending to be

a parent. She then speaks to the success of her formula for achieving a parent-child connection

with a child actor. The exercise consists of looking into the eyes of the child and identifying

identical pain to that of your own. Then visualize the derivation of this pain and picture the child

experiencing the identical situation. From here comes the urgency to protect the child from ever

experiencing this pain. Finally, let it go.

20: playing physical disability. It is essential to have created and be aware of the origins of the

characters tennis disability. Aside from playing the physicality realistically, the constant reminder

of the emotional trauma that caused the disability must be present as well. She then explains a

formula for organically playing a quadriplegic. She says to sit down and relax all muscles of the

character's afflicted areas. Relax until the feeling is gone. Then she says to grasp the afflicted

areas and use previous circumstances to retrieve sensations of hopelessness. Pressing the images

into the afflicted areas, the actor then must let it go.

21: Scars and Bruises. She once again has a formula. This time it is for organically feeling the

character's scars and bruises. It says to find a suitable previous circumstance that works for the

characters scenario and retrieve and utilize the emotional sensation from that instance. Then

press down with two fingers on the characters scarred area. While pressing down, afflict the
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emotional and visual pictures from the circumstance into the scarred region. Once this is

achieved, remove fingers and let it go.

22: occupation/profession. It is vital to portray the how and why if a character's career selection.

There is always a sense of aspiration, accomplishment, and want in any person's job choice.

After this is asserted, Chubbuck proceeds to list these elements in several common professions.

These include: police officers, psychologists, criminals, doctors, hookers, lawyers, military,

financial, and actor. Specifying in the actor, she says the desire comes from the need to be

noticed and appreciated by masses. This could be derived from a lack of it or an ample amount of

it that causes a never ending desire for more. She ends the sections saying that no matter what

career the character has, "acting gives you the chance to realize a fantasy, something that you'll

never be able to do in life. Acting is an opportunity to influence and change events that you are

powerless to change in real life.