Conflict is typically avoided by the majority of people. Anxiety, fear, and chaos can often be the result of conflict. However, during an acting audition, conflict is essential to delivering an impressive reading. In order to have a good audition, it is necessary for an actor to find the conflict within a story and within a character.
Internal conflicts are rife in personalities, where the psyche struggles between certain desires. Persons and characters can also experience conflict externally with fate, the environment, the world, and God. Relational conflicts are yet another form of personal conflict that are in present in almost every person and, therefore, character's life. When an actor reads for an audition, he or she is only given the bare framework such as a story overview and the lines. Some form of conflict always exists in a story and personality. It is your responsibility to locate the conflict and express it in your reading.
There is no doubt that conflict is interesting. Instability in a character or story adds depth and movement. After you have determined the personality, desires, and needs of the character, there is no question that obstacles will arise. That is the way life is. All lives have hurdles which must be shaped and worked with until they cease to be difficult obstacles and become helpful participants. For example, consider "Midnight Run". Robert De Niro plays a bounty hunter who is responsible for the capture of Charles Grodin's character. Jack (De Niro) is required to track down Mardukas (Grodin) in order to collect his bounty. He experiences many conflicts in his quest including other bounty hunters, FBI agents, his insecurities, as well as Mardukas himself.
The information provided for your reading may not have all the answers in regards to the character's desires and conflicts. To strengthen your acting audition, you may need to create a character yourself, one that has conflicting desires and needs. Doing so will add more dimension and life to the character, thereby grabbing and holding onto the attention of the auditor and improving your chances of making a good impression. Even if the conflict you create is not "correct", it is far worse to have no conflict at all during your reading. If you are able to flesh out a character in this way, your auditions are sure to be more successful.
Real conflict is rarely one-dimensional. The typical person has numerous inner demons that are in constant turmoil. If you are looking to make a good impression on the auditor, ensure that you portray this in your reading. Despite what many actors believe, the most important thing is creating a character not merely the lines in the script.
Even though a scene may only contain your character, there is no doubt that other circumstances and persons have and continue to impact his or her life. To have a successful reading, you as an actor must know how to draw these emotions and circumstances out of the text and take the character to the next level. There is another thing to remember about conflict. Comedy should always play a role in any conflict. Levity is a part of even the deepest conflict. If you want the auditors to enjoy watching your reading, adding some comedy is essential. With the proper combination of conflict and comedy, the character is sure to come to life.
Internal conflicts are rife in personalities, where the psyche struggles between certain desires. Persons and characters can also experience conflict externally with fate, the environment, the world, and God. Relational conflicts are yet another form of personal conflict that are in present in almost every person and, therefore, character's life. When an actor reads for an audition, he or she is only given the bare framework such as a story overview and the lines. Some form of conflict always exists in a story and personality. It is your responsibility to locate the conflict and express it in your reading.
There is no doubt that conflict is interesting. Instability in a character or story adds depth and movement. After you have determined the personality, desires, and needs of the character, there is no question that obstacles will arise. That is the way life is. All lives have hurdles which must be shaped and worked with until they cease to be difficult obstacles and become helpful participants. For example, consider "Midnight Run". Robert De Niro plays a bounty hunter who is responsible for the capture of Charles Grodin's character. Jack (De Niro) is required to track down Mardukas (Grodin) in order to collect his bounty. He experiences many conflicts in his quest including other bounty hunters, FBI agents, his insecurities, as well as Mardukas himself.
The information provided for your reading may not have all the answers in regards to the character's desires and conflicts. To strengthen your acting audition, you may need to create a character yourself, one that has conflicting desires and needs. Doing so will add more dimension and life to the character, thereby grabbing and holding onto the attention of the auditor and improving your chances of making a good impression. Even if the conflict you create is not "correct", it is far worse to have no conflict at all during your reading. If you are able to flesh out a character in this way, your auditions are sure to be more successful.
Real conflict is rarely one-dimensional. The typical person has numerous inner demons that are in constant turmoil. If you are looking to make a good impression on the auditor, ensure that you portray this in your reading. Despite what many actors believe, the most important thing is creating a character not merely the lines in the script.
Even though a scene may only contain your character, there is no doubt that other circumstances and persons have and continue to impact his or her life. To have a successful reading, you as an actor must know how to draw these emotions and circumstances out of the text and take the character to the next level. There is another thing to remember about conflict. Comedy should always play a role in any conflict. Levity is a part of even the deepest conflict. If you want the auditors to enjoy watching your reading, adding some comedy is essential. With the proper combination of conflict and comedy, the character is sure to come to life.
About the Author:
Kirk Baltz has been a acting coach for more than 15 years. Kirk helps actors of all levels get the roles that they desire. You can read more about improve acting auditions at the actor's intensive website.
No comments:
Post a Comment