Am winding my mind around a script analysis method that I’ve come across in the book “The Power of the Actor” by Ivana Chubbuck. I am on Chapter 4 and am already wishing I’d have known about this method of script analysis years ago!
As the actor you take your script and decide what your character’s OVERALL OBJECTIVE is in the film/play. It needs to be a personal goal for your character and doesn’t have to reflect the plot of the script per se. For example Will Farrell’s character in the film Elf may have the overall objective of “To get my dad’s love, and to be accepted by people.”
After you get your OVWERALL OBJECTIVE you then can take each scene in the film and decide what your SCENE OBJECTIVE’s are in every individual scene. Your scene objective cannot go against your OVERALL OBJECTIVE. It’s best to choose scene objectives that engage the other character in the film. Scarlett O’Hara’s SCENE OBJECTIVE in the final moments of Gone With The Wind may have been written out as “To get Rhett to love me and never leave.” An objective that requires a response from the other actor is key. It creates drama, especially when the other actor has the opposite SCENE OBJECTIVE.
And it goes further than that. You can create an Overall Objective, a Scene Objective, and then begin breaking down the film line by line and jotting down the intent behind every line you speak.
I am beggining to understand why the book is titled “The Power of the Actor.” I think that an actor that would diligently break down every word in a script and figure out the intent behind it is very empowered.
Am to be working on a theater play entitled “Everywhere Signs Fall” in the coming months, and am exited to be able to try this script analysis process out in a theatrical environment.