I was in a class one evening and the guest teacher was helping us discover character by doing a simple, and virtually anonymous exercise. So if you’re too shy to ask strangers for their feedback on your type, as well as too annoyed to ask your close friends & family, then this might be the exercise for you.
It requires at least two people but the more the merrier!
Tools:
Pen and paper (8.5×11) for each person, and a quiet space for the group to talk.
Instructions:
Before starting, make sure everyone takes their piece of paper and folds it vertically (the long way – hotdog style, not hamburger style). Be sure that everyone writes their name on one of the outside folds (either side is fine, just not inside the fold). Also, be sure no one writes down the question numbers next to their answers. Assign one person in the group to also be the moderator. The moderator will read the 10 questions one by one, providing about 15-30 seconds for the group to write down their answer on of the other outside fold of the paper. Answers can be written in sentence form or list form but no numbers should be included. Once everyone has written their answers, the moderator collects all the papers and randomly redistributes them to the group – making sure no one gets their own paper. Next, the moderator will give the group 5 minutes to read the response side (avoid peeking at the name side) and then on the inside fold write a character breakdown for a lead character in a film or TV show (Age, profession, personality traits). Optional: The group can take another 5 minutes and even write a story synopsis or logline for that character. At the end of the five minutes the group can return the paper to its original owner by checking the name on the back.
The group can now share their character breakdowns, and synopses, that were written for them with the rest of the group. What’s illuminating about this exercise is considering what on your list stuck out most to the person writing your breakdown and how well do you see yourself playing this role in the film.
You can do several rounds of this if you like, passing around the paper multiple times before it reaches the original owners.
All in all it’s a fun, simple exercise that’s helpful no matter how well you think you know yourself and your type.
Here are the ten questions. Feel free to add more if you like!
1) How do you walk?
2) How do you run?
3) How do you sleep?
4) How do you argue?
5) How do you eat?
6) How do you dance?
7) How do you have sex?
8) What are your two best traits?
9) How do you give advice?
10) What’s your favorite cocktail/drink?
ScriptClips Tip:
With ScriptClips, you can take the traits from these newly created breakdowns and search for acting scenes that is more unique to you by entering keywords within the search bar, or selecting ‘Subtype’, or ‘Additional Description’ and entering in the keywords through the filtering feature. Click here to login and filter through the libraries using these dynamic search features.
Author: Christian Telesmar is a professional actor living in Los Angeles, CA. He received his Bachelors (BA) from the University of Washington as well as his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from the University of Washington School of Drama’s Professional Acting Training Program (PATP). He also holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Kaplan University School of Business. He is known for his work in Stomp the Yard 2 (2010), Sense and Sensibility (2014), and BONES on FOX (2015). He is also a freelance Creative Director and Writer, having won awards for his promotional work with Microsoft Windows 7, Wal Mart, and Pepsi Co. He enjoys hiking and is an avid Seahawks fan.
